Page 161 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
TIFFANY
Why did I sign up for this? I cursed myself as I tried to follow along in yoga class. Mandy had talked me into purchasing a ten-class yoga package at the new studio by our place. I don’t know why I had agreed to do it. It was only the second class and I was ready to be done.
I looked over at Mandy. Despite being the same size as me, she was perfecting every pose as if she were a 100-pound ballerina. I felt a pang of jealousy. She made everything look so easy.
Finally, the instructor told us to get into corpse pose. It was my favorite position because you just laid on your mat for five minutes. If all we had to do was corpse pose during yoga class, I would have loved it. The other poses made me feel too uncomfortable and self-conscious.
We all laid there quietly, and Cayden popped into my head. I had been thinking about him constantly since our date and it scared me. I was beginning to feel things that I hadn’t felt for a while. But, every time I took a step forward with Cayden, I took two back. I could not let him hurt me like Brad had. Plus, I still wasn’t sure of his intentions.
Nikki told me that he really liked me, but I couldn’t believe it. Even after our dinner and kiss, I still had doubts. What if it was just an office bet to get into my pants? Until I could figure out what was going on, my best bet was to stay away from him.
Before I could think any further, the instructor had us get into a seated position.
“Namaste,” she said, signaling the end of class. Thank God. I didn’t care if I lost my money, I would not be coming back.
“Don’t you feel great?” Mandy asked, as we rolled up our mats. She was glowing. I shot her a dirty look.
“No,” I said. “I’m not as flexible as you. This sucks.”
She laughed.
“You’ll get better, Tiffany.”
“Doubtful.”
“Want to get some coffee?” she asked. Yes. I hadn’t had any all morning. Maybe that was part of the reason that I was so cranky.
We returned our yoga mats and walked next door to grab a cup of coffee. After we ordered, we grabbed a seat near the window. The city was just beginning to wake up.
“Any plans this weekend?” Mandy asked. I shook my head. I knew what she was really asking. She wanted to know if I was seeing Cayden. I filled her in on our date, but I left out the part about me ignoring him afterwards. I knew she would just scold me for being so rude.
Mandy had never liked Brad and wanted me to move on. She had been trying desperately for the past year to get me to date again. If I told her that I had pulled this little stunt, she would have lost her damn mind.
“So, the kiss was just a kiss?” she asked. “You didn’t invite him inside afterwards?”
I shook my head.
“Just a kiss,” I said, sipping my latte.
She shook her finger at me.
“I saw his picture on Facebook! He’s a hunk, Tiffany! You need to move this train a little faster!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“You know what that means! S-E-X.”
“Mandy!” I exclaimed. I could not believe that she was being so blunt. I was glad that we were the only two in the coffee shop at the time, otherwise, I would have been completely embarrassed. Mandy made everything seem so easy. She had never gotten her heart broken before, so she didn’t know any better.
“I don’t even think he wants to have sex with me!” I told her in a whisper. “I mean, look at me and look at him.”
Mandy scoffed at me.
“Please,” she said. “That is complete and utter bullshit. You’re gorgeous! Plus, you might not realize it, but you’re in a lot better shape than before Brad left you. All those walks we did to get your mind off things really shed some pounds, girl.”
She was right. With Brad, I had been severely overweight. The breakup had caused me to lose some weight. While I still was a curvy girl, I was much healthier than I had been before. If I could only shed my insecurities, as well.
“He has a little boy,” I told Mandy. “I’ve never dated someone with a kid before.”
