At least he could catch her at the end.
He saw her look towards the back of the class at a latecomer, her eyes widening in surprise.
‘Morning, Will.’ She smiled. ‘Are you joining the class? Please take a mat.’
Part of Felipe felt a burst of relief. Did this mean they hadn’t slept together last night? Unfortunately, a big part of him was pissed off that she was smiling at the doofus.
The other man, who wore a crumpled T-shirt and baggy shorts, kicked off his flip-flops and took the mat beside Felipe. He looked not too dissimilar from a rumpled Hugh Grant, andFelipe felt a kick of jealousy. He could see why Rebecca was attracted to Will, even with his stupid, abundant hair.
Despite the early morning sunshine, he could feel the frost emanating from her towards him.
Rebecca gave her instructions in a calm, firm tone and they all did a few early stretches. Felipe noticed that Will was quite limber and was able to reach his toes quite easily. But then, Felipe’s hamstrings were prone to tightness because of all that cycling. He pushed himself a little harder, determined not to be outdone by the Englishman.
It was a relief when Rebecca invited them to sit down on their mats. He was able to sink to the floor quite gracefully, one knee at a time, demonstrating the strength in his quads. Will flailed about like a drunken duck. Felipe smirked to himself. Unfortunately, Rebecca caught him and in one quick glance managed to give him a schoolteacherly rebuke. He still couldn’t see her hand properly.
Felipe had actually done Pilates when he was at college in the States as part of the strength and conditioning training that was his weekly regimen, and he’d hoped that by not confessing that, it might give him a small advantage. Sadly, he’d forgotten nearly all of it and how difficult it was.
Rebecca was a very good teacher, giving clear instructions, but even so, he was having trouble breathing in and out at the right time. He was sucking in his stomach, navel to spine, and keeping his hips level to hold his imaginary marbles in place, all at the same time. Thankfully, she kept reminding the class, and he focused on getting the simple moves correct.
It was hardly exercise, he decided as he lifted his pelvis up to the ceiling, feeling a slight tug on his leg muscles and glutes. He could do this quite happily for ages. Cycling had firmed up his legs, and his quads were rock-hard.
Will, too, was raising his hips up and down with relative ease.
Rebecca approached and stood over him, her arms behind her back ‘You’re dropping your right hip, just a little.’ Felipe pursed his lips and focused on correcting the movement, hearing a snigger from Will.
Seconds later, she said to Will, ‘Slowly. Roll down your spine when you come back down, vertebra by vertebra.’
Rebecca moved to the front of the class. ‘Now, if you’re comfortable doing that and feel ready to go to the next level, at the top of the movement, lift your right leg and straighten it. Breathe in, and when you breathe out lower the leg, breathing in to raise the left leg this time. Then roll down, taking a breath, and then exhale to come back up.’ She lay down to demonstrate the move but from his own position on the floor, Felipe had missed his chance to see if she wore a ring.
Responding to her instructions, Felipe raised his hips.
‘Now lift one leg,’ said Rebecca.
Out of the corner of his eye, Felipe saw Will lifting and straightening his leg. He was wobbling. Focusing on his core muscles, Felipe lifted his leg.Merda, he could feel that in his stomach. He gritted his teeth, determined not to be outdone by Will.
‘And exhale, change legs.’
The movement took every ounce of control, and sweat broke out on his forehead.
‘And repeat another five times,’ said Rebecca, calmly lifting her legs up and down with ease while still talking to them.
Five! Felipe grimaced and glanced at Will, who tightened his jaw.
‘Keep breathing and don’t let your hips drop,’ instructed Rebecca, rising to her feet and moving around the room. She came to stand by him again. ‘Lift the hips, keep them level, watch those marbles. Engage your core.’
By the end of the five movements, Felipe’s quads were protesting, and his stomach muscles were shaking, but he’d managed it. So had Will.
He was grateful to stop. Okay, maybe Pilates wasn’t as easy or as gentle as he remembered. Before they could rest, Rebecca was guiding them into a new exercise.
‘Lift your legs to a table-top position.’ She watched the ladies at the front and nodded. A little clueless, Felipe glanced at Will, who was looking equally blank. ‘Ladies, you know what you’re doing. When you’re ready, straighten your legs and hold.’
‘Will, Felipe,’ she said, inclining her head. ‘Like this.’ She dropped down onto the mat at the front of the class, flipping gracefully onto her back and bringing both legs up bent at the knee. Felipe felt a quick twinge in his groin as he looked at her long legs. She looked effortlessly elegant in the pose.
Both men copied the movement.
‘Press your back into the mat, navel to spine. Breathe in and when you exhale, lift your legs one at a time into the table-top position.’
Felipe focused hard. Breathe, stomach, legs. He was surprised by how much effort just holding his legs like that took.
