Page 84 of The Weight Of It All
She chuckled. “It won’t be that bad.”
“Oh well, it’s not the actual run that scares me now. My best friend wants to meet Reed on Sunday.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. I should ask him if he has a mouthguard and shin pads. I don’t think he’ll need them, and truthfully Anika’s not a violent person. I’m sure she’ll love him. She’s just protective of me, that’s all.”
Emily nodded slowly, while trying not to smile. “I’m pretty sure Reed can hold his own.”
“Reed can hold his what?” Reed asked from beside us. His smile was as much curious as it was cautious. “Do I even want to know what you’re talking about?”
I tried to reassure him. “Oh, it’s not that bad. Do you have life insurance?”
He blanched. “Uh…”
Emily laughed. “Maybe I should go for backup.”
By now Reed was looking a little lost and a bit scared, so I explained, “Anika wants to meet you, that’s all.”
“Oh,” he said with a relieved exhale. “Yeah of course. That’s fine. When?”
“Sunday, after the Bay Run of death. Look at it this way,” I added, “if I do happen to die before I finish, you’ll be off the hook.”
Reed laughed and led me toward the treadmills. “You’re not going to die. And if it makes you feel any better, I had to answer a hundred questions about you to my folks. I’m not saying you’ll need a mouthguard when you meet my mum, just that she can make the Spanish Inquisition look like amateurs day.”
Before I could really process that he was talking about memeeting his parents, he hit the Start button on the treadmill and made me run three kilometres. Then I had to do a fifty-calorie climb on the elliptical, and then he made me drag my sweaty, lifeless body over to the free weights for a cool-down.
“You’re really focused today,” he said. He was looking at me weirdly. “You okay?”
I puffed, still trying to catch my breath. “Focused? Um, no, just trying not to die.”
He smiled, apparently able to read me better than I thought. “I told my mum we weren’t ready for that just yet. I told her if she absolutely had to meet you today, I would have no problem with that, but maybe we could just go at our own pace. She was happy then.”
“Oh.”
“That okay?”
I nodded. My breathing had steadied somewhat. “Yeah. Perfect. Actually, my mum might have said something similar, but I just didn’t go there. I mean, you have technically met her, but not in a boyfriend capacity. That still sounds kinda weird to say out loud, just so you know. But if you really want me to introduce you to her, she waits at the Nespresso café in the city for George Clooney every Sunday.”
He burst out laughing. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“So you’re really okay with meeting Anika? I promise she’ll be on her best behaviour.”
“Henry, it’s fine.” He checked his watch. “But you better get to work.”
“We still on for dinner tonight?”
“Hell yes. Pasta and a movie with you. Sounds perfect. Though I do have to be at work by six tomorrow morning, so I’ll need to be in bed pretty early.”
I cleared my throat. “I have no problem with that.”
He was still smiling when I left.
Sunday morning came around too fast.I woke up part excited, part dreading what I was about to do. I’d never imagined I would attempt a seven kilometre anything, but there I was doing ridiculous things like eating a sensible breakfast and pulling on my running shoes. I had trust in Reed’s expertise and his faith in me to be able to do this. But just to be on the safe side, I took a final look around my house and watered the plants in case I was hospitalised for any length of time.
I called into the gym to pick Reed up. He was just finishing up his session with Nadia, who had graciously swapped with me so Reed would be free to do the Bay Run.
“Good luck, Henry,” Nadia said as she was leaving.
