Hungry for Love (31 page)

“
I didn
’
t think she was mad at me.  Just that
,
just that
,
you know
,
all gone too soon.
”

“
I know.  Of course I know.  Nothing
’
s worse than a premature ending.
”

Bill nodded.  Premature.  Exactly.

“
JoEllen said I should ditch Kevin. After that incident
,”
Laura said. 
“
I just can
’
t see myself twice divorced. It would be shameful. And he swore he
’
d….
”

Bill snorted. 
“
Nobody would count that two day marriage you had in college.  You were drunk at the time.
”

A wry look of disgust shone in Laura
’
s eyes. 
“
Too bad I
’
m not drunk through this one.
”

“
Relationships are hard.  To know that you
’
re on the right track…that the feelings are right…
lasting.  But how do you know that
?
  How do you really know
?”

Laura smiled softly. 
“
I think you know.  You knew before.  We had one date and then you met my roommate and it was like you were thunderstruck.  You couldn
’
t see anyone else ever again.  There could have been a naked marching band in the room and you wouldn
’
t have noticed.
”

“
Are we talking good looking bandoliers or uggos
?”
Bill asked
,
laughing.

“
The Apocalypse could have started and you would have been mooning over JoEllen.
”

“
Going to the library was a date
?”
Bill asked. 

Laura laughed. 
“
You see—when you were with JoEllen you didn
’
t not know it was a date.
”

“
Well in the grand scheme of things
,
what I didn
’
t know was a lot
,
but that I knew.  But it
’
s not like there are JoEllens standing on every corner.  She was a once in a lifetime thing.  And now….
”

“
There
’
s Chrissy.  And a party
,”
said Laura
,
her voice as neutral as she could make it.

Bill nodded.

Chrissy kept thinking about that saying
,
when a door closes a window opens.  What this meant she wasn
’
t entirely sure because most people didn
’
t really walk through a window
,
though of course anyone could climb out one
,
assuming it wasn
’
t on a high floor.  Air could come in
,
and that was a good thing because nobody would want to smother in a closed in room.  But what did all that have to do with her situation
?
  She was unsure but on some level
,
she felt this saying summed it up.  She had found her niche.  Maybe that was the actual saying that described it
?
  She was still unsure
,
but at least there seemed to be some hope for her future
,
and Chrissy felt gratified that she had posted that ad on Craig
’
s List as a personal trainer.  Maybe the saying was that when a window closed a door opened
?
  That way you could fit a treadmill through the door.

Carefully swallowing her third set of over the counter diet pills and herbal diet aids for the day
,
Chrissy repeated her new mantra
,
everything is great
,
everything is good
,
everything is wonderful
,
and I am thin.
  Fingering the gleaming stop watch around her neck
,
she bound up the stairs to her new clients
’
home gym.  She was here
,
she was ready
,
she was great.  These people were serious about working out and about getting into the best shape of their lives.  To Chrissy this sounded so good that her first words into the door were
,
“
I
’
m here and ready to get you into the best shape of your lives.
”

Lisa
,
a pretty blond trophy wife
,
was Chrissy
’
s age and it was clear she knew what was important.  She looked as though she hadn
’
t had a bite of candy since Halloween in the third grade.  Her husband Norm was ten years older and another matter.  He looked almost fit
,
well
,
formerly fit.  He was starting to get complacent and that was what Chrissy was here to reverse.

Chrissy settled Lisa onto a rowing machine and Norm onto the treadmill then walked between them offering motivation and changing the settings as necessary. 
“
That
’
s it
,
both of you
,”
Chrissy said in her most encouraging manner.  She
’
d decided that rather than letting that horrible incident at the weight loss center become her Waterbug
,
she was going to climb out of the drain and make a success of her life.  Wait—Waterbug—wasn
’
t that in
France
—that short guy with the funny big hat
?
  Chrissy shook her head. Too often lately her mind became distracted.  Well who was in charge here
,
her mind or her
?
  As long as it wasn
’
t her stomach
,
she was ahead of the game.  Turning her focus back to her clients
,
Chrissy said confidently
,
“
I want to see some sweat here.  This is no dainty workout.  You
’
re gonna give me your all minus
,
hmmm
,
fifteen percent.
”
  Percents were so complicated
,
weren
’
t they
,
but that
’
s the way people always said it
,
all minus some percent
,
at least it was like that in the stores when stuff was on sale.

Norm
,
an accountant
,
looked at her quizzically
,
so she adjusted his treadmill
,
and as Lisa watched
,
clearly concerned
,
the incline increased and increased to an angle so steep Norm might as well have been attempting to scale the
Himalayas
.  He struggled valiantly
,
holding tightly to the side rails of the machine as Lisa
,
concerned for his safety
,
rowed even more energetically.

Norm
’
s breath began to come a bit more raggedly
,
his pace less smooth
,
and as he reached for the controls to lower the incline
,
Chrissy slapped his hand away. 
“
Don
’
t you even think about it
,
Norm!
”
she said sternly
,
“
You have a year of beer and pretzels to work off.  Another year of champagne and caviar.  Golf
?
  Golf!  Don
’
t even get me started on that b-s.  Move it!
”

Lisa rowed effortlessly
,
just as she did several hours a day every day while Norm was at work
,
but her eyes remained on her husband as his pace grew more and more unsteady. 
“
Say
,
Chrissy
,”
she said with concern
,
“
You should adjust that.
”

Chrissy nodded with fervor. 
“
You
’
re right.  He
’
s not giving that fifteen percent is he.
”
  And she upped the incline to its max and upped the speed as well. 
“
C
’
mon Norm
,
show us what you
’
re made of.  You can do it
,
buddy.  This will pay off in the bedroom
,
I can tell you that.
”