Opting for the cycle machine, Kyle put his headphones on and looked around the gym. He wasn’t alone in being overweight, in fact the ratio was about fifty-fifty, and he quickly realised that no one was the least bit interested in him. Everyone was zoned into their own little worlds and, unless you were a perfect specimen of the human life form, Kyle realised that he probably just blended into the background. It wouldn’t be for long though. He had a goal. He was fit and attractive once, he could be fit and attractive again. He was fed up with blending into the background. Blending into the background wouldn’t get him the girl. He wanted Kelsey to look at him the way she had looked at Fraser this morning. He’d had enough of being the office best friend, the guy that listened to her problems and made her cups of tea. Kyle wanted to be noticed. He wanted to get his girl. The finishing line was a long way off and it wasn’t going to be easy, he knew that, but visualising his goal, Kyle turned up the volume and began to cycle.
CHAPTER 19
“Well this is cosy,” said Amy, as she settled herself into the comfortable but slightly shabby-looking armchair in the corner of the restaurant. “I wasn’t expecting to go out this evening, this is cool, is this a new place? Have you been here before?”
Rachael sat herself down opposite Amy; the chair wasn’t particularly comfortable, but shabby recycled tat seemed to be the norm these days. “I don’t know anything about it,” she replied wearily. “I found it on TripAdvisor.”
“It’s vegan,” grinned Rex as though he knew what he was talking about. “She didn’t know what to cook.”
Rachael glared at him. She wasn’t in the mood for any of his criticism, especially as she’d had to get a taxi out to Dawson’s to pick up the car because, as usual, he hadn’t been able to resist a couple of pints. She also hadn’t banked on him joining them although it was probably better than having him turn up hammered again at some unearthly hour of the morning.
“I didn’t have time,” she replied icily. “I didn’t finish work until six, and I don’t remember you offering to cook.”
“I would have if you’d asked?”
“Bollocks,” said Rachael. “The only thing you’ve ever cooked is bloody beans on toast and you still managed to make a pig’s ear of it.”
Amy looked at them both. The strain was obvious. She was surprised that they were still together, if indeed they were. If she was honest, she wouldn’t blame her mother if she left her father. Amy loved him, he always made her laugh, but as she’d got older, she could see her mother’s frustrations as well as her father’s inadequacies.
“So, talk me through this vegan thing,” continued Rex, totally oblivious to the death stare emanating from the other side of the table. “Is it a religious thing, like one of those Krishna cults?” Amy shook her head as Rex launched into a ridiculous rendition of Hari Hari Krishna. Rachael looked at her daughter across the table. She looked well. University must be agreeing with her.
“Dad, that is totally ridiculous. You really are such a dumbass sometimes.”
Rachael grinned. “Sometimes?” she muttered. “He’s a dumbass all the time.”
Taking the menus, Rex smiled appreciatively at the pretty blonde waitress. “Thank you, sweetheart. Can I get a beer while we’re looking at the menu, please? Thanks, love.”
As the waitress disappeared, Amy hissed at him. “Dad, please don’t call the waitress sweetheart, it’s so un-PC and extremely patronising.”
“Oh, don’t start with all this bloody PC crap,” replied Rex. “I was only being polite.”
“No you weren’t, you were being leery and it’s not acceptable these days. Women are not objects, Dad. She’s not your love.”
“Nothing’s bloody acceptable these days,” replied Rex. “We blokes can’t do anything right. The worlds going mad. I was just trying to be nice.”
“Well you can be nice without calling her sweetheart. She’s not your sweetheart and if she has any sense she’ll be spitting in your beer for revenge.” Amy winked at Rachael as Rex looked nervously towards the bar. Rachael looked at the menu. At first glance it didn’t look very appealing but the upside was, she wasn’t having to cook. There was always a positive, as Maggie would say, and in this case, it would appear that most of the dishes on offer were very low calorie. Maybe being a vegan had some advantages.
“Where’s the meat?” said Rex suddenly, turning over the menu.
Amy put down her menu and stared at him in disbelief.
“What do you mean, where’s the meat? What do you think vegan means? I can’t believe it, Dad, you actually have no idea, do you? Are you serious or being an idiot again?”
“I thought it just meant healthy, like no chips or burgers. I know vegetarians don’t eat meat.”
“Well vegans don’t eat any animal products.”
“At all? No meat, ever?”
“No animal products, Dad, means no meat and no dairy.”
“Dairy means milk, butter and cheese, in case you’re wondering,” added Rachael, trying not to laugh at the look of utter bewilderment on Rex’s face. She was enjoying this. “Or eggs.”
“For fuck’s sake, what the hell do you eat?” replied Rex, shell shocked by the thought of no steaks, chicken vindaloo or a good fry up. “No fish either?”
“Nope,” replied Amy smugly.
“Bloody purgatory. So, what do you eat then? What the hell’s left?” Rex couldn’t believe this.
“Plants,” replied Amy. “That’s fruit and vegetables, in case you’re confused, Dad. I eat beans, nuts and seeds, bread, rice, oh and chips, I can eat chips.”
“And that’s the highlight of your bloody life? Chips? Thank you,” said Rex, taking his beer from the waitress and looking at it suspiciously. “I’d rather shoot myself.”
“That could be arranged,” muttered Rachael. Rex wasn’t listening. He was looking at the beer label.
“What’s this? I should have asked for Tennent’s.”
“It’s probably a vegan beer,” said Amy. “Just bloody drink it, it’s fine, it won’t kill you.”
“But beers made from plants, isn’t it?” Rex looked perplexed. “Barley and hops and the like.”
“Yes, but some brewery’s use animal products in the processing, so they don’t count as vegan.”
“But it has got alcohol in it, hasn’t it? Vegans must have some fun in their lives.”
“Yes, Dad, it’s got alcohol in it,” sighed Amy. “You really are so sad sometimes.”
“Not as sad as all you bloody vegans,” muttered Rex. “Just as well you’ve got the car, Rach, we can go to the drive-through on the way home.”
“And you can sod off,” replied Rachael. “Just bloody grow up and order something. I’m not going to the drive-through. If you want to go and get crap food, you can get there by yourself. I’ve already picked you up once this evening, I’m not driving halfway round town to get you a bloody cheeseburger.”
And as Rex sipped cautiously from his vegan beer, desperately trying to find something that looked remotely appetising, Rachael and Amy smiled at each other.
She’d matured since being at Uni. The hours of slanging matches typical of so many mother daughter relationships, seemed to be fading into the past. When she’d left, she’d been glad to see the back of her, they’d done nothing but argue in the way that fledglings ready to leave the nest know how to push their parents to the edge. Rachael had comforted herself with the thought that it was nature’s way of making the separation more bearable. And now as they bonded over their mutual frustrations with Rex. it maybe wasn’t going to be quite so bad having her back after all.
* * *
Feeling quite pleased with himself, Kyle left the gym and headed to the supermarket. Despite being hungry, he had managed to get through the programme that Thor had set out for him. It felt good to have achieved something for once and he’d got over the first hurdle of going to the gym by himself. Kyle opened his phone. Thor had also sent him a shopping list and a coup
le of easy recipes. It was great having his support, he wouldn’t have known where to start without him. He probably wouldn’t have started at all.
As Kyle approached the checkout, Gemma gave him a big smile and a little wave. Feeling obliged to be polite, Kyle moved into her queue and, standing patiently in line, he found himself surveying the baskets of other shoppers. Interestingly, most of the people in the two queues were overweight and their size was reflected in the contents of their baskets. He couldn’t judge them though. Last week, his basket would have been the same; nothing fresh, just coke, beer, crisps and pizza, nothing that remotely resembled real food and his slow decent towards a possible early demise was the result. The tide was turning though. Hopefully he could turn the clock back pretty quickly. Finally, Kyle placed his basket at the end of the checkout and began to unload.
“Hi,” said Gemma, blushing slightly as she waited for Kyle’s shopping to hit the end of the belt. “You look like you’ve been to the gym again.”
“Yep,” replied Kyle smugly, as he fired down avocados, apples and onions.
“Good for you,” said Gemma, “and this all looks very healthy again, what are you making tonight? I’ve never had an avocado, I wouldn’t know where to start. Is it like a fruit inside? It was on my slimming club recipe sheet but I didn’t know how to open it. My pal Mo said it was slimy and she nearly slashed her hand trying to get into it so I didn’t bother.”
“There’s a knack to it, apparently,” replied Kyle, placing the avocados in his rucksack. “I’m putting them in a smoothie.”
“Is that like a slushy?”
“Not really, smoothies are made from fruit and veg.”
“But slushies have blueberries in them, well the ones at the cinema do. They’re supposed to be healthy, aren’t they, blueberries, they’re a superfood. I read that in a magazine in the hairdressers.”
Kyle looked at her. She was actually quite sweet. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that a blueberry slushy was probably about as far removed from being a superfood as you could possibly get. He only realised that now though; last week he would probably have thought the same.
“I think slushies have loads of sugar in,” he replied gently, not wanting to embarrass her. “My trainer says I have to lay off the sugar as it packs the weight on. I’m trying to give it a miss but it’s not easy. That’s why I’ve been to the gym. I don’t seem to want rubbish food after I’ve been to the gym.”
As Kyle put the last of his shopping in his rucksack, Gemma waited patiently. “So, are you not going out tonight?” she asked, desperately trying to sound casual. “It’s Friday night, I finish at nine, can’t wait to get out. I’m out with my pal Cara. We’re going to try that new reggae bar in town, have you been there?”
Kyle took out his wallet. “Nope, it’s a quiet night in and an early one for me, I’m going to circuits in the morning. How much do you want?”
Gemma was slightly crestfallen. He didn’t seem remotely interested.
“£16.75,” she replied. Kyle waved his card over the machine. “You’re being so good,” she continued. “Maybe I should start going to these classes. Do you want a receipt?”
“No thanks,” replied Kyle. “Yeah, maybe you should, it’s only £3 a class if you’re not a member. There’s one tomorrow morning at nine.”
“I’ll still be drunk probably,” grinned Gemma. “Are there any other times?”
“Monday evening at six-fifteen, I think.”
Gemma blushed. “OK, I’ll try. Sorry, I’ve forgotten your name?”
“I’ll look out for you. It’s Kyle,” he replied, not sure that he’d ever told her. “And don’t worry about it, there’re quite a few of us who are beginners. Thanks, have a good night.”
And as Kyle left the supermarket, he was totally oblivious to the flutter he had caused in Gemma’s heart.
CHAPTER 20
Maggie jumped as Callum suddenly opened the sitting room door. She hadn’t heard him over the TV, especially as she rarely saw him in the evenings lately. He usually spent it hidden away in his study, with a large whisky, Sky Sports and, of course, his phone.
“You’re looking very guilty,” he said, as he picked up the paper and slumped down into the armchair beside the fire. “Are you texting your boyfriend again?”
Maggie, looked at him. He had a nerve but she refused to rise to the bait.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Callum, I’m messaging Rachael, if you must know. We’ve got circuits in the morning and I’m picking her up.”
Callum turned the pages of the newspaper. “Is this with that bloody personal trainer again?”
“Yes,” replied Maggie. “He runs gym classes too. He’s very good actually, very encouraging. I’m enjoying it. Just going once a week won’t help me get fit, I need to go to classes as well.”
“I’ve heard he’s a womaniser,” continued Callum, not looking up from his paper again. “Tom at the golf club told me. A friend of his and his wife split up because she was training with him. Apparently he’s got a taste for older women.”
Maggie put her phone down on the coffee table and picked up her tea. It was cold now but she hardly noticed.
“How do you know which trainer I’m going to?” she replied calmly. “I don’t remember telling you his name, mainly because you’re not usually interested in anything I do.”
Callum turned to the back page. For once he wasn’t actually reading it. He knew she was up to something, he just needed to find out what.
“I asked Rex. He told me he was called Thor, which he remembered because it was such a ridiculous name. Sounds highly dodgy to me. He thinks Rachael’s having a fling with him too. As you can imagine, it wasn’t difficult to find a personal trainer called Thor and, unsurprisingly, he seems to have a bit of a reputation.”
Maggie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. If he only knew the half of it, but the fact that he had suspicions about Thor could actually help to distract him from the real issue.
“Callum, have you been drinking because that really is the most stupid thing I’ve heard you say in a long time. Are you suggesting that we are both having a fling with our personal trainer? Both of us? Rachael and I? At the same time? For goodness sake, we hardly know the guy. We’ve only had one session and, for your information, he’s been completely professional.”
“So far,” mumbled Callum.
“Callum, please, the thought is ridiculous; we are far too old for him. He’s a good-looking young man, he certainly wouldn’t be interested in two forty-something women like us. Why would you even think such a thing?”
“Because it happens all the time, Maggie, these guys love it; luring in women who are having a mid-life crisis. Good-looking, caring, supportive…”
“Unlike their husbands,” interrupted Maggie. “Yes I agree, it’s nice to have someone build up your confidence and self-esteem, but it doesn’t mean to say that every woman who goes to see him has sex with him. “It’s not like some sort of porn movie, Callum, and I am not having a bloody mid-life crisis, thank you very much. I’m simply trying to get fit. You and Rex are just jealous.”
“Of what?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” replied Maggie, frustrated. “The fact that we might actually get fitter than you both and that we’ve woken up to the fact that we can actually do something for ourselves for once…”
“Rubbish! You’ve always done what you want and you’ve certainly never had a problem with confidence or self-esteem. You’ve just knocked it out of the rest of us.”
Maggie was taken aback. “Callum, that’s a terrible thing to say. I have done no such thing! And how do you know how I feel? You never asked me.” Disturbed by her tone, the dogs sleeping beside her feet raised their heads. Callum didn’t reply.
“Exactly, see? You have no idea how I feel or what I think. You just hate the fact that I’ve got a male personal trainer and that I’m not flower-arranging in the church hall or doing something more ‘appropriate’. It
’s out of your comfort zone, isn’t it? Men just can’t handle competition.”
“So he is competition, then?”
“No, of course he isn’t, you just think he is. For goodness sake, I just want to get back in shape.”
“What for? What do you need to get in shape for or, should I say, who do you want to get in shape for?”
Maggie could see where this was heading and she was in danger of completely losing the plot. Callum was staring at her, goading her into submission. She wanted to scream at him, tell him the ugly truth and watch his self-esteem crumble as she admitted to having an affair with the one man that he loathed more than anyone else in this suddenly very crazy world. The man that had humiliated him on the golf trip, and that when the rest of the boys on the golf trip found out that she was having an affair with him, would, no doubt make him a laughing stock. But it was too early in the game. She needed to keep her cards close to her chest and sort out her finances because when he did find out, the fallout would be huge and she had no idea how he would react. The revelation would affect them all, especially Myles. Myles had crossed the honourable line and slept with his mate’s wife. It was doubtful whether any of their friendships would survive. She didn’t want to listen any more.
Standing up, she picked up her phone and magazine and looked at Callum. She had never seen him so confrontational before, she wasn’t used to it. She was used to being in charge. Being on the back foot was alien territory. Taking a deep breath, she tried to compose herself.
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