Burning Desire

Race

It was a short drive to the warehouse, mostly passed in silence as the issue from earlier hung heavy in the air between us. But that all changed as soon as I cut the engine, and Lacey saw where I'd brought her.

"Rock climbing?"

"Yup." I replied cheerily, pulling the key from the ignition and opening my door.

She followed suit, joining me outside and swinging it shut, looking up at the large warehouse.

"Why here?"

I shrugged, leading the way towards the main entrance.

"I thought a little competitive sport was a good way to take my mind off of everything," I explained, holding the door open and catching her eye. "And I only wanted to be around one other person."

She flushed a light shade of pink, and smiled at me, walking through the doors.

We split up to change, then met back up inside the climbing room, a large, open plan space with various walled structures at different angles and shapes filling the area. The light grey walls were splattered with colour, making them look like victims in a paintball tournament. The closer you got though, the clearer that you could make out the various coloured splodges were in fact different shaped rocks. The cool breeze from the air conditioning caught on my skin as we passed under the large vents, and got kitted up to the wall at the far end of the room.

"What do you say we make this a little more interesting?" I asked her, stepping closer to the base, and looking up, mentally plotting my map up the wall.

She adjusted her harness, looking over at me with playful curiosity, biting her lip.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Loser buys drinks."

She considered it for a moment, before adding:

"Throw in take out, and you have a deal." She countered.

I nodded, holding out my hand. With a chuckle, she took it, shaking firmly with a determined, firm grip. After enlisting the help of a nearby worker, we were counted in, and began our climbing race.

My muscles flexed with each stretch as I reached for the next rock in my path to the top. I glanced down to my feet as I moved them higher, feeling around for a firm surface to place them on, searching. Lacey was on level with me, her own speed matching mine and making this a head to head race. I laughed as she turned her head my way long enough to stick her tongue out in a playful teasing manner, before hauling herself higher, managing to overtake me by barely an inch. I refused to be beaten, my inner competitive nature rising to the surface and forcing me on, dragging my body higher up the wall, putting myself in the lead.

The wall started to curve into an overhang, the newly angled climb making the transition tricky to navigate. I heard scuffling to my left and glanced over to Lacey, seeing her stumble slightly, her feet having fallen from the rocks. She was determinedly hanging on by her fingertips, her feet scraping the wall as she attempted to regain her footing. I didn't pause to think, not even registering that her harness was there to keep her safe, it was just on instinct alone that I reached out and gripped her arm, holding her safely in place whilst she found her footing.

"What was that for?" She asked, when she'd regained her place on the wall.

She looked confused, and it suddenly dawned on me that I'd only saved her from a gently guided lowering, and a soft, feet first landing on a thick safety mat below. But although I could realise that now, in the moment, all that I'd seen was someone I cared about, a team member, a family member, hanging precariously in need of help. And there wasn't a single part of me that was built to ignore that, nor able to stop myself from reacting on instinct.