“I think you’re going to have to trust me on this one.”
“Of course I trust you.” He nodded slowly. “I guess just don’t make the blog too out-there.” He flared his fingers in the air. “Sure, we want to increase our reach, but we don’t want to alienate ordinary folk. I don’t want them thinking T&D is just alternative therapies.”
“No, but this is holistic practice, bringing effective mindfulness into everyday busy lives. It’s a gentle reminder to pause — to tune in, breathe out, and let go. The idea is that you can do that anywhere — standing in a beautiful woodland or closing your eyes on a packed Tube train.”
Jeremy’s smile widened. “Okay, Trusty… yeah.” He nodded more enthusiastically now. “I like it. Perhaps you should call it Portable Peace instead though?”
“No,” she said, followed by a look that had Jeremy holding his hands up.
“Om-the-Go it is,” he said.
Two weeks later, Colin the consultant — who had all the charisma of a traffic cone, but in Catherine’s opinion wasn’t nearly as bright — gave her the thumbs-up to post her first blog. She pressed the ‘publish’ button and looked at the words, now live on the website, just below the fancy banner Colin had designed for the page.
Om-the-Go. Mindfulness for busy people, by Dr Catherine Truscote.
Her new professional photo looked back at her from under the banner; the soft smile on her lips a reminder of her near-miss, almost-kiss with the very attractive, but very married, photographer.
She sighed. She’d done what Jeremy asked; it hadn’t taken long and, surprisingly, she’d enjoyed it. She even had a few ideas for the next blog. But what was the point? It wasn’t as if anyone would read it.
Life rushes past, but you don’t have to.
No mat or mantra required — just you, here, now.
Draw in a deep, luxurious breath. Let it unfurl inside you, filling your lungs slowly, deliberately.
Let your gaze wander. Name three things you can see, hear, and feel. Let them tether you gently to the present.
And then, gratitude. Think of one thing, however small, that you’re thankful for right now.
Mindfulness isn’t about slowing life down; it’s about showing up for it.
Catherine tidied her things away,getting ready to head home for the evening, when her computer chimed with a cheerfuldingshe’d never heard it do before.
She glanced back at the screen, and the cheerfuldingpinged again. And again. And then she noticed it.
A little heart at the bottom of the blog post with a number three next to it. Three people had liked her blog, and twelve people had read it. She’d only posted it two minutes ago.Seriously, how are that many people on the T&D website?
She shook her head and flicked off the screen, but not before anotherdingchimed.
The next day, she logged in to see twenty-six likes, and nearly twice as many views. She promptly popped her head into Jeremy’s office to inform him that Colin must have wired up the website wrong because it was miscounting visitors.
Jeremy chuckled. “Colin connected your blog to another site, so it’s like a live feed. It’ll help pull traffic through to us. Didn’t I mention that before?”
Catherine shook her head.
“Don’t look so worried.” Jeremy waved a hand through the air. “Traffic tripled overnight, and Alice said we had two new inquiries this morning.”
“No pressure, then.”
“None at all, Trusty. Whatever you wrote is doing the trick. More of that, please.”
2
FROWNY FACE
PRESENT DAY
Catherine checked her reflection in the window before venturing inside El Vino y Tapas. Her tired eyes blinked back at her. She fixed her hair where it had been ruffled by the breeze, her fingers easily manipulating the same cropped style she’d worn for years. Only the colour had changed when she finally embraced the grey that insisted on pushing through.
