“So she panicked, big whoop”

“She didn’t just panic, she spat in my face.”

“She’s from the south”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I ask breathlessly.

“Maybe it’s foreplay. You can never be too sure with subcultures” Dana shrugs, upping the speed on the treadmill.

The competitor in me wants to up it along with her but I did that a couple of times already and I knew my limps couldn’t strain themselves any further. I love Dana, among my friends she is easily the most approachable and caring. She is also the most competitive which is why she made the perfect gym partner for someone like me. Her competiveness coupled with her unparalleled stamina meant I was constantly pushing myself to keep up and excel.

“It wasn’t foreplay” I say, slightly baffled that she would even suggest that. “And this is our Tina we’re talking about, she isn’t the type to spit on people for foreplay or otherwise”

“Apparently she is. How much saliva are we talking anyway?” Dana stares intensely, as if my answer on the quantity of spit propelled in my face out on that terrace last night would some how convey the status of my relationship with Tina.

“Plenty” I mutter.

It was a mild exaggeration but I was still a little miffed and given the circumstances I think I have every right to be. Tina had been so ashamed by the possibility of us being caught together that she’d rather make a scene and push me away.

“Bette are you crying?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m just sweating” I reply, blinking rapidly.

“From your eyes?” her brow furrows with concern and she does something we rarely do.

She pushes down on the arrow and slows her speed dramatically from 13.8 to 7.3, our deep conversing speed.

Now this is embarrassing, I think as I drop my speed too. Thankfully it was 6:14 am and it looks as though most of the other gym goers opted for the early morning rpm class or weights. There was no one in our immediate vicinity, we practically had the entire cardio workout area to ourselves. If I needed to I could safely cry my eyes out. “You didn’t have to slow down.”