Page 86 of The Weight Of It All
She held his gaze. “But you’re making him run this… marathon?”
“It’s not a marathon,” I interjected.
“Yes, I am,” Reed stated proudly. “Because he doubts himself at every turn, and I want to prove to him that he can do it.”
This seemed to please Anika. “Well, good.” Then, not taking her eyes off Reed, she directed her question to Sean. “Did you get everything out of the car, dear?”
Sean rolled his eyes behind her back. “Yes, dear.”
Reed coughed to hide his laugh, and Anika turned to face Sean, but he was saved by someone walking over to us.
“Melinda?” I asked. I couldn’t believe she was here.
She was wearing a knee-length navy plaid skirt, white shirt, and a navy vest, with her usual John Lennon glasses on the end of her nose.
“You don’t think I would let you do this without me being here to watch?” she asked.
“Aw, thank you,” I said. It meant a lot that she was here to support me.
She gave me a small, pleased smile, then looked up at Reed. She was possibly half his size. “And you must be Reed. Just so you know, Henry made me climb four flights of stairs the other day. I almost died, and I blame you for this. It’s nice to meet you, by the way.”
She held out her hand, which Reed looked a bit scared to shake. He did it anyway. “Sorry about the exercise.”
I made a late introduction. “Yes, sorry. Reed, this is my personal assistant, Melinda. She is a godsend. I’d be lost without her.”
Melinda smiled cheerfully, and Anika kissed her cheek. “Hi, darling. Glad you made it.”
“Oh,” Melinda said, reaching into her satchel. She pulled out some kind of Japanese graphic novel and handed it to Sean. “For you.”
Sean’s eyes lit up. “Thank you!” He soon made himself comfortable lying down on cushions, already turning to page one. “I’ll just stay here until you boys get back.”
Oh right. The whole run thing. I almost forgot.
Reed chuckled beside me. “You ready?”
“Not at all.”
Reed took my hand. “You’re not going to die, Henry.”
“I might, then all these outdoor-type people innocentlyenjoying the park would be scarred for life. I mean, really, we should think of the children.” Melinda snorted and Anika laughed. I tried to glare at them, but then I remembered something. “Oh, and in the case of my untimely and horribly tragic death, you know what song to play at my funeral, right, girls?”
Anika and Melinda answered in unison. “‘Staying Alive.’”
Sean laughed, and Reed chuckled as he put his arm around my shoulders and led me back to the path that wrapped around the bay.
Reed made me stretch for a few minutes before we started.
“Your friends are great,” he said. “Very funny. I can see why you all get along.”
“Anika is like my twin. We think the same. And Melinda… well, don’t let the innocent schoolgirl look fool you. She’s secretly a mathematical genius ninja and can kill four different ways with chopsticks.”
Reed burst out laughing. “Must make your job interesting.”
“Never a dull moment,” I answered. “With any of them.”
“And Anika seems to like me?” He seemed unsure. “It didn’t go too bad, did it?”
“It went well. Though you can probably expect the ‘hurt him and I’ll kill you’ speech when she gets you alone.”
