“Say the tabloids, Carmen. Who knows what the real truth is?”

Carmen filled her in on more of what she “knew” about Felix and his love life or rather many conquests as they walked together toward the back room where Sonia should be. Ella laughed every now and again at how animated Carmen got about the stories she’d heard. She was obviously mocking the tabloids as well. “You know they say he’s hung like a—”

“Carmen!” Ella gasped, nudging her friend. She covered her own mouth and looked around but had to laugh. “How in the world would the tabloids know that?”

“Easy,” Carmen said, giggling. “You know the stalkarazzi stops at nothing, and apparently, he sunbathes naked at that resort he frequents so much down in Mexico. Of course, they have to blur it out.” Carmen stopped and caught her breath dramatically just before they entered the room where the self-defense class was held. “You know who would know? Bianca, Gio’s wife. She used to date Felix once upon a time. Maybe you can sneak it in the conversation some time and—”

“No, I will not be asking her about that, loca.” Ella laughed at her friend’s absurdity.

“You know,” Carmen continued as they walked into the class. “I bet if we Googled those photos I’m sure we could find them online somewhere uncensored.”

Ella hushed her, pretending to be appalled despite her inability to fight the urge to laugh. Her silly friend had at least managed to help subdue Ella’s altered nerves. Felix was probably used to that kind of reaction from girls. As stupid as she felt, he’d probably forget about that moment soon enough and be gone again. As far as she knew, he only made appearances at 5th Street every few months.

Sonia walked over as soon as she saw Ella. The class was divided up as usual in four separate groups, and Ella watched, speaking with Sonia in a lowered voice.

“I’m done,” she informed her. “After today, I’m free to be here as often as I can manage.”

Ella hadn’t even given much thought to the shift supervisor position she’d been offered. She definitely could use more money, but this program was so near and dear to her heart. If she took the position, it would take up so much more of her time. She’d already had to opt out of the neighborhood watch program because she didn’t want to have to explain why she’d never be able to volunteer having the meetings at her place. She didn’t want to cut down on her time here too.

Sonia filled her in on some of the new students they’d picked up since Ella last attended. Sadly, the majority of the women here decided to take the class only after having experienced something so traumatizing they felt the need to empower themselves. Ella had been trying so hard to get the word out so that more would take the class before anything forced them to.

“Did you get to see Felix?” Sonia asked, smiling wide-eyed. Ella nodded. “Isn’t he an absolute dream?”

Ella smiled, nodding again but didn’t dare mention getting caught gawking. This wasn’t the first time Felix had been at 5th Street since their program had been picked up by the gym. Ella had just coincidently missed him every time. Most of the times, she’d done so purposely. She’d heard some of the other staff members talk about what a circus the place turned into and what a nightmare the parking was whenever he dropped by. All the other times she’d known ahead of time he’d be there, so she’d made sure to stay away. As curious as she was to see him in person, she didn’t want to get caught up in the mess. Already, she’d been there a few times when the gym was hosting one of their many special events, and she knew what the parking could be like. In hindsight, she was surprised she’d been able to get a parking spot at all tonight.

The door opened, and the three girls turned to see Nellie, 5th Street’s head coordinator, walk in, smiling big. “Ella, I’m glad you’re here. Sonia’s had a chance to meet with Felix before, but you haven’t, have you?”

That got her heart thumping good and hard. Oh no. “No,” she said, clearing her throat. “No, I haven’t.”

“Will you be here for a while?”

“Um,” Ella said, glancing at Carmen, who was nodding almost animatedly. “About a half hour?”

Nellie winced, biting the corner of her lip. “I’m not sure they’ll be done by then. I’ll see if I can pull him away for a moment, though. If not, he’ll be around for the next few weeks, so I’ll make sure you get to meet him. The guys and I have told him a lot about you and how you started the program all on your own. He said he remembers hearing about your brother and Sonia’s story. He knows all about how you worked on getting the self-defense classes going even in the midst of that mess. I also told him about your idea of getting 5th Street to start an annual breast-cancer awareness run. He likes it. He has an aunt who was diagnosed a few months ago and says he’s looking forward to meeting you. But it seems every time he’s come in you’ve missed him. Or he’s missed you, rather.”

“Yeah.” Ella nodded, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. “This is the first time I’ve been here when he’s here.”

Carmen squeezed her arm, and Ella knew what that meant. She’d die if Ella didn’t stick around to meet with him. At least Ella knew she wouldn’t be alone when it happened, and what she’d done out there wasn’t so bad. So she smiled then made a mad dash in the other direction when he smiled back. Big deal. So she was in a hurry. He’d probably already forgotten about it.