Page 23 of Rush
Some of the tension eased from my shoulders, and I eyed him warily. “What about it?”
“I have some time off training. A week, to be exact.” He turned to face me, his expression serious. I stared at him, transfixed. He had some epic bone structure going on with all the rugged, chiseled handsomeness. “Get some time off work, and let’s do them all. The fucking zoo, the stupid balloon. All of it.”
“Why?” I breathed, my face screwing up.
“Don’t question it, J,” he whispered. “Just go with it.”
When I’d written all those things down, I never thought I would actually do them. It was an exercise to help me find who I wanted to be—that was all. A visualization. Nobody actually did this shit, did they?
“C’mon…” Ryan murmured.
Could I take time off work, blow off all my responsibilities, and have myEat, Pray, Lovemoment? Could I rediscover my identity in a week? Probably not, but it could be a good place to start. Maybe I just needed to learn how to smile again. Like, actuallysmilelike I was in a toothpaste commercial and mean it.
I glanced up at Ryan and wondered about the whole notion of fate and destiny and all that shit that was in the pages of the books I marketed. Was the day I ran into him on the street fate? Had all of this happened for a reason? I would never know if I didn’t try.
“Okay,” I declared. “Let’s do it.”
8
Jade
Standingoutside the gates of Melbourne Zoo, I stared up at the facade and smiled.
The first item on the agenda for bucket list week was ‘experience the world like a child.’ Rocking up to the zoo, right before it opened, was a fantastic choice. It had all the big-ticket items. Fast food, ice cream, animals, toys, balloons…everything to satisfy the adventurous spirit of a kid.
When Ryan had convinced me to take the week off, I’d been apprehensive, but when he’d told me he was coming along for the ride… Well, I wasn’t sure about it at all. I’d wanted to rekindle our friendship, but have him along on my journey of discovery? Who knew how that was going to turn out.
Now that we were standing in line for a day at the zoo—a place I’d never been before—I was glad I’d also left the organizing up to Ryan. He’d set the bar high.
He complained, but I paid for both our tickets, and we were let inside with the first visitors of the day.
Taking the map, I stood in the middle of the path and glanced around. A wide parkland area opened up before us, and to the side was the gift shop, and in the distance, I could see the edges of some enclosures. Wondering what was inside, I unfolded the plan of the zoo.
“Where do you want to go to first?” Ryan asked, checking his watch.
Studying the map, I saw there was a whole range of animals we could check out. There was a big elephant experience, tons of monkeys, chimpanzees, orangutans, badass lions, giraffes, a reptile house, and even a huge butterfly enclosure.
“All of it!” I declared.
“We’ve got all day,” he replied with a laugh. “Maybe we should start at one end and do the loop.”
“There are keeper talks and everything,” I said, pointing at the times on the brochure. “They have seals, too! And Penguins! Oh, oh, and meerkats!”
“Definitely a child,” Ryan muttered as I hurried off toward the lions.
The morning went by in a blur of color and wonder. We spotted snow leopards through their jungle habitat. We laughed at the baboons and their unfortunate red bums. We watched red pandas and tree kangaroos lounging over branches high up in the sky. We spotted birds in the aviary. We sat and listened to the keepers talk about the elephants as they were fed in the yard behind. I rushed through the reptile house, freaked out by the snakes. We pressed our noses up against the glass of the platypus exhibit, watching the little mammals slice through the water like rockets. We counted stripes on zebras as they roamed around a herd of giraffes. The list was endless as we made the rounds of the entire zoo.
When we reached the butterfly house, I dragged Ryan inside. Pushing through the first door, then through another, we stepped into a sauna. It was stifling, but I assumed it was to keep the air acclimatized all year round for all the different species of butterflies.
A colorful shape flew past my face, and I tried to see what it was, but it was gone as fast as I could twist my head. Turning the other way, I pointed and gushed as I picked out all the different colors and types of butterflies. They were landing on people’s clothes, on their hands, their faces…it was incredible.
Spinning on my heel, I looked for Ryan, who’d fallen behind.
“Ry…” I began, wanting to show him everything I’d found, exactly like the child I wanted to be today.
He turned slowly, his body rigid. That’s when I saw the bright blue butterfly perched precariously on the bridge of his nose. A beefcake fighter, muscle-bound and macho to the extreme, with a butterfly on his face.Epic.
“Um…” he said, his eyes crossing.
