Misty:I’m sure you did great at the gym.
Now that she’d gotten to lie down, it was as if her body could admit that it was tired from the day’s hard work.Her eyes slid closed as she waited for Spencer to reply.
In what felt like the next minute, she woke up cold.The room was dark, and white noise droned in the background; Tish must have turned off the lights and turned on the track before falling asleep in bed as opposed to on bed.She dove under her own covers, basking in the newfound warmth before falling asleep again.This time, she didn’t wake up again until Tish’s alarm went off.
****
Spencer:It wasn’t the same without you.
Misty: ??
Misty:So sorry I missed this...I was OUT after that day!
Spencer looked back at his screen, still not sure how to respond.Last night, he’d sat staring at that screen for a while before it became clear she wasn’t going to reply.He’d said too much, and this wasn’t the right way to do it.
Nor was it the time.His next appointment would be here any minute, and he needed to be ready for this.It bugged him to no end to hear women say they wanted to get their bodies back after being pregnant (after seeing his sister in action, he could say that their bodies had been there the whole time and done extraordinary things for them), but Cathy had been a marathoner before she’d been put on bed rest for a difficult pregnancy.He more than understood that she couldn’t jump back into things.
“How’s it going?”he asked, holding out a fist.
“Pretty good,” she said, bumping hers against his.
“Good.Let’s start on the treadmill to get your blood moving.”
“Okay.”She climbed on the machine.
Spencer programmed the settings and stepped back to watch.Cathy seemed to be moving with less effort than when they’d started, and there was an easy way to test that.“You know this song?”he asked.
She paused to listen to the gym’s sound system.“‘I Can See Clearly Now’?Yeah, why?”
“Do me a favor and sing along with a few lines.”
She looked skeptical.“I can’t sing for shit.”
“Don’t worry about that.I’ll be checking your breathing, not the quality of your voice.”
That seemed to satisfy her because Cathy sang along with the next verse.She’d been honest about her singing ability or lack thereof, but the words flowed easily as she moved.
“I thought so,” Spencer announced.“This is getting too easy for you because you’ve gotten stronger.I’m gonna bump it up a notch.”
Cathy beamed and moved aside to let him recalibrate the treadmill.Spencer was pleased with her progress, and yet he felt a pang in his chest.He remembered giving Misty similar advice when she’d been in training, and she’d qualified to try out for the World Winter Games.
Once the session was over and he had a minute to himself, he got his phone out.
Spencer:It’s okay.You around tonight?
The reply didn’t come for a few more hours.
Misty:Should be.What’d you want to do?Call, text, FaceTime?
He thought it over.
Spencer:FaceTime if your roommate’s not around, otherwise let’s just talk.
She immediately started typing.
Misty:Interesting.What exactly did you want to do if Tish isn’t around???
Spencer nearly dropped his phone.Here he’d thought it’d be good to see her face, but it sounded like she had something else in mind.Before he could answer, she texted again.
