Chapter Twenty-four
Jess
Saturday 15 February
Jess stretched and yawned. It had been a long day. She had stepped in to help out another yoga instructor whose three children had gone down with chickenpox. Fearful of losing her job, the instructor, Gaynor, had asked Jess if she could plug the gap whilst she tried to sort out childcare for the next two weeks. Concerned at the stress in her friend’s voice, Jess had told her not to worry, she’d take care of it.
So she had spent the day flitting between the two sites– her own in the south side and the other in Glasgow city centre. Her car was getting an unscheduled outing. She had forgotten how chaotic the traffic was in the middle of the day, particularly on a Saturday, and she remembered why she hated driving in the city.
She missed lunch as she had no time to eat the pre-prepared feta cheese and sun-blushed tomato panini she’d managed to pick up after queuing for almost fifteen minutes at the café near the leisure centre.
It had been just as well she’d already been in her yoga kit as she barely had time to sign in at the desk, nip to the loo and introduce herself to the power yoga class before it started at two o’clock. She’d followed that with the Les Mills body balance class, by which time even she was exhausted. A quick energy drink at the café in the leisure centre and she’d struggled her way through the nose-to-tail traffic all the way back to Gaynor’s class in Bath Street. Again, she made it to her class with minutes to spare. Fortunately, it was yoga as it helped her wind down, and she didn’t think she’d have had the energy for anything more taxing.
It was tempting to forgo a shower and head home, but it played havoc with her skin if she went too long without a shower after exercising and she felt grubby. Her hair was sticking to her head, she was an attractive shade of tomato and she was sure she ponged. OK, shower it was.
Jess let the water stream over her tired limbs, relishing the cleansing both physically and mentally. She prayed Gaynor had planned ahead for tomorrow as she didn’t think she could manage so many classes again in one day. She was wrecked. And she felt awful. Gobbling down a panini at five o’clock in her car whilst waiting at traffic lights wasn’t at one with her zen lifestyle.
Organised and methodical to a fault, having her schedule interrupted had more than upset her routine, it had upended her internal body clock. She dressed in jeans and a chunky cream knitted jumper with star-shaped lace cut-outs, aware the temperature was hovering around zero, and stifled a yawn.
She needed to grab something to drink, but first she’d text Mark. He’d be watching TV or marking papers anyway as he’d said he had no plans tonight. She’d reminded him he had promised to repair the faulty lamp in the living room, and that he was to pick up the new rug from Argos. Apart from that, as far as she knew, he was vegging, his body making a dent in the cushions in her absence.
Once she’d packed away her gym clothes, she slung her gym bag over her shoulder, smiled a greeting at one of her regulars and left the changing rooms.
‘Bloody machine.’ Jess groaned in frustration. Could this day get any worse? All she wanted was an energy drink. And of course the machine kept regurgitating her money.
‘Giving you problems, is it?’
Jess spun around to see Nathan standing in front of her, a smile twitching the corners of his mouth. Despite her grumpy mood and the tiredness she was feeling, she managed an eye roll and a small smile.
‘I think it’s out of order. It won’t give me the drink I paid for.’
‘Do you mind if I try?’
Jess raised an eyebrow. ‘Be my guest.’
Nathan inserted a few different coins. The machine didn’t work for him either. Then finally he tried putting in ten-pence pieces. It accepted them and allowed him to make a selection. Yay! Except then it hovered over the collection tray without letting go of the item.
‘Aargh!’ said Jess. ‘Thanks for trying anyway.’
‘It’s no trouble. Look, why don’t I buy you a drink in the café?’
Defeated and struggling to stay awake, Jess accepted. If she could just drink something, she would feel much better. Didn’t matter if it was Lucozade, cranberry juice, green tea or Red Bull, anything would do. Heck, she was at the stage of putting her head under the tap in the Ladies’ and taking her chances. OK, that was perhaps going too far and the gym had water fonts after all, but no, she needed something with sugar in it.
‘Sorry, guys, the fridges have gone off, so we’ve had to close early tonight. Watch your step– floor’s wet,’ the café assistant said when Nathan and Jess approached the counter.
‘I don’t believe it,’ Jess said under her breath.
Nathan tapped her on the arm. ‘Don’t worry. That new coffee shop round the corner, Slice of Pie, is still open. I think it shuts at ten. We can grab something there.’
Jess was in no position to argue. Nathan had found a solution and she was too tired to think any more. It was refreshing for someone else to come up with the answers for once.
‘So, were you in the gym tonight, or doing one of the other classes?’ Jess asked Nathan as she stirred her latte. Coffee and sugar. She knew it was crazy at this time of night, but she would need it to enable her to drive home without falling asleep. Nathan had also talked her into ordering a plate of pasta as he’d eaten there a few nights before and professed it to be restaurant quality.
‘In the gym. Kris gave me a new cardio workout. I’m training for a couple of marathons I’m doing this year and want to make sure I’m in the best shape.’
It was on the tip of Jess’ tongue to say he’d looked in good shape to her when she’d caught him naked, but she stopped herself in time.
‘Oh, I’ve thought about doing a marathon. In fact, I already signed up for the half-marathon in April to see if I can go the distance. I haven’t started my training though.’
‘I wouldn’t have thought yoga and Pilates went hand in hand with running.’ Nathan took a sip of his Americano then placed his cup back on the table.
‘Perhaps not, but remember I cover the full range of classes– spin, high-intensity interval training, cardio. And yoga is about stamina as well as balance.’
Nathan held his hands up in a placatory gesture. ‘Point taken.’
Their food arrived and they tucked in with relish.
‘You weren’t kidding this place was good.’ Jess sighed. ‘I needed this. I’ve been surviving off a limp panini all day.’
‘I’m sure there’s a story in that statement.’ Nathan’s smile was warm and his eyes showed an interest in her that Jess hadn’t witnessed in Mark of late.
Jess regaled him with the exploits of the day.
‘No wonder you’re shattered. You’re not doing double classes again tomorrow, are you?’
‘I don’t know. She didn’t ask me. I’m assuming she’s arranged childcare for tomorrow. I meant to text her earlier. Sorry, do you mind if I do it now? That way I’ll know sooner rather than later what tomorrow holds.’
‘Of course not.’ Nathan spooned another mouthful of fettuccine Alfredo into his mouth as Jess bashed out her message to Gaynor.
‘I didn’t even know this place was opening. I must walk about with my eyes shut,’ Jess said.
‘It was all quite sudden. The previous place had been closed for a good few months, but once Arlene was given the go-ahead, she set the ball in motion quickly.’
‘Arlene?’ Jess smiled at him. She could guess how he knew her name.
‘Yes, Arlene, the owner. She insisted on giving me the low-down on how the café had sprung up so fast.’
I bet she did, thought Jess, glancing in as covert a manner as possible towards the counter where Arlene was busy taking in everything they were saying and making no pretence of the fact. It was clear she fancied Nathan, and well, Jess could understand that. He was pretty hot.
‘So, when are you starting your training?’ Nathan asked.
Jess exhaled. ‘You’d think working my own hours, I’d manage to fit everything in, and I have been doing plenty of indoor running, but it’s simply too dark by the time I get home from work to train outdoors, and you know yourself, it’s not the same. It feels different and it takes a different type of stamina.’
Nathan nodded. ‘Yeah, you’re right there.’ He appeared to think for a minute then said, ‘When do you usually finish work?’
Jess smiled. ‘I don’t have a usual. I work different hours every day.’
‘In that case, are there any days you finish earlier than others? Or do you have free time during the day?’
‘Well, on a Tuesday I have some time early afternoon and on a Thursday morning too, and on a Friday I finish at seven.’
‘OK.’ Nathan paused. ‘So, assuming your friend doesn’t need you to cover her classes, how about you and me going for a run next Thursday then? I could meet you at the gym.’
Jess was about to protest, but Nathan cut in with, ‘I need to get marathon ready and the sooner I start taking it seriously, the better.’ When she hesitated, he said, ‘You’d be doing me a favour, really.’
Well, when he put it like that. She hadn’t worked out how she’d fit in those outdoor runs and it looked like Nathan had solved her problem.
‘Fine then, you’re on.’
They ate the rest of the food in relative silence and although they got into a ‘No, I’ll pay’, ‘No, put your money away, I’ve got it’ contest, Nathan won, swiping his contactless card against the machine and not brooking any argument.
Jess’ mobile pinged a text alert. Gaynor. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was off the hook, although she would happily have done six back-to-back classes she felt so elated. She didn’t know quite why, but she was looking forward to her training run. It didn’t even faze her that Nathan would have to run slowly so she could keep pace. He’d obviously considered that and didn’t care. She’d managed to put something positive in place today and she left the café on a high.
‘What are you smiling at?’ Jess asked as she walked into the living room.
Mark looked the picture of guilt. ‘Nothing.’
Jess wasn’t convinced. She’d wheedle it out of him later. ‘How was your day?’ She leant down to give him a kiss.
He twisted on the sofa and kissed her full on the lips. Mmm. Interesting. Unexpected.
‘Come here and have a snuggle.’ He patted the sofa beside him.
Jess didn’t need to be asked twice. She hoped he wasn’t looking for anything energetic as she was exhausted. She was pretty sure within about ten minutes she’d be fast asleep, catching flies.
‘Cup of tea?’ Mark asked. Jess didn’t know if he was offering her one or asking her to make him one, so since she had no energy, she said, ‘Only if you’re having one.’
‘Back in a tic.’ Mark bounced off the sofa with an unusual jauntiness and Jess sat down heavily, idly flicking through TV channels as she awaited his return.
She glanced up to see Mark standing over her, beaming– a kind of manic, scary smile, to be honest– holding a tray with two mugs on it and some biscuits.
He was behaving very strangely tonight. She had no patience nor headspace for oddness right now.
He knelt down in front of her, and for one heart-stopping moment she thought he was going to propose. He put the cups onto their little side tables and handed her what she now saw was a white envelope.
Her brows knitted, then Mark said, ‘Go on, open it. You’ve been working really hard recently, and doing almost all of the housework, and I’ve not been around much. This is just my way of saying how much I appreciate you, even if I don’t always show it, or as often as I should.’
Jess opened the envelope to find a ticket and itinerary for a week’s meditation retreat in Devon in July.
‘Oh my God, Mark, I’ve always wanted to go to this.’ She knew she was smiling literally from ear to ear. This was nearly as good as winning the lottery. Well, not quite, but it was a pretty close second.
He grinned. ‘I know. I do listen, even if it sometimes seems I don’t. And that’s not all. I spoke to Gaynor. Her mum’s bought her a ticket for her birthday, and she’s watching the kids that week as it’s during the summer holidays, so you’ll have someone you know on the retreat too.’
Jess was so touched she almost couldn’t express her gratitude. Recently, she had felt that Mark was somewhat detached, but this showed he was still capable of considering her, properly considering her and her needs, and doing something about it. He had no idea how much this meant to her.
She knelt down on the rug and hugged him, then they kissed and then somehow, from somewhere, her energy reserves replenished themselves and their lovemaking on the rug was worthy of one of their sessions in their first years together.
It was only as she lay there, sated, that the gnawing thought of her dinner with Nathan crept over her. She tried to banish it to the back of her mind, but it wouldn’t let go. As Mark stroked her arm, Nathan’s face kept superimposing itself over Mark’s.
This wasn’t right. What was she going to do?