The first pickup

I still remember when Christopher picked Jason and I up at a fuel station with all our gear. We headed to the airport and eventually got on the plan. Even Chris couldn’t contain his excitement. He grabbed my hand, which was our first touch in three and a half years, and squeezed it. I felt a jolt go through my body and a flare of red ran through to my cheeks. Jason talked our ears off, he had read so much about Alaska.

He told us about how the landscapes will mostly be green this time of the year. The forests, meadows, and valleys are known to be lush, with wildflowers in bloom, and the mountainsides tend to be dotted with greenery as well. There will still be glaciers and snow that remain in higher elevations, so we’ll still see white caps from a distance.

To me it not only sounded dreamy, it sounded romantic. I had a lot of plans for Christopher and was sure it was my best chance to win him over.

After our flight landed, Chris was straight to business. He did not want to waste anytime. But he kept on speaking to Jason about everything as if it was just going to be the two of them. I was sent to get the coffee and sent to get our lunch.

Our lift arrived and we had a long drive to the lodge that hired us to do a documentary for them. The brief was simple. They wanted people to know how extraordinary Alaska was and how much there was to see. Christopher asked me to find our cabins and help our driver to place our bags in the right places while him and Jason was going to get a tour with the owner. I was so upset but did it nonetheless. Later the two men came back beaming with laughter and reminiscing over stories that the owner Ben had shared with them. The next three days were no different. I found myself left behind with the cooking as my sole responsibility. If he was going to keep me cooped up in a cabin why did he go through the trouble of giving me strength training. And then I had enough, I decided that I may as well go exploring instead of reading a book all day.

I was well aware that I was put past the time Chris and Jason would return. I found a swing by a creek and listened to my playlist that I prepared for the three of us, that’s when I felt a sudden force dip on my shoulders and a rage stricken Chris barking at me. I took my earphones off and let him finish.

“Chris, there is a team here that does cooking and cleaning, give them your schedule and send me home. I did not come here to just make meals and clean lenses. I want to go home.”

Chris gave me a long look. “You can’t go home, all the expenses are paid for, your ticket is set for three months from now.”

With tears in my eyes I shouted at him and could not believe my tone. “I want to go home, I’m disappointed in you, I thought you chose me because I had something real to offer, not to just be a buffer because you had to pick two people. I have been here for two longer years than Jason. I have trained under you, why am I not good enough to help with the documentary?”

Astonished Christopher looked at me. “The hikes are hard, even for me. I thought it would be tough for you.”

“I did all the training with you guys, you know what I can handle.”

“Yes, but that was till I saw the landscape here, Terry was right, I was out of my mind for bringing you but I wanted to share this with you and Jason, I would have given anything at your age just to be here. And I figured at least you could just be here.”

“Being here is not enough for me, I want to do the work, I want to be part of the team.”

“Okay, you have a deal, prep tonight we going on a five day trail.”