How Rude!
My long strides matched the tempo of the music in my ears as I pushed myself even harder on the elliptical. The timer read 23:29; my 30 minutes of cardio were almost over. I turned my gaze back to the TV, showing Giada De Laurentiis frying chocolate ravioli for Valentines Day. As she pulled the first one out of the pan, I saw a man standing beside me, too close to my body to have simply paused to watch the program. I turned my head and smiled, realizing in the process that I recognized him.
"Oh, hi! How have you been?" I asked, removing my earbuds.
"Pretty good. How's Trevor?"
"Fine. You know, just chugging along through middle school. And Ethan?"
"He's doing great." An uncomfortable grin formed on his lips. "Are you almost done?"
"Yeah, I have about 5 more minutes." I said, deciding I could cut a few minutes out of my workout for his sake.
"Because I had signed up for that machine and-"
"Oh! I'm sorry. Here, you can go ahead. Sorry about that."
The hidden demand took me by surprise. I jumped off the machine and proceeded to wipe it down. I bit my lip; no point in getting angry. I maintained my fake smile throughout the rest of the conversation. Rarely was I kicked off a machine. It happened occasionally with strangers, but never did I expect an acquaintance to deny me of my final five minutes.
"Oh, hi! How have you been?" I asked, removing my earbuds.
"Pretty good. How's Trevor?"
"Fine. You know, just chugging along through middle school. And Ethan?"
"He's doing great." An uncomfortable grin formed on his lips. "Are you almost done?"
"Yeah, I have about 5 more minutes." I said, deciding I could cut a few minutes out of my workout for his sake.
"Because I had signed up for that machine and-"
"Oh! I'm sorry. Here, you can go ahead. Sorry about that."
The hidden demand took me by surprise. I jumped off the machine and proceeded to wipe it down. I bit my lip; no point in getting angry. I maintained my fake smile throughout the rest of the conversation. Rarely was I kicked off a machine. It happened occasionally with strangers, but never did I expect an acquaintance to deny me of my final five minutes.
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