Closest To My Heart

Chapter Six

Tag leaned sideways into what he'd been told was the Triangle Pose for the seventh—or was it eighth?—time, beginning to wish he'd ignored the challenge that Maggie had lobbed so pointedly at his back while he'd been making his churlish exit. When done singly, the ten basic poses that she'd taught him were easy. But then Maggie had pieced all of the moves together into something she called a flow, smoothly transitioning from one move to the next with no rest in between... and no apparent end in sight. By the end of the third circuit, Tag's breathing had become noticeably labored, and by the end of the fifth, he'd begun to seriously question his level of fitness. Now, shifting back into Mountain Pose for the eighth—or was it ninth?—time, he furtively wiped his brow with the back of his wrist and wished that the client meeting he'd scheduled for lunchtime had been a breakfast meeting instead.

Instead of diving down into yet another Sun Something-Or-Other, Maggie looked over at him and grinned, her palms still pressed together at her chest. Her cheeks were flushed with a healthy pink glow, and Tag's bruised ego was somewhat mollified by the fine mist of perspiration that shimmered on the surface of her skin.

"Are you sure you've never done this before?" she asked, a little short of breath herself.

Tag raised his eyebrows. "Careful," he teased. "That almost sounded like a compliment."

"Maybe it was one," Maggie said blithely, dropping her hands down to her sides. "Okay, enough of that; you want to learn a couple of balance poses?"

Tag wasn't sure that he wanted to learn balance poses, or that he was ready to let his guard down just yet. Through most of the workout thus far, Maggie's intentions had seemed more focused on torture than instruction, and it was a distinct possibility that she was simply attempting to lead him further down that road. But then again, he wasn't entirely undeserving of torture, was he? He had played the Bitch card, after all, which in hindsight seemed a bit excessive. Besides, he kind of liked her smile, so what would be the harm in indulging her whims for another few minutes? It wasn't as if he had anything better to do at the moment.

Tag shrugged his amenability and Maggie clapped her hands in childlike glee.

"Okay, this one is called the Tree Pose," she said, standing with her feet together and preparing herself to demonstrate.

With a deep inhale, she grasped her left ankle and braced the sole of her foot against the inside of her right thigh. Once situated, she straightened her spine and stood tall, balancing on one leg with her hands pressed together at her heart. Prayer position, Tag recalled, as he observed the swell of her chest with each inhalation.

"...stay like this," she was saying, and Tag forced his eyes to focus on her face. "Or, you can bring your palms together over your head, like this, which is what most people do." She demonstrated, and Tag was fairly certain that he nodded his comprehension. "What I like to do, though, is to keep my hands a little ways apart, like this, and just sort of sway back and forth, like a tree in the breeze..."

She closed her eyes and did precisely that, and Tag watched her face, mesmerized. The shadow of a smile played out over her lips and there was a tranquility that seemed to emanate from somewhere deep inside of her. She opened her eyes just then, perhaps sensing his gaze on her, and the air of uncertainty returned.

"No?" she said, mistaking his stupor for resistance, and then blushed slightly. "I know, it's kind of stupid, right? Okay, how about this one? It's called the Airplane Pose, or at least that's what I know it as. You just balance on one leg, with your other leg out behind you and your arms out to the sides, like this."