Anyone but You Page 5

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  I hadn’t noticed before, but she had really long eyelashes. They looked fake, but I bet they weren’t. She also had a tiny brown fleck in her left eye. Like a freckle.

  That wasn’t relevant.

  My chest heaved as I breathed hard, and I didn’t know what to do, I just knew I had to do something. The air sizzled between us. Her lips parted just a little. I stared at her mouth for a little too long.

  Instead of shoving her (which wouldn’t work, and would probably end badly for me), or doing anything else that I might regret, I stomped over to the stereo and flipped it off.

  “That’s what I’m going to do,” I said and then stormed out. She didn’t call after me, but the music didn’t come on for the rest of the day.

  “I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO do, Zee,” I said that night. We were on the couch with pizza again. I had both kitties in my lap, and one of my best comfort movies on the TV. Zee was playing with my hair, putting little braids in it.

  “I don’t either. I mean, you’re kind of stuck since she’s your landlord. She can do what she wants, and you don’t have a ton of recourse.”

  “I’m half-tempted to order a bunch of soundproofing stuff and have it delivered there. I would, if I had any extra money.” I sighed and shoved another bite of pizza in my mouth. Tomorrow night was the intermediate class I had dared Tuesday to come to. I had no idea if she would show up, and if she did, what she would do. Maybe she’d bring her own music.

  “She did keep it off after you went down there, though, right?” Zee asked, shoving another garlic knot in their mouth. I’d also ordered mozzarella sticks. I had needed all the comfort foods tonight.

  “Yeah, but for how long? I don’t want to have to do that every single day forever. Maybe I should start looking at other studio spaces.” The problem with that was that I didn’t have the money to move, I didn’t want to move, and I liked my studio where it was. Changing the location would mean I basically had to start over. I was not fucking doing that.

  “Is there anything you can do to retaliate?” I shook my head.

  “I mean, nothing that I could think of. I don’t want to start a war. I just want her to be less of a dick.” I also wanted her to be less attractive. I had shivers from seeing her working out the second time. I’d never seen a body move like hers. It was like a brutal dance.

  “I’m not sure she’s going to do that, but maybe don’t go to lunch with her anymore.” Yeah, I wouldn’t be making that mistake again. I’d thought we had gotten somewhere, made some progress. Then she was back on her bullshit a few hours later. What was wrong with her? Did she just enjoy making me angry? What kind of person did that?

  It was a mystery that I wasn’t going to waste my time on. I’d just go down and turn down the music from now on. Maybe I wouldn’t even speak to her. Just go in and do it and walk out. See how she liked that.

  ONE OF MY OTHER TEACHERS, Priya, was teaching the Tuesday morning class so I didn’t have to go in so early, which was amazing. Still, I woke up at six-thirty because I woke up at that time every day, and not by choice. I went out to the kitchen and found Zee making breakfast. We did our little routine of me asking if I could help, and them saying no, and me grumpily drinking my coffee until breakfast was ready.

  I ate and then went back to bed for a little while and messed on my phone. I purposely did not look up anything about Tuesday. It was difficult, but I kept my fingers from typing out her name.

  Too itchy to stay at home, I said goodbye to the kitties and headed over to the studio. Fortunately for me, it wasn’t too far from my apartment and had decent parking, a rarity in Boston.

  I noticed a car that I’d seen a few times in the lot and I wondered if it belonged to Tuesday. I didn’t know what time she came in every day, but I just had the feeling that car was hers. I also had the feeling that I should let some air out of her tires, but I didn’t want to get arrested and there were security cameras, so I walked on by.

  “What are you doing here?” Priya said when I came up the stairs. Her class had just gotten out and the lobby area was packed with sweaty people gathering their things and wandering around. Yoga brain was a real thing and it could cause you to forget just about anything after class. I’d seen people almost fall down the stairs because they were in such a daze.

  “What are you talking about? I’m always here,” I said, rolling my eyes. A few of my regular students stopped to say hello and I asked them about life updates and how their kids were and how the new job was going and how their bird of paradise pose was coming along. That took much longer than I thought it would, and by the time I made it into my office in the back, it was over an hour later.

  I didn’t hear any music. I was completely attuned to any kind of noise now. The second I heard anything, I was going to go downstairs, walking in, and turning it off. This was my new strategy. I hoped I wouldn’t need it.

  The rest of the day I taught two classes and worked on some paperwork and social media and the other minutia that were involved in running a business that never seemed to get done.

  At last, it was time to prepare for my intermediate class. Part of me considered going downstairs to remind Tuesday that I’d dare her. Another part of me knew that she wasn’t going to forget. She’d seemed pretty serious about the dare. A third part of me couldn’t wait to see her completely struggle and tell me that I was right, and yoga was hard. I was going to wear the biggest smirk when that happened, and that victory was going to sustain me for a long time. The next time the music came on, I was going to rub her face in it. So satisfying.

  I wasn’t normally a petty person, but Tuesday knew how to get to me. I just wanted to return the favor. It was only fair.

  As the time drew closer for the class and people started arriving, I wondered if she would show. If she didn’t, I would have backing down on her dare to shove in her face too, so I was just winning all around. I smiled to myself.

  Then I saw a dark head of hair coming up the stairs, her lips pressed into a grim line as if she was being marched to war or going to the RMV.

  Before I could say anything, she put her hand up to stop me.

  “I’m just doing this as a dare. This doesn’t mean I think yoga is a thing.” I wanted to argue with her on that point, but I nodded instead.

  “Do you need to rent a mat?” She gave me a look.

  “Do I have to?”

  “To participate in the class, yes, you have to have a mat. And you’re probably going to want a towel and some water as well.” Tuesday groaned like I was asking her to do her taxes or something.

  “Fine,” she said. “Whatever.”

  I couldn’t help but find some satisfaction in how uncomfortable and miserable she seemed. People came in around her and gave her looks that she returned as glares. I hoped she didn’t throw off the vibe in the room, because that was really important. My yogis didn’t need to have someone messing with their practice and sending out bad energy.

  Tuesday hung around in the lobby until it was nearly time to go in. I had a rush of people and couldn’t hold her hand, but I expected her to just take her mat and go in, but she didn’t seem like she wanted to.

  “Ready?” I asked as I checked the last person in and looked at the clock. Showtime.

  “No,” she said, but followed me in. I set her up near the front, but away from most of the other people. The class was a little bit smaller since it was mostly my dedicated yogis who wanted to challenge themselves and work on some of the more difficult poses like handstands and inversions. They tended to cluster together on one side of the room for some reason.

  I opened class with everyone chanting ‘om’ once. I kept one eye on Tuesday and noticed she wasn’t chanting with everyone else. Nothing shocking there. She pretty much had one eyebrow permanently raised. I started the music and began with going through a sun salutation slowly once.

  Tuesday seemed to catch on, but she was doing some of the mo
ves a little clumsily, so I went over and gave her a few pointers and was treated to a murderous glare as thanks, but her downward-facing dog improved, so who was the real winner?

  We moved from the warmup into balancing poses and I had to correct Tuesday again, but she was doing well for a newbie. She’d already broken a sweat and I could see her muscles shaking a bit. Instead of taking the beginner poses, she went right for the more advanced ones that she definitely wasn’t ready for. She did a lot of tipping over and I had to try not to laugh. Yeah, she was getting her ass kicked. Doing the poses right was not the point of yoga, at all, but still. I got quite the satisfaction from seeing her not have an easy time of it.

  Then we moved to the inversions and she did great on holding a handstand, but not so much on trying handstand splits. Her forearm stand was also impressive, so I had to give credit where credit was due.

  We finished with some backbends and ab work and she collapsed halfway through the backbends. I wanted to cheer.

  When I walked around the room when everyone was in savasana, I tried not to stare and gloat at her, but she was completely drenched and lying there like she’d died.

  I ended the class with one final chant of ‘om,’ and she didn’t participate in that one either. The other students cleaned their mats and chatted and had water and gathered their things. Tuesday sat on her mat, still breathing a little hard. Once everyone else had left, she was the only one in the room, sitting there and staring at the wall.

  “So,” I said, sinking down to the floor and crossing my legs. “How did it go?” It took all of my willpower not to smirk at her. I was so glad that she’d taken this dare.

  “Don’t talk to me,” Tuesday said, her eyes opening only a little until they were little slits. I’d never been glared at quite like that.

  “You ready to admit that yoga is harder than you thought it was? That’s it’s not just a bunch of fancy stretching that anyone can do?” Tuesday closed her eyes again.

  “Never,” she said. “Just wait until you try CrossFit. This is nothing compared to that.” I thought about scoffing myself and saying that I would rather be hit by a truck than do CrossFit.

  Instead I said, “Do you dare me?”

  Her eyes opened all the way in surprise.

  “You don’t seem like a dare kind of girl.” She used her towel to wipe her face and I tried not to focus on the sweat that trickled down her chest and disappeared into her sports bra.

  “You don’t know anything about me, Tuesday,” I said. She really didn’t. We’d barely spent any time together.

  “Is that a no?” she said, stretching her legs out in front of her and then crossing them at the ankles with a wince. I savored that wince like a glass of wine after a long day.

  “Okay, Tuesday. I’ll come to your gym when it opens. I’m not working out in there alone with just you. That would be weird.” I didn’t think I could handle having her watch me struggle to lift weights and do whatever else they did in CrossFit. Flipping tires? Hauling dead bodies? I wasn’t really sure what it entailed. Guess I was going to find out.

  “It’s a dare,” she said, sticking out her hand.

  “Are we supposed to shake to confirm dares?” I asked.

  “Yes.” I put my hand in hers and was expecting her to squeeze it so hard my fingers would ache, but she didn’t. The handshake was firm and a little sweaty. She looked into my eyes and I had simultaneous urges to lean closer and run away. I’d never met someone I’d been so conflicted about in my life. I dropped her hand and stood up.

  “So, you ready to do a trial membership?” I asked, backing away from her and going to get the mop to clean the floor.

  “You’re gonna charge me?” she asked, grabbing some wipes to clean off the mat.

  “Yeah, I’m not doing this for free. Not in this economy.” I needed every single cent I could get to keep my head above water. She should know that, as an owner herself.

  “Fair enough,” she said. “I’ll think about it.” She rolled up the now clean mat and handed it to me.

  “Towels go in the hamper,” I said, pointing to the corner of the room. She walked the towel over and I got to watch her ass and see her moving a little slow. Ha. If she was sore now, she was going to be miserable in two days.

  It was getting late and I was starving, but Tuesday didn’t seem to want to leave. She lingered as I wiped down the floors and turned off the heat and cut off the music.

  “What are your plans tonight?” I asked, because I couldn’t deal with the silence. I’d always been a little awkward in these kinds of situations and it seemed like Tuesday brought all those tendencies to the forefront.

  “Going home, feeding my turtles. Eating. I spend a lot of time eating.” That did not surprise me. What did surprise me was the second thing.

  “Turtles? You really have turtles?” She’d mentioned them before, and I thought she was joking. Her face was still a little red from the class, but I swear it got a little brighter, as if she hadn’t meant to admit that. Yoga brain was real. Sometimes it was almost like being drunk.

  “Never mind,” she muttered and left the room. I put the mop away and followed her out to the lobby.

  “No, tell me about the turtles,” I said. I’d always wanted turtles, but my parents wouldn’t allow me to have pets (other than my one outdoor cat) because there was no one home to take care of them. We were always at one of their businesses. I’d spent more time sleeping at the restaurant and under the desk of the computer shop than in my own bed when I was younger. I’d longed for a dog, but the answer had always been no. My apartment didn’t allow dogs, and I was at the studio too much now, so that still wasn’t an option. Someday. Someday I was going to have two French bulldogs and I was going to spoil them rotten.

  Tuesday ducked her head and shuffled her feet and it hit me square in the chest. She was so tough and so strong, but she was also so completely adorable in this moment.

  “Do they have names? Tell me about the turtles. I’ll show you pictures of my kittens.” I grabbed my phone and started scrolling through it and found one of the kittens asleep on Zee’s chest.

  “Tell me about the turtles and I’ll show you the kittens. You know you want to see the kittens.” She pressed her lips together, as if she was trying to hold back a smile and failing.

  “Fine,” she said, and fished her phone out of a secret pocket in her shorts. “Their names are Mary and Percy Shelley.” I grinned at her.

  “Really? Those are such great turtle names. Can I see them?” She pulled up a few videos on her phone of two little red-eared sliders happily swimming in a huge tank.

  “Aw, they’re cute. These are my babies. Mocha and Cappuccino.” I showed her several pictures of the kittens and her face softened, just a little.

  “I’m only allowed to have a pet that can live in an aquarium in my apartment, so I went with turtles. They’re not the most conventional pets, but I love those little fuckers.” The love in her voice was there and I softened a little bit toward Tuesday. It was hard to be enraged at someone who showed you pictures of their turtles.

  “I should get going,” she said, putting her phone away. “I need to shower, bad.”

  “We have showers,” I suggested.

  “That’s fine. I’ve got my own downstairs. I’ll, uh, see you later.” She ran away before I could say anything else. Why was she always doing that? It was like anytime I got anywhere close to knowing anything personal about her, she couldn’t handle it so she bolted. Interesting.

  Interesting and frustrating. I still didn’t know if I liked her, or if I wanted to know why she shied away from anything personal. I definitely liked looking at her body. There was so much to look at and it was so, so gorgeous. She’d worked so hard for it, the least I could do was appreciate her. Props to Tuesday on her fitness.

  After she left, I gathered my stuff and headed to my car. My stomach was weak from hunger and I hoped there were leftovers at home that Zee had made.

&nbs
p; “You’re so late, did you fall asleep doing payroll again?” Zee asked when I walked into the house. They were in the kitchen and there was a pot of something that smelled of tomatoes and garlic and spices bubbling on the stove. My wish had been granted.

  The babies cried and cried until I picked them up and danced them through the kitchen.

  “No. Tuesday came to class.” Zee turned around and their eyes went wide.

  “Tell me everything,” they said, pointing at me with a wooden spoon and splattering whatever they were cooking on the floor. I put down the kitties and cleaned up the mess before I answered.

  “So, she survived, but barely. She could do some of the inversions, but she couldn’t hold them. The look on her face at the end was priceless. Totally worth it. But,” I said, taking a dramatic pause, “I agreed to do CrossFit on a dare. I might die. Start planning my funeral. I’d like to be cremated and my ashes spread at the Grand Canyon.” Zee stirred the pot and I peeked in and found their chili. Instantly, my mouth started watering. Zee made the best chili. They made the best everything, but their chili was world class.

  “Cremated, got it,” they said, adding another pinch of salt to the pot before tossing a little bit over their shoulder.

  “Seriously, I have no idea what I’m doing. I said I wouldn’t go until the gym opened, but that’s happening sooner rather than later.” What had I agreed to? The kittens cried at my feet as if they were dying so I picked them up again.

  “Mommy is going to die doing CrossFit. What do you think about that?” Cappy licked my nose and Mocha yawned.