Hello readers,
Like I said before I have a lot going on between school and competition, so it will be awhile before the next chapter comes up. I have started at least. I hope you all enjoy.
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Even though her alarm wasn't blaring in her ear, Neveah couldn't make herself stay asleep. All the emotions from the past few days were weighing down heavily on her making sleep almost impossible. Neveah shifted in Vince's arms and he didn't even stir. She slowly unwrapped his arm from around her waist, and quietly slipped out of the bed as to not make any noises. She quickly changed and grabbed her running shoes. Her best running times were usually before it was too hot, and she wanted to beat her goal of thirty minutes.
The gravel layered trail was a three mile trek. There was one point when it took Neveah almost an hour to run the whole trail and make her way back home. She would get so tired from all the slight hills that she would have to stop and walk till she caught her breath. Now that she had conditioned her body, she was running the course in 30, almost 31, minutes.
Neveah loved running on the trail. Both sides of the track were shaded by large palm trees that towered several feet above her head. She ran, forming a steady pace toward her time goal, while bumping to the beat of Ne-Yo. It was too beautiful of a morning. The sun was rising up over the edge of the houses and trees, an occasional rabbit scampered along in the bushes, and there were no dogs barking at her as she ran along. It was just Neveah. If she had been an artist this would be the scene she painted.
By the time she was coming around the corner to their home her wrist watch alerted her that it had been twenty-seven minutes. She ran the last couple of hundred yards with all her might. She could feel her heart thumping in her in her chest as her feet pounded on the pavement. She honestly felt as if her heart would burst up out of her chest.
Coming up to the porch starting to cheer, she had finally beat twenty-nine minutes. Sure she was close to dying on the steps of their condo, but this truly was a monumental moment in Neveah's process of getting healthy. Neveah wasn't sure if the burn she felt from working out or the satisfaction that came from finally beating her time was better. Whatever it was, it made the feeling of satisfaction and triumph just ooze out of her.
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Vince reached out his arm feeling the empty spot where Neveah should have been. His eyes shot open with fear. 'Where was she?' 'Was she still mad about the way things had ended last night?' Vince had thought their conversation would have eased her mind some.
Looking around the room, he could see all her stuff was still in the room. It wasn't like she packed she went off somewhere. It was after fights like the one they had the night before, that he thought one day she would pack up and leave him. These thoughts that haunted him were weird considering the way their conversation had gone the previous night before. She was afraid of losing him forever. He would have never thought she felt that way. She never expressed feeling like that before.
"Well enough dawdling," he told himself as he crawled from beneath the warm comforter.
Since she left their bed, he would have to go out and find her. Vince went to his dresser and pulled out a pair of comfortable basketball shorts along with a black wife beater. Neveah was nowhere to be found in the house. Despite being the intelligent woman that she was, Neveah left both her cell phone and her house keys. Her phone was on the kitchen counter, and her keys hanging on the hook by the front door. For her being such a smart woman, Vince didn't how she could leave her cell phone. As if accidents never happen. After working in ER for the last few years she should know that better than most, with all the stories she would tell him.
Knowing she had went on a run, Vince decide he would go out and make sure she was okay, maybe even do a core workout with her. Opening the garage he could hear feet pacing across the porch, she must have already came back. He slowly came around the corner not wanting to startle her.
"Hey, babe. How was your run?"
She turned to him a smile spread across her face, "I beat my record time. I'm tired as hell, but I'm so happy," she was moving around with all this giddy energy.
"Well, I came outside just to make sure that you were okay. You had left your phone and keys on the counter--"
"Oh I'm sorry. Did you try to call or text me? Usually you don't wake up till after I get back from my run and do core, so I never have to worry about you. I don't like carrying too much stuff; I usually just have my iPod and my headphones, and that's it."
As much as Vince wanted to get mad, he couldn't. With his new occupation, he couldn't have her walking around without her phone, or leaving the front door unlocked.
"I want you to keep your cell phone with you at all times, and when you go on your jogs you are not to leave the house unlocked for any reason. Even if I'm at home doing whatever, or if you're awake walking around the house I want the door locked. It's just for your safety."
Vince pulled her into his arms. Neveah wanted to push out of his arms, but she knew he needed her confirmation, so she stayed and just nodded her head. She let her head rested against his chest; her work out was starting to catch on to her.
"Okay, come do a core workout with me, and then I can go pass out on the couch," she suggested since she really needed to finish her workout before her body cooled down and she started to get burned out.
"Sure," Vince agreed as he reached for her hand and led her back into the garage.
Vince really didn't want to talk about working out. There were so many other things he rather do with her besides lay out on the dusty garage door.
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They did a core workout together, and by the time they had finished the regiment Neveah was to the point of wanting to pass out. She had ran so hard in her run today that she wanted to just be done.
Despite the constant refusal from Neveah, Vince scooped her up and carried her to the living room couch. Neveah was laid out trying to catch her breath from that harsh finisher routine Vince had came up with. She sat gasping on the couch as he unlaced her shoes and slid off her sock.
"You did such a good job out there. There were two or three times where I thought you might give up, but you kept up. I'm proud of you," he said as his hands reached out to capture a foot.
He firmly gripped her ankle while rubbing over her insteps. Neveah had virtually no arches and after most strenuous activities, or whenever she had a long day she would have achy feet. She was constantly rubbing the soles of her feet with tennis balls to relieve the tension. She relaxed against the arm of the couch letting Vince help her relax.
"I love the way your hands feel," she said as he switched feet she just sat and enjoyed his hands for the moment. "So do you have to head over to Tyler's soon? If so, you should probably go on and take a shower and get dressed. I would hate for you to be late for your first day."
She didn't even attempt to keep the sarcasm out of her voice as she slowly pulled her legs out of hands and against her chest. Neveah was still conflicted on how to treat the situation.
"Actually, Tyler figured that you would be taking this hard, being that you tried so hard to keep me away from him all this time. So, he said I can have today off, unless there is some sort of emergency. We can have some time if you need to take this all in. We can just stay home or maybe even watch a movie."
'"No, I don't feel like staying in today. I think we should go out and do something. We haven't really been out besides Mark and Leanna's barbeque."
"Well if you're feeling it, we could go to the park and have a nice picnic. I mean, that's only if you want to."
Neveah could hear how nervous he was in his voice. She smiled on the inside that he would get all bothered about her.
"I don't see any reason we can't do that. If you go make us lunch I can take a shower. We could be out of here in forty-five minutes."
"That sounds great. I'll go make us some snacks."
His hands abandoned her feet as he headed to the kitchen to see what goodies he could scramble up for them.
Neveah walked up the stair, everything ached and hurt, but she knew the warm water of the shower would ease all her pain. After her shower she sat wrapped in her fluffy purple towel glancing around her closet for something to wear. Since she had lost weight, finding what to wear had become a daily challenge. All the clothes she had were too big and baggy, but they couldn't afford for her to buy clothes that fit. Plus, if she ended up losing even more weight then she would need to buy more clothes.
Not having anything to wear was taking its toll on Neveah.
"Wait," she thought to herself. "There is a sundress I could wear."
Stina had recently gave her a red sundress just because she wanted her best friend to have something to wear. Grabbing the dress from the back of her side of the closet, Neveah slipped it on over her underclothes. Looking at herself in the full size mirror, her only thought was that the dress was almost too pretty to wear the park.
She pulled the straps up her shoulders and tied the black sash that was around her waist. Now she had to fix up her stubborn hair. She simply ran some mousse through her natural ringlets and finger combed her curls until all the tangles were out. Neveah didn't even attempt to put any makeup on. She just applied a red tinted lip gloss to her full lips.
Downstairs Vince grabbed a pair of jeans and a random black t-shirt out of the dryer. He had packed all of Neveah's favorite fruits and made them a few sandwiches. He even went and grabbed them a blanket. Everything was all ready; he only waited on his lovely lady. He was excited that they were going out by themselves. The only time they really got to relax together was when they were in bed. And even in that there was some tension. Hearing the light steps on the stair, Vince rounded the corner to check out the scene.
His eyes hungrily ran over the form of his wife. She looked great dressed up in his favorite color, red. He had never seen this dress before. Wherever she had gotten it from, he sure was happy. The thigh-length sun dress fit snugly against her ample bust and flared out from there without hiding her new athletic frame.
