Curves | ONC 2020 Shortlist

22. Juliana Asks Questions

As Juliana guided Danielle on the proper form for muscle isolation, she couldn't help feeling a little sad. Just yesterday she'd been looking forward to Jenny showing up for her appointment, and the next thing she knew, she had reassigned her to someone else.

All because of this woman.

She couldn't help feeling a bit of resentment, although she should probably thank her. The feelings she had for Jenny were inappropriate, so it was better not to keep working with her.

Juliana was curious though, how a sweet girl like Jenny had ended up with an aggressive woman like Danielle. How long had they been together? The urge to interview Danielle about the relationship was almost overwhelming, but she couldn't betray Jenny like that. She wasn't even sure if Danielle knew Jenny patronized this gym.

"Not much of a talker, are you?" Danielle asked, hardly out of breath from her workout. "What does your girlfriend think about that?"

Juliana stiffened, not eager to talk about herself. "What makes you think I have a girlfriend?"

"Just a feeling. You are into girls, right?"

Juliana wasn't about to have this discussion. "How long have you been with your girlfriend? You followed her to this city, right?"

Danielle's face brightened. "Yup, five months. I don't regret it for a second. So glad City Fitness has a branch here."

"What's she like?" Juliana asked before the other woman could throw more questions at her.

"Simone?" A dreamy smile transformed Danielle's face into a softer version of herself. Almost like another person. "She's sharp. Ambitious. Beautiful. Recently started with Rios, Aku and Jones. You know, the big law firm? Huge clients."

Juliana had never heard of them. "Uh-huh."

"So proud of her. That'll be me one day."

"Would you say she's your usual type?" Juliana ventured.

Danielle gave her a curious glance. "That's an interesting question. I like it." She gave it some thought. "I'd say yes. I've always liked my women smart. And good-looking," she added with a wink.

Is that why you're in the habit of giving gym memberships as birthday presents? Juliana wanted to ask. "What caused some of your past relationships to fail?" she asked instead.

Danielle winced, pausing with the weight in midair. "Fail is such an ugly word, isn't it? I like to think of it more like a learning experience. Each one taught me something."

"Like what?"

The woman raised an eyebrow. "You're full of questions today."

Juliana gulped. This really was odd behavior for her. She thought fast. "I'm just, uh, experiencing issues."

"Care to share?"

"Not really."

"Pity." Danielle resumed lifting. "Some of them didn't work because the person wasn't who I thought she was. Others wanted different things than I did. I think I learned more about what I wanted after figuring out what I didn't want."

Juliana nodded. "Makes sense."

"Does that help? With your issues?"

"A little. Thanks." Juliana had more questions than ever, but dared not continue. In the end, it didn't really matter. Jenny was in Natalie's hands now.

Today we're going to try something different. We're going to work out a different finger! No, not that one. Put your middle finger away. I meant a different voting finger. Like your pinky!