A Silent Hope

Chapter Two

I walked up and announced my presence. "Good morning."

She lifted her head with a smile, something I remembered her not doing at the club. "Good morning."

I took out my wallet and got the membership card. "I have this."

Her eyes darted to it and she nodded. "Have a good workout. Let me know if you need anything."

"Thanks, I will." I went to leave after putting my card and wallet back, but added. "I'm Mackenzie."

She looked up again, brown eyes blank other than a hint of amusement. "Nice to meet you."

I waited for a name but none came and she didn't wear a name tag. "What's your name? So I know who to ask for if I do need anything."

The left side of her lips twitched just enough for me to notice before disappearing. "Thalia." Was her answer and I smiled at the way she said it. Soft and almost innocent.

"Greek, meaning to flourish. Thalia was the goddess of comedy and poetry." I blurted out and I was happy my blush couldn't show.

"Is that right?" She rocked side to side on her chair, legs clad in trousers crossed and fingers tapping a pen on the desk.

"Yeah. I like names. Mine means 'born of fire.' There's more meanings but that one's my favourite." I placed my hands on the desk surface and smiled. "I'm new to town."

"I know." She replied. "It's a small town and talk gets around. You're the new firefighter, the dare devil from the city."

"They say that about me?" I asked in genuine curiosity.

"Oh, definitely." Thalia gave an exaggerated look of annoyance.

I chuckled at the small playfulness. "I'm not much of a dare devil anymore. I play it safe now."

"Shouldn't you be working out, Mackenzie?" The woman asked after she glanced over my shoulder. "You're holding up my line."

I turned to see two other people behind me. "Oh, sorry. I'm gonna go do that." I walked off, feeling a little embarrassed about my behaviour.

An hour into my workout, I spotted Brian entering the gym. I shook my head when I saw him heading my way, already dreading having to talk to the man again. I was a decent judge of character and I could tell he was no good after that one night at the bar.

"Hey, Mackenzie right?" He said when he reached me.

"Yeah." I went to the leg press machine and ignored him afterwards.

I managed to get through the rest of my workout without being bothered much. Brian seemed rather serious about his as well, except for his blatant stare at women. I knew because he called for my attention every time he saw someone that caught his eyes.

"I can tell you like women. What about her?" He jutted his chin towards Thalia as she sat at her desk.

"Let the woman work." I said while I stretched out my legs.

They were muscular and toned, finally at the size I wanted them and my calves were proportioned to them. I came far from being the fat kid who was made fun of in my younger years. Now at twenty six, I was not only happy with my body, but I accepted it with all its perfect flaws.

"Come on. You can tell me. You'd fuck her, right?" He pushed on with a smirk.

Without answering and ignoring my temper, I got up and headed out. I waved at Thalia before I left and jogged back to my place. I was dying by the time I reached the third floor of the apartment building.

I took out my meal for today's lunch since I meal prepped. I stood in my kitchen and ate the steak cobb salad, washing it down with water. I headed for a shower afterwards, putting my twists in a bun. I tiredly scrubbed my body with the loofah, fatigue becoming too much.

I dried off and fell on my bed butt naked, too sleepy to put on clothes.

I woke up to the loud blaring of my phone. I decided to ignore it but whoever it was kept on calling. Only one person ever did that and if I didn't answer, she'd kill me. The ringing stopped momentarily and I took the time to put on a boxer brief and white tank top, finishing just as the ringing started again.

"Hello?" I answered, still half asleep.

"Mackenzie Jace, what does a mother have to do to get her own daughter to call her?" My mother cried down the line.

"Ma, you don't have to cry because I didn't call for a week." I sighed and fell backwards to lay down. She was so dramatic.

"I had to call you ten times before you even answered me now." She sniffed, like I did the worse thing in the world.

I rubbed my forehead with my eyes closed. "I was asleep, Ma."

"When are you coming home? You better be coming home for your father's birthday, young lady. Oh, that reminds me. I ran into the Carmichaels yesterday and I invited them too. Bella and Julian should be there too." My mother said.

My eyes opened at the mention of her. "I'm not sure, I'll have to see."

"Even your brother is coming. Your sister is out of hand. The girl is sending us crazy..."

She kept going on about my teenage sister's rebellion and sneaking out at night. I closed my eyes and listened to her ramble on, giving little sounds to show I listened.

"Mackenzie, are you even listening to me? You kids are so disrespectful. You grow up and decide you don't need-" She stopped talking and I heard someone else's voice over the phone.

"Mac, honey, how are you?" My dad came on.

The sound of his voice made me feel lighter. "I'm good, Pops. I miss you guys."

"I'm glad to hear that. We miss you too, kido. Listen, don't listen to your mother. There's no need to come here for my birthday, but I do need you here for our anniversary." He calmly requested.

"I'll be there, Pops."

I hung up after bidding them goodbye and crawled under my blanket for more sleep. I really needed more sleep.

-E