Penelope smiled at Moira as she stepped into the gym that she worked out of. "It is so good to meet you!" she exclaimed as she held out her hand to the woman.
"Likewise," Moira said as she shook Penelope's hand. "Is it just you this evening?"
"No, we're waiting for Erin. She texted me ten minutes ago that she'd run into a backup, and was running late as a result. The other two members of our group are out on a case, so it will be just the two of us. And to let you know, I've never done yoga before, and I'm not certain if Erin or Alex have, either. Though I'm pretty certain my bestie, JJ, has, since she's always doing everything athletic."
"That's good to know." Moira gave her a warm smile as she gestured towards a room in the back of the gym. "We'll have that room to ourselves for ninety minutes, which will allow for some tardiness. If you want to go and get set up, I'll return with Erin when she gets here."
"Okay." She gave Moira another smile before making her way in the building and over to the room that had been pointed out. Stepping inside it, she breathed in the aroma of incense, feeling a little more relaxed just by the scent. Soothing music was playing lowly in the background, and she grinned to see that the woman had truly listened to her when she had laid out her goals for the class. Setting down her bag, Penelope slipped her yoga mat off her arm and rolled it out, facing the front of the room.
After setting out her water next to her mat, Penelope lowered herself to the floor and rolled her shoulders, waiting for Erin and Moira to join her. A few minutes later, the low sound of voices grew louder as they came her way, and she sat up a little straighter as they entered the room. Erin looked thoroughly adorable in an oversized t-shirt and black leggings, her hair pulled back into a tiny ponytail.
"Did traffic finally clear?" Penelope asked as Erin unfurled her mat and then joined her on the floor.
"No, I had to find an alternate route. But I'm here, and ready to learn."
Moira favoured them with another peaceful smile, gracefully taking a seat on her mat. "All right, Penelope told me that she thought you'd never taken a yoga class before, Erin. Is that true?"
Erin nodded as she stretched a little, obviously trying to make herself comfortable. "That's right. My girls loved yoga, but I never had the time or inclination to try. I'm doing this for Penelope, though, because this is her way to try and unwind enough to get pregnant."
Penelope pursed her lips a little as she reached over and patted Erin's thigh. "Well, I believe that I can make peace and tranquility our goal as we meet together. Do you have any particular goals, Erin?"
"My partner would love it if I were a little more flexible. We like to keep the home fires burning."
She glanced over at Erin, seeing that she was still cool as a cucumber for what she had said. Penelope felt a heat in her cheeks, though, as she didn't want to think about Rossi and Erin in any way that approached intimate. It had been too much seeing her come out of the hotel before the bank heist. "I think we can make that goal happen, too. Now, let's start with some stretches so that we can limber our bodies up before we move into the first yoga positions. Okay?"
They both nodded, and Penelope watched Moira carefully as she showed them the stretches that she wanted them to do. She didn't feel very limber compared to Erin and Moira, but she tried her best to keep up with them. As the class progressed, she began to feel like she was hitting her stride. What she hadn't expected was for Moira to use her hands to show her the proper position, but again, she tried to take that in stride, since she figured it would be easier to show students how to move by pushing them into the proper position.
"And with that, our time together is at an end for the week. I'll email all of you, even our missing members, links to some videos of the positions that I showed you two this evening, along with two different positions that I'd like you to try before our next time together. You both did a wonderful job, though."
"Thanks, Moira," Penelope said as she pulled out her towel and began to wipe off the fine sheen of sweat that had sprung up on her skin over the course of the class. "This went a lot easier than I thought it would."
Erin nodded as she also toweled herself dry. "It did. Now, I know that this sort of defeats the purpose of exercising, but…do you want to head back to my house for coffee and dessert? This case is taking a toll on David, so it's taking a toll on me, and I stressed baked a little too much. Tabitha might be home when we get there, but shouldn't bother us if we get to talking."
"I would love that, Erin," she replied as she pulled out her phone to see if she had missed any calls or texts. Thankfully, she was in the clear, and she grinned at her friend while picking up her yoga mat and rolling it. Together, they went out to their cars, and Penelope followed Erin as closely as she could, hoping that she didn't lose her in traffic, since she hadn't been there as often as she had visited her at Rossi's.
Erin left the garage door open for her, and Penelope left her gear in the back of her car before locking it and following Erin inside. Penelope tapped the door opener, lowering the garage door as she entered the house, placing her shoes next to Erin's. She could hear the woman puttering around in the kitchen and made her way there.
"What would you like? I have brownies, lemon cake, peanut butter no bakes, chocolate pecan pie, and angel food cake with a strawberry compote."
Penelope let out a little laugh as she leaned against the counter. "You found time to do all that and work a full week?"
"Tabitha helped quite a bit, when she was home. The compote I pulled out of my freezer after we made the angel food cake. Did anything sound good?"
"Everything! Could I be a bit of a glutton and have a piece of the angel food cake, a brownie, and a no bake?"
Erin nodded, as she plated up what Penelope had asked for. "The compote is still in the fridge, feel free to grab the jar and portion out what you'd like."
She opened the fridge and grabbed the jar, closing the door with her foot as she made her way to the table and took a seat. Unsealing the jar, she poured a good portion of it onto her cake and then waited for Erin to join her with their coffee. "This all looks so delicious, Erin. You're going to have to teach me some of your secrets."
"Anytime you'd like, Penelope. If you ever have a Sunday free, we could make those a baking day. That's the only reliable time that I have free, even if that's also when the kids are usually over, too."
"I could never intrude on that time!" she protested as Erin set the coffee pot on a trivet between them.
"I wouldn't have invited you if I didn't want you over. I know there are going to be times when our partners are out in the field, and we might get a little lonely. I'm just telling you that my door is open when you need it to be."
Penelope pursed her lips together as she poured herself a mug of coffee before digging into her desserts. "Thank you, I will take you up on that offer when I get a little too lonely." She smiled at her friend, though a part of her wondered if Erin would feel so free if she figured out what Penelope was planning for them all.