Page 19 of Bewitch

“Try this diet every day for a month,” Lucas says. “You’re bound to see results with it.”

“Right,” I say. “Sure.”

“You don’t believe me?”

I eye him and look away. “I’m gonna start taking Advil before I come in.”

“So long as you come in. Or not. I get paid either way so long as you’re on my calendar.”

“If I’m going to pay you, you can bet that I’m going to be here.”

“Yeah. Well, our time’s up.”

“Tomorrow then.”

He nods and then shrugs, and I’m surprised when he walks me out to the front. Maybe he has another client coming.

I don’t see anyone waiting for him, and I’m not about to stick around and see how he others his other clients. Differently, I’m sure, but I don’t care. I just need to figure my shit out.

I don’t have any fruit on me. He had talked about a banana after working out. Hmm. I wonder…

Let’s just say that I plan on having a banana on me at all times from now on, even at the gym. I know there’s no food to be eaten anywhere other than by the welcome desk area and the foyer, but if he’s always going to be walking me out…

I head on home and shower. Even just lifting my arms to wash my hair is agonizing, and I slink to the bottom of the shower and sit, letting the hot water rush over me. This will be worth it. It really will.

That’s my mantra.

Chicken, rice, broccoli, and avocado with lemon. That’s supposed to be my dinner. It’s not going to be on the menu at the café, but that’s where I head anyhow. I need to be around friends. Brooke’s not around, so I hang out with Eliza and Kaylie and a few other girls and guys they seem to know. None of them blink an eye or act like I don’t belong even though I only really talk to the two of them.

What do I eat? There’s Mexican rice, chicken, and broccoli. The broccoli is mush, cooked way too long, so I take one bite, gag, and not eat the rest. The chicken is a little dry, but the rice is delicious. Man, if this is all the food I’m going to eat after that huge of a workout, I better go to bed early and do my best not to get back out of bed and stuff my mouth full of whatever is in the room.

Well, there’s one way around that. If I don’t have any food in the room… But Brooke will. I’m not about to ask her to not keep any food on hand, and if she has food, I know I’m going to cave and eat it and then pay her back. Even if she were to somehow not have any food in the room, there is a vending machine…

I just need to suck it up, buttercup, and I end up getting more rice and chicken. I’m scrapping my plate to make sure I get every little bit of rice but only eat half of the seconds of chicken. Not that this chicken isn’t a bit better than the first, but I do need to try to stop eating everything that’s put on my plate, right?

“Does anyone want this?” I ask.

No one does, so I stand and throw away the food. It feels like a sin.

Although everyone else is still talking, I’m sore and beat, worn down, so I tell them goodbye and make the long, lonely trek back to my room. I’m surprised Brooke’s there and give her a worn smile.

“You look exhausted,” she says. “You’ve also been busy lately.”

“I’m going to the gym every day, six days a week for an hour.”

“Wow, that’s awesome!”

“I hired a personal fitness trainer.”

“Seriously? How’s that been going?”

“He’s a real fucking asshole.”

“He?”

I nod. “No my first choice, but I’m trying to use him as motivation.”

“Oh, yeah?”

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