“For messing around with clients.Barry called a meeting to remind us all that it’s not allowed.”He paused.“It drove home how much I have to lose if my boss finds out what we were doing.”
She started to see where he was going with this.“Um, we didn’t start anything until after my sessions were over.If anyone looks at us and looks at my records, they’d see that everything was on the level.”
“You really feel like testing that?Because I don’t.What’s the worst that could happen to you, having to switch gyms?If I lose this job, I’d get my name dragged through the mud and never be able to work in fitness again.”
“I don’t believe that for a minute.You send your clients to the marathon, the triathlon, movie parts, Olympic trials, World Winter Games tryouts...”She gestured to herself at that.“If you left the gym, you’d have people beating down your door for freelance training or whatever, so don’t give that as an excuse.If you don’t want to do this anymore, just say so.”
“Youdon’t want to be withme.The way you’ve been blowing me off—”
“IsaidI was sorry for being too tired to talk!Spend a day in my shoes and you’ll know.”
“What, working out all day?What do you think I do for a living?”Spencer’s color looked high.“I also know a ghosting when I see it.It’s happened before, and—”
A knock at the door cut into the conversation.“Hold that ridiculous thought.”She opened the door a crack for safety’s sake and flung it open when she saw a middle-aged delivery guy in a diner sweatshirt.“Hello, gorgeous!You have no idea how much I needed you right now.”
The guy looked confused and flattered at the same time.She accepted her order and carried the bag into the room.“Sorry about that,” she said, picking up the phone.
“Ridiculous, was it?”Spencer looked stricken.“Then who was that at the door?”
“Grubhub.I was starving!”She moved the bag into the frame and opened the container to reveal her snack.
“I heard you.”
“You heard me talk the same way I always do in the city.”She had officially lost her patience for this.“Whatever’s going on with you...I would like to be supportive of you and your problems, but it’s not easy when you’re biting my head off and flinging accusations.We can talk about this when I get back to the city if you want.But until then, I’m too busy trying to be a part of history.”
“I certainly can’t interfere with that,” Spencer said drily.“I won’t take up any more of your precious time.”
He ended the call before she could say anything else.All she could do was marvel at how all the good feelings from that afternoon had fled faster than the sled.She dug in for the sake of replenishing some of the calories she’d burnt off during the day, but the fries had gone cold and soggy, the cheese sauce had congealed, and her appetite was shot.
****
What the hell had justhappened?They’d gone days without talking, and then Misty had called up like nothing had changed, yapping on about her adventures and not asking a single question about how he’d been doing.Not only had she been totally ignorant of the possibility that anything could have been going on in his life, but it sounded like she’d expected him to be just sitting there waiting for her calls.
Then again, maybe it was no wonder she didn’t want to talk to him.The few times they’d talked lately, as he’d tried and failed to make the events of his days compare to hers, he’d even bored himself.She was trying out to be part of a historic team, as she’d pointed out, and he was yet another washed-up athlete turned personal trainer.There was no shortage of them in New York.
His phone buzzed on the counter.Spencer couldn’t decide whether to hope or fear it was Misty calling him back, but the contact on the screen turned out to be his dad.Would this be better or worse?He thought about letting it go to voicemail, but answered in the nick of time.
“Hi, son,” Mitch said.“Your mom and I wanted to watch Helene’s new interview show tonight, but we’re having trouble switching to the Apple TV.Do you remember how you pulled it up when you came to visit this summer?”
“It’ll be tricky without seeing it, but I think so.Start by pressing the ‘Input’ button and scroll down to HDMI2.”For the next few minutes, he talked his dad through the process.It wasn’t the most scintillating of conversations, but it beat how things usually went with his dad.If they could get through it without a comparison, Spencer would count it as a victory.
“There it is!”Mitch made the announcement as the streamer’s signature sound rang out.
“Great.”At least he’d accomplished something today.
He heard his dad click through the screen with the remote.“This looks interesting.You should watch too tonight.It’d be like us watching together.”
Spencer wasn’t a fan of the senator turned ambassador turned philanthropist who was the iconic talk show host’s pilot interview for her new solo show.Luckily, his work schedule gave him an easy out.“That’s not a good idea.I got home from work a little while ago, and I have an early morning tomorrow.”
Mitch sighed.“You should have more time to kick back and relax at the end of the day.When I was your age—”
So much for that.Spencer could usually tune these lectures out, but it was coming in all too clearly tonight.Enough was enough, and he had to say so.
“I know.When you were my age, you had a house, a wife, and two kids.When you were my age, you were making twice my salary at your office and could kick back at the end of the day without a care in the world.You had thousands in savings, no student debt, and the world at your feet.Meanwhile, your son’s a great big failure who doesn’t have a real job or his life together.”
His dad sounded surprised.“Son, that’s not what I—”
“Well, that’s what it sounds like to me.And yoursonhas a name—it’s Spencer!”A tremor had crept into his voice, so he took a breath before speaking again.“I should go.Enjoy the interview.”
