Page 4 of Vitamin Sea
Lalawas right.
Was she really going to let Liam ruin her life?
She didn’t want to. He was a good-for-nothing bastard. But that didn’t stop some part of her from hoping that he would change his mind. Even though she knew that wasn’t going to happen. Which was yet another unpleasant emotion she had to contend with.
A wave of resolve suddenly washed over her and Chloe sat up a little straighter. She narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her nose.
Screw Liam.
She wasn’t going to let him rule her life. She was going to get over him. She was going to walk the walk, talk the talk, and put him in her past.
Her features softened as her determination faltered, and her back slouched as thoughts of doubt started to creep in.
She sat back on the couch.
She would work on getting over Liam, yes.
Starting tomorrow.
As for today?
She headed for her fridge and rummaged around for the chocolate cake she had hidden in the crisper.
???
Bees. Everywhere. Angrily swarming her body. Panic engulfed Chloe as the buzzing got louder and a bee headed right for her face.
“No!”
Chloe awoke with a start, her heart pounding like Tommy Lee on a drum set.
She looked around wildly, her heart still racing. It was a relief for her to find that the buzzing sound was not a swarm of bees but, in fact, her phone. She had fallen into a wine-and-cake coma the previous evening and passed out in bed a little after 9 p.m. Which was where she had stayed until ten minutes to noon according to the clock on her phone that hovered just above Lala’s name on the screen.
Chloe winced and pressed the green button.
“I swear to Christ, Chloe, you’d better be ready to go,” Lala’s voice came from the speaker.
She sounded deadly.
“If I have to hog-tie you and drag you from your building, you’re coming to hot yoga,” she threatened.
A moan of displeasure escaped Chloe’s mouth: “I don’t want to,” she whined. “But I’m coming. Give me ten minutes.”
One hot-yoga class later and Chloe had sweat out her cake-and-liquor sins from the previous evening. Her tank top was drenched, her thighs stuck to the yoga mat, and her arms had nearly given out during downward dog. But she did it.
It had been disappointing but not entirely surprising to find that her workout clothes had somehow shrunk two sizes. Shewanted to put it down to her poor skills as a laundress instead of the sad ‘fuck my life’ diet she’d resigned herself to for the past few months, but denial was a state she had been living in for far too long.
She was almost in disbelief that she had let herself go that badly since the breakup. Although, in all fairness, she figured that it’s hard to gauge your size when you live in sweatpants and pajamas.
Yoga had never been one of her favourite forms of fitness, and she had agreed to go only because she knew Lala would have made good on her threat. So, it was somewhat of a surprise to find that the class had done something for her. Whether it was the sweat, the stretching, the remnants from last night’s poor choices, or just being out in public, Chloe felt a bit better afterwards.
A weight hadn’t necessarily lifted. But something in her had definitely shifted. For that, she was grateful.
“I told you!” Lala beamed after Chloe confided in her. They had stopped in at Starbucks after class. Not the one on King Street—Chloe wasn’t ready to face that barista yet.
“I knew if you got out of your condo and did something productive you would feel better."
???
