“I’m not asking you to go on television and broadcast it. You don’t even have to tell me, if you’re really going to be so prissy about it. Just think about it.”
Alex leaned forward and buried her face in her hands. “Oh god, I don’t know.”
“Make an effort. This is important.” Nat slapped her on the thighs. “Come on. In vino veritas.”
“Scotch is a bit stronger than wine. I think I’m way past any truth at this point.” Alex looked up and brushed a curl off her forehead. “I can’t believe I have to teach a nine a.m. class tomorrow.”
“I got you drunk, I’ll come to your class as moral support. Now, focus. Who’s it going to be?”
Nat couldn’t possibly be as trashed as her. She was used to drinking hard liquor. The strongest Alex managed was a G&T, which had nothing on the way this stuff burned in her throat. Nat was serious.
“I’ll give you an answer in the morning.” Alex checked the wall clock. It was two a.m. She’d taught classes with mild hangovers before, but tomorrow would kill her. “I have to go to bed.”
“You can go to bed as soon as you make a decision. It’s not rocket science, Pizza. Just follow this.” Nat tapped her fingers to her chest. “And that, I guess.” She pinched her eyebrows together and pointed her thumb between Alex’s legs. “You will have forgotten all about this in the morning. I promise.”
Alex let her head fall onto her shoulders and sighed. She stared at the ceiling, at where Maddie lived and she knew.
“Maddie. I’d be thinking of Maddie.”
“Thank god for that.” Nat pulled her close for a hug. “You’d be crazy not to.”
“What have I done?” Panic gripped her, crashing into her from all sides. “I have to go see her.” Alex pulled herself free from Nat’s embrace and tried to get up. Instead she slipped out of the sofa, head first, onto the carpet.
She lay there helplessly, her feet tangled up in sofa cushions, her shoulders crushed into the carpet and her balance non-existent.
“Oh, Pizza.” Nat rose and huddled over her. “Come on, I’ll put you to bed.” She extended her hand, but Alex didn’t have the strength left to grab it.
“I must go and apologise.” Alex’s eyes fluttered from the ceiling above her to Nat’s arm. “Before it’s too late.”
Nat crouched down and slipped her arm under Alex’s back. “There’s plenty of time for that in the morning. Believe me, you don’t want Maddie to see you like this.”
“I have to work in the morning.” Alex finally managed to grab hold of Nat’s other arm. Nat’s weight shifted and, losing her balance, she tumbled on top of Alex.
“Hey, I’m taken,” Nat said, before succumbing to a fit of giggles. Alex laughed with her, their bellies shaking against each other. “Remind me to never get you drunk again, Pizza.”
MADDIE
Maddie stood in front of her wardrobe, hesitating whether to put on her yoga pants or not. She was baffled by the amount of tank tops piling up on her shelves, all belonging to Alex. The prospect of seeing Alex’s shoulder line—a sight as addictive as anything—tipped her over the edge. She pulled her fitness clothes out of the closet and, heart already pounding out of control in her chest, slipped into them.
She had plenty of time for a coffee at The Bean before Alex’s nine a.m. body balance class. She ordered a double espresso, eager for the caffeine to pump some energy into her body. After tossing and turning the better part of the night away, Maddie had decided she had some fight left in her. If anyone was worth it, it was Alessandra Pozzato.
While briefly looking up from the stream of work e-mails flooding the inbox of her phone, Maddie spotted two familiar figures sliding down the escalator. Her pulse quickened at the prospect of Nat and Alex stopping at The Bean for a coffee, but their faces slipped out of vision and the door of the coffee house remained shut for the next few minutes.
Nerves tore through Maddie’s body as she made her way to Shape. She’d lingered in The Bean long enough to miss Alex in the locker room. She wanted to look at her in silence before having to speak to her. She wanted to see how she’d react to Maddie’s presence in class. Maddie didn’t want to risk Rita turning up afterwards again, with another relic from their past—which is what Maddie figured Rita had planted in Alex’s hand the night before. She didn’t want to miss her chance this time.
Alex was already running through her obligatory introduction lines when Maddie entered the studio. She found a spot in the back before daring to face the front.