Connie lets out a long exhale through her nose and leans onto the island, perching on her forearms in front of her. She’s practically bent over, but I don’t think she realizes how suggestive her position is, the curve of her ass on full display. I try to keep my mind out of the gutter, but I’m not doing such a great job at it.
Connie toys with her glass as she watches me and smiles. “So, how you been?”
“Good.” I pause, looking down at my wine, then back up. “I started therapy last week.”
I blink, suddenly mortified.
What the fuck? Why would I say that?
Connie pushes herself up, straightening a little.
“You did?” she asks, surprised.
“Never mind, I don’t know why I said that.”
Her eyebrows dip. “So you didn’t?”
“No — I mean yes.” I chuckle nervously. “I don’t know why I brought it up.”
She smiles warmly, and I feel it trickle through my ribcage.
“Well, that’s great.” She looks away, staring out at the twinkling lights of the city. “I think therapy should be mandatory.” She says it almost like an afterthought.
“Do you, now?” I place my glass down, resting my hip against the side of the counter and cross my arms. “So you’ve been to therapy, then?”
Her gaze swivels back to mine, and I catch the guilty expression fluttering across her face before it's gone.
“No.”
We both fall silent for a long beat until she snorts, and we both start laughing.
Our laughter slowly wanes as the seconds tick by, but thankfully, the awkward tension seems to have dissipated, and I suddenly feel a lot more comfortable in my own skin.
“So are you going to tell me why you invited me here, specifically?” I tap my index finger on the counter to punctuate the wordspecifically. “A little weird, don’t you think?”
She smirks while pushing herself off the island.
“It’s a surprise. Just something to show my …” she trails off, fidgeting with her fingers, clearly getting nervous again. It’s as if she doesn’t know how to end her sentence. So she doesn’t. “Anyway.” She waves it off, the nerves back in her short laugh. “It’s in the office.”
Connie signals for me to follow by giving a quick jerk of her head. I scamper behind like a puppy that’s just been promised a treat as she leads us through the hallway.
The first thing I notice when we walk into her office is an air mattress near one of the walls with a throw blanket covering most of it. If that wasn’t odd enough, there’s a table in the middle of the empty room with an open laptop and what looks like three projectors pointed at three different walls.
I shoot her a quizzical look. “What’s going on?”
Connie simply grins and ushers me to the mattress.
“Sit,” she says expectantly. “I just need to set up a few things.”
Slowly, and with a lot of suspicion, I sink to the floor. I settle myself onto the very edge of the mattress, not knowing what the hell to expect. My heart rate picks up as I watch her fiddle with the equipment on the table. Deep in concentration, there’s an adorable crease in between her eyebrows.
Turning on her heels, she walks to the light switch and flicks it off. The office falls into darkness save for the glow of the computer screen. Promptly, she returns to the table.
Then suddenly?—
The white walls are no more. Transformed into a landscape of blue skies and miles and miles of white sand, the three walls projecting the same video image. The scenery is so beautiful and nothing like I’ve ever seen before that it catches me off guard. I’m overwhelmed with the beauty of it all. From my vantage point, I’m immersed. Transported.
My gaze flicks to Connie as she walks toward me, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. I lift my chin to keep eye contact as she approaches.
