Eight months later
Ipushed through the big double doors of Body by Luck, Emerson’s new fitness studio.
I came up with the name. Obviously.
There were a few people standing at the juice bar as I walked in.
Yeah, that’s right – the juice bar.
The Radioactive Green Juice was a surprisingly popular choice; definitely not mine, I thought it tasted like a puddle, but still, some people’s.
It had taken a fuck load of work, and apart from keeping the exposed brick, the warehouse was now unrecognizable, thanks to Freddie and her team. The space was big enough that it offered more than just spinning classes. In fact, there were two bike studios, plus one for yoga and Pilates. There were also sports massage and acupuncture rooms, which had been booked out from day one with injuries and sore muscles needing to be fixed.
My heart burst with pride every single time I was here.
I saw Ashley behind the reception and headed over to her, quietly, not wanting to be noticed. She was standing underneath the studio name, which hung wide across the wall, lit up in blue neon.
“Hey, Ash.”
She looked up from opening one of several large boxes I could see.
“Hey. She should be finished soon.”
“All good. What’ve you got there?”
“New stock arrived.” She started pulling out the contents, placing them on the counter; bright colored yoga pants, t-shirts, shorts, and hoodies, all adorned in some way with the studio logo. They looked fucking awesome.
I took an XXL pale blue hoodie from the pile and put it on, taking a selfie and posting it to Instagram.
“You’re gonna get in trouble,” Ashley muttered.
I frowned. “What? I haven’t broken the rules.”
Her expression told me she knew I was full of shit, mostly because Emerson had strictly forbidden me from promoting the studio in any way, including and especially across social media. I’d admired her for it because she wanted to make sure she was doing it by herself, that people came because of the reputation she’d built within her industry and not because they hoped to see me or one of my teammates, or any sports star or celebrities.
She needn’t have worried though because in the two months it had been open, the studio had become the new place to be, and not because of famous faces who came, tut because ofher. Because she was that good.
When she’d been fired from her old job, Mikey and Ashley quit too, in protest. They’d come to work for her, helping her with the renovations, helping build it up.
Her six a.m. crew had also followed her, along with the waitlists.
I still didn’t care for the early mornings, but as long as she came back to me at the end of every day, I made my peace with it.
Mikey’s fan base had come too. His Pop Rides were a firm favorite with the over 40s women, and more than a couple of the boys.
“Ah, she’ll get over it. I’m protecting my investment,” I smirked.
Even Murray had been impressed by how well the place had done since it opened, although, because he was the biggest stirrer on the planet, he was mostly crediting himself with his hire of a shit-hot business manager.
Dickhead.
The first tired, sweaty faces emerged from her class and made their way into the reception area. While I did sometimes stick around, I wasn’t in the mood for the attention I’d get today. I just wanted Emerson.
“Ash, can you tell her I’m in her office?”
“Sure,” she nodded, as I rounded the reception desk.
I punched the code in the door behind the counter and walked down the corridor. I sat at her desk, breathing in her scent which always lingered in here from the candles she liked to burn. To the side of her laptop, sitting in a frame, was the photo of us I’d taken in Vegas. It was hard to believe it was two years since that night, and a year since I’d found her again. I could barely remember what my life had been like without her, except I knew that it had been empty.
