‘Good. Now, hurry up before I change my mind.’
*
‘You’re doing great,’ Jacob reassured her, his grip tight around her waist, his body solid against her back. ‘Keep the handlebars steady.’
Breathe, Olivia.
Remember to breathe.
She tried to straighten up, but instead sent the bike off to the left.
‘Oh my god. I can’t do it,’ she squeaked.
‘Yes, you can.’ He spoke calmly in her ear. ‘You’ve got this, Olivia.’
The bike was bumbling along at a steady pace. For the first ten minutes it had been very stop and start, with Olivia spending more time stationary than moving. But to his credit, Jacob had been patient and encouraging, giving her as much time as she needed to get going again. Not that he had much choice; she was their only ticket home.
‘Now, we’ve got a straight bit of road coming up with no twists or turns. It might be the perfect opportunity to try going a bit faster? If you wanted.’
‘I’m going quite fast enough, thank you.’
‘Your choice; I was only saying.’
‘Well, don’t.’ She straightened up a little, feeling the bike shift under her weight.
‘I’m proud of you for doing this.’
‘Thank you, but you can save your patronizing praise for when I’ve delivered us home safely. We’re not there quite yet.’
‘As you wish.’ Jacob chuckled, readjusting his arms so that they wrapped tighter around her. ‘What do you think your sister would say if she saw you driving a motorbike then, hey?’
Olivia relaxed her shoulders and tried to calm her mind.
‘I think …’ She smiled, knowing exactly what Leah would have thought. ‘I think she’d be impressed. Shocked, but impressed.’
‘Me too.’
The pair sat in silence as Olivia drove the bike steadily on, through the dense vegetation and out into the open. The wind was cold in her face, but she was concentrating so hard that she barely felt its bite.
‘Woah,’ Jacob gasped from behind.
‘What? What’s going on?’
‘The sky,’ he marvelled. ‘You have to look up at the sky right now.’
‘I can’t, Jacob, I’m driving.’
‘I know you are, but seriously …’ He gave her a gentle squeeze. ‘Trust me.’
Olivia flicked her eyes upward.
‘Holy shit!’
It was the clearest night sky she’d ever seen in her life. Thousands of stars poked their silver heads through the blanket of indigo, clustering around one another in intricate, dazzling patterns. It was magical. It was intoxicating. And the more Olivia tried to take it in, the more it seemed to grow, expanding outwards and upwards like a glittering ocean. The tides of the heavens, painted in such spectacular detail that they didn’t look real.
‘It’s amazing.’
‘Hell yes, it’s amazing!’ Jacob whooped in appreciation, releasing his hands from her waist and throwing them up to the sky.
