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The girl I'd taken for a ditz just created a metaphor. A nice one. I need to stop judging younger people based on their behavior, and instead, find out if they have brains. Aspen seems to have that.
"Maybe you're right," I tell her. "My job has become a bit boring."
Aspen pokes her boyfriend's arm. "You should take that advice too, Zach. You told me you're sick of working at a call center, pestering people to buy insurance."
Zach sells insurance? All my preconceptions just got launched into outer space. Here on earth, reality is nothing like what I assumed.
"Aspen is right," I tell Zach. "If you hate your job, start looking for something different."
"I'll do it if you will."
"You're on."
Aspen claps her hands, but it's the kind of clapping people do during golf games. "Yay. I'm glad you guys are going to search for your dream jobs."
I can't help asking her a question. "What do you do for a living, Aspen?"
"Neuroscience. I'm working on my PhD."
Did I just do a double take, like a cartoon character? I think I did. Aspen really is not the ditz I thought she was.
Now that all my preconceptions have been blown apart by a nuclear bomb of reality, I have a nice conversation with Zach and Aspen. They seem perfect for each other, and they definitely have chemistry between them. As I watch the two of them, I can't help comparing their budding relationship with what Vanessa and I had for decades. Chemistry? For sure. Shared interests? Yeah, we had that too. When did things change? Oddly enough, Aspen provided a clue that I had ignored for too long.
Our marriage changed when I got a new job---as a data scientist.
Could it really be that simple? Well, I doubt it's simple. A lot of other factors played into the dissolution of our marriage. But maybe I've finally stumbled onto the key that will unlock the truth.
Yeah, even an old guy like me can do metaphors.
After a while, Zach and Aspen decide to go to the waterfall to swim. He wants to climb the cliff and jump off into the pool. They invite me to go along, and I believe that's a sincere invite, but I decline. Jumping off a cliff doesn't appeal to me. And all I want to do is find Vanessa.
I say goodbye to Zach and Aspen, then wander into the lobby to ask the desk clerk if he saw my ex-wife. The nice young man tells me no, he hasn't seen her. I wander outside and go to the miniten court, but nobody is there. I guess it's too early for a match. On my way back to the big patio, I bump into Holly Bythesea.
"Have you seen Vanessa?" I ask. "I've been looking for her."
"She had breakfast by the pool this morning, then she mentioned heading for the waterfall."
"That's the place in the woods, right? The one with a trail that's kind of hidden."
"Exactly." Holly wags her brows at me. "It's a very romantic spot."
"Don't get your hopes up. I haven't had much luck with wooing Vanessa."
"But you love her. That means you will find a way to get through to her."
I'd love to believe that, and last night gave me a slender thread of hope, but I'm losing faith in my ability to do that. "Did James tell you what I did?"
Holly's brows draw together. "What do you mean?"
"I guess he didn't tell you." I rub my jaw while I consider whether I should confess to her. I appreciate that James kept my secret, but maybe Holly can offer some advice that her husband wouldn't have thought of, being a guy. "Well, you see, I sort of tricked Vanessa into coming here."
Her brows shoot up now. "Tricked her? Ooh, this is getting juicy."
She might be the strangest woman I've ever met.
But I push that thought aside and continue. "I sent her a letter saying that she'd won a free two-week stay at this resort. But I actually paid for it all."
"And you made sure to be here when she arrived."
