She eyed him. “Not because of you. I’m doing this for myself. Despite what Berkeley may think, I don’t need this. Even if it means I’ll never go on another archaeological dig again, I’m not going to be bullied by people like my boss or Dr. Quinn into thinking that I need their approval to be happy.”
“And you’re sure this is whatyouwant?”
“Rafa? I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Now come on,” she said, pulling him up by the arm. “I want to go out in the Amazon once more, just with you.”
“And do what?”
“I want to take it in. We’ve been here for over three weeks, and I haven’tseenanything.”
He chuckled. “What are you talking about?”
“Each day, we’ve walked through this forest looking for clues, but I never opened my eyes. I want toexperiencethe Amazon. And what were you saying? What’s the point if you don’t have someone to experience life with?”
He smiled, gave her a quick kiss, and they went to theircabins to grab their things before hiking into the Amazon for the last time. Likely Miri’s last time ever.
Miri led the way, with Rafa hot on her trail. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach as she thought about what might happen after this, especially now that she was effectively unemployed—or at least would be once she got back to the States. But she didn’t care. She was free.
Free from worrying about trying to impress others. Free from pretending to be someone she was not. Her whole life she had tried to conform. People tolerated her, but few truly understood her. Corrie. Anissa.
And now Rafa. He understood herandseemed to appreciate all of her quirks.
They traveled along a familiar path—the last thing they needed was to get lost on their final day—stopping to take pictures of the bromeliads and forest mushrooms. Rafa managed to snap a shot of a falcon swooping through the dense understory and capturing a coral snake. They spotted a sloth slowly traversing from one tree to another. They took a snack break beside a shallow stream, taking in the sounds of the water babbling across the smooth stones lining the streambed along with the twittering birds chirping in the trees.
“Before we go back, can we stop by that dumb hunk of rock?” she asked.
“What hunk of rock? The mesa de pedra?”
She nodded. “I know it’s notthemesa de pedra, but itwasbeautiful. I’d like to see it once more.”
He took her hand and smiled, leading her back along the trail they’d traversed over a dozen times by that point. By now, they knew the way. They could probably find it with their eyes closed.
As they reached the ravine, rather than take the long way, they each grabbed a vine, swinging across the understory and through the wall of vines. Miri landed on the stone with perfection, and Rafa landed on the ground next to her. At least she could go home having mastered one thing on this trip.
Miri ran her hand along the smooth rock, noticing all its imperfections and impurities. All the things that made it unique and magnificent.
“Come on, I want to get some photos of you with the stone,” Rafa said, stealing her attention.
Miri’s body stiffened. “Me?”
Rafa looked from side to side, front to back. “Yeah, you. You don’t see anyone else over here, do you?”
“But…but why do you want pictures of me now? It’s just a rock. And the expedition is dead.”
“Because I still have a story to write. And you discovered this hulking thing,” he said, patting it with his hand. “It’ll be great for the article.”
Miri thought about the spreadArchaeological Digesthad featured Corrie in several years back. It had catapulted her into archaeological stardom. Helped her land her job at UC Berkeley. She’d looked so cool in the photos and effortlessly sexy. This article that Rafa was writing forGlobal Geography, maybe it could do the same for Miri. Even without finding the Moon City.
“Okay,” she said. “What are you thinking?”
He motioned for her to move closer to the stone. “Stand over there and change up your pose every couple of snaps. I take a lot of photos, so keep trying different things and I’ll find one that works.”
Miri walked over to the stone and rested the edge of her butt on the corner, then arched her back and cocked her head to theside with her arms crossed in front of her, mimicking a photo she recalled from Corrie’s article. “Like this?” she said.
Rafa lifted his brow. “Um, okay. Sure. Just keep moving, though.”
Snap!
She then climbed on top of the stone, sitting with one leg bent and the other stretched out like her sister’s high school cheerleading squad photos.Snap!Then she rested on her side and propped her head up using her arm.Snap!She then sat up again, and gave him Kardashian duck lips—they were always on magazine covers, right?—waiting for the nextsnapto change position. And waited. What was taking so long?
