Married to the Don

Chapter 3 Episode 3

Then, I slip into my white sneakers, stained with oil splatters, and pull on my coat. Theo is proudof himself for putting his on without my assistance, but he still needs help with the zipper. I zip it up tohis neck and then kiss his cheek. He pretends to be grossed out, but when I hold my arms out, hewraps his skinny legs around my waist and hugs me, forcing me to carry him out of the bathroom andinto the hall. It doesn’t take much convincing. I’ve been working a lot of overtime lately, and we don’tget as much time together as I’d like. I’m happy to make the most of every minute I can.

I see a figure in a gym employee’s uniform dart around the corner ahead of us towards the frontdesk and thank my lucky stars they weren’t standing just outside the door as I came out. Kids aren’tallowed in the locker rooms. If you do bring a child, you either need to skip your post-workoutshower or check them into the in-house gym day care. It costs five dollars per hour, which I can’tafford. Plus, Theo needs to bathe. Early-morning showers mean everyone who might care is usuallystill waking up for the day and too tired to pay attention to me or whatever rules I might be breaking. Ipray our luck in that department continues.

When we get into the lobby, Theo wriggles out of my hold and runs across the lobby to press hisface against the steamy gym windows. He likes drawing pictures in the condensation, and I spend somuch time telling him “no” for other things that I can’t bear to take this little pleasure away from him.Our bus still hasn’t arrived, but Shonda drives on Monday mornings, and she usually runs ten

minutes later than the other drivers, so I figure we have another five minutes before she shows up.

I’m walking towards the tables and chairs closest to the doors to wait when my path is suddenly

blocked. I pull up short, surprised. “I’m sorry,” I say out of instinct.

“Apology not necessary,” the front desk employee says. “I cut you off.”I smile and glance at his name tag—Ted. When I look back up at his face, his eyes are scanningmy chest as though also looking for a name tag. Except, I don’t have one. What I do have, however, isa thin T-shirt clinging to a slightly damp chest, and I have a gross feeling Ted is admiring the view. Icross my arms. “Why?”

He looks up like he’s just remembered boobs are usually attached to a human being and pulls oneside of his mouth up into a confident smirk. “I’ve seen you coming in here pretty regularly the last few

“I have a membership,” I say, reaching into my pocket to pull out the membership card. If he readsit closely, he’ll see it’s a solo membership, not a family membership. The solo membership ischeaper, and the woman who usually mans the desk and scans my card as we enter either hasn’tnoticed Theo isn’t on my plan or she’s guessed at our situation and takes pity on us. Whichever one itis, I don’t want to ruin a good thing, but I also don’t want to be kicked out by an employee who isokay with openly ogling women’s bodies while on duty.

Ted waves his hand. “I know. I’m just saying … I’ve seen you.”I slide my hand deeper into my pocket, clutching the membership card even though he doesn’twant to see it. Something in the way he says the words sends a chill down my back like some innateinstinct from long ago, warning me of a predator. I look over towards Theo. He’s drawing the outlineof a Christmas tree in the glass, oblivious to our conversation.

“Oh,” I say, trying to sound casual. “Yeah, I’ve seen you too. Working at the desk.”“Is that your son?” he asks, nodding towards Theo.“Yes.” I don’t know why, but I feel like my answers are very important. Like I’m in a job

Ted’s eyes narrow and then drift down my body again. “You look too young to have a kid that

I cross my arms tighter, covering my chest. He’s probably thinking exactly what everyone elsethinks when they find out I have a four-year-old son. Teen mom, slut, another statistic. I’ve heard itall before, and I’m not about to hear it from Ted the Gym Pervert.

“Well, I’m not,” I say coldly.I try to walk past him, but he steps to the side, blocking my path again.“Listen,” I say, holding up a hand to warn him to keep his distance. “Whatever this is, I’m not

“I see you come in every day, but you don’t workout.” He glances behind him to check that thedesk is still empty and his fellow employee hasn’t joined him yet. “You just come in, go straight to theshowers, and leave.”

I swear his pupils are larger than they were a second ago. His face is familiar in the way allpredators seem familiar. There is hunger there, and I resist the urge to turn and run in the oppositedirection. I stand taller, broadening my shoulders to look as big as possible, as though I’m trying toscare away a bear. “There are no rules against that.”

He raises a brow, surprised by my fight, perhaps. Then, he nods towards where Theo is drawing amisshapen snowman. “There are rules against him, though. He isn’t supposed to be in the showerswith you.”

I respond without glancing back. “He wasn’t.”Ted’s smile widens, and his white teeth glimmer in the yellow lighting. “Don’t lie. Remember?

The same cold-egg-yolk-moving-down-my-spine feeling I had in the shower this morning returns,

and I suddenly know without a doubt that Ted has been watching me bathe.

I’ve had the same feeling every time I’ve showered in the gym, and I thought it was just my ownself-consciousness at being in the open, but now I realize my instincts picked up on the presence of apredator.

Suddenly, I remember all the footsteps I’ve heard over the months we’ve been coming here. Therewere times where the locker room door would beep like someone had opened the door, but then no

one ever came in. Only, now I realize, they did. He did. And he watched me—naked and vulnerable—without my consent.

My stomach turns. I know this feeling all too well. The violation. I want to throw up, and whenTed’s eyes assess me again, I know he doesn’t need me to take off my coat to get an idea of what I’mhiding under it. He has already seen it.

“What do you want?” I ask, my voice low and icy. I glance back towards the doors and see the

bus pulling into the parking lot. Theo sees it too.

“The bus is here,” he calls, dragging his coat sleeve through his condensation drawing to erase it

and moving towards the doors. “Come on, Mama.”

“Nothing,” Ted says with an innocent shrug that I recognize as a farce. Then, his face sharpens,and he looks down at me over the long slope of his nose. “I just thought maybe you could reward mefor keeping your secret.”

“I don’t have any money.”He shakes his head and looks down the length of my body, his tongue darting out over his lower

lip like a snake. “I don’t want your money.”

I fight back a shiver.Ted leans in, whispering, “I’ll pay the five dollars for the day care. No one will ever have to

He lays a hand on my shoulder, dragging it down my arm. “It’s your choice, Molly.”He knows my name, and something about that feels like the worst thing of all. That this man knowsme and has seen me. That he’s threatening me, blackmailing me with the ability to shower for s*x. It’srepulsive, and I clench my fingers into a fist, prepared to break his nose and make a run for the bus. Idon’t give a damn if I’m banned from the gym for life.

Before I can follow through with my plan, Ted moves away from me suddenly and heads back forthe desk. He looks back over his shoulder one more time, smiling wickedly. “You better go. You don’twant to miss your bus.”

THEO ASKS once on the ride to his day care who I was talking to at the gym, but when I distract him bypointing out the Dalmatian being walked down the sidewalk, he forgets about the incident entirely. Iwish I could do the same.

We get off at our stop and have to jog three blocks to Theo’s daycare provider’s house. Kristalives on the second floor of an apartment building that is way nicer than anything I could ever afford,but would still be considered lower class by many standards. She has a box of dead flowers hangingfrom her narrow balcony, and I can see paper snowflakes and snowmen taped to the window, madeby Theo and the other kids she watches.