A Twist of Date (7 page)

I smiled, knowing it was futile to try to divert a trained counselor. “Matt and I had a falling out. I hurt him, and he’s not interested in me anymore.”

“Hmmm.” She tapped her finger to her lip, having no clue she’d just reminded me of Matt’s word of the day. “Did he tell you he wasn’t interested?”

Remembering the way he’d pulled away when my hand brushed his, I sighed. “Trust me, he’s not. I’m lucky he’s still talking to me.”

Kristen paused outside the door. “I’m gonna walk a few minutes on the treadmill before I hit the shower, but we should have lunch sometime.”

“I’d love that,” I said, and meant it. “Enjoy the rest of your week.”

“You, too.” She started to walk away, then stopped, lowering her voice. “Just because you hurt Matt, doesn’t mean he’s done with you.” 

“Of course.” I nodded, then trudged toward the locker room, knowing Kristen had meant well.

Even so, her comment hand stung. My chest tightened all the way to the shower, so much that as soon as I turned the water on, my own tears began to flow.

Chapter Seven

It wasn’t an evening at The Boat House, that was for sure. If it had been up to me, I would’ve rather met Nick somewhere nicer—anywhere the ketchup didn’t come out of a group container with a plastic pump. At least the little burger joint Nick took me to was in walking distance from the gym. If needed, it would take less convincing for Patti to think this lunch was solely business-related.

Nick carried our tray to a metal table in the corner. At first, it felt awkward, just as first dates often are. Thankfully, I knew how to steer conversations with men. Career guys enjoy talking about their accomplishments. It seemed calculated, but I figured it might help break the ice.

“So, owning your own business—wow.” Compliments didn’t hurt either. “Do you have any other gyms besides Totally Fit?”

Nick smiled, obviously happy with the topic I’d chosen. “I just moved here from Arizona, where I have a couple restaurants.” 

“Impressive,” I said, wondering if by “restaurants” he meant burger joints similar to this one.

He cupped his chin, smiled, but didn’t say anything. 

Getting a conversation going with him was proving to be a challenge.

“Seems like you’ve been working hard.” More praise. Not a lie though. He’d apparently beat all of us to the gym today. Rudy had rarely showed up before noon. “Have you had a chance to see much of Sacramento yet?”

“Not really.” He reached for a handful of fries and managed to stuff them all in his mouth without any falling out. “Work’s keeping me pretty busy.”

I stared at him in amazement. Had he actually swallowed all those fries without chewing?

“Which is what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Work?” I pursed my lips. “Really? Is that why you asked me to lunch?”

Funny, I didn’t sound that disappointed. I didn’t feel that disappointed either.

“Mostly.” He reached down to the floor, snapped open his briefcase and pulled out a pad of paper, which he set on the table. “You’ve been an aerobics instructor at Totally Fit for quote a few years now. How do you think it’s going?”

Great, until two days ago. Now it felt like an inquisition. “Fine, I guess.”

“And you teach . . . ?”

It was all I could do not to sigh. Didn’t Rudy have this written down somewhere? “Zumba, aerobics, kick-boxing.”

“Do you think there’s a pattern to how many people show up for a class?”

“Pretty much,” I said, feeling like I should be on the payroll right now. Seriously, this was the most boring semi-date of my life. I couldn’t even think of a compliment to throw at him. Having lost my appetite, I checked my watch. “Friday nights are pretty dead.” I gave him a meaningful look. “With it being date night and all.”

He held my gaze a moment, then turned back to his paper, jotting down notes. “Are Saturdays dead, too?”

“Yes.” I sighed, bored to death of the work talk. “Why don’t you tell me something about yourself?”

He looked up at me and stared, apparently mute.

“You know.” I gestured with my hand. “Like . . . what do you do for fun?”

He leaned back in his seat, but didn’t put down the pen. “Once the snow drops, I plan to hit the slopes in Tahoe.”

“Oh, I love to ski.” Progress. Now we were getting somewhere. “What do you do for fun before it snows? You know, in the spring.” Sometimes you had to spell it out for men. “Like now.”

He watched me bite into my hamburger.

I made a special point of chewing carefully, hoping he’d follow my lead. Maybe it’d help him avoid receiving the Heimlich one day.

He gave that dimpled half-smile, again. “Most women with a figure like yours graze on salad. Dressing on the side.”

I paused mid-chew. The guy needed to be retrained on giving compliments. “We’re at a hamburger place, not a salad bar.”

He cleared his throat. “Anything else you can think of to explain your more popular classes?”

“No.” No, no, a hundred times no!             

“So, who takes Zumba?” His fries were gone, but his hamburger lay untouched on his plate. Interesting. “Women? Men?”

“Mostly women, but we do have two guys.” I studied him, wondering if he could dance. “Feel free to drop in sometime.”

Nick laughed. “Me? I don’t think so.”

“Why not?  Don’t you like to dance?”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “At a club or something. But I’m not a dance class kind of guy.”

“Well then.” I leaned forward in my seat, thinking that if we were dancing then we wouldn’t have to be talking. “I guess if I want to dance with you, it’ll have to be at a club.”

His eyes flicked to mine as if the idea had finally occurred to him. “Know of any good clubs around here?”

Jackpot. I kept my gaze on his. “Plenty.”

He considered my answer for a few seconds, then leaned forward in his chair.  “How about Friday?”

“Tomorrow night?” Finally, he’d asked me out on a real date. But, there was still Patti’s rule to contend with. “Why don’t you call me?”

“I will. By the way . . .,” He finally reached for his burger, “Red’s a great color on you.”

“Thanks.” A decent compliment and a date, even though I hadn’t officially accepted. Things were starting to look up.

So why did I still feel down?

****

“Thanks.” I tipped the pizza delivery gal and breathed in the yummy scent of pepperoni and cheese. I kicked the door closed, then brought our dinner to the coffee table. “Pizza’s here!”

Patti came in from her room and flipped on the TV. “Aw, honey, you cooked.”

“Your turn tomorrow night.” I handed Patti a slice on a napkin, then noticed the red light blinking on my cell. I dialed into my voicemail to check my messages.

Hi, it’s Nick. Checking to see if we’re on for tomorrow night. Call me.

I glanced at Patti, wondering if she’d give me the thumbs up. Then, my phone announced message number two.

Mel, it’s me, Erica. This is the third message I’ve left you, so call me back. We need to talk.

I pressed the delete button, then my phone informed me I had another message.

Hello, Melanie. It’s your mother. Ron and I are leaving this weekend and will be gone for three weeks. We’ll be hiking and camping in the mountains so we won’t have cell reception. Just wanted to let you know. Call if you get a chance. Bye.

I hung up the phone and tossed it on the sofa chair, wondering who Ron was, and how long she’d keep him around. Hearing her voice made me want to dial her number, but she then I remembered Kristen’s comment about people not being done with me just because I’d hurt them.

Yeah, right. Tell that to my mom. Clearly having a kid had cramped her style or she wouldn’t have needed to go “find herself.”

Patti picked up the remote, and started flipping through channels. “Who was that on the phone?”

Taking a seat on the sofa, I reached for my pizza slice. “My mom. She’s going hiking for three weeks with some guy I’ve never heard of, and she wants me to call her before she goes.”

Patti kept her eyes on the TV. “Are you going to?”

“I don’t know.” I bit off the pizza corner, cheese and sauce oozing in my mouth. “What’s the point?”

“Because she’s your mom?” She settled on a channel, then set the remote down. “I know how flaky she is, but n her defense, she’s called…what? Ten times or so? And, you’re the one who hasn’t called her back.”

I shrugged. “I don’t have anything to say to her.”

“Sure you do.” Patti turned to face me. “You have plenty to say, which is why you’re not returning her calls.”

Ugh. I did not want to avoid anything anymore, but I didn’t want to think about my mom.

“Nick’s officially asked me out.” I blurted, just to change the subject. “I need your almight permission to say yes. You know, rule number two and all.”

She wiggled her eyebrows. “Ah, the Italian stallion.”

“Ha ha.” I let her get her kicks out while I swallowed my bite. “So, can I go out with him?”

“No.” Patti’s voice went flat. “I already told you not to date where you work.”

“Oh, come on.” I’d played by her bylaws, and now she was saying no? “That was not a rule. You merely said it in passing.” 

Silence.

I felt like smacking Patti with the pizza box, but figured that wouldn’t help me achieve my goal. Part of me wondered why I was even trying, though. Did I really want to go out with Nick? Remembering his cute smile, I told myself of course I did.

“Nick is super nice.” It took all my effort to sound interested. “He has potential, really. So, per our agreement, I’m requesting permission to accept the date. Okay?”

“No.” Patti’s voice was gruff. “At least, not until you answer some questions.”

I hadn’t expected that one. “Fine.” 

“How did he ask you out?”

I rolled my eyes. “We were talking about my dance classes, then he asked if I wanted to go to a club.”

“I see,” she said, making me wonder what she saw. “He’s a clubber. One of
those
guys.”

“He’s not,” I said, because it seemed to be true. “He hasn’t been to any clubs since he moved to Sac, and I’m actually the one who brought up the club thing. I don’t know how often he went in Arizona though. He just moved here.”

“Doesn’t sound like you know too much about him.” She gave me a skeptical look. “Do you like him?”

I winced. Sometimes she was so insightful, it was scary. “He seems nice.” I said, then remembered how hard it had been to keep a flowing conversation with him. “But, I guess I don’t know yet.”

Patti smiled. “So, he’s not The One.”

I picked up a pillow off the couch and smacked her with it.

She busted up laughing, grabbed another pillow, then hit me back. “Fine. You can have one date with the Italian studmeister. But, you’d better get to know a lot more about him if you expect permission for another date.”

“Thanks, Patti.” I picked up a second slice of pizza. “I’ll even find out his shoe size.”

“Definitely find out his shoe size.” Patti laughed. “By verbal means only. Boyfriend bylaw number four.

Chapter Eight

I strode into Totally Fit on Friday morning, and rounded the desk, hoping Matt wouldn’t stop me.

He was reading a book, but glanced up as I passed by. “What’s the word?”

“You tell me,” I said, slowing my pace, but avoiding his eyes.

“That again.” He sounded annoyed. “Ugh.”

“Ugh.” I nodded enthusiastically. “Great word. Be sure to let Steve know, because I have to do . . . something.”

Like avoid accidentally touching him, so he doesn’t cringe. Or, make sure he doesn’t ask me if I’m going out with Nick. Not that it was a secret since I was allowed to date whoever I wanted.

Why did I feel the need to remind myself of that?

I walked into the locker room, sat on one of the uncomfortable metal benches, and pulled out a
People
magazine to keep me occupied while waiting for my Zumba class to start.

After only a few minutes, Erica arrived, and stopped in front of me. “You’re avoiding me, just like you’re avoiding your mother.”

Without looking up from my magazine, I flipped a page. “Not true.”

I’d avoided my mom much longer. Totally different.

“We’ve been friends for years, Mel.” She dropped down on the bench. “You can’t keep ignoring me.”

“All evidence to the contrary.” I turned the page, and stared at an Oscar-nominee who wore a black, strapless gown, and heels splattered with diamonds . “Why does she have to wear seven figures worth of diamonds to cover her feet? Like any of us could really tell if she’d used cubic zirconia. Or, maybe she did . . . ”

Erica snatched the magazine out of my hands. “I said I’m sorry for what I said about Matt. Are you ever going to forgive me?”

“Stealing my
People
is not helping your cause.” I grabbed it back, but left it closed. “You messed things about between Matt and me.”

Well, I’d messed things up, too, but she didn’t need to know about my part in it. It’s not like I was mad at myself. Much.

“I know.” Her voice seemed to catch, which was odd. Erica never got emotional. “It wasn’t my intention and I wish I could go back, and be honest with you. But, I can’t. So, tell me how I can make things better between us, and I’ll do it.”

Even though it was hard, I met her eyes. “Just give me some time. Okay?”

“Time?” Her eyes grew large, as if she wanted to make sure I wasn’t just blowing her off.

“Yes.” I shooed her off with my hands. “Let me sort this out on my own while you go have fun with Mario. You can tell me all about him next week. All right?”

“Okay.” She stood slowly, seeming to understand our friendship wasn’t over. “Mario’s old news, but I’m sure I’ll have someone new by next week.”

“Sounds good,” I said, and I meant it.

****

After my second aerobics class, I headed for the locker room to shower, then tensed at the familiar ring from my cell. Pressing my lips together tightly, I fumbled for the phone, and slid my finger over the flashing green light. 

Kaitlin. I’d already received three voicemails from her, and it wasn’t even ten in the morning. “Hello?”

“I’m so glad I reached you.” Kaitlin’s panicked voice came through the line. “Please tell me you don’t have plans tonight. I have a cake tasting appointment, and I desperately need my maid of honor.”

A cake emergency. Great. “Isn’t that something you’d want to do with P-P . . .”  His name stuck in my throat. “Your, uh, fiancé?”

“I asked him to come, but you know men.” Kaitlin laughed as if she’d said the funniest thing in the world.

“Not really.” It was so the truth. I hadn’t anticipated Brad dumping me. Then Matt, who’d once thought the world of me, now acted like touching me would be infectious. And the only pro about conversation with Nick was that we had nowhere to go but up. Knowledge of men? Me? Not so much.

“So, you’ll be there for the tasting?” Kaitlin sounded hopeful. “Six o’clock? I’ll treat you to dinner after. Somewhere nice.”

“Actually, I have class at six.” I breathed a sigh of relief. Going cake tasting for Paul and Kaitlin’s wedding ranked right up there with getting a spray tan in the middle of Arco Arena. “Sorry, but I can’t get out of work. It’s a set schedule every week.”

“I understand.” She sounded unusually agreeable. “I’ll change the appointment to seven-thirty.” 

Keeping my against my ear, I rolled my eyes at the ceiling. “Are they really open that late?”

“Meet me in front of Dreamy Delights at seven twenty-five with your taste buds ready. You’re the bestest sissy ever. Bye-bye.”

I stared at my cell phone screen. Call ended. Argh.

I bit my bottom lip, then tapped my phone to lock it. I really did want to be a good maid of honor for Kaitlin, but how could I with my ex as the groom-to-be? The cheating ex that had to have been two-timing me with the bride-to-be? I mean, it’s not like we’d broken up that long ago.

Hmmm. Maybe Nick could help me decide what to do about Paul. If there was anything to do, that is. If I was going to get to know Nick, then that should include venting to him. So, I went down the hall and knocked on his office door.

“Come in,” he called out. 

Opening the door, I entered to find Nick, sitting at his desk and staring at his computer screen. “Good morning, Nick.”

“Hi.” His face lit up and he gestured to the chair across from him. “You’re just the person I wanted to see.”

“I am?” I slid into the chair and crossed my legs slowly. 

His eyes dropped from my face to my legs. “I, uh, went by your class this morning.” 

“Can I ask you something first. I need a man’s opinion.” My eyes floated to a name plaque on his desk that read, “Nick Zambini.” Suddenly, my eyes flared. In the (very) unlikely event that things worked out between us, I’d become Melanie Zambini? Ick. Another strike against Nick and me. They were really stacking up.

“Okay.” Nick eyed my legs a moment longer, then leaned back in his chair with that dimpled smile. “Shoot.”

“I have this friend.” Not a lie. A person could be her own friend, right? “She really liked this guy.”

He laced his fingers together in his lap. “Past tense, huh?”

“Definitely past tense.” I bit my lip. Past for me, but not my stepsister. Paul was going to be her future. Which meant he’d be my future, too. Ugh. “Anyway, this guy cheated on her.”

Nick nodded. “So, she dropped him?”

“Well, no. She didn’t know he’d cheated until after he’d broken it off with her.”

Nick raised his brows. “Huh.”

“So then . . .” I paused, wondering what his raised brows meant. “What?”

“Nothing.” He sighed. “It’s just that a girl
knows
when her boyfriend’s strayed. Woman’s intuition and all of that. Maybe your friend didn’t want to admit it to you, but she knew.”

As if. I shook my head. “No, she would’ve told me. Believe me.”

“She knew.”

“No, she didn’t,” I gritted out.

“She. Knew.”

He said it so confidently that my mind raced for clues that Paul hadn’t been faithful. Sure, he’d worked late a lot, but successful men had to put in the hours. But it had been a clue. A clue I’d completely ignored. Had I been that desperate to be in a relationship?

My chest went hollow. Yes, I had been. The truth was, I hadn’t known Paul that well. Hadn’t taken the
time
to get to know him. I’d been too busy trying to make sure he wouldn’t leave me.

Like my mom had.

Had my fear of him leaving made my woman’s intuition malfunction? The idea was overwhelming. How could I ever trust myself when it came to relationships again?  Was I going to abide by The Boyfriend Bylaws forever? I started to hyperventilate and decided a change of subject was needed pronto. “Didn’t you say you wanted to see me about something?”

He reached beneath his desk and pulled a white plastic bag with “Totally Fit” written in snazzy red letters outlined in black. “This is your new uniform.” He handed it to me. “It’s from my cousin Peter’s new clothing line and he asked if his photographer could snap some photos of the employees later this week for ads and stuff. If you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine.” The only thing I minded was ignoring the clues about Paul being faithful.

“By the way . . .” Nick leaned onto his elbows and looked me in the eye, “I wanted to give you a heads up. We’re changing the aerobics schedule and will only need you three days a week from now on.”

I clamped my teeth together. “You’re cutting my schedule in half?”

He nodded. “It just isn’t profitable for the business. I hope you understand.”

Oh, I understood plenty. When it came to men, I had zero intuition. The guy I was about to start dating had just nixed half my income.

I uncrossed my legs and rose from my chair, my legs wobbling as I stood.  How would I make rent? “When does the new schedule come out?”

“On Monday, but it won’t take effect for a week.”

“Okay.” I squeezed the plastic bag and turned to the door, anxious to hurry home and throw myself under the covers. 

“Wait a sec,” he said, holding a hand in the air. 

I blinked, wondering how this morning could possibly get any worse. 

“I tried to reach you last night, but didn’t hear back from you. Are you still up for heading to that club you know tonight?”

It was the last thing I wanted to do, but I’d set the whole thing in play. The least I could do was take the guy dancing. “Sure.” 

“Great.” He bent toward desk, slid a pad to the center and scribbled down a phone number. “How about you give me a call and let me know the address of the club so I can meet you?”

“All right.” I accepted the paper and our fingers touching in the exchange, but all I felt was irritation. Matt wouldn’t have met me there. Just like Matt wouldn’t have cheated on me the way Paul had. Matt would have picked me up like the gentleman he was.

He would have been faithful.

He would have made life yumzy.

****

My phone chirped as I walked out of Nick’s office and I leaned against the wall to take Kaitlin’s fifth call of the day. “Hello?”

“Hi, sis! I just wanted to let you know that Dreamy Delights was able to move the cake tasting to seven-thirty. They’re staying open late just for me. I kind of had to talk them into it.”

I put a hand to my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Okay, but just the cake tasting, Kaitlin. No dinner. I’m supposed to go dancing with—”

“Did you say dancing after?” Kaitlin squealed. “Is this, like, a surprise bachelorette party? Should I invite friends?”

Bachelorette party? Oh, no way. “What? Wait—”

“Oh, Mel! You’re the best maid of honor ever. I mean it. The best ever!”

“Kaitlin—”

“Gotta run and buy a new outfit. Something that’ll match a veil. Don’t get one that’s too long. And please, no tacky penises pinned to it. I’m so excited. Thanks.”

“Wait!” I yelled, but the perky voice had disconnected. I hit redial twice to get Kaitlin back but got sent directly to voicemail each time. No doubt Kaitlin was on the line with her sorority sisters already, telling them about the perfect bachelorette party I now had to throw.  “Argh!”

Suddenly, a handsome face stepped in front of me. “Tough morning?”

“Yumzy.” My face heated. “I mean, Matt. What are you doing back here?”

“It’s my last day, and I have to fill out some paperwork in Nick’s office.” He touched my arm. “What were you yelling about?”

“Sorry.” My heart pounded and I told myself it was panic over Kaitlin’s bachelorette party, not because had put his hand on me. “It’s my stepsister. Being her maid of honor is going to put me into cardiac arrest.”

He nodded sympathetically. “Sounds stressful.”

“You have no idea.” I laughed, then realized we were having a normal conversation. His hand was also still holding my forearm. “She’s getting married in a month, and apparently I’m throwing her a bachelorette party tonight even though I’m supposed to be going to The Oasis with Nick.”

Matt frowned, and his hand dropped. “You’re going dancing with Nick?”

“Yes.” I bit my lip, confused at what I wanted, and even more confused about what Matt wanted. “And, it seems we’ll be accompanied by a hoard of sorority girls. Wanna come?”