Chapter 6 : A Different Kind of Workout

*Ava's POV*

Nothing’s better than a day off work. I got to sleep in and take my time eating breakfast and getting ready for the day. Not having to rush around my condo to start my day is a relief. The only thing on the schedule for today is Yoga with Ellie. It was her idea, something new to start that is healthy and time spent on self-care.

Ellie has work tonight, so I get to spend the evening in my comfy clothes vegging on the couch. As I put on my Yoga pants and an oversized T-shirt my thoughts play through yesterday’s interaction with Seymore Lewis. The man is handsome and personable, something you don't see often in the opposite sex.

“Ava!” Ellie calls from the living room. “Are you ready?”

“I’m getting dressed, I’ll be ready in a minute,” I yell down the hall.

A few moments later, Ellie comes through my bedroom door with an energy that almost knocks me over. It doesn’t bother me, we’re best friends after all. We share changing rooms at the shopping mall and I don’t have anything she hasn’t seen before. Ellie flops onto my bed and starts complaining right away.

“That guy that lives below you is such a dick!” she huffs.

“Adam? Really? Why do you say that?” I ask, pulling my sports bra over my head and tugging it into place.

“Every time I run into him he ignores me. Unless you’re around, he doesn’t give me the time of day. I mean, look at me,” she says, gesturing up and down her body.

I must admit, it surprises me he ignores her. Ellie’s stunning, to say the least. Her slim figure adds to her height, gaining a lot of curious glances from both men and women around the city. She works as a bartender and makes more money than I do. Her blond hair curls just right, and I can’t ever remember her having a bad hair day. She is effortlessly breathtaking.

Her blue eyes spark as she pouts on the bed. “I just don’t get it. I’m a snack, and I practically throw myself at him any time I see him. What am I doing wrong?” she asks with another huff.

“You’re asking me?” I retort, pulling the oversized T-shirt over my head. “You do remember the last relationship I had, right?”

Ellie waves her hand in the air in a dismissive manner. “You were bullied by your father into that. If he hadn’t encouraged that mess it never would have happened,” she snaps.

She isn’t wrong. My father had set up the first date and really pushed me to be with Conner. Telling me all the time that we can work through any problems and that I shouldn’t be negative all the time. I shake my head, trying to get the thoughts of Conner to go away. I don’t want him running another promising day out.

“Maybe you need to try ignoring him. Maybe if you don’t give him your attention he will talk to you. Some guys really like the chase, you know?” I reply, thinking about Seymore again.

“What’s that look for?” Ellie asks, pushing herself to the edge of my bed.

“What look?” I ask, trying to fix my face.

“That look of longing you just had on your face. Do you have a secret, Ava? Spill, now,” she says, jumping off the bed and following me out of the room.

“It’s nothing, really. At least, I think it’s nothing,” I say quickly, trying to move us out of the doorway so I can close and lock it.

Ellie isn’t buying it. She’s like a shark who gets a whiff of blood, she won't give up till she finds the source.

“Oh my God, Ava. Tell me, or I’m going to die,” she whines as we walk down the hall.

“You’re so dramatic!” I reply with a giggle. “I was just thinking about an interaction with Seymore Lewis yesterday. I think he was asking for my number, but I don’t know for sure.”

Ellie stops in her tracks. Lucky for me we are already at the elevator and I don’t need to drag her the rest of the way.

“Excuse me?” she snaps. “How do you not know if a billionaire asked you for your phone number?”

The doors slide open and we step inside. I wait for them to close before I continue.

“Well, he asked for my personal number. I didn’t know what to say, so I just stared at him like he had two heads. I couldn’t imagine why he would want my number. Before I could ask, he said something about calling after hours. So I explained we have an answering service,” I explain with a smile.

“So he goes to the office and talks with Dr. Davies?” she asks in shock.

“Well, yes. I don’t know exactly what he’s being seen for, but I know odds are it's addiction-related,” I reply. “He’s kind of funny and sweet. I normally can’t stand people who have more money than humanly possible, but there’s something about him that’s different.”

I realize I’m defending Seymore, and I don’t understand why. It’s not like he’s my boyfriend and I’m trying to get Ellie to see we’re deeply in love. He’s a man who asked for my number without showing any other interest in me personally. Maybe it was a pity play on his part? An act strictly meant to make me feel better about myself. I’m not the kind of woman who gets a whole lot of attention. I’m curvy and a little short, not the kind of person guys are chasing after.

“Oh, no, don’t do that,” Ellie scolds as the elevator doors let us out into the lobby. “Don’t get all up in your head a start putting yourself down because your ex was an ass-hat,” she lectures.

I love my bestie. She can read me so well and it keeps me in check.

“Today is about us getting out there and having a good time sweating it out with other desperate single women,” she adds with a laugh.

We step out onto the street, and I love that the sun is out and the weather is warmer than usual. The Yoga class is taking place at an event center down the street. I enjoy living where I do, it makes it easy to avoid having to drive around in London traffic. The trees along the street are starting to bud. In another couple of weeks, there will be beautiful pink flowers popping out to greet the sun.

As we walk along, Ellie carries on about some college guys who came into the bar the other night. She had made a week's worth of pay in one night as she flirted them out of all their money. We walk past the giant glass window that looks into the building and head for the front door. I notice a group of women standing in the back of the room as we pass.

“Okay, talk about a popular class,” Ellie says as we walk in.

After depositing our bags on a bench, we head over to the exercise mats and pick two empty ones in the back of the class. There is a group of about seven women in the front of the room speaking loud and obnoxiously. If I had to guess, I would say they were the popular girls in school. Ellie looks at me and rolls her eyes as we do some warmup stretches.

Ellie gasps while looking somewhere behind me. I turn and immediately understand why the class is so popular. An adonis of a man makes his way across the room from somewhere in the building.

“Hello, ladies,” he hollers excitedly as he moves. “My name’s Roland, and I see some new faces here today.”

The man is a tall drink of water, wearing only a skin-tight pair of Yoga shorts and a smile. His dirty blond hair is a little long, so he has it tied back in a short ponytail. There isn’t an ounce of fat on his body and every muscle bulges as he does some warmup stretches. The popular girls in the front of the room flirt shamelessly with him as we get ready to do some Yoga.

I have to stifle a laugh as Ellie mouths “What the fuck” at me from her mat. I will say that Roland is a wonderful teacher. Ellie pretends to struggle more than she should so he will come over to assist her into some of the positions. It’s amusing, and I don’t think the guy cares at all. He appears to enjoy helping her stretch into a pretzel.

By the time the class comes to an end, the two of us are sold. It looks like we will be spending at least one day a week drooling over Roland and his perfect body. Many of the women stay after to ask Roland about his technique, but Ellie and I dip out as soon as we collect our things. She brought her work clothes with her, already set on taking a shower at my place before going right to the bar.

“You don’t want to stay and ask Roland how he feels about downward dog?” I tease as we walk out.

Ellie laughs and gives me a gentle shove. “I think I’ll wait till next week. Besides, someone told me it’s better to play hard to get. Some men like doing the chasing,” she replies with a smile.

There’s a street stand selling cool drinks parked right outside the building, and Ellie pulls me toward it. They have quite a variety of smoothies to choose from, yet another healthy choice to add to our self-care routine.

I order a strawberry spinach blend and glance around as Ellie places her order. She will pay, as I already covered the Yoga class for both of us. While she indecisively pours over her options, my eyes land on someone across the street. It looks like my ex, but I can’t be sure. He’s standing in the shadow of the building just staring at us. I take a step closer as a street trolley rattles past.

“Miss, your drink is ready,” a woman working the cart says, causing me to turn around.

I take my drink from her and turn back to find the other sidewalk empty. Had I just imagined him?

Ellie finishes getting her drink and we hurry toward my condo. I can’t help but keep looking around as we walk, afraid Conner may pop out of an alley or shop.

“What’s wrong?” Ellie asks.

“Nothing, I was just hoping to run into someone,” I reply.

I know lying to her isn’t the right thing, but the last time we hung out and ran into Conner she lost her mind. The whole night had been ruined and I had to listen to her talk nonstop about my ex and what a dog he is.

“You’re looking for Seymore, aren’t you?” she teases as we reach the building and head inside.

I smile at the thought of running into him. Seymore Lewis is growing on me with little to no effort on his part. I haven’t been this interested in a guy since before Conner. Is this what it’s like to have a crush on someone?

We hurry up the stairs toward the third floor. It’s usually faster than taking the elevator, but not today. We are both feeling the effects of Roland’s workout, and it isn’t doesn’t feel as good as I’d hoped it would. I’ll have to jump in a hot shower later, or maybe even a bath. The man had said to use ice if we experienced any stiffness, but I’ll opt for a hot bubble bath instead.

I unlock the door and Ellie rushes off to the shower. She only has about thirty minutes before she needs to clock in for the night shift. I flop onto the couch, my body punishing me for working muscles I hadn’t known I had. Fifteen minutes later I find myself engrossed in a murder mystery. Ellie flies down the hall in a black mini-skirt, hot pink low-cut crop top, and heels. Her hair looks amazing and she smells like cinnamon and spice.

“Damn,” I tease, followed by a whistle. “Hoping to work more money out of the college boys?” I ask with a wink.

“You know it,” she replies with a smile. “I’ll give you a call tomorrow and we can set up what day we’re doing Yoga next week. Love ya,” she says before blowing me a kiss and rushing out the door.

I slowly make my way over to the front window and pull the curtains back. I manage to catch Ellie pulling out of her parking spot and taking off down the street. Before I step away, my eyes land on a man across the street from my building. This time I’m sure of it. The man is, without a doubt, Conner.