Trespassing

Twenty minutes later, we were standing in front of two large gates. They were padlocked and chained together. Barbed wire curled around the top of the fence that stretched along the perimeter of the massive property. Five furious rottweilers came bounding up to the gate, snarling and barking angrily in our faces.

"Tranquilo," I cooed as the dogs continued to growl and snap. Zac waved to the man who sat at the foot of the building, beckoning him over. The stranger wore filthy clothes, and his hair hadn't been washed in weeks. He calmed the dogs and began speaking to Zac in rapid Spanish.

A few minutes later, the gates opened. He led Zac and I into the half-finished building, then pointed to a broad flight of stairs that ran up the center of the dilapidated structure. Then he left us to ourselves.

"Who was he?" I asked as we began climbing the stairs. There were no safety railings, and the walls of the building appeared to be floor-to-ceiling glass — minus the glass. One could easily fall to their death if they took a single misstep.

"He's a squatter," Zac replied. "It sounds like he's allowed to sleep here with his family and the dogs. He just needs to make sure the place doesn't get vandalized."

"So we shouldn't, like, graffiti the walls? I never did that as a teen. I was a good girl," I grinned.

"Yeah, probably not a good idea," he shrugged. "Unless you want to be mauled by a rottweiler. Oh, and I found out this building's been abandoned for eight years. Eight years, Nikki! A beautiful place like this! What a waste!"

I continued climbing. "You know, you better get Pablo to check out its history. You don't want to touch anything with narco connections, and the government seized a lot of property around here. Isn't it a bit suspicious that it's been abandoned for so long and no one has bought it? This land must be worth a lot."

"Nah, it's Colombia. There are tons of abandoned projects here. I'll get Pablo to check it out, but it's probably fine."

"Okay," I shrugged. "I just don't want to be murdered in my sleep because you were a dickhead to a bunch of has-been narcos who were parking their dirty money in a dilapidated building, and they think I'm your girlfriend."

Zac turned around and looked me straight in the eye. "If someone did that, I'd find them, and I'd have to kill them. I would. Don't laugh. I'm serious. I'd go full John Wick on their arse. You know that, right?"

I nodded. Zac was nothing if not ferociously loyal.

"Good," he said as he turned around and started marching up the stairs again. "No one fucks with my sister."

A few minutes later, we reached the top of the staircase, which opened onto a vast open rooftop. We both ran over to the edge of the building and sat on the dirty ground, right near the ledge. The sun was setting. The view was breathtaking.

"I thought my apartment had the best vista in the city, but this is next level," Zac sighed. "We could turn this whole roof into a garden and put the pool over there. And why not install a bar over there? And we can have a co-working space on the bottom level, and floor-to-ceiling glass windows in all the apartments. It's going to be incredible!"

I'd always been fascinated by Zac's ability to charge fearlessly into the unknown. His tolerance for risk was insane. He'd come up with a crazy hare-brained scheme, then a few weeks later, the wheels would be in motion. His projects didn't always work out — I'd seen him teetering on the edge of financial ruin several times over the years, and I often found myself pleasantly surprised that he hadn't gotten himself killed yet. Nevertheless, his escapades always led to a great story and a life well-lived, which is what seemed to matter in the end.

"And," Zac continued, "I want to buy that patch of land on the hill up there, then 3D print a castle. I've always wanted to get married in my own castle." He pointed to the mountainous escarpment on the other side of the city where we sometimes went paragliding on the weekend. Occasionally, Zac and I would ride up there on his motorbike and trek across paddocks full of horses and dairy cows, scouting for the perfect view. The farmers were always happy to let us look around their land if we asked nicely. I personally craved the silence at the top of the mountain. It was pure peace and tranquility.

"So, do I get to be your best man?" I joked.

"That would make Bryce very sad."

"Oh, come on," I coaxed. "I'll make it look sexy. I can show up in one of those completely impractical tuxedo suits that the models wear on the red carpet. You know... those suits where they aren't wearing a shirt underneath and the jacket cuts all the way down to their navel, with some serious side-boob action. Although, those models do have thighs like a baby giraffe so I'm not sure if this plan is going to turn out like an 'expectation... reality' meme, but it's worth a try. What do you think?"

Zac glared at me. "Nikki, you are not wearing a shirtless tuxedo to my wedding. Besides, I have to actually meet someone to marry before the aforementioned wedding will occur."

"Is that what you want?" I asked. "To get married?"

He let out a long sigh. "Marriage, children, a family, a castle, a legacy. I want it all, Nikki. I want to build a life with someone. It's just hard, y'know? We have a very strange lifestyle, you and I. I mean, my home base is here in Colombia, but my family is in Australia, my friends are spread throughout the world, and I spend a good portion of each year traveling. And I don't want to marry an unattached twenty-two-year-old who is young and pretty but hasn't lived a life of her own or had a career yet. I need someone intelligent who knows who she is, but those women have their own shit going on, and I can't expect them to drop everything to come traveling with me."

"I hear you," I replied. "I know we've said it a million times before, but it's a shame we aren't attracted to each other. It would be very convenient."

Zac looked me up and down. "Alas, I find you repulsive. The thought of kissing you makes me want to throw up in my mouth a little bit."

"Ah," I sighed. "There are so many things I want to do in this life, and you are not one of them."

"Thanks."