Six, p.10
Six, page 10
“There is nothing quite like the heady mix of pine and BO, is there?” Nadia asked with a wicked grin. “I don’t know about you, but I hate sitting still for too long.”
“I sit all day at my job,” Paige sighed. “I ran three times a week until—”
“Until you were attacked,” Nadia finished.
“Was I?” Paige asked as she started wandering toward the boxing ring. “I’m starting to wonder.”
“Really?”
Paige grit her teeth. “My original police report is missing, and the clerk in Cordova is still looking for a copy. My X-rays apparently don’t match, and when Mom called the hospital, they were having computer errors. I even called back my asshole doctor, and—you won’t believe this—he acts like he didn’t even see me. Thank goodness I still had the note from when I was discharged from the hospital, or I wouldn’t even have been excused for missing work!”
Nadia paced beside Paige as she kicked the edge of a gym mat. Paige grumbled under her breath for a few more minutes before Nadia dared to prod any further.
“I can practically taste your frustration,” Nadia said.
“You think I’m being ridiculous,” Paige said. “I sound ridiculous!”
“There is nothing wrong with venting your frustrations, Paige. You should hear me some mornings—”
“I’m just angry or afraid. There is no middle,” Paige growled. “The last time I remember having a good time was at Tina’s party—”
“What was so special about the party?”
Paige stared off to the left. “It was just . . . different.”
The pair paced a bit more, wandering into a nice sunny corner stacked high with mats and freshly laundered towels. Paige took in the scent of soap and disinfectant and ran her hand along one fluffy pile of terrycloth. As the little loops of cotton brushed against her fingers, she smiled again.
“I always use natural lemon soap even though it’s not the cheapest,” Nadia noted. “It’s the only smell that doesn’t make me sneeze.”
“Cal, my boyfriend, makes me use the unscented stuff. He has terrible allergies, but then he dunks himself in cologne and wonders why his eyes water. Lately, he’s been wearing more and more, and it drives me crazy.”
“Smells are more powerful than people realize,” Nadia said. “So many people don’t realize just how much of their aroma lingers—”
“I know exactly what you mean!”
“The worst is cheap deodorant,” Nadia laughed.
“The worst!”
“See, you can be happy,” Nadia said, giving her companion a pat on the back.
Paige nodded. “I guess I can,” she said, staring up at the sunny gym windows. She laughed bitterly. “I can’t get any help from the police or from my doctor, and here I am confessing to a personal trainer I met at a party!”
“Would it make you feel any better to know that I have a bachelor’s in exercise science but my master’s is in psychology?” Nadia asked.
“Wait, you’re actually—?”
“My job is helping women transform their lives, Paige.” Nadia tapped her noggin. “And it all starts up here. However, it doesn’t matter what my qualifications are.”
“It doesn’t?”
“All that matters is that you feel comfortable, Paige. I want you to know that you’re safe here, and I’ll do anything I can to help.”
“Really?” she asked, wide-eyed under her mess of curls.
“Think of me as your own Russian fairy godmother. It’s what I do.”
Paige smiled briefly, but the storm clouds returned as she muttered, “I’m not sure if I have enough money for a personal trainer, though.”
“Did Cinderella ever get charged for her see-through Jimmy Choos?” Nadia asked. She maneuvered around Paige and rested a hand gently on each wobbly shoulder. “Was Briar Rose charged room and board? Hon, I can tell that you are terrified, and all I want to do is help.”
Paige shook her head. “It’s not right—”
“What’s not right is seeing you like this,” Nadia countered. “Now, if you absolutely can’t stand the thought of any charity, I’ll sign you up for month to month at the gym, but I’m not going to ask you for a dime otherwise.”
“My mother always warned me about things that seem too good to be true,” Paige muttered. “What am I going to do, though? Do you really . . . I mean, do you really care that much what happens to me?”
Nadia kept her hands firmly placed and leaned in to look Paige right in the eyes. “Yes, yes, I do,” she said with the confidence of a seasoned politician. “Look, why don’t you think about it and come back later this afternoon or tomorrow after work even? I’m pretty sure you could use a good stretch of the legs, and we have boot camp at six.”
Paige felt her side. Nadia looked on with concern.
“Does it still hurt?” the purple-haired amazon asked.
Paige shook her head slowly. “That’s the thing. It doesn’t hurt at all, but I know it should.”
“Then why don’t we test just what you can do?”
7
Paige stared in horror at her bathroom scale. “I can’t be one hundred and twenty-five pounds, I just can’t!” she squawked.
She stepped off and back on again. The little digital display taunted her with the very same number. She tugged at the band of her yoga pants and looked for bulges or obvious deposits of fat. Finally, she stared squarely at her reflection. “How can I have gained twenty pounds?” she asked the slim individual in the mirror. “Where the hell is it all going?”
The longer she looked at the mirror, the paler she became. Finally, she grabbed her head and stomped out the door. Through the walls she could hear Cal and his buddies whaling away on the console, playing something full of virtual gunfire and way too many explosions. She gritted her teeth and stormed into the living room.
“Do you have to play so loud?” she barked at the three bears lounging on her sofa. “I can hear you all the way in the bathroom.”
“Really?” Cal asked as he grabbed the remote and quickly turned it down. Paige saw the slider slip from eighteen to twelve.
At one end of the couch, Bobby muttered, “Meow,” and imitated a whipping noise a little too loudly; Paige shot him a dirty look. As soon as she was in the kitchen, she could clearly hear them all muttering about how it must be her time of the month.
She wrinkled her nose at the trash smells wafting from under the sink. However, when she opened the cabinet, the bag was fresh, and only a handful of cans were in the recycling. She opened the fridge and shook her head a few times at the intense mix of barbecue, cheese, and onions, even though everything looked to be in sealed plastic containers. Her stomach growled at the first whiff of bacon, and she grabbed a container with half a BLT without thinking. The boys looked over in wonder to see teeny, tiny Paige devour a double-decker and the pickle before grabbing a yogurt and chugging a glass of milk.
“Don’t forget your pills, honey,” Cal warned as she drained the whole eight ounces.
“Isn’t she lactose intolerant?” Bobby whispered, again a little too loudly.
“I’m going out to Collierville later,” Paige said.
“OK,” Cal said, already back to playing his game.
“Remember the woman you met at Tina’s restaurant?”
“The one with the crazy hair?”
“Yeah, she has a gym. I’m gonna try it out.”
“OK, baby; have fun,” he said while not even bothering to look over.
Paige crushed the yogurt cup in her hand and tossed it into the bin with surprising force.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine, since my broken neck and ribs seem to have just magically disappeared,” she growled under her breath. “Nice concern, dear.”
No one paid her any mind as she tossed her container away and violently washed her spoon. She trounced back into the bedroom as she heard Dave mumbling, “Wow, man, sorry you have to deal with that. Get that girl some Midol, stat!”
She changed into workout gear and once more dared to peek at her reflection. Somehow she had gained twenty pounds, yet she had to tighten her drawstring pants even tighter over her flat stomach. She grabbed her fitness bracelet off the dresser and found herself fighting to hook the little peg into the normal last hole in the band.
“So it’s all gone to my wrists?” she asked incredulously.
She flopped on the bed. A new earthy smell attacked her this time. She peeled back their comforter and turned red with embarrassment. As she sniffed it again, she heard one of the beasts lumbering into the bathroom. A second later she had to hold her nose as a terrible cloud of air freshener and flatulence rolled into her defenseless bedroom.
She tossed the comforter back and faked a smile as Cal appeared from the en suite bathroom. As soon as the door opened, it took all of her willpower not to turn green.
“Hey, babe,” he said as he plopped down next to her, “what’s up?”
“I’m just going to wash these, hon,” she said. “They, um, still smell like Friday night.”
Cal leaned over and sniffed the bedding. “I don’t smell anything, babe. You feeling all right?”
“Seriously, you can’t smell that?” Paige asked.
She cringed as he face-planted right in the middle of the bed. He even rubbed his nose in the polyester blend. “Not a thing,” he mumbled with his lips pressed to the sheets.
“I must be going crazy,” Paige sighed.
Cal finally looked up and gave her a gentle tap on the noggin. “Well, the doc said you got a little rattled in the accident. Weird smells and tastes probably come with the territory. So . . . why are you so grumpy, babe?”
“Why do you think?”
“Because an asshole in an SUV bumped you while you were crossing the street and you got knocked silly?” Cal asked.
“Yeah—” Paige started to say. “Wait, what?”
“The accident, babe. Are you getting confused again? You know, if you’re having concussion symptoms still, maybe you shouldn’t go work out with the crazy purple-haired lady you just met—”
“Yeah, stupid car,” Paige muttered. She shook her head a few times and gave Cal her best smile. “I think I was just in my own world. Didn’t want to think about it, you know?”
Cal gave her a hug. “If I ever find the bastard that hit you, his Escalade is meeting my friend Gordon the Crowbar.”
She smiled and gave him a hug. As he pulled away to go back to the game-a-thon, she asked, “Could you just wash these again while I’m out?”
“Sure thing, babe,” he said without even looking her way.
She took the next few minutes to gather up a towel, water bottle, and keys. As she passed the bar in their kitchen, a pile of paperwork caught her eye. The logo of Methodist Hospital stood out among the few bill envelopes and a couple of sticky notes.
Her heart raced as she read the discharge notes indicating a car accident and only a concussion and soft tissue injuries. “What the hell?” she muttered to the paperwork that didn’t match her memories at all.
She took stock of the prescriptions listed, the date of her discharge, and the mention of a follow-up appointment. Behind her, the boys continued to bang and bicker as they manned the controllers. No one noticed as she slipped out the door and headed for a fun-filled Sunday night in the gym.
By the time she pulled into the dirt parking lot of the East Woods Gym, her cheeks were bright pink and her jaw set furiously tight. She yanked her pile of dark curls into a ponytail holder and grunted in frustration as a few rogue ringlets decided to escape just as she finished the final twist. Unlike earlier, cars filled the parking lot, including a stunning 1970 Plymouth Barracuda in original ivy green metallic. Paige circled around the muscle car to take in the shiny chrome details and the beautiful oversize hood scoop of a pre-oil crisis beast.
The first round of April cicadas welcomed Paige from the adjacent woods. She breathed in pine needles and fresh grass, and with each step toward the front door, her jaw loosened and her gaze became softer. The moment she walked into the main gymnasium, however, her Zen disappeared and was replaced with gobsmacked awe.
A small crowd ringed the pull-up bar on the obstacle side of the gym, yet Paige could just see though a gap. A lone hand gripped the bar and extended into a powerful lean arm. The crowd cheered as the figure pulled gracefully upward and rested her pointy chin on the bar for a moment, then slid back down to repeat the cycle anew. With each pass, the character tattooed on her arm contracted and expanded its clean black lines, while her long violet braid swayed back and forth to a steady beat.
“That’s twenty, Alpha Bitch!” Toy cried as Nadia pulled up once more.
Paige heard a massive grunt before Nadia switched arms and started the cycle again with her left hand on the bar. Paige could clearly see Toy and the girl known mostly as Freckles crowding around Nadia, and she could only assume that the redheaded man in shorts and a T-shirt was the other twin even if she couldn’t see his face. Neither Tina nor Lorcan was anywhere to be seen.
“Your turn, Toy,” Nadia said as she dropped from the bar. The shorter girl jumped to grab on, then immediately curled her legs and swung them over the bar. Soon she was swinging upside down and looking straight at Paige.
“Shorty Spice!” she cried with delight before starting her reps of vertical sit-ups on the bar. The twins and Nadia promptly turned and waved.
The female twin took this as an opportunity to smile broadly and salute to Nadia. “Looks like you have fresh meat. I’m hitting the showers—”
The male piped in with, “Yeah, wouldn’t want to distract you from a new client.”
“Pussies!” Toy grunted as she rolled up once more.
Nadia gave all three of them withering glances. “I think you all know what you should be doing by now. Kayleigh, Kyle, your cores are still like my grandmother’s—”
“Your grandma was a badass, Nads!” Toy interjected.
The purple-haired amazon looked back and snarled, “If you can still make quips, you haven’t done enough, Toy. Give me twenty more. Wonder twins, start your planks. If you haven’t worked yourself to failure by the time I’m back, I’m breaking out Boris.”
Both redheads stood at attention and gave mocking salutes. “Da, Natasha!” they barked in unison.
“Natasha? Boris?” Paige dared to ask as Nadia walked toward her.
“Natasha, Boris, moose and squirrel,” she said in an exaggerated Russian accent. “They have so many affectionate nicknames for Lorcan and me. At least he got stuck with squirrel.”
“Oh, he’s here?” Paige asked a little too quickly.
Nadia smiled. “He’s somewhere in the back. He’s a bit of a night owl, so he’s still waking up.”
“It’s . . . six p.m.”
Nadia nodded. “Early for him as of late,” she sighed. “Now, normally I’d ask for you to get checked out by your doctor before starting any sort of fitness routine, but considering what an unholy douche bag he sounded like, I’m never going to ask you to see him again. If you like, I can grab Kyle and have him look you over.”
Paige eyed Kyle’s smooth baby face and wild mop of flaming hair. In his baggy tank top and shorts, he didn’t look far past high school graduation. He laughed maniacally as his sister toppled on the mats after only a few seconds of trying to hold a plank position. Unfortunately for him, the moment he switched places with Kayleigh, she kicked the mats under him, spreading him into an awkward and painful-looking splits.
“Yes, the grand-high ginger doofus is a doctor,” Toy cried from the pull-up bar.
“She has amazing hearing,” Paige noted.
Nadia nodded and growled, “And she is going to do twenty more sit-ups now.”
Toy’s face tightened into a hilariously ferocious pout, but she promptly started her count over at one. Nadia turned her undivided attention back to Paige. “I’m sorry everyone is a little feisty this evening. We’ve had quite the weekend keeping Tina sane for her restaurant opening. I’m so glad you showed up on Friday. Local support is key.”
“I don’t think I can do an upside-down sit-up or a one-armed pull-up,” Paige said as she took in all the athletes in the room.
“There was a time when I couldn’t either. We all work at our own pace here. In fact, why don’t we start with a nice warm-up mile around the woodland trail? It’s gorgeous outside and finally not so damn hot.”
“I do miss running. I haven’t gotten to jog in weeks.”
Nadia broke into a big grin. “Well, then, let’s see what you can do. What’s your normal pace for a mile?”
“Um, about ten minutes. I’ll probably be slower today, though.”
“Maybe you’ll be surprised just how much good a little rest can do you. Check your laces, do whatever you need to do, and I’ll meet you out back in about five minutes,” she said, pointing to a door on the far side.
Paige wandered across the creaking gym, stretching her arms, before hooking up her little holster on her waistband for her music player. She found a convenient chair to stash her gym bag and phone and then used the back of it to stretch out her legs a little bit. As she bent down to touch her toes, she could see a new individual ambling out of one of the side doors. She tried to peek surreptitiously through her legs to see just who wandered inside, but her cover was blown quickly as Toy hollered, “Yo, Shorty Spice, your dream man is here!”
Even though Paige’s head was clearly below her heart, she could feel every bit of blood draining from her face as a pair of dark sweatpants stopped right behind her. The new visitor twisted his torso and bent over with the grace of a yoga instructor to give her a smile and a cheeky little wave.
“Nice to see you again, Miss Paige,” Lorcan said cheerfully.
She made a noise rather like, “Meep!” as she swung upright. In her rush to not have her bum sticking right in Lorcan’s face, she ended up stumbling and tripping over her own feet. After a few agonizing seconds of free fall, she found herself scooped into the very strong, very pale arms of a lanky Brit. He pulled her gently until her feet planted firmly on the floor, but Paige took the liberty of a few extra seconds with her nose planted in his smooth sweat-wicking T-shirt, breathing in a heady mix of sweat and synthetic fibers.
