The Very Best of Friends

"Do you think he was just going easy on me because of my tantrum last week?" she asked Melanie as they crossed paths moving from one piece of equipment to another.

"Maybe he likes you, likes you," she gave a girlish giggle. "You always were the teacher's pet at school."

"I was not," Joanne protested good-naturedly. "I just wasn't as naughty as you." She poked her tongue out as Melanie pulled a face at her.

"Everything alright here ladies?" Matt asked with a barely disguised smile.

"Sure the teacher's pet was just telling me how easy she was finding your work out," Melanie said sweetly. "Maybe you should step it up a notch or two and make her suffer a bit more like the rest of us."

"That's not what I said at all!" Joanna poked her tongue at Melanie. "She's just cranky that she hasn't got to see me fall in a heap yet. She lives to see me fail," She said sadly. "I'm the duff in this group. It's my job to make her, and them, look good."

"It was one double date thirty years ago, get over it all ready," Melanie huffed exaggeratedly. "You are not the duff."

"It scarred me for life!" Joanna said moving onto the next piece of equipment. "If I can't get over it I'm not gonna let you."

Matt could see they were smiling between jabs at each other. He remembered that it was Melanie who had wanted Joanna to do the baseline with her, but the schedule didn't permit it. He liked seeing the more relaxed and jovial side of Joanna as the two friends bantered and once again he was taken by the way her smile lit up her face.

He went over to where she was and explained the equipment to her and set her several sets to do before she could move on again. He paid each of the women equal attention and enjoyed being able to use his skills with paying clients rather than the friends he trained with most afternoons.

The boot camp went for a full hour by the time they had warmed down with a few stretches. They seemed to finish at staggered times and both Elizabeth and Donna rushed off to get home to their families. Carla stood talking to Joanna as Melanie grumbled through her final stretches and walked towards them.

"Joanna can you hang back a few minutes," Matt asked as he handed Melanie her keys and the women gathered their belongings to leave.

"Sure, I guess," she said turning to Melanie. "You don't have to wait I can meet you at home."

"It's only a few minutes we don't mind waiting do we?" She asked Carla, who was still standing with them.

"Not at all," Carla shook her head.

Joanna looked back at Matt and shrugged, "I guess we're all hanging back a few minutes."

"Great, the more help, the better. You can carry this, and you can carry this," he handed the two other women some of the equipment he had brought with him and pointed out his car which was parked not too far away.

"We get the hint," Melanie laughed, "But I've got my eye on you, Matt, so no funny business this time." She and Carla began walking to the carpark with Matt and Joanna following at a slower pace behind them.

"You didn't answer any of my emails, is there a problem?" he asked tentatively thinking he might have gone too far with the kiss.

"No, not at all, I just had a technology free weekend, no phones or computers. I didn't even switch the television on," she explained. "Melanie arrived last night, so when I saw your emails, I didn't have the time to write back properly. There's no problem, honestly. I even enjoyed tonight," she admitted.

"Well that's a relief," he smiled. "I thought maybe I went too far when I kissed you," he said quietly. "I'm glad you got some proper gear to work out in, you look good," he said genuinely happy that she had taken his advice.

"I'll admit you were right about the comfort, but I still feel a bit awkward," she admitted.

"You shouldn't you look great," he said with a smile and lifted the basket of equipment into the car.

"So I'll see you all at the session tomorrow morning?" Matt asked looking at the three women who now stood nearby.

"Not me, I'm not getting up that early, but I'll do an extra afternoon one if you do it Friday," Melanie agreed.

"It's a bit tough not being able to shower before work," Joanna prevaricated wanting Melanie to come with her.

"Try to make it okay, you're the one on a timeline not me or your friends," he reminded her. "I'll make it less of an impact session."

"I'm not usually a morning person, so maybe," she said carefully without promising anything.

"I'll make sure she gets there," Melanie said, "Even if I have to get up and do it with her," she groaned.

"Great see you both there," he grinned and turned to Carla. "I'll see you there too I hope," he gave her a warm smile, but she noted he didn't have the enthusiasm he showed with the other two women.

"Yeah, I'm in for the long haul," she nodded.

"See you tomorrow Carla," Joanna hugged her friend. "I'm going home to shower and change out of this weirdness into something more comfortable."

"Ooh lucky me," Melanie winked at Matt, who laughed and watched the two women walk away.

"Do you feel like getting a drink?" Carla asked him once they were out of earshot.

"I can't sorry, going to my Nana's for dinner tonight," he said easily. "She's probably already worrying about where I am," he chuckled.

"Maybe next time," she said and touched his arm looking up into his face with a soft smile.

"Maybe," he nodded to agree with her. "Is your car nearby?" He asked feeling uncomfortable. He didn't want to put her off entirely and offend her. She was a client which meant she was a no go zone.

They were all no-go zones, but there was something about Joanna he had to admit that he couldn't explain even to himself and he had spent a lot of time thinking about it over the weekend. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wanted to hang out with her and that he had been looking forward to seeing her again all day.

Matt walked Carla to her car and said goodnight, skillfully avoiding a clumsy move on her part to kiss him. As he drove home, he wondered why she would be so aggressive with him when she had seen him kiss Joanna on Thursday night. Maybe he was a challenge to her now or maybe it was some odd competition between the two women. Either way, he didn't want to risk the good thing he had going working with these women at the moment.

Each of these women was beautiful in their own right but as he thought of Joanna and how she looked tonight he smiled. Maybe it was her insecurities that made her endearing and more attractive to him. She seemed to have a total lack of ego unlike the other women in the group who all seemed so strong and self-assured.

He'd try and talk to her again tomorrow morning about the nutrition side of things. Even with Melanie staying with her he wouldn't mind going over to talk to her about it and help her come up with a simple eating plan to enhance the workouts. He should probably be grateful that Melanie was staying with Joanna, so he didn't make a fool out of himself hanging around like a school boy with a crush. Joanna hadn't given him any indication that she was into him. Once again he wondered why she had captivated so much of his attention.

*****

"Come on lazybones, let's make something to eat," Joanna said as she walked out into the living room where Melanie lay sprawled on the lounge.

"It's done," Melanie stood up and stretched. "That was the longest shower in history that you just took."

"Goody, what'd you make?" Joanna asked sceptically. Melanie was not a cook by anyone's standards.

"Don't look like that, I'm not totally useless," Melanie walked into the kitchen and took a salad out of the fridge. I went shopping today because you obviously hadn't been shopping for a while. Everything is 'heat and eat' these days. It's not exactly cooking, but it works." She pulled a baking dish from the oven. I had it ready to go and turned it on when we got home." She dished up a chicken and mushroom strudel with a smile. "We may as well make the most of eating what we like before Kylie gets her hands on you."

"How do you think Kylie would take it if I didn't let her manage my diet?" Joanna asked casually as she dished up some salad onto her plate and went to the table.

"She probably wouldn't mind if you wanted to see someone who lived closer it's not like it's easy for you to see her, you both work full time, and she lives on the other side of town from you. The boot camp is pretty central to us all, but anything other than that gets tricky. I think you can make a case for doing your own thing that she would understand. Why?" Melanie asked in return after she had thought about it out loud as she spoke.

"Matt offered and I thought as I will see him every day anyway, it might just be easier. He would probably match it to the program he has set up," she said as if that was the main reason she was considering it.

"The fact that he's a hot young guy that is being overly nice to you has nothing to do with it?" Melanie raised an eyebrow.

"Don't be silly he's younger than Justin probably," Joanna shook her head and blushed. "I was just thinking about how pushy Kylie can be about her whole ideology and Matt seems pretty easy going about the nutrition side. Everything in moderation he said when he offered."

"That seems pretty logical, and I just know Kylie will try and get us to give up wine," Melanie picked up her glass and dipped it toward Joanna before having a sip. "Are you sure it's not because you've got a thing for the teacher? I remember when Mr. Simons was the reason you got your first and only detention."

"He's too young for me, and I'm too old for all that stuff now. It's been too long. I haven't been on a date since the eighties. So let's not even go there," Joanna laughed.

"Like I said, I think Kylie would understand if she knew you were doing something about it and maybe promised to come by and get her input eventually," Melanie shrugged considering her friend and not entirely believing her denials about wanting to spend some more time with Matt.

"This is good," Joanna said indicating the salad and strudel. "Maybe you should take over the diet plans," she teased her friend as she ate.

"I'm going to have to go home eventually and leave you to fend for yourself but this week of relative quiet is exactly what I need right now, so I don't mind cooking in return for a hideout. Matt can come over and give us both some tips," she said trying to suppress a smile. "I mean if there's nothing between the two of you it won't hurt if I hang around will it?" The truth was that despite all her teasing she wasn't sure how she felt about Joanna starting to date again.

"I'd rather if you did now," Joanna said. "I don't want people getting the wrong idea. You know you're welcome to stay here as long as you want or need to," she said sincerely. Her friend wasn't a huge celebrity but was well known enough that if she did something stupid it usually ended up on some sort of media.

"I appreciate it," she said, "We have boot camp in the morning so why don't you get him to come tomorrow night and I'll get one of those Jamie Oliver cook yourself things to throw together."

"I'd rather talk to Kylie first, you know to make sure I'm not stepping on any toes asking for someone else's help." Joanna prevaricated.

"So give her a call and remember to offer to let her look over the plan when the two of you can find time to sit down and go through it all," Melanie suggested. "I can only promise to be your chef this week. My agent has already started to set up a few meetings now that I have said I am staying in town for a couple of months."

"You're going to stay home until the wedding?" Joana asked in surprise. "Her friend never stayed anywhere longer than a week at a time unless something was wrong. "What happened up north?" she narrowed her eyes. "You're okay aren't you?" She asked realising that the last twenty-four hours had been all about her for a change, and Melanie had said very little about her plans.

"I'm just tired and need a break. I'm letting my agent set up a few meetings, and I'll read a few scripts, but I feel like I just need some time to get my shit together and think about some stuff I'd like to do. That's all I promise," she said. "This get fit challenge thing came along at the right time, I think I am taking the fact that I am almost fifty a bit harder than the rest of you."

"We're all feeling it. I guess I have just accepted it better than most. Probably because I had Justin when I was so young," she shrugged. "Some of the boys he went to school with are married with kids of their own already. Can you imagine me as a grandmother?" she gave a laugh.

"I can imagine that more than being one myself. Honestly, that's depressing as shit. That makes me think I should get some work done, a bit of a lift and tuck never hurt anyone," she said stretching the skin back over her face. "I have to face the fact that I'm not as young as I used to be, and the parts I want aren't just going to fall into my lap when I'm up against women half my age."

"You're not serious! You are as beautiful as you always were," Joanna said giving her friend a stern look and reaching out to hold her hand. "We'll do this three-month makeover challenge and we'll both feel and look good enough to walk any red carpet event," Joanna said assertively, "In the nude!" she added not realising that the tables had been turned on her so easily. "I'll go and call Kylie now, and we'll talk to Matt tomorrow morning about coming over for dinner," she said decisively.

"Gee, I wish I'd suggested that," Melanie pulled a face and squeezed the hand that held hers. That had been easier than she could have imagined. Rather than Joanna feeling like she was being bullied, the boot camp and diet had become all about helping her through a rough patch now. Chalk one up for her acting skills she thought as she took their dishes to the kitchen and began cleaning up. She wasn't looking forward to the early mornings she had just signed herself up for, but Joanna had always been there for her, and this was probably only the second time in their lives she could do something positive and life changing for the friend that she loved.

"You were right," Joanna said ten minutes later as she came back into the now clean kitchen. "Oh thank you for cleaning up but you should have just left it for me, you did all the cooking."

"There wasn't much cooking involved, and I am far more domesticated that you give me credit for," Melanie laughed. "What was I right about this time? You should know by now I am always right, but it's nice that you've rediscovered this fact."

"Kylie is snowed under with work and was worried about fitting me into her schedule," Joanna reported. "So it works out for both of us, and she said that if weren't moving along after a few weeks she would tweak it a bit for me."

"See, you build these things up to be bigger than what they are," Melanie shook her head.

"She's sending me over a few samples of things for us test out, but she sounded relieved not to have find room in her busy schedule for me," Joanna laughed. "I feel so much better after talking to her. I was dreading having to take her advice. She is so over the top about it all."

"I bet she would have had us both on Paleo diets too. So she's not the only one who is relieved," Melanie grinned. "Do you want another glass of wine?"

"No, I'm good, but you go ahead," Joanna said. "I might just email Matt rather than try and talk to him in front of everyone tomorrow morning."

"Probably a good idea if Carla is going to be there. She definitely had her cougar eyes on him tonight," Melanie said to see how Joanna would react to the idea. "I wouldn't be surprised if they went for a few drinks after the workout." She pushed just that little bit further.

"Probably," Joanna said lightly. "They're both single, so it makes sense." She said and walked to the small desk that held her computer. She felt silly that her immediate reaction was one of distaste. He was a genuinely lovely guy trying to build his business up, of course, he was nice to all of her friends. She wondered if he had kissed Carla as the image and feeling of him kissing her filled her mind again. She was being a silly old woman again, and she shook her head to banish the thoughts.

Melanie watched the emotions play over her friend's face as she thought about the idea and smiled. There was an attraction there whether Joanna wanted to admit it or not. Now she just had to work out where Matt was coming from and dinner tomorrow night was the perfect opportunity. Melanie pushed down her own confused feelings about seeing Joanna become involved with someone new and poured herself another glass of wine.

*****

Kylie had taken up much of Matt's attention during the early morning boot camp as she quizzed him on all things nutrition before finally agreeing that he was better placed to advise Joanna on an eating plan to make her exercise regime.

While the other ladies had gone about their workouts with only a little input from him to get them motivated and correct some of their positionings for different movements, Carla had become almost hostile toward Kylie as she demanded more and more of his time. His plan to just gently put off her advances was not going to work he realised, and he would need to tell her directly that he was not interested in anything more than a professional relationship or at the most friendship.

Normally he would consider a bit of fun with a woman like Carla, who was attractive and obviously willing, but he was still working through what it was about Joanna that held his attention. He'd messed around with friends before, and it had never worked out well for anyone concerned. Not that he was messing around with Joanna, she hadn't given him even the slightest indication that she thought of him as anything but a nice guy who she paid to run a workout program for her. Still, he thought if the opportunity arose he didn't want to have it ruined by a bit of fun with Carla.

That evening as he drove over to her house he wore a smile. He was looking forward to hanging out with her again. He was glad Melanie would be there. Joanna seemed more relaxed and self-assured in the other woman's presence. It was as if Melanie had the ability to get her to let down all her walls regardless of who else was around. Melanie seemed to have that effect on most of the women in the group, and he could see the group dynamics more easily as she teased and bantered with the other women.

He thought about the group of women trying to imagine how they all became friends at school. They were all so different. He brought his thoughts back to the two women he was having dinner with as he pulled up at the little bungalow right on time. He grabbed a backpack from the passenger's side before going in. Melanie had asked him to bring wine, but he had also brought an alternative that was just as refreshing with lower calories and hoped they would give it a go.

"Come on in," Joanna laughed opening the door. "Melanie is cooking up a storm as if to prove she listened to every dietician that she has ever seen in her life. I hope you're hungry."

"Great," he enthused. "I can always eat, especially if it's home cooking." He went through and pulled up a stool with Joanna at the kitchen bench that stood between it and the dining room.

"Did you bring the wine?" Melanie asked by way of greeting.

"I did, but I'd like you to try an alternative as well," he began to empty the small bag he had brought in with him on the bench. "Just hear me out before you judge. Glasses please." He waited and pulled a wine glass and a tall glass toward him. Placing a shot of vodka into one glass, he poured roughly one hundred millilitres of wine into the other glass barely filling a quarter of the glass.