by Virna DePaul
“To answer your question, Steve, yes. They’re starting the meeting now.” Matt jerked his thumb toward Rudy’s office. “And to respond to your concern, Conner, today’s word is lifesucks.”
Erica’s chin dropped to her chest and she crinkled her nose. “That’s two words.”
“Not if you say it quickly.” Steve raised a finger. “Lifesucks. Lifesucks. See?”
Erica shook her head. “It’s still two words.”
“After the night I just had, it’s one word.” My mind flew back to last night’s events, then jumped to my lunch with Patti, which inevitably left me wondering about Matt’s date.
Erica sighed. “I can’t believe you let that hottie get away.”
I groaned, mostly for thinking about Matt’s girl again. Surprisingly, I hadn’t thought about Brad at all today. “I don’t want to talk about it because lifesucks.”
“Fine, it’s one word.” Erica rolled her eyes in that ‘whatever’ way of hers. “Anyway, lifesucks when we’re loud, so let’s keep it down people.”
“Fine,” I whispered and leaned my ear back against the unpainted sheetrock. I thought about asking Matt about his date, but my stomach felt nauseated just thinking about her. “What were the suits like, Matt? Did you get a look at them? Did they look eager to fire any of us?”
Matt squeezed between Erica and me, then put an ear to the wall, too. His shoulder brushed against mine, causing a tingling sensation up my neck, and his spice scented cologne made my breath catch. I wanted to buy a bottle of whatever it was and drench my pillow with it.
“Introductions weren’t made,” Matt said, clearly unaware of the physical effect he was having on me. “But I gather one guy is Rudy’s brother. His last name was Zambini and he could’ve passed for his twin.”
I knew Matt had said something, but I didn’t hear the words. It was impossible to concentrate with the one thought hanging on my mind. I had to get it over with. “How was your lunch?”
“Great.” His ear pressed closer to the wall and I could feel his warm breath as he spoke. “I wanted to introduce you, but you guys left so fast I didn’t get a chance.”
Our faces were inches apart and I felt woozy being this close to him. “First, the girl from the dance club. Now, the girl from Cherie’s Cafe….”
He laughed, his eyes crinkling in an adorable way. “You make it sound like I have a stream of girls.”
“Don’t you?” I bit my lip, waiting for the answer but not sure I wanted to hear it. Then, I shrugged, not wanting him to think I was interested. “Not that it’s my business.”
His expression changed and got serious. “I’m single and yes, I date. But I certainly don’t have a stream of girls.”
“Oh.” He sounded so sincere. I looked down, wondering if I should believe him. Our shoulders were still touching, but I couldn’t bring myself to move away. Then, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.
Erica knelt down on the floor next to an air vent and she held a finger to her lips. “They’ve started the meeting. Want me to relay what they’re saying?”
“Is it wise to speak that close to the vent?” I stared down at Erica, who was now sprawled across the floor with her ear smashed against the grate. “I mean, if you can hear them, can’t they hear you, too?”
Erica frowned, probably mentally shushing herself. “This is another reason I work alone.” Making several twisty motions with her hand, she zipped her lips then waved us down toward the vent that was two inches above the linoleum floor.
In the name of duty, I dropped down on my stomach between Matt and Steve, and tried not to sneeze from the dust that coated the vent.
Matt put his arm around me. “Cozy enough for you?”
I definitely felt cozy against him, but no way would I let him know how he was affecting me. “Shouldn’t we focus on our jobs?”
Matt winked at me. “Not my first choice, but whatever you say.”
“Rodolfo, dai.” A man’s voice, with a thick Italian accent, echoed from the vent and I pictured him gesturing with his hands as he talked the way Rudy did. “The business, it is going under. You want that we help you o no?”
Going under? We’d suspected it, yes, but having it confirmed gave me a horrible sinking feeling. Poor Rudy. And poor me, too. Where would I find another job in this economy?
“You know I try to do business with you.” Rudy’s accented words were tense. “But the amount you offer is niente. Pietro, you are my cousin, my blood. You offer me fair price, I sell to you now.”
Matt leaned away from the vent and whispered. “Told you that Zambini guy was family.”
“You said brother,” I reminded him.
“Never said I was clairvoyant.” Matt held his palms in the air. “Don’t start with that‘ my word is my word’ thing again. I admit freely that I was incorrect, okay?”
“Wow.” Erica put a hand on Matt’s elbow. “A guy admitting he’s wrong? That’s positively yumzy.”
“Can we get back to the issue at hand, people?” Steve tapped his index finger on the wall.
We all turned back to the choppy conversation.
“Guarda, cugino mio. Nicollò and I here to help you, no?” The thickly accented Pietro took on a companionable tone and I pictured him putting an arm around poor Rudy. “We keep price same ma we keep you on to manage, yes? You will receive a fine salary.”
Rudy sighed. “Va bene. Totally Fit, it is yours.”
“Bravo, my cousin. You never regret this.” It sounded like they were slapping each other on the back. “Allora, we make some changes. Nicollò?”
“Sì.” There was a rustling of papers. “I’ve been going through the books and found plenty of places to trim costs.” This Nicollò guy had a deep voice and must’ve grown up in the States because he spoke without a trace of accent. “First, your trainer, Steve Burns?”
I turned toward Steve, who looked panicked.
“The guy charges forty-five an hour for his services and you only keep twenty-five percent? No wonder your gym’s going under.”
“Steve is excellent trainer.” Rudy’s voice was shaky. “He brings a lot of business and the clients, they like him.”
“We’re going to raise his services to sixty an hour and he can keep half of that. If he doesn’t like it, we’ll get a replacement.”
Steve’s face went pale and I laid a hand on his arm, knowing I barely scraped by on my Totally Fit paycheck. What if they decided to cut my salary?
“Sì.” Pietro was speaking again. “Like the one at the front desk. This guy Steve want to walk? We replace with the front desk guy. He in good shape.”
Reflexively, I turned on my elbows to check Matt out, remembering his muscular silhouette at the door. I blinked. Had he been working out more often?
“Why are you staring at me?” Matt’s eyes met mine. “You can rest easy. I’m not interested in Steve’s job. Actually, I won’t be working here much longer. I finished my thesis.”
My stomach sank. I couldn’t imagine Totally Fit without Matt. It just wouldn’t be the same. Out of nowhere, tears sprang into my eyes.
“Don’t be sad.” He gave me a squeeze. “I’ll still be working out here.”
What was wrong with me? Matt would have the PhD he’d worked so hard for. I should be happy for him. “Congratulations, Matt. That’s great.”
The sound of breaking glass broke my thoughts and my eyes darted to the dusty air vent.
“Pietro. Look what you do to my desk.” Rudy sounded pretty irritated.
“Relax, Rudy.” No accent. “It’s not like he knocked his drink over on purpose.”
“There is glass all over my office. It is sticky everywhere.” Rudy sounded like he might snap. Must be the tension of losing the gym because Rudy normally kept his cool. “Pietro, just clean up the mess. Go next door, get a mop and bucket, then fix this mess up.”
“I’ll get it.” No accent so it was Nicollò who offered to get the mop.
The mo
p. It finally registered. The mop’s in here.
The door to Rudy’s office squeaked open and I rolled toward the others momentarily, then scrambled to my feet.
Seconds later, the janitor’s closet door burst open, and in walked the sexiest guy I had ever seen. Dark hair, dark eyes and the body of a Greek statue. Or, an Italian statue as the case may be. Whatever. Either way, in his Armani suit—and one gold chain—I could see the man was built.
He stared at the four of us critically.
We all stood frozen.
Then, the Italian God made eye contact with me. My knees went weak and I pressed a hand to the wall for balance, unable to speak. If this guy was surprised to see us, he hid it well. His mouth twitched and a dimple formed in his left cheek. “Hello.”
Words failed me, but I had to do something so I hurried across the small room, removed the mop from the opposite wall, and handed it to him.
“Thanks.” His dimple deepened and his brown eyes pierced mine as he grasped the mop handle. “I’m Nick.”
Nick. Out of habit, I glanced down at his ring finger. Bare. He was single. My heart drummed a mile a minute and I breathed in deeply to calmly introduce myself. “I’m aaaahchooo!”
Both hands flew to my nose and I squeezed my eyes shut. What. Just. Happened? The dust from the vent. This was Rudy’s fault for canceling the janitor!
I sniffed several times, rubbed my nose, then tilted my head up and opened my eyes.
Nick’s gaze seemed transfixed on me as he reached into his breast pocket, removed a white handkerchief and held it out for me.
My heart melted. What a gentleman. I accepted the handkerchief and daintily dabbed at my nose.
Suddenly, Erica appeared at my side—a hair in front of me actually, holding her hand out to Nick. “I’m Erica Conner and may I just say how thrilling it is to have such an, uh, authoritative man in charge around here.”
It annoyed me that Erica had stepped up when I’d been here first. Still, I wondered why it didn’t grate on my nerves the way it did when she flirted with Matt. Weird, but the competitive part of me wouldn’t let her get away with upstaging me.
I rolled my shoulder so it was slightly in front of Erica’s and broke their handshake. It may have been childish, but it sure felt good.
She narrowed her eyes at me, then she turned back to Nick. “I’m not scheduled to work for another hour so I’d be happy to assist if you need help with…anything.”
Nick turned back to me—ha!—gave a small smile, then held up the mop. “Actually, I’d better get this to Rudy before he has a coronary. Nice to meet you all.”
“It was great meeting you.” Erica gushed. “Welcome to Totally Fit.”
“Thanks,” he said, then stepped out of the closet leaving the door open.
Erica spun toward the three of us and clapped her hands. “Things around here are about to get interesting.”
“Yes, they are,” I said, watching her bounce out of the closet with a huge smile. It still bugged me that she’d made a move on Nick when he’d clearly noticed me first. Wasn’t there a girl friend code on first dibs?
Not that I wanted dibs, necessarily—let’s face it, I couldn’t make a move in any dating direction without authorization from Patti—it just wasn’t right how Erica had jumped in front of me.
“Back to work, people.” Steve clapped his hands. “Especially me, ugh.”
I stood motionless, watching Steve hold his head high as he left.
“Everything okay?”
I jumped, not having noticed Matt come up next to me. “Not really.”
“That’s right,” he said. “I’m sorry your date didn’t go the way you wanted.”
“It’s okay.” Surprisingly, I found that I didn’t really miss Brad at all. Patti’d been right—I hadn’t really been in love with him. Wow. I pictured the figurative bright yellow light bulb flashing above my head. I’d been so excited about finding love that I hadn’t noticed I didn’t have it. What a confusing revelation.
He put a hand on my shoulder. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
My shoulder tingled from where his hand lay. “You’re a good friend, Matt.” A big part of me would rather just hang with Matt and have a good time—forget about finding love, commitment, and that whole elusive mess.
But, I couldn’t give up on true love. That’s what my mom had done.
Nick seemed nice. Maybe he was the type to make a relationship last. That is, if Erica didn’t snatch him up first. For the first time, I felt truly grateful that I’d have to check in with Patti. I’d tell her about Nick and let her point me in the right direction.
CHAPTER THREE
Twenty minutes before my aerobics class started, I stretched out in the aerobics room with Patti, who attended my classes at least once a week. Sitting with my legs out in front of me, I folded my chest onto my knees and decided to spill the news. “I’ve met a guy.”
Patti stared at me blankly as if waiting for the punch line. After a few seconds, she pointed a finger. “You better not have given whoever-this-is your phone number. That would be a violation of The Boyfriend Bylaws and Betty would be mine.”
“No, I didn’t give him my number.” I bent one knee, brought my heel to the inside of my thigh, and reached for the opposite foot. “Although he might already have it.”
Patti twisted her body left until it cracked. “You sneak. Did you have someone else hand your number to him? I hereby invoke Rule Number Six by adding Rule Number Seven: No third party interference.”
Darn. That had been a great loophole I’d missed. “Relax, Patti. He has my number because he just bought Totally Fit. My number must be in my employee file.” Well, assuming Rudy was that organized. I released my foot and turned to Patti. “His name is Nick. He seems like a total gentleman, not to mention he’s insanely gorgeous. Can I get permission to go on a date with him before he asks me out?”
Patti scoffed, stretched her leg out, and reached for her right foot. “No way.”
Why did she have to be so difficult? I was playing by her rules. “What’s the point of waiting until he asks me out, and then calling you? That’s just stupid.”
“Why should you wait? Let’s see. Brad. Paul. Mike. Marcus. And don’t think I didn’t see the wink your co-worker, Matt, gave you at lunch today.”
“Matt?” Sweet, intelligent and, unfortunately, enjoys-playing-the-field Matt? Remembering the way he’d smiled intimately at his lunch date made me ill. “I’m not interested in Matt.”
“You looked awfully jealous of the girl he was with earlier.”
“Well, she didn’t seem right for him,” I said, defensively. She was too…something I couldn’t put my finger on. Time to change the subject. “Nick is different.”
“Oh, I’m sure.” Patti glanced back and waved at several women who entered the aerobics studio. “I’ll even bet he’s The One.”
The way she said it irritated me. “At least I’m willing to take a risk and try to find the right man. Unlike you.”
“Well, put it out there all you want.” Patti stood, put her hands on her hips, and leaned backward in a final stretch. “As long as you follow the bylaws.”
“Fine.” I went to flip on the music. With the beat blaring out, I tried to forget about Patti’s rules and let the energy wash over me. I waved to everyone as I bounced from foot to foot, warming up. Even with The Patti Roadblock, I’d get my happily ever after. Before I could go all warm with pleasure, I immediately thought of Matt.
Deep down, I still wished Matt would change his ways and want a serious relationship. But I’d found out the hard way in life that you can’t control another person. Maybe I should call my mom and have it out with her—again. The mere thought exhausted me.
“Good evening, ladies.” I took position in front of the class. The music blared, and I began pumping my biceps as I tapped my foot. “Are we all ready for a fantastic workout?”
As I started to fall into my usual
groove, I spotted Nick, Matt and Steve walk by through the open doorway. Looked like they were heading toward Rudy’s office and I wondered why they were meeting this late at night.
Nick looked back over his shoulder at me so I tightened my abs and flashed him a smile. He seemed nice and definitely interested. Come tomorrow, I’d find out if he was a player or looking to settle down.
“All right, everyone.” I lifted my head, smiled and moved my hips to the beat. “Time to pump up the energy!”
Come tomorrow, I’d work my energy on Nick.
***
After class, I took a quick shower in the locker room, and threw on a clean shirt, jeans, and a hooded sweatshirt for dinner at my Dad and Janet’s house.
I swung my bag over my shoulder and headed out of Totally Fit, waving good-bye to our evening front desk clerk, Carrie. She mostly kept to herself, never joined us if we had an after-hours event, but seemed nice enough—just quiet.
I pushed out the exit door and nearly jerked backward when a hand grabbed a firm hold of my arm.
“Slow down, beautiful.” Matt smiled at me. “What’s your hurry?”
Standing alone in the dark with Matt and catching his sexy spice scented cologne, tugged at something inside me. Just a cruel reminder of what I wanted but couldn’t have with him. “I’m late for dinner at my parents’ house. No time to chat.”
The lights from the Totally Fit sign threw green and blue hued shadows across his face, and he seemed concerned as he stared down at me. It made me wonder, once again, why Matt didn’t want to settle down. The more I thought about it, the more it drove me crazy. I needed to get him out of my head and me off this sidewalk.
“Hold on a sec.” He gave another little tug on my arm when I tried to walk away. “Did I do something to upset you?”
Besides acting sweet, considerate, and constantly invading my thoughts? “No. Why?”
He looked down at the sidewalk and shrugged. “Things used to be great between us. The last couple days you seem, I don’t know, irritated with me.”
We were blocking people’s exit from Totally Fit, so I stepped across the sidewalk and leaned against the red brick building. “I’m not irritated with you. It’s just, well…no, it’s none of my business.”