Passion's Instinct

Seventy

Natalie

As soon as I opened my eyes on a lazy Saturday morning, I was jolted wide awake from the sound of a loudspeaker with Hayden's voice coming through it like a referee or a sports coach.

"Get up, get up, get out of bed, it's gonna be a productive day today!" He walked in our room, wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, dressed for the day.

He ripped the sheets off of me, and I reached out to grab them back, but they were all on the floor, to far to reach.

Groaning, I turned over in bed, lying on my stomach and burying my face in my pillow. "Since when have you been --"

Before I could say anything, Hayden lifted me and set my in front of my closet, propping me up so I was standing. "Get dressed, Natalie." He started out the door, but turned back around briefly. "Make sure to dress in something athletic. Oh, and Natalie -- I expect you to be downstairs in five minutes." And with that, he shut the door behind him, leaving me to stare at where he'd just been, open-mouthed.

Hayden had always said he wanted to try a day where we would... I don't know, I guess be the opposite of lazy, because when we weren't doing anything (rarely), we just sat around. I just didn't think he would be this hardcore about it.

Thank goodness the kids were gone at their grandparents' house, or else they would be whining and complaining like crazy. But I guess Hayden let them off easy and planned it like that on purpose.

I opened my closet doors, scanning my collection of clothes. They ranged from the fanciest dresses to sweatpants, and in the middle was a pair of calf-length leggings and a racerback tee. I pulled them on as well as my socks and tennis shoes, threw my hair up into a ponytail, and ran downstairs, meeting Hayden in the kitchen.

"Hey, beautiful," he said, smiling. He handed me a plate of eggs and fruit, as well as toast with jelly and juice. "A hearty breakfast starts your day full of energy."

"Thanks," I said, eyeing him suspiciously and taking the plate and glass of juice from him. "So, what's up with all of this... I don't know..."

"What? Being productive?" he asked, his sunglasses-covered eyes following me as I sat down at the bar in the kitchen.

"I guess. Well, I mean, we usually are productive..."

"Not on lazy doing-nothing Saturdays we aren't. I wanted to get you motivated."

"I'm --"

"Meet you out front for a run in ten," he said, cutting me off. He ran off towards the front door and walked out, shutting it behind him.

"I'm not even hungry," I mumbled to myself, setting my plate on the bar top and heading outside. I stood beside Hayden, who was down on the ground doing push-ups.

"One hundred! One hundred one, one hundred two..." he counted. He looked up at me and smiled. "Hey, look who came early!" he said, his white teeth catching the sunlight.

I shook my head at him, my arms crossed as I looked down at him. "You're full of it."

"Yeah?" Hayden patted the ground beside him. "Why don't you come try?"

"Fine," I said coolly. I dropped to the ground and started doing push-ups, in what I thought was perfect form.

"That a girl. Good job, Natalie. I'm impressed," Hayden commented as he stood above me. I was confident until I reached twenty. It all went down from there.

At twenty five (really half push-ups), I stood up, breathing hard. "I'm sorry, Hayden, I can't --"

"Nah, don't worry about it. You're good," he said with a wave of his hand.