Chapter 17
After hanging up on Bailey, he quickly heads to the bathroom to change and find an activity to do for the day. Unsure for what activity to pick, he looks at his phone to look for something for the small but beautiful Australian town. He's already went to the beach, went camping, and went to a crocodile park. With those things in mind, what else can Ricky do other than going to the beach again? He scrolled through the activities and are left with three options: bird-watching, kayaking, and golf.
The bird-watching option was out of the question ever since his childhood trauma with that experience. As a kid, he and his father went to the Bernheim Arboretum to explore nature of the South as they've done it in the past. While they sat down to look at the lake, a group of birds approached them and hitting both of them, but more so on Ricky, leaving him bruised and bloodied and left with a lifetime fear of birdwatching. The golf wasn't Ricky scene because his parents didn't indulge in the country club lifestyle with camping and being just regular people. The kayaking will be the only option since after all, kayaking was a camping pastime for anyone who loves the outdoors.
He booked the kayaking activity for the next two hours to subside his worries. Jewel will be okay and Maude is just an unbearable nightmare, he kept promising himself as his mind replays the previous conversations convincing him that mindset. Once he pays the booking, he also books an Uber where it read that his ride will arrive in 10 minutes. So far, his destinations have either been walking distance or for the most part, driving distance lasting from minutes to hours depending on the viewpoint.
He changes from his loungewear to his athletic wear for the kayaking and heads out of his hotel room. He continues to walk until he sees an elevator to go down to the lobby. He enters the elevator with other people already inside. As the elevator closes, he looks around the people and stands in the back. The elevator ride becomes uneventful as people come and go within a span of seconds until the elevator finally lands on the lobby. He runs out of the elevator and continues until he reaches a bench to sit down to wait for the ride.
10 minutes roll by with Ricky sitting in the back of the Uber he ordered on his phone, the driver looks up at the rearview to see through his thoughts.
"Hey mate, are you all right?" the driver asks.
"Huh, what? I'm okay, just worrying about life in general. I want to ride a camel to keep my sanity." Ricky puts down his phone and wipes his face.
"Keep your sanity? You just told me you were all right!" the driver exclaimed.
"It's just my girlfriend and kind of adapting to this town. It's beautiful, don't get me wrong, but I want to explore more of the city, you know. I know it's small, but there could be more." Ricky sighs as the driver nods.
"Oh, I see. You're in love and something has gone awry. It's okay if you don't want to go into full detail." The driver concluded.
"I don't know how to describe it other than it's complicated. So complicated that I want a break for myself." Ricky screams before hyperventilating.
The driver remains silent to figure out a way to calm his passenger's nerve. He might not know him personally, but he might give him some wisdom despite the age difference. The same kind of wisdom that Desmond and everyone else gave him but hasn't fully set in yet because he was too stubborn, thinking that he was doing the right thing for Jewel.
"Mate, listen to me. I got to admit, being young and in love is not easy. I can understand where you're coming from. I really did care about my ex, but I cared about her more than she cared about me since we were from different backgrounds and she wanted to impress the people from said background. I honestly thought something was wrong with me until years later where people who need to please others for one reason or another aren't worth the time." He confessed.
"Wow, that's terrible! I mean, after all, it's her loss." Ricky reassured.
"I'm okay now that I have a family that loves and cares about me. I learned from that experience that some people aren't worth being invested in. Hopefully you won't have to experience what I had to experience, I bet your girlfriend is going through a tough time, but at the end of the day, give her space and see if she's actually invested because most people can be just shallow and self-centered." The driver said.
"Let's wait and see what happens because I'm going out with her tomorrow and attending a party that her and her family are hosting this weekend, so there's that." Ricky hoped with the driver turning his attention.
"Oh, my goodness, you were right to take this self-care thing! You have a lot going on, mate! Does any of your family or friends know about this? Because I'm sure they're just as confused and flabbergasted as I am." The driver wondered.
"Well, they are. However..." Ricky stops before stampeding for his correct way to his approach.
"However what, mate?" The driver insists on him continuing.
"Will it all be worth it, though?" Ricky wondered.
"I don't know, that's up to you to figure out. No one can make that decision for you, if you care about someone, who are they to judge you for it." The driver said.
Ricky closes his eyes and rubs his forehead as his head slouches towards the back of the driver seat. The pressure increases with his romance and the detriment of the oppressor of it, but the only way that alleviates it was his family and friends' support and Jewel's family to a certain extent given what happened to Jewel's father. From what he can see, Jewel's father was one of those parents that seem like a nice person but allowed himself to please everyone to avoid conflict. His relationship with her father would be left undetermined. For now, until the party.
As the ride slows down, Ricky grabs his belongings and phone to see what time it is. It's 2:15 pm with the last hours spent on talking to Bailey and finding an activity to look for with its limited options. It was nice exploring new places, but after a while, was exploring that place really worth the time or effort to do it, especially a place where there's little to do? He sighs and gets out of the car with his things.
"Thank you so much for dropping me off here." Ricky said, waving at the driver goodbye.
"No problem, mate. Remember break up with your girlfriend if it doesn't work out." The driver said, pointing at him.
Ricky tips the driver and walks away to enter the campground. He carefully walks into the rocky path as he holds on the rock to prevent himself from injuring himself. He sees a group of people standing next to the kayaks, assuming that he was the last person to enter the team. He slides down to the ground and drops his stuff to run to the kayaks to begin sailing.
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