Eurovision queen

chapter 7

The next morning, Simon was awake, showered and dressed when Maggie opened her eyes. He filled the kettle with water to make some coffee with the meagre instant supplied by the hotel. She groaned and asked the time. He told her it was only half past seven. She could go back to sleep if she liked. She ruffled her hair and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She had better get up if she didn’t want to miss the best of breakfast.
He could not believe her. Did this woman ever thing of anything other than food?
There was a knock at the door.
They both looked at each other in surprise. They were not expecting anyone. It was too early for visitors. Who could it be?
Simon went to the door and looked through the peephole. It was a dark skinned muscular man who was wearing jogging bottoms and a hoodie. He looked impatient and knocked again harder. Reluctantly, yet curious, Simon opened the door a tad.
The man pushed passed him, barging into the room. “Hi, I’m Alvin. I’m a personal trainer and nutritionist. Are you Maggie? I’ve been sent to get you in shape for Eurovision!”
She could not believe it! She had not agreed to having a personal trainer!
“You have five minutes to put some clothes on, then we’re going to the hotel gym to do your assessment. We’ll be going out to the park later too”
He sat down and crossed his legs. He got out his smart phone to time the five minutes.
Maggie had lots of questions, but he refused to answer any of them.
She said she did not have anything to wear suitable for exercise. She was not prepared.
Alvin ignored her.
She said she couldn’t exercise because of her bad knee.
(It was the first Simon had heard of her having something wrong with her).
Alvin ignored her, but reminded her that she now had only four minutes to get ready. If he heard any more excuses, he’d take 10 seconds off her time. If she was not ready within the time limit, or did not do the work out, he would see that a penalty was added onto her fees.
So, reluctantly, Maggie got up, she went to the toilet, brushed her teeth. She pulled on the same jeggings that she had yesterday with an ill fitting tee shirt and what looked like an old pair of trainers.
She left the room with Alvin and did not return for an hour. She was flushed in the face and soaked in sweat. She was also full of hell being forced to exercise when she didn’t want to. She wanted to have a quick shower and then go down to breakfast, before they packed everything away. She was NOT going to be made to starve!
Simon followed her down to the breakfast restaurant at a distance.
She was about to head directly to the cooked fried foods, but she was stopped by Alvin, he had already prepared her breakfast for her. It was a healthy bowl of porridge, with fruit. She could have 2 poached eggs on one slice of toast to follow, with no butter or spread, to follow, if she was still hungry. She could drink as much coffee as she liked, without milk and without sugar.
She looked at Simon in despair. She didn’t want a healthy breakfast! She wanted to stuff her face with the biggest breakfast ever!
Alvin insisted she sat down and ate the former. It was his job to get her looking Eurovision ready. He had three months before ‘A Song for Europe’ went out live. Three months to lose two and a half stones. It was a lot to lose so quickly. She would have to lose around three pounds a week, which was above the government recommended weight loss rate of between 1-2 pounds a week. Alvin was convinced she could do it, with his help and guidance. It would be difficult because his twice daily workouts would have to be fitted around rehearsals. She would need to be committed and dedicated to the cause. He needed Simon on board too so that he could encourage her.