“One more addition! Add the backhand! You have to step into it with your left foot! Left jab, right cross, left hook, right uppercut, right backhand! Left, right, hook, uppercut, backhand! Left, right, hook, uppercut, backhand!”
With my last bit of energy, I attacked the bag for the next two minutes, and when the song finally ended and Rico called “Enough!” I was absolutely noodled. I could do little more than rest my hands on my knees in a bent position and concentrate on forcing air into my lungs quickly enough to keep myself from passing out.
“Good work, Taylor. You’ve got heart.” Rico held up his hand, and I just barely managed to high-five it, feeling proud of the compliment. He turned back to the class and called, “Time to cool down!” I found that a little affirmation went a long way as I discovered the energy to do some stomach crunches and stretches with the class to finish things out without actually passing out entirely.
Rico turned off the music and thanked everyone for a good class as they made their ways out. I was feeling quite accomplished and full of bravado, thinking, Just let someone try to accost me on the street and see what I do. I’ll wale on their ass!
I smiled, imagining it from my position on the floor, completely out of energy, which I recognized as being completely ironic. The need for water drove me to stand—that and the fact that people scheduled for the next class were beginning to arrive. I got up and grabbed the water from my bag, where it was tossed alongside the back wall of the room, and downed it in great gulps.
“So what are you up to tonight?” Rico was pulling the strap to his athletic bag over his shoulder as he approached me.
“Work.” I downed more water and capped it, popping it back into my gym bag.
“Ever have time for fun?” He was smiling flirtatiously, and he was definitely a handsome guy. But though I would have considered going out with him even a week ago, somehow his chin seemed weak and his eyes weren’t green, and he was only average height (which was still taller than me). It was silly, but there you have it.
“The world is an expensive place, Rico. I work six days a week and rest on the seventh.”
“Yeah, well, let me know if you ever have free time. I think we could have some fun.” His dark eyes smiled playfully into mine, and somehow they just didn’t seem serious enough, intense enough.
Just shoot me, right? This was probably yet another manifestation of my need to stay away from emotional entanglements and come up with reasons why I couldn’t be with someone, even when I’d been attracted to them before. One of the main reasons I’d started taking this class was because I thought Rico was a hot guy. Over time, I’d realized it was a good class and it was helping me live my life like a badass. One of my needs in this life I lived was to be able to take care of myself no matter what. I could never rely on anyone else for anything, ever again. Ever.
“I’ll see you next week,” I offered, and he walked on with a parting shrug, like a you-can’t-blame-me-for-trying gesture.
“It hurts while I’m doing it, but I just feel great when I’m done.” The older woman came up to me with a wide-open smile. “Besides, with my new body, I was able to shop for lingerie for the first time in years. I got this really cute nightgown that I might wear tonight.” She was blushing like a schoolgirl, which was absolutely lovely to see.
“Ken’s the lucky guy?” I wiped the drips of sweat on my gym towel as they rolled down my temples and remembered how she’d mentioned this guy the last several weeks that I’d talked with her after class. It was funny that I knew her guy’s name, but not hers.