Page 7 of Resistance Training
“Hey, I like my curves! I got so skinny when I was with Jeremy, and I love getting my curves back.”
“Nobody’s telling you to lose weight—they have workouts for curves now!”
“I’ve been doing them—I lift large forkfuls of pie into my mouth, as many reps as I can until I get fatigued. Wanna see?”
“Jeremyis going to be in the wedding,” Aubrey blurts out. “And he’s throwing us an engagement party here in a couple of weeks—which you do not have to come to. He’s going to be one of Eric’s groomsmen.”
Ohhhh yeah…I can’t believe I didn’t think of that as soon as she told me about the wedding. I met Jeremy through Eric, not long after he and Aubrey started dating. This is not good. This is not something to look forward to. Shit. “Well…I mean. June is three whole months from now. A lot can happen in three months. We could all be dead by then!”
She takes a sip of water and a deep breath before saying, “He’ll be at the wedding with his fiancée…”
What?
WHAT?!
“What?”
“Jeremy is engaged.”
“To Duckface?”
“To the woman he dumped you for, yes.”
Wow.
Jeremy Fenton is engaged to Duckface. I did not see that coming. I thought for sure that Jeremy would realize what a stupid idiot he was, leaving me for her. Or that he’d realize what a stupid idiotshewas for cheating with him while he was still living with me and she was still living with her boyfriendandreceiving financial support from some married-sugar-daddy situation that originated on Instagram. Or that they’d both realize what assholes they were for secretly seeing each other for an entire year. Or that they would have murdered each other by now since he moved back to Seattle for her, after making me move here for him, because they’re both terrible stupid selfish asshole idiots. But I guess that means they’re perfect for each other. Good for them.
I reach for the wine bottle that’s on the coffee table and empty it directly into my mouth.
A toast to the terrible stupid selfish asshole idiots!
“Are you okay?”
I forgot that I was FaceTiming with my sister. Putting down the bottle and picking up the phone, I say, “Honestly?” I blow out a breath, and not one quippy word follows all that air. “I’m not sure.”
“Oh, Vivi…” It looks like so many unexpected genuine words are about to come tumbling out of my sister’s mouth, I brace myself. “I hate seeing you like this, and I’m not talking about the barely noticeable extra weight that really and truly looks good on you. I want my wedding to be fun for you. I want you to be as happy as I am. I’ve been watching you try to fill this void that has nothing to do with Jeremy, and I can’t tell if youeven realize it or not, and I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being alone or eating pie when you’re alone or singing to your cat when you’re alone…I justdon’t want you to be alone. You’re wonderful, and I think it’s been so,solong since you remembered how wonderful you are, and I’m so afraid it’s all my fault somehow. Please let me help you.”
And that’s when I remember. I remember that I was never really in love with Jeremy so much as I flung myself into a two-person cult because I got tired of keeping myself busy on the apps. A two-person cult where he was the impossibly handsome, deviously charming cult leader that my parents approved of. And I was the not very devoted follower who had been kind of a mess for a few years and felt she should adhere to his rules about macronutrients and minimalist decor and digital everything and the missionary position and cleaning the toilets with bleach and never rewatching TV shows or movies because comfort makes your brain go soft andoh my God he was a monster.
I remember that someone else broke my heart years before I met Jeremy. And that guy never even knew my heart was his to break, becauseIdidn’t realize it until it was too late. And I remember that my sister is marrying the love of her life in three months. And she’s worrying aboutme. I have no idea why she feels responsible for Jeremy dumping me, other than the fact that she introduced him to me. But…
“Aubrey.” I hold the phone up directly in front of my face. “You’re getting married.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s talk aboutyou. I know you don’t think I can help you, so just tell me something. Tell me about how he proposed.”
Her impossibly symmetrical little face lights up again, and she says, “Okay, I’ll tell you, but we will circle back to the gym thing, because I’m buying you an annual membership. Fornot losing weightreasons. This will be my bridesmaid gift to you.”
“Uh-huh.” I nod in agreement and smile very genuinely as I move super slowly over to the kitchen counter so she can’t tell that I’m unboxing the apple fritters. “Sounds fun. Go on.”
CHAPTER 3
BRAD
Fitness Journal—Monday, March 3
Today’s Intention:Fuck it.
