Page 94 of Due Dilligence (Takeover)
Kev kicked his feet. “Hey! There’s a person down there!”
Beneath them was a paved path—and indeed, there was someone walking along it.
“That’s cool!” Kev pressed his face close to the window.
It was. “You having fun?”
“Yeah!” Kev looked up. “Are you?”
Fazil nodded. “This isn’t so bad after all.”
He pulled out his phone and took several shots of the countryside, including back at the base station, far away down the mountain. Ripples of other mountains and pines all around. The dark green of the trees contrasted against the emerald of the grass and the bright blue sky. A few clouds dotted the sky.
“We’re almost there,” Todd said.
Fazil faced forward again. As the station neared, they crested and Fazil’s breath caught. “Oh my God.”
Mount Rainier stood, a rainbow of grays and blues, snowcapped and wearing clouds as if it pierced the heavens.
“Wow.” Kev drew out the soft sound.
“Well, that’s certainly worth the ride.” Fazil stared at the mountain.
“Told you.” Todd nudged him. “But you’re going to have to get off if you want to see it for more than a minute.”
They exited the car and the station, and made their way up the ridge. Fazil pulled Todd to a stop. “Let me just...” Words left him.
Be. Exist. Drink in the expanse and the sky and the enormous sight before him. The laughter from other people. The constant breeze.
Hiking the previous weekend had been fun and the views stunning. This blew that away. He was a small thing on top of the world, and everything—the shit at Singularity, the looming deadlines, his home thousands of miles away—vanished. He took Todd’s hand in his and tried to hang on to the immense welling of his heart.
After a while, he shook himself. “That’s something else.”
“Makes you think, huh?”
Sure did. The world crept back in. Thoughts of home, his family, work, friends... and Todd. They jumbled and fought for the happiness he’d collected and pulled his heart every which way. Fazil took out his phone and took some pictures, but they would never compare to the memories.
“Hungry?” Todd nodded to a building up the ridge. “There’s a restaurant. Or we could hike along the ridge for a while.”
“Let’s hike. I want to cram as much of this into my brain as I can.” He followed after Todd. “It’s amazing.”
They walked along the ridge, past where a ski lift came up from below. More incredible views and beautiful vistas. Fazil would have been happy to keep walking forever, but his stomach protested loudly enough that Todd snorted.
“I’m guessing you’d like to go to the restaurant?”
Fazil patted his stomach. “Yeah. I’ve been overruled on the hiking.”
After lunch, they hiked in the other direction and headed back to the gondola station. While Fazil wanted more of the incredible beauty, he was overwhelmed. Like fantastic sex, too much for too long drained him.
This time, they had the gondola car to themselves. When the doors closed and the car swung into the air, Fazil pulled Todd close and kissed him. Todd cupped his face and deepened the kiss until the same enormity of the mountain stirred Fazil’s head.
When Todd relented, Fazil whispered, “Thank you,” against Todd’s lips.
Warm fingers stroked the back of Fazil’s neck, right at his hairline. “You’re welcome.” Todd opened some space between them and his smile was as beautiful as the scenery. Fazil wanted a picture, but that would have meant letting Todd go. So they kissed and touched and made out like the teens they’d once been.
When they reached the bottom, they dutifully separated and got off the gondola car. “It’s still pretty early,” Todd said. “Want to see if there are any trail rides available?”
That would be a nice way to spend the rest of the day. “Sure.”
