Meditation Mount
"What about a picnic?" Emily whispered.
Guru Sri Sri Shanti was droning on about the soul being a flower that opened when the light of the Vedas shone upon it. Emily was bored because she knew a lot more about the Vedas than Sri Sri Shanti aka Joseph Poplowitz.
"I've had just about enough of this." She murmured to Susan, who sat next to her on a fat meditation cushion. "Shall we go?"
Susan held up her left slim hand.
"As soon as they start the Om nama shivaya; I can't stand chanting."
They raided the kitchen. The fridge had a stack of roti and a bowl of vegan biriyani. Emily filled her water bottle with lassi and snitched a few of the Indian sweets. Two apples.
"All set."
The murmur of the entranced participants wobbled down the corridor from the meditation room.
"Let's get the fuck out of here."
"Where shall we eat?"
Emily pondered a minute.
"Hey. You know how there's that little deserted dirt road that skirts the creek just before the turnoff to the ashram? I think I glimpsed a little clearing down that way. We can sit on the bank, paddle our feet in the cool water and eat our lunches. Good?"
"Sounds perfect if it is the way you say. I'm not one for batting mosquitoes and brushing squads of ants off my food."
"Well, let's give it a try. If it sucks, then we can find a more civilized spot. Okay?"
Emily winced inside. She didn't like to hear women use the expression "sucks," and here she had done it herself, with Susan, of all people; someone she thought had class and style.
As they walked to her car she peeked at her old roommate out of the corner of her eye. Susan personified the word 'graceful.' She was slim, high-waisted and long-legged. Today she was wearing a rough grey cotton skirt that fluttered around her legs as she walked; a clean pink blouse, a dark silk scarf knotted around her neck. Pale skin. Fine nose. Cupid's bow mouth.
The only element that didn't look 'put together' was her hair; short curly blonde with all sorts of mottled highlights that caught the light almost like a halo. Messy and neat at the same time.
Emily was jealous. She seemed to have been chosen by Life Central Casting to be just the opposite of this elegant companion. She had all kinds of mixed ancestry, so her skin was a palette of different hues, from nutty brown where any sun at all hit it, freckles on her nose, cheeks and shoulders, creamy beige shading to purple in her hidden areas. There was a lot of her; not fat, but big round curves that danced when she walked. Something inside her always seemed to be dancing. She fought it; dressed in black; went to yoga and meditation retreats to pump up her chill. She liked her hair, wore it loose and natural, just a little picked out. All that effort still left her feeling a hot mess. Fortunately, her guy, Darwin liked her just like she was. But he did call her 'cupcake' which suggested how he saw her — certainly not a sleek, classy Susan.
They didn't talk much in the short drive over. Susan was humming something and rolling her head on her shoulders, massaging the back of her neck and temples.
"You hurtin'?"
Susan nodded.
"That's why I was happy to get out of there. I thought that meditation would clear this tension headache, but I can't shake it."
"I think I've got some Tylenol in my bag."
"Thanks. Maybe I'll just wait it out. Maybe the food will kill it. Frankly, I wasn't going to share this; I just was fired. Unexpectedly. Not exactly 'for cause,' but they weren't nice; suggesting I just didn't get the company ethos, yada yada. Trouble is, they were right. I like being a copywriter but I can't write bullshit about candidates that I wouldn't shake hands with at a church supper. So it's good I got the axe, because I get severance. But see, I thought I could turn them around, make them greater than they were. Fucking Thaddeus Reynolds."
"You didn't, did you?"
"What? Oh. No, though he probably would have been willing to overlook his own 'non-fraternizing in the workplace' rule."
"So you don't think that's why —?"
"I got cut? Nuh uh. Pure politics."
"But it has you wired."
"Yup. I had dreams and they're in the toilet."
"Maybe not. You can make a new road. And you have Greg, isn't it?"
"Well, that too."
"No."
"Yeah."
"Hey, I'm so sorry. And I'd be happy to massage a couple of those knots out."
Emily reached over and squeezed the back of Susan's neck.
"Whoa. You have strong hands. Maybe I'll take you up on that."
"Okay, that's a promise. But here's our turn, I think. Yes, see, that's where the little road goes off. But, it has gotten overgrown. I guess nobody much comes down here even for walking meditation. Good, we'll have the place to ourselves."
The car was pushing between bushes as they neared the creek. Susan had a tiny frown.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Nope. But I have a hunch. Aaaand here we are."
The car pulled out into a little clearing. There was the stream. A small grove of birches leaned over it surrounded by a bright green patch off moss. Across the stream was a wild meadow filled with Queen Anne's lace and black-eyed susans and white daisies. Butterflies danced above them.
Susan sat with her mouth a little open, shaking her head.
"Cue the Disney music, right?"
"Well, there are probably tons of mosquitoes and huge ants."
But there weren't.
Emily popped the back of her CR-V and rummaged.
"I think I have both an old quilt and one of those shiny thermal blankets. So we're all set."
She spread the thermal blanket on the moss under a birch tree and laid the quilt on top of it. Susan sat down and then just flopped out on it.
"God. This is so damn soft. Wake me in a couple of hours."
