Reader in the Park

by Rachel Maldonado

  “It doesn't look so bad,” said Nikki. “I can do this.”

  Anna giggled. “That's not why we're here.”

  “Oh?” Nikki wasn't sure she wanted to ask, so she hesitated. “What are we here for then?”

  “We're here for that,” remarked Anna pointing toward a giant climbing wall with different colored hand and footholds. It extended at least three stories high.

  Nikki's jaw dropped. “I'm not doing that. No way!”

  Anna laughed. “And here I thought you were the life of the party in college.”

  “How safe is it?”

  “I'd say it's pretty safe. No one's fallen and died yet.”

  Nikki gulped down hard. “Yet?”

  Anna giggled. “It's perfectly safe. I can be your belayer if you want, but usually there's a guy working that area that will do it.”

  “Belayer?”

  “Yes, the one that hold your rope while you climb to make certain you don't fall. If you need to come down, he will hold your weight on the other end of the line and ease you down slowly. There's no danger of you falling. I've done this hundreds of times.”

  Nikki raised her eyebrows. “Hundreds? Really? Or are you just saying that to make me feel better?”

  “Okay, maybe not hundreds. Maybe a hundred or slightly more. But hey, in the event of an accident, at least there's a doctor present, right?”

  “There is? Where?”

  Anna laughed. “You, silly. Aren't you a doctor?”

  “Well, yeah, but who's going to treat me if I'm the one that falls?”

  Anna grinned. “Relax! You're not going to fall. It's easy peasy lemon squeezy. You'll be great. I promise. Don't you believe me?”

  “I'm not sure. It's easier said than done, I bet.”

  “I swear I wouldn't have brought you here if I didn't think it was a safe thing to do. Besides, I wouldn't want you to fall and mess up your pretty face or anything else, would I?”

  Nikki grimaced. “Anything else? Geezus I hope I can still walk out of here.”

  Anna laughed. “Come on. That's enough of a pep talk. You'll be great. And no one is at the wall, so it looks like we have it all to ourselves this morning.”

  Anna headed toward the far wall toward the wall climb. She shook the man's hand upon her arrival.

  “You're back,” he said smiling. “And you brought a friend. How are you? I'm Ted,” he said addressing Nikki.

  “Nikki. Nice to meet you.” She shook his hand firmly, but he could instantly tell she was nervous. Not only were her words slightly quavering, but her palm was sweaty.

  “You're a novice, aren't you?” he asked smiling. He was always good at recognizing the newbies.

  “I beg your pardon?” inquired Nikki.

  “A novice. A beginner. You've never done this before, huh?”

  Nikki shook her head. “No, can't say that I have.” She held up her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart from each other. “I'm a teeny tiny bit nervous.”

  “You'll be great.”

  A young girl about six-years-old walked up to the climbing wall with her mother, and she was eager to start climbing. Another belayer walked out from an office and began to explain the ropes and how to climb from one foothold to another. She was quickly suited up in a harness and climbing the wall within seconds.

  Nikki watched in horror half expecting something horrible to happen. But the child was fearless. She climbed all the way to the top, then was brought back down slowly by her belayer.

  Nikki let out a sigh of relief.

  “See how easy it is?” asked Ted. “You ready?”

  Nikki nodded, and both she and Anna each put on their safety harnesses and were hooked up to their respective climbing ropes. Nikki remained with Ted as her belayer while Anna was helped by the other man.

  Anna climbed easily to the top, then eased her way down to the bottom with the aid of her belayer while Nikki only made it about half way up, then couldn't climb anymore.

  “I'm starting to feel a bit winded,” said Nikki.

  “You're doing great. You're almost to the top!” shouted Anna from the ground.

  Even the little girl that had already climbed up to the top once was already climbing the wall for a second time. She stopped as she approached where Nikki had stopped midway up the wall.

  “Don't give up,” said the child. “It gets easier. Be like me.” She smiled, then continued to the top. She waved at Nikki on her way back down.

  “I can do this,” whispered Nikki to herself. She pushed her way to the top determined not to give up. Giving up wasn't her style. When she finally reached the top, Ted helped her back down slowly easing her down the safety rope. Once she reached the ground, Nikki felt as though she wanted to kiss the floor and never leave it.

  “I don't think I was ever meant to leave the ground. It's what God made my feet for; to stay firmly planted on the ground and not be climbing rocks or taking flights.”

  Anna walked over to her and hugged her. “I thought you didn't believe in God.”

  “I never said that. I have strong faith. Believe me, I was silently praying the entire time.”

  “I'm so proud of you!” shouted the little girl as she saw Anna hugging Nikki. She ran over and gave Nikki a big hug. The child's mother laughed.

  “I'm sorry. She insisted that she wanted to hug you. She said you looked like a scared cat in a tree,” remarked the child's mother.

  Nikki smiled. “It's okay. I can use the hug.”

  After the child and her mother left to go jump on the trampolines, Anna asked, “You want to go again or are you ready for breakfast? I'm starved.”

  Nikki took another look at the three story high wall, then looked back at Anna. “I think I'm ready to eat,” she blurted.

  Anna smirked. “It's a good time to go to Chicken or Waffles.” She began to remove her harness, then began to help Nikki with hers.

  “Chicken or Waffles? Shouldn't it be Chicken and Waffles?” asked Nikki.

  Anna laughed. “You've never heard of it, huh?” They both walked toward Ted to return their harnesses.

  “Thank you,” he said as he accepted them.

  “Thank you,” said Anna and Nikki in unison.

  Nikki quickly got back to the subject at hand. “Is it that obvious that I don't get out much?”

  Anna grinned. “Just a tad. It's Chicken or Waffles because it's not entirely a chicken and waffle place. You can order either breakfast, lunch, or dinner and I think there's only one meal that has both chicken and waffles. Everything else is basically home cooked meals like meatloaf, fried catfish, steaks, burgers, or common breakfast foods like omelets, pancakes, waffles, and french toast.”

  “So it's like a Waffle Haus?”

  Anna grinned as she walked toward the exit, then held the door open for Nikki. “Nope. It's like a Chicken or Waffles.”

  Nikki laughed as they walked back to Anna's Jeep.

  “You're not disappointed that you didn't get to jump on the trampolines?” inquired Anna.

  Nikki shook her head. “No, I think that's enough excitement for me for one morning.”

  Anna grinned as she opened the passenger door for Nikki. “Maybe you had one too many college party days, and you're all partied out.”

  “About that? I wasn't exactly a party animal. I was sort of a studious bookworm.”

  Anna giggled. “I know. I figured. You don't get to be a doctor by partying all the time.”

  “If you know, then why were you giving me a hard time?”

  Anna laughed. She shut the door, then ran over to the driver side. “What do you mean, why did I give you a hard time? It was fun.”

  “For you, maybe.”

  “Okay, okay. If it makes you feel better, I'll apologize. I'm sorry.”

  “I'm not sure I'm ready to forgive you,” said Nikki grinning.

  “Ah, I see what you're doing. Now you have something over me.”

  Nikki laughed. “Maybe.”

 
Anna drove to the closest Chicken or Waffles, they walked in and sat in the furthest booth from the door. It was at the back of the restaurant but still near the window so that they could look outside.

  The waitress came to the table promptly with two different menus.

  “Good morning, ladies. Would you like to try our signature chicken and waffles from our lunch menu? Or would you like a breakfast menu?”

  “I'll take a breakfast menu,” replied Anna.

  “Me too,” said Nikki.

  “Great. Here you go.” The waitress, who's name tag said Megyn, left two menus. “Can I take your drink order?”

  “I'll just have a coffee,” replied Anna.

  “Me too,” said Nikki.

  “I'll bring it right out,” said Megyn. She left the table and retreated to the kitchen to retrieve the coffee. When she returned a few minutes later with two cups and a carafe of coffee, she also set down two glasses of ice water.

  “You ladies ready to order?” asked the waitress.

  “I think I'll have the egg white omelet with the side of fresh fruit,” replied Nikki.

  “Me too,” added Anna.

  “Do you really? Or are you just mocking me because I said 'Me too' twice already?” questioned Nikki.

  Anna laughed. “No, really. That's what I want.”

  The waitress wrote down the order. “Two healthy egg white cluckers with a side of tutti fruity coming right up.” She was half way to the kitchen after having left a bowl of creamer containers for the coffee when she belted out “Two healthy clucker orders with fruit, Jimmy!”

  Nikki, startled, nearly jumped out of her seat. Anna, on the other hand, started to giggle when she saw Nikki jump like a frightened cat.

  Anna grabbed the warm carafe and poured some steaming hot coffee into both of their cups. The fresh brewed aroma of coffee beans tickled their noses. They both prepared their coffee to their satisfaction, then sipped on the their cups slowly.

  “So did you have fun?” questioned Anna. “Or will this be our last date?”

  “I had fun. It was a bit out of my level of comfort, but it was definitely different.”

  “I'm sort of an adventurous person.”

  “Does that mean I'm in for more surprises?” inquired Nikki curiously as she took a sip of her coffee, then stirred more sweetener into her cup.

  Anna grinned. “I think so. I'd like to share the parts of my life with you that make me who I am. If that's okay, that is.”

  Nikki nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I think learning to appreciate the things you love will help me get to know you better. I am willing to try anything at least once.”

  “I'll remember you said that,” replied Anna grinning. When Nikki turned to look at her, Anna winked at her.

  “Oh no, did I just stick my foot in my mouth again?”

  “Again?” questioned Anna, the lines on her forehead wrinkled as she raised her eyebrows.

  “Never mind,” replied Nikki just as their breakfast order came out. “I feel like I'm always sticking my foot in my mouth.”

  “Me too,” replied the waitress as she set down their food.

  Both Anna and Nikki smiled at her as she winked at Nikki. They knew she was only trying to give Nikki a hard time for having said 'Me too' twice earlier, then pointing it out.

  “I see what you did there,” said Anna to the waitress.

  The waitress laughed. “See, I keep up to speed with things. I'm hip to the customer lingo of the day.”

  “That you are,” replied Anna with a smirk.

  “Let me know if you need anything else. My name's Megyn.”

  “Sure thing,” said Nikki as she began to cut into her omelet.

  The young couple dined and sipped on coffee, but before long Nikki's work phone went off. She glanced down at her hospital phone.

  “Duty calls,” she whispered. Just like she had predicted, she was called in to the hospital.

  “At least we were able to have a nice wall climbing date and breakfast.”

  “Yes, I really enjoyed myself. Will you take me home, so I can change and get ready for work?”

  “Of course, sorry. For a minute, I forgot we were in my vehicle,” said Anna chuckling.

  Anna paid for their meal, then drove Nikki home.

  Before Nikki exited the Jeep, Anna blurted, “How about you give me a call on your next day off, so we can maybe have ourselves a dinner date?”

  Nikki smiled warmly as she hopped out of the vehicle. “A dinner date sounds nice. I'll be off again next weekend. How about you call me instead?”

  Anna nodded. “You can count on it. I'll have something special planned for us again.”

  “I knew it.” Nikki laughed. She still had her hand on the door as if ready to shut it.

  “What? What did I say?” Anna was grinning. She had her body half turned with her left hand still on the steering wheel. The sides of her mouth stretched further as she smiled, showing her beautifully perfect teeth. Nikki wondered if Anna had ever worn braces.

  “It wasn't what you said. It was that look in your eyes again,” replied Nikki with a smirk. Her eyes narrowed as if she was trying to figure out what Anna was planning.

  “You'll just have to wait until next weekend to find out what it is,” stated Anna.

  “What? I didn't ask what it was.”

  “Oh, you didn't have to this time.” Anna laughed. “It was the look in your eyes.”

  “What look?” inquired Nikki. Her forehead and eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

  “Exactly,” said Anna laughing. She was clearly trying to poke fun at Nikki for suggesting she had a look in her eyes when she was planning something.

  Nikki simply laughed. “I'll see you next weekend.” She shut the door softly, then ran into her house as fast as she could to shower and change and rush to the hospital.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The week went by incredibly fast. Anna was back at work as usual. She quickly bounced back from her stay at the hospital and was back at the office with a renewed sense of vigor and enthusiasm. She was a force to be reckoned with. Even the younger hot shot marketing executives couldn't keep up with her ideas and business outings with clients. It was as if her car accident gave her a super power. She felt as if her mind was like a working factory mill with turning wheels and spinning cogs, but they were turning and spinning faster than they ever had before. She had more ideas, more energy. If there were a fast track to success, she was on it.

  Anna had always had a sense of adventure in life being young, single and having the blood of a born daredevil coursing through her veins. But this was different. She had a thirst for life that she hadn't felt before. It was more than that, however, it was as if she had gone back in time to when she first started working for the company. She was once again that top young executive that left the others in the dust, and she was loving it. In her spare time, she thought of Nikki. It was what drove her from one moment to the next. She was constantly expecting a voicemail or a text message from Nikki, but they were few and far between. It worried Anna to some extent, but she didn't want to seem pushy or too clingy. She realized that Nikki needed her time to herself to not just run errands and utilize her “me” time, but to also be the professional she was meant to be at the hospital-- Dr. Nicole Bateman.

  Nikki's time also passed by rather quickly. She had patients she had to see, surgeries she had to perform, and in between she had to figure out when she was going to sleep, eat, and catch up on that new James Patterson book she kept trying to read.

  By the end of the week, Nikki was exhausted. She had performed a surgery Friday morning that lasted five hours, but after that, she was free for the rest of the day. She went home, showered, changed, read a few chapters, then passed out cold with her paperback book beside her. She'd only managed to read a few chapters before she passed out.

  At a quarter past seven in the evening on that same Friday, Nikki's cellphone rang. It was Anna on the other end of the line.
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  “Did I catch you at a bad time?” inquired Anna.

  Nikki, half asleep, responded groggily. “No, I'm awake.”

  Anna laughed. “No, you're not. I'm sorry. Did I wake you? You were asleep already weren't you?”

  Nikki groaned. “Mmm hmm.”

  “Okay, well I'll let you go. I just wanted to see if you were still on for our date tomorrow. Pick you up at eight again? I thought we could have an early date at the park.”

  Nikki nodded even though she knew Anna was on the phone and couldn't see her.

  “Hello?” asked Anna still waiting for a response.

  Nikki mumbled sleepily, “Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I said yes.”

  Anna giggled. “Get some rest. See you bright and early.”

  Nikki fell back to sleep without so much as even realizing she had answered the phone and spoken to Anna. The line automatically disconnected when Anna hung up the receiver on her end of the line.

  Anna, on the other hand, didn't go to sleep. She stayed up late tossing and turning. She was excited about the following day. She loved sharing experiences with Nikki. Nikki had always been the girl that was stuck in a book and didn't have much time in her life for dating or adventure, whereas Anna was the type that breezed through college and had plenty of time to throw parties, date, and find thrill seeker type hobbies. She was never afraid to seek adventure on her own. She loved the adrenaline rush. But now that she met Nikki, she was excited to share a part of her life with her as long as Nikki was willing to take part in them. She wondered where Nikki would draw the line, or if she might learn to love the same activities the more they got to know one another.

  Before long Anna was fast asleep. She was once again dreaming of driving down the side of a hill, but this time she held a piece of paper in her hand. She could see herself holding onto it, trying to read it, smiling as she looked it over, but in her dreams it was blurry! What was it!? What was she looking at? And was it real or just a part of her dream? She once again awoke in a cold sweat when she lost control of the car and it went flying over the side of the cliff and into the trees.

  Anna sat up in bed. She wondered what the dream meant. She had never dreamt of trying to read a paper before. Often drivers are distracted by cellphones or flipping through radio stations. In her dreams, she was clutching a piece of paper tightly when she realized her brakes were out. She wanted desperately to get down to the police impound lot to search her vehicle. There had to be something left of it. She wanted to collect her things from the glove compartment and trunk and search for whatever that piece of paper was, if there even was a piece of paper to find. But it was late. She went to the bathroom, drank a glass of water from the kitchen, then returned to bed.