At the hotel bar,Jason bought me a glass of my favourite rosé. We looked into each other’s eyes – his dark and mysterious,mine big and brown – and clinked glasses. The electricity between us was strong and raw. It travelled to my core. It was so intense I needed to break eye contact. He. We. The energy. It was electric. My body was completely charged. I was completely “on”.
He displayed a level of familiarity normally reserved for close friends or lovers.
I had to determinedly fight the continual pull to his side that I felt. As we moved around each other throughout the evening in various conversations,though,we were always aware of one another’s location. When we locked eyes across the room,the intensity of our stares magnified,becoming bolder as the night progressed. We held our gaze longer. Our connection deepened.
I loved talking with him. I felt warm,relaxed and safe in his presence. I felt I could truly be myself,at a level I wasn’t familiar with. I realised that it was a feeling I hadn’t enjoyed in a long,long time – perhaps ever. Sure,we were laughing and joking like old friends but the deepening connection through our eyes was undeniable.
My behaviour that evening was uncharacteristic. I stayed out way longer than I normally would;I’m usually an early-to-bed,early-to-rise type. But this was no ordinary evening. I was in no hurry to lose our connection. In fact,I wanted time to stand still. I wanted to remain in the energy,our energy,forever.
The bar called last drinks,and the evening (now the early morning) came to an end. The goodbye was overt,open and revealing of our mutual affection. We enjoyed a body-hugging embrace where I whispered into his ear,“This isn’t over,I need to see you again.” He put his hands tightly on my waist and pulled me close. “Yes,” he replied. It was all I needed to hear.
As I danced back to my room feeling vulnerable but also unexpectedly whole,I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. I had never felt anything like this before. I had never experienced this sensation. I didn’t understand the energy. It was like an out-of-body,or perhaps an “in-body”,experience.
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I now know without hesitation,without question,without any doubt in my mind,my body or my heart,that the energy we experienced that evening was our souls connecting. I left Margaret River a different woman.
I knew in my heart,in my soul,in the very fabric of my being that I had profoundly changed. I couldn’t articulate the feelings,the sensations,the experience. The connectedness I experienced with Jason was at a level impossible to describe. All I knew for certain was that this one encounter,in the most unlikely of places,under the most unusual of circumstances,had dramatically altered my life.
The next few days were a complete blur. I couldn’t make any sense of my feelings. I couldn’t escape unrelenting thoughts of Jason. I certainly couldn’t fathom how I’d resume my normal life:a full-time career in financial services,the care of two young children,household chores,social engagements,being a wife. What I did understand was that the successful,comfortable and somewhat predictable life I had spent 20 years building was now of no consequence. I simply didn’t care.
I’d just met my soulmate. What could possibly be more important than that?
Less than a month after meeting Jason,having had no communication with him since our time in Margaret River,I ended my 14-year relationship with my husband.
The woman who had always been so careful,so planned,so organised and so clear about the path her life would take,had just made the most dramatic decision of her life,one affecting those dearest to her – her family.
Edited extract fromWhen a Soulmate Says No (Pepper Press/Fair Play Publishing) by Amanda Trenfield,in stores May 2.
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