Love Comes Knocking, Kathy Cakebread [top novels of all time txt] 📗

the leaflets dropped all over Ben’s head.
“Ahhh, what the heck, Jesus, I thought this was blood.”
Lola rolled her eyes.
“No, its leaflet’s. Susie Service’s leaflets. She’s a flipping cardboard cut out!”
Ben breathed a huge sigh of relief.
“Thank god for that!” Ben laughed.
Smiling weakly Lola tried to maintain her grip on reality – it certainly was hard to uphold in this mad house.
“So I’m guessing you came here for something. So what have you got, the small package or the big package?” she asked politely.
Ben suddenly felt very offended. Were receptionists supposed to intrude into your personal circumstances like this?
“Excuse me?”
The receptionist stared blankly.
“Small package or big package, simple question isn’t it?” she asked.
Ben’s forehead furrowed and his brow knitted together as he tried to interpret the situation. As perplexing as it seemed, he knew this complexity of big packages had something to do with the gym’s name. But what?
“Don’t you think what you’re asking me is a little rude?!” Ben said finally.
Lola groaned.
“For gods sake! There’s two types of memberships and they’re known as small and big packages.” Lola explained as if she was talking to a two year old. She’d probably get more sense out of one anyway.
“Oh.” Ben uttered as reality hit hard. Again.
“Now it all makes sense!” Ben laughed.
“Uh huh. Shall I explain what each membership involves?” Lola asked.
“Oh yes please.”
“Right. Small package gym membership you’re entitled to using all machinery and equipment except the sauna rooms, Jacuzzi and swimming pool. Big package membership you’re obviously entitled to using everything you could ever wish to use.”
Ben smiled. He knew what he was going to choose – it was the big package thorough and through.
“Well I think it will have to be the big package please, got to have all avenues covered haven’t you – never know what might crop up!” Ben said jollily.
“Of course sir. By the way I need to know what your name is, to enter it into the system.” Lola requested.
“My name?” Ben stuttered.
Lola nodded slowly, her face set in a slightly sarcastic tone. This guy was a bag of laughs, really he was.
“It’s Ben Dover.” Ben uttered quickly.
“Sorry I didn’t quite catch that.” Lola said, “Repeat please.”
Shifting his body to the side Ben repeated his name, slower this time.
“Ahhh Ben Dover. What a curious name.” Lola grinned.
Ben’s face settled into an intimidating manner.
“No need to let out any little gags – I’ve heard them all, believe me.” Ben muttered.
Lola’s eyes locked with Ben’s. A sense of individualism was portrayed. One that said I’m not like all the others, so don’t you dare compare them to me.
“Your card.” Lola said, handing Ben the membership card.
“Of course, thanks.” Ben muttered, turning away. Just then Jose came out of the door he had left in.
“What’s holding you Ben, come on!”
“Sure.” Ben said taking a final glance at Lola before following Jose towards the business end of the gym.

Compared to the lobby the gym was a flurry of energy. Females and males, tall and small, fat and thin, chubby and in-between – the gym was full of them – working heatedly to achieve the goal that is set in every persons mind almost from birth – of gaining the perfect body, the toned, defined set of abs. A flood of colour hit Ben’s eyes as he took in all the varying gym outfits – red lycra, purple lycra, black sweatpants, black leggings… the list went on and on. At least Ben wouldn’t look out of place here, a place where not one person is the same.
“Come on Ben get changed!” Jose insisted.
“Okay, okay I won’t be a minute.”
“You better not be you wasted enough time just registering.”
“Yes well there’s a story behind that one.”
“I’d love to hear it.” Jose suggested.
Ben shrugged.
“You’ve heard it all before.”
Jose only wished he hadn’t. Amazingly Ben only took a few minutes to get ready, was soon jogging out of the changing room equipped in his black and red adidas tracksuit.
“Right Jose you all prepped and ready to go?” Ben grinned.
“Ready when you are.”
“Right…” Ben muttered, his eyes frantically scanning the room.
Many of the machines were being used but a set of treadmills at the exterior of the gym lay empty.
“They’re beckoning us Jose.” Ben said.
“Best not disappoint them then hey Ben.” Jose replied.

Stepping onto the treadmill Ben pressed the power button and waited for the machine to kick into life. The treadmill was only set on low – perfectly apt for a beginner. After a few minutes of slowly trundling along Ben got bored, setting the dial a notch higher he perceived the faster pace as challenging for around ten minutes – then he got bored of that too. Even for a newcomer like himself the treadmill seemed to be rattling along so slowly.
“Hey Jose.” Ben said.
“Mmm?” Jose questioned without looking at Ben.
“These things go a bit slow don’t they?”
“Do they?” Jose replied.
“Oh yeah. I mean where’s the challenge in walking practically?”
“Walking? If it’s that low set it higher Ben.” Jose said in a matter of fact tone.
Obedient as a dog to his master Ben set the dial one notch from the top.
“Now lets see how I man this baby.” Ben grinned ready to face the challenge.

It certainly came fast. As the belt of the treadmill thundered along at a rapid pace Ben’s feet flailed out underneath him, grabbing on for dear life his hands lunged at the safety bars gripping them like they would grip a roofs edge should they be hanging off them. His body taken in surprise, Ben felt his heart in his mouth, his breath frantic and desperate, hounding his body.
“Jose, need a little help here please!” Ben cried out.
Jose leaned over, his fingers quickly pressing the emergency stop button. Ben waited for the belt to halt – shudder – as it began to slow but nothing happened, the belt maintained its speedy, unaltered pace.
“I told you to stop it!” Ben shouted, his fraught eyes fixing on Jose.
“I did! You must have broke it, the emergency button wouldn’t work.”
“I did not!” Ben exclaimed.
His energy levels ceasing Ben didn’t think he could keep this up any longer. On the plus side he was bound to have lost a few pounds, after all, running at this rate must be a mini marathon at least!
“Come on Ben just jump off, at least then we can just go and sort the machine out with the staff.”
“Jump off!? I might hurt myself!” Ben stammered.
“A grazed knee is hardly a sign of a dented ego is it Ben?” Jose questioned.
Ben sniffed. He didn’t really like the idea but he wasn’t superman, he didn’t have the energy of a hero, therefore, a bit of a cut or bruise is surely a sign that he was half a hero – after all he stuck it out this long.

Facing facts though his physical state was quite a mess. His face was a pit of perspiration by now; the sweat clinging to his skin like glue, the stickiness leaving him feeling clammy and dank. He was going to have to take Jose’s advice. Braving himself Ben took a deep breath and tried to make his lunge to safety with as much dignity as he could muster. In typical Ben Dover style he failed miserably and fell flat on his face. His body meeting the floor with a thunderous smack shook not only everyone around him - with laughter - but himself with shame – dismay – because he knew once again he was the laughing stock, the fat guy who couldn’t do anything for mistakes. He couldn’t stand the looks of pity in some eyes, amusement in others… why was he any different to them, after all no one had the perfect body in here. But he wasn’t going to let them see him fall, oh no, he was going to come back, keep coming back and show every single one of them he meant business and that this ‘fat guy’ was worth more then the hundreds of them put together. Defiant in his attitude Ben got up, dusted himself off and grinned at the staring crowd.
“So how was that for a party trick?” he said loudly.
Everyone laughed. But this time there was a significant difference, they were laughing with him, not at him. And that’s when he became known at the gym as the jokester.


7. Francesca

It was a typical weekday morning in Ben Dover’s café as the cock-crow hour dawned and the flood of groggy, straight-out-of bed workers rushed in for that essential pick me up that came in the form of coffee. Many of Ben’s customers were regulars and over the years Ben had come to know them by name. There were always newcomers however and as Ben watched the inflow of customers he realised today was the day for new faces as a young, fresh-faced girl in her twenties came through the doors. She was petite and well dressed in tailored black trousers, smart black court shoes fronted by a small neat buckle in the shape of a triangle and a tidy white blouse that was hidden by a quaint little white cardigan, the cardigan remained unbuttoned and Ben could see by her name tag that this ladies name was Francesca.

Bitten by the wind her pale skin flushed pink and she shivered slightly from the brief cold that had yet to leave her in the warm coffee shop. Her small, olive eyes rounded the café with a refreshing interest as her mouth broke into a small smile.
“Hello how can I help you?” Ben asked with a smile.
Francesca grinned warmly, her face lighting up.
“I’ll have a moccachoccalatte and a warm bagel please, I need something to ward off this horrible cold,” she requested.
“Sure.” Ben replied taking her money.
She certainly seemed like a friendly character and broke into many minutes of friendly banter with Ben as she ate her breakfast. In the midst of serving customers Ben learnt a few interesting things about Francesca, firstly she was single and had been for many months, secondly she worked as a banker at Abbey National and thirdly she paid much attention to Ben, consistently praising him for running such a well serviced establishment. Ben was happy that Francesca had ventured into his café that morning, not only had it given him a new customer but it gave him a invitation into a mysterious ladies life, one that he would certainly be interested in accepting.

As the days passed Francesca became a regular fixture in the early morning rush, often chatting to Ben as she ate her bagel and drank her coffee. Through the snatches of information Ben gained as he chatted to Francesca he learnt a little bit more about her every second, from her favourite colour, to her preferred holiday destination. He’d begin to notice things about her too, like the way her eyes lit up when she smiled or how her ears jiggled when she laughed. It was curious observations but one that made Ben realise that Francesca had reminded of the woman he didn’t have – the woman who ideally he would love to be with should she want to be with him. He wanted to ask her for a date but why would a girl like her want