This Isn't Working Out

If I Run in My Dreams, Does That Count as Exercise?

A few weeks later, Lily slid into the booth across from Elizabeth. "Sorry I'm late," she said breathlessly. "I swear this woman is impossible. Every story she tells me takes hours." Lily was currently ghostwriting a memoir for a woman in her eighties who seemed to remember every detail of her life and wanted it all written down exactly as she described it. It was going to be a very long book.

"No worries," said Elizabeth, "I brought a book. Also, Chris was begging me this morning to ask you if you'd forgiven him. You put the fear in God in him when you yelled at him."

"I didn't yell. I was just...stern. And what was he thinking setting me up with that guy?"

"You know Chris, I'm sure he meant well. I doubt he'd ever said more than a few words to him."

"Hmph. That's not making me forgive him any faster. His attempts to set me up are just getting lazy at this point."

The waitress interrupted and they placed their regular orders (salad for Elizabeth and a turkey burger with fries for Lily). The two of them had been meeting at this diner here for lunch since they were in grad school.  Over the years the menu and even the waitresses had stayed the same.

"Fair. But since we both know he can't stand to have anyone mad at him, I've been instructed to offer you a bribe."

"My forgiveness can be bought; go ahead."

Elizabeth slid a piece of paper across the table. "He won three months of weekly personal training sessions through that work retreat. But he already has someone at his gym, so he told me to give them to you."

"Because I love exercising so much?" Lily would never describe herself as "outdoorsy" or someone who enjoyed sweating—or running—or lifting heavy things.

"It was my suggestion. You're the one who said your back's been killing you lately. And that you wanted to start exercising."

"Well, more like I wanted to want to."

"These are free. C'mon, you love free things. And you'll make Chris so happy if you accept his peace offering."

"All right, but tell your husband his match-making days are over."

"I think you've made that clear."

Later when Lily was back on her computer, trying to figure out what amount of minutiae cutting would make the woman's story readable, she glanced down and saw the sheet of paper Elizabeth had given her.

"Bodies by Ben – personal training tailored to you"

Elizabeth was right in saying Lily had been talking a lot about wanting to do some exercise. It wasn't about looking a sort of way, just that writing meant she spent a lot of time sitting at the computer, and the older she got, the more her body ached when she stood up at the end of the day.

The flyer had both his phone number and his email, and since Lily was mildly phone-phobic, she wrote a quick email to send to him:

Hi Ben –

My friend Chris won three months of training with you through his work and has passed them on to me. Could we set up a time to meet and get started? Thanks!

- Lily

She had a reply from him later that day:

Hi Lily –

Chris told me you would be getting in touch. Let me know when you want to meet. I have a gym we can work out of, or we can do something outside. What are your fitness goals?

- Ben

She wrote back immediately:

Ben –

I have noticed some stiffness lately and want to move a little more often, but nothing too strenuous. It's been a while since I exercised. The weather has been lovely, why don't we meet outside? I work from home, so my schedule is flexible.

- Lily

The next morning there was an email from him waiting for her:

Lily –

Why don't we meet Wednesday at 10:00 AM in the park and go from there? We can do some stretching and talk and maybe take a walk.

- Ben

Lily wrote the meeting down in her calendar and went back to trying to make a twelve-page anecdote about the woman's second-grade spelling bee more interesting.