“Hailey, I can’t believe you did this for me,” Charlie shared.
“You better get to it. We only have an hour.” Hailey winked at her. “Come on Hardy Boy, let’s find the diamond.”
The room wasn’t as big as Charlie pictured. It was an office that looked old in nature, which fit with the eccentric old man’s character Ernie had described. There were old paintings and maps on the walls, and a wall-length bookshelf, filled with books and other random items. There was a door that had an electronic lock on it that Charlie guessed was a part of the puzzle.
“Let’s get to work.” Charlie rubbed her hands together and began taking it seriously.
The two worked together in near silence, only communicating when they needed to exchange clues. They found a flashlight that illuminated numbers on the paintings, and tried those to open the door, but failed. Ernie radioed in that the lock had a two-minute reset, so they’d have to wait two minutes after three failed attempts to try again. Hailey found what she thought could be a code in a few books. That code led to a key, which opened a drawer, and on and on it went, until they got the code to open that door, but that door led to another room with more objects and more clues. There was a safe, and with twenty minutes left, Charlie thought they’d found it, but the safe only had an old-fashioned transparency in it that she had no idea what to do with. It was Hailey that figured out that the letters written on it seemed to fit a keyboard and there was an old typewriter on a desk. She placed it on top and found that each letter represented another letter. Another piece of paper with random letters they’d found earlier now made sense, and they worked together to translate the code, which gave them the name of a city on the map and a direction. The map had push pins in it, with numbers written on them. They started at the first city and moved east, which gave them six numbers.
“We have two lockers,” Hailey said and then looked at the timer. “And thirty seconds, Charlie.”
“Read me the numbers,” she told her and grabbed a padlock on the locker on the left.
“Three, two, one, four, two, eight,” Hailey read them quickly. “It could be thirty-two, fourteen and twenty-eight or three, two, one and the four, two, eight are for the other locker,” she suggested.
Charlie turned the dial back and forth once and tried to open it, but nothing happened. In spy thrillers, they could get close enough and hear the soft clicks, but Charlie didn’t have time for that. She tried three, two, one, while Hailey gripped the other padlock and tried a combination of numbers to try to double their odds.
When Hailey’s combination failed, she looked up at the timer and noticed that they only had ten seconds left. Charlie prepared herself for the failure and for feeling guilty for not being a better fake insurance investigator with a really ineffective way of catching jewel thieves. Then she heard the click and the sound of the padlock unlocking. She pulled it away and opened the locker to see a giant and a very fake diamond inside.
“Congratulations, you have…” Ernie’s voice came over the radio, but Charlie didn’t hear it because she was too busy staring down at the diamond and then into Hailey’s eyes that were shining at her along with her wide smile.
“You did it,” she congratulated Charlie and wrapped her arms around her neck to pull her in for an embrace.
Charlie wrapped her arms tightly around Hailey’s waist, and after a moment, when they pulled away, she leaned in and captured Hailey’s lips without thinking. It took a second before she realized Hailey wasn’t kissing her back, and her heart started racing, not for their victory, but because she’d done something so incredibly stupid, but then she felt soft lips begin to move in harmony with her own. She gripped Hailey’s waist tighter, needing to hold her closer.
◆◆◆
Charlie’s lips had parted, and Hailey knew that her tongue was sliding inside Charlie’s mouth and that this new sensation was remarkable. As their tongues began a tentative dance, she splayed her hands on the small of Charlie’s back and enjoyed the depths of Charlie’s eager mouth, and the small, almost imperceptible moan she heard coming from her partner. Then, she heard a throat clear and realized they’d been interrupted. She pulled back, tried to give Charlie a reassuring glance, but it wasn’t possible, because Charlie’s face registered utter disbelief, mixed with absolute joy, and Hailey wasn’t sure anymore. She was terrified.
CHAPTER 16
“Let’s get your picture for the wall,” Ernie told them the moment they exited the room and stood back by the lockers against a bright green wall that had the name of the escape room on it in big black and white letters. Charlie’s arm went around Hailey’s waist and pulled her into her side. Ernie snapped a picture and congratulated them again. They pulled their items from the lockers and threw on their coats. Charlie couldn’t stop smiling. She knew she looked like a giggling little schoolgirl, but this date had already been the best date of her entire life, and it wasn’t even over.
Hailey was silent as they walked toward the car and climbed inside. Charlie wasn’t sure how to take that, because she thought their kiss had been amazing. Maybe Hailey had thought the opposite. Her facial expression when they broke apart was hard to read, because she wasn’t sure if the fear she saw in Hailey’s eyes was because she liked the kiss so much it was a little scary, or that she felt nothing and would have to tell Charlie that this wasn’t going anywhere after tonight.
“That was awesome, Hails. Thank you,” Charlie broke the silence.
“I have a confession to make,” Hailey stated while staring out the window, and Charlie gulped, hoping that the confession she was about to make wasn’t that she was taking her home because she didn’t want the date to continue after that kiss.
“Okay,” Charlie replied with severe trepidation.
“I asked them to alter the room,” she started and then turned to Charlie. “The real scenario is that we’re the diamond thieves, trying to steal the thing, but I knew JJ always made you the bad guy. I thought it would be nice for you to be the good guy for a change, so I called them earlier today and asked if they could change it up a little.”
“You did?” Charlie let out a sigh of relief.
“That’s kind of why it made little sense. They threw it together for me like three hours ago.”
“Hails…”
“I just wanted it to be something special for you.”
“Hailey, it was,” Charlie began and then turned in her seat to face her. “It was amazing. I don’t know how you thought of it, but no one’s ever done anything like that for me before.”
“Because you give off this vibe to people,” Hailey offered and then proceeded, “that you don’t want or need those kinds of gestures.”
“Yeah.” Charlie lifted the corner of her mouth; taken aback by how well Hailey knew her.
“But I know you, Charlie. I probably know you better than you do.” She laughed. “Which is why I’m taking us to the Rainforest Café right now.”
“We’re going to the Rainforest Café?” Charlie asked with excitement she couldn’t contain.
“You are such a kid sometimes.” Hailey laughed and turned the car into a parking garage. “I know you’ve wanted to go there but haven’t, because you only admitted to me that you wanted to check it out in passing, and then pretended like it didn’t matter. You’ve lived here forever, and you’ve never gone.”
◆◆◆
“Hails, I can’t believe you did all this for me.”
Hailey pulled them into a parking spot and turned off the car.
“Yeah,” she stated and then climbed out.
Charlie had gone from smiling to dumbfounded and confused. Hailey’s delivery had gone from happy and laughing to just plain matter-of-fact. Charlie climbed out of the car. Hailey waited for her so that they could walk to the restaurant together. The Rainforest Café was a theme restaurant with rainforest sights and sounds amongst the tables and came complete with a gift shop. It was a tourist trap, which was why a lot of locals avoided t
he place. But Charlie had always wanted to check it out, because it seemed like something fun to do while you were eating dinner; look at fake rainforest animals, listen to the water running around you, and watch the everyone’s childlike excitement as they ate and explored.
They made their way inside, and, thankfully, Hailey had made a reservation, because the place was packed. Charlie couldn’t recall if another woman had ever made reservations for her before and smiled, despite worrying about Hailey’s change in demeanor. She’d seen it happen twice already, and both times were after they shared their first kiss. Well, first, but maybe the last too, given the lack of any confirmation that Hailey had enjoyed it since. They were sat immediately and provided with menus. Charlie wasn’t yet interested in the food, because she was taking in the ridiculousness of the room around her. Trees hung all around them, and she could hear the sounds of forest birds chirping and cawing. A fake snake coiled in a tree over Hailey’s head. She made a note not to call her attention to it because Hailey hated snakes, real or otherwise, and just turning around and seeing the thing would likely cause her to freak out.
“Well?” Hailey asked her after several moments of Charlie’s gazing around.
Charlie returned her eyes to Hailey’s and noticed that the lightness had returned to them, which made her relax slightly.
“It’s cheesy. I love it,” she stated and earned a smile from Hailey in return.
There was a moment of shared awkwardness before their waiter approached and took their drink order. Hailey insisted Charlie order a fruity umbrella drink, that was the house special, while she stuck with iced tea, since she was driving. Charlie agreed, because Hailey had gone through so much trouble to put this all together for her. When the waiter returned with a bright blue concoction with not just an umbrella, but giant chunks of pineapple, oranges, and cherries skewered on a stick and deposited into the giant bowl sized cup, Charlie decided Hailey would have to at least help her drink a little of this thing. It was huge and would get her drunk very quickly if she didn’t pace herself. Hailey laughed at her while she tilted her head to try to look at it in more detail.
“You look like you’re trying to figure out where to start,” Hailey commented on the drink after their waiter left with their order.
“I am,” Charlie stated. “This thing is nuts.”
“It looked a lot smaller on the picture.” Hailey leaned over the table, getting closer to Charlie as she did so, and stirred the skewer around into the liquid before lifting her eyes to meet Charlie’s. “Tell me something I don’t know about you,” she said softly and a few inches from Charlie’s face.
“Something you don’t know? That’s probably a short list.” Charlie took a sip and was met with immediate sweetness and only the small hint of alcohol, which didn’t mean it wasn’t there or that it was in short supply. It meant that the drink was mixed with sweet liqueurs and that meant it was dangerous to someone like Charlie, who didn’t drink mixed drinks like this often. She’d pace herself. She took the straw and moved it around in the glass to pass to Hailey, who placed her hand on top of Charlie’s for a moment during the exchange. Charlie’s breath caught as she watched Hailey take a small sip of the sweet drink and smile once she pulled away.
“Tell me something about your friends in high school before we met,” Hailey suggested. “I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned anyone specifically.”
“Oh, I guess I don’t mention it because I don’t think I had real friends back then,” Charlie shared.
“You were popular, though, weren’t you? You’ve talked about having a lot of friends, and I know you had a boyfriend, Charlie Adams,” she mocked.
Charlie laughed and chanced placing her hand on top of Hailey’s as they both rested near the center of the small two-person table. Hailey looked down at their hands, one resting atop the other, and Charlie saw an almost imperceptible smile reach her lips before it reached her green eyes that looked even brighter, given all the dark green fake foliage around them. It took a moment, but then Hailey pulled her hand out from under Charlie’s. She didn’t move it away, though. She pushed it back into Charlie’s hand so that she could link their fingers. She stared at the hands for several long moments, while she apparently contemplated either how it felt or what she would do next. Charlie wasn’t certain what Hailey would do, but she was certain about how good it felt to hold her hand like this. She’d held Hailey’s hand a few times, but never like this, and this was definitely the best way to hold hands with someone.
“I had a boyfriend, yes, but I think we both know that was more of a beard-type situation.”
“I’ve never kissed a guy,” Hailey stated something Charlie already knew about her. “What was it like? Did it feel strange, since you already knew you liked girls?”
Charlie considered it for a moment and thought back to the few kisses she’d had with the only guy she’d kissed, before deciding she wouldn’t use another guy to hide her sexuality, but before she was brave enough to do anything about the fact that she was gay.
“It felt wrong,” she finally said and took a drink, holding the straw with her free hand because, she didn’t dare to let Hailey’s hand go. “Every time, it just felt wrong. Looking back on it, I remember feeling like I was having an out of body experience. It felt like it wasn’t me kissing him. I was watching, looking down from the sky or something at two people kissing one another, but it didn’t feel like me.”
“And when you kissed Julia for the first time?” Hailey asked, knowing the story of Charlie’s first time.
“Well, that was different.”
“Well, yeah,” Hailey agreed.
“No, not just because it was with another girl. It did feel good. It felt like I was at least kissing the right gender.”
“But not the right person?” Hailey questioned.
“No way.” Charlie laughed at that thought. “It was also different, though, because we didn’t kiss and then take time to savor it or even think about it. It was a kiss that immediately led to more. And when it was all done, I knew for sure that I was a gay, but I also wasn’t disappointed when nothing else happened with Julia.” Hailey’s facial expression was unreadable. “What?”
“I don’t know.” Hailey seemed to be thinking a lot tonight. “I just feel like you deserved better than that for your first time.”
“What? Like rose petals and candles and soft music?” Charlie laughed lightly. Hailey didn’t say anything, but she pulled her hands back. “Hails, I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay,” Hailey returned. “I did have the cliché first time experience.” She reminded Charlie, and Charlie had thoughts of Emma entering her mind, and Emma Colton was the last person she wanted to be thinking about while sitting across from Hailey on their first date. “But it was what we both wanted, and I’m glad it happened that way.”
“I’m sure,” Charlie returned and placed her hand on her lap, realizing that their moment of hand-holding had passed. “I didn’t mean anything by that. I just know what I was like back then, Hails. I didn’t think I’d ever find a way to express that part of myself. I was so closed off. That’s why I don’t think I had any real friends back then. I had people that I spent time with, and I had fun sometimes too, but not one of them knew me. Not one of them understood that I was hiding a very important part of myself, and because I’d pushed it down so deeply, I’d given up on ever expressing it. Then, I met Julia. I had an instant crush, and still thought that would be it, but she surprised me. We had a brief but pretty remarkable encounter, because even though it wasn’t planned or even that good, now that I know what good sex can be, it was what I needed at the time. It happened. I don’t regret it or even wish that it happened differently. It gave me confidence a couple of years later, when I met two crazy girls in a restaurant, to tell them that I was gay,” she confessed. “It gave me the best friends I’ve ever had, Hails. And for that, I’ll always be grateful to Julia.”
“Me too,” she agreed. “T
here’s something different about you now. I don’t know if it’s because I started seeing you differently or-”
“It’s because I told you,” Charlie shared confidently. “It’s the same thing as with Julia. There’s something that comes with fully recognizing yourself.”
“You’re freer somehow, lighter,” Hailey added.
“No more secrets. It feels that way to me too,” Charlie agreed.
They ate in relative but comfortable silence for several moments before the conversation picked up naturally. Charlie felt at ease as they talked more about their lives before one another and even a few funny memories they shared. They talked about their worst experiences waiting tables and some of the parties they went to after work.
“Oh, my God! I remember her,” Hailey exclaimed as she took a drink. “She followed you around for weeks until she got fired.”
“Dana Gifford,” Charlie said the woman’s name out loud and then set her fork on top of her plate, signaling that she was done eating. “She would not give up.”
“We went to that bar every Friday night after work, and she’d wait for you, even when you were closing. You played pool, and she’d stand behind you while you were lining up your shots. She tried to get you to teach her how to play.”
“She did,” Charlie admitted. “I can’t blame her, though.”
“Why? Because you’re so hot?” Hailey mocked with a small laugh.
“No, because we hooked up,” Charlie admitted.
Hailey’s smile disappeared from her face.
“You hooked up with her?”
“It was after you told me about your little crush on Ember.”
“What?” Hailey questioned.
“I liked you, but you were into her. Dana was nice. She hadn’t turned into the annoying version of herself yet. We talked one night after work. I walked her home, and she invited me up. We hooked up, and I figured that would be the end of it, but she started hanging around all the time and wanted to date. I didn’t want to date her, so I was thankful when she got fired.”
Just Tell Her Page 18