A Love Story that Turned Ugly

Chapter 7

        My head was spinning and I felt like I wanna throw up. Slowly, I opened my eyes. I was lying on the ground; my back leaned on a hard rock. I moaned softly; trying to move my numb fingers. Finally I could open my eyes widely. The first thing I did was checking my body state.

       "Ouch!" I squealed. My right leg stung; probably it had been swollen or something. I could feel a burn and wet sensation on my forehead. I must have had some cuts on it which were resulted from the falling. Even though I couldn't see clearly because of the darkness, I was sure my arms were full of scratches.

       "Bradley! She's conscious," Bert shouted. He was kneeling next to me. Hearing his call, Bradley came out of the trees, holding a flashlight. His clothes were full of dirt. He walked quickly towards us, panting. I managed to sit comfortably.

       "Don't move too much. Stay still." Bradley helped me to sit properly. He put his hands on my back and shoulder.

       "I'm okay. I think nothing is broken." I smiled at him. He looked unsure.

       "You're kidding. You can't be okay. You just dropped and were rolling down from there." He directed the flashlight to the cliff which was like fifty meters above us, just so I could see where I'd fallen from.

       "Even it’s hard for us to come down here. And I don't think we can climb up without a rope, which I don't have,” he added. I raised my eyebrows. Bradley was so stupid!

       "Why did you bring Bert here? It's dangerous. You should have gone after the guards for help!" I yelled at him.

       "It didn't cross my mind, okay? I was in panic and did everything I could to save you. Anyway I don't know where everyone goes. I don't have a map with me."

       He was annoyed, as if he thought I should have been grateful he didn't leave me die here.

       "Sharona, I'm hungry," said Bert suddenly. He shook my arm, wailing. Bradley rolled his eyes.

       "Not now, Bert. Don't be spoiled,” he nagged. I glared at him.

       "Just go easy on him. Bert's just a kid. Don't worry I've got something to eat. Would you please bring my backpack, here, Bradley?" I asked him in sarcastic tone.

       "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm just stressed out a little."

        Bradley pulled my backpack, which was strewn about 5 meters from us. I was glad that I'd stuffed a lot of things inside my backpack. Bradley helped me to clean and wrap my cuts with bandages while Bert was eating the protein bars. I was so lucky. Falling from such a distance with rocks hitting me along the way, I just got some scratches and sprained ankle. Overall I was quite fine.

       "What's this for?" Bradley held my slingshot with a questioning look. He laughed so hard as I told him it was for defending us from the bear or any wild animals.

        We were literally trapped here, and decided to wait until people from the camp find us out. The guides must have realized that we were missing. I asked Bradley if he could make a fire, but he said he didn't bring any lighter nor matches because he was not a smoker. I told him to make a fire by rubbing two twigs like what people always do on film.

       "I don't know how." He shrugged giving me a stupid look.

       "Oh, I know. Let me do that!" exclaimed Bert in excitement. Bradley handed the twigs over to Bert, and he started rubbing them with serious expression. After a little while, I saw a little sparks of fire.

       "You did it!" I exclaimed happily.

       "Wow, Bert. I didn't know you are talented. Good job," Bradley praised him and quickly took other twigs. We made a bonfire and embraced each other closely. We wrapped our body with a blanket.

       "You even bring a blanket?" Bradley looked at me as if I was a weirdo. Bert sat between me and Bradley. He already fell asleep with his head leaned on my lap. It was getting colder. I clenched my teeth and shivered. Bradley rubbed his palms, trying to produce some heat.

       "Do you think they're looking for us?" I asked, feeling uncertain.

       "Of course. Don't worry, just wait. They'll see the fire," he said, trying to comfort me.

       "So what do we do now? While waiting..." I mumbled. Bradley turned to me.

       "How about talking?" he suggested. I pretended to be thinking.

       "Hmm,...okay. What about you tell me about your life?" I grinned. We looked at each other's eyes, said nothing. Finally Bradley broke the silence.

       "Okay then. I'm sure you are curious about the bracelet and the story behind it," he said.

       "Okay. Tell me."

       I moved my body towards him, getting my ears ready. He took a deep breath.

       "The woman you saw with me at the cafe was Tamara Northman, whose initial crafted on the bracelet," he started. I nodded impatiently. I wanted to know more and couldn’t stand any pause.

       "She'd been my girlfriend since our freshman year in senior high school. Everyone thought we'd end up together. But something happened. She was forced to enter an engagement by her parents and got married two years ago."

        I stopped him, cutting him off.

       "Wait, wait. She was with you, like, a week ago. And who was the dark-haired woman who dragged you out? Was she your current fiancée?" I referred to the ring he was wearing. Bradley continued. He wasn't even mad that I interrupted.

       "Well, it’s quite embarrassing. I don't know if I should tell you this."

       He looked at the ground.

       "Tell me!" I insisted. He lifted his head up.

       "Fine. Since you’ve known too much already." He grinned. "We were together for more than ten years. So it was hard for us to let each other go. She still loved me, either. She wouldn't let me break up with her. So we kept seeing each other. It was like...an affair. Yeah."

       He checked out my expression as if he wanted to see if I was showing a disgusted face. I didn't. I felt sorry for him instead. Tamara was such an egoistic woman.

       "The angry woman who came causing the chaos and dragged me out was my sister, Anne. She hates to see me in such an immoral relationship. We were busted at that cafe. She threatened her not to see me again. And she does. Tamara never calls me again since. So that's it. We were over. End of story."

       Bradley yawned. My eyes were still upon him.

       "I have one last question to kill my curiosity," I said.

       "What? I've told you all." Bradley looked a bit annoyed now. “Curiosity kills cat, girl,” he said grinning.

      "How about the ring?" I pointed at his finger. He laughed.

       "Ah, this crap. It's nothing. I just put this so I won't look like a lonely unwanted man here."

       He pulled the ring and threw it away.

       "Liar," I sneered. What he was doing was so ridiculous. But he was...cute. I grabbed his hand and gave him a warm smile.

       "Thanks for telling me. You should move on," I said trying to encourage him. Bradley leaned his head on my shoulder.

       "Yes...moving on,” he muttered. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. His hands were still on mine. I sighed and looked at the sky above. I should have been frightened now, because I was trapped in the middle of dark forest with a stranger. But somehow I liked being in this situation, because I was with him.