From Comfortable Distances Read Online Free

your card
back when you return the forms.”
    The people on line were
pulling yoga clothes out of their tote bags, unbuttoning their shirts, undoing
their belts. Tess sat down next to Michael on the bench adjacent to the counter
to fill out her forms. Was she pregnant? Taking any medication? High blood
pressure? How many days a week did she exercise? The regularity of her yoga
practice. Was this her first yoga class? How’d she learn about the studio?  
Tess tried to concentrate, but everyone around her seemed to be scrambling; the
activity was making her anxious. Some formed a line to use the bathroom, while
others waited on line to get into the dressing rooms. No one talked, which
magnified the sound of their movements.
    “Can you believe how many
people are here? You need a valium just to deal with this chaos,” Tess said, a
bit too loudly she supposed, because two of the women on the bathroom line
turned and glared at her.
    “Do you think I should be
wearing shorts?” Michael said. The man standing in front of him wore a short
fitted tank top and blank cotton spandex shorts so that nothing about his
tight, firm body was left to the imagination.
    “I wouldn’t be seen with
you if you wore those shorts,” Tess said.
    “Are you saying that I
don’t have the body for them?”
    “I’m saying that I think
private parts are more appealing when you keep them private.”
    The girl behind the
counter leaned over from her waist so that she was in full view of them. “I
wasn’t kidding about the talking,” she said. “Please, respect our rules. Are
you finished with the forms?”
    Tess cleared her throat. “Bitch,”
she said loud enough for Michael to hear.
    “Be nice,” Michael said,
holding out his hand for Tess to hand him her clipboard.
    “Next time I let you drag
me somewhere, remind me to get my head examined.”
    The girl grunted when
Michael handed her back the clipboards and shook her head at Tess. Tess had an
urge to stick out her tongue at her. The last thing she needed after a
stressful day was to be reprimanded by the yoga studio counter girl.
    “The mats are in the back
of the room,” the girl said. “When you’re finished with class, fold them up
just how you found them and put them back.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” Tess said.
Michael pulled her arm down before she was able to salute the girl.
    “She’s just doing her
job,” he said close to her ear.
    “I suppose she gets paid
extra for being a drill sergeant.”
    When the doors of the
yoga room opened into the waiting area, herds of sweaty women and a few men
streamed out; most of them had sopping wet hair.
    “Great. Just what I was
hoping for, a sauna. If I wanted to sweat, I could have turned on my oven full
blast and put on my flannel PJ's,” Tess said.
    “Will you stop
complaining already?”
    “Look who’s talking.”
    The girl behind the
counter chimed a bell, and the yogi’s-in-waiting rushed into the yoga room.
    “I guess that’s our sign
that it’s safe to enter,” Michael said, nudging her ahead of him. “After you.”
    “If I have to.”
    Michael pushed her into
the room, jabbing her back with his fist. She picked up a mat at the back of the
room; it smelled to her like feet, and a wave of nausea rushed through her.
    “So sanitary,” she said,
handing Michael a mat. It was still streaked with sweat from the last person
who had used it.
    The walls and ceiling of
the yoga room looked as if they’d been bleached. Optical white. That’s what
Tess would call it. If she focused on the whiteness, it overcame her, as if she
were staring into a cloud. Tess chose a spot near the wall, in the third row.
Michael set up behind her.
    She lay down on her mat while
people settled themselves in around her. The ceilings were high and decorated
with ornate, swirly designs at the four corners of the room. Tess searched for
a way into the swirls, but each bend seemed to begin and end without leading
into the next. The night sky shone