#3 : Meet The Family.
"So that's my made coach, Lindy. She's the four times Wacky Wrestling Corp. women's champ and a motivational speaker, and for the next few weeks, she's going to be in charge of my makeover. But the first thing she wanted to do before we got down to business? Go and meet my family."
Megan is sitting on the couch as Josh comes through the front door, gushing excitedly to a large heavy-set woman following in his wake.
"Hey!" he calls out, "Anyone in?"
"Hey boob."
He grins, for once not bothered by the nickname.
"Megs, come here!" he sounds so excited that she can't quite bring herself to ignore him, and gets up with a sigh to join him in the doorway.
"What?" she shrugs.
"Megan," Josh is now beaming, "I want you to meet Lindy, Lindy, this is my little sister, Megan."
"Hi," his sister is anything but pleased and looks up at Josh, dropping her voice to a whisper, "Why have you brought the incredible hulk home?"
Lindy takes a step towards her, fists clenched,
"Do you know what a Egyptian strangle-hold looks like little girl?"
Megan stares back defiantly,
"No."
"Want to find out?"
"Err - ," pushing Megan behind him nervously, Josh steps forward with his brightest smile, "Let's see if anyone else is home…MOM! DAD!"
No one answers, but as if on cue, Drake wanders out of the kitchen.
"Hey Drake!" Josh bellows in excitement, deafening everyone. His brother stares back, confused.
"Yeah?"
"You didn't get to meet Lindy properly back at the Premiere,"
Drake smiles, amused,
"Oh yeah, I was too busy watching Helen do mouth-to-mouth on you."
Josh scrubs at his mouth with the back of his sleeve,
"Don't need reminding!" he snaps. Suddenly, he's aware of Lindy watching him, "Anyway, Drake this is my made coach Lindy, and Lindy this is my brother Drake."
Drake holds up a hand,
"Hi."
"Hmmm…" Lindy simply eyes him shrewdly in response, looking him up and down. Eventually she looks directly at him, "I think you must be the reason Josh has self-confidence issues."
Drake stares back at her, unimpressed,
"Yeah? Well I think you -,"
He's interrupted by the sound of the front door clicking open, followed by Audrey and Walter's voices.
"I told you to buy the blue tie," Audrey is calling back over her shoulder as her husband comes in dragging a heap of shopping bags,
"Only because that guy recommended it -,"
Audrey snorted,
"Oh please! Walter!"
"Don't give me that! I saw you making eyes at him -,"
"Mom! Dad!" Josh rushes up to greet them and throw some cold water on their argument. They both look at him in surprise and he holds a hand out towards the sitting room, where Megan and Drake are standing looking peeved, and a stranger is settling herself on the couch.
"Josh?" Walter begins, looking for some sort of explanation.
"Guys, this is my made coach."
"Oh," Audrey's face shows her understanding, and depositing bags the pair step forward to greet her, "Welcome."
Lindy takes their hands in a bone-crushing shake,
"Nice to meet you."
Walter cradles his throbbing fingers with some resentment,
"Likewise."
As Audrey engages her in conversation Josh goes to join his brother, grinning wildly,
"Isn't Lindy great?!" he beams. Drake is less impressed,
"Sure, if you like being taught by a gorilla."
Josh frowns, hurt,
"You don't like her?"
His brother snorts, oblivious to Josh's unhappiness,
"Oh she's great, yeah, I especially liked it when she blamed me for everything that's wrong with you."
Josh's face falls,
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with me Drake. Look, this is really important to me, and I'd appreciate it if you showed me some support."
Drake looks back at him,
"You, I can support. But her, I don't even like sharing a room with," and he pushes past Josh and stalks from the room.
"Drake?"
Seeing he is about to follow his brother, Lindy steps forward determinedly,
"Josh, time for task one,"
His face lights up in excitement.
"Great! What's task one?"
Her smile never fades.
"The gym."
