Free Romance: My Italian Prince, Undercover Love: Sweet Romantic Comedy by JASMIN JACOBS

Kat sounded all convinced.
     
    Vanessa still didn’t feel convinced, but she had to admit it sounded quite blissful being away at a retreat, hanging out at the beach and lounging in Kayoba-Hammocks and perhaps even do some yoga exercises.
     
    “Well, I might have a bit of an issue with that part of my life, but other than that I have nothing that needs to be fixed, ok. But no therapy or get to know your inner self-crap because then I'm out.”
     
    “Absolutely not! So it’s settled then,” Kat leaped happily up from the couch. “I’ll do some calls and see when we can go.”
     
    That was another thing that made hanging out with Kat so much fun, she knew everyone. Everyone. There was not a nightclub, restaurant, or premiere she couldn’t get into if she sat her mind to it. Often she wasn’t interested in those kinds of events but a few times she had brought Vanessa to some openings and it had been a lot of fun.
     
    “OK, let’s go packing. I guess we’ll need a lot of yoga pants.”
     
    “Nope, We don’t need to bring anything. Just our poor souls.” Kat said in a dramatic voice after hanging up her call. We’’ll find everything we might need over there. I told you it’s not just some rehab center.”
     
     
     
    Chapter 9
     
     
     
     
    “ Namaste ! Or maybe Satnam ?” Vanessa greeted Kat with a big smile as she rolled out her yoga mat and sat down next to her on the sun deck.
     
    The Garden of Peace had embraced them both with quiet sincerity and had offered them a soothing escape as they had signed up for a program that promised to give them life-changing experiences. The accommodation on a hilltop above the ocean was completely off grid with solar panels, compostable toilets and a garden, which provided fruit and vegetables. Yoga took place daily on a deck overlooking the beach and classes for your own choosing of disorder followed after.
     
    “It’s Namaste, Green,” Kat whispered . “And would you please keep it down, I’m trying to focus!”
     
    “Oh, Sorry.”
     
    Vanessa began warming up by doing some shoulder mobility exercises she had learned the oth er day. Then the group was instructed to close their eyes and go search for their Inner Happy Place . Vanessa closed her eyes but couldn’t resist opening one eye to peek at her fellow yogis.
    Kat was sitting on her mat with her legs crossed and her hands palm side up on her thighs. Her eyes were closed, and she drew in slow, easy breaths through her nose. There was some serious soul-searching going on there. Vanessa tried hard to quiet her mind and keep thoughts out in the same way she had been instructed on the crash-course yesterday, but found she couldn’t stay focused. Her mind just wouldn't stop chattering.
     
    Vanessa gave up on her mediation and looked out over the people who laid on the deck. Everyone in different yoga poses. They actually looked quite funny and she couldn’t help but laugh.
     
    “Ouch,” Kat elbowed her and hushed.
     
    Why was she so tense? This inner p eace thing was supposed to make her feel... well peaceful. They had been attending the Garden of Peace for two days now and even though Vanessa felt relaxed, it hadn't transformed her life as it had promised in the brochure. She was careful not to mention this to Kat though, who was a bit sensitive to any kind of, what she called “criticism of the healing.” Kat had signed up for all the mind-freeing classes she could find. Sometimes Vanessa had woken up late at night when Kat came back dripping in sweat from one of her night-classes. At one point, she had even woken up early in the morning and got quite the shock when she saw Kat doing the sun salutation pose while standing butt naked on a stool. Although Vanessa had tried to indulge herself in the search for her inner peace, she couldn’t get into it as easy as Kat... However, this was normal. Kat was always trying out different ways of looking on life, while Vanessa was suspicious about