My week was busy, but quiet, and it was strange how much had changed since Tuesday had bought the building. No longer did the smells of coffee and soft chatter from the shop below waft up into the studio. I wondered what it would be like when the gym opened. I’d even had a thought that we could do a promotion together to offer discounted classes at both our places. No idea if she’d go for that or not.
The week after that, I walked into the studio to find strange people replacing the ceiling tiles, installing security cameras, and doing a myriad of other things. I asked at least three guys who was in charge before I was directed to “Bruce” who seemed to be the one directing traffic. He was busy on his phone, but finally gave me the time of day.
“Can I ask you what the hell you’re doing?” Maybe I should have been a little nicer, but seriously, what was happening? I hadn’t authorized any of this.
“I’m the new building manager. I got a work order and I showed up. You can take it up with your landlord.” Bruce was brusque and went to answer a question from one of his guys.
“I have a class coming in in an hour. Are you going to be done by then?” I could only hope.
“Nope. We’ll be done around five, and then we’ll be back tomorrow until five.” This was a nightmare.
“I have classes,” I said, and Bruce just shrugged.
“Take it up with the landlord,” he repeated.
“Oh, I will,” I said, and stormed downstairs to the gym after a few seconds of getting over my shock.
I slammed the door open to find Tuesday working out in shorts and a sports bra. I only let my attraction register for a second before I started yelling.
“You cannot be fucking serious, Tuesday. You hired people to come and work on the studio without even telling me and now I’m going to have to cancel all my classes for two days and what the fuck?!” I threw my hands up in the air and she put the barbell down.
“I left you a note,” she said, in an irritatingly calm voice. “They could only get me in today and tomorrow and I had to take it.”
“You left me a note,” I said. “You couldn’t have called or texted?”
Tuesday just blinked at me. I knew she had my number.
“Fuck, Tuesday. This is a huge problem for me.” I was already starting to panic with all the people who were going to be pissed off about missing their yoga. I was going to have to offer refunds and deal with that and hope that people would come back and not hate me forever.
“Whoa, calm down. It’ll be fine. You just offer free classes. People will be fine. Shit happens all the time. Hell, have the classes down here.” She put her hand on my shoulder and I shook it off. I didn’t want her to try and comfort me. It was patronizing when she’d caused this situation in the first place. I also didn’t like her seeing me be this unraveled and vulnerable.
“Listen, we can move shit around down here and you can have your classes. We’ve got the sound system and showers and everything.” I wanted to shove her away and tell her to go fuck herself for putting me in this position, but it really was the only viable solution, other than cancelling classes.
Now I was going to have to send a lot of emails and texts and post on social so people knew what was going on.
“Do you have a computer?” She did, and I was able to log-on to my check-in system from the gym, while Tuesday moved shit around and then brought all the mats, blocks, bolsters, chairs, and towels downstairs.
“I’ve also got water and so forth,” she said, pointing to two coolers. “Water and drinks are on me. For your trouble.”
“Thanks,” I said in a sarcastic tone.
“Look, I’m sorry about this. But it had to be done.” That was the first time she apologized, and it was overdue. Someone needed to teach her how to better interact with others and it wasn’t going to be me.
I typed up a few signs and got them up on the studio, plugged my phone in with the studio music and set about trying to figure out how many mat spaces I could get in here. Luckily, the space was big and open, so I would have about as much room as both studio rooms combined. Everyone was just going to get real cozy in one room instead of two.
I started posting and sending emails and my first confused students arrived about a half hour later. They looked at the gym with skepticism and a little bit of horror. It would have been funny if I wasn’t so worried about people being mad at me for the interruption in our regular service. We’d had building issues before, but I’d always dealt with them and people had been understanding. Pipes burst, roofs leaked, heating broke, etc., but there was something about this that really made me worry.
Priya came early to take class and didn’t seem thrilled with the whole situation, but I told her that we were going to have to make do with what we had and she unrolled her mat and didn’t complain after that.
A few people were visibly annoyed that we were down here, but once I got them on their mats and started class, they seemed to chill out. Tuesday made herself scarce during the classes and went back to the tiny little office way in the back of the gym and shut the door. I was grateful for that. I didn’t need her watching me try to contain all this chaos.
The noise from upstairs was constantly distracting, but I got through my first class and then took Priya’s. It was nice to be on the mat, even if I had to keep making sure I didn’t smash myself into a rack of barbells.
I taught another class and then I had a little bit of a break. Tuesday poked her head out of the office.
“Can I come out now?” she asked, and I rolled my eyes.
“Yes, you didn’t have to exile yourself. It’s your gym.”
“Yeah, well. I figured the least I could do was not be lurking around while you’re doing your thing.” She came out and went to the cooler to grab one of the fitness drinks I always saw in her hand.
“You going to take class? You might as well, if you’re going to be here,” I said, going for a water. I was going to run upstairs and get a kombucha later, but right now, I needed lunch.
“Maybe,” she said. “Right now I need to eat something or else.”
“Or else what?” I asked.
“You don’t want to know.” She’d put a shirt on, so I didn’t have the image of her abs right in front of my face. “You want to get something?”
Every other time I’d eaten with her, I’d been mad at her by the end. Maybe this time would be different?
“Okay. But you have to promise not to piss me off more than you’ve already pissed me off today. I can’t handle it.” She laughed softly.
“I can’t promise that, but I will do my best, how’s that?”
I guess that was as good as it was going to get.
“Fine,” I said and grabbed my bag. “Where to?”
WE ENDED UP AT A CHAIN burrito place by mutual agreement. All I wanted was nachos with extra cheese and guac. Tuesday got tacos and a burrito and rice, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from what I’d seen her eat already.
“I really am sorry about the repairs. I’ve gone back and forth with that guy for months and this morning he let me know at six in the morning that these two days were the only ones that would work for months and I was so fed up and tired I just said yes. I didn’t think about how it would affect you and I’m sorry about that.” Wow. This was a Tuesday I hadn’t encountered before.
“Thank you,” I said, stunned. “I don’t know what it’s like to own a building. That sounds like a pain in the ass.” She sighed and bit into her first taco.
“Tell me about it,” she said, after she’d chewed and swallowed. She always ate so delicately, it was still a shock. It made me self-conscious about my own eating habits.
“How did you come to own the building?” I asked. I’d been dying to know ever since she took over. She’d signed a waiver when she’d started at the studio and so I knew that she was only five years older than I was. Still pretty young to own real estate in the city.
“Do you really want to know?” she asked.
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“I mean, yes? That’s why I’m asking.” I had all kinds of theories in my head. I wanted to know if any of them were right.
“I’m not sure that you do. It’s not a rosy story. I didn’t win the lottery or cash in a big investment.” I hadn’t thought so.
“Do you want me to guess?” I asked after a few more moments of silence.
“No, I’ll just tell you. Now I’m making it into something it’s not.” Curiosity was going to be my end. My nachos were forgotten in the face of this tantalizing piece of information that made up the picture of Tuesday.
She put down her burrito and wiped her hands.
“Both my parents died. There. That’s it. I got a bunch of money when they died since I’m an only child and I decided to invest in having my own gym. You were just a casualty of that decision.”
“Oh, shit,” I said before I could think about if that was the right thing to say or not. “I’m so sorry, Tuesday. Holy shit.” I had never wanted to hug someone so much in my life.
She waved her hand, but her chin trembled for a moment before she picked up one of her tacos and started eating again.
“It’s not a great story and it’s a bit of a conversation killer, so I definitely don’t lead with it when people ask about my life.” I could see why. I wasn’t sure what to say to her now.
“Do you want to talk about it, or do you want me to ask you to show me more pictures of the turtles?” I asked. I’d let her decide.
Tuesday gave me a long look with those eyes, and they were less like ice now, more like lasers. Shooting into every nook and cranny to expose me.
“I’d rather talk about the turtles,” she said, and her shoulders lowered, just a little bit. They’d been creeping up, as if talking about her parents made her stressed out. Why wouldn’t it? Of course I was curious what happened, but if she didn’t want to talk about that, I wasn’t going to press because I wasn’t a fucking monster.
“I had a dance party with Zee and the kittens. You should try that with the turtles. Do a turtle rave.” Her face softened into an almost smile and then we discussed what kind of music one would play at a turtle rave at great length. That got us to talking about our favorite workout songs and Tuesday asked me about yoga music and I told her about the yoga rapper that I couldn’t stand and then that led to talking about bad fitness music and before I knew it, I had to get back to the gym to teach another class.
“Thank you,” I said, and she gave me a quizzical look. “For telling me about your parents. I know that can’t have been easy. And if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here. And if you want to not talk about it, I’m also here for that.” I thought about touching her on the arm, but that might be weird, so I didn’t.
“That means a lot,” she said, and we left the burrito place and walked back to the gym.
This was the first time I’d ended a meal with Tuesday not being angry with her, which had to be some sort of progress.
I MADE IT THROUGH THE rest of the day and through the next with my unorthodox classes and minimal complaining from my students. Tuesday stayed mostly in her office, but she came out on the last night after I’d cleaned up.
“I can carry those up,” she said, pointing to the stacked mats.
“No, it’s fine. I’ve got this,” I said, but she just ignored me and picked up a bunch of them.
“Showoff,” I muttered. Tuesday never let a chance slide by to show how strong she was. On one hand, it was irritating. On the other, she was hot as fuck and watching her ass as she walked up the stairs was one of the highlights of my week.
Between the two of us, we got everything upstairs and back to where it was supposed to be. The studio did look nicer and I had better security, so that was good as well. This was a fine neighborhood, but you never knew what could happen, and I wanted to make sure that everyone was safe.
Tuesday took me through everything and taught me how the security system worked. She’d had to update my existing system to match the one she’d installed downstairs that was top of the line. Even though it had been a horrible two days, I was glad it had happened. I’d never let Tuesday know that because then she’d be insufferable about it.
It was late and I wanted to go home, but once again, I didn’t want to leave her.
“So, since we’re opening in less than two weeks, are you going to sign up for your first class? I didn’t forget about the dare.” Of course she hadn’t. I hadn’t either. I wished I could call the whole thing off, but I wasn’t going to do that. Tuesday might be more into dares, but I could get competitive when I wanted to. When I’d first started yoga, my main focus had been on getting as flexible as possible as quickly as possible. To no one’s surprise but my own, I got injured and was told to slow the fuck down. It had taken a lot to come to terms with letting my body go at its own pace and being okay with that.
CrossFit was something else entirely. I still had no idea what it was, even though I’d watched some videos online. Everyone seemed SO fit and just completely ripped, like Tuesday. My body wasn’t bad, but you couldn’t count my abs, or see every single muscle group in sharp relief.
“It’s not going to be bad,” she said.
“I’m calling bullshit on that. I’ve seen some videos and there’s nothing easy or gentle about what I’ve seen. I’m not ashamed to say that this whole thing is terrifying.” I gestured upwards at the ropes and rings hanging from the ceiling. “It looks like torture.”
Tuesday grabbed one of the ropes and started swinging it a little.
“Some people would say molding yourself into a pretzel is extreme. It’s all about perspective. And you’ll do an intro class first. We’ll go over all the movements and how to do them and you’ll be in it with other people who don’t know what they’re doing either. You already have a fit body, so it will just take some adjusting to learn the new movements. You’ll be fine.” I wish I had her confidence. I still didn’t know if I wanted to do this, but I was going to give it a try. That was the best I could do.
“I’ll give it a shot. One class.”
Tuesday tried to hide a smile, but didn’t think quickly enough.
“I’m really going to enjoy this,” she said, letting go of the rope.
“Stop gloating. You have no idea, I could be amazing at whatever this is going to be.” I hadn’t really considered that, but maybe I would be good at it. Maybe I’d be the best.
“You do surprise me, Sutton. I’m not counting you out yet, but we’ll see how you feel after a few rounds of burpees.” I’d heard that term, but I had no idea what it was. I wasn’t going to tell her that, so I just pressed my lips together and then looked at my phone. Late. It was very late and I was famished. For a moment, I considered asking her if she wanted to grab dinner as well, but I’d just had lunch with her yesterday, so I didn’t know if that would be too much in one week.
So instead, I said goodnight and left with a pain in my chest, and a feeling of things between us being unfinished. As if we kept leaving with an ellipse at the end of our interactions and I never knew where we were going next. I didn’t know where this was going with Tuesday, and I was afraid to find out, but there was a thrill with that fear. The thrill of flinging yourself into the complete unknown with no backup plan. The only other time I’d done anything like that was opening up my studio in the first place, and look how that had turned out.
When I got home, there was a direct message from Tuesday. It was a video of the turtles swimming around with music in the background. She’d moved the phone so it looked like a music video and I swear I could hear her making beatbox noises as well.
“What are you smiling about?” Zee said, looking over my shoulder.
“Nothing,” I said, dropping my phone on the floor. The kittens jumped at the noise and ran away to hide under the couch.
Zee snatched my phone before I could get it, but then they handed it back to me.
“You don’t have to show me. But I’m interested in whatever gave y
ou that goofy smile.” I didn’t think I’d been smiling all that much, but I maybe I had been.
“It’s nothing,” I mumbled. I unlocked my phone and sent Tuesday back a smiling emoji. I would have to send her a picture of the kittens later. This seemed like a non-threatening way to talk back and forth with her. No pressure, just cute animals.
“Okay, okay,” Zee said, putting their hands up. “I’ll just live in suspense. How was work? Did you get through having to deal with your landlord all day?” I said that it had been fine and left it at that.
“Just fine? You’ve used a lot of words about Tuesday and none of them have been ‘fine,’ unless you’re like ‘she’s so fine.’” I made a face.
“I would never say that about someone.” Not even Tuesday. Okay, maybe Tuesday.
“Have there been any new developments?” Zee asked.
“Uh, no? Not really.” There hadn’t been, today. I’d told them about the lunch from yesterday, but I didn’t talk about Tuesday’s parents. That seemed too personal to tell anyone else about. She’d told me that in confidence and even though she hadn’t asked me to not tell anyone else, I could get the feeling that she didn’t want me sharing it like a juicy piece of gossip.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop badgering you. Come on, I’m making grilled cheese and tomato soup.” I followed them into the kitchen and watched as they took a simple meal and made it totally elegant. Less than an hour later I was shoving bites of a grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough with smoked gouda and several other cheeses that had been dipped into a fresh tomato bisque.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do if we ever don’t live together because I’m going to starve.” My parents, who had owned a restaurant, had always cooked and tried to teach me, but I always got distracted and burned things, or forgot ingredients, or didn’t follow the recipe. I could microwave something, but as far as making dinners like Zee, I wasn’t even close.
“You’ll be fine. You can hire me as your personal chef. I’ll cook for you every week and then drop it off.” That didn’t seem like a bad arrangement.
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