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The sound of their voices started to fade and Aria was thankful for that. Sitting down on the floor, Aria felt the tears fall down her cheeks. If those women knew, then others did. Probably the whole town. Which explained the pitying looks she was getting by several of the customers.
“Aria, are you okay?”
“This is the ladies’ changing room,” she said.
“I know, I got one of my female employees to see if it’s all clear for me to enter.” Jase’s feet appeared near the door.
Aria stared at them.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Do you want to come out?” Jase asked.
“I’m not changed.”
“That’s okay, we can talk through the door.”
“Do you know?” Aria asked with a sigh.
“Do I know what?” There was hesitation in his response and this only made her laugh.
“Of course you know.”
Jase sighed. “Yes, I know.”
“Great,” Aria said. “So everyone knows that Grant had sex with my sister before me.” She pressed her hands to her face. All she wanted to do was scream. Could this get any worse?
“Are you going to hide in that stall forever?” Jase asked.
“I can’t go out there.”
“Why not?”
“Because they all know.”
“So they know that shit happened,” Jase said. “It’s not the end of the world. Trust me, it’s not. You can hold your head high, and you can ignore the shit they’re saying. You’re in control of your own life, Aria. Not anyone else.”
Aria got to her feet and she quickly changed out of her clothes into her gym suit. Opening the door, she came face to face with Jase. “Fine.”
“You might want to splash some water on your face.”
Aria nodded. “You’re right.”
Walking around Jase, she went to the sink and splashed water on her face. Afterward, she stood up and stared at her reflection. Why should she run and hide?
****
Aria’s body hurt by the time she finished at the gym. All she wanted to do was go home, have a nice, long shower, forget what her body felt like, and then eat a ton of ice cream. Vanilla or chocolate, whichever was available in her freezer.
Lidia had been calling her, asking if she wanted her to come over. No. All she wanted was to be left alone.
Arriving home after the gym, she pulled into the driveway and then groaned. Her mother was standing on her doorstep. She hadn’t spoken to her since Thanksgiving. This couldn’t be good. At least she had taken the time to change into clothes rather than leave the gym in her workout ones. She didn’t want her mother to know she was actually putting her thoughtless gift to use.
“Where have you been?” Joan asked, her hand on her hip. “What time do you call this?”
“I don’t live in your house, Mom. I can come and go as I please.”
