1
Heather Frazer was panting for breath, her lungs burning, her heart racing. The spinning of her feet as she sprinted the last few miles on the exercise bike made her feel good, helping to blow away the cobwebs of another rough night.
As she turned the music up on her cellphone for the final push to the end, she spotted a notification.
It was a message from her best friend.
You up?
She texted back while easing off on the bike.
Yep. Promotion here I come.
A picture of flowers appeared on her screen.
You’ll rock it for sure.Pink or white?
Heather typed quickly.
Donna, it’s quarter past six in the morning and you want to know which color flowers will look better at your wedding? Bridezilla much?
So the pink then?
That message was followed by a picture of a dinosaur stomping on a wedding cake.
Obviously the pink. What are you doing up so early?
Donna replied immediately.
Wanted to wish you luck you great big executive, you. I still need you to be my backup wedding planner though.
Heather smiled as she typed.
And I told you I had as much experience planning weddings as I do mountain climbing in the nude.
Careful, it can get chilly around the Cairngorms.
Heather couldn’t resist laughing as she wrote.
Never heard them called that before.
Donna’s reply appeared almost at once.
Your turn next and I’ll be there to watch you get all stressed over what flowers to have.
Heather almost responded but decided not to bother. What was there to say? Her love life was in the same condition as her exercise bike. Creaking and ready for the trash. Instead she wrote:
I might break up with David.
Picking up the pace again, she was soon sprinting as fast as she could, legs a blur as she tried to finish the last mile faster than yesterday.
She wanted to be exhausted. That meant she wasn’t thinking about the fact that the last of her friends were getting married and she had to think about why she wasn’t. Then she would think about her family and about her past.
Then the despair would creep in and it would knock her off her feet for the rest of the day. Sprinting harder she let out a roar of defiance at the end, she could outrun anyone.
If only she could outrun her past.
She refused to look at her cellphone, afraid of what the response might be. Jumping from the exercise bike, she landed clumsily, her legs buckling as she fought for breath.
