Yoga Monday

"You're going to love it," Michelle insisted as she pulled into the parking lot of her gym. "This instructor has changed my life."

I couldn't help but mentally roll my eyes at the cliches spilling out of Michelle's mouth. Michelle was a close work friend, but we hadn't hung out much outside of scarfing down Thai food during lunch breaks. I've managed the card store for a couple months and since it's not exactly a career job, even for me, I mostly work with high school and college students. Even though I was technically their boss, I got along with most of them like friends. I particularly gravitated towards Michelle, who was three years my junior.

When I complained about the "new relationship" weight I was putting on, she insisted I do yoga with her.

"Do you even burn calories doing that?" I asked as I took a bite of rice.

"I sweat a lot and definitely feel stronger since I've started. I'm also much more flexible, which I'm sure your new boyfriend will appreciate," she said with a wink.

I muffled a laugh as I tried not to choke on my food. I reluctantly agreed. I had tried yoga in the past but could never really get into it. I looked down at my stomach and figured I'd try anything to avoid gaining any more weight. I never considered myself heavy, but I was always striving to lose those extra ten pounds. I definitely couldn't tolerate gaining weight.

We began stretching in the room as we waited for the instructor to arrive. "So, how's Justin?" Michelle asked while doing a butterfly stretch.

A smile spread across my face at the mention of his name. "Really good," I replied without divulging too much. It was actually surprising to me how good Justin and I were doing. The first night we met, I felt immediately drawn to Justin. Despite the few instances of premature jealousy, we had virtually no conflicts. Whenever we were together, things felt so effortless. I knew it was still early, so I didn't want to get my hopes up, but it was hard not to. I remembered feeling like this with Mike, but then we started having problems. I crossed my fingers that the same pattern didn't occur with Justin.

Michelle and I continued to make small talk until a petite, blond girl walked into the class with iPhone speakers and a large Fuji water. She greeted the class before setting up her speakers and starting.

I comfortably followed the first few positions the instructor did. I tried to focus on my breathing and emptying my mind as I switched from one position to the next, but as the moves became harder, I had a hard time simply maintaining each one. At one point, she told us to put one leg straight up in the air while balancing on our opposite knee. I thought I finally had it when she walked over to me.

"Move your leg so it's straight," she quietly said to me. Was this lady for real? I thought my leg was straight.

By the end of the class, I didn't feel like I had gotten a real work out but I was glad I tried it. Michelle dropped me off and I quickly showered before deciding to head to Starbucks. I figured I at least deserved a non-fat latte and I wanted to study for my GREs. At the end of May, I promised myself I would study at least ten hours a week so I'd be fully prepared for the test once the summer was over. However, between my laziness and spending time with Justin, I had barely studied at all. Since it was now August, I needed to really catch up.

I sat at a small table and opened up the ginormous exam preparation book to take a practice test. I had taken the test once before, so I was familiar with it, but I barely studied. My scores were okay, but they needed to be higher if I wanted to get into a doctoral program.

I was finishing up the first section when I heard someone say my name. I looked up and saw Moose, standing over my table, wearing a really nice gray suit.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I jokingly asked. "You look like a friend of mine but he doesn't dress nearly as sharp as you do."

He smirked at me. "Yeah, corporate life is slowly stealing my soul. I had to go to the city today to meet with human resources and fill out a bunch of paperwork." Moose was starting at an accounting firm in September, since he recently passed his CPA exams.

"Fun," I replied. "Come sit with me after you order. I could totally use a break from this," I said as I picked up my book and flashed the cover at him.

"Sounds like a plan," he said as we walked over to the counter. Moose was a really good friend of mine and even though there was some sexual tension there, I figured this was as good a time as any to fix any awkwardness.

Moose walked over with a small black coffee. "Wow, you're boring," I joked.

He silently smirked as he looked down at his cup. "So, Billy told me you brought a guy bowling," he said, avoiding eye contact with me. I couldn't believe he was opening with that.

I tried not to hesitate before responding. "Yeah, his name's Justin. I think you guys would get along."

"I can't wait to meet him," Moose said with a half smile. I felt bad, but I was glad Moose was at least trying to be happy for me.

We talked for another hour before walking out together.

"I'm glad we ran into each other," I said with a sincere smile.


"Me too, Caroline," Moose replied. He gave me a hug before walking across the parking lot to his car.