Gym guy, aka Micah, was good. Better than Nick. He dodged faster and he blocked almost before I had thought of my next move. I was breathing so hard I was drooling/foaming. My stomach was about thirty seconds away from 'barf.'
"You don't have anything left in ya, do you?" Micah said. Ugh, I hated when people taunted me. My fist shot forward, dodging his beefy arm and connecting with gut. It was hard gut, for sure, but the surprise hit still flung him back, doubling him over.
"YOU WON!" Jake said. He sounded as surprised as I'm sure I looked.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Fine," he gasped. He yanked off a glove and held his side. He smiled.
"Good workout."
I smiled. "Thanks." I felt awkward; after all, I had just hit the guy. "Hopefully that filled your, er, client quota for the day."
He laughed. "Yup. I had to get my daily hit in."
"Well, good. You ready to go Jake?"
"Yup!" He held his arm as he wiggled off of the turned box I had rigged for him as a seat. "Let's eat!"
"You coming back tomorrow?"
I didn't know how to take the sound of Micah's voice. It sounded a little like he was trying to flirt with me, but then again maybe it was all part of the 'keep our clients happy!' mantra the gym seemed to have.
"Maybe."
"Are you working towards a goal?"
"I'm working towards a lot of goals," I said.
"I meant--"
"I know what you meant," I said quickly. "I need to get down to one-twenty."
Micah shook his head. "No, you'd be better off aiming for one-forty. Your bone structure..."
I scowled. This was going to turn into a conversation about big-boned girls. "I know what I want."
"Maybe so, but if your body doesn't let you, you don't want to be disappointed..."
"Hey!"
Jake was watching our heated debate. He lifted up his shirt. "My belly button's itchy! Help!"
I knelt down and ran my nails over his belly. He burst into giggles. By the time Jake gave me the all clear and I stood back up, gym guy had disappeared. I let out a sigh of relief; he could go bother some other out of shape girl for awhile.
"He's going to kill me for telling you this."
I held up my fork, steaming with refried beans, and looked over at Bri. Shay would have killed me if she knew I was eating a burrito dripping in melted cheese and enough cholestrol to kill a herd of elephants. I could almost picture her sitting down to lunch with a plate of lettuce and a banana.
We had all gotten back on the subject of Kevin. I had just finished calling him every name in the book. Bri took a sip of his iced tea and shook head head.
"He's working on something for Sundance. He swore me to secrecy."
"What? That junk he was filming in Chicago?" I said. "He spent more time at Shay's apartment than working."
Bri looked around, as if anyone would be hovering around our table for dirt on Kevin. "That's just the thing. Everything's a part of the film."
"What are you talking about?" J asked. He dunked a chip into a generous portion of salsa and stuffed half in his mouth. As a double dipper, he had a bowl of the red stuff all to himself.
"Do you guys remember when Joaquin Phoenix was acting like a nutcase?"
"Joaguin?" I asked. "You mean Jo-a-qwin?"
Howie rolled his eyes. "Dude, I've told you before, the J's a Y."
"That's weird. What happened to normal names?"
"Anyhow," Bri continued. "Kev got financial backing to do an indie film. The only people that know about it are Kris and me."
"Know what?" I asked.
"He's filming a psychological piece about the downfall of the 'perfect' man," Bri said. "It started with him leaving Kris and Mason and then just going crazy. He's totally into this."
"No, he's totally into being a cheating son of a --"
"It's an act."
"Trust me, he didn't just 'act' with Shay," I scowled. "They went all the way."
"That's just the thing. Kris knew he would have to do that. He finished the film by dabbling in some hard drugs and alcohol. The only scene that was staged was this stark death scene in the end."
I shook my head. Bri had gone off the deep end. "So are you telling me Shay and Jake are going to be in this movie?"
Bri shook his head. "No, after you jumped him at the studio, he realized that you probably weren't going to be particularly happy even with the truth. He's worked around Shay and Jake so the audience knows he hurt someone, but you're left guessing. Oh, but he did keep in the part where you jump him at the studio. I think it makes the movie even better."
I slammed my fork down. "But, it's not a movie! It's real life! Shay was crushed."
"But it's art," AJ argued. "Some people die for art."
"It's deceitful," I said. "I've totally lost all respect for him. And Kris. What woman lets her husband sleep around with a bunch of girls for the sake of making a movie?"
"I wonder if Ro would go for it," AJ said thoughtfully.
"I can't believe I'm saying this," Howie said. He rolled his small shot glass with his fingers. "But, Nick's right."
We all looked at D in surprise. He leaned forward, looking right at me. "I think, you're finally growing up. You're putting people in front of your own needs and whims for a change. Now, if I can only get you to pick up your socks when we're confined to a bus..."
"Don't get too carried away," I said. We both smiled, but my smile didn't last long. I stabbed at my burrito, still fuming.
Art or not, I hoped Kev would realize some day what a stupid decision he had made. He was lucky; if Shay wasn't as strong as she was...she might have done something stupid.
"I just wanted to let you know we got in fine," Nick said.
"I was getting a little worried," I admitted.
"With the time difference, I didn't know when to call. I'm sorry it's been a couple days."
"No problem," I said. "How are things going?" I watched Jake reach over from his seat in the grocery cart and grab a bunch of carrots. He handed them up; I reached around him and dropped them into the cart.
"Not too bad. Of course, times been flying because I've been watching that DVD you gave me in my spare time."
I smiled. "Where are you up to?"
"Jake's first steps. He seriously looks too small to stand up let alone trying to walk."
I remembered that day just like it had been yesterday. "He was an impatient little boy. He started walking really early. And then running. And now--"
"Is that daddy?" Jake asked. I nodded. He made a swipe at the phone.
"Hold on," I said. "Jake wants to talk to you." Jake pressed the phone up against his ear as I pushed the cart farther down the aisle.
"Hi, daddy! Mommy beat up a Power Ranger!"
The cart jerked to a stop. The phone flew out of Jake's hand. With a sinking heart, I watched as it made its way directly into the just-opened lid of the lobster tank.
"Oops!" Jake cried. "The wob-sters need to make a call!"
Something told me Nick was going to get a chuckle out of my phone explanation later on. Like after I bought a new phone.
