Page 38 of True Sight (Nat. 20, #4)

HENRY

“ R emember, it’s down, up, cross, out. Feel the beat and move with the music, let it carry you.

Ready? In five, six, seven, eight,” I call out on the beat with Alex dancing along behind me.

We decided that we would teach our Saturday morning classes together as a fun way to get to spend more time together.

Between the studio class schedule and her own private clients she sees, Alex is always on the move.

She seems to be handling it fine enough even though some days she does seem a little worn down.

I catch her smiling at me in the viewfinder of our camera and awe at how much she shines.

I don’t know what I did in another life to have been blessed with a chance to meet her and call her a friend, but I’m really grateful I did.

“Hey! Hey, hey,” she calls out and swung her hair out to the music. She’s all energy and vibrancy today and we play off one another perfectly in sync.

“Now drop it down low,” I call out in a staccato manner to match the beat of the song. Alex and I drop into our squat sequence that will take us through to the end of the dance.

“Ahhh, my legs are burning,” she cries, dropping her head behind her before laughing. I turn to look at her and laugh when she gives me a comedically pained expression.

“Follow the beat, you got it. Only eight, seven, six, five,” I count down the final eight count and groan dramatically when we make it to the end, the song fading out once we have.

“Oh my god, who came up with that?” she laments, pacing around the room with her hands on her hips, trying to catch her breath.

“Uhm, you?” I bark at her with another laugh.

I turn to face the camera where our ever-patient participants were joining us over a live video call.

“If your legs are burning out like ours are, you can blame Alex for that final push.” The comment section of our livestream explodes with varying ranges of praise and complaints.

I laugh as I read one from one of our most consistent members. “Sarah says you need to have your head checked.”

“Sarah, dear”—Alex points towards the camera with a finger gun—“Already have. Unfortunately for all of us, there’s nothing that can be done.” She shrugs.

“Alright team, the studio is set to open after the New Year, so just about six weeks left until our local friends can come join us in house. The space is looking incredible and I’ll be doing a full studio tour on our member platform and socials once it’s done.

You all are going to freak,” I explain as I demonstrate the cool down moves.

“If you’re local, we’ll have an open house after New Years Day and the first week of classes will be the second week of January. If you aren’t local and want to become a virtual only member, my tech guy is working hard on our app and has assured me it will be ready by the same time.”

“That’s not the only thing he’s working hard,” Alex jokes under her breath. On my tricep pull, I turn in a circle and scowl at her while I’m facing away from the camera.

“Classes for next week open up tomorrow at noon eastern, just like always and I can’t wait to see you all again soon.

One last inhale in, and exhale. Lovely job today everyone.

” I wave my hands at the camera and quickly read all the messages of thanks and gratitude before closing the virtual room and shutting my laptop.

“I should kill you,” I threaten Alex, sitting down completely on the floor and stretching some more on my own.

“What? No one heard me,” she scoffs while fixing her ponytail.

“You don’t know that. People take clips of class, Alex, plus they’re recorded for replays.

You have a mic on. Anyone who was paying attention could have heard what you said and gotten it on camera,” I reminded her.

A mild sense of anxiety started to burrow into my stomach as I bend in half to stretch my hamstrings.

“What’s the big deal? No one will know it’s Conrad I’m talking about. Why are you being so fussy about this?”

I let out a huff and use my shirt to wipe the sweat off my brow. “Because, Lex, he isn’t ready for people to know yet. What if one of his friends finds out he’s working for me and looks me up and then sees some clip of what you said? What then?”

“I highly doubt that would happen, sweetie. You’re being paranoid.” She clicks her tongue at me and waves her hand.

“You don’t know that for certain, though, and Conrad has asked me to keep this between us. I probably shouldn’t have said anything to you.” I shake my head at her and chew on my lip.

“Why the fuck not? You said his one girl friend knows. If she knows, I deserve to know,” she points out.

“But that was a fluke. She only knows because she walked in on us kissing.”

“Well, then tell him I walked in on you jerking off and saying his name if he asks why I know. That’s totally believable.”

“That’s not believable at all. Why would you have walked in on me doing that?” I scoff, completely baffled that she thinks that’s a reasonable explanation. Even though I have gotten myself off at the thought of him, leaving myself moaning his name while I come in my hand.

“Because you were doing it here and I walked in on you.”

My face went slack and I blinked hard at her a few times. “I’m not even going to entertain that comment.”

“Come on, sweetie,” she whines, dragging out each word as she says them. “It’s going to be fine. No one is going to find out or post a clip of it or anything. But if it bothers you that much, I promise I won’t make comments like that again during class. Okay?”

“I would appreciate that,” I say as I pack up my computer and slide it into my bag.

I’m heading home for a few hours before coming back to the studio to meet the delivery guy who was supposed to be dropping off some fixtures.

They were supposed to come yesterday but got delayed and are now set to be delivered between ‘8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.’ because that’s so convenient.

It wasn’t how I wanted to spend my Saturday night but so is the life of an entrepreneur I’m starting to realize.

“Would it be that big of a deal if people found out about you two?”

“Not for me, no, but it would for him. He’s not ready to tell people about us and I need to respect that. Everyone comes out in their own time and I’m the first guy Conrad’s ever been with. I’m trying to take things at his pace.”

“So what does he call you? What are you to him?”

I spin in a circle and give her a small smirk. “I’m his Henry,” I explain confidently.

We haven’t talked much more about labels or what we are to one another again but he doesn’t completely freak out when I refer to myself as this. Alex’s bottom lip pushes into her top, creating a pout and her eyes grow round like a puppy’s.

“That’s so fucking cute, I wanna throw up,” she whispers with her hand over her heart. I can feel the heat growing in my cheeks.

“I like him—a lot—which is why it’s important to me that I don’t mess this up. And that includes not pushing him into saying anything to anyone or letting him know that you know or anything. We’re taking things one step at a time.”

“I think that’s very noble of you. I’m so happy you’re happy.

” She grabs my hand and squeezes it as we step out of the studio.

She moves to the side so I can lock the door behind us.

The construction guys are off today but will be back on Monday to install the fixtures that are coming which is why I have to come back to meet the delivery person.

“Thanks, Lex. What about you? Are you happy?” I raise an eyebrow at her and wait.

“I’m happy by myself, sure,” she sighs. “I haven’t been as lucky to hire someone who I can then make my boyfriend. One day, though.” She nods.

“He’s not my boyfriend. At least not yet,” I say the second part to myself.

“Oh, don’t you worry sweetie, he will be.

” She winks at me before waving and heading for her car.

I wave back and swing my backpack off my shoulder, bringing it in front of me so I can grab my phone.

I love the way the sun feels on my face and how the November chill is still in the air.

The closer it gets to the end of the year, the more it cools off and I’m living for it.

The current temperature is reminding me of home and making my heart sing.

Looking down at my phone screen, I start to type a list of things to do when I get home so I don’t forget when I’m interrupted by a photo of Ellie manifesting on my phone screen, requesting to FaceTime with me. My neck juts back in surprise and I quickly slide my thumb to answer her call.

“Hello?”

“Ahhhhhh!”

A blood-curdling scream comes from the other side and I tear my phone away from my face so fast I almost drop it. My index finger presses into the volume button so the entire neighborhood doesn’t hear her screaming and think some sort of alleyway murder is happening.

“Jesus, you loon, what in the bloody hell are ya?—”

“We’re eloping!” she shouts again and starts to jump up and down. Suddenly thankful I’m not quick to get motion sick because of how the image of her blurs as she jumps, my words get caught in my throat trying to form words at her announcement.

“You what? You little wank, you and I were going to plan the biggest, fattest, wedding blowout of the century! What do you mean you’re eloping ?”

“Jordan and I have decided to kick the bucket on the ol’ traditional wedding thing and elope. Our families are being real prats about the whole thing and we’re tired of it. We want to be married so that’s what we’re doing—we’re getting married!”

I can feel my jaw go slack for a moment before I quickly fix myself. “That’s great, I’m so happy for you both. When’s the big day?”

“The last weekend of November,” she gushes and finally takes a seat somewhere, settling the camera. Old historic homes pass by me as I make my way back to my flat and I can see her eyes flit to the colorfully painted buildings as I pass.