Things were jogging along nicely for Lexi, a 50-year-old holistic fitness instructor, until her safe little world turned upside down when she fatefully opens a text message from her husband that was clearly intended for his lover.
In her bid not to be manipulated by her husband, Lexi takes herself away to think things through and by chance meets a man who is in the country on business. His name is Conrad. He’s a high-flying, workaholic, businessman from the states; he’s instantly intrigued by her and engineers another chance meeting, which results in a friendship blossoming between them.
Despite Lexi’s husband’s attempts to get her to return home, Lexi and Conrad end up spending an amazing weekend together and in that time their friendship escalates into the deepest connection of mind, body and spirit. The two of them fall so deeply for each other that by the end of the weekend Lexi is faced with the decision of whether to go home and try to save her marriage or to continue her relationship with this man whom she now feels, could well be her true soul-mate.
Things were jogging along nicely for Lexi, a 50-year-old holistic fitness instructor, until her safe little world turned upside down when she fatefully opens a text message from her husband that was clearly intended for his lover.
In her bid not to be manipulated by her husband, Lexi takes herself away to think things through and by chance meets a man who is in the country on business. His name is Conrad. He’s a high-flying, workaholic, businessman from the states; he’s instantly intrigued by her and engineers another chance meeting, which results in a friendship blossoming between them.
Despite Lexi’s husband’s attempts to get her to return home, Lexi and Conrad end up spending an amazing weekend together and in that time their friendship escalates into the deepest connection of mind, body and spirit. The two of them fall so deeply for each other that by the end of the weekend Lexi is faced with the decision of whether to go home and try to save her marriage or to continue her relationship with this man whom she now feels, could well be her true soul-mate.
The Fateful Text
Chapter One
Lexi walked round the house checking that the doors and windows were locked, picked up her suitcase from the hall and stepped outside. As she locked the door, the neighbour’s cat spotted her and came trotting across the garden for a fuss. Lexi bent down to stroke it.
‘’Sorry Pepys I haven’t got anything for you today,’’ she said as she stroked his thick, black fur. He responded by rubbing the side of his face affectionately into her. She stood up and loaded her case into the car, ensuring the cat wasn’t under the car before she got in, set up her sat nav and went on her way.
Lexi was a 50-year-old mother of two grown up children; she was a Holistic Lifestyle and Exercise Coach married to her husband, Nathan for twenty years. Four days earlier her life was jogging along nicely. She was happy at work, happy at home and her life was what one would call ‘sweet’. However, three days ago this was all to change.
Nathan was away on business; his work regularly took him away from home. Lexi was at the end of a long day at work at a gym fairly close to where she lived. She had just finished teaching her last class of the day; she switched off the lights and locked up the gym studio, then headed to the reception desk where she handed over the studio keys. The lad on reception looked up as she approached the desk.
“Good one tonight?” he enquired.
“Yes, excellent thank you,” Lexi replied. She loved her job; she loved exercise and everything to do with health and wellbeing and was extremely passionate about what she did, totally driven by it.
“I’m going to hit the sauna before I go home,” she said, finishing with “see you in a bit,’’ and walked off in the direction of the changing rooms.
She opened her locker and checked her phone. She noticed a ‘missed call’ from Nathan and called him back. “Hey, how was your day?” she asked.
“Oh, good thanks, and you?” came his reply.
“Yes, fine thanks. I’m a bit knackered to be honest, I’ve covered someone else’s classes today so I’m going to relax in the sauna for a little while and unwind before I go home. How did last night go?” Nathan was currently working on the final stages of a big project that he’d been working on for the last 18 months.
“Oh, you know, nice meal. We got most of the business done over the table and then spent the rest of the night in the bar!” he replied jovially.
This wasn’t an unusual statement from Nathan.
“Lol, typical,” she laughed. “How many of you?” “Five of us.”
“Suitable hangover this morning then?” she enquired. “Not too bad,” came the reply.
“Ok, well, I’m going to get off now, see you when you get back tomorrow, bye, love you.”
With their brief exchange complete, Lexi popped her phone back in the locker and pulled out her towel and swimwear. She removed her sweaty kit and had a nice, hot shower to relax her tired muscles. Towards the end she turned the water down cold, cooling her body right down, taking her breath away and making her gasp a little; then she turned the water back hot again to finish. When she was done, she popped on her bikini and headed for the sauna.
“Oh, bliss,” she exclaimed as she lay her tired body down on her towel on the wooden bench, the heat on her skin instantly relaxing her. There was just one other lady in there who had just participated in her class. They had a little chat and after twenty minutes or so, a very ‘spent’ but suitably chilled-out Lexi, gathered her belongings from her locker and put on her pj’s to drive home. It was now 9pm and she didn’t see any sense in getting dressed just to go home and get undressed again!
Heading back towards the reception desk Lexi saw two of the male gym staff pick up a girl and throw her in the pool fully clothed. It was her birthday, and this was the ritual at the gym when there was any kind of celebration. They were all a little high spirited and counted to three as they swung her over the pool, cheering as they let go on ‘three’ and she flew out of their hands and hit the water.
“You rotten lot!” she exclaimed, dripping wet as she climbed out and they all laughed. By now there was quite a group of staff at the reception desk, socialising and congratulating the birthday girl. At that point Lexi’s phone bleeped to alert her to a text. She fished in her bag for her phone, opened up the message and froze...
Paul was one of the other personal trainers who worked there; he could see from Lexi’s expression something was quite obviously wrong.
“Are you ok Lex?” he asked. Lexi and Paul were very good friends, having worked together for over four years at the gym. They were very like-minded and got on very well both in and outside of work. She looked at him and passed him her phone, presenting him with the message she had just received from her husband.
‘Hey sexy minx, you left your knickers on the floor! P.S. You were amazing last night xx’
“Oi oi!” Paul winked and lightly elbowed her in the side.
Lexi’s serious expression remained as she turned to her unknowing friend and said, “Nathan has been away since Monday Paul.
The jokey expression on Paul’s face instantly dropped as her words sunk in.
“Oh shit, Lex!” Paul exclaimed “No way! I’m so sorry, Jesus! What are you going to do?” he asked, horrified at the situation that he found unfolding in front of him.
Lexi looked at the message again and said, “I’m going to reply to him, that’s what I’m going to do!”
She replied to her husband saying, “I don’t think that was meant for me, was it?”
Within about fifteen seconds Lexi’s phone started to ring. She didn’t really need to look to see who it was.
She answered the call saying, “There really isn’t an awful lot you can say right now is there?”
“Lexi please!” came her husband’s anxious voice from the other end.
She gave him no chance to say any more, “Please?... Please what Nathan? Please ignore that last message? Or is it more a case of, please let me off this once?” Her voice cold and stern.
“No!” Completely flustered Nathan began to fumble for his words. “I mean...”
Again, she didn’t allow him to continue, “What do you mean Nathan? Exactly what DO you mean?” She pressed the red button finishing the call and tossed the phone into her bag, a mixture of anger and upset raging up inside of her. She took a moment to breathe and tried to get control of the stress response that was now surging through every cell in her body. She managed to compose herself to a degree, aware of the celebrations still happening all around her and then exclaimed to Paul, “Oh my God, I didn’t see that one coming!” Her cheeks were already flushed from the sauna, but now her jaw started to quiver as she spoke. Paul put his arm around her and led her away from the celebrating crowd.
“Jeeze Lex, I honestly don’t know what to say!” he was absolutely ‘crushed’ to see his friend being dealt such a nasty blow.
“God Paul, I would never have expected this in a million years!” she said in disbelief as their conversation became more private.
“What are you going to do?” he said concerned.
“Right now, I have absolutely no idea... Oh... my... God!” she said slowly as the horrible reality of what had just happened kicked in.
“When is he due back home?”
“Tomorrow evening,”
“Are you gonna be ok? I mean, I don’t mind coming back with you if you want me to, if you don’t want to be on your own?” He offered supportively.
“Aw, bless you sweetie, no, honestly, I think I need to just get home and think this one out by myself, but thank you anyway,” she assured him.
“Ok, I’m here if you need me hun.”
“Thank you, sweetie, I know you are and that’s really kind of you,” she said kissing him on the cheek.
“Hey, I know you’d do the same for me,” he gave her a reassuring hug as he kissed her cheek.
“Right, I’m going to go,” she said heaving her heavy bag onto her shoulder.
“Drive carefully,” he said. He could see how shaken Lexi was by this despite her effort to be calm and added, “Text me to let me know you get back ok please.”
“Yeah, will do,” she said turning towards the foyer to leave.
As she pushed through the heavy glass door her strong exterior began to slip away, the tears started to roll down her face and she had a shaky feeling in the pit of her stomach. She walked through the car park, opened the car door, slung her gym bag on the back seat and launched herself heavily into the driver’s seat. She took a big sigh reaching into her handbag for her phone again. She opened up Nathan’s message and sat staring at it, almost as if she hoped it’d go away but of course it didn’t, it just continued to glare back at her in all its horror. Her shoulders began to shake, her breathing started to heave and finally she gave in to her battered emotions and started to cry. She sobbed for a full five minutes, either bawling into her steering wheel or staring back into her phone whilst hugging herself with her free arm, trying to process this awful burden of knowledge. Eventually and after quite some time she managed to compose herself enough to drive the car. She started up the engine and drove home.
Lexi, a 50 year old lifestyle and exercise coach receives a text from her husband, Nathan, that clearly was not meant for her. But it is a life-altering text that will change the course of their 20 year marriage.
In trying to process her husband’s affair, Lexi runs away to a weekend retreat where she meets Conrad. He’s a workaholic who has never devoted much of his time to anyone or anything outside of work. He’s also handsome, attentive, and genuinely interested in Lexi. Lexi and Conrad are instantly drawn to each other and create a deep connection over the course of just a few days, leaving both of them wishing for more than their weekend together.
However, Lexi cannot let go of her family without a fight. With two children in the mix, although grown, Lexi feels an obligation to at least try to fix her marriage. Despite not being able to get Conrad out of her thoughts, her and Nathan get to a place where it seems they might be able to get past things. That is until yet another unexpected circumstance arises from Nathan’s affair, and Lexi officially reaches the end of her rope. She now has a decision to make - can she stay in her marriage for the sake of her family, or can she make the jump and find true happiness with a man who makes her feel more alive than ever before?
The overall story had great potential. There was love, deceit, inspiration. I most enjoyed Lexi’s friendship with Paul, who was always supportive and never once overstepped his boundaries. However, there are a few areas where I think this book falls flat.
Lexi and Conrad meet at her weekend getaway to escape from the bomb that was just dropped on her marriage. But the “relationship” between them moves a little too quickly. Conrad also gave me some stalker vibes and was a little too pushy for my liking. While I understand Lexi was in an unthinkable situation, her willingness to let Conrad into her life in such a way just didn’t seem to fit her personality.
The story line also dragged out far longer than it needed to once things with her husband get settled and Lexi starts moving on. There’s an overall lack of conflict for the remainder of the book, and is rather anti-climatic. Many of the conversations throughout the book are focused around Lexi’s passion for her lifestyle. While I can appreciate that passion, and even managed to learn a few things, these conversations were also drawn out for far too many pages.
Lastly, the writing of the book was a little amateur. It sometimes didn’t flow as easily or became confusing when the perspectives of the characters switched in the middle of a chapter, and sometimes even within the same paragraph. The overuse of exclamation points was also very distracting.
The storyline had good potential, but the overall book fell a little flat for me.