Page 37 of Vacation with the Ice Queen

Serena moved slightly closer, drawn by the conversation despite her inclination toward solitude. "Is that the official resort position? Blame insomnia on the island rather than accepting responsibility for uncomfortable beds?"

Lila laughed, the sound carrying across the water like music. "The beds are ergonomically perfect, and you know it." She trailed her fingers through the water, creating ripples that spread outward. "But there's something about this place that makes people more aware. Of their surroundings, of themselves. That awareness can be... uncomfortable at first."

The observation hit too close to Serena's own experience to dismiss. "You speak as if from personal experience."

"I do." Lila's gaze shifted to the distant horizon. "I came here as a guest first, before I worked here. After my relationship ended."

This personal revelation caught Serena off guard. She'd assumed Lila was simply staff, not someone who had followed a similar retreat path.

"What made you stay?" The question arose from genuine curiosity rather than polite conversation.

Lila considered this, her expression thoughtful. "I found something here I hadn't realized I was missing. Space to hear my own thoughts without someone else's expectations drowning them out."

The words resonated with unexpected force. Serena had spent decades building a life defined by exceeding expectations: her parents', her board's, the market's. The concept of space without expectations felt foreign yet oddly compelling.

"Most people would call that running away," Serena said, playing devil's advocate despite her interest.

"I did, at first." Lila's candor was disarming. "Then I realized the difference between running away and moving toward. One isescape, the other is growth." She looked directly at Serena then. "What about you? Are you running from something in New York or moving toward something here?"

The directness of the question should have activated Serena's defenses. Instead, surrounded by night and water, she found herself considering it seriously.

"Neither," she finally said. "I'm serving time until I can return to my real life."

"Hmm." Lila made a noncommittal sound, neither agreeing nor challenging. "Interesting choice of words. 'Serving time.' Like a sentence."

Serena hadn't intended the prison metaphor, but now that Lila pointed it out, she couldn't deny its accuracy. This island retreat felt imposed rather than chosen, punishment rather than opportunity.

"It wasn't my choice to come here," she reminded Lila, moving closer to the edge where she sat. The water lapped gently against her collarbones.

"True," Lila acknowledged. "But how you experience it is entirely your choice."

Another statement that should have irritated Serena with its simplistic optimism. Yet coming from Lila, with her quiet assurance and lack of judgment, it felt less like platitude and more like practical wisdom.

They fell silent, the night wrapping around them like a shared secret. Moonlight streaked the water's surface, mirroring the distinctive pattern in Serena's hair. In the distance, waves broke against the shore in hypnotic rhythm.

Serena found herself oddly comfortable in this mutual silence. In her normal life, quiet moments were filled with phone checks, email responses, mental task lists. Here, with Lila's calm presence beside her, she simply existed in the space between words.

"It's beautiful tonight," Lila said eventually, gaze lifting to the star-filled sky. "Sometimes I forget to look up, even here. Old habits."

"What did you do before this?" Serena asked, realizing how little she knew about the woman who had occupied so many of her thoughts.

"Corporate wellness in Silicon Valley. Trying to teach meditation to CEOs who checked their watches every thirty seconds." A smile played at the corners of Lila's mouth. "Not entirely unlike my current job."

The gentle tease surprised a laugh from Serena, the sound unfamiliar to her own ears. When had she last laughed without strategic purpose? She couldn't remember.

"I don't check my watch during sessions," she pointed out, moving to rest her arms on the pool's edge, still maintaining careful distance from where Lila sat.

"No, you've been surprisingly present." Lila glanced down at her, something warming in her expression. "Skeptical, but present."

"I reserve judgment until I have sufficient data," Serena clarified, not wanting to be mistaken for a convert. "It's called scientific method, not skepticism."

"Of course." Lila's tone suggested amused disbelief. "And what does your data tell you so far?"

Serena considered the question seriously. What had her experiences on the island revealed? The yoga session had been physically beneficial, if nothing else. The massage had relieved tension she hadn't realized she carried. And this midnight swim had provided a kind of mental clarity she rarely experienced.

"The results are... preliminary," she finally said. "But not without merit."

"High praise from Serena Frost." Lila's smile widened. "I'll take it."

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