Page 96 of Is This for Real?
“I should tell her she’s converted me,” I say.
“Yes,” Rory says, but his brow is slightly furrowed.
I walk over to Myrtle with Rory following, carrying our yoga mats.
After a buffet brunch back at the house, we have corporate team-building exercises. The singles have already bonded pretty well from last night.
“I love these exercises,” Dan says. “The company has a retreat every year.”
“It works. I know Dan’s colleagues pretty well as a result,” Aaron says. “And you’re much more fun than Callie.”
I hadn’t realized that Aaron and Dan knew Callie. I feel a stab of hurt because Callie was at the corporate retreat. I’m not the first girlfriend he’s brought along. Maybe I’m just another girlfriend in a long line of girlfriends. He did really like Callie. Hopefully, that was his “sowing wild oats” phase.
He’s my first serious boyfriend since college. Maybe he needs to worry that he’s part ofmy“sowing wild oats” phase.
We’re back in the converted and spacious loft-like barn. The first exercise is to keep balloons up in the air as a team.
“Watch out for any air swishes,” Nia says. We all laugh.
We run around, keeping the balloons up in the air, joking around.
The next exercise is called Picture Story. It’s Significant Others vs the Ad Team for the company, both internal and external, so Rory and I are on opposite teams. We each receive a card with a picture on it. The cards together will make up a story. We can’t show the card to our teammates, but we have to describe the picture. Then we have to place the cards in a row to create the story in its correct order.
The ad team gets it first. We do a few more exercises, and then the weekend is over. We exchange numbers and all pile into our respective cars to drive home.
Rory’s mom calls just as we are about to leave. He steps out of the car and walks over to the edge of the driveway for some privacy. I happily admire him from afar.
Then he returns to the car and slides back into his seat.
Rory says, “My mom is taking a spur-of-the-moment trip to Italy for a painting class, leaving October 31. I think you’ve inspired her.”
“Wow, that’s amazing,” I say.
“I’m really proud of her for pursuing her dream.”
“Where in Italy?” I ask.
“Florence.”
“That will be awesome,” I say. “That was so much fun. I wasn’t expecting it to be so lively and silly. I thought it was going to be formal and corporate.”
“Usually it is.” Rory laughs. “Your hat bobbing up and down.”
We both laugh and smile at each other.
"They want us to think of another romcom-inspired ad campaign," he says. "I wanted to do something ending with a rainy drive, giving that moody, but warm bubble feeling like we had on our drive to Fire Island. I was thinking maybe they first meet each other at a car wash. When he's in the line for the car wash, he sees her and he's intrigued. Then the car is in the car wash and the water is pouring down and he can't see anything. Then the window is clean and he's waiting at the stoplight as the car is dried. The light turns to green and he sees her glowing in the sunlight and there's that clarity that she's the one."
"I like that." We drive over a cute little bridge. A few mountains are off in the distance.
"In the next scene, they wash their cars by hand, with some water play with the hoses, and then they go for a drive together in the rain ending up in front of a cozy fire. They want to promote the car's safety features during the rainy drive."
I nod. "That sounds good."
"The water play isn't original, but Bernie loves the idea of wet models," he says. "I think I need a better meet-cute. It also could be raining and he could offer to share an umbrella, but that's also been done. And although I like the idea that he offers a garbage bag to make a raincoat, they're not going to want that imagery for their brand. Do you remember that time we all got stuck in that downpour in college and wore garbage bags to get back to the dorms?"
"That was so funny--and smart thinking on your part," I say, smiling at the memory. "You need to get a trash bag company as a client."
Rory laughs as he drives us down a winding road. We pass by farmhouses, cows, horses and small towns as we make our way to the highway.
