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“Welcome to the tranquility zone,” says June, flinging her arms into the air and spinning in a circle that makes her dress swing wildly around her knees. “Will you both come and sit with me?”
She floats down to her cushion, her skirt billowing out around her, the draft making the flames of the candles flicker alarmingly. Surely there’s a fire-safety-protocol incursion here.
Candice and I both share a look and reluctantly make our way over, each sitting on opposite sides of June. She glances at both of us in turn, her expression mystical. “Let’s introduce ourselves again, even if we already know each other intimately. I can already sense a great divide here.”
She gestures to me, and I clear my throat awkwardly. “Um…” is all I can manage.
“Let’s try our names and one of our deepest hopes or wildest fears, shall we?” smiles June encouragingly. In the dull, wavering light, the shadows dance over her face, almost giving the illusion of her being underwater. “My name is Juniper, and one of my deepest hopes is to help give everyone I love the confidence and peace in their hearts to be truly themselves.”
I’m glad that she gestures to Candice next, because I need time to think. Candice hums thoughtfully, her forehead creasing between her eyebrows. “I’m Candice, and my biggest hope is for my business to be successful.”
“Wonderful,” says June encouragingly. I think I find her genuine sincerity kind of annoying, actually. It makes it hard to be mad with her. “And…?”
“And my name is Aiden. And I guess my biggest fear is… failure.”
Both of them give me a look I can only describe as withering. I guess that’s a lame answer, but I couldn’t think of anything else.
“Thank you for sharing,” says June politely. She reaches down to pick up a deck of cards and fans them out in front of her. “Okay! So I’m still getting to know you folks, so we’re going to start with a little round of compatibilities. Take a card.”
We both obey. Candice looks at her card straightaway and smiles. What’s there to smile about? It’s a regular playing card. Mine’s the three of clubs.
June’s playing some sort of twisted game with us, though. I had thought “couples retreat” would mean something more like sitting by the pool and getting joint massages. Guess I should have read the information better, because this isn’t what I expected at all.
“Okay. I’m going to ask three questions. Please answer as honestly as you can. But while being honest, we’re going to try and lay some clues so we can guess each other’s card. Got it?”
I nod, frowning, mirroring the discontented look Candice gives June, who seems not to notice, or else is so resilient to grumpy people dimming her cheery mood that she doesn’t care.
“Okay,” says Candice. “What do we win if we get it right?”
“Knowledge that you’re meant to be,” June grins, and I cringe. There’s no way she can believe all this crap. “Question one: what would be your least favorite part of being trapped on a desert island?”
“Oh!” Candice bursts out, then shrinks as if she wasn’t supposed to say anything yet.
“Don’t hold back. We’re in a safe space.” Again, June wafts her hands around like she’s chasing after incredibly slow-moving flies.
“I’d be the only one. I don’t think I’d enjoy the isolation, and I’d miss my friends.” She’s keeping a straight face but she’s trying to give me a clue. The ace?
June nods sagely, her earrings tinkling like wind chimes. They both look at me again, and I let honesty slip out before I can think about it. “I agree. I think I’d like maybe three days on my own, but I like other people, and I like running water.”
Candice and I lock eyes, and I barely hear June’s next question over my own thoughts. This game might be stupid, but it’s unlocking the final lock on a part of my heart that’s been bolted shut for years. I’m not over Candice Metcalf.
I don’t think I ever will be if I don’t leave here with her as my wife-to-be.
“Imagine,” says June, her voice low as she tries to cast a scene, “you’re going to the movies together on a date. What’s the best snack?”
To my dismay, Candice winces at the worddate. I’m going to have to try harder to charm her if I want to persuade her that what we felt that night was real. Because it was.
At the same time, Candice and I both say, “Popcorn.” The ghost of a smile brushes over her face, making her look beautiful in the candlelight. If only this was a real date, getting to know her better with my own questions, in a restaurant over an expensive meal where I could see the candlelight reflected in her eyes before I leaned in to kiss her.
“The more buttery the better,” I say. She nods in firm agreement.
It should annoy me the way June is sitting back, looking perfectly angelic like she’s doing something magical, but it doesn’t because the more Candice agrees with me, the more I believe this could really be something. Even if this isn’t the way I want to do this, seeing her and chatting about anything other than work is lighting me up in ways I haven’t felt since I kissed her eight years ago.
“Okay,” says June, clapping her hands together and holding them in front of herself like she’s praying. “Final question. Remember, honesty is the key here. Is your life everything you thought it would be when you were growing up?”
“Yeah,” I say quickly, surprising even myself. “Dad always treated Fletcher Tech like an exclusive little club that I wasn’t going to be allowed into, but I always knew he’d leave his legacy to me in the end.”
June beams at me and, despite myself, the confession gives me a rush. Maybe this isn’t so stupid after all. The restaurant plan is still better, but if June can get us to start being honest with each other, I’m going to owe her big time.
