Free Body on the Stage by Bev Robitai

doing?
Lookin’ good, bro!” He nodded approvingly at Warwick. “Does your
girlfriend like how you look too? You should bring her here, man.
We can get her in for a free class or a workout session, no
problem.”
    “Really? That’d be great. I’ll
let her know.” He towelled sweat off his face and grinned. “She’s
always talking about how she must start getting fit sometime –
this’ll be a good way to get her in the door here. Thanks,
Vincenzo.”
    “No problem, man. Always good to
have more pretty girls round here, eh?” He turned to Mark. “You got
a sweet little lady friend who needs some gym time too?”
    “She’s already a member, thanks
Vincenzo. She does yoga and kick-boxing twice a week. You might
know her – Sherry Rippon? Short blonde chick?”
    “Ah, Sherry, yes!” Vincenzo
smiled lazily. “Lovely lady, very strong, very fit. You’re a lucky
man, my friend.”
    While the conversation went on,
Dennis hurriedly finished his sets so that he could alter the
weight and escape from the machine without closer scrutiny.
    “Hey there, Dennis,” called
Vincenzo, “how’s it going? What about you? You got a sister who’d
like to come check out the gym some time? We got all kinds of
beginner get-fit classes for all shapes of girls.”
    “Thanks for the offer,” said
Dennis drily, “but my sister doesn’t live in Whetford. She’s a
champion triathlete over in Victoria.” OK, it was a slight
exaggeration. Janice had won a few awards for her events but she
wasn’t technically a champion, yet.
    “Really? Is that so? Good for
her.” Vincenzo recovered quickly. “You bring her in any time if she
comes for a visit, OK?”
    “I’ll be sure to do that,”
Dennis said as he wiped down the machine he’d been using and
surreptitiously changed the weights. He tossed the wad of paper
towel in the bin on his way to the hamstring curl machine Mark had
just vacated.
    “You guys carry on. Remember
your form. Gotta do it right to get the best results, yes? Ciao for now.” Vincenzo bounced off to spread charm around
the rest of the workout room.
    Janice was indignant when Dennis
told her about the conversation later.
    “You mean he asked the other
guys about their girlfriends and just assumed you didn’t have one?
What a jerk. Haven’t you mentioned you’ve been married?”
    “God no! Why on earth would
Louise come up in conversation? I’m not proud of a failed marriage.
My ex-wife is the last person I’d want to tell anyone about.”
    “Yes, I see what you mean. It’s
a bit galling having them think you’ve always been single though.
You have to get yourself a girlfriend. Get back on the horse, so to
speak.”
    “Not while I look like this.” He
stopped, too late to retract his words, remembering that Janice
didn’t actually know how he really looked. “But I am working on
it,” he continued quickly. “Going to the gym every couple of days
and eating so sensibly you wouldn’t believe it. I had to buckle my
belt on a tighter hole this morning and my pants feel quite
loose.”
    “Really? Good for you, Den!
You’ll have to send me a photo so I can follow your progress.”
    “Er, perhaps in a few more days,
eh? You wouldn’t notice any change yet, I’m sure.” He smacked his
forehead at his own stupidity. This would take a lot of time in
Photoshop.
    “So, have you met anyone nice at
the theatre?” Janice’s voice took on exactly the intonation their
mother had used when asking about their teenage activities. Dennis
chuckled to himself, knowing Janice would be horrified at the
comparison.
    “Aw, they’re just girls,” he
whined in adolescent tones. “I don’t hang out with any of
them.”
    There was a puzzled silence.
“What?”
    “You sounded just like Mum,
asking if I’d found a girlfriend yet. And do you remember how well
that turned out? I wouldn’t say it was all her fault I married
Louise, but there was a bit of influence, wasn’t there? She pushed
things along with