Page 20 of The Seven Rings
Maybe she had to lie on the floor in a groaning puddle for a minute, but she’d done it.
Yoda came over to lie down beside her. The cat curled on a weight bench and watched her with mild disdain.
“Which one of you is going to help me up?”
Since neither volunteered, Sonya raised to a sitting position and ordered herself to finish with a ten-minute stretch.
She considered herself an Amazon when she made it back upstairs without limping.
When she walked back to the kitchen to refill her water bottle, it surprised her to see Cleo sitting at the counter with coffee and a Toaster Strudel.
“You’re up early.”
“Not as early as you, obviously. Did you shower in your clothes?”
“Muscle Up routine.” Still a little breathless, Sonya pressed a hand to her heart. “Brutal. But she kept ringing the damn bell. Dobbs gave up. I didn’t.”
“That’s my Sonya. I, on the other hand, am up because I have a yen to take a sail. You could come with me.”
“Wish I could, but I’m already going to be late for work, since I plan to take a shower for a couple hours.”
“Such a responsible soul. I, again on the other hand, am takingThe Sirenout for a sail. They’re calling for thunderstorms late this afternoon, so I’ll get in my sail, go by the grocery store and other errands, and be back home to paint in the studio before the storms hit.”
“I have to point out there’s responsible in there, starting with the sail.” Deciding she deserved a reward, Sonya opened the fridge for aCoke. “It wouldn’t be responsible to have a gorgeous little Sunfish and not sail it.”
“You’re right. We’re responsible girls. So let’s just be girls tonight, since Owen and Trey both have work this evening, I have a plan.”
“Tell me the plan before this sweat rolls off me and leaves a puddle on the floor.”
“A big, giant girl salad for dinner. A solid session sorting the photos. Then a big, giant, buttery, salty mountain of popcorn, a bottle of wine, and a girly movie in pj’s.”
“And this is only one of the myriad reasons we’re friends. I’m in. And now I’m also in the shower. Enjoy your sail.”
After a blissful shower, Sonya tossed on sweat shorts, a tee, then decided the hell with her hair, and pulled it, still damp, into a tail.
When she sat at her desk, and Yoda scooted under it, she rolled her slightly aching shoulders.
“I feel strong and freaking righteous. Okay, Clover, let it rip.”
The tablet rocked out with Destiny’s Child and “Independent Women Part I.”
“And that’s damn right. I am.”
As she booted up her computer, her phone signaled a text.
The Ryder Sports group with a request. For a video call at ten.
“Well, crap.”
She answered in the affirmative, then pulled out her emergency video call makeup.
“Independent, yeah, but no business meetings with a naked face.”
With a little time to spare, she dealt with emails, started work on a proposal for an ad campaign for a local business.
“Okay, Clover, music off for now.”
And rolling her shoulders again, entered the call.
