“We have a place where you can spar, in the literal sense. But we do have the Court, where anyone can talk or argue. Within limits. You can’t slap people around or talk badly about their mothers.”
Rowan blinked. “You have...a place for people to fight?”
“I say spar, you say fight, it’s the same thing,” I said with a shrug. “But this place is for thinking and quiet reflection. Why don’t you wander around a bit before we focus on the other places you might want to use?”
“I don’t like to wander. I want reason and purpose,” he said so stiffly it was a wonder he didn’t turn into a statue.
“Alright, well, if you don’t trust me to guide you in the sense that my position is to guide, then at least let me do it directly. I can tell you the ins and outs of places and their purpose,” I said, gesturing toward the door.
“Reggie,” he said as if using his name made him uncomfortable, “already gave me the tour.”
“He gave you the Operations Director tour. I’m sure you have questions, and you clearly enjoy drilling me for information,” I said.
He stared at me. “Drillingyou for information?”
I stiffened. “Grilling. Grilling, I?—”
“Mmm,” he said, snapping his head away as if the very idea of being suggestive was offensive. “I do have questions.”
“Then let’s go before we bother people who came for the room’s intended purpose,” I said.
“Indeed,” he said, walking away stiffly.
Alright, so he was clearly unafraid to offend me, but bothering other people was rude. Good to know. At least I wasgetting some insight into how he viewed things, so that was progress and would make things easier for us both.
Right?
ROWAN
After a weekand a half in the program, I was not impressed.
So far, I had been introduced to people, both in the program and those who worked here, and had been left to explore. There were classes, or at least that’s what they were called, but so far as I could see, they were places to talk. In fact, talking seemed to be the emphasis here, and I wasn’t the least bit interested in that.
A view my Guide did not share. If Luka was around, he filled the silence with chatter, or at least it felt that way.
“You know,” he began, proving me correct, “we encourage people to move at their own pace, but you don’t seem to have a pace.”
“Are you not supposed to be guiding me?” I asked irritably, putting the book I had just started to enjoy down. I had already learned that once he got started on whatever was running through that pretty little head, it was going to come out no matter what I said, which was annoying, but not nearly as annoying as thinking of his head as pretty. “So far, you’ve done little more than follow me around and try to pull me into conversation unsuccessfully.”
“I keep hoping you’ll remember how to converse,” he said, the sharp tone I’d heard on occasion making its way into hisvoice before disappearing under a flash of brightness again. “So, how about you get up, and I’ll take you to one of the things we offer, and you do it. If you hate it, that’s on me, and I shouldn’t be trusted to come up with another activity for a few days.”
I stared at him unblinkingly before grimacing. If I was going to find out if this infernal place was worth throwing more money at, I should at least attempt to engage with it. This wasn’t a vacation. So far, it had felt like an irritating vacation where I hadn’t actually managed to relax, but a vacation all the same. What I wouldn’t give for a day to do whatever I wanted without an escort...or at least something to relax me as I had been repeatedly promised and had yet to see delivered.
“Fine,” I ground out, reminding myself he was new to this. I don’t know why they had to assign me someone who clearly didn’t know what they were doing, but I suppose every expert had to start as a novice. Not that that inclined me toward a favorable review, but...ugh, fine. “Let’s see what you’ve got, since your ideas haven’t exactly been stellar.”
“There’s always tomorrow, er...well, today I guess,” he said. “Let us away!”
“Injecting unnecessary enthusiasm into the idea does not make it better,” I reminded him as I got up, hating the twist of pain that shot up my back. I had brought enough pills with me to last the entire stay, but not enough to make an impact every day. So I was reduced to rationing, trying to keep in mind that some days would be better than others. I wanted to keep the lion’s share for when my pain was especially bad, or when my nerves were so shot that something to dull the scraping sensation inside my head was necessary.
His eyes narrowed for a moment before his annoyance disappeared. “Yeah, well, consider it compensation for the lack of enthusiasm I’m used to from you. In life, there is a balance.”
Not the sentiment I would put out there, but at least he was consistent. Luka might be more tolerable if he weren’t so damn...clean. It wasn’t that he was a ‘company man,’ at least not in the sense that he was robotic and stiff, but he was definitely enthusiastic about the Arete Resort.
“Where exactly are we going?” I asked as we walked along one of the hallways with a wall of glass that looked out on the mountain range. The one thing I would give this place was that they knew their location was beautiful and were not afraid to show it off. Spring was melting the snow and ice that dotted the slopes, but there was still enough to look breathtaking, especially when the sun was at the right angle to make everything glitter like jewels.
“Well, it’s not like you’ve seen the whole place,” he said with a new skip to his step.
“I suppose that’s true. My tours haven’t been extensive.”
