From my unfinished manuscript . . .
Chapter 10
I hustled back to my house and into the room I’d dedicated for my gym. I jerked off my shirt and went to the treadmill. Warming up at a brisk walk, I did my best not to contemplate my behavior, but it was no use. As I turned up the speed to a jogging pace, I realized this attraction was more than casual lust for me. That terrified me. Because I had no idea why or how I was supposed to act realizing that this woman I barely knew was wrecking my concentration, inspiring a new novel in the middle of another one I had to finish first! Things couldn’t have been more chaotic in my mind as I increased the speed to a run.
Completely sapped, I shut down the treadmill without looking at all the read-outs, dripping sweat. Grabbing the towel I kept nearby I wiped off most of it and walked over to my weights.
I did every lift I could handle, put the last of my weights back on their rack, and walked over to the portable fridge to grab some electrolyte water, chugging the entire 16 ounces. I kept one straight back chair in the large room and I plopped down on it with the empty container still in my hand while I stared at the bamboo flooring.
Something was up with me – something I didn’t recognize. Unfamiliar, and for sure nerve wracking. I honestly felt like change was sneaking up on me, and I had no idea why or what it was supposed to look like, be about, or what it intended for me. Change was not a good thing in my world unless I determined I wanted it, unless it was my idea. And this? This was like being tied to the proverbial train track with six locomotives roaring toward me from a distance.
I leaped up and stripped, walked over to the shower in the bathroom I had installed in a corner of the room. I must’ve stood under it for 20 minutes, first very warm, then lukewarm, trying to right my wrong mindset. But was it wrong? Or was it just confounding me because it introduced something I wasn’t expecting and consequently attempting to resist?
I stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel around my waist without drying off.
“What?!” I shouted, my voice cracking from the volume.
It was then I heard the front doorbell chime. My clothes were too sweaty to throw on so I walked to the front door to see if it was the UPS driver leaving a package. He always rang the bell to let me know he’d delivered one. When I looked out the tiny peephole, I frowned and threw open the door so hard it hit the door stop and bounced back nearly hitting me.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Father, only you make stories happen, give me words and characters. You know how I'm struggling with this one even though I like it. Help me, Lord, as only you can do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.