looks slightly afraid, as if heâs going to get busted for doing something.
âItâs Harold, right?â
âUm . . . no, itâs Anthony. You must have gotten me mixed up with someone else.â
âOh. Sorry, my mistake.â She smiles apologetically and turns back to me. The smile immediately falls from her face. âDamn, he was kinda cute.â
âSo you havenât given up yet?â
âOf course not!â She looks astonished that I could even ask such a question. âIf heâs my destiny, Iâm not going to stop looking until I find him. Because if Iâm looking for my soul mate, my soul mate is out there somewhere looking for me.â Her green eyes flash with determination. âI know you probably think Iâm crazyââ
âNo, I donât,â I protest a little too quickly.
âBut sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. Trust in the universe. Believe in the power of positive thinking and the laws of attraction. Itâs like The Secret . Did you ever read it?â
âNo, I donât thinkââ
âWell, I did, cover to cover,â she continues, âand I bought the DVD. It was amazing. Seriously. I made a vision board and everything.â
âWhatâs that?â
Robyn turns on me incredulously. âYou donât know what a vision board is?â
âUm . . .â I feel like the time I was ten and on the school playground and someone asked me if I knew what an erection was.
âNot exactly,â I try bluffing. âShould I?â
âOh my God. Totally!â she cries, eyes wide. âA vision board is a visualization tool that activates the universal law of attraction to begin manifesting your dreams into reality.â
âRight, I see.â I nod, not seeing at all. Rather like when I was ten and asked my sister what an erection was and, after she laughed her head off, she explained itâs what you call a penis when it goes hard.
Only I didnât know what a penis was.
âBasically, itâs really simple. You get a piece of foam board and you cut out pictures or words from magazines or wherever and you make a collage of all the things you want in your life,â she enthuses. âItâs actually kind of fun. You should try it.â
âHmm, maybe.â I donât want to hurt her feelings, but reallyâa quiz in a magazine is one thing, but a vision board ? My sister would have kittens. âOnly itâs not quite my thing.â
âLucy, youâve got to stop being so negative,â she reprimands me.
âIâm not being negative,â I protest. âIâm British. We donât do vision boards or self-help books. Well, at least not in public,â I add, thinking about the couple of books Iâve got stashed on my shelf.
âWell, you should.â Robyn clicks her tongue and looks at me pityingly.
âExcuse me, miss?â The teller is holding out my change.
âOh, thanks.â Taking it from him, I put it back in my purse. âSorry, but I just donât believe in that stuff,â I say, turning back to Robyn.
âThatâs your problem right there.â She shrugs. âYou donât believe.â
Picking up the takeaway bag of food from the counter, I hug it to my chest a tad defensively.
âNot everything can be explained or understood, you know, Lucy.â Tucking a shock of curls behind her ear, she looks at me beseechingly. âSometimes you have to trust in the mysterious power of the universe, in a greater energy, in a spiritual force, in something bigger than you and me.â Her eyes are shining and her face is filled with such conviction that for a moment I can almost feel my skepticism wavering. âYou just have to believe. And I believe that in this big, wide world, in all these billions of people, if two people are meant to be together, theyâll be together.â
As
Patricia MacLachlan
Patrick Wilcken
Ella Drake
Lauren Bjorkman
Jane K. Cleland
Kendra C. Highley
Don Hoesel
Debbie Viguié
Liz Crowe
Lisa Howorth