New Ways

THIRTY

Sigrid

I spent my free time after my morning shift at Yogasutra that Saturday practicing yoga with Seth and my parents. Yes, this was how my family bonded. Through hours of breathing exercises, stretches and meditation while listening to the calming sound of ocean waves in the background. This was also how my parents maintained their toned and slim bodies in their fifties and how Seth and I maintained our hereditary good physique.

"That's it for today, guys," my father broke the silence after exhaling at the last count of our cooling down breathing routine.

My mom opened her eyes when she was done exhaling at the last count. "Remember that—"

"Healthy plants and trees yield abundant flowers and fruits!" Seth and I said in unison, rolling our eyes. Our parents had always made us say that after we end our family yoga sessions together. Heck, they even made us live by it. One time my mom caught Seth smoking and after she told my dad, both of them punished my brother by making him eat only vegetables and fruits for a month.

I stared at my parents as they both stood up from their mats excitedly. "Where are you guys going?"

"What, I can't have a date night with your mother? It's Saturday for crying out loud, Sig," my dad pointed out and my mom smiled coyly.

"Ew, I'm outta here. Got a plan with the boys," Seth got up too, wiping the sweat away from his forehead with a piece of the studio's towel.

"You mean the boys who graduated while you didn't?" My dad laughed and Seth clicked his tongue, walking away.

"What about you, honey? Got any plans?" My mom asked, a slight amount of concern showing in her voice.

"I don't think so. I guess I'll just Netflix and chill at home. Alone," I emphasised sarcastically.

As I pushed my body up from the ground and unlocked my phone to check for notifications, I saw a text from Amery and sighed.

"Dinner?"

"Sure. What's the plan?"

"You like Japanese cuisine, baby?" My eyes almost shot out of my sockets when I read the last word from that text. Was this a prank? Did the Cellphone Stalker steal her phone again and decided to have some fun with me?

Ever since that day at the museum, Amery certainly had been acting strangely. She was being too nice to me, we were hanging out more often and she would bring me to the coolest places or anywhere I wanted to go. She explained that she was still feeling bad about threatening me at Lloyd's party and wanted to make amends. I told her that all of this was unnecessary and that I only wanted her to un-threaten me so that I could at least have one less thing to worry about in my life. She only replied with a stern 'no' and I never dared to ask her that question again.

When I entered the Japanese restaurant where we were supposed to meet for dinner, Amery was already waiting for me at our reserved table. She looked good in her black off-shoulder dress, but she did appear a bit agitated.

"I'm not late, right? I'm sorry, Am," I said nervously, lowering myself onto the seat opposite her.

"No it's not you. It's Derek," she huffed.

"What happened?"

"It's him and his stupid ideas. Forget it, let's order," she managed to smile at me.

Oh, right. Wasn't I supposed to be doing Derek a favour? Some other time then, I guess.