Chapter 34: Another World

Sean breathed in deep, and exhaled in a very satisfied manner. "Nothing like fresh mountain air," he exclaimed, then proceeded to climb through the forested slope. He moved effortlessly, and happily. He truly was in his element among the rocks and the trees.

Dell, on the other hand, was not. Not at all. Not even remotely. She was panting as she sought to keep up with him. This was his idea of a date?

"You alright there?"

"No," she replied honestly. "I'm still trying to reconcile how this could ever be someone's idea of a date."

Laughing, he backtracked and went beside her. "Don't girls have romantic fantasies involving nature? Meeting the sunrise together? Dancing under a canopy of stars? Kissing in the rain? Things like that?"

"I've fantasized about dancing under the stars when I was young. But hiking to get there was never part of the fantasy."

He laughed again. "It's not far now. Just a bit more."

"That's what you said half an hour ago."

"This time I'm telling the truth. Look." He pointed up ahead. "You could see the summit already."

She looked to where he was pointing. It didn't look "not far now." And that thought seemed to be apparent in her expression because he pulled her backpack off her back and proceeded to carry it for her.

"I promise a nice lunch waiting when we get to the summit," he said as he began climbing again. "Complete with cake for dessert. I know you girls like that. "

"We didn't pack cake," she replied gloomily.

"No, but I messaged one of my climbing buddies to pick up a slice before we left your apartment."

Dell stopped. "Your climbing buddies?"

He stopped, too, a little puzzled. "Yes. We normally start our climbs at three or four in the morning, but I didn't want you to feel pressured so, I told them to go ahead. They'd probably be at the summit by now. Why?"

She crossed her arms. "Well, if you had plans with your friends, I told you, we could have rescheduled our date. There was no need to try to consolidate your social obligations like this." Frankly, it didn't sit well with her to be 2-in-1ed with his friends. It made her feel... like an obligation.

"It's not that I wanted to, as you put it, 'consolidate my obligations,' you know. I wanted you to come along." But what she said seemed to have offended him because, having said that, he turned and continued climbing in silence.

Dell felt a twinge of guilt sensing how she had darkened the mood. But she was too tired to stop being annoyed at the moment.

They continued to trek in silence. But by the time she finally reached the summit, she was just about ready to break the silence and give him a piece of her mind about making a woman do physical labor on a Saturday morning. And that was just what she was about to do had not the sight of the rising sun above a sea of clouds stolen her breath away. It really did look like a sea as the rooftops that peeked out of the clouds reflected the morning light. It was a magnificent sight that made her feel small in the grander scheme of things, but not in a bad way.

He was right. It was not like the pictures.

She turned to him and saw him grinning triumphantly towards her. "Did I make you eat your words or what?" He asked.

She pouted. "That doesn't mean I'm not still hungry."

He laughed. She was glad she hadn't berated him any more than she already had. And she was glad the dark feelings had evaporated in the cool morning. He sobered up and looked at her seriously. "I didn't bring you because I wanted to hit two birds with one stone. I brought you because I wanted you to see my world."

She looked back to the sea of clouds. "It's... It's a beautiful world," she admitted. Then turning to him with a bitter smile, she added, "Entering it is just a bit of a challenge, though."

He gave an amused laugh. "It's even more beautiful if we got here before sunrise. You see only clouds. And the rise of the sun beyond them is just out of this world."

She put up a hand. "That's too high a hurdle for me already."

He laughed even more. "Come on." He gestured to follow him. "Let's go have breakfast."

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