Page 10 of Real Forever
But some days were easier than others.
Tonight, the meditation helped, but it wasn’t enough, so Jake headed downstairs and tried working out. He chose a podcast and set the treadmill at a slow jog.
Now is not the time to get fixated on a girl. Not when you’re going to Calgary in a few months. And not when it’s more important than ever to stay focused.The next year or two would be the riskiest in getting his business off the ground. He’d be carrying a mortgage at two different locations and would soon need to add payroll expenses for additional employees. It was a critical point, and he could not afford to blow it. Not for anything or anyone, no matter how gorgeous or enchanting she might be.
His footsteps fell into a steady, pounding rhythm on the bed of the treadmill and Jake felt his chest loosen. He closed his eyes and focused on his breath.
Back upstairs in his bathroom, he stripped off his sweaty gym clothes and got ready to shower. He inspected himself in the mirror. Turning to the side, he examined his stomach, sticking it out and then sucking it in. He straightened his posture and turned back to face himself before pinching the tiny amount of skin and fat above his hips, making a mental note to cut down on carbs for the next few weeks. Leaning into the mirror, he examined his face, picking at a small blemish and smoothing his finger across a slight wrinkle on his forehead.
His thoughts returned to the beautiful wrinkles at the corners of Madison’s eyes as he reached into the shower and turned the faucet. What was it about her that made her wrinkles so lovely while his seemed so ugly in comparison? He continued to scan up and down his body while he waited for the shower to warm up, noting all the areas that could be firmer, or bigger, or smaller.
Whenever Zach would catch him talking about needing to diet or go to the gym more, he’d give him shit. A couple of weekends ago, when Jake declined toast with his eggs, Zach had said, “Dude, you’re fricken’ ripped. Who gives a shit, anyway? Look at me. I’ve got a dad bod and resting hangover face, and I still get tons of ladies.”
Jake laughed, “You do not get tons of ladies.”
“Maybe I don’t measure them by the ton, but I get plenty, okay?”
Zach was the best at lightening the mood and letting Jake know when he was taking things too seriously. He knew, logically, he was in good shape compared to the average Joe. But better than average had never been enough for Jake. He was driven to do a little better, a little better, a little better. Never satisfied with anything less than perfection.
Scrutinizing the mirror, he noticed a few water spots. It had been a few days since he’d cleaned the bathroom. He reached back into the shower, turned off the water, and pulled his shorts back on. Under the sink in the kitchen, Jake kept a small caddy of cleaning supplies. He grabbed it and began spraying down his bathroom. He went and sprayed down Zach’s bathroom as well, which was filthy, as usual. Working from top to bottom and left to right, Jake scrubbed down both bathrooms. Mirrors, vanities, toilets, showers, floors, baseboards. He even pulled out the vent fan covers and cleaned the dust from them. Satisfied, he climbed into the shower and let the hot water melt some of the tension from his neck and shoulders.
There’s nothing to stress about, Jake. You’ve got a plan. A good plan. You need to focus and follow through, like you have all along.He knew his plan was solid, and he knew he could see it through. So why did he feel so unnerved? The pit in his stomach was telling him the Calgary office was a mistake. Begging him not to move forward on it. But Jake knew he couldn’t trust that feeling. That feeling was usually his anxiety, masquerading as intuition.
In an effort to stop ruminating on his career path concerns, he allowed himself to slip, for a moment, back into daydreaming about Madison. He imagined the water running down his back were her fingertips, imagined the steam was her breath on his neck, whispering his name. He wondered what her skin would feel like, here in the water with him, what it would taste like. Closing his eyes, and wrapping his palm around his cock, he wondered what it would feel like to earn one of her tantalizing smiles. He felt the pit in his stomach melt away with the water down the drain.
7
Madison
The only crumbof information Madison had about Tammy was she had stood in line for a coffee at The Silver Creek Grind last Tuesday morning, so she decided it was as good a place to start as any. At seven-thirty a.m. the next Tuesday, Madison stood outside her truck, trying to appear casual as she sipped her caramel macchiato and spied on the door of the coffee shop from behind her sunglasses, hoping to catch another sighting of Tammy.
It was getting to be late fall, and the air was damp and cool. Madison was still wearing her sandals (she loathed the annual transition to winter boots and put it off until the snow fell) so she had to shift her weight back and forth in tiny, shuffling steps to keep her feet warm. She loved this time of year. The leaves had all fallen from the maple trees and lost their crunch from several mornings of frost, followed by sunny afternoon thaws. It gave the chilly breeze a musty aroma. The sun was peeking up, and it bathed the morning commuters in warm, peachy light.
Ever since she had decided to help Lauren get out of trouble, Madison couldn’t stop reading about NorAsana and the hundreds of women they had screwed over, and the more she read, the more furious she became. She was determined to take Tammy down and get Lauren the sixty-eight thousand she needed to get out of debt. She still didn’t have a hot fucking clue how she was going to do it, but if Tammy was as sleazy and slimy as Madison thought, surely she would end up leading her to some piece of information Madison could use. Besides, sitting around watching Lauren stress out was driving her nuts. She had to do something.
Fifteen minutes had passed and still no sign of Tammy. Madison was beginning to feel nervous. What if Tammy’s last visit here was a fluke, and she never shows her plastic face here again? She had just taken another sip of her coffee when—
“Madison!”
Madison spit half her mouthful of coffee out and choked on the rest as her heart hurdled into her throat. She dropped to the ground, ducking behind her truck and spilling the contents of her slouchy purse all over the sidewalk.
“Oh my god. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Madison looked up to see Jake Murphy’s brilliant blue eyes staring at her like she was insane.
“Get down,” Madison whisper-shouted, grabbing him by his pant leg and yanking him down to the sidewalk with her.
“What are we doing down here?” Jake whispered back.
“Hiding.”
“Hiding from what?”
Madison peeked her head up toward the coffee shop through her truck windows in a panic. She scanned the street as well, making sure she hadn’t been spotted. Confident the coast was clear, Madison sunk back down and let out a deep sigh.
“You scared the shit out of me.” Madison laughed, turning to Jake.
Jake smiled back. The same smile that had been living rent free in her brain every day for the past week. Madison’s skin warmed and her cheeks flushed.God fucking damn it. I wish I would have put on something cuter this morning. Why do I have to dress like such a slob?She cast her eyes down at her baggy, tie-dyed hoodie and slouchy jeans.
“I’m sorry,” Jake laughed. “I was on my way to get coffee and I saw you out here and I wanted to say hi.”
