Page 13 of Below the Barrel

I glance over my shoulder to see with my own eyes how she reacts, expecting her to ditch me for him the way she did at our welcome dinner the other night. Instead, she surprises me by giving him a small smile that doesn’t reach her eyes before walking up to stand next to me, her shoulder brushing against my arm.

Charles stares at our touching arms before glancing up at me with narrowed eyes filled with venom. I can’t hold back my smirk as he meets my gaze, winking before I turn my attention toward the hot air balloon instructor.

“Okay, now that we’re all here, eyes to the front please,” an elderly gentleman says, clapping his hands together to attract everyone’s attention.

For the next twenty minutes he goes over safety and operational instructions for the balloons. I cling onto every word because there’s no way I’ll be putting Maliah’s safety, or mine, into anyone else’s hands. I know that a pilot’s license is required for this, but somehow SurfFlix was able to bypass that requirement for this activity. I glance at her from the corner of my eye when the instructor pauses to take a sip of water. She’s staring down at her intertwined fingers, twiddling her thumbs distractedly.

I hate that she’s forced to do this event despite her discomfort just because SurfFlix needs content for this ridiculous show, and because she’ll be kicked out of the whole tour if she doesn’t do as they say.

“Alright, it looks like everyone is in groups of four except for your team,” the instructor says as he limps over to me, Maliah, and Matt.

I nod. “Our coach has a personal emergency to attend to,” I share, curtly.

He nods in understanding before handing me a walkie talkie and pointing to the last available balloon on the field.

“That one is yours.”

I thank him before walking towards it, Maliah sticking close by my side as Matt follows us.

“Why do we have to do this?” Maliah whispers, as if her mic won’t hear her if she keeps her voice low.

“Apparently, it’s part of the new team building activities of the tour,” I say before glancing behind us to the camera. “Though I’m sure it’s more for entertaining television.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to say stuff like that when we have the mics on,” she chastises.

I snort. “Was I supposed to whisper it instead?” Her cheeks flush. “Besides, I’ll say whatever I want to. I’m sure their editors will cut it all out of the final versions anyway.”

Matt jogs ahead of us, jumping into the hot air balloon basket and turning to face us for a better camera angle. I wish I could just float him and his ridiculous camera away from us, I’m sick of it all.

I help Maliah get in before following behind and locking the basket door behind us. She rushes to one side of the basket while Matt positions himself on the opposite side with his camera focused on her.

“Everybody ready?” the instructor’s voice comes through the walkie talkie.

“Yes sir,” I reply.

“Alright, you’re clear to depart.”

I ignite the burner in the centre of the balloon, waiting as the warm air begins to lift us off the ground. I crank the heat higher so that we reach the same height as the other team, then lower the heat to stabilize us at that height, before I glance at Maliah.

She has a vice grip on the basket railing, eyes squeezed shut and a slight tremble racking her body.

Go comfort her.

Absolutely not. I shake my head to get the words out of my mind. If we were on better terms, then maybe, but if I try to do that now, she might just push me off this balloon. Plus, comforting her in front of the camera will just give them a fake storyline to run with that could cause more damage for her reputation than good.

“Crap,” Matt says, lowering his camera with furrowed brows.

“Everything okay over there?” I ask.

“Yeah, just a weird camera glitch. I’ll need a few minutes to fix it.”

I watch as he slides to the floor and begins playing around with his camera, tongue jutted out of his mouth as he concentrates on whatever it is he’s doing.

Now’s your chance.

I glance at Maliah and before I can change my mind, I walk over to her and bump her shoulder with mine.

“How are you hangin’ in there?”

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