‘I’m fifty-nine,’ he replies. ‘It’s a bit late in life to be unsure, don’t you think?’
I stop in my tracks. ‘You’refifty-nine?’
He shakes his head. ‘Nah, I just wanted to make you slow down. You walk like the bloody Terminator. I’m actually forty-two.’
‘Shame, I was going to say you looked good for your age,’ I retort. ‘Not so much now.’
‘Touché.’ His dimples make themselves known again as he laughs.
‘Look, I’m happy to buddy up with you this week,’ I say as we begin walking again, ‘but if you’re looking for something more meaningful, I’m probably not your woman.’
He nods. ‘Heard and understood. I mean, I won’t lie. I’m totally up for some naked hot tub action, but my wife might not share my enthusiasm.’
I stop again. ‘You’re married?’
‘I am. I told you, I’m only here for work. Nothing else.’
I glance at his left hand. ‘Bullshit. You’re not wearing a wedding ring.’
Now he’s the one walking in front. I trot to keep up. I see him reach into his jacket pocket and hold up a small gold band. ‘Would kind of blow my cover if I did.’
‘But… but… you’ve been flirting with me since we met!’ I stammer, peering at the wedding band. ‘Why would—’
‘Flirting?’
He squints at me like he has no idea what I’m talking about. Oh God, now I feel like an idiot. I purse my lips and quicken my pace.
‘So, you’re essentially tricking everyone?’ I ask, hoping the cold air will block my flourishing flame face. ‘What makes you think I won’t tell?’
He turns to face me. The dimples are gone. ‘Look, keep this between us, yeah? I get the feeling I’d be ostracised for invading everyone’s safe space or whatever the hell goes on here. I’m not here to trick anyone, or sleep with anyone, or do anything remotely underhand. Just work.’
‘Fine. No problem.’
There’s a little knot in my stomach that’s hard to ignore. Not only do I feel stupid for mentioning the flirting, but I am also a little disappointed that he’s married. I mean, it’s not like I planned on having a meaningless fling, but it might have been nice to have the option.
As we get nearer Cairn Castle, I can see Kenneth actively avoiding walking anywhere near Patricia whose eye daggers strike him hard.
‘You know, you could have justnottold me,’ I say quietly to Will, breaking the silence. ‘Peculiar that you’d trust someone you’ve only just met. I could be a professional snitch.’
‘True,’ he replies. ‘But you’re not taking this any more seriously than I am. People here have spent thousands to fix their love lives and here we are, making a mockery of the whole thing. Besides, if I’m going down, you are too, Miss Freebie.’
‘Damn. Fair enough.’
Kenneth pushes open the main door and we all file in behind him, some more eagerly than others. Miranda greets us again and instructs us to make our way to the main hall for gratitude scripting, which my powers of deduction lead me to believe will be ‘write down things that you’re grateful for’. This should be easy.
Anna has had a costume change and now appears at the front of the room wearing a dark brown poncho and long black boots, while the rest of her team remain dressed in the standard bootcamp uniform of white T-shirts and combat trousers.
Will and I are sitting together near the back. He’s drumming his pen on his notepad while I watch everyone take their seats.
‘I trust you’re all reinvigorated and ready to go?’ she says to an enthusiastic audience. ‘Great. Now for this part of the afternoon, we’re going to participate in scripting. Scripting or journaling is a very useful, very powerful technique used to attract and manifest the life that we want. Your very own journals are now being passed out, please keep these safe.’
I see Brad and Sally, the administrator, walk down the ends of the rows, passing along A5-sized white bound books. Sally looks like an elderly fairy, with wispy grey hair and a long, kaftan-style dress.
‘Within these books you will narrate your life as you want it to be, more specifically, your love life.’ Anna waits as everyone continues to receive their books. ‘By doing this you will attract exactly what you’ve been desiring. However, before we begin, it’s important to understand that everything you desire must come from a place of gratitude and not from a place of lack.’
‘Here we go,’ Will mumbles under his stupid, married breath.
‘We only want what is absent,’ she continues. ‘Think about it. We don’t go around wishing we were healthy when everything’s in perfect working order, or for money when we’re financially abundant, we only want what we do not have. If you say, “I want to meet the love of my life,” your vibration is coming from a place where that love is nowhere to be found and the universe doesn’t understand words; the universe understands vibration because we live in a vibrational frequency. We are all energy and energy is…?’
