Chapter Eleven

Eliza

I was so used to having Saturday morning to ease into work, but this morning was absolutely nuts. I woke up before the sun had completely risen, my phone blasting loudly on the dresser. I groaned as I tumbled out of the bed and grabbed the phone, knowing it had to be some demon employee from the shop needing something. I cleared my throat and answered.

“Buddha himself better have just walked into the shop,” I said.

“Yeah, no, but a new client wants to test out a class,” she said.

“Ugh,” I replied. “I hate when they do that. It’s like they think that their one class will suddenly change everything about them.”

“I know,” she said. “But I need you here in thirty.”

“All right,” I sighed. “I’m on my way.”

I rushed through the house throwing on clothes and pulling back my hair in a way that was easy but wouldn’t make me look like complete trash. I hated when things like this happened, but there was no way I was going to turn down a client. Most of them tried the place before purchasing a larger package, but usually if you didn’t get them by the time they left, they wouldn’t come back. People liked to dabble in fitness, but they didn’t like to fully commit. It was mind-boggling to me that you would spend money to come in just once, but we had quite a few of those.

There was so much going on, and I needed to get the marketing efforts going before things got too late in the season. There were several companies that I was looking at, but picking one was really based on how capable they were at making a difference and how much their services cost. Though I didn’t want to pay the highest cost, there was no point in paying the lowest if they weren’t going to do anything good for the business. There was too much at stake for me to make a wrong decision in this, and I wanted to be successful so that Missy would make me partner.

I grabbed my coffee and the clean towels and headed downstairs and out onto the sidewalk. The artists were just starting to arrive and set up, knowing that Saturday was a big money day for them, especially with tourists. The air was clear and fresh, and I let that and the coffee wake me up as I walked along. It was going to suck when winter hit, but for now, I just wanted to enjoy the air, the sunshine, and the fact that everyone was going to be in a good mood because for them it was the weekend. I was pretty sure I was never going to have another weekend to myself again. That was okay, though, especially since I was chasing my dreams and trying to get away from taking help from my family, I didn’t go to college for nothing.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, but it was just a weather alert. I looked down thinking about Anthony and everything that had gone on recently. He had bailed on me but then tried to make up for it with a card and elaborate dinner for Missy and me. I guess it did do something to me because I sent him a card back, letting him know he was forgiven. After he got my card he texted me, wanting me to go out with him. At first, I thought about just jumping in and doing it, but then my anxiety took over and I realized how bad it felt to be stood up.

I was really gun-shy about Anthony now, and even though he really seemed to mean what he said, I just didn’t know if I could trust him again. He seemed to be on my mind more often than not, which I knew was a sign that my heart was sending me, but my mind was playing a game of tug-of-war. I needed to keep my mind on track, not letting everything get to me so badly and focusing on the business like I had decided to do long before I ever met Anthony. He was a sweet guy, and I knew that a lot of the things that were less desirable about him were due to his wife’s death, but that didn’t mean it was easy to take on.

I took in a deep breath as I reached the studio and flung open the door, now awake and perky. Lily, one of the employees, was standing at the front desk, smiling and holding out a file for the new client. I took the file and sighed, opening up and seeing notes on her. She wanted to try the studio out because she was getting married in a year and wanted to be in top shape.

“Her name is Tabitha, and she is waiting in the weight training room,” Lily said.

“Okie dokie,” I said .

I walked into the weight training room and smiled, looking over at an already relatively fit blonde woman. From the looks of her brand-new workout clothes and the diamond earrings in her ears, she was definitely a girl there on daddy’s dime. Immediately I went to work, showing her that weight training was not the only thing she needed to focus on. It was a consultation, so we didn’t really do a lot of working out, but she was okay with that. By the end of the meeting, she had set herself up and paid for three weight training and two yoga sessions a week. She really got into the whole idea of changing things up and focusing on her inner calm as much as her physique.

When the new girl left, Lily looked up at me shaking her head. She laughed out loud, putting the information in the system and finishing up the credit card process. I stood there staring at her, wondering what was so amusing.

“You are a beast,” she said. “You spent thirty minutes with this girl, and she just paid ten grand for a year of training. I think we should raise the prices.”

“Nah,” I said, grabbing a grape from the desk. “Think about it. You have ten clients like her and the place has made a hundred K. One person can handle that load easily, and we now have seven full-time trainers and three-part-time trainers. We just need to fill their schedules.”

“Have you picked a marketing firm?”

“Not yet,” I said. “I will do that during my break this afternoon. I’ve narrowed it down to about five.”

“Like I said, you are a beast,” she said, laughing.

I smiled and grabbed my yoga mat, preparing for the next class. I may be a beast when it comes to the studio, but my personal life was an absolute mess. I tried to push those thoughts from my mind, knowing I had several yoga sessions to get through; it was hard to be calming when my mind was on a man. Anthony was amazing in many ways, but so bad for me in others. The man had no real idea of what he wanted, and his past—not that it was his fault—really messed with his ability to see commitment as a positive thing.

Still, standing in front of him, hearing his voice, or just receiving a card seemed to light up my life in a way that I couldn’t explain. I had never gotten that giggly and girly over a man the way I did about Anthony. He was strong, smart, successful, and really, really sexy. I wanted to see him again—that wasn’t a question in my mind. What I did question was whether having him in my life was good for me or not. I couldn’t tell what his intentions were, and after he stood me up, I was terrified to even start to question him. When I stared into his eyes, he sucked me right in, and it was like I lost all control over my own mind.

Distractions were not what I needed at that time. I needed to be stable, hardworking, and smart about my choices. From an outside perspective, Anthony was anything but a smart choice. He was the epitome of a terrible choice— in fact, one that more than one person had warned me about. I was hardheaded, though, and it took me touching the stove repeatedly before realizing that it hurt. I was a love junkie, and though I was looking for the guy, I loved the rush you had in those first few months of dating. The honeymoon period when that man was your soul mate, when everything he touched turned to gold, and life was simple.

In between classes, instead of sitting around and daydreaming about Anthony, I decided that I needed to get this marketing company nailed down. I had a habit of always overthinking things, but most of the time it turned out to my advantage. This marketing firm was no different. I had narrowed my choices down to about five of them and sent out for more information. I went through it all now, creating a pros and cons list for each one. Now I needed to just decide and go with that decision. This was an extremely important part of my job, and if I chose the wrong company to represent us, my whole plan would go right down the tubes.

More clients were always the name of the game. Just like I told Lily, the more packed our schedules, the more lucrative the business was. We were already profitable; that wasn’t an issue at all. Missy had killed herself in the first year of Zen, and by the time I took over, the place was already turning profits. Now the time had come to increase those profits. If I could bring this Zen Studio into the next realm of profitability, there was a really good chance that Missy would either hand the studio over to me or at least make me a partner, something I really wanted. She had done a lot of work, and though I could go do the same thing, I was really loyal to Missy.

I knew that money wasn’t a huge concern for Missy anymore, and she had even said that herself. As soon as the second studio opened on the bottom floor of Mason’s recording studio, Missy’s world exploded. She had so much business that she was keeping a waiting list or recommending the Art District studio to them. Most of the people who wanted to sign up there were doing it to catch a glimpse of the stars, but that still meant a steady stream of revenue. On top of all of that, Missy was marrying Mason, who, like Anthony, was a billionaire. She would never want or hurt for anything ever again. That was a pretty sweet thought, but I knew I had a long way to go.

As I flipped through the websites, I decided that I just needed to go with my gut, so I flipped over to one specific place and pulled out my planner. I would call them first thing on Monday and set up an appointment to speak to a manager there. I had very specific needs, and I wanted to make sure they could accomplish them with the budget I had set forth. I was assuming since I sent that budget over initially that they wouldn’t have written me back if it wasn’t achievable.

I felt better that I had finally made a decision on the marketing firm, something that had been hanging over my head. Between that and the fact that I texted Anthony back telling him I would love to see him but it would have to wait until my life calmed down, made me feel like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.