“She wasn’t happy. She thinks I’m rushing it.”
“You know yourself. I trust that. And she tends to be overprotective of you like you are of her.”
“You’re a good friend, Oliver.”
“How about Elise?”
“Um, I don’t know.”
“She was all over you when you were hurt.”
“We’ve seen each other a few times, but platonically. Then two nights ago, I lost the battle with my brain and went to her. It was amazing.”
“I hope the relationship works out, Finn.”
“How can it? Even if I get over the ethics of it, we live in two different parts of the country.”
Their turn to register came up. “Oliver Ricardi. I’m presenting tomorrow along with Finn McKenna.”
The woman smiled. “Coming right up.”
She gave them their packets and directions to their rooms.
The two of them had a tasty meal that night, and Finn went back to the room early. Oliver decided to go downstairs to the bar and socialize.
Finn fell asleep alone in the room trying not to think about Elise. Shehadbeen all over him when he was injured. She was attentive until he told her she had to stop visiting. Then, he’d hurt her…
Finn woke to noise. A loud buzzing sound. The alarm. He reached over blindly and turned it off.
Finally he roused. He texted Oliver about breakfast and didn’t get an answer back. He got up, put on sweats and a T-shirt and crossed to Oliver’s room. He knocked softly so as not to disturb the others on the floor. No answer. Again, he knocked.
When he turned around, he saw Oliver coming down the hall, dressed in the same clothes as last night with scruff on his face and tousled hair. “Is this the walk of shame?” Finn asked dryly.
Oliver burst out laughing. “You betcha, buddy.”
* * *
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce Mr. Oliver Ricardi and Mr. Finn McKenna. They have successful practices in what they call Harmony Healing Collective.”
Oliver and Finn sat on stools in front of the group. There were a hundred seats in the room, all of which were filled and with some SRO in the back. Oliver said into his mic, “Good morning everybody. We’ll save our bona fides for later in the talk. But we thought we’d give you a demonstration for each of our areas. First, we’d like a volunteer for a short session in Massage Therapy.”
Several hands went up. He picked a man intentionally. “You sir, in the back row. Come on up.”
When he did, Oliver asked, “What’s your name?”
“Carter.”
“Hi, Carter. Would you like to keep your shirt on or off?”
A few people yelled, “Off, Carter.”
The guy was fit and tanned. Shirtless, he laid down on the padded table provided and put his face in the pocket at the head.
“Since time is limited, I’m going to concentrate on Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation, or PNF. This is a technique to improve flexibility and range of motion. First, I’ll do some passive stretching…” He walked to the head of the of the table, picked up the man’s leg and gently pushed it forward. Then he instructed the guy to turn over and bend his knee. Oliver put a towel around his foot and pulled up his leg. “These are passive because something else—a person or a device stretches the patient.”
“Now, I’ll contract and relax muscles while they’re being stretched like this.” He demonstrated. “It helps increase the muscles’ ability to lengthen and enhances overall flexibility of the joint.”
Finn enjoyed every minute of Oliver’s presentation. When he finished, Finn turned on his mic and quipped, “Wow. When can I book a session, Oliver?”
