Page 31 of Training Maisy

Chapter 19

Maisy sat across from Eric at Ralph’s, wondering why the hell she had even agreed to meet him. She glanced at the menu that had been delivered to them, all the while trying to ignore the fact that Eric was still staring at her. Leering at her would be more accurate, and it felt kind of creepy. Not that she could blame him. She looked fabulous, and she knew it. A far cry from the slightly heavier Maisy he used to know. She had finally reached her target weight, and if she wanted to be truthful to herself, most of it was thanks to Carter, or specifically, the pain of their breakup. She could still remember that night, how she had managed to get herself home. Then cried herself to sleep. The next day, she had woken up to learn that sleep had done nothing to diminish the pain. She found herself craving the physical pain of her daily workout to distract her from the more painful sensation in her heart. But when she stood up to go to the gym, she realized she wasn’t ready to see him or talk to him.

Not sure her heart could handle any contact with him, and knowing she had no claim to him, she joined the new gym that just opened across town and directed all her feelings of pain and anger towards the equipment. She ran till her legs almost gave way, did pull-ups, push-ups, lifted weights till she was way more fit than she ever imagined she could be. Yet the pain never fully left her, and even the smallest thing was enough to set her off. The color of a shirt, a man pushing weights, someone handing her a bottle of water, and she was immediately thinking of her Carter. Brittany was already talking of going out and maybe meeting someone new. But Maisy was not in the mood for that. Neither was she in the mood to take up any of the offers she had been getting of late. Guys asking her out for a cup of coffee or some even for a date all got the same polite thanks but no thanks.

One thing she could thank Carter for, though, was exposing her to the joy of working out, exercising. It had helped a lot with the pain, and soon, it had turned into something she loved. Loved so much that even other people had noticed, and she was asked to take one class, then another. And now she taught an afternoon class at her new gym. The pay wasn’t great, but she loved it, loved her class and her trainees. Loved seeing people work hard and then seeing the result of their hard work as they strove to reach their target weight.

Then a week ago, she had gotten a call from Eric, saying he was thinking about her and how she had been doing since their “little spat.” Maisy had been too shocked to even muster a reply, so she just stood with the phone in her hand as Eric prattled on and on about all he had been up to. Mostly bragging about himself, then the last thing he said was that he may be in the area, and he would drop by to see her. But she laughed at that, thinking there was no way he could know she had moved away. Then he had called yesterday and said he was in Ashborne and could he see her. Maisy had no idea why she had said yes. Maybe it was because she had been standing in front of the wall-to-wall mirror in the gym, admiring her now-fabulous form, and wondered how it would feel for him to see the new her. So, she had said yes, and now she was regretting it.

He had greeted her at the entrance of the restaurant, acting as if nothing had happened. But now Maisy saw the charming act for what it was. They sat down, and Eric continued with his charm talk, and Maisy found it easy to ignore him, for the most part. She was starting to regret agreeing to this meeting. Somewhere during the time when Eric bragged about his new raise and the car he was thinking of buying, Maisy realized she didn’t even care anymore what Eric thought about her. At least till she heard him say, “Got to say, it’s good you took my advice and lost all that ugly weight. You look better. Way better.”

Maisy could only stare in shock at his statement, wondering what gave him the right to lay any claim to her story. Then he continued, “So the guys in my office are throwing a retirement party for my boss, and I’m thinking, why don’t you come with me? I bet they would be surprised to see how sexy you’ve become.”

That was when Maisy realized Eric was an insecure prick she absolutely had no reason to deal with and felt just a bit sorry for him. Not sorry enough to forget all the years of heartache he had caused, though. So, without waiting for her food, she picked up her purse and looked him straight in the eye. “You know all those years I spent trying to please you, thinking I was the one at fault, and now I realize you’re the one with the problem, not me. I was good to you, good for you, and you abused me, humiliated me, and treated me like shit. But now, I’m free from you; trust me, not only do I pity the next girl you’re going to punish for your childish, pathetic insecurities, but you’d best believe I would never, ever be that girl again. Take a good look, Eric. All of this is me and for me. You had no hand in this, and you can keep deceiving yourself that you did. But just don’t let me ever hear from you again, or you’ll find out exactly how easy it is for me to bench-press your weight.”

The last statement was said while she looked directly at his face, and the look she gave him made him flinch out of fear. Maisy stood up from the table. But she hadn’t taken two steps when Eric wrapped his hand around her arm and attempted to drag her back. Maisy heard the gasp around the room as most of the patrons in the restaurant noticed the commotion. She jerked her hand from Eric, and noticed another commotion in the room. Then, before she could blink, she saw Carter by her side as he, without any preamble, punched Eric right in the face.

The blow sent him to the floor. There was another loud gasp as many of the patrons recognized Carter. They had also seen Eric accost Maisy, so no one was willing to help the injured Eric on the floor. He stood up, and, after taking a good look at Carter, realized there was no way he could take him on. Eric looked at Maisy and was about to say something, but saw Carter standing beside her looking like he really didn’t mind going after him again. He cursed silently and stalked out of the room, swearing at a few people who were still staring at him.

Maisy watched Eric leave and, in a way, was glad she didn’t have to deal with him anymore. Then a small nudge at her back reminded her she now had someone new to deal with. Pasting the biggest smile on her face that she could, and hoping she could get away for the next few minutes without showing any emotion, she turned to look at him. She was instantly floored by how much she’d missed him, missed his face, his touch, hearing his voice. She thought he looked a little tired, a little more worn out than she remembered, but had to admit that was probably just her looking for a reason to know he had missed her, too.

“Hi, Carter,” she said, glad her voice didn’t betray her emotions. “Thanks for that. But I could have dealt with Eric myself.”

“I know that, but I’m glad I could do that for you. Guy’s an asshole, and I wish he had made one more move so I could knock him flat on his ass again.”

He stopped talking, and they stared at each other, not saying anything. Around them, people went on with their dinner, oblivious to the two people standing in the middle of the room. Then suddenly, Maisy hitched her purse on her shoulder and ran out of the restaurant. Carter stared in shock then quickly ran after her, easily catching up with her just as she was about to turn the corner. He put out a hand to stop her, and Maisy whirled around, attacking him, sort of. And that was when Carter realized she was crying.

“Why the hell couldn’t you just stay away?” she bawled as she kept hitting him, small blows that were more for show and didn’t hurt him at all. “I was just starting to get over you, maybe even starting to forget how it felt, and you brought everything back.”

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