Sawyer clicks her mouth shut, nods easily, "Sure thing." Sawyer heaves her yoga mat over her shoulder, "See you next week."
Natasha sits at the back of the room and catches up with her notes.
Sawyer Martinez: Possible dance background? Very strong, tried some challenging poses. Seems to like being provocative.
Natasha does a mental scan of Sawyer's body for any weaknesses or bad habits she needs to train her out of. Natasha can only remember the fine sheen of sweat on her belly, the twin crescents of her breasts poking up from her bra and how from the side they bulged over the tight material. Natasha tries a bit harder, but only recalls the short blonde curl at the back of her neck that had escaped from her braids.
Sawyer arrives at the next session with a full t-shirt on, with ‘lesbian’ in pink font. Sawyer unrolls her mat directly in front of Natasha again. Natasha calls everyone into the welcome circle.
"I'm Natasha, I've been teaching here for eight years now. I've got my new mum class, the vulnerably housed class, sunset yoga, rooftop yoga, students, advanced, beginners, the older group. And of course, this group, my favorites.... the herpes support group! No, that's not you? Fuck! What is this?" The group laughs, and Natasha basks in their affection for her.
"I'm Kathy, you all know me! This week I've submitted the findings for the research I've been doing. I think they've turned out roughly how I wanted them, which is good."
"Hi everyone, I'm Ellie. I've been in this yoga group since it started, thanks to Natasha," she smiles inanely at Natasha, and Natasha smiles back. "Before that I used to come to the intermediate group and the rooftop group. I've had a tough week but it's great to be here and the sun is shining!"
"Hi, I'm the eyes of the Buddha statue slowly following you around the room, Sawyer Martinez! I'm here because I'm just looking to find someone emotionally available and not full of bees."
This time the group laughs and Sawyer looks down at her hands. Her full cheeks already have a Malibu Barbie streak of blusher on them, but underneath it her skin had blushed a prettier, lighter shade of pink.
Sawyer is mostly quiet and assiduous. She moves her long legs gracefully from pose to pose, wiping her long blonde hair out of her eyes. Natasha helps her in and out of some more challenging poses. She's struck by how pale her hands look as they circle Sawyer's brown ankles. They're so soft that they remind Natasha of the luxurious vegan handbags in the glass cabinets in the foyer of the centre. Natasha isn't sure if that's a comparison Sawyer would enjoy.
At the end of the session Miriam loudly broadcasts a general invitation for post-yoga smoothies and fries, and Natasha is surprised to see Sawyer nodding at her. Natasha begins to get her equipment together, it's her last class of the day and she needs to lock it away in the cupboard. Sawyer is lingering. She is carefully refreshing her lipstick, outlining her cupids bow in pink before using a peach liner to emphasize it even more. As Natasha straps her watch on to her wrist, her eyes meet Sawyer's in her heart shaped compact.
"You coming for fries real quick?"
Natasha finds herself nodding, breathing out a yes. In the café Natasha asks the question she's been wondering about, replaying each of Sawyer's movements in her head.
"Are you a dancer?"
"What makes you say that?" Sawyer looks down at her. This close, Natasha can see the slightly lighter stripe of foundation down the middle of her nose, and the light yellow pomade brushed into the arches of her eyebrows. As the sweatiest woman in Boston, Natasha is impressed by Sawyer's commitment to wearing a full face of make-up to yoga. But while Natasha suspects that some of the more "crunchy granola" types in the group may find Sawyer's make up off-putting, to Natasha she is even more attractive in close proximity.
"The way you stand, the way you finish your movements. When I asked you to stop with the incest jokes and you did. You've definitely been part of something quite disciplined. I grew up doing gymnastics, it's a similar thing," Natasha wonders if that was a weird thing to say.
"Well, that explains your flat chest and slight moustache."
"Yes, it is pretty much organized child abuse but with added rhinestones and lycra. But, hey, at least I'm flexible!"
"And my uncle has a huge dick."
Sawyer's responses come fast and with a completely straight face.
"Sawyer..." Natasha warns.
"To go back to your earlier question. You're right. I studied theatre at college. I started doing musical theatre, but now I do theatre lighting." Sawyer glances around the café and gestures to the geometric copper lanterns hanging over their long wooden bench. "I like the lighting in here. It's much better than the studio. The studio is less zen garden and more high school cafeteria."
Natasha laughs. "You're right, but it's on the list for a refurb. We've just finished doing the cinema. Got the seats from an old music hall in Vermont and drove them back in three different cars.
"No, I get that. I once worked on a contemporary version of A Doll's House propped entirely from my home," Sawyer
