Page 16 of Count Down

“What did you think?” I ask Luca.

“Definitely a workout. Feels really good to concentrate and put all the pieces together in each exercise, though. I can see why dancers like it.” He stretches his arms back behind him. I can tell he’s feeling it.

“Yeah, you caught on quickly. Usually, the first lesson is more about getting someone accustomed to the complexity of this kind of movement. Since you kind of got that from the beginning, I decided to see how far I could push you.”

“Good,” he says. “I like a challenge.”

I walk him back to the front desk. “Same time next week?”

“I’ll be here.” Luca slings his gym bag over his shoulder. “I’m interested to hear how the apartment hunting goes.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “I think it’s the right thing to do. I’m nervous about moving out. But I was also nervous about breaking up with Archie, and I know that was the right decision.”

Heat flushes up my face as I realize what I just said and what it might sound like.

Luca’s eyebrows raise again. He nods, agreeing that I made the right decision. Then he turns to the exit and waves back behind him, “See you next week.”

15

LUCA

I continueto watch DA Nicoletti, looking for any other opportunities to do the job. I’m confident I can do it at the theater during PBT’s Summer Showcase. But that’s not until July 20th, more than four weeks away.

I have to be ready for anything. Mateo might decide we need to move up the timeline. Something could happen to keep Nicoletti from going to the show. So it’s worth having other options.

I keep watching to see if he has any other patterns I can exploit. He goes to the office. A few days a week he leaves the office for lunch. He hasn’t been consistent on which days he goes out for lunch. On Fridays, he goes out to dinner with his wife. So far, it’s been a different restaurant each week.

Other than that, he spends his evenings and weekends at home in Chestnut Hill. I spent a few nights watching his house from my car parked on the side of the road. He goes to bed by 10pm every night.

What I did notice, is that Gina comes home most nights around 8:00pm. She gets home dressed in her sweats and carrying her dance bag. She told me she teaches a couple of classes in the evenings after rehearsals are done, but it appears she does it almost every night now. I wonder if it’s part of her plan to move out on her own.

Watching her get home has become the highlight of my day. There’s a bounce to her step. A new energy that I can almost feel in my own body. I’ve become very fond of the view of her jogging up the steps of her front door, her blonde ponytail bouncing behind her.

I don’t feel guilty watching her enter her home. I feel only slightly guilty observing what she does when she’s inside. It’s dark. It’s the suburbs. Nobody has any reason to believe someone’s watching their house. I’m not close enough to see exactly what anyone is doing in the house, but it’s easy to tell which parts of the house they’re moving through.

Gina goes to the kitchen for a bit when she gets home, then into the living room, where her parents are watching tv. Her mother and father go up to their room soon after. About an hour later she shuts off all the downstairs lights and goes upstairs.

Her room appears to be in the front corner of the house, on the opposite corner of her parents’ room. I can tell she has an en suite in her room and she takes a shower.

When she comes out of the bathroom and crosses in front of the window, I see she’s put on a large baggy t-shirt. Around 11pm she shuts off the room light, but I can tell by the dim blue flickering she’s watching something, probably on a TV or a laptop. It’s off by midnight and I can assume she’s soon asleep.

It’s strange to imagine her there sleeping. I picture her face calm and relaxed, her hair falling softly over her shoulder. With a jolt, I realize I’m picturing seeing it from the space next to her in the bed.

* * *

I show up to my second pilates session with Gina. Again, we’re the only ones in the studio. I’ve been looking forward to it for more than one reason. My body was sore after our first session, but it also felt good. I felt like I worked out muscles that I can’t usually get.

The second session is still tough, but after I finish the first set of exercises, I think she said it’s called footwork, I pick up our conversation from last week.

She tells me that she’s scheduling more clients to try and save up money to move. She and her friend Lexi have been looking at an apartment.

I’m lying on my back on the Reformer. Gina walks around behind me and returns, holding a pair of straps attached to long ropes. She hands them to me. “We think we found a place near Temple University. It’s 2 bedrooms. Affordable. In an okay neighborhood.”

“That’s great.” I put my hands in the straps and she shows me how to start the next move.

“Yeah. I’m not looking forward to telling my dad though.”

“What do you think he’ll do?” I ask.

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