Eye of the Beholder

the end of committee meetings," she said, raising her cup in a mock toast. "I, for one, can't wait for this year's festival to conclude."
    "I know it's been a lot of hard work, but I think it was just what you needed, Alexa. It was good for you to get involved."
    As usual, Foster's well-meant comments ruffled her feathers. She could not get past the sensation that she was being patronized.
    She reminded herself that it was only natural that Webster Bell's acknowledged right-hand man came across as a self-confident fount of insight. What else could one expect from the number two man at a metaphysical retreat?
    In all fairness, Foster was the living embodiment of the sensitive, New Age male. He was also well educated. On their first date he had skillfully inserted into the conversation the fact that he held two academic degrees, one in philosophy and one in business.
    She refused to be impressed. Deep down inside she knew that she was just as smart as he was. Okay, maybe she was not as enlightened, but she was definitely just as smart.
    On their second date she had asked him why, with his academic leanings, he had gone into the assistant guru business. After they had gotten past her insensitive and unenlightened terminology, he had launched into a two-hour lecture on the importance of the search for spiritual meaning in the modern world.
    "Ultimately, I will be able to do more good working with the Dimensions Institute than I will ever be able to do in the academic or business world," he'd concluded earnestly.
    Alexa had felt extremely shallow and unenlightened for about a day after that conversation. But she had gotten over it.
    In addition to all his other sterling qualities, Foster was good-looking. Maybe a little too good-looking, Alexa thought. Then again, she was probably just being picky.
    She had seen photos of Foster in the Institute's brochures and, from time to time, in the Avalon Herald. The camera loved him. The pictures emphasized the burnished quality of his golden brown hair and the heroic line of his jaw. In person, however, his greatest feature was the overwhelmingly direct, I-am-deeply-interested-in-you expression in his amber eyes.
    Foster's seminars were almost as popular as those of Webster Bell himself, especially among the female students.
    No one had been more surprised than Alexa when he had asked her to go to dinner with him shortly after she had dropped out of one of the Institute's popular meditation seminars. But she had sensed from the start that a relationship with Foster would end the way all of her relationships ended: with a whimper, not a bang. She had been right.
    "Have you given any more thought to signing up for another seminar?" Foster asked.
    "No."
    "I really think you would benefit from one of our intensive classes, Alexa."
    "I know you mean well, but I've been very busy lately. Besides, that metaphysical stuff just isn't for me."
    "It's for everyone." He gave her a smile of gentle encouragement. "You didn't give the program much of a chance, admit it."
    "All right, so I quit after three weeks."
    "It takes longer than that to begin to obtain the full effects, especially for someone like you."
    "Someone like me?"
    "I watched you while you were with us at the Institute. You have a long way to go, Alexa. You need to learn how to let yourself feel, how to live in the here-and-now, how to be free."
    "Thanks, but I'm doing okay."
    "But you could be doing better than okay. That's my whole point." Foster leaned forward. "You have the power within to set yourself free. Why not use it?"
    "Because I'm one of those poor, unlucky stiffs who work for a living." Alexa glanced at her watch. "Speaking of which, I'd better get back to the shop. Kerry will wonder what happened to me."
    "All I ask is that you think about signing up for another guided meditation seminar. You need to open yourself up to the flow of positive energy. You're missing so much in life because you've allowed the negative forces to enter your consciousness."
    A large, dark shape blotted out the light. Awareness tingled through Alexa. She did not have to look up to know who stood there.
    "Am I interrupting anything?" Trask asked.
    "Speaking of negative forces," Alexa murmured.
    "What was that?" He gave her a look of polite inquiry. "I didn't quite catch it."
    She looked up with a deliberately vague smile. "Have we met? Oh, yes, now I remember. Avalon Point. You're involved with the new resort or something like