Page 104 of Sort of Seeing Someone

“So how much did she leave you?” asks Yas, grounding me to our business-oriented conversation.

“Enough to get in the door at the old yoga studio—both floors,” I say of the six-figure price tag.

“So if I’m hearing you correctly, you want to take this giant lump sum of cash you recently stumbled upon, and at your most destitute point in life, dump it into a building that may or may not get swallowed by the sand in five years?”

“That’s why we’ll go to the panel discussion tomorrow. Get a vibe for if we think they have that issue under control or not.”

“This is California. I can call a casting agency and have a ‘panel of experts’ assembled in ten minutes for a few hundred bucks. Regardless, what are you going to make it into? Joe n’ Flow 2.0?”

“Not exactly. As much as I loved that concept, I know I can’t do it justice—nor can I recreate anything close to how good their lattes were. Plus, I’ve evolved. I’m not just a front-desk girl at a yoga studio by the beach anymore. I’m a businesswoman. And even though I’m currently in a bit of a rough patch, I’m pretty sure I see the way out.”

“And that is…?”

“Vine n’ Vibes.”

Yasmin sips her Diet Coke through a straw and nods her head as she lets that sink in.

“Vine n’ Vibes, huh? Tell me more.”

“First floor: wine bar,” I say.

“And who’s running that?” she asks.

My eyes widen as I hope the part-time sommelier picks up what I’m throwing down.

“I love how I went from yourbusiness managerto yourbusiness partnerin about three seconds flat. You’re lucky I think OB is really missing the mark on having a solid wine bar option this close to the ocean. What’s on the second floor, mama?”

“Second floor: crystal shop.”

“Just crystals?”

“No. I’m envisioning the whole kit and caboodle. Smudge sticks, mortars, pestles, books, bottles…”

“...Lotions and potions, oh my?”

“Oh, yes,” I say, having essentially just described Angeline’s shop with an OB flare for the weird. “What do you think?”

“Honestly? I think it’s a great idea. Never before had I thought about marrying those two things together in a business setting, but I do just that every day in my personal life. I can’t give you forty hours a week—but I can be ‘in’ on some level.”

Yas is a catch in a million different ways. Having her so much as consult on Vine n’ Vibes is frankly more than I could have hoped for.

“What do you think I should go in at? Full ask? I probably need to get aggressive, they said there are multiple showings.”

“I know you’re excited to materialize your next chapter in life, and I’m loving the newfound boss-lady confidence. But stay the course. First, I suggest you pray on it. Then, of course, we attend the panel discussion tomorrow.”

“Pray on it? I’m not religious. And I thought you weren’t either.”

“Praying doesn’t always mean kneeling by your bed clutching the rosary. There’s a Moon Beam Bath Ritual on the beach tonight. I’m definitely attending. I suggest you do the same.”

“A Moon Beam Bath Ritual? I don’t think I’m prepared for that,” I say.

“Have you ever done a cold bath plunge?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you’re prepared. A lot of people will be there, Moonie, just floating around in the love and light of our dear Mother Moon. It’s a great symbolic energy all around. Afterward, I bet that you’ll feel a level of clarity you won’t be able to get anywhere else. And then, you’ll have your answer. Now, are you going to eat your peperoncini peppers, or can I have them?”

Yasinvites me to stay with her in her home for the duration of my trip. The problem is, I don’t know how long the duration of my trip is, and the last thing I want is to be an imposition to my friend who has already dropped everything to pick me up at the airport last minute, shuttle me to an impromptu real estate showing, and take in way more carbs than her system has probably processed in years.

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