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Chapter Five
CHARLOTTE COULD FEELher soul drooping bit by bit the closer she got to the gym. Twenty years ago, working out had a purpose. Land had been paranoid about her safety, and because she didn't want him distracted while on a job, she had given him her word that she would always stay fit enough to jump out of the window if she had to.
But that was then, and this was now. Even Land's old boss, who was evenmoreparanoid than her husband, had assured Charlotte that she had nothing to worry about. Land's enemies were all six feet under, and since she was free to live her days in peace...
Do I really still have to go to the gym, Land? At this point in my life, the only thing I'll need to jump out of is the bathtub.
She waited for her husband to answer, but no words from the other side came, and her lips twitched. Silence might mean yes with most people, but with Land, it had always been the opposite.
Gym it is then, Charlotte thought with a sigh, and so she forced herself to march inside despite her heavy heart.
"Good morning, Mrs. Carmichaels." Tony's extra cheerful tone made Charlotte feel extra tired, and she couldn't help making a face as she handed over her ID.
"You're looking grumpy as always," Tony commented as he tapped the scanner with her ID.
"Hmph."
Tony simply grinned as he gave Charlotte her ID back, but as she walked away, she heard Tony call out, "Smiles are supposed to help you get into Heaven. Just sayin'!"
Grr.Charlotte fantasized about strangling the gym receptionist as she felt other members look curiously her way. Tony knew how much she hated drawing attention to herself, and Charlotte vowed to get back at him one way or another.
After dumping her stuff in the locker, Charlotte bought herself a sandwich and a bottle of juice from the gym's snack bar. Warm-ups might be how most people started their workouts, but for Charlotte and her friend, a pre-exercise workout was the only thing that could put them in the mood for self-torture.
The building's rooftop was exclusive for All Out Fitness users, and while it had a garden-like feel with its orchid-embellished trellises and rose-covered arbors, it also reminded Charlotte of school cafeteria segregation, with the way a certain group of kids occupied a section each.
Singles in their twenties typically flirted on their bar stools by the counter while couches in the center were for anyone fifty and up. For everyone else it was either the benches on one side or the row of crescent-shaped booths on the other, and it was in the latter that Charlotte eventually found her friend sitting alone.
Charlotte couldn't believe her eyes as she joined Addison in her booth and saw what the other woman was having for lunch. "What's that?"
"Diet food," Addison said flatly. "I've just started today. You get four meals delivered every morning, and each meal is 1,500 calories—-"
Charlotte cleared her throat. "What I meant was,whyare you suddenly on a diet?" She had known the other woman since their college years. At that time, Charlotte had been the third-year student assigned to give freshman Addison O'Donnell a campus tour, and back then, Addison was a slender, vivacious brunette who had turned heads wherever she went. It was only when the other woman had started working (or perhaps overworking was the correct term) that Addison had started stress-eating and gradually gaining weight.
"Kendrick—-"
Charlotte's face turned expressionless as soon as she heard Addison refer to her boyfriend of eight years.
