The Girl in the Gym

Gal-pal

Determined to continue to make a difference in his life, he hailed Lokesh, who was also on his way back from the juice bar. He was clutching three green juices in his hands and walking slowly to avoid spillage.

"Hey, need some help with that?" he yelled.

Lokesh's head shot up, and he smiled once he had spotted Jack on the lawn. "Taking these for Suma and Dhruva. Want to join us?" asked Lokesh.

"Yeah, I'd love to. Can bud come too?" Jack asked.

"Of course man, he can totally come."

Jack scooped up Bud and took an extra juice cup from Lokesh and they started walking to the other side of the lawn. They were met with cheers. The other two had grown even leaner than Jack remembered, and there were a lot more smiles going around. Suma was singing some Hindi song which Jack didn't know, and Dhruva was tapping beats on his water bottle.

Jack approached them slowly while Lokesh sat down cross-legged, handing the others their juices and taking his from Jack's outstretched hand. Suma waved at him but continued singing until Lokesh pushed her over. She retaliated by punching him on his back.

"Jack! How are you?" she asked. "Did you enjoy Goa?"

"Oh yes, I did, terribly. There's honestly no other place like it," he answered.

They continued to regale him with questions about his trip to Goa. Did he learn to surf? Did he try the famous feni, a local drink made from cashews? Did he go kayaking and parasailing?

Laughing, Jack answered all their questions one by one. They had all been to Goa before coming to Zero Bulge and had also gone to the naturopathy centre there. But it was evident that none of them had quite the experience that Jack had had.

"Looks like Inaya gave you quite the fun tour," said Dhruva slyly, winking at the others. That instantly put Jack on the defensive. "No, no. It was nothing like that. I kept pestering her to take me around. There was nothing like that," he said. He must have looked as flustered as he was feeling because the other didn't take up that vein of conversation again.

Desperately trying to change the subject he admitted that he had got a tattoo inked while he was in Goa. They immediately demanded to see it. Unsure, Jack lifted his t-shirt and twisted around so that they could see his back.

"Wow!" exclaimed Lokesh. "That's some fine artwork you got there."

"It lotus your favourite flower?" asked Suma.

"No, it represents rebirth or reincarnation according to Buddhist teachings. It seemed apt for me," he said.

"Did you know that it is the national flower of India?" asked Suma.

Jack shook his head, "No, I didn't. Really? That's amazing!"

"So what's new with you guys?"

The conversation flowed between them easily, and none of them realised that it was almost time for dinner. Apart from their training, they were all doing something else too. Suma had been practising her singing so that she could enter herself into a famous, televised singing contest. Lokesh was preparing for an international marathon Dhruva was selected for the trainer program for Zero Bulge itself. They were all excited for their future and Jack was happy for them. Even though his future seemed as certain as soft clay. They were all totally enamoured of Bud. When he woke up, they all took turns rubbing his belly and scratching his ears. Bud, on his part, was only too happy with all the attention he was getting, and yipped joyfully.

"Let's go for dinner, guys. We'll miss it entirely if we don't leave now," Dhruva suggested.

They all made to get up and Jack checked his phone. There were no messages from Inaya. They usually had all meals together. Maybe she had already had dinner or was waiting for him and he hadn't turned up. That very thought made him feel slightly ashamed, he should have told her that he was with friends. And he couldn't leave them to have dinner with her alone now, not after they had welcomed him so warmly into their fold. She can have dinner with all of us, he thought, with great uncertainty.