Page 38 of The Summer Request
“Ah, perfect. I have you here. We’ve got a welcome bag for each of you that has everything you’ll need.” She reached forward to hand off three neon green cloth bags. “Have you had a chance to view the sessions online?”
Val shook her head. “Unfortunately not. This was a spur of the moment sort of thing.”
“This is a sister-in-law bonding retreat for us,” Lisa added rather clumsily.
She had insisted on having a backstory, and apparently thought people needed to know about it.
The woman smiled. “That’s great! Is this your first time with us?”
Val spoke before Lisa could add any more backstory. “Yes.”
“We are so happy you’re here to grow with us. The sessions for the retreat focus on four areas of self-actualization: your cut, clarity, color, and carat! The Emerald Way teaches that by working on these four areas, you’ll polish the gemstone within you and be the best version of yourself you can possibly be.”
Val took a deep breath. That was a lot of gibberish to take in at once. The only person she wanted to work on cutting was Lou. Preferably with a knife, not a gemstone, but she’d take what she could get.
Michelle stepped in and covered Val’s sudden silence. “That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”
“Do you have any questions?”
Michelle smiled, rather skillfully feigning excitement and asking, “When will we get to meet Mr. Emerald? Is he speaking today?”
The woman’s face lit up. “Of course! He’ll be here for our dinner session at six o’clock. Let me see if your package includes dinner…Yes, looks like it does. You’re going to love him. He issoinspiring.”
“He seems so inspiring,” Lisa said, nodding vigorously. “Just what we needed.”
Val latched onto her shoulder and led her away. “Thanks again.”
“Have a nice day,” Michelle added, following them to a little corner of tables and chairs.
Thank goodness for Michelle. She was a far more skilled actor than Lisa, and kept a cooler head than Val. Really, they were the perfect team.
“I don’t understand the whole cut and clarity thing,” Lisa said once they sat down.
“Oh, you don’t? Is it because it’s stupid and you can’t change the clarity, carat, or color of a gemstone?” Val pulled out her folder and tossed the bright green bag on the floor.
There were all kinds of trinkets in the bag – a pen, a lanyard with her fake name on it, a gaudy looking pin that looked like an emerald. All junk.
Michelle studied the packet in front of her. “It says here that clarity is your ambition as to what you want in life. Cut is your determination to go about getting it. Color is about learning to keep the fun in your life, and carat is about the worth you hold for yourself.”
“Utter nonsense.” Val rolled her eyes. There were too many sessions to choose from, far more than she’d expected. “Where do you think Keith will be?”
“He’ll probably be running all around,” Lisa said, biting a nail. “Putting out fires and the like. I don’t know how we’ll find him.”
Val tapped the clunky green pen on her welcome packet. “I know you’re not going to like this, but we should split up.”
Michelle let out a sigh. “What exactly is the plan if we do find Keith? Are you just going to ask him who Sam Beverly is?”
Val shushed her. “Keep your voice down. There are ears everywhere, and hundreds of devoted Emeralds.”
As if to prove her wrong, a laugh rang out from the table next to them. They looked over to see a pair of women in business suits. One of them scoffed and said, “I can’t believe the C-suite is paying for us to waste our week here.”
At least someone saw through this crap. Val shrugged. “All right, maybe they’re notalldevoted Emeralds, but a lot of them are.”
Michelle sat back and crossed her arms. “Isn’t Keith a devoted Emerald?”
“No. His loyalty has come into question, according to Chloe,” Val said. That was all that Chloe knew, though. Apparently Keith didn’t like her much. In general, people in the Emerald community didn’t discuss their doubts about their fearless leader. If they expressed any concerns, they risked being ostracized.
Val continued. “I’m sure we’ll find him. Did you both get the picture of Keith on your phone?”
