Apartment 311

Ch | 67

Noah Silas Anderson

Chapter Sixty-seven: "Guess who's coming to dinner"

"-If I don't have a six pac when I leave here, you're fired as my personal trainer," Dad went on.

I helped him put weight on the machine in Frank's gym and let him complain.

Dad was serious about getting back fit after rehab. He was thin, but not scrawny or unhealthy, and not as jacked as he used to be. So, I had him come to the gym and work out with me.

"Yeah, yeah. Just do what I say, old man."

He laughed and drank some water first.

Frank walked by and slapped my hand as he talked with a client.

"Who's that?" asked my father, Rick.

I turned back to him and said, "That's Frank, the owner. He's cool, helped me a lot."

"When I wasn't around?"

I dropped my head. "Yeah," I said quietly.

"Don't do that," Dad said, "don't get all quiet now. I didn't mean it like that, I'm sure he's a good man. Come on, tell me something."

I laughed at him. "Tell you what, man?"

"I don't know, something! How's school?"

"Almost over, thank Jesus!"

"I'm proud, good job. You still into P.T., right?"

"Yeah, I like it, I don't see it changing anytime soon."

"Good, I can see you're pretty good with this stuff," he complimented, dabbing sweat from his forehead with a gym towel.

"How was your week with Em?" I asked.

"I missed her so much, Noah. I can't wait to have her back full time, but she loves Cassie's. That's all she says 'I have a room at Cassie's house.'" He said and we laughed faintly together.

"Yeah, Cassie loves her, too - we all do," I smiled, checking my phone to see Brooklyn was calling me.

I excused myself from my conversation with my father and smiled when I heard her speak.

"Hey, baby," she said.

"Hey, girl, what you doing?"

"I'm in Walgreens, just wanted to see if you needed anything," Brooklyn spoke in the phone.

"Not that I can think of, but thank you, though."

"You don't have to thank me, dummy," she giggled, making me smile bigger. "Okay, I have to go, I'm next in line. See you later?"

"You better," I replied.

Brooklyn giggled again in the phone and then hung up first. I sighed and turned back to my father who was staring at me with this crooked smile.

"What?" I chuckled, situating myself on the seat so I could start lifting.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just waiting for your slow ass to finish this rep," he played, making me laugh.

*

"So, any new advancements in your, uh, relationship?" asked my father as we drove back to his house.