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Jack stands up. “Oh yeah. About ten minutes of this a day will make you sleep like a baby. Like you’ll sleep twelve hours straight through.” Jack shoots me a look. “Right, Amelia?”
I clear my throat. “I can’t deny it.”
Brian glances between the two of us. “Are you two married?”
“Oh, no, no, no,” I say more quickly than I mean to. “I just ran into Jack at the hotel yesterday when he was practicing his downward dog. So we exchanged a few poses.”
“I’ve never heard of flying raven pose,” Brian says. “But I’ve been having issues sleeping, that is part of why I’m doing this retreat. Maybe I’ll give it a try.”
“You absolutely should. And if you need anyone to give you pointers, ask Amelia. I’m not sure why she’s being shy right now because she’s really good at it.”
I take a deep breath. As much as I came here to relax, I can feel the attraction between us growing stronger by the minute. And I can’t deny the slight smile I’m feeling at Jack’s ridiculousness.
I’m not sure how much relaxation I’m going to get during this trip, though, if things keep up like this. I can feel the vein in my neck throbbing as I try to tamp down my anger at this man for interrupting my three weeks of peace and quiet.
“Okay everyone.” Josefina speaks in her commanding yet calming voice. “We’re going to start the orientation, so please quiet down.”
Luckily all I missed earlier today was the brunch and an intro meditation.
“We’re so grateful to have you all here,” Josefina is saying at the front of class. “That said, we do have a few rules we need to abide by.”
She flips over a poster board to reveal a page marked ‘Zen Haven Yoga Center rules.’ If you’ll turn to page four in your handbooks, you can follow along.”
We hear a shuffling of pages in the classroom as everyone turns their handbooks.
I do a cursory survey of the packed room. There are about twenty-five or so yogis here. And of those twenty-five, I’d venture that about nineteen or more are female.
And I’d also venture all of them check out Jack at some point while I’m sitting cross-legged next to him.
Josefina continues her spiel. “Okay, so we want you to have fun here. The most fun. And to have the most fun and get what you want out of this trip, it’s good to have some guidelines for your three week stay here. First of all, we prefer that you sleep on the premises here at the retreat. We know that some of you might even live in town, but to get the full effect, we’ve noticed through the years we’ve done this that people who live at Zen Haven have a more enjoyable experience and get more out of their time here. We make all of your meals so that you can use that extra time to read, to reflect, and to just meditate.”
Jack clears his throat loudly enough that everyone can hear. “Might be good to get away from the mansion for a while, I suppose.”
A few people chuckle, and there are some eye rolls.
Well, apparently they all know who he is.
“Okay, great,” Josefina continues. “Now page five. The most fun page.”
Another loud turning of pages.
“Which brings us to rule number two,” Chester goes on. “There is no drinking and no weed or drugs allowed on premise. We need to be mindful of the people going through various addiction battles. No mind altering chemicals are allowed, aside from the delicious Costa Rican coffee we serve every day. And the natural high you’ll get every day sweating it out with us during class.”
“I know you said no weed, but what about ganja?” a young woman with dreadlocks says in the front of class.
Everyone laughs, but they don’t address the comment.
“And rule number three,” Josefina says with a smile. “No dating or commingling between you all. We get it, there’s lots of fun romantic tension here. The rooms are coed. But please, no hooking up. So, to be clear. No sex. No hooking up here. Unless you’re married. Or you’ll be kicked out. Got it?”
One married couple in the corner holds hands and looks at one another lovingly.
I notice another man from the side of the room is checking me out.
I try to ignore it and focus on Josefina's instructions but my mind keeps drifting back to Jack.
I’m a little shocked at how attracted I am to him.
I sneak a glance over at him hoping he won't notice. But of course, he does. Our eyes meet and I feel a jolt of electricity run through me. I quickly look away, trying to compose myself.
