Page 11

Eight

Past

I Googled your event for the dates. I booked you a room with a view, as they say, at Ocean Voyeur.

Check in Friday evening, checkout Sunday morning.

It’s on Liam and me. We appreciate all the hard work and hours you give to NEL.

We’ve already paid in full. Oops! Bring Flash to the center on your way out of town, he’s staying with us.

Best, Nora

P.S. Savor it! You deserve some yutori!

P.P.S. Make sure you try the Gossling Arms White wine. It will change your life.

I now need to look up yutori. I let a sigh leak out through pursed lips. I should have known better. Nora is just the sort to do this to me. I wanted to drive up the morning of the event, do the speaking engagement, stay the night, and be home the next morning. A quick twenty-four-hour jaunt.

I should feel appreciation, gratefulness. I’m being petulant, and I know it. I rub the end of Flash’s ear between my index finger and thumb while I ask Google what yutori is with my free hand. His soft ear is comforting.

Yutori: the conscious act of slowing down to savor the world, creating space to relax and reflect.

Huh. Figures.

“Slowing down is the last thing I need,” I tell Flash.

He closes his eyes, soaking up the attention from where he sprawls across the couch.

The week ahead looks like a black hole on my calendar, and Nora’s generous escape hatch isn’t as enticing as it should be.

But I can already hear her voice in my head, bemused and persistent, reminding me to take more time for myself lest I implode—a cautionary tale she seems determined to avoid.

Ocean Voyeur, though. The name alone suggests indolence and pier-side extravagance.

I hit REPLY:

Subject: Re: Your weekend getaway

Dear Nora,

What can I possibly say? Thank you isn’t enough. You overwhelm me! I’m sure I’ll enjoy the it once I get there. I’m already bracing myself for the scandalous opulence of Ocean Voyeur.

Flash will be excited about his own mini-break with you and Liam!

Best, Dr. R