The instructor burst out laughing. Really laughing. ‘Wonderful, wonderful.’ She clasped her hands together with delight. ‘I love this dynamic! Such fiery passion! The way your energy vacillates between aggression and . . . something else . . . something deeper.’
‘There is nothing deeper, trust me.’
‘Yes!’ She pointed at me and clicked her fingers. ‘There it is. I see it, I hear it in your tone. Your sarcasm is a finely tuned weapon that I can’t wait to disarm. Couples like you are always my most challenging, and most rewarding.’ And then she did something that made me jump: she reached out and put her hand on the top of my head, doing the same to Cam. ‘I can feel it,’ she continued. ‘So many barriers, so much armour – and yet the threads between you are shimmering with history. Karmically knotted together . . . so beautiful. So much potential for deep, deep love and connection.’
She opened her eyes and looked at me specifically now, a look so sharp it could cut diamonds. ‘Lizzy, what a vibrant, radiant spirit you have. All fire and resistance – but beneath that, a heart overflowing with love. And I can see that your two souls have been dancing together for eternity.’
I rolled my eyes at her this time. I’d not meant to do it to her face, but it was just so hard not to. She burst out laughing again.
‘Oh Lizzy, I shouldn’t say this, but you are my favourite client I’ve ever had.’
I narrowed my eyes at this woman, unsure how the hell I should reply to that.
‘It needs no response, only breath,’ she said. She inhaled deeply, and indicated that Cam and I should do the same. I blinked rapidly . . .Holy shit, had this woman just read my mind?
‘Yes, let your breath break down the walls,’ she said as Cam took a deep breath.
‘Come now, Lizzy, let’s crumble those walls of yours,’ Cam teased.
Sage laughed again. ‘Wow! That is just so Cam. Lizzy hides the unspoken behind sarcasm, and Cam hides it behind humour.’ She beamed at us, truly beamed, as if her face might actually break open with it. ‘So many beautiful words just below the surface; I can’t wait for them to come out. This is going to be special.’ She raised her brows at us. ‘Let’s get started.’
‘I thought we’d already started,’ I said.
‘Oh Lizzy, we haven’t even vaguely begun. By the time this is over, you are going to be a changed woman.’
I sighed in resignation. I suppose the sooner we did this, the better; besides, it wasn’t like anything was actually going to happen. No unspoken was emerging today, or ever.
‘Fine.’ I reached forward and put my hand on Cam’s chest. He tried to do the same to me, but my hand dived down and locked itself around his wrist.
‘No touching my . . .’ I wanted to say ‘tits’, but didn’t want to encourage Sage; for all I knew, she might have welcomed such a thing.
Cam smiled at me. ‘I think I can control myself . . . barely,’ he added, and then I felt his hand come to rest slowly and softly on the middle of my chest. His palm was warm against my skin, and I knew he could feel my heart beating. I hoped he hadn’t noticed how it had suddenly increased in tempo.
‘Now look at each other,’ Sage said, swishing her hands around in the air above our heads.
Slowly I dragged my eyes upwards, and when they finally collided with Cam’s blue ones . . . I knew my heart must have skipped a beat, or done something funny, because his eyes widened and he momentarily looked down at his hand on my chest.
Shit, said the voice in the back of my head, the one that always warned me when things were becoming a little too real, or emotional.
A crystal started swinging over my head and Sage began humming. ‘Close your eyes and go back to your childhood,’ she said.
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake.’ I hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but I knew I had when Sage laughed again.
A bell rang, the birds chirped louder and the smell of jasmine filled the air. Shit! Bad things happened when I inhaled jasmine. I tried to breathe through my mouth, but couldn’t.
‘Don’t fight it,’ Sage said. I let out another sigh. It was pointless to fight it anyway, because whether I liked it or not, this was happening. So I did what she said, and thought back to my childhood. And then something started happening . . .
It was crystal clear suddenly, the image in my head. Young Lizzy, the version of me who had learned early on that emotions were dangerous, painful things and it was better to shut them down . . . especiallythoseones. The ones that made you most vulnerable and opened you up to hurt. Those emotions needed to have walls built around them. That was the only way I had survived my childhood, and I guess it had continued into my adulthood as well.
‘Yes, Lizzy,’ Sage said softly. ‘Those walls are no longer necessary.’
I froze.
My eyes flicked up to her. ‘What?’
She smiled knowingly.
Oh my God. Was this woman psychic?Her eyes twinkled like shecouldhear me, like she’d cracked open my head and was now peering inside.
