Chapter 45 : All That Blooms

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Sweat dripped out of Amanda's skin. Her muscles heated up as she lifted ten pounds of hexagon weights.

"Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Good!"

Her personal trainer, Jimmy had been monitoring her fitness progress ever since she moved to New York.

"Go hydrate yourself, Mandy. Let's switch to lunges in ten. Be right back".

Amanda nodded — catching her breath as she walked over to her area to grab a bottle of water.

"Ahhh, I hate weights. I should've done Pilates instead. Now my arms are sore", Belle approached and looked at the Thai beauty queen.

"Grow your bubble, Bernadette. It's nice to mix it up", Amanda chuckled.

Belle shrugged.

"Hey", the Singaporean nudged the Thai's arm. "I've met someone". She grinned.

"No kidding?", Amanda's mouth agape - she sat on a bench while wiping off her sweat with a pink face towel.

Belle nodded. "Met him two weeks ago in a club", she chuckled. "Things are going quite well to be honest —— me thinks he's a gem".

"Two weeks? Why are you telling me this just now?"

The Singaporean smiled, "as if I'd bother you with my none-sense dating adventures considering these past few weeks have been too stressful for you. Besides, it's too early to tell".

"You look excited though", Amanda flashed a broad grin that reached her eyes.

Her friend batted her eyelashes. "I am. I'll let you meet him next week".

Suddenly, their attention shifted to two good-looking women who were walking out of the locker area. The blonde one helped carry the other woman's gym bag— and in return, got a quick kiss on the lips from the brunette beside her.

Amanda frowned and turned around to place her water bottle on a shelf with her small towel.

The Singaporean felt her friend's abrupt mood shift. "Hey, everything okay?"

The Thai beauty queen nodded slowly, "I just wish people—".

She sighed

"— never mind".

Belle pursed her lips and looked at the women who were about to leave the fitness gym, before shifting her gaze back to her now silent friend.

She patted the Thai's arm.

"I just hope we could be like a normal couple you know. I thought being out would give me more freedom — like how Vee is living her life — carefree, so out there looking for new adventures".

Amanda held her head down. "How ironic is it — I'm out and free, but I still can't even express what I wanna do nor what I wanna say without consequences".

Belle exhaled out loud, "it's a pity how the world can be so unfair and cruel to us sometimes. We do everything, and yet, gives us shit. I think I'd be an emo punk if it weren't for my old man. One day he told me, if I have dreams or an ambition, even if it were tiny ones, I cannot stop at the bottom of the rocky mountain, because I wouldn't be able to reach the summit if the path going up was smooth - he said people would slide down easily if there's no challenge. The rocks we step on are like the stairs we can use to climb up. The very next day, I took a couple of friends up Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines for a hike - we almost died from exhaustion", the Singaporean giggled.

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