“Yeah, we are.”
He yanks me with him, causing me to jump into the water with him. The warmth envelops me until my feet touch the bottom of the pool, not so deep that my head goes under. It happens so fast that I can’t even adjust to this scene, until I can, and my face shades to elation.
“Really, what are we doing?”
“We’re going underwater. Then you can scream as loud as you want without anyone hearing.”
“Won’t you hear?”
Stone shrugs. “Do you mind?”
I shake my head no; I want to follow his guidance. “What’s the point of this?”
“Releases tension, any shitty feelings that you might have. A way to get rid of negative energy, because I sure as hell don’t believe in that energy-of-the-moon crap.”
“Oh? That surprises me,” I deadpan.
A droll smile spreads on his mouth. “Are you in, Harlow?”
I roll my eyes. “I’m in a pool in my clothes, might as well make this worth it.”
“Good. On the count of two.”
“Why not three?”
“That’s too expected.”
That answer fits perfectly. Nothing goes as planned in life.
“Okay.”
“One. Two.”
We both drop under the water, and nerves hit me as I try to figure out if this is ridiculous or not. But when he holds his fingers up to count, I follow.
I scream.
The muffled sound hits my ears, which only encourages me to yell harder. Then a current swims down my veins, hitting my chest. Anger hits me, and I scream more.
I focus on letting out every negative thought that hit me today, maybe even from the past two years. It feels so damn helpful.
Even when my breath begins to lose steam, swimming up feels as though I’m leaving bricks at the bottom of the water.
Gasping for air, I’m met with Stone’s wry smile, and I know my own face must appear exhilarated. “That was…”
“What we needed,” he finishes my sentence.
“Do that often?” I wonder.
“All the time,” he states simply then snickers. “Actually never. Just thought it was a good idea.”
I splash water at him. “Seems like you are full of ideas. It will come to you—what to write, I mean.”
“I just needed some inspiration.” It barely escapes, and his jaw ticks, his eyes locked on mine.
That overwhelming air circles around us. “Turns out this retreat did what it was supposed to do,” I say softly.
“Yeah.” It’s delicate. Stone seems to realize he is lost in his gaze and shakes it off. “Gloria should be fired, though.”
