Autumn in Philadelphia Trilogy

The Return: Chasing the Past

"You can lose your way groping among the shadows of the past. It's frightening how many people and things there are in a man's past that have stopped moving.

― Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Journey to the End of the Night

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Topanga did not enjoy Pilates. It was too slow. Sunday Pilates was even slower.

With a high-paced, high-stress job, she needed something that would allow her to burn off all that stress and frustration so that her family did not suffer because of it.

Pilates did not do this for her. She tried multiple times to give the fitness program a chance. But it just couldn't replace her beloved spin class which allowed her to go as fast and as hard as she needed to for as long as she needed to.

At least this time around, she had a mission to focus on and that helped, but not as much as she hoped it would.

She managed to get a place next to Katherine who was surprisingly quick to welcome a newcomer to class. Topanga was expecting her to be cold and distant. Katherine quickly ushered her into a group of women who had themselves established in the center of the room where they cooed and clucked over her as though she was a rare oddity.

Topanga didn't know what to make of this.

She was also surprised the woman did not recognize her.

To be on the safe side, she introduced herself as Tippy Lawrence. Katherine and her friends warmed to her immediately when they heard her name. They got her confused with a yoga instructor and Topanga did not correct them. She was safe as long as they didn't ask her to lead a yoga class. She lasted longer in Pilates than she did in yoga.

They were only five minutes into the class and Topanga was afraid she might scream. When the TheraBand mat flow began, she couldn't concentrate and got tangled in the band. Katherine was swiftly by her side to help.

After what Topanga was convinced was an eternity, the class ended. And Katherine invited her out to a local smoothie bar with the group from the class.

"Tippy" said yes and sent her husband a quick text to let him know where she was going.

If Topanga was out of place in the Pilates class, she was even more out of place in the smoothie bar. The clientele was much older than she was, very rich, and very self-indulgent. No wonder she never ventured into the place. Its vibe was completely at odds with hers.

Another thing that put her off was the gossip. This wasn't a fun, tell-me-a-juicy story type of gossip. It was mean, critical, and mocking. The women around her pulled up pictures on their phone of other women and some men to snark on them and judge them.

"Tippy" played along, but Topanga was seething at the nastiness.

"Well, I don't have a picture," Katherine said casually with a slight smirk, "but I can tell you that little Audrey's youth has just about run out. After this last kid, there is no way she'll get her body back. Can you imagine what she must look like after six kids? Jon'll be looking elsewhere in no time."

The women at the table cackled and it was all Topanga could do not to put her hands on the woman for being derisive about a member of her family.

But "Tippy" held her back and played along just enough to keep her in the group's good graces.

As the other women began to pile onto to Audrey, her phone rang.

Topanga froze.

At the beginning of the meal, everyone put their phone in the center of the table so the temptation to constantly check it was minimized. Her phone was sitting right in front of Katherine and the name Audrey Turner was lighting up the screen.