Read Online Balancing Acts by Zoe Fishman - Free Book Online Page B

Or you can watch them yourself while she does some of her work.”
    â€œOkay, Mom,” said Noah, agreeing to the setup. “That works.” He dropped her hand. “Will you show me some of your stretchy moves?”
    Naomi laughed. “Yes, I will show you all of my new stretchy monkey moves.”
    â€œMonkey moves!” repeated Noah, laughing. “I like that.” They were almost home now—the wind whipping a bit faster and colder as the sun set.
    â€œMom, can I get a cupcake?” He gestured ahead of them toward his favorite bakery. Two blocks from their apartment, it had the most amazing vegan confections. Naomi had winced originally at the mere thought of sweets without the sweet, but even she had to agree that the cupcakes and cookies were delicious. Naturally, she and Noah were not alone in their love of these confections. It appeared as though every Bugaboo-pushing mother in a fifteen-mile radius had also gotten the memo. Every time Naomi and Noah went or even just strolled by, the front door was always swarming with what seemed to be hundreds of them, talking about the merits of breast-feeding. Naomi didn’t smoke, but she often fantasized about lighting up a cigarette in the middle of the swarm, just to witness the mass mayhem.
    â€œSure, you can eat it after dinner. I’ll get one, too.”
    â€œYou get chocolate and I’ll get vanilla,” demanded Noah, skipping ahead of her a bit to part the sea of strollers first. His brown curls bounced out from underneath his wool cap with each stride. “We’ll split ’em!”
    â€œDeal!” answered Naomi, quickening her pace to keep up with her boy.

Chapter Ten
Class One
    L uuuuuucy, I’m hooooome,” bellowed Julian as he entered the sun-dappled studio. George and Michael scampered in in front of him, their tiny nails skittering over the hardwood floors.
    Charlie peeked her head into the front room. She had been at the studio for a couple of hours—first running her Sunrise Class at the crack of dawn and then preparing for the first installment of her Saturday class with Naomi, Sabine, and Bess. After her discussion with Felicity, she had decided to push it back an hour earlier, to 9 AM.
    Luckily, the women had all agreed—Bess and Sabine halfheartedly, as they had to commute from the city. As much as Charlie had been comfortable defending the class’s financial viability to Felicity, she did have a point. Naomi was occupying their most profitable day with a tiny class. Better to make it as early as possible.
    â€œHey, Julian,” answered Naomi.
    â€œGood morning, my love,” said Julian, as he unzipped his lean frame from a long, puffy coat and hung it in the closet. “It is cold as a witch’s tit!”
    â€œWhat does that even mean?”
    â€œI have no idea. But my Gramma always used to say it. Gramma Joan. She was a firecracker, God rest her soul. Used to sip a glass of bourbon every night during the winter. She would pour herself up a cup and talk about witch’s tits while I sashayed around the house in her pearls.”
    â€œNo way! Really?”
    â€œNo. At least, not the pearls part. I always like to say that though.” Julian kneeled and unzipped George and Michael from their respectively ridiculous coats. “I wasn’t aware enough to know that I even wanted to wear the pearls, truth be told. But maybe I did sashay a bit instinctively.”
    Charlie smiled, envisioning a mini, gawky Julian. She looked at the clock. It was ten to nine. “My ladies should be here in a minute.”
    â€œOh right, your BU class! Felicity told me about it.”
    â€œWas she freaking out? She wasn’t so jazzed on the idea when I told her.”
    â€œShe wasn’t freaking out really. Just concerned about the time and the size.”
    â€œI know. But I promise that this class is a good thing. They’re forking over a nice chunk of