Chapter 5 Mind If I Sit?
MADELINE
“First thing’s first,” Lucian began, clapping his hands together. His eyes moved between the three of them before Madeline could swear they settled on her and only her. “I’m Lucian.”
“My name’s Ivy,” the taller of the two women stuck in the beginner’s class pipped up, an eager expression on her face. “And this is Wendy.”
Lucian’ eyes moved to Madeline, who hesitated. “Maddy,” she told him with a small nod. She’d always preferred that over her full name but it felt almost too personal to share with others, as she hadn’t gone by it in years; James thought the shortened version of her name was unrefined.
“Great, now that that’s out of the way, we’ll start with some stretching,” he said before putting them through a series of stretches to warm their muscles.
None of these were new to Madeline, since she’d been in the business of keeping fit for years, but the other two seemed to be starting from square one. Lucian spent a while with each of them, patiently talking them through each exercise.
Once they were warmed up, he pulled out a set of red hand wraps and taught them how to bind their hands and wrists, explaining how it would give extra support and compression while absorbing shock from impacts.
Madeline watched as he wrapped both his hands, detailing each step as he went. It looked simple enough — knotting a tie looked harder — until problems arose when she tried to wrap her dominant hand. Maybe she’d been a little cocky, thinking she could do this as easily as knotting a tie.
“Need some help?”
She glanced up to find Lucian standing next to her, their eyes meeting for a second before she looked back down at the mess around her hand. “I think so…,” she mumbled, trying to ignore how self conscious she felt.
A large hand took hold of her wrist, removing what she’d already done before starting from scratch. Madeline was surprised by how gentle he was as he expertly wrapped the lime green hand wrap around her wrist and hand. Once finished, their eyes met again and he gave her a wide grin before releasing his hold. “All done.”
“Thanks…”
The rest of the class he spent teaching them the basics of kick boxing. How to make a fist, how to punch and kick so they wouldn’t harm themselves, and the best stances to take. He was a good teacher. Patient, never raising his voice, and quick to correct any mistake they made. Ivy and Wendy giggled behind their hands whenever his back was to them and Madeline wasn’t quite sure what to think of that. It started getting a bit annoying, when one of them began to purposefully do things incorrectly to gain his undivided attention.
“Maddy, you caught on pretty quick. Why don’t you show her how you did it,” he pointed out, turning from Ivy — the attention seeker — to give the blond his full attention. “Seems I’m not explaining it the best.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Ivy stammered, placing a hand on his arm. “Really. I’m sure I’ve got it figured out.”
Lucian was already walking towards Madeline, stopping a foot from where she stood and giving her a sly wink before turning to face the other women. “Nonsense. I need to make sure you’ve got the basics down or I’ll never be allowed to fill in for Cole again.”
He turned back to Maddy and had her stand properly — feet a shoulder width apart, back straight, knees slightly bent — before having her perform a kick. “See how she twists her hips,” he noted as she did another. “Her foot is planted but not immobile. She pivots as she kicks, and again when bringing her leg down.”
Maddy felt her cheeks flush as he described her movements and hoped everyone thought it was from the exertion.
By the time the class ended, Ivy and Wendy had stopped trying to get one on one attention with Lucian, as he always roped Madeline into things once he caught on to what they were doing. It didn’t help the two of them warm up to her but Madeline hadn’t planned on making friends anyway.
She grabbed her things the moment class was over and left to get showered and changed, having no desire to linger and chat like everyone else seemed intent on doing. Madeline just wanted to get out of there, get a coffee, and process what had just happened.
Lucian hadn’t given her any special attention, other than when the women tried to play coy, but to Madeline it had felt like his eyes had lingered on her just a bit more than necessary. She scoffed at the thought. If James heard she suspected a man might be showing any amount of interest he would shake his head in disbelief. Men didn’t ogle proper women, so it was either her imagination or she’d been doing or saying something to purposefully catch the man’s interest.
It was definitely all in her head, she told herself as she finished up in the locker room and left the gym.
At the coffee shop, Madeline ordered a latte, accepting the colourful mug with a smile before heading over to her usual spot. Sitting down, she let out a sigh of relief.
That class had been exactly what she needed to get her mind off things. Not once during that entire hour had she thought about James. Even now, her mind was going over what she’d learned and how she should practice a bit between now and the next class. Not to impress Lucian, of course, but to get caught up faster. Sure, it was a beginner’s class, but she was a newcomer. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck trailing behind everyone else.
“Do you come here every day?,” a familiar voice asked, drawing Madeline from her thoughts. With a start, she turned her head to see Lucian standing next to her table. He was wearing a suit again and looking rather pleased with himself.
“For the most part,” she found herself answering.
“Mind if I sit?”
“Go ahead.”
Unlike last time, he didn’t pull out his phone after settling down. Instead, he rested an arm on the table, his large hand easily engulfing the mug his drink had come in. “I wasn’t expecting to see you again, at least not so soon.”
Why did he make it sound like their seeing each other was an inevitability? Madeline frowned but said nothing, unsure what would be appropriate.
“Do you go to the gym often?,” he asked, as if sensing she wasn’t about to say anything in response to his statement.
“Most mornings,” she replied, then added, “You?” It was only polite to ask the same question in return.
“Three times a week is my usual. Anything more and it feels like I’m over doing it.” His dark blue eyes were locked on hers, and Madeline felt like he was searching for something. She didn’t know what but he was watching her with such an expectant expression on his face it left her feeling confused.
“I go every morning,” Madeline found herself saying. She didn’t want to sound like some obsessed gym nut; it was the simple truth. Even on days when James didn’t work she kept to the same routine. He liked having time to himself at home and she was more than happy to oblige. It wasn’t like it was any skin off her back and staying active was healthy.
“Isn’t that… a bit much?”
She shook her head, the corners of her mouth curving upwards. “I don’t go crazy with it. Just basic stuff to burn off excess energy.”
“Why not go outside instead?,” he offered. “Have you ever tried hiking?”
Madeline opened her mouth, then closed it. She’d gone on many during her university days, before she’d met James. They’d been a lot of fun, especially with the group of friends she’d had at the time.
But James wasn’t interested in hiking and, after a while, her own interest in it had waned. He’d always asked what was so great about stomping around in nature that couldn’t be found indoors. He never understood the draw of all the unexpected things a person could find out in the wide world.
“I used to hike,” she replied, speaking a little slower than usual, as if she wasn’t sure of the answer.
“Once upon a time?,” he offered with a quirk of his brow. Madeline caught the reference; she’d said those exact words when they’d first met.
“Something like that,” she nodded, forcing a smile before taking a sip of her latte.
“What made you stop?”
“Life,” she said, trying to avoid going into detail. Looking back, she wasn’t sure what caused her to lose interest in taking hikes. What had changed? What made her decide they weren’t worth doing anymore?
Lucian opened his mouth to say something, or maybe ask another question — did it matter? — when Madeline’s phone began playing a familiar ringtone. Surprised, she dug it out of her purse, wondering why James would be calling. Had something happened? He never called from work unless it was extremely important. “Sorry, I need to take this,” Madeline told Lucian with a sheepish smile.
Normally, she would go outside to answer, but the fact it was James calling only a couple hours into his work day had her worried and she didn’t want to wait a second longer before picking up. “Hey James,” she said with a smile, hoping he wouldn’t hear the worry in her voice.
“Hey, babe, sorry to call you up like this,” he began, sounding… odd. Almost… giddy?
“Don’t worry about it,” she assured him. “I’m always happy to hear from you.”
“Glad to hear that. I called to let you know not to wait up for me tonight.”
Madeline frowned. “Is something wrong?”
“I managed to, uh, find someone to help me get some experience,” he explained.
It felt like all the warmth had left the air as Madeline sat, frozen, with her phone pressed to an ear. “…pardon?”
“You know… what we talked about the other day? About me learning some new things to teach you later?”
She’d known what he’d meant, so him explaining it in a different way only worsened the invisible force that gripped her heart. Madeline’s fingers tightened against her phone as she tried to find something to say, so he’d know she understood, but nothing came to mind.
“Babe? You still there?”
“Yes, I’m here,” she managed to say, voice low. “Do you know when you might get in?”
“It’s hard to say,” he sighed. “I might need… extra practice to get the hang of things.”
Madeline was going to be sick if this conversation kept going. “Okay, then I won’t wait up.”
“Great. Thanks again, Madeline. You’re the best. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” she whispered but he’d already hung up. Madeline lowered the phone to stare at the dark screen.
