I smile as the room of women sit up and open their eyes, pinning them to me. Some are full of hurt and pain, and it twists my gut. This is the hardest day of the first week, and I save it for toward the end of the week. It’s a lot to take in, and it’s quite emotional. We will have a short lecture tomorrow, and then they’ll have the weekend to reflect and enjoy some time on their own.
My eyes find Charly, as they’ve come to do often over the past five days. She’s good at hiding her feelings behind her happy hazel eyes and smug smirk, but now she looks a bit haunted, and that’s my fault.
“I want you to take the rest of the evening to yourselves. I know I usually encourage you to have dinner together and to talk about the day, and if you want to do that, go for it. But, if you’d rather take time in your rooms to meditate, write in your journals, or just be calm, I encourage that as well.
“You did beautifully today, and I promise you that the pain you feel today is just a stepping stone to where you’re going to be a week from now, or even a year from now. Thank you for being brave and for walking through this journey with me. Have a lovely evening.”
The room typically erupts into chatter and laughter at the end of the day as the attendees gather their things and leave for dinner, but tonight the room is quiet. I stand and make myself available to anyone who wants to offer me a hug, or ask a question. Before long the room is empty. Todd approaches to take my mic from my ear.
“Today was intense,” he says quietly.
I nod. “It always is.” I don’t know how many times I tried using these same techniques with my ex-wife, trying to help her, to get through to her. But I never could, and it led to our eventual divorce.
So if it helps even one person at these seminars, it’s worth every difficult moment.
“I never get used to it,” he replies and stows the sound equipment away for tomorrow. “You’re changing their lives, you know.”
“No, mate, they’re changing their own lives; I’m just giving them the tools.” I clap him on the shoulder. “I’m not going to dinner tonight. I’m going to spend some time alone.”
“I figured,” he replies with a nod. Todd’s been my friend since childhood and part of my team since the beginning. He knows me well, maybe better than anyone else.
“Have a good night.”
“You as well,” he says as I walk away. I return to my room to file my notes and pull out tomorrow’s file. I toss it on the table and pull my shirt over my head on my way to the shower. I need to wash today off of me.
Rather than dwell on Amy and our horrible past, my mind wanders to a beautiful brunette.
Charly intrigues me. She’s stunning, yes, but there’s something else there that pulls at me. Her hazel eyes hide plenty, I think.
Then again, I could be an idiot and there’s nothing there at all except a pretty woman and my wishful thinking. Although, what I’m wishing for, I have no idea because she’s a client and I don’t do relationships, so it would do me well to simply forget about her altogether.
The part that surprises me the most is that a woman hasn’t turned my head in years. Not like this. I’ve had moments with pretty girls that ended mutually satisfyingly, but I didn’t want to get to know them. Yes, I know that I sound like a sod for saying that, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
Yet, despite my better judgement, I want to get to know Charly, not just in a professional way, and that’s startling. I’ve mentored thousands of women, and I can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve wanted to kiss one so badly it makes me sweat.
I scrub my hands over my face, dress, then pace to the window to look out on the lake. There’s still enough daylight left to take the boat out for a short trip. I could use the fresh air.
So, I grab a sweater and head down to the dock, waving at one of the dock workers as I climb into the boat I’ve rented during my time here and push away from shore.
The air is a bit crisper on the lake. I take a deep breath and glance to my right, surprised to see Charly sitting on a dock with her feet dangling over the side and her face tipped up to the sunshine, as if I conjured her up myself.
She’s petite. Much shorter than my six foot three, and she looks like I could pick her up with one hand. Her dark hair is long and straight, framing a gorgeous face with golden-hazel eyes.
Without giving it much thought, I cut the engine and guide the boat to the dock. Charly opens her eyes and watches as I approach.
“You have a boat?” she asks in greeting.
“I rent it when I’m here,” I reply with a smile. “Do you like boats?”