Tessa stared at Julia in shock, her mouth hanging open in surprise. Slowly, she shook her head. “You’ve got to be mistaken. Badly. Mr. Gregson barely even speaks to me. And he is definitely not attracted to me.”
Julia took a sip of her coffee and grinned wickedly. “If you say so. But I’d be willing to bet he’d speak to you a whole lot more if he got wind of your impending divorce.”
“Please don’t tell him,” pleaded Tessa. “Not just him but anyone in the office. I’ll tell them when the time is right but – well, it’s just hard for me to confide in people. And even harder to talk about something as painful as this.”
“I get it. And I won’t say anything, even to Nathan. I swear, sometimes I think men are even worse gossips than women.”
Tessa offered to split the check but Julia was adamant that this was her treat, plunking down a credit card casually.
“Thank you, Julia. Not just for lunch but for letting me cry on your shoulder. Not literally, of course,” added Tessa with a little smile.
“But pretty close, huh? It was my pleasure. Look, I want to give you my cell number, okay? And I really do want you to call me if you ever need to talk or want to hang out. We can go have coffee or get a drink or just take a long walk. Do you like yoga?”
Tessa took the business card Julia handed her, the cell number written on the back. “I love yoga. I can’t really afford it, though, so I mostly look for places that offer free or demo classes. What about you?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of my obsession. I go to class almost every day. You should come to my studio with me some weekend soon. My weekend teacher Sasha is awesome. She kicks my ass every single time I take her class. I can get you a complimentary pass if you’d like.”
“I’d love that,” beamed Tessa. “I, um, don’t really have any girlfriends so I appreciate your offer to – you, know, hang out.”
“Well, I don’t have very many myself,” confessed Julia. “So I’d really, really like to call you my friend. Okay?”
Tessa felt just a little bit less lonely as she smiled at her new friend. “Okay.”
Chapter Five
November
Despite the fact that her abs were already quivering in protest, Tessa forced herself to do another set of crunches on top of the hundred she’d already completed. She was using the slant board today, which was always tougher for her than the fitness ball, and thus had to push herself hard to finish the grueling workout. Besides the core work, she’d done an hour of cardio, split between the stationary bike and the elliptical machine, then lifted weights, focusing today on her biceps and shoulders.
She’d always liked to exercise in some form or another, even though her mother had never been able to afford the various fees and equipment involved in playing organized sports like soccer or softball. Not to mention the fact that she couldn’t be counted on to remember to actually pick Tessa up from practices or take her to games. From the time she had been a small girl, Tessa had more or less been responsible for getting herself to and from school, in addition to all of the other daily tasks she’d had to perform for herself.
At least she’d had the good fortune to attend some highly rated public schools over the years, all of which had offered excellent physical education classes and facilities. P.E. had always been one of her favorite classes, perhaps because it was one that she excelled at, and didn’t feel far behind all the other students in class. Whether it was swimming, tennis, basketball, modern dance, or running, Tessa had looked forward to that class every day.
She’d been thrilled to discover the small but well equipped employee fitness room here at the San Francisco offices. Back at the Gregson resort in Tucson, employees had been allowed use of the expansive fitness facilities, so long as it was during off-peak hours when the hotel guests weren’t availing themselves. Tessa was very disciplined about her workouts, rarely missing a day. Five days a week she exercised here at the office, always doing some sort of cardio – bike, elliptical, treadmill or stair climber – plus weight training and core work. She couldn’t afford to belong to an outside gym, so she was extremely thankful to have use of this room. On weekends, she scoured the Internet to find the free or demo yoga classes she’d told Julia about, and also took long walks and hikes around the city. Peter had often accompanied her on these excursions when he’d been in town, and Tessa figured they had explored nearly every trail or pathway in San Francisco.
The thought of her soon-to-be ex-husband made her sad, as it always did these days. It had been over two months now since he’d left, and she was still miserable and lonely. She had to force herself not to contact him too often, to limit her emails to no more than twice a week. At first, Peter had always answered her promptly, telling her in detail about what he’d been doing, how he was settling in, and asking how she was adjusting. Lately, though, it was taking him just a bit longer each time to respond, and his replies were getting shorter and shorter. Tessa knew that this was Peter’s way of gradually cutting her loose, and nudging her to look after herself.