Page 36 of The One That Got Away

I held out my palm and Stella wrapped her small hand in mine.

And as our skin connected and that same shot of electricity lit up inside of me I realised that I liked the feeling.

Which wasn’t good.

At all…

16

STELLA

I couldn’t believe I was holding Max’s hand.Voluntarily.

That just showed how desperate I was.

I’d always been afraid of heights. I didn’t even like anything remotely scary. Just the thought of watching a horror film made me break out in a cold sweat. So walking on what felt like a flimsy bridge hanging off a cliff with a steep drop beneath me was terrifying. And that was before you factored in this walkway’s reputation for being a death trap.

Yes, as the tour guide, Jasmine and Max had explained, it was safe now. But that didn’t change the fact that it was over one hundred metres from the ground.

When the tour guide started talking about the pathway’s history and how it was built to allow access for the workers at a power station and help them transport materials between the two power plants, I tried to focus. But instead my ears zeroed in on the sound of the walkway jingling up and down with every step we took.

Max had said not to look down and I’d tried. I really did. And I wished I’d listened because on more than one occasion I sawhuge sections where there was nothing between the new walkway and the ground below. Which I assumed was where the old path had snapped and people had fallen to their deaths.

And when I looked up, it was hard to ignore the vultures circling – almost as if they were waiting for people to fall so they could swoop down and feast on them.

That was why when I slipped, I freaked out. Luckily Max had caught me, but that didn’t stop my brain from spiralling and thinking what could’ve happened and what other fearful experiences were ahead of us.

I hadn’t even realised that I was shaking when Max said it. But I did know I was scared. So when Max offered to hold my hand, as much as I didn’t want to, I knew I had two choices: keep being stubborn and hostile and continue the walk feeling terrified. Or put my anger towards him aside for a couple of hours or however long this nightmare would last and feel safe.

So I accepted his offer. And as he wrapped his big, warm hand around mine, the effect was instant.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach and my heart raced. But this time, my pounding heartbeat wasn’t caused by fear. It was something else. If it was any other man, I would’ve said it was excitement. That couldn’t be true though. I didn’t even like Max. Not any more.

That was what I kept telling myself anyway. But even I had to admit, it was getting harder and harder to continue this hatred towards him.

How he ended things between us was terrible. But I could see he was trying. He’d helped me at the pool on Sunday and he was being sweet to me now. And he was kind to that Dorothy woman.

That didn’t mean I’d forgiven him. And it 100 per cent didnotmean I wanted anything to happen between us. But maybe, just maybe I could think about trying to be more civil towards him.

Maybe.

‘You good?’ Max turned to face me.

‘Yeah. Thanks.’ Our eyes connected and my stomach flipped. He’d always had such lovely eyes and as much as I hated to say it, I could tell he was being sincere.

‘No worries. I want you to enjoy this. Look at these views!’ He pointed ahead.

Now I felt calmer I was able to appreciate the surroundings a bit more. The landscape was pretty stunning.

I took in the panoramic views of tall rocky mountains, rugged cliffs, valleys and canyons and lush greenery all set against the clear blue sky and warm sunshine which heated my skin. There was even a river flowing between two gorges.

‘Itisnice.’

‘If you feel comfortable, we should take some photos. Y’know, for our memory photo album thing.’

‘Oh. Yeah. I suppose.’

I’d seen people stopping to take pictures since the walk started, but I was too scared. Before I just wanted to get it over and done with as quickly as possible. But now, I was feeling more relaxed and could manage stopping for a few seconds.

---