Page 7 of Big Pitch Energy

“I'm good. Just working on the quarterly report.”

She dropped into the chair across from my desk, kicking her feet up on the corner. Nearly fifteen years of friendship has eliminated any need for formality.

“I love how you do a quarterly report just for yourself,” she said, nodding at my laptop.

I knew going in that if I wanted this studio to succeed, I had to treat it like more than just a passion project. A lot of people skip the business side and end up burning out or going under. Not me. I’m sticking to my budget, tracking my expenses, and checking in on the numbers like it actually matters. Because it does.

“It helps me keep on top of things.” I closed the laptop and leaned back in my chair. “I’m guessing everyone from class has cleared out.”

She nodded.

“And the door is locked so no one can sneak back in.”

“How was class?”

“Good.” she said, then smirked. “How’d your session with Sam Cherry go?”

“It went well. He's coming back on Friday.”

Her jaw dropped.

“Sam Cherry is coming back? For more Reiki?Voluntarily?”

I chuckled at her expression.

“Why do you look so shocked?”

“Because Sam doesn't believe in any of this,” she said, gesturing around at the crystals on my windowsill and the chakra chart on my wall. “He just humors his mom and her ‘woo-woo ways,’ as he calls them.”

Ava grew up in Starlight Shores, so she’s known Sam most of her life. They’d graduated high school together. Same small class, same tight-knit community, so it’s safe to say she knows him pretty well. Not that what she said is a surprise to me. It wasn’t difficult to figure out what Sam thought about Reiki. Still, he was polite and cooperated even if he was just humoring me at first.

I shrugged, remembering the way Sam's energy had seemed to reach for mine.

“Well, Liz is the one who set up the appointment, but he agreed to come back on his own. So I’ll take it as a win.”

“Interesting,” Ava drawled, tapping her chin with her index finger. “Very interesting.”

“What?”

My tone must have been too defensive because Ava held up her hands in a “no offense” gesture.

“Iknow how powerful Reiki can be. I’m just surprised it took you to make Sam finally believe. He’s been around this stuff his whole life thanks to Liz, and he’s always brushed it off. One session with you and suddenly he’s open to it? It’s just strange.” Her right brow raised like it does when she’s proving a point. “Maybe it’s not the energy work that’s pulling him in. Maybe he’s just interested in seeing the hot blonde Reiki master again.”

My heart skipped a beat before I could stop it, but I kept my expression neutral. I was trying to figure out how to respond when Ava spoke again.

“Actually, I might be wrong about that last sentence. Not that you aren’t hot and blonde,” she clarified. “Liz said Sam came here because of a pitching issue, so maybe he really is just coming back for the Reiki.”

By the time our session ended, something had definitely shifted in him. He didn’t jump up and leave or refuse another session. He just sat there quietly for a moment, like he wasn’t quite ready to step back into the world. Maybe he wasn’t a full-on believer yet, but he wasn’t a total non-believer anymore. And in my book, that’s something. But Ava doesn’t know any of that.

“I agree with what you’re saying, I’m just curious why you changed your tune from one sentence to the next.”

“He’s always been laser-focused on baseball, like obsessively.” She dropped her feet to the floor and sat back in the chair. “Even back in high school when girls were practically climbing over each other to get his attention, baseball was his main focus.”

“Were you one of those girls?”

“I plead the fifth,” she said with a smirk. “But honestly, I wasn’t as bad as the other girls. We were friends so I mostly kept my crush to myself.”

I probably shouldn’t, but I had to ask at least one question.

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