“No, I get it.” Michael wished he could leave his breakfast and let the ground swallow him whole. He had embarrassed himself enough already and this girl clearly had some heavy shit going on.
“I was thinking maybe some ruins. I’ve been so busy; I haven’t had a chance to see any yet.”
“Yeah. Totally.” He smiled, and then overcompensated by frowning, not wanting to look too eager.
He flagged down the waitress. “Una cafe por favor.” He assumed he had said it wrong as the waitress looked at him blankly. “Black coffee.” He reverted back to English and luckily she spoke English better than he spoke Spanish.
He leaned in to Josie. “Did I say it right?”
“Your pronunciation is all off. Don’t worry about it.” She leaned back in her chair.
After breakfast, Michael went to book the tour, and luckily there were still two seats left. He agreed to meet Josie back in the lobby. He’d seen his fair share of ruins already on this trip, but this time an odd feeling of excitement crept up on him. It had been so long, he almost forgot what it felt like.
Chapter Seven
The white bus dropped them off on the roadside, and the driver announced that they had two hours to walk around before they had to be back. There was no tour guide included, not that Michael minded, as he was far more interested in finding out what Josie had been talking to her parents about, than he was in the ruins.
Wisps of cloud stretched across the blue sky, which disappeared as they made their way into the jungle, and the trees shielded them from the constant glare of the sun. Josie stopped in front of a large sign to look at the map of the area.
“The main ruins are to the left.” She took the fork in the road and he followed her down the tree-lined path. They weren’t even that deep in the jungle, yet he already had two red bumps on his shoulders. Mosquitoes just loved to feast on him.
Josie watched him scratch. “Mosquitoes never seem to bite me. Like my blood isn’t good enough for them.”
“Think yourself lucky.” He firmly rubbed his fingers across the itchy part of his arm, trying not to irritate the skin even more.
“So you never said where you’re going tomorrow. Somewhere nice, I hope?”
“Arenales.” She concentrated on the path ahead, marching as if she were on a mission.
“You ever heard of living in the moment? Slow down and smell the roses.” He picked up his pace to keep up with her, regretting not renting one of the bikes on offer.
“I want to get to the ruins,” she said, maintaining her pace.
“Life’s about the journey, not the destination.” He came up beside her.
“You’re full of idioms today, aren’t you?” She smiled.
He wondered how she wasn’t all red, and out of breath like he was. It was already far more humid than it was back at the hotel. He felt sticky, like he already needed a shower since this morning. “So what’s in Arenales?” He asked, trying to remain casual. “Never heard of it.”
“It’s not that popular. People used to go to a wildlife sanctuary near there, but it closed down a while back.”
He stayed quiet, waiting for her to elaborate, hoping her words would fill the space he had left for her.
“I’m looking for something… someone.”
He waited for her to finish, but no more words came. Sensing her awkwardness, he put her out of her misery. “It’s fine you don’t have to—”
“It was my sister. A year ago. She was kidnapped.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.” He had suspected she might say something like this and tried so hard to sound surprised he realized he had done a shitty job of sounding empathetic. Not that he was ever helpful in these types of situations anyway. He didn’t have anyone close enough to him to miss if they were gone.
“They never found her, not alive or de…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
“That sucks. It must be awful not knowing. Is that what you’re doing in Arenales?” He swatted an insect that hovered around his face.
“I know it’s stupid. I know some girl like me isn’t going to get anywhere. I know I’m kidding myself. It’s not like I’m going to magically find her or anything, but I can try. It’s almost like… I don’t know… like if I go to where she last was, that I’d be closer to her somehow.”
“I understand, I mean I don’t understand, obviously, but I get it.” He lit up a cigarette to take the edge off, then instantly wondered if he was even allowed to smoke here. It was too late now. “Do you have a plan?” He inhaled deeply and released a stream of smoke into the air.
“Not really. When I got here, I reached out to the police, the consulate, the press. They were about as helpful as they were when it all happened.”
“So what happened exactly? I mean, you don’t have to tell me, but it might help to get it out, maybe?” He looked down at his cigarette as ash floated off the end.
“I was at home. I was living with my parents at the time, saving for my own place. She called. She was in a taxi and they demanded money for her release. The authorities told us not to pay, but my dad was adamant. They were supposed to let her go. My dad did everything they asked. Paid the next day to some untraceable bank account. Basically, all of their money. We wouldn’t have given a shit, we would have paid anything. But they never let her go. She never came back.”
Michael knew if he opened his mouth he would probably say the wrong thing. He offered her the second half of his cigarette.
“Thanks.” She breathed in deeply. “I think I might look into the cab companies.”
“That sounds a bit dangerous. What if something happened
