Take Me to Infinity

Autum felt like her stomach was doing somersaults in her abdomen as she took the stairs down to the parking lot. She hated being so anxious, hated the way every nerve in her body felt like it was bundled up in some kind of knot that she couldn’t untie, no matter how hard she tried.

With every step, her breathing hitched and her pulse quickened, and she was almost blinded when she walked out into the bright sunshine. The rays were warm against her tanned skin, but they did nothing to steady her nerves.

Her brown eyes scanned the two rows of gleaming cars for James, but she didn’t spot him until she strolled out into the parking lot, past the first row of spaces. He was leaning against a black convertible, his arms crossed and his hazel eyes watching the cars pass by.

As soon as he saw her come his way, a bright smile spread across his face, and it was that smile that caused all of Autum’s stress and insecurities to melt away, if only for that moment. His smile was contagious, and even though her teeth weren’t as straight or white as his, Autum couldn’t keep her lips from twisting to mimic James’s expression.

“Hey, how’s it going?” she asked, smile still firmly in place as she leaned against the car beside him.

He ran a hand through his hair, and she noticed tiny golden highlights from the sun. “Well, so far so good. You didn’t stand me up or bail on me like I thought you would,” he laughed as he turned towards her, using his hand to shield his vision from the sun.

“Come on! I’ve never blown you off. Have a little faith in me,” she replied before trailing her fingers across the shiny black exterior of the car. “Is this your car? Ya know, the one we’ve heard so much about but have never seen?”

James chuckled slightly. "Yep, this is my ride. Pretty sweet, huh?"

"Oh yes, definitely worth the wait," she joked. "What is it with you guys and black cars anyways?"

"It's so that we can ride incognito at night," he replied, but his statement was quickly followed by a shrug and a laugh.

"Okay, whatever you say," she said as she walked around to the passenger's side. "So where are you taking me today? Better be pretty entertaining considering you ripped me away from Springer."

James couldn't help but laugh as he slid into the driver's seat. "Springer is pretty hard to beat, but I think I got this."

"What do you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise," he claimed as he cranked up the car and let down the convertible top. The cool breeze was a relieving contrast to the stuffy interior of the car.

Autum shot him a suspicious glance as she closed the car door.

"Just trust me, Autum. It'll be fun," he swore as he began to back out of his parking space. "I'm not taking you bungee-jumping or anything intense like that."

"Okay." She pretended to breathe a sigh of relief as she let her head fall back onto the soft cream leather of the car seat.

Silence filled the car as Autum watched James try to pull out onto the street, his eyes focused on the cars whizzing by as he tried to judge the proper time to turn.

As they cruised down the road, James reached to flip on the radio, and the car was instantly flooded with one of the latest top 40 hits.

“I never pegged you as a pop person,” Autum laughed, her gaze shifting towards the numbers on the screen.

He laughed a little to himself but kept his eyes glued to the road ahead of him. “Honestly, I’m not. I just haven’t gotten around to putting all of my CDs back in here again.”

“Oh okay, gotcha,” she replied, but she wasn’t really paying attention to the conversation anymore.

Her attention was now directed towards the city that seemed to be unfolding all around her. In all honesty, she hadn’t really ventured into the city much during the day, so everything was still new to her. She felt like a little kid, just trying to soak up the sights around her.

The weather that day was perfect, and the sky seemed to open up above them. Wispy clouds stretched out across the sky like white strands of cotton candy, and Autum couldn’t help but feel like this wasn’t her life, like somehow she didn’t deserve this. She was supposed to be stuck in a small town in upstate South Carolina, working at the Piggly Wiggly, a job that she hated, and still dating Brad, a nice but overall average guy. As she sat in the passenger’s seat of James convertible, her arm resting on the window and her hand grazing the side, she couldn’t help but feel like this was all too surreal. She didn’t deserve this life.

Stealing a glance at James as he softly sung along with the radio, Autum wondered what he could possibly see in her. James, with his rising career, amazing personality, and great looks, should’ve either been with a supermodel or some outrageously sweet girl that bathed elderly and rescued puppies in her spare time. Autum Jones fell into neither of those categories.

Autum snapped back to reality when whatever song that was playing before faded into that over-played Train song. Even though it was annoying, Autum couldn’t help but sing along with the catchy tune.

James laughed to himself, and Autum glanced over at him curiously.

“Never pegged you as a Train person,” he replied smugly as he flexed his fingers against the steering wheel.

“Ha ha,” Autum responded dryly. “So…James…where are we going again?”

He raised an eyebrow before rolling his eyes dramatically. “Autum, I’m not telling you, so you might as well stop trying. We’re almost there anyway.”

“Good, I was never really big on long car rides,” she joked, flashing him a smile.

James shook his head. “Then how the hell did you end up in Los Angeles of all places?”

Autum sighed as she watched cars speed by. “I’m still trying to figure that one out myself.”

>>

Fifteen minutes later, James pulled the car over in a parking lot and announced that they had reached their destination. As James gathered some things from the trunk, Autum casually searched her surroundings for any clue that might give away what exactly they were doing, but she found nothing.

“Come on, let’s go!” James said cheerfully as he stood just outside of her door, a black backpack slung across his shoulders.

“Alright, I’m coming,” she replied as she stepped out of the car. Reaching her arms toward the sky, Autum stretched out her body before following James towards the edge of the parking lot.

“The lack of signs around here is pretty sketchy,” she remarked as she surveyed the area once more.

James groaned in frustration but continued to lead her further. When they reached the edge of the parking lot, he sarcastically pointed to a weathered green sign; they were going to walk a trail.

“Before you give me shit,” he started with a slight hint of laughter in his voice, “I thought it would be neat idea to just walk and talk, plus, I packed us a picnic for when we reach the end of the trail.”

Although Autum wasn’t exactly what they would call “outdoorsy,” she was impressed by the obvious thought James had put into everything. Though it wasn’t her, she could appreciate the fact that it was a cute date, even if it was a little more than she’d had in mind.

>>

The hike in itself wasn’t actually that bad; the conversation helped take Autum’s mind off of the physicality of it all, but her calves were sore and she couldn’t wait until they reached the end so that she could sit down. She made a mental note that she needed to start going to the gym again; she was definitely out of shape.

To James, the hike was no sweat, and he was constantly slowing down so that Autum could keep up with him. He didn’t get frustrated with her though, he just laughed and made light of it all, which she appreciated.

They talked about almost everything, and the more Autum learned about James, the more real he became to her, and she found herself growing more and more attracted to him. He was proving himself to be more than just the pretty faced guy she’d labeled him as when they first met, and she felt guilty for judging him.

It was also the first time in quite a while that Autum had to explain the small, everyday aspects of her life, such as her odd family dynamics or how she hated the food on her plate to touch each other. Most of the people in her life back in South Carolina had known her for years and were tuned in to these things; new people rarely made their way into her life. Talking with James was refreshing because everything was still new. They weren’t having the same old conversations over and over again like she and Kandi often did.

It took Autum a moment to realize that they’d finally reached the end of the trail, and though she’d failed to notice the constant gushing sound of water as they grew closer to the end, the sight in front of her was truly breath-taking. Water cascaded from a ledge above them, the main focal point in the small valley enclosed by evergreen trees. Autum could feel the cool dampness hanging in the air around them, and she felt like she was being washed away, every thought in her mind was pounded against the rocks until they dissolved into nothing.

“Pretty cool, eh?” James asked as he began to pull things out of his backpack.

“It’s gorgeous,” she answered, still a little lost for words.

“I hate to say ‘I told you so,’ but…” he allowed his voice to trail off as he spread a throw over a patch of lush green grass.

“Oh shut up,” she said in response, but she couldn’t hide the laughter in her voice.

As she and James rested by the waterfall, devouring the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches he had packed, Autum was truly content with how her life was playing out.

I do deserve this.