Chapter 10
Ring...
Ring…..
"Why do I even go to the gym." I grumbled to myself stretching my hand across my bed looking for my phone, still half asleep. My jewelry stand clattering on the floor woke me up from my slumber. Cussing as I pushed my covers off, dragging myself off the bed as it made a creaking sound. The blinking light on my phone from my bedside drawer finally called my attention to it.
I turned off the alarm and the other three alarms I set in case I slept through this one, scrolling through my socials like I did every morning, but I stopped in my tracks when I saw the message.
Matthew:Sure Let's meet up by 1
That's all he said.
Could he sound any more smug, I thought to myself. Why did my curiosity always have to get the best out of me? I dragged my palm across my face slapping myself awake.
Should I respond now, or should I let the message simmer a bit. The last thing I wanted was him thinking I was thirsty or something.
"Sounds okay to me" I typed out, not too casual and not too formal. I pulled out my bluetooth speaker connecting my phone to it as I scrolled through my playlists to find a perfect song to get ready for the gym.
I pulled a hoodie over my sports bra and picked up my gym bag as I went downstairs to fill my water bottle with water and shove it in my bag. I usually ate a banana before going to the gym and grabbed sandwiches after at this really good breakfast shop on my way back from the gym. I told my mum goodbye as I pulled the spare key from under the carpet on my way out.
The sky looked kind of gloomy today, but it was the middle of
March so the possibility of it raining didn't really bother me. I might as well see a pig flying.
I began walking to my gym, using this as an opportunity to get my cardio in, my headphones plugged into my ears slowly picking up the pace as the bass from the song hit me.
I pushed through the glass doors of the gym, instantly hit by the familiar mix of cold air, sweat, and rubber mats. The bass of the music vibrated faintly through the walls as I pulled of my headphones while the sharp clang of metal weights and the hum of treadmills filled the space around me.
The bright fluorescent lights reflected against the row of mirrors lining the walls as she moved past groups of people chatting between sets. Her sneakers squeaked lightly against the polished floor with each step.
I paused near the entrance, eyes scanning the gym. The gym seemed kind of scanty today as I looked around. I showed the dude at the counter my membership card, almost half asleep, he lazily looked at it and gave me a nod.
I stood in front of the mirror with my feet planted firmly against the floor, fingers tightening around the dumbbells at my sides. A thin layer of sweat already glistened across my skin as I wiped it off with the sleeves on my hoodie.
I was halfway through my set when I felt someone's breath behind me ear but I already knew who it was. Every time she came to the gym, she made it a point to try to jumpscare me. She claims it always makes her workout sessions go well; you could call it a ritual. I always see her coming from a mile away.
"I know it's you" I said flatly.
"Ah shit" she mumbled in defeat.
I turned to her trying my best to hold in my laughter but failing miserably as it just pours out of me.
"Did you actually think that you could sneak up on me?" I asked still holding my stomach from laughing too hard, soft snorts coming out as well.
"Don't laugh at me, Fuck you" she paused" You just watch too many crime shows, that's all." she finished joining me in my laughter.
"You're right though, watching a lot of those shows has definitely made me always be on edge." I said
"Okay, serial killer in the making, slow down." she said as she pulled out her mat so she could sit next to me and wait for me to finish my last set.
"You never did tell me how the date your mother set up went."she said, now serious with her jaw set in a straight line as she looked at me eagerly.
I told her everything as she stared at me in disbelief, her mouth ajar as her expression slowly changed from shocked to concerned to disbelief as to how he could have done that. I could see the questions forming in her head.
"And he just let you leave." she finally asked but I know she had more to say, she just decided to hold her tongue. "Even though he took you there and knew you didn't know your way home from there"
"That's fucked up" she said staring at me.
"Are you okay?" she asked genuinely
"Yeah, I'm good."
"What's even more fucked up, is that I'm meeting up with him this afternoon."
She immediately jumped up from the mat "Are you crazy?"
"He brought you to a strange place and then let you leave without a way back home, you could have been kidnapped for God's sake Andrea."she screamed, throwing her hands in the air as people around the gym started looking in our direction.
"I might be, but trust me it's not as deep as you're making it seem." I said, trying to make her see where I was coming from.
"I just want to know why he so desperately wanted to get a girlfriend"
"You genuinely do not need to know" she paused, blowing out her breath. "You know what I blame the crime shows" she concluded
She folded her mat as I pulled my hoodie over my head. We exchanged goodbyes and went our own ways.
The minute I turned the corner a light drizzle had started to fall as the drops of water clinged to my lashes, I shrugged as I pulled my headphones over my ears but within seconds the smell of rain hit the air and it began.
"Ah shit" I cussed as I ran to the nearest bus stop as fast as I could, apparently not fast enough because my top was still drenched with water when I got there.
Might as well see a pig flying.