Mama Mia

"Good morning Joe." I said sullenly. I was surprised I didn't bunch up the carpet, or at least trip and fall on my face in the process of practically dragging my sorry ass across the health club floor

"You look like shit Maggie," was his cheery 'good morning.' Little did he know (well, besides the obvious fact he knew little), the remark had actually made my morning: in all the three years I've worked here, this is the first time he didn't want to stare at me..

So am I that unattractive?

"How many this morning?" I asked him about my class size while taking off my sweatshirt, something else that had never before occurred between me and Joe. I wanted to test the poor sexist slug.

"Full. Very full," I looked up from tying my shirt around my waist and saw him staring right at my chest.

At least he passed.. or at least worked up to the best of his ability. Not that there was really that much to stare at, but it almost made me feel a little better. Almost.

"Cool." I crossed my arms in front of my chest to get his attention.

"Oh, by the way, you have training rounds this morning too." He tossed me a clipboard.

"Training? In the winter?" Usually we didn't hire anyone until the summer.

Any morning but today, I thought, glancing down at my schedule for today, even busier than usual because of this newcomer. I didn't like this person already.

"Since your classes are so full, they decided to hire another gir- oh wow."

I turned around to see what made Joe's jaw drop, which usually didn't take very much.. Just as I suspected: a girl a year or so younger than me was walking up to the front desk, wearing a sports bra top and spandex pants. Her dark hair was piled into a ponytail high on her head. Rolling my eyes, I could only dream that she was the new girl. My partner in crime.

"Hi," she called out cheerfully. "I'm Mia. This is my first day of work."

"Hey Mia, I'm Maggie." I smiled and shook her hand. She had quite the firm grip for being so tiny; I towered at least eight inches over her. What she lacked in height, she overpowered me considerably in chest size; I thought the poor girl might tip over. Then again, had she worn something a little more comfortable, less noticeable.. my negative opinions might be different.

"Mama Mia," Joe reached for her hand and kissed it. Her facial reaction was great: pure disgust. I enjoyed watching her nose and brow furrow with annoyance, to say the least.

"Uhh, hi." She yanked her hand back. Maybe she wasn't so bad afterall.

"Maggie?" She turned, looking from my nametage to my face with her dark eyes. "I know this is kind of unprofessional, but do you have an extra shirt I could borrow for today? Mine got all greasy when I had to stop on the way here to change a flat tire."

Ok, now I officially liked her.

She's cool in my books.

"Three.. two ... and one. Ok! Thanks for coming everyone!" I clapped my hands together and smiled my aerobics-bimbo smile. Actually, we had to go through training on how to smile.. go figure.

"Great job today Maggie." A woman called to me. "I'm already know I'm going to feel it when I get home."

"Thanks Carol." I grinned at my longtime fellow aerobicizer and picked up my towel before adding, "Great job to you too, Mia."

"Thanks," she replied from her seat on the floor next to me. Clutching her stomach, she claimed, "I don't think I've ever done so many sit-ups at one time before. You must be in great shape."

"Nah.." I smiled. "Thanks anyway."

"I'll wash your t-shirt and bring it next week, ok?"

"Not a problem. Hey, are you hungry?"

"What time is it?" She asked. "I took off my watch before class."

"About 11:30."

"Oh, I can't then. Sorry."

"Really?" Not eating was almost a new concept to me. Although I'd done the anorexia thing in junior high school, with my metabolism extremely high now in my life I couldn't afford not to eat. No one should starve themselves to look 'better' (better in their terms), especially not for a boy- like I did.

Oh, to be thirteen again.. not.

"Yup," Mia walked out of the room before me. "I don't eat before one o'clock."

"Why not?"

"Watching my weight I guess."

"You skip meals? That's not healthy, I hope you know." I had to be honest with her.

"I'm ok." She brushed a stray strand of hair off her almond-colored cheek and smiled.

"You're sure?" Didn't sound like it to me.

"Yup, I've been doing it for years."

That's not cool.

"Maggie?" A voice called my name. I turned in its direction and my mood shifted dramatically. All my confidence drained out of my body.

"Hi, Zac," I said meekly. "How are you?"

"Lonely," he grinned. I managed to send a small smile back.

"You?"

"About the same.. I mean, good." I hurridly corrected.

Oops.

"Zac, this is Mia, our newest worker here. She's going to be teaching aerobics classes like me."

"Uh-oh." Zac said. "The last thing we need is more Maggies running around this place."

"Well," Mia spoke up, her dark eyes shining. "Better more of Maggie than Joe. Nice to meet you Zac."

"Thanks Mia." I laughed.

"Likewise," Zac nodded at her before turning his attention to me. "Maggie, do you want to grab lunch with me?"

"Oh, thanks but no thanks.. I'm all sweaty and need a shower-" I stalled.

"But you just said you were going to get something to eat." Mia pointed out. I stared at her, realizing that any butt-kissing points she'd racked up for today were completely gone after that comment.

Grr.. thanks for nothing.

"Well, I-" I looked apologetically at Zac and shrugged. "McDonald's?"

"Sure," he smiled. "We can take my car."

"Don't tell me you want a salad again." Zac nudged me as we stood in line.

"No, I can actually afford the prices here." Slipping a five dollar bill into the palm of his hand, I asked, "Can you get me a double-quarter pounder meal made deluxe? Oh, and super-sized it with a Diet Coke."

"Diet Coke?" he grinned after recovering from imitation shock. "After all that, you want me to get you a diet?"

"Yup," I winked at him.

"Watching my weight. I'm going to grab a place to sit." I added, noticing how quickly the lobby was filling up with hungry-for-grease customers. Fast food places amaze me, they're so efficient. The food's not always that great, but you can't beat the service. On good days you get a smile too.

I waded through a waist-high sea of kids in line for the Playland. I made sure to get a small table as far away from the screaming, crying mass of ankle-bitters that scrambled around inside the enclosed area. I didn't even want to think of when the last time it'd been cleaned, recalling horror stories of friends' experiences working in fast food - including aged cheeseburgers and, well, I'll leave it at that. Not for me.. normally I like kids, but not screaming masses of them.

"Here ya go." Zac slipped the tray of food he'd carried over onto the table in front of me. Smiling at him, briefly saying my thanks for ordering for me, I reached into my backpack and took out my education homework. I somehow hadn't gotten it completely done yet and had class in less than an hour. Although the present company was appreciated, I wasn't going to have time to take a shower beforehand due to homework.

Well, that's my classmates' problem.

"So.. Mia's new?" he started the conversation, casually unwrapping his straw and sticking it in his Coke.

"Yeah, she just started today. I was training her on aerobics this morning."

"She didn't look like she needed much training." Zac replied subtly. After receiving a dirty look from me, he added,

"I'm only kidding."

"Yeah, right." I gently tossed a french fry in his face, watching it bounce off his nose. Surprisingly, and I have no idea how, he managed to catch it in his mouth.

"Thanks."

"You're so weird Zac, you know that?"

"I'm weird? Look who wanted to eat lunch with me." I could only smile after my (what else?) sarcastic response.

"Hey.. Is Mia single?" His voice asked me in a casual tone. I paused, my burger halfway home, and glanced at him.

Huh? Did I miss him getting to know her in another life or something? What surprised me most was the tiny twinge of resentment that built up inside me.

"I have no idea. Why?" Trying to keep my voice casual, I took a big bite of burger.

"Just curious, that's all.."

"Do you want me to ask her or something?"

"Well, do you think she'd ever want to go out with me?"

What the hell!? The last thing I figured was that he'd gotten over me so quickly. Although not sure why, I wasn't comfortable with that. Not the least bit, I realized, struggling to not have my food go down the wrong tube.

"I have no idea." Swallowing, I managed to keep my voice calm, although it took an effort.

"Why not?"

"I don't know her that well!"

"Geez, calm down." Zac said casually. "It's not like you'd ever want to go out with me again."

Although spoken in a soft tone, the statement hit home. Hard. Way too hard.

That was low, I thought, smiling meekly at him in response.