Page 75 of Mr. February

“Sure. Oh, wait. Carl, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you. If you email me with your question, I’m happy to look into it further. It was nice to meet you, but I’ve got to run.”

Chapter 23: Several Inches of Heavy Snow are Expected

JENNY

“I’m looking forward to tonight,” Wade said as they exited the charter bus.

“Me, too. I’ve always wanted to do an escape room.”

“That, too. I’m looking forward to spending time with you.”

Jenny’s giddiness knew no bounds, but she’d never had a boyfriend who actively sought her out when he had friends or other entertainment available. She would have been embarrassed to say that out loud to someone else, but in the privacy of her own mind, she could admit it.

To paraphrase a famous actress of her mother’s generation, Wade liked her, he really liked her. And she didn’t think it was just the possibility of sex. He didn’t pressure her for any physical affection when they went back to their suite. Chad would have expected a blow job as a bribe for going to something like this.

When they dropped off their stuff, Wade asked if she wanted to change. At first, she thought it was a sneaky way to get herundressed. Then he told her the temperature dropped twenty degrees, and he didn’t want her to be cold. Jenny changed into a wrap V-neck sweater and lined leggings, and they headed out.

Unlike the previous night, there were no dramatics when they waited for the bus to take them to tonight’s off-site event. Wade told her about his friend Brian’s predicament as they waited, and she echoed his hope that Howard would give in to his wife’s pleas to retire sooner than later.

Once they arrived at the escape room facility, they were assigned to a group. Their team was a mix of people from different organizations, and Wade knew one of the other members. When the timer started, everyone got into the spirit.

“Everybody spread out,” Leon, one of the people familiar with escape rooms said. “Let’s work in pairs and each take a corner to investigate thoroughly. We’ll compare notes in a few minutes. Look for patterns or anything that looks out of place, has a lock, or doesn’t match.”

“Oh, I think this might be a clue.”

“All of the books on this shelf have the same kind of cover except this one. Do you think that means something? Oh, wow, the book is hollow.”

“I found a red key. Has anyone seen another one? This box has two locks on it.”

“Dial this number on the land line and write down the message.”

“Let me try. I play logic games all the time.”

“Is anybody good at math puzzles?”

“These look like map coordinates to me.”

“Check the pockets of the clothes in the wardrobe. Shirts, too.”

“This code’s in binary! I knew someday it’d come in handy.”

“There’s a small flashlight in this box. Oh cool. It’s a UV light, and there’s a message on the wall behind you.”

“Look, it’s a cryptex. I bet that’s where we’ll find the final key.”

Jenny had a blast as she, Wade, and their team worked together to solve the puzzle. They completed the escape with more than ten minutes to spare.

“Wow, that was amazing. I had so much fun,” she said as she guzzled the bottle of soda Wade handed her.

“Definitely. I hoped it would be fun, but that was awesome.”

Before they could say anything further, other members of their party joined them. Leon, who had taken the lead at the start of the event, sauntered over.

“We’ve got an hour and a half until the bus returns. The conference rented out this whole facility tonight, so if we want to run another escape room we can. If we want to just hang out in the lounge area, we can do that. They have beers and wines plus snack foods since dinner is back at the hotel.”

Wade and Jenny looked at each other. Uncertain, she didn’t know how to ask for what she wanted.

“Can we have a drink and then go for another round, or do we have to pick one or the other?” Wade asked.

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