Chapter 22
Another day, another Pilates class. The morning couldn’t come soon enough.
After tossing and turning all night, I finally was able to fall asleep.
Not sure what time it was because I knew if I looked at the time it was going to make me more anxious and keep me up longer.
When my alarm jingled, my eyes burned from the light, only showing I barely got any sleep.
It was hard to drag myself to Pilates this morning, but I knew with all the tension running through my body, this is exactly what I need.
After the class is over and I’m wiping down the reformer with sanitizer, from the corner of my eye, I see Ashley heading toward me. “Hey girl.”
“Hey, how are you?”
She sits down on the bench next to me. I’m sure she’s tired.
It’s ten in the morning and she starts teaching at six in the morning.
“Good. So, I wanted to ask you about this event I’m having here.
” I nod, listening. “I’m doing a sound bath event and I’m having a nutritionist come and give everyone a little spill on eating healthy and all that fun stuff. ”
“Uh huh,” I say, narrowing my eyes at her.
“I was hoping you could bake some of your sourdough bread to share after the sound bath, while the nutritionist discusses healthy eating. Since sourdough is a lot better for you than regular grocery store bread, I thought it would be a good idea. What do you think?” she asks, tilting her head and maintaining eye contact with me.
“I would love to. That sounds fun.”
Her brows raise. “Oh, good, and it would be a great way to get your business out there.”
I slip on my shoes. “Yeah, actually, that would. Thank you for thinking of me.”
She stands up and places a hand on my arm. “Of course. You’re so fun to have in class, and we small businesses have to stick together.”
A wide smile forms on my face. “Yes. We do.” Because, truth be told, word of mouth is one of the best ways to get your small business out there.
“I’ll text you later this week with more details.”
“Okay, sounds good,” I say as I exit the studio and head for my car. A smile is still on my face with how proud I am of how far I’ve come with this business. Especially with hardly any help.
I let out a sigh as I turn my car on, thinking about going back home with all the negative tension in the air.
I never saw Zayn this morning. He left before I woke up.
I pull out of the parking lot the opposite way to my house.
Is Zayn even at work? Did he get fired? Is that why he’s acting like this?
Good thing his shop is right off Main Street so all I have to do is drive down Main as if it’s a normal day. As if I’m not going to spy on him. I could be going to run an errand over his way. No one will know.
As I get closer to his shop, I slow down and look over my shoulder and see his truck parked outside. Some guys are walking in and out of the bays, but I don’t see him. I let out a heavy sigh and head back home.
I feel guilty about having to drive by his shop. I should trust him. I do trust him, so why do I have the nagging feeling of something being off?
Zayn walks into the kitchen as I sit at the kitchen table, about to eat. I thought I was going to eat alone again tonight after what happened last night. After cooking dinner, I usually serve us both, and if Zay’s not here by the time I’m done, I put his in the microwave.
He opens the microwave and grabs the plate without warming it because I did just put it in there. Surprisingly, he sets his plate across from me and heads back to grab himself water.
As he moves around the kitchen, I try to avoid eye contact with him because deep down, something feels off.
I don’t know what it is, and I hate this feeling.
I don’t feel like I can talk to him about it either.
Especially not this soon after his blowup last night.
So instead, we sit here in silence. Him scrolling through his phone and me glancing over at him every so often, never actually making eye contact with him.
The room fills with so much silence that I can hear the faint sound of his fingertips tapping his phone. He’s lost in whatever he’s looking at. I glance over at him and watch his rigid body eat and scroll. We’re only a chair apart from each other, but I feel like we’re miles apart right now.
My heart races as the silence stretches even more, causing my hunger to disappear.
I grab my plate, throw away my food, and set the plate in the sink without even washing it.
Because all I want to do is curl up into bed and fall asleep.
The lack of sleep from last night isn’t helping my emotions either.
I pass by him, eyeing him from the side, hoping he’ll give me one little glance, but he doesn’t budge.