The Summer Proposal by Vi Keeland by Vi Keeland

Maggie arched a brow. “So this is calm you?”

I took a deep breath and heaved a loud sigh. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Do you remember when you came home from that meditation retreat? You told me about these sessions you went to for over-thinkers and said they suggested implementing some rules to make decisions less stressful.”

I nodded. “The serenity six, they called them.”

“What were they?”

“Umm... There was an acronym. What was it again?” I tapped my finger to my lip. “Oh, I know. STEP UP. S was for spontaneity, to work on being more spontaneous. T was for timeline. They suggested setting a timeline to make decisions and move on. Thirty seconds for little things like what you should have for lunch. Thirty minutes for bigger decisions, and to the end of the day for the biggest stuff. E was for exercise, which is self-explanatory. P was for present, to work on being in the present and not looking back at things. U was for ubhaya padangusthasana, which is a yoga balancing pose that they suggest you do when you’re under a lot of stress because it’s supposed to center your core, and the last P was for people. They suggest only associating with people who aren’t over-thinkers when you’re struggling.”

“Okay, well…I didn’t remember any of that, and honestly I just zoned out while you were explaining half of it, but the parts I heard sounded useful. Like setting a timeline—I’m sure you see this as a big decision, so maybe give yourself until the end of the day today, and then don’t look back. You’re either in or you’re out. If you’re in—stay in the present. Don’t think about Gabriel. He’s not here, and he’s not part of today. And I definitely think you could use some spontaneity. If you decide yes on Max, make a commitment to have fun with him and try new things. If not, you and I will make some plans. I’ve always wanted to jump out of a plane.”

I smiled. “I don’t know about the plane part, but I guess the other stuff is good advice.”

“You are great at making decisions, but sometimes circumstances change. You need to loosen up and be able to roll with the unexpected punches. It’s okay to just go out there and have fun without knowing what tomorrow will bring.”

Reluctantly, I nodded.

Maggie leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms out on the armrests. “Look at me. I’m the normal one now.”

I snorted. “Let’s not go that far. Are you still sleeping with Aaron’s lawyer?”

“We did it in a conference room in his office, right before Aaron was coming for another settlement meeting. He sat down in the exact spot where my bare ass had been not ten minutes earlier. I’m pretty sure if he had paid attention, he could have recognized my ass-cheek print on the glass tabletop.”

“I rest my case.”

Maggie took a deep breath. “Alright. Well, are you ready to get started? We’re on a tight deadline with the printer.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Two hours later, we’d finalized the new ad campaign, and Maggie stood to head back to her office.

When she reached the door, I called after her, “Mags?”

She turned back. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for talking me down.”

“My pleasure.” She winked. “Now I only owe you a million more for all the times you’ve helped me. I’ll be back this afternoon to hear your decision.”



• • •



My supplier meeting ran late, so by the time I got back to the office, people were already leaving for the day. Ellie, my assistant, was putting her jacket on as I walked by her desk.

“Hey, Georgia. I left a delivery that came for you in your office.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you.”

“And I summarized all of your messages in an email. Nothing sounded urgent, but I’m sure you’ll check.”

“Thanks, Ellie. Have a good night.”

I expected to see a brown cardboard box on my desk, the usual delivery of samples or something from Amazon. I was surprised to find a white gift bag, decorated with ribbons. Curious, I didn’t even take off my jacket or sit down before I tore into it.

Inside was a plastic gift box with a pad and pencil set. Upon closer inspection, I noticed both had suction cups attached to them. I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at. A sample of some sort sent in a pretty bag by a supplier? There was an envelope, so I sliced open the back and slipped out the card.



Georgia,

It’s waterproof. No more slips and falls.

Looking forward to Friday night.



X

Max



Damn it, that Max. Did he have to go and be so great? While a gift like this seemed like it should go in the pros column, there was also a reason to put it in with the cons. Any man who took time out of his day to find me a water-resistant pad and pencil was someone I could grow attached to. Now, if the bag had contained a black-lace teddy, that would actually have seemed safer—that type of gift screamed summer fling only.

So I sat at my desk, staring into space for the next half hour, doing what I did best—analyzing and overanalyzing. Eventually a knock at my door interrupted my thoughts.

Maggie held up two of those tiny bottles of wine you get on an airplane.

“Decision time. I’m going to assume you haven’t come to one—or rather, you haven’t settled into the one you told Max you already made. So I’m here to rip the Band-Aid off. The wine will help take away the sting.”