Page 73 of Allure

“Why can’t you ever forgive anyone?”

CHAPTER25

“I’m so glad you have a treadmill buddy in Heather,” I tell Dawn as we head to the parking lot.

“Me,” she says with a grin.

“Oh! Give me a sec. I’ll be right back.”

I drove, thankfully, and I grab a stack of flyers from the backseat. I made a ton of them, having procrastinated from watching videos one night to create the flyer minus the date. Now that we have a date that's looming over me, even though it's still a bit away makes me want to break out in hives.

I carry them inside Fearless Fitness. Pamela grins at me.

“Did you forget something?”

“In a way,” I say. “Would it be all right if I leave these with you to hand out to those you think might be interested?”

She takes the top flyer, reads it, and then clearly sets it aside for herself.

"As long as I don't have to work then, I'll be there," she assures me. "I've never thought about karate before, but the thought of learning self-defense… I mean, with that mugger running around, this is so aptly timed! I have a feeling this is going to blow up and be huge!'

"Thank you so much, Pamela. I'm so glad you're coming. I have no idea how it's going to go or if women will show up." I grimace. "You know what? Next time, it should just be a self-defense class for anyone and everyone. Why just women? I mean, I know we're more likely to be attacked, but there are other classes of people who can be targeted too."

“You’re amazing,” she gushes. “I just love our community here at Fearless Fitness. So many of our members are changing the world, and you’re a part of that. It must feel so good to know that you are making a difference in the world.”

“Not yet I’m not.”

She snorts. “Before I hurt my back, I used to teach so many classes here. Pilates. Yoga. Spin classes. Weight lifting for beginners. It was crazy and insane, and on top of that, I would also lead seminars, special classes basically, a one-off, and the amount of planning for just a single class? It takes so much time, so don’t pretend you haven’t already put hours into this. It’ll show, and you’ll shine.”

I grin. “Thank you, Pamela. Whenever I’m having a bad day, I’m just going to talk to you.”

“Of course!” She waves.

I hurry back to the car to find Dawn in the passenger seat, holding a flyer.

“I hope you know Kaylie, Eliza, and I are all coming,” she says.

“Have you registered yet?” I ask as I buckle up and turn on the car.

“Not yet. When we get to the room. After my protein shake. Our protein shakes,” she corrects with a laugh. “I’ll have to go and get more when we run out. You shouldn’t have to provide all of that for us.”

"I would feel better if we go now, when it's daylight," I say. "Plus, I want to talk to the owner. I think his name is Arne. I'm hoping he'll be willing to let me put up flyers in the grocery store. All down that shopping center and the other one that was hit. The mugger is moving around now, more unpredictable, and it makes me worried that he's becoming more desperate."

“You think he’s going after the money for a reason, huh?”

“I don’t know. Maybe, but how many people have cash on them nowadays? He’s amassing cards, and the women know to cancel them immediately, so what is he really getting out of this?”

“Maybe he’s some kind of freak and is getting a high from it.” Dawn makes a face. “What a sick scumbag.”

“You’re telling me.”

“Sure, we can go to the grocery store now,” she says. “Whatever you want, I’m game.”

We head there, and while Dawn fills a cart, I try to track down the owner. It takes me a few tries to find an employee who will direct me toward his office in the back.

A short, balding man who seems to be handling things well even as three different employees come up to him to ask for his assistance with matters that he easily rectifies without moving from behind his desk, Arne Montel isn’t at all what I expected, although I’m not sure what exactly I expected from the owner of a store called New Age Grocery.

“Mr. Montel? May I have a word with you?” I ask from the doorway once his office is finally cleared.

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