‘I haven’t noticed.’ Another mouthful firmly eaten, as if that would end the subject.
‘You haven’t noticed? But it’s your job to notice her physical appearance. To watch carefully as she does all the personal training moves. Check out how her body’s improving.’
‘Bloody hell, Amy. I get enough of this from the lads at football.’ Nathan shoved his plate away. I didn’t point out the piece of bacon still resting in a pool of syrup, choosing instead to concentrate on pouring myself another mug of tea. ‘I’m a professional. I’ve studied anatomy and physiology. I observe every client to ensure they maximise the exercises and avoid injury with the same level of objectiveness. I’m no more going to be focusing on whether a client isprettythan if I was their doctor, or physiotherapist. I maintain a professional relationship at all times.’
‘Even when they come on to you?’
I didn’t know why I was still talking about this. Nathan was clearly miffed, and I didn’t especially want to discuss how he spent all dayobservingwomen’s bodies. It was like some twisted attempt to remind myself of the sort of woman Nathan had to compare me to. While I admired his strictly-business-only attitude, that meant that surely he’d keep a business-only attitude with me. Which was good to know.
Except that he’d told me I was a friend, not a client. Did that still count? Or was him calling me a friend also setting a firm boundary: friend, not potentially more than friends, just in case I got any wrong ideas.
‘If they come on to me, I deal with it. If I have to, I pass them on to another trainer.’
‘So, who do you date, if you can’t date clients?’ I asked, my mouth still seemingly unable to resist returning to this topic like a fly buzzing round a cream bun.
‘I don’t have a lot of time for dating.’
‘So… no one?’
‘Not currently.’ Nathan sighed, but it seemed exasperated rather than angry, so I kept on buzzing.
‘And how long hascurrentlybeen going on for?’
‘A couple of years.’ He shrugged. ‘And I’m fine with that. I’ve got a great life, I’m not lonely, or unfulfilled. Why would I look to change that?’ There was a slightly too long pause. Nathan blinked at the table, running one hand through his hair as he answered. ‘Although, I suppose having a girlfriend might have stopped Selena from trying to eat me alive. She hasn’t always shown due respect for the no-client rule.’ He glanced up at me then, and after a split second the crinkles were back.
‘Selena?’
‘She got the hint. Eventually.’
Yeah. Me too.
* * *
Nathan stayed for an hour or so, heading off to burn off all those evil extra calories once the challenge was complete and my courage exhausted. Following the weird start, I had managed to maintain a decent conversation. I was definitely getting back into the swing of the whole chatting thing, helped by Nathan being a really easy person to chat to. It would have been even better if I wasn’t avoiding an entire baggage trolley worth of subjects – my childhood, family, Cee-Cee, Sean, the triathlon, how I’d ended up in this state in the first place…
The couple of times Nathan gently steered towards my past, I deftly responded by ignoring the question and changing the subject. I had a huge amount of work to do before being ready to handle a genuine friendship with a man I found so darn attractive. My urge to open up to him, spewing all the ugly secrets and unflattering truth about who I really was, and had been, was precisely the reason for keeping firmly on the polite side of friendly.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning, reading, glancing out the window into the back garden and smiling to myself at my momentous achievement while not at all thinking about Nathan’s eye crinkles. When Joey took it upon himself to make us fajitas for dinner, I should have known he’d heard me belting out Beyoncé while scrubbing the shower and decided to cash in on his mother’s uncharacteristic good mood.
‘To celebrate that you’re feeling better,’ he pronounced, tipping a pile of chicken and peppers out of the frying pan onto a serving dish. ‘And managed a giant leap forwards in the Programme today.’
‘Thanks, Joey. This looks great.’ It sort of did, too. I was sure the charred bits of chicken would merely add to the flavour. ‘Are those baked beans?’
‘I’m really glad Nathan’s helping you. He’s such a quality coach.’ Joey grabbed a wrap and started loading up. ‘Beans are a superfood, and they’re the only type we had.’
‘I’ll have you know, I’m helpingCoach Gallagher, too.’
‘You are?’ He boggled at me. ‘What, like giving him training tips? Have you told him?’
‘Absolutely not.’ I shook my head. ‘I’m just helping him to loosen up a bit. He’s got so entrenched in following all these rules for optimum fitness, and, well, I know that kind of controlling lifestyle doesn’t always end well.’
‘Cool.’
We ate in silence for a while, until Joey couldn’t contain his twitchiness any longer.
‘So, if you’re feeling better, can we talk about my dad now,’ he blurted, my last bite instantly congealing inside my mouth.
Well, I should have seen that one coming a mile off.
