Shadows of Hope

Chapter 4

"Please Faith, this client is very important to me. If tonight goes well I could be looking at paying for the whole Maui vacation: your part too!" Clasping her hands together she pulls them into her chest and lasers me with a puppy dog gaze, pouting out her lower lip and widening those big eyes.

Her attempt to bribe me won't work but it does elicit the smile she is hoping for. "I'm not Andre, the pouty lip doesn't affect me."

Fluttering her hands up in the air before placing them on her hips, she drops the act. "Look, Faith, if you won't do it for vacation then maybe..." Tossie's attempt to convince me a grueling hour of personal training is a treasure in disguise is squelched when a male voice from behind me pierces the air.

"Natasha, there you are. I'm ready for our session." Smooth as velvet, the melodic voice conveys a hint of Southern twang.

Abruptly, as if someone has turned on a vacuum, all of the air is sucked out of my lungs. My entire body stiffens, fingernails digging painfully into my palms. Closing my eyes, I refuse to turn around because that would mean I'm acknowledging that this is no dream. No, I am very much awake.

Fuming, I contemplate an untimely demise for my cousin. I can't believe she set this up knowing how I feel about him.

"Great! I was just telling Faith how generous it is of you to allow her to be your workout partner today." An elbow shoved into my ribs is enough to force my eyes to spring open. Tossie threatens me with a glacier gaze not to mess this up. Unwilling to look like a complete fool or come off as a royal witch, I paste on the artificial smile that most people can't recognize as a forgery. Swinging around, I face the one person I can't seem to escape: Zade Parks.

"Faith." The smile he spares in my direction has probably made legions of women buckle at the knees, waiting to be carried off into the sunset by Cowboy Charming. Not me though. Nope, absolutely not interested.

"Mr. Parks" I reply, relieved to find my voice steady, not one ounce breathless.

"So you know who I am. Couldn't resist looking me up could you?" Having the audacity to wink at me before walking side-by-side with Tossie toward the smaller weight room, Zade struts around as if he owns the place.

Growling under my breath, I drag my feet, my temporary calm snuffed out like a fire doused with water. Moving up beside me, a ginger-haired man whom I can only describe as the Hulk II, flashes me his own drool-worthy grin. "You'll have to excuse my man Zade. Stars in one measly movie and all of the sudden he believe he's irresistible to everyone."

A small chuckle escapes without my permission. "I think we should call a doctor to prescribe one dose humility and two doses reality. Maybe that would fix the symptoms of over-inflated egotism."

"Ouch, one deflated ego courtesy of nurse Faith coming stat. Any follow-up for that prescription?" This easy banter is comfortable, reminding me of the jokes my older brother Shane and I traded during late night camp outs.

"Monthly check-ups until the ego is deflated and stable."

"Man, this is going to be good. Should have brought some popcorn for the show" he murmurs before holding the door open for me as we follow my cousin and Zade into the long mirrored room. Suddenly I am thankful we are the only ones using the weight room for the hour. Less people to embarrass myself in front of.

Directing us to set down our bottles and towels, Natasha jumps right into a 5 minute warm-up before explaining that we will be doing some weight training combined with HIIT training. "These high intensity intervals will help blast fat, protect your heart, and build up stamina. We will also be completing a round of partner exercises." Clapping her hands eagerly, she blasts some pop music through the speakers and starts us off with some weighted exercises followed by some rapid ballistic moves.