Page 12 of Head Over Wheels
“Bye, see you soon.” I’m getting pretty quick at these stairs, even with my hands full of sushi. I’m back in my room in no time at all, opening the bottle of sparkling water and pouring some into one of the glasses in the room. That makes me think of sharing my water bottle with Jace. It’s such an oddly intimate thing. Yeah, I may never wash that bottle again, I laugh quietly to myself.
The sushi is just as good as it looked, a mix of spicy tuna and salmon rolls. I skip the soy sauce to keep it as quick and simple as possible. I’m scrolling through my Instagram feed, and there are already lots of stories and posts from the meet and greet. My new friends are all on there too, and I see they’ve posted some fun snaps from earlier. Looking at the time again, I eat my last bite and then move to get ready for class.
When I get to the studio, I see my new friends there waiting for me. Jeff waves with his Subway cup, and he flashes a big smile at me.
“Hi! Sorry, I was running a little late.”
Everyone rushes to reassure me that I’m right on time, and since I’m the last one to join, we walk into the fitness studio. There are already quite a few people setting up in the room, so we position ourselves in the back corner. This is actually my preference, because while I love doing yoga, I’m certainly not great at it. The last thing I need is to be caught on video in my imperfect poses. My mat ends up between Tara and Jeff, and I nod at both of them as I sit down cross-legged to start getting myself into the right mindset.
It’s not long before Deb’s voice is calling the class to attention. She looks fresh and ready to go as she walks us through the template for this evening’s class. I find myself checking out the rest of the room to see if Jace came too. He’s not too hard to find—on the other side of the room with a couple of other instructors who came to support Deb. They’re intermingled with some lucky members, and he can’t see me watching him. He’s looking fantastic—in all black, his usual T-shirt and shorts, with bare feet. It’s so nice to watch him interact with other people; his grin is bright and he’s chatting quietly to the guy beside him.
I feel a tap on my arm and turn to see Jeff. He gestures to the front of the room where Deb is leading us into our first pose. I nod and thank him for bringing me back. His jaw looks a little tenser than usual. I wonder if he thinks he sucks at yoga or is taking it very seriously since we’re with the instructors. I shrug and tune back into Deb’s voice, leading me through the warmup stretches.
CHAPTER 9
When class ends, we decide to get a drink at the hotel lobby bar. The group, seven of us now, heads over to Nacarat, and thankfully, they have room for us. We get seated at an orange table with an off-white banquette on one side and chairs on the other. I slide onto the banquette, and Jeff slides in beside me. Tara and Lisa sit across from us, and the others move in beside them. The waiter comes by, and everyone orders a cocktail, so I go for my favourite Aperol spritz. We’re all buzzing about how fun it was to do an in-person yoga class. I feel pretty Zen because we finished with ten minutes of meditation, and it almost lulled me to sleep.
Others from the class start coming to the bar too, and I watch as they get seated around us. We’re waving at each other now, because even if we don’t know their names, we’ve become friendly with all the weekend attendees. I’m thinking how lucky I am to have found this great group of people so that I have friends to hang out with between events.
Suddenly Alicia leans in. “Hey, look who’s here!”
As one, we turn to face the entrance. A group of Elevate instructors is walking into Nacarat. I see Alex and Raj, and behind them are Alia and Jayenne. My heart sinks when I realize that Jace isn’t with them. I push the disappointment back, wondering why I even care so much. It’s not like we were going to hang out all night anyhow. They get seated at the table beside us, and I find myself next to Alex. His personality is so big that I can almost feel it, just sitting this close. He gives off this burst of energy, and when he turns his energy on me, it lights me right up.
“Hi, I’m Alex. You’re here with Celebration Weekend, right?”
“Yes, hi. I’m Ella.” I introduce the rest of our table to him, and he favours each person with a smile.
“What did you think of the first class?” He’s giving us his full attention while the rest of his group is discussing something amongst themselves.
Tara responds first. “I loved it! It felt so good to do it in person and be able to see everyone else around me while I hit the poses.”
Lisa nods. “Totally loved it. It’s so much more fun and engaging this way.”
I throw in my two cents. “Yes, it was a great class and a nice gentle way to kick off the weekend’s classes.”
“I’m so glad you all enjoyed it. And what about you?” Alex directs this last question at Jeff.
“Yeah, it was a good class.” Jeff snips, and I wonder—is he a little starstruck? He looks away from Alex towards the bar entrance.
My eyes follow his gaze, and my stomach does a salsa dance when Jace and John choose that moment to walk in. Jace scans the room. I see when he spots us, and I try not to grin too hard when they walk right over. They say hello to us and slide in on the other side of Alex’s table. I sense Jeff stiffen beside me. I’m chalking it up to nerves that now there are even more instructors joining our group.
Raj chooses this moment to slide out of the booth, telling everyone he’s got to take a call. This leaves a spot open for Jace, who moves in next to Alex.
His eyes meet mine with a smirk. “We keep running into each other.”
Alex looks at him, then me. “How do you two know each other?”
“She’s my elevator buddy from earlier.” He’s obviously told the rest of his team about our ordeal.
Alex’s eyes widen. “Oh, my! What a terrible way to start off your weekend. How are you doing now, hon?”
Instead of impulsively answering that I’m okay, I take a moment to contemplate. “I’m still processing it, I think. But as long as I stick to the stairs, it’ll be just fine.”
Jace nods at me. “I’m going to be avoiding elevators for a while too.”
I feel a hand on my forearm. Jeff leans in close to me and speaks quietly. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’m sure it was really scary. If you need any company on the stairs, let me know. I’m available anytime.”
“Thanks, that’s really sweet.”