I flick my eyes back up to her face, catching, just in time, the way her features pinch in discomfort for a moment.
Have I read the room wrong?
Wiping the smirk from my face, I stick my hand out. “I think we’ve gotten off on a little bit of the wrong foot. I want to say I really am sorry for looking through the window of your dance class, I know just how much the gym should be a safe space for everyone and it was never my intention to make you feel uncomfortable. I apologise if I did so.”
She looks down at my hand, up to my face, and then slides her soft palm into my outstretched one.
I desperately try to ignore the way her hand fits, engulfed in mine.
“Thank you,” she says. “You didn’t make me feel uncomfortable, but still, I appreciate your apology.”
I nod. “Maybe we should start again. I’m Hudson.”
“Giselle.”
It’s a pretty name. A pretty name for a pretty girl.
She smiles softly, gently squeezing her thumb against my knuckles and then retracting her hand. “So… you’ve been working here about a week now?”
“A week and a half, yeah.”
“How do you like it so far?”
“It’s good. Busy. But I like that.”
Giselle bobs her head in agreement. “Have you always been a personal trainer or…”
“Pretty much always,” I answer. “I worked in a café once, when I was fifteen, serving tables, but it didn’t last long.”
A quiet huff of laughter escapes Giselle’s nose.
“What about you?”
“Me?” Those pretty blue eyes of hers dip away for a second, looking over my shoulder at something, or someone, before she returns her gaze to me. “What about me?”
“Have you always taught dancing?”
“Oh!” She laughs again. This little sound I find myself wanting to find ways to hear again. “To some degree, yes. I taught dancing in musical theatres around London before I started up my own set of classes.”
“So, you’ve been here a few years?”
“Yep. I’ve been teaching dance and meditation classes here for a while now. Although, the dream—”
“Hudson!” I feel a slap on my back before Rex’s grinning face dips into my vision. “A few of us are finished for the night,so we’re thinking of hitting the pub down the road. You coming with?”
“I—”
That’s exactly what I wanted an hour or so ago.
Now…
I don’t want to turn down the invitation, but I’m not finished talking to Giselle. I want to find out what she was going to say before we were interrupted, and these meditation classes she teaches. What are those?
I look to Giselle. “You coming to the pub?”
She shakes her head, ponytail swishing with the jarring movement. “Can’t. I have a late meditation class starting at eight.” Her eyes flick between Rex and I. “Have a nice evening, though. I’ll see you both around.”
“See you,” I mutter, my eyes following her as she struts away, disappearing down the studio corridor.
