Page 11 of Training Maisy

Chapter 7

Maisy heard someone knocking at her door, and for a moment, she remained where she was, contemplating if she could make the journey to the door and back without falling on her face. She heard the person knock again, this time louder, and she cursed silently as she slowly stood up. Taking short and slow steps, she realized that most of the aches and pains that had wracked her whole body after she finished her first session were already gone, and what was left were echoes of the grueling session she’d had to endure. When she got to the door, she looked through the peep hole and saw Chloe’s retreating form. Quickly opening the door, she called out to her.

“Hey, Chloe!”

“Maisy,” Chloe said as she turned back immediately, her trademark smile planted on her face. “I thought you weren’t at home or maybe you were sleeping; didn’t want to disturb you.”

“No, I was awake. Just had a little difficulty in walking down here,” Maisy said as she opened the door wider and invited her in.

Chloe entered and headed for the living room, clearly showing this was going to be a somewhat long visit. Maisy glanced at the clock and saw it was just a few minutes past one, and she hoped she’d still have a chance to go and do a little sightseeing today as she had planned to do earlier.

“I saw you leaving the gym this morning,” Chloe said

“Yeah, I decided to go super early in the morning. I’m working one on one with Carter, and . . .”

“With Carter?” Chloe looked giddy and just a little bit mischievous. “Talk about hitting the jackpot. I wouldn’t mind if my personal trainer looked as sinfully sexy as that.”

“Nope, he isn’t sinfully sexy. The guy is a wicked, unfeeling sadist,” Maisy quipped, with a little bit of the leftover anger and frustration from the morning’s workout.

“Feeling the burn, are you?”

“I hurt in places I didn’t even know could feel anything. He made me work on the treadmill for so long that when I came down, I could barely feel my legs. Then after the whole session, you want to know what he said to me?” Maisy asked. Chloe was listening with rapt attention, and the smile on her face showed how funny she found Maisy’s story.

“He said, ‘Good job, Maisy, but I think we can do better tomorrow.’ Can you believe that?” Maisy looked at Chloe, completely expecting her to understand what she was getting at.

“Well, you’re going back tomorrow, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but he said ‘I think we can do better tomorrow’, as if I didn’t just bend over backwards, giving him my best right there.”

Chloe chuckled. “You weren’t expecting it to be easy, were you?”

“Well, of course not. I was also not expecting to end up in a wheelchair,” Maisy replied dryly.

“Don’t worry. You’ll soon get used to it. It was that way for me, too, when I first started. But now I actually crave that burn. It’s what tells me I’ve had a good workout.”

“Maybe,” Maisy said, still unconvinced anything was going to make her ever enjoy the aches and pains that were now wracking her whole body.

Chloe looked as if she was dressed to go out. “So, what are you up to now?” Maisy asked.

“Just finished my work for the day, so I thought I’d take you on a trip around town. Show you all the cool places, maybe even buy that rug you were talking about.”

Maisy glanced at the clock on the living room wall and then looked back at her friend. “You’ve finished working for the day?” she asked, and Chloe laughed at the slightly curious expression on Maisy’s face.

“I make jewelry for my online store,” she replied to Maisy’s unasked questions, and Maisy looked at Chloe and saw she wasn’t wearing any.

“I know, I know. I make it but don’t like wearing it. All my friends tell me that, too. So, what do you say to us taking a look around town?”

“Sure, just give me a second to change clothes and get my purse.”

* * *

“Good morning,” Maisy greeted Carter as she stepped into the gym and saw him at the reception desk, looking at some files spread out in front of him.

“Morning,” he replied, gathering the files and placing them inside a folder. “Didn’t know you were going to show up so early.”

“But the schedule you gave me said 6 a.m. . . . I think,” Maisy said, trying to remember if she had made a mistake when she was checking the time.

“I know. So, ready for today?” He stood up and led the way to the workout room.

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