She made a noncommittal noise and tossed her phone on the coffee table. “I hear you tapping away. Writing going okay today?”
“Sort of, yeah,” I said. “I’m not in the zone, but I’m managing some decent output.”
Meredith adjusted the pillow behind her head and kicked her newly acquired orthopedic boot up on the back of the futon.
“How’s your pain level?” I asked her.
“It’s aching.”
Meredith’s “sprain” was actually a hairline talus fracture, a bone in the ankle that I didn’t know existed. Even the doctor couldn’t quite figure out how she’d managed it, but the goodnews was that it wasn’t severe enough for surgery. Still, she was going to be in a boot for at least six weeks, and I could only imagine the lengths she was going to go to in order to exercise. If it were me, I’d happily take up residence on the couch and shoot foreightweeks of inactivity.
For the healing, of course.
“I can probably still teach class,” she said, half to herself. “I can sit in a rolling chair and harass everyone that way.”
“Mere, stop.” I sighed. “Just try to be still. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.”
“There’s just so much I’m supposed to be doing right now.” Her voice pitched up. “Work is scrambling to cover my shifts, and the studio is calling in subs who are super dicey. Colton and I were supposed to play doubles with a couple of people from his building so he can get invited to this huge Hamptons Fourth of July party. And now I can’t help with your Kai quest...”
I frowned at my laptop screen, because even though it felt small to admit it, I was bummed about it too.
“I still think you should try that instructor,” she added.
“Oh crap.” I grabbed my phone. “He wanted to know about your diagnosis. Maybe for insurance reasons?”
Meredith laughed at me. “Did you read the waiver we signed before we could even walk past the front desk? I could get electrocuted in the locker room and they’d be blameless. I guess that’s one of the benefits of them having founders in legal and finance.”
I typed a quick update message to Owen, and he responded almost immediately.
Can you talk?
“What did he say?” Meredith asked.
“Okay, that’s weird,” I said. “He wants totalk.”
“Live?”
My phone rang and I held it up to show her it was him. I stood up and dashed the two steps over to the window, as if it afforded me any privacy.
“Hi, what’s up?”
I wondered if it was protocol to get a full witness statement after an on-site injury, because why else would we need to chat on the phone?
“Hey, just wanted to say that I’m sorry to hear about Meredith’s fracture and see how she’s feeling.”
The sincerity in his voice suggested no ulterior motive except genuine care.
“Oh, that’s nice of you. Yeah, she’s definitely feeling it today.”
“That sucks. Is she on pain medication?”
“Yup, she is.” I traced patterns in the air-conditioning condensation on the window. “Thanks again for your help when it happened.”
“Oh, no problem. Listen, I was thinking,” he said. “You mentioned that she was helping teach you, and since that’s off the table, I wanted to offer my services. I’m usually booked up, but I have a couple of open slots on my calendar, if you could handle mornings.”
Did Kai ever show up in the morning?
“Oh, that’s really nice of you, but I don’t think lessons are, uh, feasible for me right now. And I’m not a member or anything.”
