Page 39 of The Reboot
‘How about your ex?’
‘Andrew?’
‘Yeah. If you went out with him, it wouldn’t be like dating someone new. What’s he doing now? Is he with anyone?’
‘Not as far as I know. He was, but they split up a few months ago. He doesn’t update his Facebook a lot, though, so I don’t know for sure.’
‘No harm in finding out. You did say it was the happiest time of your life when you were with him.’
‘But that was ages ago. We’ve moved on. Well,’ she said with a little laugh, ‘he’s moved on. I more stayed put.’
‘Still, you should look him up at least – see if you still like him.’
‘What if he is with someone and just hasn’t put it on Facebook yet?’
Roly shrugged. ‘What have you got to lose? Just keep it casual, meet up as friends and see where it goes.’
Ella sipped her wine. Maybe he was right. It would be less of a slog than trying to meet someone new. The thought of putting herself through all the hassle and stress of dating filled her with horror. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t be the best idea to get back with her ex just because it was less bother. ‘I’ll think about it.’
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘once we have our main goals refined, we need to plan actionable steps we can take for achieving them. So fitness, for example – what are we going to do to lose weight and get fit?’
‘Diet and exercise.’
‘Right, but how much exercise, and what sort? What kind of diet?’
‘Well … we could join a gym, and go on one of those diets where you replace meals with drinks?’
Ella shook her head. ‘We can’t afford that. We need to bootstrap this if we want to achieve our financial goals. Those fad diets aren’t good for you anyway. We could go running. That doesn’t cost anything.’
‘I thought you were anti-running.’
‘I wouldn’t mind trying it, if we start off slow. We could do Couch to 5K?’
Roly pulled a face. ‘Isn’t that, like, for old ladies?’
‘No.’ Ella frowned.
‘I’m pretty sure my nan does it.’
‘Well, just because your nan does it, doesn’t mean it’sonlyfor old ladies. All sorts of people do it. And it’s free, so we might as well give it a go.’
He nodded. ‘Okay.’
‘And we could do workouts at home. My mum has some DVDs we can borrow.’
‘DVDs? So we’d be working out … here? Together?’
‘What’s wrong with that? Afraid I won’t respect you after I’ve seen you leaping around the living room in Lycra?’
‘Dream on! I amnotwearing Lycra.’
Ella grinned. ‘Well, I’ll do them anyway. You don’t have to join in. I know she’s got Davina McCall and The Shred—’
‘The Shred? My mum definitely does that.’
‘Maybe she’d like to join us?’ Ella said with a smirk, and Roly shuddered. ‘There are lots of free workouts online too. Is Joe Wicks man enough for you?’
‘My mum loves him.’
