Off to a not so great start. Who knew wheels on stairs going down was more dangerous than going up? My bike wasn't that heavy, but trying to maneuver down the narrow stairs was almost the reason I died.
As it was, I had to run down the stairs while hanging onto the handles to keep up… not my most graceful moment… We hadn't even left the parking lot and my heartbeat was loud enough to drown out the snickers from the other tenants. Ducking my head I scurried further away.
"Well, now we know to take the stairs slow." Wrath said clinging from my shoulder.
"Yeah, gravity, who knew?" I agreed trying to brush it off. Now that I was on flat ground, I mounted the bike.
"Let's just do a two mile ride, nothing too strenuous, and we should have more than enough day light left." Wrath recommended as I started to pedal.
"Two miles, sounds good." Then I hesitated, "I probably should had downloaded a fitness tracker or something huh?" I asked as I approached the sidewalk.
Wrath pulled himself up using my helmet strap so he could stand. "Oh, yeah, might have been a good idea."
I rolled my eyes, hindsight was so freaking annoying sometimes. "Guess, I'll just set like a 30 minute timer." I said pulling my phone out of my pocket. It took a few tries, but I set the timer, then… rode around.
We didn't really have a destination in mind, so I took random paths until the timer went off. Then I realized… I had no idea where we were. I pulled up maps… twenty minutes to get home on foot. Not the worst.
"How do you feel so far?" Wrath asked as we waited at a red light.
I thought about it, "I feel fine, a little winded, I think we should adjust the seat a bit lower." I added as I was on tip toe to keep from falling over.
Wrath nodded, "That's good, no cramps or anything?"
I wanted to roll my eyes, we'd just been riding around on flat ground. Even I wasn't in that bad a shape. "I'm good, really. Maybe we can try riding to work next week. At least until I get a permanent bus pass. We already spent the money yeah?"
"That's not a bad idea! Every little bit counts!" Greed said perking up.
Each ride without a monthly pass only cost $1.75, but to work, to the store, then home. That was a whole coffee! Not to mention, hanging out waiting for the bus was time.
"We might not even need the monthly pass anymore." Greed reminded patting the bike. "Just taking a ride when it's raining, or going father away."
I nodded with a sigh, "Still need to get a taxi or something when we have big purchases though. Like a real table…" I added thinking back to our box table. Slowly the sides were starting to crumble after continuous use.
Greed sighed, "Life is so expensive, anything interesting from Auntie?"
As we started to ride I shook my head, "Nothing she's posted." There was still so much missing, even after all of Jake and Jack's help. Dillon's help. Yeash, I wouldn't even have utensils or plates without him.
Pride nodded, "Life is an endless road of baby steps Max. Don't get too discouraged. Yes, we are on an uphill, but look at how much we already have."
I grinned, yeah, things were really looking up.
I sighed looking up at the stairs… looking up wasn't always a good thing. I once again struggled to get the bike up the stairs and into the apartment. Thankfully, no one was outside to see me.
Jack had replied that they would swing by to pick me up.
I shot back another message, should I bring anything? Food? Drinks? Snacks? I tried to not be obvious about asking if there would be alcohol. I didn't mind if others were drinking, but since I didn't know where this lake was, I needed to be ready to take a taxi or uber back.
Bring one item you would eat, enough for three. Was the almost instant reply.
What I would eat… enough for three. I thought about how much more Jack and Jake ate than I did. Before I could ask for clarification a second message came in.
We'll swing by a store on the way up, be there around 1
K, sounds good I responded, at least this way I could ask in person. I did have $40 of fun money left for the month… Then again… would $40 be enough to feed even one of them?
"You just bought a bike Max." Greed reminded before I could relax. I tensed, checking my balances. Well… my primary card was pretty much maxed, less than $25 left. My secondary card was still frozen because Arianna had a supplementary card. I could only make payments. I glanced at my checking account. Less than $50… well that wasn't good.
"When does that check hit your account again?" Greed asked, sweat trickling down his face.
I sighed, "Three to five business days… we might get lucky and it hit tomorrow… but more likely Monday or Tuesday."
Pride gave a soft cough. "On the bright side, pot lucks are usually cheap. I don't expect them to be critical of anything we bring. That doesn't mean what we bring should be thoughtless. Perhaps we make a sampling tray."
I nodded along as I looked in the fridge, not exactly a lot to work with. Shopping before hand…
Gluttony glanced around the fridge from on top of my head, "Not much selection, if we make something, we will need to go shopping."
I nodded, regretting it when Gluttony grabbed onto my hair to keep from falling, "Ouch! Sorry, didn't think that through." I added as Gluttony dropped into my open hands.
"Okay Okay, tomorrow can be dealt with tomorrow! Max! You still need to cooldown!" Wrath insisted.
I wanted to protest… I'd barely worked up a sweat! Still, looking at his serious face I swallowed it down. Then… I followed him through cool downs while I listened to a podcast.
As music filled the room, I really wished physic powers were a thing. I was so sore… my legs felt like jelly… what the heck! We'd barely done anything yesterday!
I groaned as I reached for my phone. Turning off the music I sat up. When my calf started to cramp I winced. "Ugh! The hell!" I cursed as I waited for it to pass.
Wrath jumped up, when he saw my leg muscles dance he also cursed. "Deep breath Max, it'll pass." He awkwardly promised as he hesitated to pat me leg.
It took a few more seconds, but passed, "Ugh, that sucked. Why am I so sore?" I asked as I gingerly got out of bed.
"It may not have seemed like a lot, but when was the last time you moved without a break for an hour?" Wrath reminded.
I wanted to protest… but I was kind of a homebody. "I worked in a warehouse for three years, sure I wasn't running around, but I moved a lot." I denied half limping, half hopping into the kitchen for some water. Thankfully Gluttony wasn't making a racket.
"I don't know what you did in the warehouse, but, its been a few weeks and you now spend almost 8 hours a day sitting, staring at a screen." Wrath said as I filled their cups.
I put my full weight on my still tender leg, was I really that out of shape? To be fair, even my warehouse days I was mostly boxing. Sure I would grab specific merchandise… but I excelled at double checking orders and making labels. I sighed as I chugged the glass of water.
"Okay, okay, you win. I'll be better about cool downs and warm ups," I said.
"Potassium helps! Bananas after a work out should help!" Gluttony said handing his cup over.
"Guess we'll add those to the regular shopping lists." I said as I started cleaning the cups. Easier to handwash them.
I readied for the day, debating going out to grab fruits and vegies for a tray… or waiting for Jake and Jack to arrive.
"Relax… they said… they would… stop by anyway… chores… hook…" Sloth reminded as he leaned against the counter. I glanced at the time. I did have a few hours…
"I'll just hang out, laundry… and yeah. I'll look online for a bike hook." I agreed. Money was so short I didn't want to waste it on a bus ride. Riding my bike while grabbing groceries? Not to mention I still needed a bike lock.
Pride shrugged, "As long as you have a plan Max."
Greed sighed, "Everything costs money… money money money, any chance the cheque is reflected in your balance?"
Lust smacked Greed's shoulder. "Oh! My! God! If you could stop always complaining that might help. Greed, we have a roof over our heads, we have food, we have a job. Stop hyper focusing on every little thing we still need. It's depressing!"
I flinched, I mean, yeah it was annoying to always hear about money… but he was greed. "It's fine Lust, I was going to check anyway."
Lust sighed, "Max, you have to set boundaries, money is important, but don't let it rule your life. Jake and Jack will understand."
I didn't want to have to explain how broke I was to Jake and Jack. I mean really… I should have waited until the cheque cleared before buying the bike. Cart before the horse. Any sane person would have just waited a few extra days. Now… I might not be able to afford whatever Jake and Jack recommended for the party.
That was a sure way to get invited again…
"It was an impulse buy, we could have done things differently, but we can't turn back time. Next time, we'll remember this moment." Pride said holding up a hand.
"The idea of getting back in Larry's car certainly didn't help the situation." Envy said with a shudder. "Let's not get back in his car, if we can at all help it."
"I agree… I almost lost my breakfast!" Gluttony complained.
"Yeah, once was enough." I agreed as I started a load of laundry. The never ending task…
"Hey Max, I think we should make some goals for the more extroverted, more confident you." Pride hedged after I'd found a bike hook meant to hold 50 pounds. My bike didn't weight that much, but better safe than sorry.
"Uh, sure, what were you thinking?" I asked. Seeing his innocent smile I felt my stomach lurch.
I think… I'm going to regret this…