As she walked out into the fall-like morning, Cathy took a deep breath. Thank God, it feels like fall, she thought. A few minutes later she pulled in the gym’s parking lot. All the usual suspects were in their designated spots waiting for the doors to open.
Cathy turned the engine off when Melody tapped on the window. “Oh!” She rolled down the window. “Melody, you nearly scared me to death.”
“Sorry I scared you, girl.”
“I didn’t see you walk over.”
“I figured I would come over to you before the rush.” “Before what rush? The rush to get in and get a good
machine?”
She bent down. “I’ll tell you in a minute.” In the rearview mirror Cathy could see the receptionist opening the doors.
“What’s going on?”
“Come on and I’ll tell you.”
Grabbing her water bottle Cathy stepped out. They
walked to the door.
“You’re the talk of the gym.”
Dread came over Cathy. “Oh God, the Sunday paper,
right?”
“I’m afraid so. But I have to say that I didn’t believe
any of that crap anyway. However, I was a little insulted
that you didn’t tell me you’re dating Marcus Fox.” “I’m sorry, Melody. I only started going out with him
last week.”
“Lord, you wouldn’t know that from the way the
papers print it.”
Cathy stopped before they got any closer to the
entrance.
“Do I want to go in there? The paper is printing a
retraction today, but the damage is done, right?” “As long as they spelled your name right, who gives a
rat’s tail about some sleazy old gossip column?” “But these are the people I exercise with almost every
single day.”
“So? You have friends here and they support you. Not
a one of them believed the newspaper.”
Cathy took a deep breath and hoped she was right.
“Let’s go.”
They swiped their cards and went upstairs to the
track.
When Cathy and Melody began their six-and-a-half
mile trek around the track, Cathy noticed they got a lot
more attention than they had on other days. Some waved
hello while others who only occasionally spoke broke
their necks to look at her. What on earth is everyone hoping
to see? Cathy wondered. Marcus isn’t in my back pocket. Melody took a cleansing breath. “Before we get going
talking about anything else…how are you feeling?” Cathy was relieved at the innocuous question. “I’m
hanging in there. I came this morning in the hope of
feeling better.”
“Stress getting to you?”
“Yeah, just a bit.”
Melody looked her over “You’re glowing, but you do
look a little uncomfortable. Are you sure working out is
okay?”
“Sure. I’ve been working out five days a week for the
last six or seven years and it’s been good for me and my
back.”
Melody didn’t look convinced. “Have you seen your
doctor?”
“I have an appointment this week. Okay? Believe me,
I have my hands full with my sister and cousin on my
case. I promise I’m taking care of myself. Now can we just
walk?”
“Okay. I was just checking. Now on to the news. Girl,
people have been asking me about you nonstop since
Saturday and Sunday.”
“I’m sure they have.”
“Of course they have. Marcus Fox isn’t just any guy.
He’s a New York Yankee and that makes him damn near
royalty in New York.”
Cathy smirked. “You’re right about that, too.” Melody pressed the point. “Don’t hold out on me,
give me the scoop.”
“As soon as you tell me what happened with Jason.” “Touché! Well, if you’re not going to give me details at
least tell me something.”
“As nice as he seems on television, Marcus is even
nicer in person.”
Melody looked disappointed. “That’s sweet and all,
but I wanted a juicy little tidbit.”
“There’s nothing little about him,” Cathy said coyly. Melody’s mouth hung open. “Ooh, girl, you are bad.” They laughed.
“Seriously, Melody, it’s been very nice with the exception of the press.”
“I hear that.”
“So how are things going with you know who?” Melody’s usually warm grim turned mischievous.
“Not bad. He and I had dinner out the other night.” Cathy was shocked. “Really?”
“He and Miss Thing broke up and now it’s about him
and me.”
“Get out of here!” Hallelujah! It’s about time, Cathy
thought, though she knew better than to say it out loud.
Besides, Melody was happy for the first time in a long
time and so was she.
Before their high profile date in public Jason had
treated Melody like his back door girl. It had come as a
shock to Cathy that even Melody with her looks, charm
and intelligence was insecure and would put up with
someone like Jason. Cathy didn’t think he was in Melody’s
league by a long shot.
While they chatted it up on their umpteenth lap,
Cathy noticed a woman on the Nautilus equipment. “Melody, the woman in the blue shorts and tank top
keeps watching us.”
“Where is she?”
“In the Nautilus room.”
Melody slyly turned her head. “I’ve seen her before.
She seems to keep to herself most of the time but I have
seen her talking a blue streak a few times.”
“Oh really?”
The five A.M. crowd was a lot like a family sitcom.
There was a regular cast of players, and new people only
guest starred until they met the required number of 10
straight early morning visits to the gym. In other words, when a new face showed up in the morning the regulars
noticed.
Melody and Cathy continued their walk until six
thirty when they completed their six and a half miles.
That was Cathy’s cue to leave. As she walked downstairs,
she looked up to see the same woman from the Nautilus
room on her cell phone, trying to act as if she weren’t
watching Cathy on her way out.
“Cathy!”
She looked over her shoulder to see Benjamin running
to her.
“Hey, Ben. How are you?”
“Not too bad. I guess you’re done for the day.” “Oh yes.”
“Let me walk you to your car.”
Cathy was a little taken aback but she went with it.
Ben was an accountant like her sister and while he wasn’t
a stick in the mud, he didn’t do anything just for the sake
of doing it.
“So, Ben, we’re outside. Anything wrong?” “There’s something I want to tell you about that new
blond who’s been working out here.”
“Yeah.”
“She’s been asking a lot of questions about you. And if
you press her she acts like she knows you.”
Cathy was alarmed. “I’ve never seen her before in my
life.”
“I figured that. But there was all that stuff in the paper
and you’re going out with Marcus Fox, so I figured there
was a connection.”
“Thank you, Ben. You don’t know how much I appre
ciate it.”
“I have one more thing for you. Supposedly her name
is Lisa Spellman. Maybe you can have somebody from
Marcus’ camp check her out.”
“Thank you again, Ben.”
“Anytime.” He waved and went back inside. Cathy hopped in the car to head to Dunkin Donuts to
get her coffee and a paper. She filed away the name Lisa
Spellman until she had a chance to ask Marcus about her. The usual Dunkin Donuts crowd was lined up with
Johnny, Itzhak and Avila running an assembly line of
made to order coffee in various sizes.
“Haven’t seen you in a long time,” Johnny joked. “I’ve been out of town.”
“Oh. Okay.” He handed her an extra large, extra light
coffee with half and half and three sugars, along with a
paper.
“Thanks. Have a good day all.”
Coffee in hand, she opened the paper as soon as she
got in the car. There was the retraction big and bold on
the gossip page. She felt vindicated as she drove away. Planning to work at home, Cathy took a quick shower
as soon as she got home. Dressed in comfortable clothes,
she went back to the kitchen to have coffee and read the
paper. She heard her sister getting ready.
“Cathy!” she yelled.
“I’m right here in the kitchen!”
Anna walked into the kitchen. “Can I borrow your
brown leather pumps? This black pair just isn’t working
with this outfit.”
Cathy looked at Anna’s feet, then at her chocolate
brown suit. “I see what you mean. They’re in my closet.
Want me to get them?”
“No you sit. I’ll run up and get them.”
Cathy continued reading the paper.
Anna returned with the shoes on. “This looks much
better. Don’t you think?”
Cathy looked up. “Much better.”
“Yeah. Wait a minute. You have the paper. Is the
retraction in there?”
Cathy showed her the paper. “Big and bold.” “Good. So how were things at the gym today?
Anybody ask questions or make you feel weird?” “Melody asked me directly for the straight skinny.
Otherwise it was pretty routine except for this one blond
woman. Ben told me she’s been asking questions about
me.”
“Sounds like she’s a reporter or something.” “Who the hell wants to know about me? By myself I
am not that interesting. Anyway, I’m going to ask Marcus
if her name sounds familiar.”
“Good idea.” Anna looked in the refrigerator. “What
do you want to do for dinner tonight?”
“I haven’t really thought about it.”
“I’ll pick up a rotisserie chicken at the supermarket.
Keep things simple.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Cathy agreed.
Anna looked at the clock. “I have to get a move on. It’s
time to put fear in the hearts of school boards everywhere.”
Cathy snickered. “You go get ‘em, killer.”
“See ya later.”
CHAPTER 17
The Yankees were in their designated exercise room for the morning. Some players weight trained with free weights while others used the Nautilus equipment or got their cardio in on the treadmills. Marcus spotted Mark while he did some old-fashioned crunches on the floor.
“Come on, man. You’re almost there, just two more.” Marcus sounded more like a drill sergeant than a teammate.
Mark groaned but managed to crank out the remaining two sit-ups.
Marcus clapped. “That’s the way you do it!”
Arm over his face Mark lay on the floor. “Easy for you to say, you’re not chasing a two-year-old all over the house.”
Marcus helped him to his feet. “I guess energy is boundless at his age.”
Mark wiped his face. “Are you kidding? When he goes to sleep Pam and I look for the energy outlet he’s plugged into. The way we see it, we can either disconnect it or see if we can plug in, too.”
Marcus laughed. “Let’s get some water.”
They grabbed a couple of bottles from the cooler and sat down.
Mark guzzled half the bottle. “That hit the spot.”
Marcus looked up at the television. “Good, it’s supposed to cool down here tonight.”
Mark wiped his brow. “That’s good. Baltimore isn’t any fun in the heat. Camden Yards is a nice ballpark, but you would think someone would have suggested a dome.”
“Somebody probably did but got shot down.”
Mark nodded his head and changed the subject. “So. I didn’t have a chance to ask you how Cathy is doing?”
“She’s good now. She wasn’t yesterday.”
“I can imagine. I saw the paper.”
“Can you believe what they print?”
“Actually I do. Nothing surprises me anymore.”
“The woman is amazing; she raised her sons as a single parent and helped build a successful literary agency.”
“True, but she’s not made of steel.”
“Sometimes you can forget that.” Marcus sighed. “But when I saw how upset she was I really thought she was going to collapse.”
“You handled it, right?”
“Got it straightened out before we got to the game.”
“I was going to ask you how but I know the answer, Ben.”
Ben had just entered the exercise room.
“Somebody say my name?” he smiled.
“Your ears must be burning. We were just talking about you,” Mark said.
“Well, I just came by to deliver the New York and local papers personally.”
He gave them to Marcus, who immediately opened to the gossip column.
Club Goers Fabricated Story About Marcus’s Girl The two women who reported they were verbally accosted by Marcus Fox’s ladylove Catherine Chambers fabricated the story, according to a witness who overheard what actually transpired in the ladies room. The two club goers were arrested on drug possession charges Sunday evening and are awaiting arraignment. We at The Journal wish to apologize for any grief the erroneous story caused Ms. Chambers, Mr. Fox and their respective families.
“It’s a retraction kicked up a notch. Bam!” Ben joked.
“Thanks again, Ben.”
“I bet Cathy’s happy about it,” Mark said.
“Yeah.” Marcus reached into his pocket. “I think I’ll give her a call. Excuse me.”
“Don’t mind us,” Mark joked.
He went into the hallway and dialed Cathy.
v
For Cathy there was no such thing as a light day. She delayed booting her computer up to see how many new emails she had. Normally Cathy got ninety emails or more a day but since she hadn’t been online in a few days she knew there would be an electronic avalanche. Just as she was about to assess the damage, the phone rang.
“Hello?” “Hey, baby.” Marcus’s tone was so low and sexy Cathy felt a chill run down her spine.
“Hi. I was just thinking about you.”
“You were? Did you see the paper?” he asked.
“Yes, and thank you again. I can’t tell you how relieved I am.”
“I know, honey.” He paused and absorbed the sound of her voice. “I miss you, honey. I wish you could come down now.”
Cathy smiled from ear to ear. “Me, too, sweetie but I have a lot of things to wrap up here. I’ll be in Tampa on Friday.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Neither can I.” She paused. “I don’t want to change the subject, Marcus, but does the name Lisa Spellman sound familiar to you?”
He groaned. “She’s a freelance supermarket tabloid writer. Why? Wait a minute, is she snooping around you?”
“Apparently so. She’s been coming to my gym for the past few mornings asking a lot of questions about me. Should I confront her?”
“Don’t get in her face. You won’t come off well when she writes about it.”
“I don’t want to have to worry about this kind of thing at the gym. I go there so I can work out and decompress before my day gets going.”
“Ignore her. She will eventually go away when she figures out there is no story.”
“If you say so, honey.” Another thought came to her. “Oh, before I forget, I have to tell you my sister and cousin have decided to come with me. Is that a problem?”
“No, of course not.”
“I’m glad. They won’t cramp our style. Anna’s bringing her fiancé and Madison is on the hunt for women.” “It’s all good, baby.”
“It really is.”
“Well, sweetie, I’d better get back to the exercise room. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay, honey. Later.”
Marcus was about to go back in when he stopped mid step.
He dialed his cell phone.
“Information.”
“Yes. Can you give me a listing for a florist in Amityville, New York?”
“Sure. I show three listings for Amityville. Country Petals, Johnson’s Florist and Wee Bee Country Florists.”
“Can you connect me with Wee Bee?”
“Sure.”
v
Even though her accident had happened nearly 12 years earlier, Cathy’s back acted up every now and then. She even referred to herself as a barometer with legs since she seemed to be able to predict changes in the weather. However, today was a perfectly sunny and cloudless day and her back hurt anyway. She waited a few minutes and tried to get up again with the same result. This isn’t good. I can’t have my back acting up this weekend, she thought. She picked up the phone to see if Dr. Adams could see her sooner; thankfully he could. My back hurts too much to drive. I’ll call Dad.
“Hello?”
“Hi Dad. How was your trip?”
“Not bad. I had a good time.” He sounded chipper. “Good. Are you doing anything special this morning
dad?”
“No. Just leafing through all the newspapers and mail.
Why? What’s wrong?”
“I need to get to Dr. Adams and I can’t drive.” “Your back again, huh? I’ll be right over.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
Not His Type Page 24