Summer Breeze

Archive for the ‘Gail Marshall’ Category

The glare of the morning sun blinded Jessie as her ‘07 pearl grey Jaguar XKR convertible merged onto the interstate. She really did hate California, all that sunshiny goodness, the ocean, the palm trees. But her job pretty much required her to be there. How else could you be a personal trainer to the stars and not live in Cali? The fact that Aunt Tilly lived there, her only living relative, as far as she knew, also compelled her to stay. She had dreams of travel to ancient places, exotic places, but with a demanding clientele, that was near impossible. She’d become a workaholic instead. Aunt Tilly reminded her of this every Friday when she called to invite her out on Captain Jack’s boat. Every conversation went the same, “Dear, you work too hard, you should take some time off, have fun, enjoy yourself.” That wasn’t true, she did have fun. She enjoyed every minute of making celebrities sweat for their perfect bodies. It gave her immense pleasure.

This week she finally agreed to clear her Saturday schedule. There was something in her aunt’s voice that she couldn’t ignore, or maybe she imagined it, but the fact was she hadn’t seen her aunt in ages and they lived in the same town. She felt guilty for that. Her aunt was as spry as they come, but she wasn’t getting any younger.

She smiled as she took the Port Harbor exit ramp. It was a gorgeous day and the winding road down the side of the cliff to the harbor was quite pleasant. She was excited to see her aunt, but she wasn’t sure about this Jack character.

She should have checked him out a long time ago. According to Aunt Tilly he was only 40, much too young for her aunt. But many older women were going for the younger men these days. A lot of those younger men were after the ladies’ money too. Yes, she should have investigated him. Now she felt guilty and scared. How could she have been so wrapped up in her own life and career and leave her aunt vulnerable this way? Some family she was. Her aunt, this sweet, loving little lady took her in at age five when her parents were killed. This is how she repays her, by abandoning her and leaving her wide open for wolves like Jack to prey on. She should have her head examined. That was it; she would start taking more time off to spend with her aunt. No wonder she was attracted to men like this, they would prey on her loneliness and it was Jessie’s fault for the woman being lonely and susceptible. After today things would change. No more Jack boat trips for Aunt Tilly; she’d never forgive herself if the man succeeded in wiping out her aunt’s bank account.

She couldn’t believe how naïve she’d been and how self-centered. She really was a work-a-holic and now her aunt’s well being could be at stake because she never spent time with her. She wasn’t even aware that men were preying on innocent elderly women for their money—that’s how tied to work she’d become. She didn’t have the slightest clue what happened outside of work, although she knew more than her share of celebrity gossip. If it wasn’t for Gail, she’d be at the gym today being the slave driver she gets paid for. She owned one of the most prominent gyms in the area—her specialty—whipping stars into shape really fast; pushing them hard and heavy for their next big movie. This was her life, twenty four seven, minus the time she actually slept, which was rarely ever more than four hours.