The Trainer Read Free

How do you cook kale? Or do you eat it raw? He thought about asking the clerk for some suggestions, but his Spanish was limited, to say the least. The thought of it made his stomach sink, but he ignored it by pulling out his mp3 player and drowning his thoughts in a Wayne Dyer motivational talk.  Tim used to call it ‘dumb shit', but to Chris, Dyer had helped him through some really difficult times before, and he hoped he’d get him through this time in his life.
    Chris’s cart was strewn with random exotic vegetables he would have to Google later.  But then Chris felt a flicker of motivation. Today would be the day he started to turn things around.
    He found himself in the cartoon mascot-lined children’s sugar cereal section of the breakfast aisle. He knew he should have picked something much more healthy, but then he saw the Cocoa Puffs and figured if he was going to be eating all this healthy food, it didn’t hurt to get himself a treat as a way to reward himself, so he piled it inside the cart.
    His health-conscious efforts quickly dissolved as he walked around the grocery store.  Chris found justification after justification for grabbing whatever garbage junk food he saw that was on sale, too tantalizing, or he swore would only be for houseguests. Through this process of self-deception, he soon had a pile of cocoa krispies, frozen pizza bites, super -sized bags of Doritos, mini Snickers bars, and Twix bars burying all the healthy food on the bottom of the cart.
    He was just about to reach for a bag of Skittles when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and felt his jaw clench immediately, and his heart leapt into his throat. Anxiety, anger, lust, exasperation, and joy all coursed through him in a confusing wave of overwhelmed emotion , all in a little less than a second.
    No wonder: his ex, Tim, was standing right in front of him. It was the first time they’d seen each other in months. He was wearing a shredded, ancient tank top:  the lemon yellow one that he used to always wear on the beach so Chris could see his abs and toned biceps through the hanging armholes. He might as well go topless, Chris thought, but then there would be no tantalizing packaging over those perky nipples, refined collar bones, and broad shoulders.
    Chris took a deep breath and pulled the earphones out of his ear.
    “I’ve been trying to get your attention since I saw you in the produce section . You were off in your own little world, huh?”  Tim chuckled, and Chris felt himself blushing in spite of himself. He had a way of making him feel like an ashamed little boy.
    “Yeah, sorry. I was listening to...”
    “I see you’re stocking up on midnight snacks,” Tim said, with a smirk and a teasing note of cattiness.
    Chris felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He thought about lying and saying he was buying it for Mrs. Berliner, but he figured, why bother? His ex knew him too well, and in fact could probably identify everything covering the vegetables as a signature indulgence of Chris’s diet. Instead of acknowledging the comment, Chris chuckled and found himself swimming once again; or rather drowning in the oceanic blue irises of his ex.
    “I uh...how have you been?” Chris asked, trying to change the subject.
    “Good. Real good,” his ex said. He did look good; perhaps it was just the factor of Chris’s fading memory, but Tim seemed to look sexier and more in shape every time he saw him. His hair was styled in perfect bed-headed boyishness and his blue eyes sparkled. He always looked younger than his 40 years.  A little bit of a five o’clock shadow added a roguish appeal to his cut jaw line. It sickened Chris to realize how powerless he was before Tim’s charisma, and the salt in the wound was how Tim seemed to enjoy mocking him with it. After all the loving care Chris had shown for three years, it was the ultimate fuck you.
    He thought about saying something tart about the bright pink sunburn Tim had