Forgive My Ex-husband
Chapter 50 A Literary Salon

Clients who frequented the club for exercises were either rich or powerful, and the coaches were professionals who were recognized by international bodies and had won all kinds of medals in competitions. The cost of a monthly fitness card was equivalent to the annual salary of an ordinary person, making the club exclusive for a very specific group of individuals.

The equipment were high-tech and covered all kinds of exercises one could think of, so there were many classes. Most of the women who frequented the club preferred yoga classes so they were always full, and thus Yulia took Melinda with her to the spinning class which was less crowded.

"Melinda, just take the bike behind me. It should be easier to ride as compared to the others which are faster."

Actually, considering how unfit Melinda was, such a tiring kind of exercise was not good for her, especially for her first time in the gym. After just one class, she was so exhausted that she just plopped down on the nearest seat she could set her body on.

There was a reason why the club was worth a pretty penny. The sofas in the rest area were made of genuine leather, and the rest areas were divided into different sections according to membership levels. This included all the machines used such as the treadmills, exercise bikes, weights, rowers, steppers and anything one could think of. There would be no shortage of gym supplies like the regular over populated gyms.

Melinda's face was red from over-exerting herself, and sweat was still dripping on her forehead, while unruly strands of curly hair, which refused to stay in the tight bun she had held her hair in, stuck to her face.

After a well needed rest and she drank two glasses of warm water, her breathing gradually calmed down. Although she was all sweaty and exhausted, she still felt refreshed and relaxed.

Resting on the soft leather sofa with a pillow comfortably placed on her back, Melinda closed her eyes and took a nap ready for a run on the treadmill for half an hour. "Miss Mo, are you also here to exercise?"

Perry exclaimed looking very surprised that Melinda was in that room. His exaggerated actions made him look even more awkward like a caricature. Handsome as he was, he was very thin and to make it worse, he wore tight sports outfits, which exposed his whole physique and honestly just made him very weak.

The set of outfits he chose did not complement his body; if anything, they made him look frail and weak.

When Melinda opened her eyes, she gave him a penetrating stare which made him squirm, because he felt as if she could see deep into his soul. When Perry looked at her eyes, he felt as if she had stripped him bear and could read all his secrets. He was an open book.

After staring at each other for what felt like ages while it was only a few seconds they both cleared their throats at the same time trying to ease the embarrassing silence.

"Mr. Yang,"

Melinda greeted him lightly and did not intend to pursue his topic of conversation further. She was generally reserved especially when around strangers and would stay silent without feeling the need to say anything to break the silence. She only greeted him as a gesture of respect.

"Mellie, do you mind if I shorten your name? Melinda is just so heavy to the mouth. I know a lot about physical fitness and how to get the best from the exercises. I can teach you, if you are interested," insisted Perry, totally ignoring Melinda's cold demeanor.

He often went to the gym to pick up women and flirt with them. Since he had been frequenting gym so much, he felt that he was quite informed and knowledgeable based on what he had seen and read and could easily show Melinda a few things, despite not having any professional training.

"Mr. Yang, I would prefer that you call me Miss Mo."

'We don't even know each other! Why would you want to pretend to be so familiar with me?' Melinda ridiculed him in her heart and couldn't understand how the man had such a thick skin, although she didn't even lift her eyes to spare him a look.

Perry decided to be selectively deaf ignoring Melinda and continued to call her Mellie as if she hadn't even talked. She was too tired to even argue much with him so she just let him have his way. She would respond to him from time to time when he talked pretending that she was listening to what he was saying.

There was a small fitness area near the rest area, Perry went there to show off trying to impress Melinda. Yulia, who was watching them from quite a distance, broke into a wide smile.

She knew it! She was proud that she had made the right decision to bring Melinda to the club. Asking her out was the best choice.

However, how people view things is very relative. Although Perry had put in a lot of work and was looking great, Melinda soon grew bored and took a slow walk on the treadmill.

The tight sports gear she was wearing showed off her well-toned body. She had reset her hair in a tight bun raised high on her head, with headphones to block out any external noise. Listening to her favorite light and slow music, she adjusted the rhythm and slowly walked on the treadmill.

"Mellie, is that what you call running? Let me tell you, running..." Perry put down the weights in his hands and walked towards Melinda and stood in front of her trying to give her tips on how she should run. Melinda simply ignored him and silently turned up the volume of her music.

'He nags like an old housewife, he is so persistent! Just ignore him,' she thought to herself.

"This gentleman seems to know a lot about exercises. You must be very knowledgeable?"

They heard a man's voice which sounded a little rough. Perry sharply turned and raised his head wondering who was interrupting his intense lesson. He saw a man who was about 190 centimeters tall and looked a little on the wild side. He had a well-trimmed beard although curved so sharply that it almost looked fake. His appearance was a total match to his rough and brittle voice.

"I know a little."

Although Perry's words were modest, his tone was arrogant. He had learned a lot just to arm himself with different techniques to pick girls. He always actually arrogantly thought that he was just as good as the so called fitness coaches.

"I am new here and don't know much or where I should start. The coaches seem too busy at the moment, would you mind teaching me?"

The man's eyes lit up and asked happily as he reached out and pulled Perry to the exercise area. Melinda clearly noticed the muscles on the tall man's arms, which were definitely not something a novice would have.

What did he mean? How would he know nothing when he was built like a bull?

Perry's petite figure of less than 1.8 meters, definitely made him look like a mini sized man next to the strong man.

Melinda's face twitched into secret playful smile. She was a writer and had read quite a wide range of books, and after studying their interaction for a while, she came to the conclusion that the burly man had a crush on Perry.

Melinda soon had a rhythm and a pretty much consistent schedule for coming to the gym. Every time she came to the gym to practice three or four times a week, she met Perry, who would always try to flirt with her, but the burly man would always magically appear needing some kind of help.

Perry wanted to struggle, but his feeble pale body was no match against the strong man. The man always looked at Perry with warm sizzling eyes as if he was about to devour him right there and then. "Mr. Xu has recently developed a crush on this handsome young man, do you think his body is strong enough to withstand Mr. Xu?"

"Don't underestimate him. He has a good physical strength despite looking tiny."

"Isn't he always here trying to pick up girls? It's really unfortunate for him that Mr. Xu has developed a crush on him. I don't think he will let him off his sites that easily."

Many of the clients and trainers who had been watching them from the sidelines were discussing his unfortunate situation. It was obvious that they were very familiar with this Mr. Xu. While Perry's face looked increasingly sullen with every revelation and speculation he heard.

'He has a crush on me? This man is a gay?!' At the thought that the man he had been spending time with might be a gay, Perry felt his skin crawl and heaved as if he was about to puke his guts out. Mr. Xu was about to take him to see a new batch of fitness equipment, but at the thought of what he could be, his hairs stood on end and his body was filled with goose bumps. Perry shook off his hands from Mr. Xu's clutch and walked out of the gym awkwardly.

"That's interesting."

Melinda who had been watching the dramatic scene with interest mused. The plot was now reversed like a plot in a novel.

Yulia's mood also drastically changed and her face looked thunderous. Her plan had been rudely put to a stop by a gay man. Perry had texted her, saying that he would never go to the gym again.

"I'm going back home. Don't stop on my account, you can continue to practice and we will meet at home."

Yulia looked at Mr. Xu indignantly and then left the gym with her bag. Looking at her receding back, Melinda was lost in thought.

Without the annoying Perry, Melinda was able to accomplish her work out and went back home after half an hour in the gym. Maybe the exercise could really slow down the pressure she had been feeling of late. During this period, she had been sleeping better and her mood had also improved.

The people around her saw the change in her, and they all agreed that this time Yulia was right and had actually helped Melinda. Yulia on the other hand was unable to express her sadness and she wasn't as excited for Melinda like everyone else.

Yulia had meant to create more trouble for Melinda, but now her plan had backfired and instead Melinda was really better.

But a good outcome out of the whole fiasco was that Nelson was in a good mood, so Yulia could easily get money from him, and therefore had enough money at her disposal. She had tried to contact Perry twice but he was always adamant that the gym was out of consideration for him, especially if that despicable man was there. He felt disgusted at the thought of seeing the gay man again.

Perry had used his real identity to acquire the membership card. Mr. Xu who was very powerful had simply used his connections to get Perry's personal information and as a result, Perry had been staying at his friend's house for a few days trying to avoid his stalker.

"Don't worry, I'll help you to deal with that Mr. Xu. I have sent you a document and I want you to study it carefully for the next two days."

Mr. Xu was a powerful man although he rarely got involved in any compromising situations. Yulia couldn't replace anything on him and had to take advantage of the power of the Gu family to deal with him. The most important thing for her right now was to deal with Melinda.

"My lady, please deal with this man as soon as possible, I am tired of living in fear."

Perry was already psychologically affected by this whole ordeal. He was highly offended that as a straight man, who liked to flirt with girls at any given opportunity, he had somehow attracted the attention of a gay man. He felt both sad and fearful.

"Don't worry. Do you think I can't deal with a man like him? Stop acting like such a coward. Is this how you are going to behave when you seduce Melinda?" Yulia admonished him with disdain. Perry was a decent man and always gave a good impression, except he was always coward at the most critical moment.

"Put yourself in my position, if you had been targeted by a woman, wouldn't you be acting the same way?"

Perry said, displeased by Yulia's insinuation. He couldn't bear to be regarded as a coward. After thinking about Perry's argument, Yulia suddenly got goose bumps all over her body and shuddered at the thought of another woman hitting on her.

"Alright. Let's not talk about these awful things. Don't embarrass us anymore," Yulia ordered.

Thinking of the generous reward that he had been promised, Perry calmed himself down. The file Yulia gave him was about the literature salon. He was allergic to the word "literature" ever since he met Melinda.

Her words were dripping with sarcasm and they really hurt.

Perry kept hitting on Melinda, a task that was consuming all his energy and the little patience that he had. He never gave up even though he wasn't receiving any positive response until he mentioned that he knew some writers who were going to hold a literary salon.

Melinda had taken part in similar salons with Kent before, and had gained a lot. Even though she didn't like Perry, she was still interested in salons.

Seeing that Melinda was finally willing to talk to him, Perry had the illusion that he would soon be successful. Then he made up a story according to the scripts that Yulia had provided.

That was right. Yulia also gave him a script, giving him details on how to act. She had anticipated all the questions that Melinda would ask, so fortunately, Perry had this information, or else he would have been dismissed within three minutes.

After hesitating for a while, Melinda finally agreed to go to the salon. The salon was usually held at night, but Perry didn't tell her the exact location, and only asked her to meet him at a specific place. Melinda deliberately wore a small nondescript skirt to show her respect and not draw much attention to herself.

Perry liked beauties, and Melinda was a beauty. The minute he spotted her, he couldn't take his eyes off her body. For the first time since he got involved in this crazy scheme, he actually thought that he had made a great deal with Yulia.

Melinda didn't like how he was staring at her, he reminded her of a hunter seizing up his prey, so she deliberately kept a distance from Perry. She furrowed her brows more deeply after following him for a while and it didn't seem as if they were any closer to their destination.

Generally, this kind of activity was held in a banquet hall, but when she looked around, no building in their vicinity looked like it could host a banquet hall.

"Here we are," announced Perry triumphantly.

Melinda raised her head to check out their destination and found that it was a restaurant.

"Mr. Yang, I obviously overestimated your literacy on matters literature," Melinda mocked with a tight smile.

This was not a salon, it was simply a guise to deceive her. Melinda didn't even give the man the chance to explain himself. She turned around and left, taking out her mobile phone to delete him from her WeChat.

She had been wanting to do this for a long time.