Smoke & Mirrors • Zarry

32. Meditating

"We open at ten and we close at six. All the arrangements are pre-made as is, nothing custom done and Taryn will take care of the deliveries," Zayn explained to Emily, the new part-time assistant manager he had just hired to help run Wild Lotus.

She nodded as he spoke to her, diligently writing down every word he said into her notebook as they sat in the back of his shop one Friday evening.

Business wasn't exactly booming, but he didn't expect it to be right away, however Zayn still realized that he needed to be able to rely on more than just Taryn to get things done, especially considering the fact that he wanted to go to the yoga retreat, and knew that he wouldn't be able to swing it if he didn't hire another employee to hold down the fort while he was gone.

So after a week of interviews he finally chose the right candidate. Emily was in her mid twenties with long, brown hair that was typically in a bun with these black framed glasses perched on her round face and she had some previous managerial experience as well as a good worth ethic; so she felt trustworthy and responsible, someone who'd keep Taryn on her best behavior while Zayn was gone and would limit her smoke breaks and the friends that came to visit and loiter around outside.

That's exactly what he needed.

"Call me if anything happens, if you have any questions at all, Emily. I'll be an hour away so I can't get here immediately but if it's an emergency I'll leave, no questions asked. You think you can handle it?"

"Absolutely. It will be completely fine, Zayn. Have fun," Emily reassured him before he left for the evening and ventured back home to smoke and relax for a bit before he met everyone in Malibu early the next morning; and by early they meant seven am.

Zayn couldn't remember the last time he had gotten up at five o'clock, the crack of dawn, but could recollect all the times he went to bed around then, so he was desperately trying not to yawn every five minutes as he got ready for his day of yoga and meditation. He grabbed a coffee to-go and hopped on the highway in his BMW, looking forward to something different for a change of pace.

He had never been to any sort of retreat or wellness center before, had never practiced yoga or taken any type of healing classes; he hadn't even been to any real sort of therapy, so it was slightly unnerving to be taken out of his comfort zone and thrown into something that was so typical for LA people to do, but he told himself that he was going to indulge in everything there was to offer, to go out on a limb, to try things that weren't necessarily in his realm of familiarity, so that's exactly what he planned on doing.

Zayn pulled up to the Bloom Wellness Center in Malibu around quarter to seven in the morning and parked his car in the front row of the parking lot, casting his gaze behind black Ray Bans sunglasses upon a bright white building with large, rectangular windows, drawing in all the sunlight, and it was situated on a secluded, private sandy beach surrounded by palm trees.

He brought a change of clothes with him in a tan suede rucksack he had thrown over his shoulder and donned his favorite pair of long, black Nike sweatpants and plain white t-shirt as he made his way to the front, opening the door to see that Colton was already waiting in the reception area in these blue men's yoga pants with a yellow stripe down the side and a matching, tight, yellow tank top.

"Good morning handsome," he greeted Zayn with a simple, small smile and got up from the white lounger he had been sitting in.

"Ready for some yoga?"

"No, but I'll give it a go anyway," Zayn joked as he followed Colton into one of the warmest rooms he had ever been in and sitting on their respective yoga mats were a few people; a small, private class which consisted of these three pretty girls that Zayn didn't know, one of them being the instructor, Harry and...Enzo, of course.