Having Your Back Exercises

The following chapter is written in 3rd person POV following Brooke

Meanwhile, at Brooke’s Gym…

The massage room in Brooke’s gym is filled with moans. Thankfully, at least from Brooke’s perspective, none of it can be heard on the main gym floor, as the moaning woman on the massage table doesn’t seem to grasp that the noises coming out of her can be easily misconstrued as sexual.

The woman on the table constantly gives encouraging words whenever Brooke massages a perceived ‘right’ spot. Exclamations like “Right there!”, “Yes!”, and “Harder!” aren’t uncommon, and always punctuated by a satisfied grunt. In Brooke’s mind, she’s thankful that her boyfriend isn’t the one on the table or she would’ve already made the sexual nature of those words true.

Once their session is up, the woman on the table is quick to compliment her masseuse.

“You have magical hands, Brooke.” Lizzie’s mom tells Brooke.

“Thank you, Karen.” Brooke replies. “I’ll give you the room. As always, you can take your time before leaving.” Brooke adds, before slipping out of the room and into a hallway. She washes her hands and towels off the excess oil on her hands before walking back to the gym. As soon as she does, she’s greeted by a scene that she wasn’t expecting.

“Babe, she’s just in the massage room with a client. She’ll be out in a few minutes, I think.” Chad tells Courtney.

“She’s not hiding from me, is she?” Courtney asks Chad.

“And here I thought you were the one avoiding me.” Brooke comments with a friendly smile, having found the perfect time to interject.

“Says the bitch who moved out of our apartment.” Courtney counters.

“Because you needed space!” Brooke points out.

“I’m not sure I’m the one who needed the space anymore.” Courtney cryptically replies.

“Why would I hide from you, Court?” Brooke asks, confused.

“I don’t know, why would you?” Courtney asks accusingly.

“I wouldn’t know, because I’m obviously not hiding.” Brooke replies, spreading her arms below her waist to imply that being currently in front of her is the opposite of ‘hiding’. Courtney raises an eyebrow towards Brooke, before suddenly putting on a sweet but obviously fake smile and turning towards Chad.

“Babe, can I please speak to Brooke privately for a moment?” Courtney asks Chad in an overly sweet tone.

“Sure, babe. I’ll be in the posing area if you need me.” Chad replies with a huge smile, and Courtney pecks him on the lips afterwards. It’s only when Chad doesn’t leave immediately that Courtney momentarily breaks her sweet facade with an annoyed look, before quickly returning to it and reminding Chad that he should go. Once Chad does leave, Courtney smacks him on his butt encouragingly and lets out sweet giggles, before rolling her eyes as she turns to face Brooke.

“Can we talk somewhere that doesn’t smell like B.O.?” Courtney asks Brooke. Brooke nods, and leads Courtney to the small office that Brooke and Brad share that’s currently unoccupied.

“Is everything alright between you and Chad?” Brooke immediately asks upon closing the door to her office, unsure of what to make of Courtney’s fake affectionate display towards Chad earlier.

“It’s peachy.” Courtney answers.

“It didn’t look peachy.” Brooke replies, now the one with the accusing tone.

“Ugh. He’s just… slow on the uptake sometimes. Most of the time. All the time. But he’s got the spirit and I like him. I’m just… still in the process of toning down my bitchiness so give me a break alright?.” Courtney replies.

“Please. Just don’t hurt him, okay?” Brooke pleads.

“Hurt him? What about me?” Courtney asks defensively, with real hurt in her eyes.

If this was in the past, Brooke would’ve passed this off as just another example of Courtney looking out for herself first. But Brooke knows that if it wasn’t for Chad’s insistence that Courtney cuck him and asking Jay to do it, her past trauma may not have been triggered. However, Brooke also knows that that could’ve been triggered by someone else, but it’s her guilty conscience of being a part of that tryst that’s telling her Courtney may have a point.

“You’re right. I’m sorry for making it sound like I’m not looking out for you too. You know I am.” Brooke apologizes.

“Do I? Do I really?” Courtney asks, unable to mask a knowingness in her tone and demeanor.

“I can’t answer that question for you.” Brooke points out.

“I know you can’t, but something can. That’s the part I’m having trouble resolving.” Courtney responds.

“What?” Brooke asks in confusion. The confusion is genuine, but not because she has no idea of what that ‘something’ Courtney’s talking about, but because she’s unsure if Courtney’s actually going to talk to her about it unprompted.

“It’s not important. It’s too fucking hard to explain.” Courtney says to brush off her earlier statement.

“Try me.” Brooke tells her.

“No.” Courtney immediately answers. “I already think I’m losing my mind. I don’t need you to tell me what I already know so I’ll just skip it.” Courtney adds.

“What’s going on with you, Court? You wanted to talk, right? I’m here now. Tell me what’s on your mind. I’ll listen and try to understand without judgment.” Brooke assures her.

“Look, I didn’t come here to talk about me.” Courtney says with finality, and signaling Brooke not to push it further with her tone.

“What did you come here to talk about then?” Brooke asks, subconsciously crossing her arms.

“When you tell me you’re looking out for me too, I honestly believe you. And when I say I have very few friends—shit, very few people who even have a positive thought about me in general, I want you to know that you’re one of those friends. I know that for a fact.” Courtney tells Brooke, with utmost confidence in the last part of her statement.

“So when I say that I’m going to look out for you too, you best fucking believe I mean it. Deal?” Courtney asks Brooke, and Brooke can only nod with an unmistakable worried look.

“Okay, so this is me looking out for you. When I ask my question, don’t take it the wrong way.” Courtney forewarns, and Brooke can only nod once more, but the worry in her expression worsens.

“How much do you know about your boyfriend?” Courtney finally asks.

“Jay? What about him?” Brooke asks, feigning ignorance as best she could.

“What do you mean ‘what about him’!? It’s EVERYTHING about him!” Courtney shouts as if it should be obvious what she’s getting at. “Bitch, the guy has multiple fucking girlfriends! One of which is his daughter! Doesn’t that fucking bother you!?” Courtney shoutingly asks.

“No.” Brooke answers calmly and genuinely.

“And there lies my fucking problem!” Courtney shouts. “He has you in some kind of trance! I fucking know it.” Courtney says assuredly.

“Courtney! He doesn’t have me in a trance! I’m fine!” Brooke shouts back defensively.

“No! No you’re not! You just fucking said you’re fine with that grooming fuck fucking his own daughter for Christ’s sake! That can’t be normal!” Courtney argues. “It just can’t be.” Courtney says in a much quieter and somewhat more contemplative tone.

“ARGH! I’m the one that’s fucked up in the head. Not you!” Courtney declares, after snapping out of her quick contemplation. Tears start to well up in her eyes. Brooke, without hesitation, wraps Courtney up in a hug. Brooke rubs her back, as Courtney’s tears flow more freely against Brooke’s chest.

“You’re not fucked up in the head, Court.” Brooke tries to assure her, but this only causes Courtney to push Brooke away from her.

“Don’t you fucking say that! I didn’t spend years telling myself I’m a sick freak for wanting it even if I knew it was wrong, only for the world to change its mind about it for one guy!” Courtney continues to hysterically argue.

“Court, what are you saying?” Brooke asks with genuine concern now, slowly piecing together the little implications that Courtney’s been sprinkling.

“No! This isn’t about me! This is about you!” Courtney tries to reiterate again.

“Court, I know you believe that you’re trying to help. I’ve only ever seen you this distraught once, so don’t take my assuredness for my feelings for Jay as a sign that I don’t believe you. But with a clear head and a full heart, trust me when I say that I genuinely love him.” Brooke tells her, holding Courtney by the arms to try and steady her and keep her on her feet.

“That’s what a brainwashed person would say.” Courtney points out.

“Then there’s no point in me arguing this, is there?” Brooke counters.

“No, no, no. He has his claws on you sunk in way too deep. I have to free you. I have to free you the way it freed me. I don’t know how, but I’ll get it to free you too.” Courtney says, mostly to herself, as she’s not even looking at Brooke when she says it.

“It? What are you talking about?” Brooke asks the obvious follow up question in order not to give herself away, because not asking would be more telling to Courtney than the alternative.

“It said it was a gift. I didn’t get it at first, it has all this other shit that preoccupied me at first, but one thing I know for sure is that it is a gift. Whatever hold he had on me, the hold that made me not care about his cult leader bullshit, it disappeared the same time I got this thing.” Courtney answers vaguely.

“Court, can you not beat around the bush? You’ve skirted around this ‘thing’ long enough. If you didn’t want to tell me what this ‘thing’ is, you wouldn’t have brought it up.” Brooke finally says in exasperation.

“Fine! But this stays between you and me.” Courtney tells Brooke, as she puts a hand in her pocket. She pulls out her phone, fiddles with it a bit, before motioning to show it to Brooke only to pull it back at the last second.

“Promise me this doesn’t go back to your boyfriend.” Courtney tells Brooke.

“If I’m a brainwashed cultist like you said I was, I can’t exactly promise you that, can I?” Brooke expertly deflects making a promise she’s most likely going to have to break.

“Gaaah! You’re right.” Courtney grunts in frustration. “Fuck it! Maybe this is exactly how I can break his grip on you.” Courtney quickly decides, before flipping her phone to face Brooke.

“This… is the app.”