by Zrinka Jelic
Though she hurried through her cleansing routine, she stayed under the cool water spray until she shivered. By the time she dried off, slipped into her panties and bra, then stepped in front of the mirror the redness in her face had receded to bright pink. She ran a comb through her wet hair and tied it in a messy bun to manage her untameable curls.
Body spray didn’t disguise the stale tobacco odor coming from behind her. She lay on more lavender scented mist to places she might’ve missed. Looking around for the source of the smell, she spotted Ashley.
“Just thought you should know…” Ashley stepped next to her and leaned toward the mirror, layering more lipstick on her already painted lips. “He’s engaged to my best friend.”
“Who?” Neri played dumb. She knew exactly who Ashley meant, but didn’t want to show the girl how much her words stung. She eyed Ashley in the mirror. How on Earth did she keep all that mascara and eyeliner in place after such a strenuous exercise?
Ashley stiffened and spun to face Neri. “Mark, you dummy. So don’t get your hopes up.”
“No idea what you’re taking about.” Neri pulled her plain black t-shirt over her head.
However shallow Ashley appeared, she was beautiful and her wardrobe consisted of perfect-sized brand named pieces. “The way he looked at you, he does that to every new girl. Calls them love, or darlings, sweeties and they melt at his feet. But they don’t stand a chance.”
“So what does his fiancé think of his conduct?” Neri stepped into her cut-off jeans shorts.
“She finds it hilarious how the girls’ faces drop when she walks up to him and kisses him.” Ashley cast her a pitiful smile.
“I see, she likes to play head games,” Neri said, fumbling with the button of her shorts, hiding her face from Ashley. Of course, he wouldn’t be single, all the good ones were taken after all. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m just gonna grab that protein smoothie and have to run.”
“Oh, good, you really shouldn’t get too close to him.” Ashley’s voice took a chilly tone. “It’ll be you who gets hurt in the end.”
Jeez Ashley, Neri slowly examined her face for any signs of joking. Ashley’s words sounded like a warning. As in get your claws out of that man or else suffer my wrath. Was she hanging around Mark to keep tabs on him for his fiancé? Strange things some couples do, if they didn’t trust each other, why stay together? But that was none of her business. Well, she could now scratch off the idea to ask him to be her wedding date. “You have nothing to worry about. I’d never step on another girl’s turf.”
As if she had a chance. Though she must admit, Mark looked so sexy in his black, tight spandex shorts and top. His boxing sneakers hugged his calves so snuggly she envied them. Heck, never before was she attracted to man’s calves to the point she was jealous of his footwear. “Got to run.” Neri slung her gym bag over her shoulder and scurried out the door, just in time to see Ashley’s lips pursing and her gaze narrowing.
Mark sat on the tall stool by the shake bar, drummed his fingers next to the Styrofoam cup, and flipped through some papers on the clipboard. His raven curls reached his shoulders, damp from the shower. God, he’s gorgeous even immersed in his work. How was she to ask him to be her wedding date now that she found out he wasn’t single? She would have to come up with a plan B. This meant, she could come clean to her mother and her whole family, in which case she’d make a total idiot of herself, or keep lying. The latter had more appeal, way easier than facing her mother who’d berate her for not going out to find a man. Of course, she could always find another guy, but unless she hired an actor and a damn good one at that, where she could find a doctor named Mark?
She dropped her bag on the floor by the empty stool and reached for the cup. “Is this mine?”
“Nope.” He scooped the drink away from her. “I didn’t know what kind you’d like so chose one,” he said, pointing at the board listing the flavors.
“So many.” She scanned the board, wishing there was some kind of sampler she could taste. “What would you recommend?”
“It’s hard to choose, and trust me, they’re all good.” He tilted his drink toward her. “My favorite is chocolate and peanut butter. Wanna try?”
She stared at the straw sticking out from the lid. He’d had his lips on there, if she wrapped hers around the drinking stick, it would probably be the closest thing she’d come to kissing him. Instead, she cleared her throat and shook her head. She turned toward the muscular guy in a tight gym shorts and muscle shirt behind the bar.
He flashed a wide customer service smile. “What can I get you?”
“Strawberry and banana shake, please.” With all these strange names like Tropical Blast and Spotted Gecko, she decided to play it safe and stick with the ordinary and familiar.
“With fuel up, power up or shields up?” the guy behind the bar asked as if she knew what he was talking about.
“Huh? Well, give me all three.”
“That would be too much protein.”
“Make it with power up, Jaime.” Mark turned to her. “That’s with creatine and betaine.”
She cocked her head and plopped on the stool. “If you say so.”
“You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” He chuckled and the soft sound had her skin pinpricking.
“Not a clue.” The blender muffled her words.
He sucked more of his shake through the straw.
The way his lush lips closed around the drinking stick sent thoughts to her mind and heat to her abdomen.
Putting his drink down, he licked his lips. “You did great today in class. Even if you got ticked at the rope, but why did you duck behind the punching bags?”
Oh, the dreaded question she somehow knew would come. “I’m skipping like I’m still in grade school and rusty at that. As for the hiding, well…” She glanced down her chest. “I didn’t expect there’d be rope skipping. I had the wrong bra and the girls threatened to come out to play. Plus, I didn’t like the way the three guys stared at me.”
He stared at her now, his lips quirked and he snorted. “Good grief. Don’t worry, I’ll get the guys in the other part of the class away from you.” Placing his hand on her arm, he pointed the cup in his other hand at her. “I’ve a proposition for you.”
“Strawberry-banana shake’s up,” the shake bartender called, pulling her gaze away from his deep blue eyes.
Mark had a what for her? “Hold that thought,” she said, as she slid off her stool to grab her drink from the counter, then returned to her seat. “What kind?”
“I’ve looked into your profile.” He gave her one of those toe curling grins. “I’m the owner here, so I can do that sort of things.” He straightened in his chair as if to exude the authority. “You are working out too much, but are you seeing the desirable results?”
“No, I can’t say I am.” She wrapped her hand around the cup. At least the drink was cold. “What do you propose?”
“I can show you how to train better, smarter—”
She put her drink down, and her hand up. “Stop right there. I can’t afford a personal trainer.”
“I’m not giving you a sales pitch. Just to show you a different approach to fitness. Have you had your complimentary physical and walk through?”
Once again, she lowered the drink without tasting it. “Not yet, been busy.”
“Let’s get that out of the way then.” He pulled a cellphone from underneath all those papers. “What day is best for you?”
“Wait one second.” He seemed a tad too eager to book her. “I’ve been a member here for almost a year now and no one bothered with getting me to get my physical done.”
“The sales guy should’ve scheduled you on your first day. I’ll get it done.” He gripped his drink tight.
She feared the thick liquid inside would burst out and splatter over her.
“I’ve been away for a while and things went sideways. Still playing catch up on things.”
“Vacation?” Her heart sunk deeper. Most likely, some romantic retreat with his fiancé.
“I wish. Physicians’ conference in Mexico. Sounds great, right? You hear Mexico and immediately think beaches, fun, parties. All I’ve got to see was inside the auditorium. The presentations on this and that went from morning to the late evenings.”
“Wow. It doesn’t sound like fun at all. Did your fiancé go with you? She must’ve been bored to tears.” Oops, she didn’t mean to blurt that out loud, but the thought stuck in her head. She had to find out if Ashley had fed her some B.S.
“Fiancé?” His eyebrow drew closer, but in the next instant, his features hardened. “Damn Ashley and her meddling. Brook and I broke up over a year ago, but in truth we were done way before that.”
“I’m sorry to hear it. Maybe it is for the best.” Ha, glad she brought the topic up and cleared that lie. Scraping plan B, she switched the topic. “You’re telling me you can get rid of this? Because I tried everything, believe me when I say everything. It’s only getting bigger.”
His gaze raked over her and stopped at her stomach.
She stopped patting the mound.
He scratched the back of his neck and smiled. “That’s nothing and if you didn’t point I’d never have noticed. Since it’s bothering you this much, I know just a thing you need to get rid of it. I’ll also schedule you with a nutritionist.”
God, he was cute when he lied so inconvincibly. She toyed with a straw sticking from the center of the plastic lid of her drink. If she turned this down, she would be crazy, but could she so blatantly accept it? And what could it be that one thing she needed to get rid of her belly fat? She’d already done it all. So unless he meant sex, or as she called it mattress mambo, which she’d lacked for over a year, there couldn’t have been anything else.
Her expression must’ve shown doubt because his next words shook her. “If you don’t believe me, ask that guy over there.”
Her jaw dropped at the sight of the man coming up the stairs. “Wasn’t he in wheelchair? And could only make couple of steps using two canes?”
“Yes, he was. Unbelievable, right? He doesn’t even need his canes anymore. Lifting weights strengthened his muscles after the work related injury.” Mark’s face beamed. “Many people would rather exercise here and return to work than battle worker’s comp for years and get nowhere. Or worse, depend on meds to function pain free.”
Wow, Mark was a miracle worker. If he could get that guy out of wheelchair and onto his feet, what could he do for her? Before she could process the info, her mouth opened and words poured out, “Oh, in that case, Fridays are good for me. I work half a day.”
“Me too,” he said, bringing the phone in front of his face. “Morning or evenings?”
“Afternoons.” Finally, she got to draw a mouthful of the shake in and marvel in the smooth taste. “Hey, this is good.”
“I told you so. Okay, how’s after lunch?” He stared at the screen of his phone displaying the calendar.
“I take my lunches late, after two would work.”
“I’ll keep that timeslot open for you.” He typed with his thumbs and pocketed the phone. “What are you doing for the rest of the day?”
She tilted her head. What would she do other than laugh at cats videos on YouTube? “I have to go pay a visit to my mom. She volunteered me for a project, I don’t want to do, and I need to get out of it.”
“Something my mom would do to me. They must know each other.” He nodded.
“What do you mean?” She shook her head in confusion.
“She likes to volunteer me too. If my dad can’t pull his strings and get her friends to see specialists ahead of the line, I can’t either, but that doesn’t stop her from trying.”
“Your dad’s a doctor too?”
“Chief of surgery. Doctors run in the family: my brother, uncles, cousins. I’m the black sheep who took the ‘easy way’ and specialized in sports medicine. As if I could skip four years of general medical college and just jump into my specialization.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. “They think it’s easy.”
She raised her cup. “Let’s raise our drinks to sticking to what you believe in.”
“I’ll drink to that.” He raised his cup to hers and they both took a long pull through their straws.
She put the cup down. “You know the saying, if it’s easy, everyone would do it.”
The corners of his lips pulled upward and created little creases on his cheeks. “That’s a great comeback at the family reunions when they gang up to tease me about my specialization.”
“Hope it works for you.” She tapped his arm, feeling his rock hard triceps. “I have to go. See you Friday.” Grabbing her gym bag and her drink, she headed toward the main door.
Ashley stood behind the reception desk. She raised her head from her cellphone and directed her stare at Neri.
Despite Ashley’s icy glare, which held more frost than Neri’s smoothie, she couldn’t help but feel joy of finally exchanging a few words with Mark. The warmth in his eyes melted her insides. She wanted to skip or even jump rope now.
CHAPTER FIVE
Neri shut the bathroom door, cutting off her mother’s harping. She sat on the toilet and pressed her forehead into the heels of her palms. Perhaps Mom was right and she didn’t realize just how big she was getting. If she had committed a hideous crime or ended up a junkie, she wouldn’t get this much scrutiny. But apparently, being overweight ranked at the top of Mom’s list of most despicable failings.
She drew in a long breath, held the air in for a few seconds then exhaled. Her calming breathing technique always worked, except today. Her mother really pushed the issue and Neri couldn’t get a word in edgewise, let alone bring up the bridesmaid subject. Mom would have a fit when she told her she’d rather eat poison than stand in for cousin’s Sandra friend. What kind of friend bails a month before the wedding?
Well, she came here to get out of the obligation her mother forced on her and that was what she would do. She flushed the toilet, despite the fact she didn’t actually go and leaned over the sink to wash her hands. A digital scale caught her attention. When did Mom get that? Maybe she should step on to prove to Mom training with weights did work and she’d lost a few pounds.
No, dumb idea. Scales hated her, more so the digital ones with their brutal accuracy. Each time she stepped on one, it made her cry. Oh, what the heck, at least she would know if she lost or gained. She shook off her flip-flops and pressed her big toe on a round, black button. The scale displayed three zeroes. With some reluctance, she placed one foot then the other on the cold metal. The digital numbers changed too fast for her to read until the display flashed 194.5.
“Oh, my God!” Inhaling sharply, she jumped backward and kicked the hateful device back into its spot in the corner. The damned thing bounced off the wall. Luckily, she didn’t dent the plaster. She collapsed on the tub’s edge and dug fingers into her hair. Tears prickled her eyes. Frustration burned through her. No one to blame but herself, she knew better than to step on that thing. But how was this possible? Her routine was supposed to work, less calories in, more out, a simple formula. Not to eat four hours before bedtime. For the past year, she’d been going to bed hungry, didn’t eat until late morning the next day. And she survived on rabbits’ food, and was killing herself in the gym daily. Yet, the pounds kept on packing. All that starving and hard work for nothing. Okay, so she had a half a cupcake the other day at the music school. Parents often brought treats for the teachers and staff. That shouldn’t have caused her to gain three pounds over the weekend.
Mark and the training regime he’d suggested was her last resort. Just a thought of him wiped away all her grief. How had he got her to feel so comfortable? Any other guy would make her nervous and she would never relax her stomach and let her flab hang loose. Something in his eyes invited her to forget her shortfalls. She wiped her tears and stepped to the sink. After washing her face with cool water, she rejo
ined her mother in the kitchen.
Mom dug through the fridge, the bow of her apron tied around her waist shifted to the side. “Darling,” Mom said, closing the fridge. “If I’m hard on you it’s only because I worry about your health.” She plopped a bowl of kale in front of Neri. “Since you left home, you’ve been eating all that junk fast food. Some home cooked meals should do you good. Would you believe it, this is now a superfood? This sustained us poor working class. By the way, what’s your body mass index?”
Neri’s eyebrows shot upward as her eyes widened. Her mother nerve never ceased to shock her. “What? Why do you ask?”
“I heard a doctor on the television say they consider a person with body mass index of thirty as obese.”
“And this doctor, that wouldn’t be doctor Oz by chance, would it?” Neri pushed the plate away. Mom and her daytime television, everything said on the Doctor Oz show she took as the absolute truth.
Mom’s lips quirked. “Actually, no. There’s another show I watch and this one has some serious medical stuff.” Mom lowered to the chair facing Neri and patted her hand. “You make sure you bring your doctor boyfriend to the wedding and let everyone see you’re not some ditz they took you for.”
Neri pushed back Mom’s bitter words. “Speaking of the wedding, Mom.” Neri licked her suddenly parched lips. “I want to know why Sandra would pick me for her bridesmaid. I doubt I was her first choice. Or second, or third for that matter.”
“You were not her choice at all, but I pressed it upon Aunt Ellen that our family gets a part in the wedding. A choice was between taking the suddenly open bridesmaid’s spot or to play a violin during the dinner. So, given your irrational stage fright, I thought you’d be better off with being a bridesmaid.”
“Why violin?” How thoughtful of Mom, but Neri’s stage fright was real.
“You can’t very well bring a piano to the banquet hall.”
