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‘The one I told you about,’ Jackie said. ‘You know I think it might just be a touch too sweet. I mean, when I tasted it I thought it was fabulous, but now I’m starting to worry that it might be a bit overpowering.’
‘It’s great!’ For the second time that day he caught Annie’s eyes, even gave a thin smile as she winced in apology for her colleague. ‘You’ve made an excellent choice.’
‘Really?’ Jackie asked earnestly, but didn’t wait for an answer, and Annie let out a long breath as she hurried off. They stood in awkward silence for a very long minute, until finally, bravely, Annie broke it.
‘She’s really not like that normally.’
‘It’s fine.’
‘No, it’s not,’ Annie contradicted him. ‘That was horribly insensitive.’
And at that point she expected him to turn his back— terminate the conversation as he always did, be the Iosef he always was with her. But maybe he was tired, or maybe he just needed to talk. She couldn’t really identify it, couldn’t really, no matter how she replayed it later that night, define the moment, define how it felt, when, for the first time, he not only prolonged a conversation with her but actually let her glimpse a little piece of him. Actually, called her by her name.
‘I grew up with insensitive, Annie. Really, I don’t need Jackie feigning concern.’
‘Still...’
‘Honestly—it’s not a problem.’
‘Do you want a coffee?’ Annie offered, though she’d sworn she never would, but he looked so tired and his mind must surely be all over the place—it seemed the right thing to do. ‘I can grab you one before I go.’
He pulled a face. ‘No, thanks. I’ve had about twenty today.’
‘Fine... ’ she hitched her bag higher on her shoulder before she turned to go. ‘I am sorry, today must have been...’ She struggled for the appropriate word and settled for the only one she could think of. ‘Hard.’
‘You know, there is something you could do for me.’ He wasn’t looking at her, instead he was looking at her bag—or rather the massive sun-dried tomato and herb flavored pretzel peeking out of it, which she’d bought in a moment of weakness. ‘I’m starving and I don’t have any change for the machine.’
‘Enjoy...’ Annie grinned, handing the shiny packet over.
‘You don’t mind?’
‘Not at all,’ Annie said, and patted her stomach. ‘In fact, you’re actually doing me a favor.’
Chapter 3
Onemore day... Increasing the speed and elevation on the treadmill, Annie took a slug of water from her bottle and nearly lost her footing as she pounded the rubber.
Every morning she’d resisted the overwhelming temptation to hit the snooze button. As an added incentive she’d hung the beastly dress on her curtain rail, and it had served its purpose—the dark slender silhouette the first thing she peered at in the morning.
And with any luck it would have had some effect because tomorrow was Friday.
One more day of waking at the crack of dawn and joining the strange specimens of human life who actually seemed to enjoy being here.
She’d been one of them once.
Six a.m. wasn’t the best time for introspection perhaps, but walking and not moving was doing her head in, and watching the swimmers slicing the water below wasn’t exactly riveting viewing.
She’d been scared when Melanie had suggested that she crash-diet.
Scared because she’d been there and done that once before.
She didn’t need Melanie to tell her the calorie content of anything because Annie knew it all already—knew more than Melanie or anyone should ever know about how to lose weight. Like the treadmill she was pounding now, Annie remembered the hamster wheel she’d once climbed on, thriving on the usually absent approval from her mother as she’d whittled away her puppy fat, frantically chasing two sisters who had always been thinner, prettier, cleverer, always that bit ahead, forcing herself ever on as the approval from her mother had changed to concern, as the goalposts had kept shifting, until her only focus had been to keep going.
Thankfully she’d jumped off.
Had seen the error of her ways before things had become too dangerous, but she’d glimpsed the dark side of the street and had sworn she’d never go back there. Still, she was glad that she had done this one week, glad because it had shown her that she was really free of it, that once the wedding was over, normal services would resume. Just the rehearsal to get through tonight and the tan tomorrow and then she’d try on her dress and if it didn’t fit, well, she’d tried. Annie knew at that point she should probably have been motivated enough to up the elevation a touch more, but she was almost beyond caring, so instead she pressed the ‘cool down’ button, gulping water as the treadmill gradually wound its way down. Walking as she stared out of the gym window at the pool complex down below and idly watching as someone in the fast lane came in so fast, that for a second Annie thought he was going to hit the wall, that he wasn’t going to turn in time. Instead he had finished, strong arms heaving his body out of the water, and for the second time that morning Annie lost her footing on the treadmill.
Watching the swimmers was actually riveting viewing after all—well, one swimmer in particular!
