Chapter 8
EIGHT
JUSTINE
Justine lay on her yoga mat in the savasana pose, eyes closed as she let go of her stresses over Craig’s potential affair and Danny’s filthy football boots.
She also worried about her son spending so much time gaming at night.
He looked more tired than usual lately. He needed his father.
Maybe it was girl or friend trouble. Either way, Danny didn’t want to speak to her about it.
The feel of the breeze in her hair and the sounds of the ripples coming from the lake in front of them filled her with joy.
Despite it being chilly, the instructor had opened the window a little and after the session, it was more than refreshing.
She could easily convince herself that the wall-to-ceiling glass doors in front of them were open, just like they always were during the summer months.
She lived for her once a week, lakeside yoga sessions.
All her worries were melting away. She thought of her video deadline – what deadline?
She had two weeks to get it done. Loads of time.
Craig – he came to the forefront of her mind again and she almost felt slightly choked up despite a successful yoga session.
She’d blatantly accused him of cheating several times now and it was clearly having a toll on their marriage.
She sensed that she’d annoyed him during their last call, which might have been why he didn’t answer all the time.
The instructor signalled the end of the session by saying, ‘namaste’.
Justine yawned. Every muscle had been stretched and she enjoyed the feeling of improving and being able to hold the poses for longer every week.
A bit of quiet chatter started to build up in the room.
She turned to her side and smiled at Lindy who scratched her head and sat up.
On her other side, Pia was already on her feet and had rolled her mat up.
‘How are you not half asleep?’ Justine asked. The chill in the air was giving her goosebumps now. She grabbed her sweater and pulled it over her head.
Pia shrugged and let her brown locks fall loose from a scrunchie. ‘I feel full of energy. Ready to take on the day after that session.’
‘I’ll have what you’re having,’ Justine replied with a laugh.
‘You will, because I have something for both of you. Feeling rough, it’s a cure all. Tired, it’ll fix that. This will add some bounce to your steps and who doesn’t want more bounce in their lives?’
‘Ooh, tell us more.’ Justine was up for more bounce in her steps but she doubted that Pia’s hocus-pocus inventions were really the cure for anything.
Lindy piped up as she stood while readjusting her sports bra. ‘Yes, don’t keep it a secret, I need all the help I can get.’ Lindy yawned and gazed ahead at the lake, her focus seemingly on the run-down building on the other side.
Justine stretched, giving Lindy a moment to enjoy the view.
The next bit, the chats and the smoothies were what she really came for.
She was aware that Lindy had been struggling to come to terms with the loss of her mother so it was helping her too.
It had been a huge risk bringing Lindy into her and Pia’s friendship duo because three was always a crowd her mother used to say.
She thought of Craig again and swallowed.
Who was their number three? Justine let out a long breath.
Lindy had been new to the class and offering her friendship had been the right thing to do.
Pia broke Justine’s rambling thoughts. ‘Well, the product I need to share with you both is our new kombucha flavour and I’d appreciate it if you could drink it before you have your smoothies because I need your palates to be clean.
’ Pia led them to the changing area and pulled her bag from a locker.
‘I have Berry-Cherry-Nice with Hibiscus. It has a green tea base and it should fizz and zing on your tongue. It’s refreshing and zingy, and best of all, it should put a spring in your step and keep that gut healthy. Who doesn’t want perfect gut bacteria?’
‘You sound like a walking advert, Pia,’ Justine said. Pia was a walking, talking health guru, always perfect and glowing, holding some qualifications in nutrition that Justine had never heard of.
Lindy laughed properly for the first time since the funeral.
‘Someone has to shout about it. If I left it to Simeon, our kombucha would never get sold. I’m already talking to some health food chains.
We’re going to have to drastically scale up our production if I get a contract.
That’s a big if.’ She passed them both a can.
‘I’m not knocking Simeon; it’s just his skillset isn’t selling and we need to sell more. ’
Justine had never told Pia that she really didn’t like kombucha and she felt Simeon’s pain because he too didn’t seem to like kombucha whenever she’d seen him with a can.
She hated the tartness and Pia’s kombucha was too vinegary.
She didn’t know if they were all like that because she’d never tried any other brand but she had a duty to be positive for her friends and their businesses.
She opened the can and took a sip. The zing caught her nose and she sneezed. ‘Mm, lovely. I can taste the cherry.’
‘You know, everything is in it for a reason. My mum was sick towards the end and I know kombucha really helped her. It could have been worse. My view is though, we need to drink it now, eat more fermented foods if we’re to get protection down the line.’
Justine wondered how Lindy was taking all this after losing her mum so recently. She seemed okay. Maybe she appreciated the return of normality in her life following her mother’s death.
‘Who doesn’t want protection? Bottoms up.’ Justine glugged it all down in one and tried to avoid gurning at the taste. ‘I’ll tell you if I feel better when I’ve had my shower. I’ll meet you at the bar.’
As soon as Justine had changed, washed and dressed, she headed to the bar to meet the others. Lindy and Pia were chatting and laughing, like they’d been friends for years.
Justine watched Lindy glance at her phone. ‘Damn, is that the time? I’ve got to get home. I’ve got some work to do.’ Lindy grabbed her gym bag, then Pia pulled her ringing phone from her pocket.
So much for having time to chat. Justine really wanted to talk to her friends about Craig but that wasn’t going to happen today because Pia had just answered her phone to a potential customer and the charm had been turned on.
Their little meet up was officially over.
Justine’s phone pinged. She too said her goodbyes and as she went to leave, she read the message from a withheld number.
Do you really know where your husband is, who he’s with and what he’s getting up to? You suspect, don’t you? Never trust a man with betrayal in his heart. X