The Vibe Manager

Chapter 43

Jade lifted her head and stared at him.

"Please — say something?" he implored.

She spoke slowly, unburdening her heart. "I've been thinking about this — about you — for a long time.... More than I wanted to admit.... I stopped for a little while, after what happened at the party. Then I realized too late that I'd misunderstood. I saw that article about your work, about how successful you were, and there were problems with my — "

"I haven't stopped, Jade. I've never stopped thinking about you."

They sat shoulder to shoulder as she absorbed this.

"At lunch yesterday, you wouldn't let me talk about what happened at that party. I want to explain."

"Alright." She nodded. "I'm not upset anymore, but why did you say it?"

"What did you hear?"

"I heard you say that my worth was determined by a piece of jewelry."

"I can understand why you thought that."

"I overreacted. For reasons you won't want to hear—"

"And I was trying to describe how I felt about you, not the necklace. You enhanced it, not the other way around. I was self-conscious, because I saw how much you liked it."

"Liked it?" She lifted her head and laughed. "I thought it was completely ridiculous."

He smiled tentatively. "You did? I thought it was ridiculous as well."

"That whole party made me uncomfortable."

"Me, too. It was dreadful."

She looked to him in confusion. "But then why did you want to meet me there?"

"I didn't. I thought you wanted to go. Nina said her son recommended it, and you'd agreed."

"Nina's son?"

He nodded.

In the past five minutes, in this city, thousands of couple had ended their unions in divorce. The end of her own — looming over them — was all the more reason to proceed honestly.

"Rafael, I need to tell you who my husband is... was..."

"Was? What?"

"After I ran out of the party that night — and I'm so sorry I didn't handle my reaction better — "

"You're right, we should forget it — "

"Well, not long after that, I started seeing Nina's son, Bruno. That's who I married."

"Oh, I see...  She mentioned a son at our first meeting. But she never says much about her personal life." He reflected on this. "Then I was putting Nina in a very awkward position all this time. I've been asking her to put me in back touch with you for the past year...."

"You have?"

"Yes! Over and over."

"What a mess." She put her head in her hands, then turned to him with a weary smile. "Nina isn't upset with you, Rafael, believe me. I talked with her yesterday, and I told her that I started to believe in my vision for my business — for my life — because of you."

"You did?"

She nodded. "And the truth is, being with him — her son — it got me motivated to do the work. It's like I was finding my way along with these matches. You helped me in some important ways. And her son did, too — I just didn't need to marry him."

"You sound a lot more sure about this now than you were yesterday."

"It's over. Nina helped me see that what I've been matching all along — in both senses of that word. I moved toward and away from people based on how I felt about myself at the time, including you."

"So — where does that leave us?"

"That's the thing.... I know what I want now — " she smiled. "Who I want...."

"Can you give me a hint?"

She laughed. "I'd love for us to start again, Rafael."

"That's all I want," he said, reaching for her hand.

At the sight of their fingers locking together, I prayed they wouldn't let go.

"Do you understand?... I have to get to where you are... I'm still putting my life together in a lot of ways. That's part of why I freaked out yesterday."

He furrowed his brow. "Get to where I am — how?"

She counted on her fingers. "Well, my business is still being launched, that's one thing. And then — debt. A lot."

He laughed.

"Now I'm about to go through a divorce —you're going through a breakup... And you live halfway around the world! You talk about reality versus dreams, and — face it, this is still mostly dreams."

He leaned closer. "My friend Joe has convinced me via a Seventies rock ballad not to stop dreaming until your dreams come true."

She turned and let herself look at him fully.

It was as if he wasn't completely visible to her before. She couldn't see in him what she couldn't see in herself.

"I won't stop dreaming of us," she said. "Believe me. And I think I have a plan. It might take some time, though."

"Can we pick up where we left off — while you do?"

She squeezed his hand. "Are you willing to fly a little farther?"

"Why?"

"Because I spent last night on the phone with a woman named Heather — an American who lives in Mexico. Her partner manages an eco-resort in Tulum, and he's hiring me to teach yoga there, in exchange for lodging."

He shook his head. "You really don't waste any time exiting, do you? Okay, so the trade covers housing. What about income?"

"I'm going to work at their sister property, doing massage therapy."

He reached to put his arms around her, and she fell forward against his chest.

"I can't wait to start visiting you," he said, embracing her. "I have breaks between projects, sometimes as long as two or three months at a time...."

"You're going to love it there! It's paradise."

"What about your business, though?"

"That's part of it. I don't know how to approach it yet, but I'm going to shift my focus to the hotel zone in Cancún and deliver the training there, even if it's outside the corporate model. I might offer sessions directly to the workers. Then I'll have a success story I can sell."

His face lit up. "You're going to make it happen, Jade. I knew you would. We should celebrate!" He jumped to his feet. "Would you like to join me for a glass of champagne?"

Oh, so he had to outdo me on the invitation, too?  Teacher's Pet!