Friends & Lovers Trilogy (32 page)

Roni felt a tear slide down her cheek. She
nodded as she pulled Nicole back into a hug. “I’d love to.”

Roni looked up as her brother came walking
into the apartment.

Well, it was actually more like a strut. The
look on his face was pure bliss, which turned to tenderness when
Nicole turned to him. “How are my favorite women in the world?”

Nicole turned from Roni and walked over to
hug her fiancé. “I love you,” she said as she reached up to kiss
him.

“
I love you
too.”

Roni felt like her heart was going to burst,
she was so happy for her brother and Nicole.

“
I know Kent already told
you he was going to ask, but I had to come tell you first, and ask
you to be my Maid of Honor.” Nicole said with a smile. “We’re going
to go and tell Briana and Kara next.”

“
He did tell me he was
going to propose, but not how he was going to do it,” Roni said.
“Tell me everything.”

Nicole seemed to bounce up and down and
smile more broadly, if that was possible, then started to speak,
“He told me to pack an overnight bag, that he’d talked to Pam and
gotten me a couple days off so we could go on a trip. I was really
excited about going away together; I had no idea that he was going
to propose.” Nicole stopped long enough to turn and give Kent a big
kiss on the lips, causing Roni to laugh at her friends’
exuberance.

“
Anyway, we drove for a
couple hours, then pulled up to the sweetest B & B I’ve ever
seen. It was a pretty blue with white shutters, a wraparound porch,
and a white picket fence. The total dream. When we checked in the
owners told us about the amenities: hot tub in each room, gardens
in the back, and wine tasting in the evening. I loved it
immediately, but the best part came when we got to the room,”
Nicole paused again and grabbed Kent’s hand tightly in hers,
smiling up at him.

“
Kent opened the door and
let me walk in first. The room was decorated beautifully, all white
and lace and antique furniture. Pink rose petals covered the bed in
the shape of a heart. More rose petals led a trail to the balcony,
where the hot tub was bubbling and the champagne was on ice. There
were even chocolate covered strawberries. He thought of
everything,” Roni got a little misty at the look of pure delight on
Nicole’s face. Who knew her brother was such a catch?

“
While I was admiring the
view from the balcony, Kent came up behind me. When I turned to
tell him how beautiful it was, he was on bended knee. I couldn’t
breathe,” Nicole laughed out loud at the memory. “He looked so
handsome, smiling up at me with the small box in his hand. When he
opened the box and showed me the perfect ring inside, I couldn’t
help but squeal. I was saying yes before he even had a chance to
ask.”

Nicole hugged Kent again, then Roni, before
looking at her watch and saying, “Sorry we can’t stay, but I really
want to tell the others before work. I’ll see you tonight.”

“
See you tonight, and
congratulations,” Roni said as they all walked to the door. She
hugged her brother, then Nicole and watched them walk hand in hand
down the stair.

She closed the door and leaned against it
allowing the tears to fall freely.

She really was happy for them. Thrilled, in
fact, that her brother would finally have everything he
deserved.

Deep down she knew she also cried for her
failed attempt at marriage. In a few weeks the marriage she’d
naively thought would be a fairytale for her, would officially be
over. She didn’t miss Hank, their house, or the life that they’d
shared, but she did miss the dream.

She sank down to the floor and allowed the
tears to purge the regret from her soul.

Chapter Seven

Rich couldn’t believe how far things had
progressed in the last week. His boxing ring had been delivered and
was set up in the back corner of the warehouse. It was in a large
enclosed room, which housed the ring, speed bags, heavy bags, and
had an entrance into the men’s locker room. It was his favorite
part of the Center so far.

That was about to change, since he’d just
gotten a call from the guy driving the truck which carried his
workout equipment, and he’d said he’d be arriving in about thirty
minutes.

Rich walked through his door, past the
kitchen, taking care to avoid the parts of the warehouse that the
crew was currently working on. He made his way towards the workout
area. One section would hold the weights and there would be an
adjoining room for the cardio equipment.

He wasn’t starting with a lot, just a
complete set of weights, machines for a full circuit, and four of
each cardio machine. He had room to grow if he needed to, but
figured it was smart to wait and see how much use the fitness
portion of his Rec Center got, before he invested too much in
it.

His focus was going to be on the kids, but
he also wanted to offer classes and activities that the entire
community could enjoy, and he thought a fitness center would bring
in a profit. When he allowed himself to dream really big, he
admitted that he’d love to eventually put a lap pool in behind the
building, but knew that would be much further down the road. For
now, he was really pleased with how smoothly everything was coming
together.

He’d used the boxing equipment last night,
and couldn’t wait to try out his weights when they arrived.

When he was satisfied that the rooms were
prepped and ready for the delivery, he turned to go back towards
the front of the warehouse. His first interview was scheduled to
start in five minutes.

Before he made it, a small brunette popped
her head around the corner.

“
Hi,” the pretty woman said
with a smile and an outstretched hand. “Are you Rich?”

“
I am,” Rich responded,
trying to conceal his surprise. “Are you Alex?”

When his dad had asked him to set up an
interview with a Karate instructor from his parents church named
Alex, the last person he’d envisioned was the petite woman before
him.

“
Yes. I was thrilled when
your parents told me what you were doing here. I loved taking
Karate lessons when I was growing up, and I’d always hoped to get a
chance to lead my own class someday.”

“
Great,” Rich said with a
smile. “If you want to follow me, we’ll go ahead and get started.
I’ll ask you some questions, then see your demonstration.
Afterwards, I’d be happy to answer any questions you may
have.”

“
Okay. Your dad mentioned
an audition and an interview, so I thought it was best to wear this
first and then change into my karategi. Is that
alright?”

“
Of course,” Rich replied.
“Once we’re done, you can get changed in the women’s locker room.
It isn’t completed yet, but the restrooms are fully
functional.”

Rich led her to one of the rooms that would
be used for Karate lessons. He had a couple chairs set up for the
interview portion. The room was complete with hard wood floors and
a floor to ceiling mirror covering the back wall.

Rich asked her the questions he’d prepared
and was impressed with her answers and her demeanor. Alex worked
for the Mayor and was very intelligent.

The position he was hiring for was part
time. Week nights and weekends, so the fact that she had a full
time day job wasn’t a problem. He found out that she was single
without any children, and she wanted to dedicate her spare time to
teaching and keeping her skills current.

While she was getting changed, Rich moved
the chairs to the corner of the room and waited for her to return.
Alex seemed like a perfect fit for the job. As long as she didn’t
fumble through the audition, Rich was prepared to offer it to
her.

She nailed it.

She was strong, confident, precise, and
loud. Boy, was she loud.

Alex took off the outer jacket portion of
her uniform and draped it over her arm as they walked out of the
room. She wore a white tank top underneath, which showcased her
firmly toned arms.

“
The job is yours if you
want it,” Rich was saying to Alex when Roni rounded the corner. He
looked up at her and smiled, holding a finger up to let her know
he’d be with her in a minute, then went back to his conversation
with Alex.

Rich’s heart thumped in his chest at the
sight of Roni in a black button up with a red pencil skirt. Damn,
she looked good.

He said goodbye to Alex, then turned to
where Roni was waiting. “I just have to go sign for a deliver, then
I’ll be right with you. You can wait in here if you’d like,” he
said, gesturing to the room he’d just exited.

“
Okay,” Roni said with a
nervous smile.

Rich hurried to the loading dock. He found
the driver and his crew had already started unloaded the equipment.
He picked up the paperwork and asked the driver, “You need me to
sign here?”

“
Yup.”

“
Okay. Hey, Jason, can you
check the items off as you unload them to make sure that everything
is here. Let me know if you have any issues. I have another
interview to conduct, then I’m done for the day. I’ll come back to
help get everything set up.”

He waited for Jason’s answer, then went back
to where he’d left Roni. She was sitting on a chair, ankles
crossed, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. She looked up and met
his hazel eyes.

“
Sorry about that, you
ready?” Rich asked as he took the seat across from hers.

“
Yes.”

“
We’ll start with the
interview portion, then I’ll show you where you can change for the
audition. Afterwards, I’d be happy to walk you around and answer
any questions you may have,” he explained.

Roni nodded and clasped her hands together,
placing them in her lap.

“
Relax. It’s just me, and
it’s just you,” Rich said with a warm smile.

“
I know,” Roni said, “but
this is really important to me, and it’s been a while since I’ve
danced in front of anyone.”

“
You’ll be great,” Rich
assured her. “So, I want to start by saying that, as long as
everything goes well today, I’m open to renting the space to you
for the studio.”

Rich was rewarded with a dazzling smile. It
took his breath away. He cleared his throat and went on, “I’d like
to hear your ideas for the space.”

“
I want to run the studio
full time, and for all ages. I’ll start off with ballet and tap for
the youngest dancers, and offer contemporary to the more serious
dancers. Ballet and tap teach the fundamentals, so it’s a great
place to start. If I get enough interest, I’d offer more classes in
different styles, but I think these will be a good place to start.
I have some money saved, and would like to focus on the studio full
time. I’ll still work part time at the Bar & Grill, at least
for now, but eventually, I’d like this to be my only priority. I’ll
train each class for an end of year performance that we could hold
at the town theater. I’ll look into all that, but, basically, I
want to offer a full-fledged dance studio to the community.” Roni’s
eyes had lit up with each sentence, her excitement over this
opportunity apparent.

Rich couldn’t help but become enthused along
with her.

“
That sounds great,
Roni.”

“
Can you show me the space
you were thinking of? I’d be interested in including a resale
section, where I can sell dance attire and accessories, if
possible.”

Rich led her towards the largest studio
space, which he’d had finished with the dance studio in mind.

“
Well, there is a small
room off the back of the studio, which I figured could be used as
an office, it’s not really big enough for resale. However, we will
have a resale section here at the Center. We will offer attire,
equipment, and accessories for the different classes we have here.
I planned to get with each instructor and see what items they
wanted to have available for resale to start. As time goes on, we
can add or takeaway items as needed. You would have a say in what
is sold, if that works.”

Roni grinned up at him, “You’ve thought of
everything.”

Rich smiled back at her, pleased that she
seemed to share his enthusiasm. “I really hope so.”

They stood there, smiling at each other for
a moment, until Rich realized that he was still conducting an
interview.

“
Let me show you to the
locker room. You can change and meet me back in the
studio.”

Roni nodded and followed him to the women’s
locker room, which was on the other side of the room he was staying
in.

“
Did you pick a room next
to the locker room on purpose?”

That made Rich chuckle, but he just shook
his head and walked away, giving her time to get ready.

Rich moved the chairs back out of the way,
placing his in the back corner, in order to give her access to the
entire space.

When she walked in, his breath caught and
his entire body seemed to stiffen.

Her hair was piled on top of her head, black
boy shorts showcased her long, lean legs, and a small black tank
molded to her slender form. Her feet were bare. For some reason
that last bit of bare skin made Rich feel like he was going to lose
his mind.

She padded softly across the wood floor to
the radio and hooked her iPod in. She stretched languidly in front
of the mirror, seeming to have forgotten Rich’s presence.
With each stretch, Roni became more limber, and Rich became harder.
He was starting to think this audition was a terrible idea.