As Kate waited for Jack at Le Beau Château for her fifth session with Carly, she thought about her burgeoning relationship with Jack. It started innocently enough, she mused.
Kate had been at Westport’s Brie discussing cheese with the owner when Jack walked in and joined their conversation. Not knowing he was a gourmand, she was impressed by Jack’s knowledge of French cheeses. Noting their interest, the owner invited them both back to a cheese and wine tasting he was holding for his regular customers the following Friday evening. When they left the shop, Jack walked Kate to her car. He was headed to Miami for a long weekend. One of his private yoga clients was taking him to practice yoga with her while she was on a business trip.
“She’s running a four-day convention and is very wound up at the end of each day,” he explained. “Yoga is the only thing that helps her sleep.”
The following Friday, Kate was excited to get ready for her night out. After trying on and discarding multiple outfits, she settled on her favorite white, fitted Diesel jeans and a slightly translucent white top over a turquoise tank top. She added black and cork mules and trendy turquoise and gold jewelry. Kate had asked Lorenzo’s mother to watch the kids, adding that she should be there well before Lorenzo would be home. He wouldn’t care if Kate wasn’t at home as long as his mother was there to take care of their children and baby him.
Kate arrived at Brie a few minutes after the tasting started. No Jack. She scanned the crowd and, to her pleasant surprise, realized she didn’t know anyone but the owner. She had hoped for as much.
Ten minutes in—still no Jack. Her disappointment was building.
Maybe he isn’t coming, she wondered. She had missed the Wednesday class and hadn’t checked in with him. Maybe he forgot. She started to feel the awkwardness of being stood up.
As Kate repeatedly checked the door, the owner sensed her unease. He asked her to help him with the tasting. She happily obliged and began passing out platters of cheese to the crowd. Jack arrived about twenty minutes later. Kate didn’t see him enter.
Their first contact was touch. Jack brushed up against her as she arranged a platter of aged blue cheese. He leaned in and whispered a quiet, “Hi, Kate” as the shop owner discussed the intricacies of the aged Gouda she had just passed.
Kate turned toward him to see his tanned face inches from hers. His gray-blue eyes were piercing. Devoid of his standard yoga gear and wearing fitted taupe khakis and a white-and-baby-blue checkered oxford, he looked strikingly handsome. Kate smiled and quickly stepped back from him, afraid of her attraction. As she delivered the platter, Jack stayed at the table where she was working until she returned. The crowd turned out to be a combination of Jack’s clients and acquaintances, but he stayed by Kate’s side throughout the evening as women walked up and greeted him. Kate felt like she was with a celebrity.
After the tasting, Jack suggested they get a drink together. It was a warm evening, and they walked to Asado, a quiet bar not too far away. Kate felt a sense of ease with him and an attraction that most men didn’t evoke in her anymore. With age came trepidation for her with everyone, including the opposite sex. Despite how unhappy she was with Lorenzo, she envied none of her friends’ marriages. Kate knew too much personal baggage about their husbands for any of them to appeal to her. Bad father. Cheap. Wandering eye. Perfectionist. Workaholic. Angry. Egocentric. Alcoholic. Manic. Strange. Meddling ex-wives. Too many kids. Dysfunctional parents…
Kate had also witnessed enough men go through midlife crises and ditch their families, either by mentally checking out or literally for their own self-preservation—a preservation of an unfulfilled self, a fantasy self. One who didn’t have to think about the kids he chose to have and the impact of his abandonment. As a result, Kate hadn’t found any man more than physically attractive in years.
But Jack was different. When Kate was with him, she felt like she was with a kindred spirit, a friend who could be a lover. She was able to speak freely and easily with him. And, unlike Lorenzo, Jack listened to her. Kate sensed that if she wanted someone other than Lorenzo to sleep with, Jack would be the right choice. He would appear and then disappear, never exposing the relationship. Given that she had children to think of, that appealed to her the most.
Over a pitcher of sangria, Jack and Kate discussed the subtlety of fresh butter and fine olive oil versus the standard varieties, the outrageousness of Pam in cooking, and their favorite gelatos. Since leaving Roger Williams, Kate rarely had anyone other than gourmet storeowners or clerks to speak to about such things in such detail. Many women in town knew good food, but they had chefs or other staff who cooked for them. Others bought prepared meals from gourmet stores or had caterers deliver meals weekly. Jack encouraged Kate to expand her small catering business, but she told him of Lorenzo’s objections to her working outside the home.
“I only take on a few parties a year,” Kate said. “Lorenzo doesn’t let me take on more. He wants me to focus on the work that’s needed in the home.”
“Sounds like he feels threatened by your independence,” Jack said.
Kate knew he was right. Their conversation moved to Jack’s yoga studio. He suggested she take her practice to the next level with private sessions. “You aren’t like many of the other women in Cannondale,” he said. “The Fairfield County lifestyle doesn’t fulfill you. Your kids are your priority. You want your own professional success. You need to spend time discovering who you are meant to be. I think yoga is the key for you, kundalini yoga specifically. Are your familiar with kundalini?”
It was one of the nicest evenings Kate could remember having since moving to Cannondale. She was so accustomed to Lorenzo’s intensity as well as the nature of the women in town—everything was a competition. With Jack, there was no competition. There was no mention of material acquisitions or kids’ achievements. There was just discussion and contemplation and work toward personal growth.
Kate went to Jack’s rented studio in Westport the following Tuesday. She was both scared and excited to have time alone with him. She honestly didn’t know if it would lead to an affair. She sensed that he liked her, and she had heard rumors about him being intimate with some of his students, but during that first session as well as the following few, Jack was extremely professional.
He quietly guided her through the poses, his direction allowing her to enjoy the full benefits of each one. Kate fell into it quickly, losing herself for the hour. The combination of dim lighting, a gentle hand, and the release that came from the strenuous poses made it feel closer to a spiritual experience than an hour of exercise. By shavasana, she was so relaxed that she fell asleep.
When Kate woke twenty minutes later, Jack was sitting in a chair, smiling at her, watching her. “I let you sleep,” he said. “You looked so peaceful.”
Kate left that session knowing she had a friend and maybe, hopefully, a lover.