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Staring at her best friend, she couldn’t help but think about Sean’s words the last time she saw him.“Yeah, that is not coming to my party. Take your ugly ass away. Lidia is too fucking nice to tell you this, but your fat fucking face is no longer welcome here. She can do so much better than you. Leave.”
Halloween night. Not too long ago.
“Hey,” she said. “I, er, I actually have an appointment that I don’t want to be late for.”
The gym was only a few feet away and as she pointed in the general direction, Lidia turned to see where. “The gym? You’re going to the gym?”
“Yeah, it’s, yeah, I’m going to the gym now.” She forced herself to look at her friend.
Lidia Onslow, perfectly beautiful, slender, and she used to be so nice. At least, Aria had thought she was nice until Sean told her the truth.
“Aria, what the hell is going on?” Lidia asked.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You didn’t show up at the party. You’re going to the gym now. You don’t return my calls and you make excuses to not hang out. What have I done?” she asked.
Aria felt her cheeks heating up at even allowing herself to open up to this woman. Going to the gym, fighting her weight was never an easy battle. In the past, Lidia was there, telling her she was fine, that she was beautiful and sweet, but it had all been lies.
“Why don’t you ask Sean?” Aria asked. “You seem to tell him the truth and me, well, you just lie to me to suit yourself.”
“What?”
“Leave me alone,” Aria said. “If you couldn’t stand hanging out with me, you could have just said so. I do listen, and I’ve got no problem letting this go.”
Tears filled her eyes and she forced herself to walk around Lidia and head to the gym. Jase wasn’t on the front desk, so she showed the lady who was there her member card and proceeded to go to the changing room. She found a private cubicle to change out of her jeans and sweater, replacing them with a pair of shorts and a very large, oversized shirt.
Once her belongings were packed into a bag, she headed into the main changing room, found a locker, stuffed her bag inside, locked it, and then headed out to find Jase. He was in one of the private gym rooms. There was a member of staff waiting to direct her.
She stepped inside hoping to see Grant, but instead she saw Jase sitting on the mat, legs crossed, with his palms flat together. He opened his eyes and smiled.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She had swiped at her eyes and she quickly sniffed up, trying to ignore the signs of impending tears.
“Aria, what’s wrong?” Jase asked.
“It’s nothing.” Grant wasn’t there, and she was somewhat relieved. “Can we just get started?” She wanted to lose the weight, not spend time fawning over a guy who’d just shown her the smallest amount of attention.
“Of course.” Jase got to his feet smoothly, and she watched him as he advanced toward her. “Before we start any physical training, the key is to warm up, so let’s see how much you’ve retained from our previous meetings.”
They hadn’t done much, but Aria started with her legs, stretching them out, working her muscles, getting her body into the right condition to work out.
Jase moved around her, touching her and changing her posture a couple of times.
“Very good. I’m impressed.”
She couldn’t help but smile.
“So, I’d like to get us warmed up first. We’re going to head out into the main part of the gym. I’m thinking we start with the treadmill first, get you used to momentum. What do you think?”
“You’re the boss.”
She followed him out to the main gym. There were a lot of people and Aria tuned them all out. Jase must have known how nervous she was as he chose a treadmill in the far corner, which she was thankful for. He waited for her to climb onto the treadmill and she held onto the side, per his instructions.
“We’re going to start with a gentle walk,” he said, keying some numbers into the treadmill.
She began to walk as soon as it started to move. One foot in front of the other. It wasn’t a fast walk and she didn’t know how long this one took before he pressed the numbers on the button. She wasn’t out of breath yet, but it wasn’t like they were going fast either.
By the third tempo change, Aria started to feel a little breathless but she kept up with the force of the treadmill. Jase stood, watching her. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. Did he find her disgusting too?
