‘Maybe it’s time to make some new habits.’
‘It is,’ Robyn said from behind her, and Fen could hear the smile in her voice. ‘Lexi said you’re a personal trainer. Think I may have driven past your studio. It’s in Westbourne?’
‘Yes, just off the one-way system.’
‘Do you have a huge bamboo plant in the window?’
‘Two of them.’
‘I pass it on my way to work. I live in Branksome.’
‘Oh? So you’re only down the road from Bella?’
There was a pause. ‘Yes.’
Bella rarely mentioned Robyn and when she did, she gave the impression that Robyn was dull company, one of those friends that she’d have long ago let drift had it not been for Lexi.
‘Do you train Bella? Is that how you met?’
‘We met doing our food shop. Glamorous, right?’
‘I met my ex-husband in a chiropodist’s waiting room. I’m no judge.’
Fen grinned. ‘Makes the canned food aisle feel glamorous. Actually, the circumstances were sad really because we came across a lovely elderly woman, Penny, who was having a stroke. Bella was the first to get to her. She was so calm, so reassuring. Her voice never faltered. She kept talking brightly, calmly. Should’ve guessed she used to be a nurse.’
‘Yes, she was so good at her job,’ Robyn said.
Fen glanced at Robyn. Her expression was at ease. She really doesn’t know.
‘When the ambulance arrived,’ Fen went on, ‘Bella promised Penny that she’d get in touch with her daughter. I knew the street she lived on. It was around the corner from me, so I drove Bella there and waited in the car while she broke the news to Penny’s daughter. After that, Bella and I, well, we were just sitting in my car, catching our breath, I guess. I thought she was going to say something about what had happened, and then this nineties song came on the radio. I think it was TLC. I was about to flick stations when she said, “I love this song.” She started to sing, right there in my car, hopelessly out of tune, but with full conviction.’
Robyn grinned. ‘Was it “Waterfalls”？’
‘Yes!’ Fen tipped back her head and laughed.
‘Thank God for the ten-kilo luggage limit,’ Robyn said. ‘She’d have brought her karaoke machine otherwise.’
‘It was one of Lexi’s three vetoes: No veils, cocks or karaoke.’
Robyn laughed and the sound was loud and deep – a big laugh. Fen liked it.
‘How did you get into personal training?’ Robyn asked as they continued hiking, the path ascending steeply.
Fen could have given Robyn the party line about being passionate about helping others achieve their fitness goals, but instead, perhaps because she was out here, the rhythm of their walk freeing something, she found herself confiding, ‘I went through a pretty rough patch a few years ago.’ She glanced briefly across the cliffs, her gaze falling fleetingly on the villa, a dark memory swimming to the surface. ‘I lost my confidence. My motivation. I was unfit, eating badly. I still didn’t know many people in Bournemouth, so I used to take myself off for these long walks on the seafront … just because it was easier than sitting still.’
Fen kept up her pace as she said, ‘Gradually, I became fitter, and soon I was putting trainers on, deciding to run a little of the way. I don’t know whether it was as simple as releasing endorphins or the exercise getting me out in nature, but I started to feel more like myself again. I lost weight, I felt stronger. Happier.’
The path widened and Robyn joined Fen at her shoulder.
‘It got me interested in the body-mind connection, so I began reading up on it, learning about nutrition and the psychology behind creating and maintaining positive habits. I saved up to do my PT training and, after a couple of years working for someone else, I decided to take the leap and rent a studio of my own. You’ve seen it – it’s tiny – but I love it there. I can walk to the beach on my lunch breaks, and my clients are wonderful.’
‘What type of people do you train?’ Robyn asked, slightly out of breath.
Fen adjusted her pace. ‘They’re not all gym bunnies wanting to get a six-pack for their Instagram squares. They’re mothers, grandfathers, teenagers … People who want to get the most out of their bodies.’
Robyn was smiling. ‘I love that.’
‘Sometimes it feels like modern life sets us up for failure. Most of our movement is outsourced – cars, tubes, escalators, lifts. It can be hard to eat healthily too as every street you pass has a coffee shop or fast-food places. Lots of us live in flats and don’t have a garden to move around in, so people start outsourcing their exercise, too, and it becomes something that happens once or twice a week at a gym or a fitness class. I guess I’m interested in helping people look at their habits, their whole lifestyle, and explore how they can build more movement into their everyday routine.’ Fen suddenly became conscious of how much she’d talked. ‘Sorry, sermon on the mount.’