Looking back, I saw how calculated his plan was. The snarky comments, the tough workouts, the relentless attitude. It was all to stop me from seeing myself as a sufferer of fate’s cruel joke. Honestly, he was worth every penny I should have paid him.
During our final bittersweet workout, things with Colleen came to a head. I got distracted when she walked by, and Jerry noticed.
“You going to just keep staring at her or actually talk to her?” he asked with a knowing look.
I hadn’t even realized I was staring until he pointed it out.
“Sorry, Jerry. I’m getting back to lifting,” I mumbled, quickly doing some arm curls and slamming the weights back on the rack.
“Look, Art,” he said cautiously. “I’m not trying to meddle, but it’s obvious you want to talk to her. Whatever happened, it can’t be worth all this effort to pretend she doesn’t exist.”
I looked around, embarrassed. “Am I that obvious?”
“Was that supposed to be subtle?” he snickered.
Seeing my horrified expression, he added, “Just go talk to her.”
“I can’t. After what happened, she’ll probably just laugh and walk away.”
He shrugged. “Then stop staring at her from across the room. That’s more effective.”
His smugness was infuriating, but I knew he was right. I saw Colleen heading to the locker room and, swallowing my fear, hurried to catch her.
“Hey, Colleen,” I called out.
She turned, immediately looking uncomfortable as she stared at the floor.
“Hey, Arthur,” she said quickly.
Her demeanor didn’t inspire confidence, but I pushed through the awkwardness. “How have you been?” I asked, my voice betraying my nervousness.
“Pretty good,” she replied without meeting my eyes.
Gathering my courage, I said, “Listen, I was hoping we could talk, you know, clear the air.”
She nodded quickly. “When did you want to talk?”
I took a chance. “Are you free now?”
“Well, I need to shower first, but we can talk after. That okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” I replied, relieved.