A car horn beeped, and I dodged out of the way just in time to trip over the far curb. My mat rolled into the gutter. My purse contents spilled across the sidewalk.Terrific. I could only imagine Rafe’s face right now. He was probably laughing at me behind his stupid mirrored sunglasses.
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of looking back to see. Instead I gathered my things, collected my pride and walked into the yoga studio.Here goes nothing.
“Are you okay?” Eight concerned faces stared at me the minute I stepped inside Breathe Free.
“Sure.” In fact, I was breathing in rather strangled huffs and puffs. But I put on my best casual smile and said, “I’m a total klutz. No worries.”
Then I whipped out my new black credit card and paid for a package of ten classes because I couldn’t see the price for a single and I didn’t want to stand there looking awkward any longer than I had to.
“There’s a spot over here!” Angela called when I stuck my head into the bright studio, and she patted the hardwood beside her.
I slipped off my shoes and walked over, unrolled my mat like I’d done so a thousand times before. “Thanks.”
“Do you have a towel?”
I froze. “Ah, no.”
She pulled an extra from her bag, a small white square with the initials AM sewn into one corner. It smelled newly washed, and I understood why people probably gravitated to her. It wasn’t just her perfect, youthful appearance. She was nice. Thoughtful. “Thank you,” I said again. “It’s not your only one, is it?”
“Oh, no.” She patted her bag. “I carry half my closet in here. It’s a weakness,” she added as the instructor dimmed the lights and started some music. “My name’s Angela. Is this your first time here?”
I nodded. “I’m Tori.” I’d decided to change up my name while I was on the job. Grace hadn’t said it was a requirement, but somehow it made me feel less weaselly about what I was doing. Vic wasn’t the one lying to Angela, after all. This new, stealthy chick Tori was.
Maybe I wouldn’t even have to lie, I reasoned, as we worked our way through opening Sun Salutations. Maybe I would actually like taking yoga, and Angela and I would become friends, and I’d convince her to end the affair because it was the right thing to do, and then we’d both find eligible single men of our own. My mind was spinning, and more than once the instructor had to come over and align my shoulders or my chin into whatever pose I was supposed to be doing.
We moved on to Warrior stances, then something called Five Point Star, and then Tree and Pigeon poses, until I was sweating so profusely that Angela’s pretty little towel was drenched by the end of class.
Angela herself, I noticed as I pressed my cheek to the mat and stared at her back, was not drenched in the least. She had tiny damp hairs at the base of her ponytail, but other than that, she looked like she’d just strolled around the block. I flopped over into Corpse pose and closed my eyes.
That was not fun.
My heart pounded, my legs hurt, and I thought maybe Charlie was right, that too much red meat and not enough vegetables really was going to lead me into an early grave. Fine, I argued with him while we were supposed to be resting, I’ll eat more salad. And maybe take up jogging or something. If my legs even functioned properly after this damn yoga class.
Before I knew it the lights were back on, and the other people in the room were sitting up and chatting in low voices. I pulled my tank top away from my skin and noticed blotchy sweat spots on my stomach and under my boobs.I looked over to say something to Angela, to make a flip comment about looking like something the cat dragged in, but she’d already packed up her things and was heading for the door.
“Hey!” I clambered to my feet, slipping on the hardwood since my soles were slick with sweat along with the rest of me. “Angela!”
The entire studio turned to look at me.Be cool, Vic. That was not cool.
Angela stopped, her bag on one shoulder and her mat under the opposite arm.
I waved her towel in the air like a flag of surrender. “I have your towel.”
Her nose wrinkled the tiniest bit, and I realized in a flash I’d made a mistake. She didn’t want it back now, not all grimy and gross. She probably had ten more like it at home. “I mean, I’ll wash it, okay? And bring it back next class?” My voice echoed in the room, and my cheeks went hot as the others stared at me in silence.
Oh, God.If Grace could see me in action, she’d probably regret hiring me.
But Angela’s smile returned. “Sure, sounds good. No rush.” She wiggled her fingers and was gone before I could sidle over and casually suggest we exchange numbers or meet up for coffee. “Bye, everyone! See you tomorrow!”
Well, damn.I stretched my arms over my head, and every muscle along my spine screamed with pain.Get used to it, I told my body. Looked like I’d be coming back to Breathe Free the next day for more torture.
5
The next morningI slipped out of the townhouse without breakfast or a word to my aunt. She’d never believe I was taking another yoga class so soon after the first. So I pulled my baseball cap low over my eyes, tucked my mat under my arm and limped my way to Breathe Free. I didn’t even stop for a cup of coffee, but that was mostly because I saw Rafe at the same table as yesterday, with a newspaper and a snarl. Or maybe it wasn’t a snarl. Maybe that was just his regular resting face. I know he saw me, because I watched his head turn the slightest bit when I walked by, but he didn’t say anything or even lift a finger in hello.
This time I got to class a whole ten minutes early. I laid out my mat, set Angela’s freshly-washed towel beside me and took out my own – not nearly as white or cutely monogrammed, but only fraying along one edge. I rolled my head from side to side and listened to my neck pop. The muscles along my spine and the backs of my legs hurt the worst. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do many poses today, but I was determined to try. Or I was determined to talk to Angela, to break the ice and forge a bond so she’d tell me everything about her affair with the Congressman.
Except she never showed.
