The Opposition

Chapter 16: Carter

I don't know if it was the inspirational 2 hour lecture or just pure skill, but, by the time 2:00 PM rolls around, Sadie and I are walking out of the board office with 4 combined wins under our belts. And it feels pretty fucking good. Felix lost his second debate and Mariana has been hounding him about it for the past fifteen minutes. He's already sent me a series of texts saying "please kill me now" in one way or another. Sadie was beaming as she rushed to meet me outside of the conference hall. I was coming down from my own winning high, yet all I could think about was how fucking beautiful her smile is. Her eyes crinkled in the corners and you could see a flash of her crooked tooth that didn't fall in place with the rest, half covered by her plump lips. God, that smile. That smile is going to kill me.

We took our free meals to-go, but decided on not returning to the hotel right away. The weather has let up a bit, so we're able to walk around in just our button ups without having to worry about freezing. Sadie recommended stopping to eat lunch at a park and I obliged. So, a five minute walk later, we're sitting at a partially-rotting wooden picnic table with our two styrofoam boxes of food resting in front of us. The ground is hard–still partially frozen–but kids litter the playground, screaming for their parents to push them on the swings and catch them at the bottom of the slides.

I peel open my container and find the salad wrap I asked for. After the morning, I didn't want anymore fries, so I settled on no side. Our hotel provides drinks all-day long, so I skipped on getting a juice or coffee. Sadie got another iced tea and got the same wrap as me. The sun is shining down on her today, making her coloured hair sparkle along with the piercings in her ears. She's all gold. Her earrings. Her hair. Her eyes. Shining brighter than any trophy ever could.

There's a forest to our right, so I'm glad that the coolness in the air is managing to keep the bugs at bay. I take a bite of my wrap, indulging in the fresh vegetables wrapped up in a spinach tortilla. At the diner, we have an array of salad wraps that have romaine and grilled veggies. They're not very popular with the customers, but I used to eat them all the time for my lunch break. This one compares nicely. Sadie seems to agree.

"So," I begin. "How should we spend the rest of the day?"

She looks up. "We? Who said anything about we? I was planning on ditching your ass."

I roll my eyes, taking another bite of the wrap. "Shut up, Jones. Unless you plan on roaming the city alone, you're stuck with my ass."

She huffs, "It appears so."

I almost excepted her to say that she was going out alone, but I'm relived to find that she isn't. I have a strange urge to spend time with her and I don't know where that came from.

"We can go to the movies with Felix. Mariana's still pissed at him for losing, so she won't be coming, but the three of us can go."

She thinks about it for a second. "I guess. We don't have anything better to do."

"Aw c'mon, Jones. Where's your sense of adventure? You don't want to explore the city?"

"If you're offering, you could've just said that," she says.

I groan. "Fine. Do you want to spend the rest of the day exploring the city?"

She smiles and it lights her up more than the sun ever could. "I'd love to."

I didn't realize how close downtown was to Lux Inn until we walked right into it. There are stores all around, lining smooth sidewalks. Lines of cars are parked along curbs and in larger parking spots that cost like $5 per hour. I don't quite know what we're looking for, but we've been making random turns, hoping to spot places we want to stop in. Sadie insisted on stopping in a small bookshop cluttered with fresh flowers and wooden signs. We left with a stack of three books that she bought for Anastasia and a notebook set for Angie. I got a book for myself, as well, about some sort of fantasy adventure. I'm trying to work my way back into reading for fun because it used to be my favourite hobby.