Let Me In

Chapter 8

I was up bright and early the next day; it was a fine, sunny, Sunday morning. I had an early shift at work and was now running on the treadmill after my class; I felt a little guilty for missing my classes on Friday. I was going out for lunch - and dinner - today; even more reason to exercise.

I loved the feeling I got from pounding away on the treadmill. Sweating and aching, my music blasting away in my ears; I pushed my body to its limits. My eyes closed - I felt like I was the only person on the planet. It was intense. It was my release.

I opened my eyes to reach for my water bottle and touched Dave's chest. The shock of finding him at the end of my treadmill, and from actually touching him, caused me to lose synchronicity with the machine. I wobbled a little as I struggled to steady myself. I reached for the controls to slow to a stop. Dave grinned as he spoke.

"I'm sorry?" I panted, pulling my earphones from my ears. I'd been running for thirty minutes.

"I said, you look hot."

He leant on my machine and rested his chin on his arms. I wasn't sure which way to take that. I was sure that was his intention.

"That's exercise for you," I replied sarcastically, wiping the dripping sweat from my face with my towel before draping it over the handrail of the treadmill.

Dave reached for my towel. He brought it to his face and buried his nose and mouth in it before inhaling deeply. He slowly placed the towel back on the handrail and gave me a wink. He then headed out of the gym.

I stood aghast, not able to believe what I'd just seen. Did he really just do that? Did he really just sniff my sweaty towel?

"Hey, baby girl. What's with the blow-up doll look? You need to close your mouth a little if you want to get your breathing right when running."

G's comment brought me back to the present and I closed my gaping mouth. Grabbing his arm, I pulled him over.

"You are never going to believe what just happened."

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I couldn't wait for lunch so that I could tell Nic about my encounter with Dave. G was too busy laughing to have any kind of sympathy or useful advice. I hoped a female friend might prove more helpful. I'd also told her a little about the previous night with Joe; she was therefore itching to get all the dirt.

Our favourite American diner was our venue of choice, and we met outside. I loved it, not just for the food, but also the booths, all the old pictures, and that they played The Rat Pack in the background. I loved the '50s. I sometimes wondered if I'd been born in the wrong era.

The bell rang as we walked through the door and a tall, dark, handsome waiter walked over to greet us.

"Mai! Long time, no see. How's things?"

I gave Nic a questioning look. She looked back at me blankly. She didn't know him either.

"I'm good, thanks."

"It's Andy. We met at Daisy's a few weeks ago. We went back to your place to..."

"Andy! Yeah," I interrupted, "I remember now."

I did remember him. We'd had a great time: drinking, dancing, then back to my house for some fun. I woke up to find him making us breakfast. Then he used my shower and made arrangements to come back for dinner later that day. It kind of scared me - made me feel like we were a couple. I had to tell him that we wouldn't be seeing each other again. I think he was quite gutted.

We all looked awkwardly at each other. Nic's eyes ping-ponged between the two of us and she had a big grin on her face.

Andy eventually broke the silence and handed us each a menu. "Let me show you to your table."