“Hey, don’t worry. I haven’t seen your husband or nothing like that.” She paused.
Claire relaxed slightly. “Then what?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about our conversation last month. And, well, I have an idea.” Her voice sounded confident.
“What kinda idea?” Claire hesitantly asked, watching a group of women walk in front of her parked car at the spa.
“Can you meet me for coffee right now?”
She looked at the clock on the radio. Her mom could keep Sadie for another hour, she supposed. “Okay,” she said.
“Great!” Kimmy cheered. “Meet me at the Chicory Coffee House in twenty minutes?”
“Okay.” Claire ended the call, the Twitter screen popping up again. She paused, feeling inspired to tweet a follow-up message: @Pastor_Gavin: “Each person comes into your life for a reason—it’s up to you to figure out why.”
? ? ?
“THANKS FOR MEETING up,” Kimmy said as she held her iced coffee with both hands across the table. Her nails also looked freshly painted, although they were neon orange. “I have a proposition for you.”
“I’m listening,” Claire said, blowing on her hot cup of coffee.
“So, you know how we were talking about your marriage and how you wanted to feel sexy again?” she whispered.
Claire blushed as she looked around the coffee shop, hoping that no one heard that. She nodded quickly.
“Okay, so this is something I’ve wanted to do for a while. And talking with you, I got even more inspired to do it,” Kimmy said, fiddling with the straw of her iced coffee. “My grandma passed away a few months ago.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Claire interrupted, putting her hand over Kimmy’s.
“Don’t be—she was old and crazy—like, swears she was abducted by aliens-crazy.” She quickly made the sign of the cross. “May she rest in peace.” She looked back up and smiled. “But she left me an inheritance. And, well, I’m ready to be done with the club and be a boss lady, but my real talent is stripping. So . . .” She smiled and ran her fingers nervously through her bleached blond hair. “I want to open up one of those aerobic striptease studios to help women like you get their groove back. What do you think?” she asked, beaming at Claire.
Claire leaned back in her chair, thinking about Kimmy’s idea. Claire had recently read an article in Glamour about pole fitness being a hot workout trend. “I think you might have something there,” she said, nodding her head. “But, what do you need me for?”
Kimmy stretched her hands across the table. “I want you to be my first client.”
“Um, I dunno about that.” Claire shook her head, thinking about the brunette she’d seen writhing on the pole when she’d caught Gavin with Kimmy. There was no way she could move like that.
“Ah, come on!” Kimmy cocked her head to the side. “You wouldn’t even have to pay me. I just want to make sure this is what I want to do and that it works before I throw all of Granny’s money into the studio.” She took a big sip of her drink and flashed her wide eyes at Claire. “Please let me practice with you,” she begged. “Please?”
Claire fanned herself with her napkin. She could feel herself getting hotter and more uncomfortable.
“We’d have a blast, I promise!” Kimmy continued, smiling at her.
She contemplated the offer for a moment. As far as she knew, Gavin hadn’t been to the club in a month, but it’s not like their sex life had improved. They were still stressed and busy. The one time she’d tried to initiate, Gavin had said he was too tired and ended up falling asleep in front of the TV. Claire looked down at her outfit—a boring gray pencil skirt she had gotten before they were even married. The hem was fraying and the back zipper didn’t go all the way up, a casualty of the extra pounds she had put on after Sadie. The dark satin blouse was a more recent purchase, a quick pickup from Talbots after her baby had spit up on the top she had been wearing that day. But she had to admit it made her look frumpy. Most of her postbaby clothes did.
“Please?” Kimmy said again, her blue eyes pleading.
Claire could feel herself softening. It couldn’t hurt to try, right? Maybe it would help her get her sexy back. And at the very least, she’d be helping Kimmy get out of stripping.
“Sure,” she finally said. “Why not?”
Kimmy clapped her hands and yelled out a loud “Woo!” The young couple sitting one table over turned their heads and stared at the two of them. Claire put her elbows on the table and rubbed her face with her hands, wondering what, exactly, she’d just agreed to.
? ? ?
THE NEXT DAY, Claire drove to Kimmy’s apartment on her lunch break, downing a Moon Pie and an RC Cola on the way. Her nerves jumped in her stomach as she pulled into the small apartment complex on Sugar Mill Road, fifteen miles from the church.
Kimmy opened the door with a beaming smile. “Come in! Come in!”
Claire’s eyes widened as she entered the studio. “Wow, your place is so . . . beautiful.”
She was surprised at how nicely decorated it was. A twin bed sat in the far right corner, covered with a plush floral duvet and chunky knitted afghan. Hardcover books and picture frames filled with images of Kimmy and her family were placed on a white vintage bookcase. A lavender moth orchid perched atop a rustic wooden side table, and a sprawling peace lily stood in the opposite corner. The kitchen was small but well organized. A buttercup-colored KitchenAid stand mixer sat on the counter next to a homemade three-tiered strawberry shortcake in a glass dome.
“You can just throw your stuff right here,” Kimmy said, pointing to a Tiffany-blue chaise lounge by the door. She was wearing a pink sports bra and black leggings.
Claire couldn’t help but be jealous of Kimmy’s rock solid body. Goals . . . she thought to herself as she dropped her bag and ran into the bathroom to change. She stared in the full-length mirror on the back of the door, looking at the old white tank top and faded blue yoga pants that were wrinkled from being crammed in the back of her drawer for at least a year.
“Okay, you ready?” Kimmy greeted her as she came back into the main room. “I know you only have an hour, so let’s just jump into it.” She walked over to the stereo. “Since I don’t have a pole in here, we’re just gonna have to do some warm-ups and a sexy little dance, but I want you to really be honest with me about everything, okay, Claire? Like does this work and do you think I have a good idea for a business and all that.”
Claire nodded. “I’m ready.” She clapped her hands, trying to pretend that she had no qualms about what she was doing there.
Kimmy grabbed Claire’s waist and positioned her in the middle of the room. “Stand up straight. You’re slouching. And take your hair down.” Kimmy tugged at her ponytail. “You’ll feel sexier.”
Claire loosened her rubber band and shook her short ponytail out.