"Welcome to the Roundview Retreat." A friendly voice greeted.
Silence fell upon the room as all eyes directed to the source. A pleasant looking man stood on top of a small platform, arms outstretched on either side, a huge, beaming smile across his face. His hair was blonde with silver signs of aging and he looked rather ridiculous in his crisp, matching tracksuit. I heard a rather immature man noticeably snigger but the man addressing us didn't seem to discouraged.
"Oh good, now that I have your attention, allow me to introduce myself, my name's Doug and I will be your retreat co-ordinator. Everyone in this room is here with their own purpose and agenda and our goal is to make sure you get exactly from this retreat what you seek! This is not a therapy session, it is a way for all of you to escape reality for two weeks. You here are to enjoy yourself, I encourage to do so and have no doubt that you will. Should you have any problems or queries, please, do not hesitate to ask. My office is located on the ground floor opposite the entrance. Now, without further adieu I will hand you over to your group leaders.
A small number of people from the front row stood and faced the room. They all wore similar lime green polo shirts with black sweatpants and freakishly white sneakers and all bearing a similar chirpy grin to Doug's, all except one.
One by one the leaders called the names of those in their group and escorted them out of the hall. Numbers dwindled fast as I sat firmly in my seat while those around me disappeared.
The large man with red hair and without the creepy grin worn by the other leaders stepped forward.
"My name is Hunt. You can call me Owen, it really doesn't matter." His voice was matter of fact, but didn't seem bored. "When I call your name stand to my left."
I didn't know why but I hoped beyond hope I was in this man's group. It made little sense why I had this desire to be placed in his charge, he seemed by far the most stand-offish of them all, but maybe that was it, maybe his authoritiveness was what I craved, I didn't want to slack on this retreat, it was important to me.
"Jackson Avery, Meredith Grey, Alex Karev, Cristina Yang, Calliope Torres," I cringed at the use of my full name but sighed gratefully that I had been placed in this group, "Annnnd, Arizona Robbins?"
I eyed up the others, they seemed like an odd bunch. Unlike the other groups there was no rush of introductions or warming smiles, everyone seemed to be as miserable as each other, almost as if forced to be here. Everyone, except the last member to join us, she beamed like a small child at Disney Land.
"Ok. That's everybody." Owen spoke again, taking one last glance at his list before addressing us, "Please follow me." He led us out of the room, down a brightly lit corridor with splendid wooden walls and into a small room with numerous types of activity equipment and chairs placed in a circle.
"Everyone take a seat." We did as we were told and waited for Owen to instruct us further.
"This," he gestured around the room, "is where you will find any equipment you may need over the course of the next two weeks, it is also where you are likely to find me during working hours should you need to do so."
He paused, scanning the group, nodding when he was satisfied everyone was paying attention. "I don't know why any of you are here and I don't need to know. I will not force you to partake in any activity you do not wish to, but I do ask that you make an attempt. At the end of these two weeks you will compete against the other groups for an undisclosed prize, I am not at liberty yet to tell you what this competition will entail but I can tell you that every activity we do between now and then will be of advantage to you in the end. You must learn to trust one another, depend on one another and to do so you must work together! Are we all clear?"
The circle nodded in agreement prompting Owen to speak again, "Now before I let you go to get settled in in your rooms, we will go around the circle and introduce ourselves, generally this just involves your name, occupation, some random fact, whatever you want."
He took his seat, gesturing to his left.
The first of the two guys stood up, I noticed he was also the one who had sniggered inappropriately earlier and couldn't help but frown. He was attractive in boyish way, his skin was dark but his eyes a piercing blue, he gave a rogue-ish smile to the group before making his introduction,
"Hi my name's Jackson Avery, I'm a personal trainer and… I like grapes." He shrugged at his closing words and sat back down.
Next up was a rather mousey looking woman, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, she forced a smile for half a second and then spoke, "My name's Meredith Grey, I'm a doctor, I like ice cream and tequila. That ok?" She looked to Owen for approval, sitting down when he nodded.
"Christina Yang, I am an associate attorney at Wolfram and Henderson. I don't like to lose or people invading my personal space. Just a word to the wise." She was small but fiesty I could see that, and judging from the intrigued look on Owen's face he thought so too.
Next up was the only other male of the group, like Cristina, he did not attempt a smile but kept a brooding look placed firmly on his face. "Uhm… I'm Alex Karev, I coach college football and wrestling, I don't do liers and I hate being told what to do."
I jumped after a few seconds, not noticing it was finally my turn. I could feel my palms begin to sweat, I always hated public speaking, granted this wasn't exactly a large audience but I could feel everyone's eyes boring into me none the less. I looked around nervously, trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone, until my eyes were met with stunning blue ones, not the alarming blue of Avery's but a more calm, soothing blue, accompanied by an adorable dimpled smile, I felt the corners of my mouth curve into an embarrassed smirk as my whole body relaxed under the gaze of the beautiful woman to my left.
"Hey everyone." My mouth still felt dry, I inhaled deep, but subtly to compose myself, "I'm Callie Torres, I'm a journalist, I enjoy Cuban food and occasionally dancing around in my underwear."
I felt my stomach somersault as my closing line earned a laugh from the gorgeous blonde as she stood to introduce herself.
How had I not noticed her initially? She was miraculous. Her curly, blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, her ocean blue eyes lighting up the room and her never fading smile that made you feel relaxed with just a glance. I was so wrapped up in awe I almost missed her introduction,
"Nice to meet everybody. My name is Arizona Robbins, I teach kindergarten and third grade, obviously not at the same time." She giggled to herself, unfazed by the lack of response she received from the others. "I like pizza. Oooh and rollerskating." Her eyes lit up at the mere mention of roller activity. She was insanely cute but still hot. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little smitten. I smiled at her as her eyes locked with mine once again.
Owen stood up, breaking the intense momentary gaze that we had quickly settled into,
"Ok. Yang, Grey, Robbins and Torres, you're in room R15. Karev, Avery, R16. Go get settled in and I'll meet you back here in an hour. Don't be late."
Cristina and Meredith appeared to acquired some type of instant unspoken bond as they made their way down the corridor in what looked like an extremely comfortable silence. Alex and exited the room before Avery even had a chance to stand up and neither were to be seen. Which left me alone to walk with Arizona. My palms began to sweat again, I felt like a nervous teenager suffering their first crush.
"Uhm… S-so, what brings you here?" I asked, desperate to make conversation, panic overtaking instantly, "I'm sorry, that was invasive, you don't have to answer that."
She laughed at my obvious regret and slight hysteria. "It's ok," even though I wasn't looking at her I could hear the super magic smile in her voice, "I go to retreats pretty much every year, they're a nice escape, I've never been to this one so I thought why not?".
I had a feeling there was more to her story but thought better than to pry this time. We engaged in light conversation the rest of the way to the room, mostly about what types of activities one usually has to go through on a retreat. The way she talked about it with such passion I almost felt excited by the prospect of copious amounts of outdoor activities. She had an odd way of doing that, making me both relaxed and excited and I had only know her for the bones of an hour.
We reached our lodgings to find the other two had already claimed the best beds by the window, typical. I froze in awkward shock upon laying eyes on my bunk. Correction our bunk. I guess they didn't see any problem with a double bed between two females. I swallowed dryly, watching as she went about placing her belongings in the bedside locker, seemingly unfazed by the sleeping situation. Why should she? How was she to know her bunk buddy had the mind of a horny fourteen year old boy.
She turned to look at me. Obviously I wasn't doing a very good job at hiding my embarrassment.
"Calliope? Are you ok?" She questioned softly, concern flashing through her features. I could see the other two turn their gaze to me.
"Uh.. Yeah.. Fine.. Just thought we'd all have our own beds is all." I stammered out, trying to sound nonchalant, satisfied that it came across somewhat convincing.
"If you're not comfortable, maybe someone would switch with you?" she looked to the others for response.
"Hey don't look at me roller girl, I was here first. You snooze you lose." Cristina responded bluntly.
"No! No. It's fine, really!" I assured her. "I'm just a bit of a restless sleeper is all."
Yeah and by restless I mean sexually frustrated horndog.
She smiled at me, accepting my excuse before removing her shirt and walking across the room to where she had dropped her larger bag.
I gulped at the sight of her. Only a light fabric covering her perfect bossoms.
This retreat just got a whole lot more complicated. So much for an escape!