Page 48 of No Such Thing as Serendipity
The hell it will.I wasn’t interested in sharing my feelings with strangers if this was what it felt like.
“I hope,” Robyn continued, “through this process, you’ll come away with a new understanding of yourself and strategies to find balance in your life. At least, that’s my wish for you.”
I smiled and nodded when I really wanted to say,what the hell would you know about any of this?It was always the rah-rah New Agers who preached balance. Next thing, she’ll be wanting to use one of those sage sticks to chase out all my bad energy.
“Last but not least, Dana, would you tell us why you’re here?” Robyn asked.
Dana shrugged. “Not much to tell. I’m here at the request of the law firm I work for.”
“Interesting,” Robyn said. “Would you like to expand on that?”
“Not really,” Dana said. “It’s an all-female firm. I want to make partner, but they claim I need to get more in touch with my feminine side. Whatever that means. The partners suggested a retreat. Since Madison isn’t far from Chicago, here I am.”
Robyn smiled. “Thank you for sharing. After everyone shares, I like to do a debrief before we move on.”
I must have tuned out while lamenting how much I hated being here sharing because when Robyn clapped her hands together, I jumped.
“Okay, thank you, everyone,” Robyn said. She met my gaze and smiled.
Had she seen me jump, or was she feeling bad for putting me on display?
“Now it’s time for fun,” Robyn said. “Let’s hear what animal you’d like to be and why.” She turned to Helena. “How about we start with you?”
Great.At least this was an easy one. Of course, I’d want to be a lion. Regal and in charge.
“A monkey,” Helena said. “Their bodies are so flexible and nimble. Not like this old body of mine.”
Next up was Katlynn, who chose a parrot, followed by Emma, who picked a giraffe so she could be tall.
When it was Dana’s turn, she smirked. “Only one animal I’d be—a lion. Queen of the jungle.” She met my gaze, and her eyes flashed. “They take what they want.”
Damn.She’d taken my answer, but it shouldn’t have surprised me, nor should it have surprised me she was openly flirting with me.
I missed hearing Annie’s answer since my mind was on overload between Dana’s innuendo and my having to come up with an answer.
“That just leaves you,” Robyn said.
“What about you?” I asked.
“These questions are designed to get to know each other better, so I normally don’t answer.”
I raised my eyebrow. “You show me yours, then I’ll show you mine.”
Robyn shook her head at me, but to her credit, she didn’t roll her eyes. “Fine. I’d be Millie. That dog has it made.”
Everyone laughed.
“You’ve seen mine,” Robyn said. “Spill.”
I smirked as an idea came to me. I licked my lips as I made eye contact with Dana. “I’d be an anteater. Imagine what I could do with my tongue.”
CHAPTER 15
The day hadn’t startedout well, so my mood was foul. As if the sharing circle yesterday wasn’t bad enough, today’s had been even worse. I suppose the question hadn’t been all that bad. It was my answer that was. If only Dana hadn’t skipped out, I wouldn’t have felt so alone. How did I know listing my career aspirations when asked how I wanted to be remembered was not the right thing to say? That’ll teach me to volunteer to go first. I’d spoken up to get it over with. Never again.
To everyone’s credit, they hadn’t shamed me, but the hurt in Emma’s eyes was worse than any shaming. Robyn, our leader once again, encouraged me to explore non-work-related things to be remembered for. She’d been gentle and kind, which pissed me off worse. I didn’t need to be coddled just because I wasn’t one big raw emotion like the others.
To worsen matters, Emma signed us up for kayaking on the creek. Why not the lake? I was determined to be a good sport for her. I was tired of causing the hurt in her eyes, so I could do this.
