“Well, I didn’t know I’d have to step in to a bloody fight did I and if Tracey hadn’t been up to no good I wouldn’t have had to deck that bastard Montgomery and call Simon. They’re my best mates, I had to step in, but if anyone else does know, apart from Simon and Steve, they’ve kept it quiet. No one’s mentioned it to me and if they were all that pissed off with me, they wouldn’t have invited me, so I think we’re OK. Anyway, it’ll have to come out sometime, Mags, we can’t go on like this much longer, it’s ridiculous.”
“I know,” sighed Maggie, “but to be honest, if it was anyone other than you I probably would have told him by now, but you know how he feels about you.”
“Yeah, he hates my guts.”
“Exactly, and he’ll feel so humiliated I’m worried about how he’ll react. I know he’s got this Emma woman, but you just don’t know, do you? He might try and do something stupid again and then I’d feel awful. I’ve got to think about the girls too. God, if he ever finds out that we had sex in that hotel room, it doesn’t bear thinking about. Anyway, he thinks I’m having an affair with my personal trainer so that’s keeping him occupied at the moment, although what he’s trying to prove, I’ve no idea. I wish he’d just get on with it and tell me what’s going on, but he seems to want to catch me out as well to make him feel better.”
“And how’s it going with the personal trainer? I hope you’re not letting him into your Lycra. I had a personal trainer for a while and, let’s just say, some of her training sessions weren’t in the manual.”
“Myles. Of course I’m not having an affair with Thor, he’s very professional and I’m only going so that you’ll still find me attractive. You have no idea what I’ve been putting myself through. I’m even going to circuits again tonight, by myself.”
“Mags, you don’t need to change anything for me, honestly. I know what you probably think of me, but I actually love you just as you are, especially when you’re wearing jodhpurs and riding boots. Seriously, I am going to have sex with you in those boots.”
Maggie leant against the wall. She was surprised that she felt like crying. There was so much going on, so many emotions; she wasn’t used to this. She’d been in control for as long as she could remember, but this was a whole new world. An exciting, chaotic but frightening world that she now had to work her way through. Did she trust Myles? She wasn’t sure. She hoped she could. He said he loved her, but he’d probably said that to his other wives, as well as an undisclosed number of girlfriends. She knew she was taking a massive gamble but, even if it didn’t pay off, at least she’d be free of a marriage that would only continue to decline. If it didn’t happen now, it would only happen further down the line when they were both too old to start a new life.
“Are you still there?” asked Myles. “You’ve gone quiet.”
“Sorry, I was just thinking,” replied Maggie, pulling herself together.
“Sounds serious.”
“Not really, I was just thinking that I had a very nice whip to go with my boots.”
Myles let out a whistle.
“Ding-dong, Mrs Dunbar. Looks like we’re in for a bit of fun, old girl. Can’t wait.”
“Well less of the old girl, please, or you’ll be in trouble, Mr Cavendish. Anyway, on that note, I’d better go. I’ve got to get ready for circuits. Thanks, sweetheart, you’ve cheered me up.”
“Not half as much as you’ve cheered me up. Bye, my darling. I’ll call you soon.”
As Myles hung up, he smiled to himself. She always made him feel good. It felt different to his other relationships; he didn’t need to play games or try to be something he wasn’t. Maggie made him feel comfortable; she was the only woman he’d ever been able to confide in and he loved her for it. He also loved the thought of her in a pair of tight-fitting jodhpurs. He especially loved the thought of her with riding boots and a whip. The golf weekend was definitely looking up.
* * *
Callum Dunbar checked the time. Rex should still be at work although, in reality, he seemed to spend a lot more time out of the office than in it. Networking he called it. Most people would describe it as getting pissed. Callum picked up the phone and called him.
“Hello,” shouted Rex, over the din of yet another bar. “Can you hear me?”
“Course I can,” replied Callum, “you’re bellowing like a demented bull. Listen, we’re booked in with that Thor guy for six tomorrow evening, I’ll pick you up.”
“What?” replied Rex, stepping outside. It was still surprisingly warm and he squinted his eyes against the sun. “Are you serious? Tomorrow?”
“I’m emailing you a questionnaire, too. We’ve got to fill it in and take it with us, it’s about what we eat and drink and all that crap.”
“Christ,” replied Rex, “crap’s right in my case. He’s gonna have a field day with me. I’m not sure about this, pal, I’m so unfit and he’ll be ex-army or something. He’ll make mincemeat of us.”
“Oh pull yourself together. If Maggie and Rachael can get through it so can we, and if we want to find out what’s going on we’ll have to infiltrate the enemy. So, stop bloody drinking or you’ll get pissed and tell Rachael.”
“Yes, but it’s going to be obvious when I suddenly buy a pair of trainers, she doesn’t miss a thing. The last time I bought trainers I was at school. What am I going to say?”
“Just tell her we’ve started indoor football, tell her it’s a bloke thing and some of the other lads are going.”
“She’ll never believe me and I still can’t believe you’ve done this, Dunbar. We could seriously regret this, if we actually manage to survive. Right, I’m off to finish my pint seeing as it might be my last.”
“Oh stop whinging. I’ll pick you up at five-fifteen.”
But, as Callum hung up, he had an ominous feeling that Rex could well be right.
CHAPTER 28
Tired and emotional after a very long day, Rachael opened her front door. Unexpectedly, the hallway smelt of curry, although it wasn’t the usual aroma of Rex’s standard takeaway; this offering smelt sweet, fragrant and very enticing. Amy was obviously in the kitchen.
Breathing a sigh of relief at the thought of not having to cook anything, Rachael threw her car keys onto the hall table and kicked off her shoes. It had been roasting at work and her feet were feeling the effects. She hated wearing heels, but flats just didn’t seem dressy enough for a personal shopper; she needed the height, it made her feel more professional.
Taking a second, she looked at herself in the hall mirror. She looked tired today but that was hardly surprising, having kicked and punched the hell out of her imaginary husband this morning. It had felt good though, and she’d surprised herself with just how much pent-up emotion she was carrying. Thor had been great. He’d known just what was required and she’d really appreciated a listening ear, but as a result, she was absolutely knackered, her arms were seizing up and the lack of any proper nutrition throughout the day wasn’t exactly helping. The two gigantic portions of Gwen’s cake had seen to her calorie intake, but they were empty calories that had made her crave real food all afternoon, while they hung around in her bloodstream no doubt delighting in turning themselves into globules of fat and taking up residence on her thighs. She would need to be tougher in the future. She’d made a great start with Thor, she needed to keep it up.
“Mum, is that you?” called Amy from the kitchen.
“Yes, love. I’m just getting my shoes off, my feet are killing me.”
Rachael picked up her bag and wandered into the kitchen.
“Thanks for making dinner, pet, I really appreciate it. It smells lovely, what are you making?”
“Chickpea and spinach curry.”
Rachael tried not to grimace. More chickpeas. It didn’t sound too appealing, but it smelt delicious.
“Sounds good, but I hope it’s low calorie because I was force-fed two enormous pieces of cake today so I had to go without lunch. I’m starving. God, I’m knackered, I n
eed to sit down. The walk home from the bus stop was agony this evening; it might help my steps total but my legs seem to have detached themselves from my body.”
Amy stirred the curry.
“You could have said no, Mum, you have got a voice in your head. If you didn’t want to eat the cake, you should have said no. You shouldn’t let people force things on you. I bet it wasn’t vegan either.”
“No, probably not, and it’s easier said than done, isn’t it” replied Rachael, filling the kettle.
“Why is that?” said Amy, starting to dig her heels in. “If you don’t want to do something, don’t do it. Simples.”
“But sometimes you have to be polite, Amy. It was poor old Gwen from Menswear’s sixtieth birthday and she’d made her own cake, which I thought was a bit sad to be honest. She doesn’t seem to have many friends and she wanted me to have some, so I couldn’t say no. Marnie gave me a huge portion in the morning, and then because I said it was delicious, Gwen saved me more for lunchtime, so I had to starve myself the rest of the day as I don’t want to put all the weight back on I’ve just lost. I’ve lost nearly two kilograms this week, I’m quite chuffed with myself.”
“Well done,” replied Amy, “but remember, losing weight’s not about what you look like, Mum, it’s about being healthy. Don’t get into all that female stereotyping and start starving yourself; it’s not good for you, especially when you’re working all day. You have to eat, you just have to eat properly.”
“I know, I know,” sighed Rachael, looking at her swollen feet, “that’s what Thor said. Just eat healthily. Anyway, is it ready? Can I do anything to help?”
Amy measured rice into a saucepan and added water. “Nope, I’ve set the table and as soon as Dad’s back, I’ll cook the rice. He said he’d be ten minutes. It was really weird actually, he called to ask what we were having for dinner and when I told him, he just said OK, he’d be home in ten.”
“Was he driving?” replied Rachael, throwing a peppermint tea bag into a mug. “Because he sounds as though he’s pissed again. If he’s bloody driving, I’ll kill him.”
“He didn’t sound drunk, he said he’d just had to pick something up from the shops and that he was on his way.”
“Did you tell him what was in the curry? He’s probably expecting chicken madras or something.”
“Yep, I told him it had chickpeas and spinach in it, that there was no meat, and he just said that would be great. Weird. He sounded almost normal.”
“He must be pissed,” continued Rachael, picking up her tea and heading for the door, “and I’m going to really enjoy this when you serve it up and he hopefully chokes himself on a chickpea.”
As Rachael disappeared up the stairs, Amy made a mental note to make the most of her youth. If her parents were anything to go by, the future wasn’t looking particularly rosy.
* * *
In the Monday night circuit class, Maggie hung up her jacket and looked around the room. It felt strange without Rachael, but each time she saw new faces she began to feel more and more like a regular. As she took the water out of her bag, Kyle appeared beside her and Maggie was relieved to see that he’d ditched the bandana; he looked a little less death row without it.
“Hi,” said Kyle. She didn’t seem as approachable as Rachael. “Where’s your friend tonight? Sorry I don’t know her name.” Maggie smiled at him. Despite his tattoos he seemed remarkably pleasant.
“Her name’s Rachael, I’m Maggie, and your name is?”
“Kyle.”
“Pleased to meet you, Kyle,” said Maggie, holding out her hand. “Rachael doesn’t come on a Monday as she has a session with Thor in the morning. We’re trying to break ourselves in gently; my thighs are still killing me from Saturday. Do you go to Thor too?”
Kyle released himself from Maggie’s very firm handshake. She reminded him of Miss Crisp, his maths teacher at school. She used to terrify him.
“Yeah, I go on Tuesday morning so I’ve got a session early tomorrow. I’m just hoping I’ve lost some weight. I worked my arse off this week.”
“I know how you feel, sweetheart,” replied Maggie, “me too. I’m dying to know how Rachael got on this morning; I haven’t had time to phone her yet. I go on Wednesday morning, so I’m hoping for good things. Have you got an end goal?”
As he considered whether or not to mention Kelsey, Kyle was suddenly interrupted as he felt a tap on his shoulder and, turning around, he looked straight into the beaming face of Gemma from the supermarket. Embarrassed, she looked at Maggie, then looked back at Kyle.
“Hi, remember me? I told you I’d come. See, you inspired me. My friend’s coming too, but she’s late. I came on Saturday but I didn’t see you at the end. It was tough, wasn’t it? I couldn’t do half of it and I couldn’t move the next day. I didn’t even go out on Saturday night; my friend thought she was dying.”
“Yes, it is tough,” mumbled Kyle awkwardly, “but hopefully it’ll get easier. Are you not working tonight?”
“No, I’ve changed my shifts to try and go to these classes.”
“Good for you,” replied Kyle, panicking; maybe she was here to see him and he had no idea how to handle it. Maggie smiled as she realised that the poor boy had been hijacked. She felt a bit sorry for the wee lass. Luckily for them both, the arrival of Gemma’s friend coincided with the arrival of Thor and Kyle breathed a sigh of relief.
“I think you’ve got an admirer,” whispered Maggie, maternally. “The poor girl looks quite smitten.”
Kyle didn’t reply. This was very awkward. Had he encouraged her? He didn’t think so; he’d just been friendly. He hadn’t really expected her to turn up, she didn’t look the type, for a start. But then neither did he. He’d obviously sent out the wrong message, and now she’d turned up. He wasn’t used to women keeping their word and actually showing an interest. And yes, she was nice, but she wasn’t Kelsey. No woman compared to Kelsey, and until he was absolutely sure that Kelsey really was unattainable, it would be wrong to lead Gemma up the garden path. He would talk to Thor about it in the morning. He’d know what to do.
CHAPTER 29
Rachael had showered and was drying herself in the bathroom when she heard the front door bang. Rex was home. Rachael sighed; she’d been looking forward to some more girl time with Amy, the last thing she needed this evening was more of his childish playground banter. Hanging up the towel, Rachael surveyed herself critically in the mirror. Yes, she’d lost a couple of pounds but she couldn’t really see any difference, although maybe she was expecting just a little too much from one week with a personal trainer. On TV, some people took a year to get in shape, she was probably being a little ambitious to think that one week could eradicate the flabby results of a very over-indulgent past. Two kilograms was a good start though, and she’d surprised herself that she was actually enjoying the exercise; even though every muscle in her body ached, she did feel better for it.
Having thrown on her favourite, most comfy pair of jeans and a t-shirt, Rachael left the bedroom. She could hear Rex and Amy downstairs in the kitchen and he’d obviously just said something hilarious, as Amy was laughing loudly. Briefly, Rachael remembered that his sense of humour was the thing that she’d been attracted to in the first place; he’d made her laugh at a time in her life when she needed to forget about the demise of her mother, who had never been capable of functioning in the real world. A single mother, her constant battle with depression and self-loathing offered little in the way of comfort to Rachael and if Rachael was honest with herself, her sudden death had been a release for both of them. Rex had arrived at the right time and he’d definitely made her laugh, but, sadly, he’d also made her cry, not intentionally, but he just hadn’t been capable of growing up and sharing any of the responsibilities that married life and parenthood brought to the table. Once again in her life, she’d shouldered most of the burden of day-to-day responsibilities and kept things running as smoothly as possible for Amy. She was tired of it now. It w
as time to move on.
As she walked past the spare room, Rachael glanced in. She could see a couple of shopping bags. Like a lot of men, Rex hardly ever went shopping, he only went when he had to. Generally, he asked her to buy most of his clothes. As far as she was aware, he’d hadn’t bought anything new in ages. Opening the door just a little wider, Rachael tiptoed in and opened the bags quietly. Why was he buying trainers? Delving a little deeper, she pulled out a pair of bright orange shorts and a bright blue vest top and as she tried to visualise him in what could only be described as a truly hideous ensemble, she tried not to laugh. She looked at the price tag; no wonder they were in the sale, no one else in their right mind would have bought them. Size medium was also pushing it; she wondered whether he’d tried them on. Why he’d bought them, however, was a complete mystery. Carefully, Rachael opened the box and looked at the trainers; surely he couldn’t have joined a gym as, like her, he’d never done any serious exercise in his life. If he ran ten yards he would probably kill himself, as between the fags, booze and takeaway curries, he’d hardly followed the regime of an athlete. Quietly, Rachael replaced the lid on the shoe box and replaced the offensive items. She was looking forward to getting to the bottom of the mystery.
* * *
The circuits class over, Maggie was proud of herself as they took a quick breather before the cool-down. Her squats had really come on, and so had her tricep dips, but she was still struggling with the sit-ups. Taking a small towel out of her bag, Maggie was tempted to hand it to Kyle, who was absolutely drenched in sweat. He’d worked really hard this evening and he looked exhausted. Spying a roll of tissue paper, Maggie tore off a couple of strips and handed it to him.
Trust Me, I’m a Personal Trainer Page 15
