Chapter Three

 It was hot outside at 3pm.  There was no shade and the sun beat down on the back of the man lying face-down in the parking space.  Sweat stained the back of his shirt and pooled at the top of his grey shorts.  He needed just a minute, just a minute to catch his breath.  His lungs labored and his heart hammered and he thought he might die and wished he might die and wondered if he had died and was this hell.  

“C’mon Chad!” the shrill voice climbed its way into his ears and gave him a shiver down his exhausted spine.  It was hell, he thought.  Definitely hell.

“Just one more set!” she chirped.

He would stand up if only to punch her in her fat face.  He didn’t hate her as much when Mark and Lisa were here, but when they weren’t, Lainey’s stupid face and shrill voice and non-stop chatter made him want to go back to spending his afternoons smoking pot and eating Cheetos.

Chad was never really sure why Lainey was there in the first place.  She dressed up in exercise clothes but he wasn’t sure he actually ever saw her move.  She seemed to take pride in holding the jump rope and providing a non-stop stream of boring chatter as she did.  Laying on his stomach and feeling the heat bake the sweat off of his shirt, Chad closed his eyes and prepared to push his aching body up one more time.  This workout had been no joke and every muscle in his legs and upper arms twitched and protested.

“No pain, no gain.”  Lainey cheered from her spot in the shade.  

Oh my God, he would kill her.  Chad opened one eye, looked up at her, and for a minute pictured his fist punching her ample stomach and knocking the breath out of her.  He could actually feel his fist tighten and pictured it sinking into her flesh before knocking her back.  Her eyes would go wide and her mouth would form an O while the breath rushed out of her and for once, just once, she would be quiet.

Chad pushed himself off the mat, nodded to the neighbor pulling in next to him, ignored Lainey, and began his last round of burpees.  Fifteen to go and he would be done.  The key was to count backward.  Fifteen, fourteen.  He got to ten and wanted to stop.  Nine.  Eight.  It was rhythmic at this point: crouch, extend, drop, push, crouch, explode up.  Five.  He heard something but knowing it was Lainey, just focused on his choppy breath, the way the sweat streamed down his face, until three, two, and one.

Chad laid on his mat for a minute trying to remember how to breathe.  He could hear Lainey in the background and made a mental note to kill Mark and Lisa for leaving him alone with her today.  The three of them almost always worked out each afternoon but today they had looked secretive and said they had to go talk something over.  Chad hoped they weren’t breaking up. He liked Lisa the best out of all of Mark’s girlfriends.  She was funny and smart and liked fitness as much as they did.  She made a good roommate too; cleaned up after herself and never ate the last of something in the fridge.  And, if he was being honest, he loved seeing her in the morning with her hair messed up and sleepy-eyed as she reached for coffee in those short-shorts.

Ugh, if they broke up and Chad had to nurse Mark through another heartache.  The last girl who left took Mark’s heart and a lot of his money and to cope Mark kicked a soccer ball against the wall outside their apartment every single day for months.  Months.  Kick, smack, kick, smack, kick, smack.  He wasn’t sure how the neighbors never complained.  Chad was annoyed with the rhythmic slapping of the ball against the wall and he understood why it was happening.  

He pushed himself off of his sweat-soaked mat and stood up.  The sun was brutal and the sound of Lainey’s voice in his ear was also brutal and he was anxious to step away from both.

“Good job today!” Lainey said with a smile.

“Yeah, thanks,” Chad replied.  He busied himself with gathering his equipment and checking that he had picked up everything, started walking to his door.

“Um, would you want to hang out or something?” Lainey asked quickly.  She could see he was hurting to go inside and didn’t want to lose her opportunity. “Maybe get a beer?”

“Oh, no. I am not drinking this month, but thanks.”  Chad lied.  He planned to shower and sit on the couch with some beer as quickly as possible.  He moved to the door, twisted the handle open, and said “See you later” while stepping inside.  He didn’t want to give her room to suggest a show or ice cream or protein shakes.

He locked the door behind him, took a deep breath, and wondered again where Mark and Lisa had gone.  They were all religious about their 3pm workouts, walks with the dog at night, and yoga by the pool on the weekends.  Lisa had been the best thing to happen to Mark, and really, Chad.  She never told them to exercise or eat better, but watching her fueled them both to be better versions of themselves: Mark because he was afraid she would smarten up and leave and Chad because, really, he had nothing else to do.  He had lost fifteen pounds since she moved in and felt better than he had in years.  Mark sometimes teased that Chad got more action when he was fat and stoned than he did now with his trim stomach and tight muscles.  Chad would laugh and agree.  It was true.  He couldn’t remember the last time he had gone on an awkward first date or brought a girl home for the night.  Sure, sex would be nice, and he occasionally flipped through his dating app, but no one really appealed to him.

He stepped into an ice-cold shower and felt the salt, sweat, and stink of his workout sluice off of him.  He stood there and let the water beat on his head and face and wondered again where Mark and Lisa were and if he was going to be helping someone pack tonight or if they would have their usual Friday night of beer, a little weed, and a healthy dinner while watching someone’s movie of choice.  It was just so easy with the three of them, he really hoped Mark wasn’t messing it up right now.

Chad stepped out onto the rug and towel himself off in quick movements.  He could hear voices downstairs and wanted to see what had transpired.  Lisa had been such an asset in both their lives, he was going to be pissed if she was leaving.  The only thing she had been a little bit of a pain in the ass about was insisting that they get the complex to fix the human-sized hole in their living room wall.  Neither Chad nor Mark could positively say how the hole had gotten there but knew it was the result of too many drinks, too much time on their hands, and a failed sense that they too should be professional wrestlers.  They had laughed the next day as they picked up pieces of drywall from the floor and said they would fix it one day.  Lisa insisted she could smell things coming from the apartment next store. She could smell their trash and their fried food cooking.  She loudly complained every day until Mark finally put in a work order to have it fixed.  Other than being slightly unreasonable about that hole and the “smells”, Lisa had been great.  Mark had been his best friend since college, but it felt like Lisa was also his best friend. Shit.  He wouldn’t be just pissed, he would be sad if she was going.

He stepped into a pair of shorts and hurried down the stairs. Mark and Lisa were sitting on the couch laughing and drinking beer.  Chad felt himself start to relax; this didn’t seem like a breakup at all.

“Do not ever leave me alone with Lainey again,” he said as his way of hello.

Mark and Lisa both laughed and Lisa said “But did she hold the jump rope for you?”

“She talked and held that damn rope the entire time.  I wanted to punch her.”

They laughed again and Chad smiled as he took a sip of his beer.  God, it was just so easy with the three of them.

“Sorry man.  We just needed to figure some things out.  We won’t leave you again.” Mark said 

“Everything okay?” Chad asked.

“Everything is great!” Lisa said and smiled at him.  God, she even managed to smile with her eyes, he thought.  She was so pretty and fun and he really loved when she laughed how she threw her head back to let all the laughter out.  Okay.  Enough, he admonished himself.  Roommate, best friend’s girl, enough.

They settled back and sipped their beers and talked about their weeks.  They finished one beer and then two and the conversation just kept moving.  They talked about Lainey and her jump rope, the things they wanted to do this weekend, and spent a lot of time laughing and discussing the weird people at their pool.

Usually, by this time, someone would start dinner and someone else would pick a movie, but tonight the air in the living room was charged with a sense of something pending. Something big, something that would be both so very natural and so very shocking.  Chad wasn’t sure if it was just him who felt it, so he kept quiet but felt the air around him change and the beating of his heart intensified.

Finally, Lisa stood up and smiled at Mark, and said “We should go upstairs now.”

Mark quickly finished what was left of his beer, set it on the table, and said “It’s definitely time.”  He kissed her on the cheek and headed up.

Chad sighed and started thinking about what he would make to eat.  Maybe just order something instead.  He was scrolling through his phone when he heard movement and noticed Lisa’s feet standing right in front of him.  She reached for his phone and set it aside and he let her.  She pulled him up from his seat and stood so close to him, too close to him, but not close enough to him.  Her hands on his arms were warm and she was so close that he could smell her shampoo and count the freckles on his nose.  He was frozen.  He wanted to touch her, wanted to pull her to him and crush her against him.  He could barely breathe.

Lisa just smiled.  She moved her hands up and down his biceps and smiled when he flexed.  Chad didn’t know what to say or think or do.  He stood there waiting for her to tell him what this was.

Lisa traced her fingers over his chest, down his stomach, and stopped at the waistband of his shorts.  He inhaled sharply as her fingernails traced the outline of his incredibly erect penis through his shorts.  He couldn’t make sense out of any of this and he didn’t want to, he just wanted her to never stop doing that.

Lisa stepped back, smiled, and said “You should come upstairs with us too.”  She moved to the bottom of the stairs and yelled up “Coming!”, but stopped as she stepped onto the first stair.  Chad watched her turn slightly and smile at him once more.  “Coming?” she asked and stretched out her hand.

Chad found that he couldn’t speak.  He had no words, but he didn’t need them. His body took over and he stretched his own hand to meet Lisa’s and clasped together, they began climbing the stairs.