"Jonas, how nice to see you."

Jonas put his hands together and bowed his head slightly, "namo buddhaya, Karma, I hope you've been well."

"Always," said Karma.

"Wow, it looks better than I expected," Jonas said as his eyes roamed on the building's structure. He approached to like at the details. The meticulous man hated to see even a paint stroke out of place.

"Never underestimate your gift, Jonas. This place you conceived with your mind is a blessing."

The men contemplated the new wing added to the temple's residence.

Jonas designed the building, which sheltered the new mediation rooms, dorms, and canteen.

He also financed the totality of the works when he heard how the winter storms destroyed the initial roof.

"I see you brought someone along with you."

From the beginning, Leone was silent. The boy observed the bald men that walked around and their saffron kasaya attire.

"This is Leone, my son. I wanted to present him to you. His mother died six months ago. She did incredible things to protect him, and now I'm trying my best to do the same."

"Just as a mother would protect her only child even at the risk of her own life, even so, let him cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings, it's a metta [buddist term for pure love which is neither possessive and grasping] in metta sutta. You seem worried Jonas, why?"

Jonas took off his and Leone's shoes. The men entered the building and went into one of the empty mediation rooms, where they sat on a mat.

Jonas didn't know where to start his mind was a knot of reflections the man was unable to put in order, "I'm afraid, and I want to have control. I'm anxious. I feel guilty. I'm an emotional wreck. I'm afraid to lose."

Karma analyzed Jonas's face. He could read the twitches of stress on his face, "what are you afraid of losing Jonas?"

"Sierra and Leone."

"Who is Sierra?"

"She's Leone's mother."

Karma frowned, "I thoughtㅡ."

"No, it's his mother's best friend. I live with her, and I'm in love with her and-."

Seeing Karma's puzzled stare, Jonas began to explain things from the very beginning. Karma listened without interrupting. Only at the end of Jonas' recap did his mentor speak.

"Jonas, you can only lose what you cling to Buddha teaches us. Be patient without expecting but be open to whatever comes your way. Let the future arrive, be available to all possibilities. Want, desire, anger, greed; you must extinguish those burning fires. Hedonism is not the path that leads to Nirvana.

Jonas wanted enlightenment the man got served.

Karma laughed warm-heartedly when Jonas spoke of Mrs. Gauthier's words.

"Words are karma's boomerang. They always go back to the sender, Jonas."

The man mediated and revised Buddhist principles. He did not call Sierra, for he needed detachment from all things.

Jonas emptied his mind and made abstraction his inner conflict. Of course, he explained this to Sierra beforehand. He did not want her to worry to not hear from him.

Back in Paris, Sierra tried to remain occupied; she cleaned and programmed a washing machine cycle. As she watched the clothes spine, she recognized what aberration it was not to know how to wash one's clothes. Jonas taught her so much, and it procured the woman a form of independence.

How could she give back to him? Her debt towards the man who supported her during these months weighed on Sierra's emotions and made her heart heavy.

The doorbell's sound startled Sierra out of her reflection," I'm coming." Sierra opened the door to her surprise visitor.

"You said you'd be alone. I thought I could keep you company." Vincent waved a bag in front of her, "I brought paneer pakora and chhole and chicken samosas."

Sierra blinked; she didn't expect the man to show up, but she wasn't going to say no to food.

"Come in."

Since Vincent's return, they only went out. They were never alone in her apartment.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Yeah."

Sierra went to the kitchen and began her mental pep talk. There was only one reason why a man debarked after eight at a woman's house.

She came back to the living room. Vincent liked to drink wine while eating snacks in front of a movie.

"What do you want to watch?"

"Anything."

Yes, the man didn't come for a sitcom or to play Scrabble.

Vincent loved action movies at this hour. He disliked watching something that needed substantial cerebral activity at night. Sierra picked Justice League the Synder's cut. Four hours and twenty minutes of action, Batman and should keep the man occupied.

Sierra couldn't be more wrong. Twenty minutes into the movie, no one was watching tv.

The kisses were intense; suddenly, Sierra stopped. They were on the couch where Jonas slept. Somehow it appeared un-proper. Sierra felt like a cheating wife.

She broke away from Vincent's embrace and got up.

"Sierra?"

"Eh, can we move to the bedroom?" At this stage, Vincent didn't think of Sierra's motives. He got up and followed the woman who stretched her hand out for him. Once in the room, they resumed where they left off.

Sierra couldn't explain the apprehension she had. Her restless heart made her panic. Maybe it was because it had been a while since they had been intimate, even if it was not the reason Sierra chose it.

Both were tee and shirtless on her bed. Sierra ran her fingers through his hair, and Vincent gazed down at her, "how I missed you."

This was the man Sierra was madly in love with six months ago. She wanted to marry him. She even envisioned herself carrying his child. Vincent was her whole world back then, but what was he now?

Sierra caressed his face. He grasped her hand as it passed his lips and kissed it. Her scent, he skin, her voice, there's wasn't an inch of the woman Vincent didn't love.

He kissed her before proceeding to remind the woman he still had the keys to her garden of pleasures.

Three days, while Jonas sought wisdom and the paths to Nirvana, Sierra played the hedonist and attained her bliss in another way.

As Karma said, seeking personal pleasures never resolved any issue, and the satisfaction was ephemeral.

On Wednesday morning, Jonas opened the door to the smell of pancakes. He smiled, was Sierra trying another exploit?

"Sierra, we're back," the man announced as he advanced in the corridor.

His mouth stood agape as he watched Vincent toss a pancake. The man only had his underwear on with the I'm a crazy chef apron Jonas usually wore.

"Oh, you're back. Sierra told me you'd be in at two."

"I took an early train."

Jonas knew it was Sierra's day off. He came back early, hoping they could spend some time with Leone.

"I made some pancakes. Do you want some?"

The sound of a familiar voice woke Sierra up; the woman jumped out of her bed and sought something to wear. During three nights, it was her Vincent flipped like a pancake. The woman was still dizzy from the heavy dose that liberated months of sexual tensions.

Now it was shameful and guilty that Sierra fell back on her bed.

The bedroom door opened, and in came Vincent.

"You're awake."

"Em, I heard voices."

"Yes, Jonas and Leone are back. Perhaps we should have breakfast with them.

Sierra had no time to react, but also, she didn't know-how. Before she knew it, she sat in the kitchen with Vincent and Jonas.

Sierra scratched her neck. Her stare kept looked around for something to fix. She was unable to look at Jonas, whose gaze remained transfixed upon her.

Jonas expected her to profit from their absence to rest. Here she sat with a face attesting sleepless nights. Vincent whistled as he added more pancakes to the table.

"So how was your stay in monstery, Jonas? I didn't know you were Buddist."

"It was good; the wing and its facilities turned out well," Jonas said.

From the tone, Sierra knew he was not in the mood for chit-chat.

"Where is it again?"

"Vincent, they just arrived. Jonas must be tired," she looked up and sketched a smile. Vincent grasped the moment to deposit a kiss on the forehead."

"Ba," Leone said and tapped on his high chair tablet to display what some could interpret as discontent.

"Hey, Leone. How are you this morning?" Vincent said as he touched the little boy's cheek.

Leone picked up his bottle and looked away while he drank and played with his hair.

Sierra began to eat, and Vincent took a seat next to her.

"I've got some good news. The architect assured us the restaurant would finish tomorrow. My brother and I are pushing the opening to Saturday.

Sierra's eyes grew wide, "Vincent, that's great. I'm so excited.

"Yeah, me too," Vincent said while looking at Jonas. "You're coming right, Jonas. There's going to be a big party."

Jonas didn't have the time to answer as Sierra, fully awake, began to have a girly moment, "oh gosh, I don't know what to wear."

While the woman pondered on her outfit, the men stared at each other in a silent showdown.

"You'll look gorgeous in whatever you wear," Vincent said with a smile in Jonas's direction.

That skit is imminent; May said when she spoke of Vincent's proposal. The time was now, and Jonas had to make a move; otherwise, forever would hold his peace.