Chapter 8
“Let’s go out tonight.” Jordan suggested from the doorway as Stephanie cleaned equipment.
It was something she did every week at some point, not because it was dirty, which it probably was, but because it gave her time to think.
It used to be about the gym, but today was about a blonde who had ghosted her.
Since it happened, all she seemed to do was wonder about Court and her being gone when she woke up Saturday morning. Had she done something wrong? Had she missed clues about what was going to happen? Should she have known that Court was a player the entire time?
“No.” was all she answered. She didn’t need to do that again.
Jordan came further into the room. “Come on, just one drink.”
“That’s what you said last time.” She reminded her that it had only been a few days, and she wasn’t ready to run into Court again yet. She didn’t know if she’d ever be.
“All I can say about last time you completely forgot about Christopher, didn’t you? Mission accomplished.”
“Yes, it worked, but no to drinks. I can’t do that again for a while.”
To be honest, she hadn’t thought about Christopher in days, and that included the one where he stopped by to grab the last of his things from her place.
A meeting she had been dreading, but it had been ten minutes and no bad feelings at all.
Seeing him had elicited no feelings at all.
He had asked, and she had honestly told him that breaking up had been for the best. Which she noticed hadn’t been what he had expected from her.
But she didn’t ask if he regretted breaking up with her before he left for good.
“I bet Court will be there. You can confront her.” Jordan wagged her eyebrows suggestively.
“The last thing I want to do is confront her. She did what she did, and I understand what she did. Why she did it doesn’t matter to me.” She sounded so confident, but knew if she saw her and Court made a move, she’d fall for it again. At this point, she hadn’t built up any resistance to her charm.
“This is worse than your breakup with Christopher. You need to get this woman out of your head, Steph, and seeing her again might be the answer. To realize that she wasn’t as perfect as you’ve made her out to be.” Jordan grabbed the cloth from her hand, stopping her cleaning mid-swipe.
Grabbing the cloth back, she argued, “No, I need to focus on packing for this weekend. My emotions are all over the place. I need some downtime and distractions. Exactly what this weekend will provide.”
“With all your siblings there?”
“Yes, it’s going to be busy, and I’m going to enjoy just being there. Try not to let their bragging get to me.”
Her siblings were either more successful that she was, or better at talking themselves up.
Since they had all finished college with a degree, everyone knew there was no way she could achieve anything close to what they had since she was just a college dropout.
Even when she opened the gym, she had been reminded that since it was a women’s only gym that it wasn’t a real gym.
And she was just a glorified yoga instructor.
“I don’t know why they think they are better than you. You own your own gym. What do they have? Aaron sells cars, and Laura married well. Just because they moved out-of-state doesn’t mean they made it farther than you did.”
Snapping her fingers, she pulled out her phone.
“Which reminds me, I have to text Dylan, see when he’s getting there.
I would hate to be there for hours before anyone shows up.
I don’t need that much alone time with Mom and Dad.
Especially when they find out Christopher and I are no more.
I hate when they become disappointed because I’m single.
Dylan and his girlfriend’s constant fighting this weekend will distract them from me. ”
Dylan was the baby of the family and the only one younger than Stephanie. Though they were a year apart, they hadn’t been close until after high school and the rest moved away, leaving the two the only ones at family functions. For years, they had coordinated their arrival times.
“How is Calvin anyway?” Jordan asked. She had known Stephanie’s parents from over the years and had been saddened when her dad had thought he was dying.
“Good, as far as I know. He was good before the scare, so now is probably doing better after finding out he doesn’t have cancer.
Add to that, all his kids are coming home.
He’s probably feeling better than he has in years.
Except for my mom’s nagging him about the kids coming.
That always stresses her out, and she makes sure he feels the same stress.
” She looked around the studio and decided it was clean enough for the day.
She was just stalling on packing because that would lead to her leaving, and she really didn’t feel she was up for her family yet, no matter what she told Jordan.
“What a relief. I can’t imagine losing my dad, and what would we do with Mom if he wasn’t around? Jillian is in no way ready to have her move in, and I’m never going to find a place big enough for her to live with me.”
“You will if she needs you, your mom’s the sweetest person I know.”
“Because you're not her daughter.” She said, knowing her friend was right.
Marlene was a good person. It was only when she had to spend too much time with her that the woman got on her nerves.
Giving up on getting anymore cleaning done today, she jumped when her phone rang from the pocket of her yoga pants on her thigh.
Slipping the phone from the pocket, she showed it to her friend. It was her mom.
Jordan backed out of the room with a smirk as Stephanie answered the phone to a question and not a greeting. “When are you getting here on Thursday?”
As if they hadn’t already discussed this, she answered, “After work, on Friday. I can’t take more time off than that. It’s already making Jordan do more than she should.”
Her mom made a huffing sound on the other end of the phone. “If you two are struggling that much, maybe it’s time to shut the door on your little gym. You know, look for something that has more security than working for yourself.”
“Not a chance Mom, we are loving what we do. We’re not struggling in any way. In fact, we’re getting busier every day. We have more members joining all the time.” She lied, but her mother would never know the truth about it. She’d never be a part of any gym, not just hers.
“I was hoping you were coming home early, since you live the closest. You know how I’ve come to rely on you to help me when your siblings come for a visit.
” Her mom complained, being the youngest girl in the family, helping their mom had fallen on her after Laura went to college.
It had taken her years to stop saying yes to everything she asked of her.
Shaking her head, she shut the light off in the studio before closing and locking the door for the night.
“Dylan lives the closest, and this time I can’t.
We are swamped, and I might have to work this weekend as it was.
There is just so much to do. I’m lucky that Jordan will jump in and help me.
But I can’t make any promises about being there. ”
“You can’t not come, Steph. Your sister’s coming, and you know how much I like to spend time with my girls. We don’t get to see each other as much as we should. I have a whole girl’s thing planned for us.”
“I’ll do my best. I just hope Jordan won’t need me.” She said again, already thinking how much better a weekend off with nothing planned would be instead of spending it with her siblings.
“I’m sure she won’t. She’s very capable.” Her mom said dismissively. Already forgetting that Stephanie had mentioned she might not come, because she always got her way, “Tell her hi, and see I’ll see you this weekend. As early as possible.”
“Okay, Mom, bye.” She grumbled, happy the call was over.
“Say hi to Christopher as well.” Her mom hung up. Leaving her no time to get into the fact that there was no longer a Christopher to say anything to.
Only then did Stephanie realize that she should have just called her mom and told her about breaking up with the man.
Since her night with Court, she was completely over the man.
Not even questioning why it had to end, now just wondering why it had taken so long for it to end. They weren’t right for each other.
Not that Court was right for her. Since she was a player, Stephanie wasn’t going to give her another chance. But right now, she was happy that she had helped her through the breakup. It was at least something the woman had done that was useful.
Jordan, it seemed, had been hovering because she jumped out from a back room and asked, “What did your mom have to say?”
“Hello to you and making sure I was coming this weekend.” She really had no idea why she had called, what had been the point.
Jordan actually waved. “Hello back, Stephanie’s mom, and of course you're going. Your entire family will be there. You don’t want to miss that?”
“I don’t want to go anymore. I’ll have to tell them about me and Christopher breaking up.” Stephanie admitted, and it was all because she didn’t want to have to tell everyone she had once again gotten dumped.
“You didn’t tell her about him, then?” Jordan asked. She knew they talked a few times a week. Which meant she knew Stephanie was avoiding the topic.
“No, I forgot. How could I forget I got my heart stomped on just a week ago?”
“Good sex will do that to you.”
“Sadly, I have to agree with you.”
“Sadly, you also want to have it again and again.” Jordan teased.
“Shush, I do not.” She pushed her friend and walked towards the reception desk, getting away from the conversation, because her friend knew her all too well. That was exactly what she wanted to do.