From the Heart (A Valentine's Day Anthology) (21 page)

Copyright © 2016 R J Thompson All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

How it Began.

Carly groaned inwardly as she read the text that had just come through. She had only just finished packing up her desk for the day and was more than ready for the weekend to start. She had managed, much to her surprise to get the Friday afternoon off, but giving the sob story that it was her birthday had helped. Now it was time to get home and chill before her friends arrived and they went out for the evening.

25 at last Carly thought as she packed her diary into her purse, it had seemed like the last 5 years had dragged and it had sucked big time. Ever since her big brother and her parents had died in a car accident she had been left to fend for herself as well as deal with their left over debt. She had been left with nothing and even had to take a loan to pay for the funeral.

If it wasn’t for Robyn, her best friend and house mate she would have been depressed and she doubted she would have survived. So five years of neglect and self-pity Carly was more than ready to make a change.

From Tart @ 12:25pm

Carly, hurry your arse up!! I want to go shopping!!!

Rxx

This was the other thing Carly didn’t want to do. Her friends although supportive were lucky, lucky in the sense that they were bean poles whereas she was as far from that as you could get. In short Carly was the “Fat friend” of the group. The one that never got looked at twice and tended to get whispered about, and not in the good way.

Carly knew this from a lot of personal experience and had gotten very good at pretending the jibes didn’t hurt and she was excellent at hating what she saw whenever she looked into a mirror. Not that she did that very often.

Carly’s shoulder sagged as she typed a reply to her friend

To Tart @ 12:27pm

Shopping? Really? I don’t really feel like it Robyn

Cxx

She grabbed her overly large handbag and threw her phone inside, then pushed her chair under the desk and headed for the lift and down to her friend waiting outside.

Carly could see Robyn as she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel of her blue Fiat 500. After she had climbed into the passenger seat, she smiled at her friend.

“Robyn no shopping please,” she begged, “You know I hate it, it always gets me down.”

Robyn just smiled, “Nonsense Carly babes, we will find you a sexy as hell outfit for our night out,” Robyn took a breath. “Besides we never go shopping Carly, it’s about time you got out of this funk.”

With a grin she pulled the car out of the space, easily joining the flow of traffic. The sound of the radio filled the silence as Carly desperately tried to come up with any excuse as to why she should skip shopping, unfortunately none were coming to mind.

Carly used to adore shopping, purchasing new things satisfied that small part that all women have, but now after 5 years spent cheering herself up using food she was limited to where she could get her clothing. It also didn’t help that due to her current body shape she looked horrendous no matter what she wore. Fuck she hated herself, Carly frowned then started to chew on her nails. Her focus on the skin surrounding her right thumb as she blankly stared out at the scenery that passed by.

“Carly honey come on, it won’t be that bad.”

Carly shrugged her shoulders and kept her face turned towards the passenger window, “It always is Robyn, its ok for you. The perfect size 10. The last time I was that size, I was 10.”

Carly sighed and turned in her seat, her larger frame making the leather squeak.

“I’m 25 tomorrow, overweight, extremely single and in a job that holds zero satisfaction for me. If it wasn’t for you I would also be homeless. There isn’t really anything I’ve just said to get excited about is there.”

Robyn reached over and took hold of Carly’s right hand and tugged it from her mouth, the skin on her thumb already red raw from the chewing. Robyn kept her eyes focused on the road as she steered the car.

“Honey I am always here for you, that will never ever change and its wrong what your parents did to you, so never doubt that I will support you no matter what.”

As they pulled into the car park of the local shopping centre Robyn squeezed Carly’s hand before releasing it to manoeuvre the car into a space.

“But? I know there is a but in there Robyn so spit it out.”

As Robyn slid the Fiat in to a space she quickly cut the engine and turned in her seat to face Carly.

“But, and it’s a big but Carly, I will not agree with your whole self-hate thing you have going on right now. I know you don’t see it but you are a beautiful woman with a heart of gold. I don’t know what you see in the mirror but you need to stop hating it. Come on honey you need to stop hating yourself, it’s not healthy.”

Carly turned again to look out of the window, she wanted to run away from the sympathy and pity etched on her best friends face. It didn’t help Robyn could read her like an open book, her voice came out quiet as she answered.

“I will try, but it’s not as easy as that, I wish it was, I wish I could turn off that particular switch in my head but I can’t.”

Robyn nodded, “I understand Chica, I really do. So let’s start with an ity bity shopping spree and then tonight we let rip,  What do you say?”

Carly breathed in slow and deep before she released in one quick exhale.

“Fuck it, you are right,” Carly placed her hand on the door handle and pushed it down to open the door, “Let’s go.”

Later That Night

The music pulsed and the drinks flowed, Carly couldn’t help but smile wide as the girls placed the next round of drinks on the table, they each quickly grabbed a glass and raised them high in the air.

“Carly our chica!! We love you girl, Happy Birthday!”

Carly kept smiling and raised her glass in response, then followed their actions and downed the shot, the harsh liquid burned as it ran down her throat, but then instant warmth as it hit her stomach and added to the already growing buzz she was getting.

There was no way she was unable to smile when she was out with these lot, they always managed to pull some stupid stunt whilst they were hammered. Only this time Carly would be joining in and not sitting to the side because she was the driver. They hadn’t drifted apart since school like most of people do, they had made a pact to always keep in touch.

“We dancing or what…come on I bloody love this song!” Hayley shouted to be heard as Bruno Mars Uptown Funk started.  Her hands already in the air, she headed straight for the dance floor. The rest didn’t need much encouragement and as one they squealed and weaved their way in and out of the crowd to join her. The club, even though it was still early, was filling up quickly and the dance floor had become rammed. Head down Carly tried to fight her way to the dance floor, on occasion she had to shout over the music to be heard just to get passed, which garnered more than one shitty look in her direction. Shouts and grunts erupted to her right as an argument started, bodies jostled and more than one slammed into her. She pushed back and again tried to make it to the dance floor. Just as she was about to step onto the lit up dance floor she was pushed by a firm body, her own tumbled to the floor as multiple drinks from the fighter coated her from head to toe as she hit the deck.

Robyn was the first by her side, regardless of her skimpy outfit she bent down to help her friend.

“Shit Carly are you ok honey, are you hurt?”

Carly shook her head and looked down at the mess that was her outfit.  Robyn looked furious as she shouted to the lads that had been fighting, there were more them 5 of them all good looking but arrogant in their attitudes.

“Yo Shitheads, watch where the fuck you are pushing people!” Robyn turned to help Carly making sure her final insult was heard, “Bellends.”

Robyn helped a soaked and now shaken Carly to her feet, she hobbled slightly and she realised that she had twisted her ankle on her way to the floor. She winced and tried to fight back her tears. Her brand new outfit was now ruined, her purple blouse had multiple stains and it now reeked of alcohol and her blue jeans had red and yellow staining across the lap making her looked like she had pee’ed herself, She dreaded to think what her hair and makeup looked like now, she knew without a doubt this was the end of her evening. Unfortunately the night was about to get a hell of a lot worse.

The group of lads that had caused the drama all turned and laughed at her now sodden appearance, then they spotted Robyn and started to whistle.

“Hey darling don’t blame us maybe your friend here should have stayed at home.  Can’t you see the damage an ass her size can cause?”  He snorted and his mates soon joined in as they openly made fun of Carly’s size. Robyn fought back a growl as she turned to face them, hands on her hips.

“You Fucking What!!!” Her voice seemed to get higher in pitch with each syllable.

Carly grabbed Robyn’s arm, “Robyn leave it honey, I’m going to head home, please don’t make a fuss.”

Robyn turned only slightly and growled more, “No Carly I will not just leave it, I want these arsewipes to apologise.”

Carly hated that everyone was starting to look at them, most people had moved away and now there was a circle surrounding them and all she wanted was a large hole to open up and swallow her down. She knew they would say things about her size and right now she couldn’t deal with it.

The leader stepped forward he would have been gorgeous if it hadn’t of been for the cruel smirk that was plastered on his face. He ignored Carly but looked Robyn up and down and of course liked what he saw.

“Honey we aint apologising for shit,” he pointed his finger right towards Carly. “That fat cow got in our way so put up or shut up sweet heart.”

He grinned back at his boys before he continued and again stepped forward, his hand reached out to touch Robyn’s face, “You should be thanking us.”  Carly watched as Robyn smacked his hand away.

“Us boys were watching you and your OTHER friends and liked what we saw, but your fatty friend here was putting us off….”

Carly didn’t wait for him to finish or for Robyn’s response, she took the coward’s way out and bolted towards the exit. The look of pity on the faces of the other clubbers hurt.  Tears streamed down her face as she smashed the exit door open, her breaths came in big gasps, her feet hit the pavement and she bolted to the taxi ran
k
i
n search of a lift home.

Fed up was a complete understatement, Carly now started to feel angrier then anything as she walked into the office of the taxi company and asked for a taxi home. “How fucking dare they” she clenched and unclenched her fists continuously. She had had enough.

Carly turned to look out of the window, the lights of other clubs illuminated the streets as well as the headlights of cars passing on the road. But one light stood out. Carly wiped the tears from her face and lifted her chin. She cancelled the taxi and headed back outside and towards the beckoning lights.

Change was happening and it was starting right now!

Just watch this fucking space…..

14 Months Later

Friday 11
th
February

“Carly, come on girl give me five more.”

Andy called out as Carly went into the squat position, legs bent, back straight arse out to deadlift the 80kg bar. Sweat poured down her face and had soaked into her vest top. She was unable to hold back the grunts of effort and strain as she finished off the reps in her last set. Andy, when in this mood, was pure evil especially when it came to her personal training sessions.  He seemed to take a great amount of pleasure in causing her the most amount of pain in the gym. The noises that erupted from her mouth were almost embarrassing but then again most of the peeps in the gym made similar ones. Carly couldn’t really complain though, she felt like she owed Andy a hell of a lot more then what she paid him and she would happily take the beasting any day. She smiled as he threw her a bright purple water bottle before he started clearing up the weights, she wiped her head with the back of her lifting glove and thought back to the day she had first met Andy.

He had been the trainer on shift that night when Carly had marched in half drenched from the booze that had been launched at her. Her hair and makeup had been a mess but he had took one look at her face and knew she had meant business. He had genuinely seemed to understand her frame of mind and even got pissed when she had told him what had happened. He never once made her feel large or fat and had even gone as far as to give her a small taster session.

Andy had handed over a set of boxing gloves and lead her over to the boxing ring where he had let her beat all her anger out on him and his pads. She had pummelled the ever loving crap out of those pads, letting every harsh word, every derogatory look and every feeling of self-guilt over not fitting in out on those two small pads. It took only ten minutes of using the pads for Carly to realise what she wanted and had it had opened her eyes, she needed to make a change. No more self-pity and definitely no more self-guilt, that chapter of her life was now over.

“Carly enough with the catching flies, go and bloody cool down before I make you do burpees.”

Carly pulled her thoughts back to the present and grinned at Andy before she saluted.

“Why yes El-Cap-itan.”

“Smartarse, don’t make me punish you,” he laughed before he turned back to the weights, re-racking them with ease. Carly couldn’t help but take a few seconds to admire what had to be the most perfect, tight arse ever to grace the UK. It was hard not to admire Andy, he was annoyingly perfect in every way as far as she was concerned. He obviously had the body of a god as he practiced what he preached, she had seen him doing solo workouts when the gym had been empty and he had removed his top. Carly had to bite her lip as she remembered watching all that muscle flex. It wasn’t just his body though, he was just a nice guy, he wasn’t arrogant or up his own arse and actually gave a shit about his client’s health and wellbeing. He had never once taken the piss out of her for her size or weight, and when she was even unable to do one push up he had just encouraged her and helped her improve. For that she would always be grateful. It was those reasons that she kept her distance with regards to their personal lives. She had never asked if he was single; one, because she would be gutted if he wasn’t, and two, she didn’t expect a guy as gorgeous as him to be interested in a Plain Jane like her. Self-doubt would always rise its ugly annoying head with it’s “he would never like you anyway”.

As her thoughts swirled here and there she had set herself up on the sit down bike, her legs circled in a steady motion, the speed constant and her heart rate slowly reduced to its normal beat. This was what she now thrived on, no longer a slave to her food binges, she battled her inner demons in the gym and she always hit them hard.

“CARLY!” She grinned more as her name was shouted from across the gym, she was thankful he hadn’t called her by the nickname he had given her.

“Stop grinning and get your arse to the consult room. It’s D-Day.”

Carly dropped her head so her chin touched her chest and groaned, time to weigh in, this was the part that always panicked her.   She hated facing those scales. Old habits die hard. She smiled again though, she had beaten them, it may have been only a pound at a time but by god they hadn’t gotten the best of her.

Carly finished her cool down on the bike and stretched off.  Andy had always taught her the benefit and need to stretch and as such she had been lucky to not suffer from any injuries as yet.  She again grabbed her signature bottle and headed to the small consultation room that was located near to reception, changing rooms and Andy’s office. She had come so far and was determined no matter what the scales said today she would be happy.

As she walked in he looked up from his clip board “You stretched?” his calm deep voice asked, Carly nodded and started to remove her trainers. For a moment she just stood there and looked down at the scales as if scared to go near them.

“Come on Peach, let’s get this over with,” Andy smiled his encouragement as Carly stepped onto the scales and closed her eyes, head tilted up so she couldn’t even peek. After a few moments of silence Andy’s voice filled the room

“WHOOP!! Get the fuck in Peach!”

Carly’s eyes snapped open and she looked across to Andy, “What?”

He continued to grin like a Cheshire cat as he wrote on his chart, his head nodded towards the scales, “Take a look and see for yourself.”

Carly looked down at the numbers, she tried to make sense of them but her mind had gone blank.

“5 stone Peach!” He grinned again this time giving Carly his full beam wattage smile, one that included dimples.

“Peach you’ve done it.” Carly still hadn’t twigged and watched as he dropped the clipboard and swept her up into a huge hug, he spun her around as he laughed. Her mind instantly focused on the fact she was in his arms and surrounded by his strength as well as his warm earthy scent. The feeling of his solid body against hers was almost distracting but then it hit her. 5 stone...shit she had lost 5 stone in weight.

Carly couldn’t help herself as she finally gave in and squealed her delight, she wrapped her arms around Andy’s neck and returned the hug full force. They both continued to laugh and he continued to spin them in a circle. Carly couldn’t help but start to tear up, never in her adult life had she been able to have someone physically lift her as easily as this wonderful man had just lifted her. They stayed like that for what Carly felt was hours when only a minute had passed, but all too soon he slowly let her slide down his body until her feet hit the floor, his arms though remained around her waist. His voice deep, he looked into her face a proud smile upon his own.

“Well done Peach, I am so damn proud if you.”

Carly beamed as she looked up at Andy’s face and met his gaze, his baby blues shined and drew her in.

“Thank you so much Andy, I couldn’t have done this without you. You helped me gain the strength and you kept me focused.”

His large hands moved so they sat on her hips and he continued to smile down at her, his eyes never left her face. “Oh Peach you did all the hard work. You did and no one else. You are so much stronger than you think you are.”

In an unexpected move Andy leant forward and pressed his lips to her own. The briefest of touches before he moved his hands and stepped away. Carly felt herself blush and she opened her eyes, totally unaware that she had closed them. Andy stood just out of arms reach, he had collected his clipboard from the floor and was just standing there smiling at her. She felt herself blush even more, she couldn’t help it, Andy had been her crush now for a while and without knowing he had just made one of her dreams come true.

“Go get yourself sorted Carly, you can’t celebrate reaching your goal here.”

To try and hide her obvious blush, Carly laughed as she bent to collect her Nikes.

“Sure thing boss man, same time next week?”

“Yeah definitely and well done again Carly.”

With a full beam Carly slotted her feet back into her Nikes and grabbed her water bottle. She found it strange that he had all of a sudden stopped using his nickname for her and his voice had dropped in tone, its depth had made her shiver. She wasn’t entirely sure why he called her Peach but she liked it because he was the only one to call her that.

“Goodnight Andy.”

Without a needy backwards look Carly raced towards the changing room to grab her handbag from the lockers, in her bid for speed she nearly rebounded off one of the other trainers.

“Oh shit Simon, I’m so sorry,” Carly rushed out as she tried to collect herself from slamming into Simon’s chest. Just like Andy he was a good looking guy with a fabulous body, he had brown eyes and dark blonde hair. She had seen him in action a few times when he had to take over Andy’s PT sessions due to unavailability and she hadn’t wanted to miss a week. He was alright but she had found him to be a bit handsy during them.

“Whoa there princess,” he smiled and steadied her by grabbing her shoulders and squeezed. “Where you off to in a hurry?”

Carly held back the shudder that threatened to vibrate through her body at his touch and just smiled.

“I’m sorry again Simon, I’m just grabbing my handbag from my locker and then I’m heading home.” She couldn’t put her finger on it but there was something about Simon that made her skin crawl. His hands dropped from her shoulders, but he didn’t move, his gaze was fixed on her.

“Want me to walk you to your car Princess?” Carly felt trapped and blurted out too quickly, “No! I mean no its fine Simon thank you, there is no need.”

Carly could tell he was about to insist, his stance had changed ever so slightly, but Andy’s voice cut in.

“Simon would you go and check in the male changing to see if there is anyone left?”

Simon looked visibly pissed at being disturbed and fired back, “Why can’t you go and do it, I’m busy.” He grinned a slimy smile towards Carly which she tried to ignore. Andy’s voice turned low and harsh, his own temper rising. There was obvious tension between the two trainers and Carly didn’t want to get in between them.

“Because I’m not finished with my client,” his tone brooked no argument. Carly kept her mouth shut as the two men eyed each other, before Simon stalked off towards the male changing rooms, muttering under his breath.

“Peach hurry up and grab your gear unless you want to kip here tonight,” Andy smiled to soften his words and to make sure she understood he wasn’t angry at her.  She nodded and bolted into the changing rooms and headed for her locker.

Carly had used the same locker since she had joined the gym and so as with every visit she unlocked it and reached inside. A flash of red made her squeal and jump back as something fell out of her locker. This wasn’t the first time she had found something in her locker, or on her car for that matter. She had thought of telling Andy or one of the other trainers but was convinced they would think she was being silly. A single red rose now lay on the floor and yet another note was taped to the inside of the door, a note that although sweet in its words felt wrong and downright creepy.

Your Beauty Knows No Bounds

Where the hell had that come from?  Carly felt spooked and on edge, and not for the first time, it always worried her that someone had managed to get inside her locker. She fished her handbag out and car keys then grabbed the rose and note. She threw them into the large bin at the entrance to the changing rooms. They were far too creepy to be taking with her and she didn’t want to explain to anyone where they had come from either.

Carly practically bounced out of the gym and to her car. She definitely earned a cheat meal today, now all she had to do was decide what she wanted.

~

Andy watched on the CCTV cameras to make sure Carly made it to her car and left without incident. It wasn’t a part of his job but he just couldn’t help himself when it came to that woman. A huge part of him just wanted to wrap his arms around her, protect her and make sure she was ok at all times.

When she had first come into the gym all that time ago, he had been first struck by her stunning green eyes and full pouty lips. Regardless of her size she had been, and still was, stunning and openly wore her heart on her sleeve.

He had been so angry on her behalf when she had told her story that he had taken her straight into the boxing ring to punch out her anger. When he thought back that was more for his benefit then hers. He had been sorely tempted to go into that club and beat seven bells of shit out of the lads that had made one so beautiful cry and feel like she wasn’t wanted. She had been still dressed in the clothes that had cruelly trashed, blue jeans and a simple purple blouse that had been covered in alcohol and she still looked stunning.

As a trainer he would admit yes she had been a touch over weight but she had carried it well.   He didn’t blame her, in this day and age it was easy to give in to all the quick fix, processed foods.

No sooner had Andy agreed to be her PT and she had joined the gym, she had gained a brand new outlook on life and as expected had thrown herself into the training and diet with an enthusiasm few ever showed.

Today he remembered fondly she had finally reached the goal she had set herself, she had dropped 5 stone and near on 7 dress sizes. He couldn’t be prouder but he had expected nothing less from her. His problem now was being able to step back from her. All she would need now were monitoring sessions so she really had no need to be in constant contact. Thing is Andy had become attached and that was why he broke his own rule in the consulting room. He scrubbed his hand down his face as he watched her drive off, he could see her dancing in her seat a huge smile on her face. This in turn made him smile again and then groan. He had been attracted to her before but now she pulsed with a new found confidence and looked hot as hell and so comfy in her own skin. She simply outshone any other woman.