I hadn't thought much past getting the hell out of this hole, but we took a zodiac to get here, which meant there was one we could use to escape. At least I hoped so. Otherwise, we were going to be shit out of luck.
"And where are we taking this boat to?"
"I don't know."
Sarah didn't ask another question, and based on the quiet, I figured she was mulling my answers over. They weren't the best, but it was all I had at the moment.
"Let's do it."
"Just like that? I thought you would have more to say."
Sarah laughed and it was the sweetest sound considering our dark predicament.
"I mean I have a million more questions if you want. Some are pertinent to us escaping and others are just because I'm curious."
Before I could think better of it, I opened my mouth to ask, "What kinds of things are you curious about?"
When I first met Sarah, I was determined to keep my distance because I found her attractive. But the longer we spent together, the harder that was.
"Like what's your favorite color?"
I snickered. "That's an easy one. Navy blue. You?"
"Yellow. But not a bright yellow. More like a soft yellow. Especially when I find hydrangeas in that color."
I didn't know the difference between a hydrangea and other flowers, but I had the sudden urge to look it up.
"Is that your favorite flower?" the question popping out of my mouth. If we were going to be stuck in this hole for another ten hours or so, it was better to do it talking than in silence.
"That and peonies. I know most women prefer roses but not me. I think they’re too cliché."
One point for Sarah. My bitch of an ex had only liked roses. She would say they were the only way to express love.
"What's your favorite food?" Sarah was already onto the next question.
"Steak and potatoes. I know, I'm real original."
Again, Sarah chuckled and I found I would do, and say, just about anything to hear that sound.
"Nothing wrong with being original. I'm more of a pasta girl. Give me chicken parm over penne any day of the week and I'm happy.”
Another point for Sarah. She was a woman who had good taste in food and wasn't afraid to eat it.
We continued the back and forth of questions for the next several hours. I learned more about Sarah in that time than I ever knew about my ex-wife in all the years we were married.
I also realized rather quickly that if I didn't guard my heart, it would be easy to fall in love with this woman. She was everything a man was looking for, but I had been scarred by love once and I wasn't sure I wanted to go through that again.
When the time came for us to put our plan into action, I began to have doubts. There were so many holes in what I wanted to do that I wasn't even sure it would work. But then my stomach growled and I remembered why we were doing this.
"Are you ready?" I asked Sarah. She was nestled into the crook of my arm, so I felt rather than saw her nod her head. "On the count of three."
Sarah slipped out of my arms and we both got to our knees as I slowly counted. When I hit three, we both began to shout and bang on the wooden door above our heads.
"Hey!!
"Hey, out there?"
"Open up!"
