“Sorry?”
“Derek and I. We’re not together.”
Caught off guard, I almost tripped over the edge of a soft fall mat as we stepped into the large empty room where classes were held. This was my favourite place in the whole gym, and to me, this was the space that set my gym apart from others. The walls were painted lavender, and there were no mirrors. Anywhere. In my experience, women didn’t want to see what they looked like while they worked out, and they definitely didn’t want to see what other women looked like. Instead of mirrors, or supplement advertisements, my gym was warm and welcoming. It had purple walls and pictures of exotic places around the world, which made you want to hop a plane and take off. Photographs of the huts over the turquoise water in Bora Bora, a photo of a completely vacant ice skating rink in Central Park, a deserted stretch of the Great Wall of China. To me, these were inspirational. Not those cheesy go get ’em quotes. Not pictures of steroid-induced muscle men. Calm. Peaceful. Happy places. They made you want to come back.
“I never thought…” I lied. I had thought. I’d entertained too many thoughts on the topic. Not that I wanted anyone to know that. Ever.
“Yeah, you did. And it’s okay. Honestly, Derek is a great guy. He’s my…well, he’s my…I’m not actually sure what he is. I mean, we’re friends. We live together.”
“Oh, okay.”
“No, no. It’s not like that at all.”
“Not like what?” Derek’s deep voice was unmistakable.
