- Gemma -
absolutely loved the place. The dark wood and deep maroons were so easy on the eye, and the soft candlelight shining up from the tables created the most romantic shade of dim I’d ever seen. To be honest, I wished I could spend my whole life in that lighting, where it was too dark to see my pores but not so dark I couldn’t appreciate the cut of Alex’s jaw as he spoke to me from across the small table.
“See something you like?” he asked, his eyes on his menu.
I used the break in his attention to take a deep breath, my gaze falling to his strong hands before following his forearms up to his broad shoulders.
He looked up suddenly, catching me checking him out.
“Yes,” I confessed, dropping my eyes to the crème-colored paper in my hands. I skimmed each line again, my mouth watering as I read the cursive descriptions of the yummy items on offer. “Of course.”
The waitress returned with our drink order and set a glass of red in front of me and a pale ale named after a Chicago “L” station in front of Alex.
“Are you ready to order?” Alex asked me. “Or do you need a few more minutes?”
“I’m ready,” I said, smiling at the waitress.
“I’m so sorry to be rude,” she said, clutching her notepad to her chest. “But you aren’t the lady that has the YouTube channel with the workout videos, are you?”
My stomach fell through my seat, and I could tell Alex’s ears had perked up without even looking at him.
“I’m only asking ’cause my sister is obsessed with you,” she said, talking faster all the time. “She used your seven-minute arm series to get in shape for her wedding.”
I smiled and felt my cheeks begin to burn.
The waitress pulled her phone out of her short apron and swiped through to a picture of her and a woman in a wedding dress. “It was just this past weekend,” she said, handing me her phone.
“She looks beautiful,” I said, handing it back to her. “Please pass on my congratulations.”
“I will, of course!” she said, before scrunching her face. “Would it be hideous of me to ask for a picture with you?”
My face fell as I turned towards Alex. “This has never happened.”
He put his hand out and held up the girl’s phone while she crouched down beside me.
“Smile,” he said, obviously amused.
“Thank you so much,” she said, checking the photo out on the spot. “My sister is going to be so jealous!”
“What did you say your name was?” I asked.
“Lisa.”
I shook her hand. “The pleasure’s mine, Lisa.”
She smoothed her hair down and shimmied her shoulders as if to reground herself. “Okay, what can I get you guys to eat?”
“I’ll have the salmon en croute, please.”
“Great choice,” she said, back in work mode. “And for you, sir?”
“I’ll have the house burger with spicy buffalo sauce, Lisa. Thanks.”
“Anything else?” she asked, scribbling away.
“Yeah,” he said, his eyes pinging around the menu. “We’ll share a goat cheese tart and an order of crab cakes to start.”
“Sure thing,” she said, nodding definitively.
I smiled at him after she scurried away. “That was kinda awesome how you slipped those appetizers in like that.”
“Anything to impress a YouTube star like yourself.”
“It’s not like that.” I reached for my wine. “I swear that’s never happened before.”
He raised his glass. “In that case, congratulations are in order.”
I dropped my chin. “Please don’t make a big deal about this.”
He clinked his glass against mine. “I’ll leave that to Lisa.” He took a long sip of beer and licked his lips. “But I am dying to know more.”
“There’s nothing to know.”
“Don’t make me do my own research,” he said, pulling his phone from his pocket.
“Oh God, okay.” I threw my hands up. “Just put the phone away.”
He did as I asked before leaning back. “You were saying.”
“Sometimes I post short workout videos on YouTube.”
“I figured that much out myself, thanks. What I don’t know is, why?”
I shrugged.
He crossed his arms.
“I thought they might be useful to somebody.” I curled an ankle around the leg of my chair. “It’s not a vanity project or anything.”
“I didn’t think for a moment that it was.”
“Excuse me?”
“Well, I spent all week with you,” he said. “And you clearly have no idea how good you look in spandex.”
“Please don’t watch the videos.”
He laughed.
“Promise me.”
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I’d be lying through my teeth.”
I threw my hands over my face and stayed like that for some time.
“I’m not sure what you’re so embarrassed about.”
I dropped my hands to my lap. “I don’t do it so people will recognize me in the street.”
“I can tell that by the color of your cheeks,” he said. “But I’d still love to understand your motivation better.”
I bit the inside of my lip.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
I sighed. “I know what it’s like to be an unhappy fat girl.”
His eyes narrowed, like he only half believed me.
“I know how scary going to the gym can be when you’re dreadfully out of shape, and I know how intimidating dumbbells can be, for example, if no one has ever told you what the heck to do with them.”
He nodded.
“So I made a few videos and put them up to help that specific group get some momentum…and I suppose I also did it to keep myself accountable to my own goals.”
“I think that’s great.”
“You do?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “Makes perfect sense to me.”
I couldn’t tell if he was being genuine or just trying to spare my feelings.
“When I got my first gym job as a scrawny teenager, I used to use the weight room after hours because I was too intimidated to lift around other people.”
“Really?”
“No, not really. I’m saying that to impress you.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I think you might like me better if I brag about what a spindly wuss I used to be.”
“You weren’t a spindly wuss.”
“I broke my arm throwing a football in fourth grade.”
I looked at his arms in disbelief. They looked stronger than my thighs. “I didn’t even know that was possible.”
He flashed his eyebrows. “Impressed?”
“Very.”
“Where do you want it to go?”
“Excuse me?”
“What’s the dream?” he asked, laying his napkin across his lap.
“What makes you think I want something to come out of it?”
He took a sip of his drink like he had all night.
I groaned internally. “You’re going to think it’s stupid.”
“Try me.”
“I want to lead my own class.”
“Sounds like you’re already doing that with some success.”
“No, I mean a live class,” I said. “For beginners.”
“That doesn’t sound stupid.”
“It’s so intimidating to go to the gym when you’re out of shape,” I said. “I think there’s a market for classes where only newbies are allowed.”
“Have you tried it?”
“I mentioned it to Mary once.”
“And?”
“She didn’t see any value in it,” I said. “That, or she didn’t want me spread any thinner than I already am.”
“Mmm.”
“Not that I don’t think Cindy does a great job, but the classes she runs are way too advanced for someone who’s never broken a sweat before.”
“When do you record your videos?” he asked. “I was under the impression that you barely had time to eat and sleep outside of work.”
I laughed. “Oh, I make time to eat, don’t you worry. And I don’t know. Sometimes I get up early and other times I record them at the gym after everyone else has gone home.”
“Wow.”
“Wow, what?”
His smiling eyes warmed me from across the table. “Turns out I really am a super fan.”