Private Emotions – Invitations (The Private Emotions Trilogy) by Elize Amornette Page B

holiday at one of our favorite places. We were wondering if you would like to join us. Mark would really like the opportunity to mend some fences, Em. So, will you come along?” I didn’t really have any plans for the weekend but it wasn’t like I wanted to go away and facing Mark didn’t sound like a good idea at the time. It may seem childish to most but I was still upset at how Mark had conspired with Ethan to bump into my life. Even though I would not trade that first night in the laundry room for anything, I still felt like Mark betrayed our friendship.
    “Ronnie, I would love to go but I have a lot of work to do and I am not exactly sure that I want to go away. You know how much trouble I have at packing at short notice. I am terrible at deciding what to wear in advance.”
    “Yes, I see your point. I can understand that you are sooo busy and packing at short notice is soooo troublesome and it can be sooooo terrible deciding what to wear in advance. I am a disappointed that you will not be able to make it. Oh, by the way, did I mention that Ethan is coming along? Mark was gracious enough to extend an invitation to him and he promptly accepted.” She knew that I wouldn’t be able to deny myself the chance to see Ethan again. She had purposely left out that tidbit of information until the very end of our conversation. It was likely that she was gauging my reaction and now I would have to put my cards on the table.
    “Wweell, maybe, I could rearrange a few things and it has been a long time since we’ve gone away together so I have decided that I’m going to go. I want you to know that I am doing this for you and only you, Ronnie. After all, you are my very most BESTERISTIS friend in the whole world.” I could hear her giggling on the other end of the line.
    “Ohhh of course, for me, I perfectly understand. After all, I am your very most BESTERISTIS friend in the whole world, Em.” I could tell from her tone of voice that she wasn’t buying my explanation but that was my story and I was sticking to it. “Why don’t the three of us pick you up at work on Friday afternoon? Then we can go to the airport and be at our destination in less than an hour. This place is something to see and I just know that you will love everything about it. Remember to bring some heavy clothing as it snows quite heavily in the area this time of year.” So all I really knew about the place was the fact that it was in the mountains somewhere and there was fresh powder on the ground, which could only mean that it was some kind of ski chalet. I hadn’t been on the slopes since I was a child and even then I was more of a snowboarder than a skier but like anything, once you’ve done it, it’s like riding a bike.
    “Okay, I’ll be waiting for you and I’m looking forward to seeing you both.” For some reason, I only mentioned her and Mark and had left out Ethan altogether, probably in hopes of making her think that having him there didn’t matter to me at all. Ronnie was more perceptive than that so my little tricks never worked with her.
    When I got off the phone, I immediately called Susan my therapist and relayed the news of how we were going away together and Ethan was going to be there as well. “Emily, I think that is a great idea as it will give you time to reconnect and find some forgiveness for past indiscretions. Just take things slowly and try to read his body signals. In the last couple of sessions, I showed you various exercises that will help you to determine what he is thinking and how to move forward from there.”
    “I’ve been practicing on people on the street and at work, and I have gotten it down to about 70% accuracy. It’s not an exact science but with practice, I think that I can make some really good educated decisions. The only thing is that when Ethan is close all that practicing sometimes goes out the window because he has a way of giving me brain fog. Having said that though, I will remember what