Alison turned from the window, mouth open. ‘Seriously? People do that for fun? That sounds like some sort of mediaeval torture.’
Danniella laughed. ‘It probably is but each to their own. Karen says she’ll push people if she thinks they’re not pushing themselves, but she welcomes all levels.’
Alison returned to the armchair and gulped down the last of her water. ‘She wouldn’t be able to do anything with someone like me, though, would she?’
‘What do you mean, someone like you?’
‘Twice my ideal body weight, not exercised since college, can barely make it up a flight of stairs without oxygen, likely to create craters on the beach.’
Although Alison laughed as she spoke, Danniella didn’t miss the wobble in her voice and the glint of tears in her eyes. ‘Don’t be so hard on yourself. Are you interested? I’m not very confident around new people so it wouldn’t be so nerve-wracking if there’s a friendly face there.’
Alison sighed. ‘I need to do something.’ She ran her fingers through her dark, curly hair. ‘I’m not sure, though. A bootcamp?’
‘What’s stopping you?’
‘I don’t own a pair of trainers, for a start.’
‘Then buy a pair.’
‘And I don’t have a sports bra.’
Danniella raised an eyebrow and Alison laughed again. ‘I know, I know, I can buy one. But I can’t run. I can barely walk at pace.’
‘Everyone has to start somewhere,’ Danniella said. ‘When you started work, did you know how to do your job?’
‘No, but—’
‘But you learned how to do it. Someone showed you. You might have taken a while to learn, a step at a time, until one day you realised you could do it easily. This is no different. Honestly, it isn’t.’
‘Yeah, but I didn’t have to wear lycra and a sports bra for work.’
‘And you don’t have to wear lycra and a sports… actually, you probably do need the sports bra. But wear what’s comfortable. Go for leggings and a baggy T-shirt.’
‘A polar bear onesie?’ Alison suggested. ‘That’s comfortable.’
‘I’d love to see that, but it might be a little hot and sweaty.’ She smiled. ‘What do you think? Will you hold my hand on Tuesday?’
Alison paused for a moment. ‘I don’t start work till two so I’m free that morning. I could get some trainers tomorrow. I… No. I can’t do it. This body is not built for running.’
‘Then don’t run. Focus on the other stuff. Tell you what, why don’t I give you Karen’s number so you can talk to her? I’m sure she has a plan for those who are new to exercise.’
‘I’m not sure…’ Alison held her head in her hands and released a little squeal. ‘Okay. You’re on. But if I’m going to do this, I need to do it now or I’ll have chickened out before I get down the first flight of stairs.’
‘Are you sure? I don’t want to push you into something you don’t want to do.’ She knew exactly how it felt to be in Alison’s situation, out of breath and uncomfortable, experiencing a daily battle with willpower. She also knew that finding the strength, determination and courage to do something about it was like panning for gold; what you were looking for was in there somewhere, but it was almost impossible to find amongst the dirt. She’d never actually won her battle; the move from food as a friend to food as her enemy had been a fallout from what had happened.
Alison smiled weakly. ‘It’s only a phone call. I can always say no.’
Danniella handed over her phone. ‘Use this. Karen’s number’s loaded in.’
When the call connected and it was clear that Karen was available for a chat, Danniella picked up the empty glasses and hobbled into the kitchen, smiling at the thought of wearing onesies at a bootcamp. She hoped Alison would sign up for bootcamp. There was something warm and engaging about her and it had felt so easy and natural chatting with her just now; something she hadn’t done in so long. She could imagine them becoming good friends. Rinsing the glasses, butterflies danced in her stomach. Friends? Was she doing the right thing? Friends talked. Friends opened up. Friends didn’t keep dark secrets locked away.
Deep in thought as she stared out the window towards Hearnshaw Park, she jumped when Alison spoke.
‘It’s done. I’m signed up. Spookily enough, I know Karen. I never made the connection.’
Danniella’s pulse started racing. She tried to keep her voice light and breezy. ‘You know Karen and you know Aidan? Is Whitsborough Bay smaller than I realised?’
‘Sometimes it feels like it, but it’s pure coincidence really. Aidan was a friend at college. He was…’ She paused and smiled, a wistful expression on her face. ‘He was the one that got away, I suppose. As for Karen, I live next door to her mum and little sister. There’s an eighteen-year gap between Karen and Eden so Karen had already left home before I moved in. I only really know her to say hello to, but she seems lovely.’
Feeling calm again, Danniella wiped her hands on a tea-towel and took her phone back from Alison. ‘Excited?’
‘Hmm. That’s probably not the word I’d choose.’ Alison sighed and shook her head. ‘I have to do something, though, because I can’t go on like this. You saw me puffing and panting up that hill. I know you slowed down because of me and not because you were in pain.’
‘I was in pain. I…’ Danniella shook her head. ‘Okay, you’ve got me. I could tell you were struggling and I wanted to help.’
Tears filled Alison’s eyes again. ‘A few weeks ago, I got upset about my weight when a little girl thought I was pregnant. Someone offered to help me get my act together. I said yes, then ate an enormous bag of doughnuts and talked myself out of it. I’ve been offered help again and, this time, I’m going to accept it because I have to. I can’t…’ Alison’s voice broke and so did her tears.
‘Aw, don’t cry.’ Danniella reached out and hugged her new friend, swallowing hard on the lump in her throat. How amazing did it feel to hold someone again after all this time? ‘We’ll do this together. It’ll be a new start for both of us.’ She hoped so because she so desperately needed that new start.
9
Karen
‘Yes! I’ve got another punter for my mid-morning bootcamp,’ Karen cried, dashing into the kitchen-diner after Alison’s phone call. Ryan was at the table, scowling at something on his laptop, paperwork strewn round him. She flung her arms around him and kissed his neck.
‘How many’s that?’ he asked, not reacting to her kiss. ‘Two?’
She gave him a playful shove. ‘Six.’
‘Is it really worth it for six people?’
Bristling, Karen released her hold and stepped away. Taking an apple from the fruit bowl, she bit into it. ‘Did you really just ask me that? That’s like saying one-to-one PT isn’t worth it.’
He didn’t even look up from his laptop. ‘Don’t be daft. Of course it is. But we get paid a decent amount for it being one-to-one. You’ve got six people on this mid-morning bootcamp paying the same amount each as the fifteen to twenty clients on the morning and evening ones. The return is significantly less.’
‘Yes, I know that, Mr Mathematical Genius.’ Karen sat down opposite him and took another bite from her apple. ‘But six people for an hour’s bootcamp