Dead Fit - 13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

When Brian came into the gym on Monday morning for his session with Xavier, our eyes connected for a split second. I felt a flash of heat. Brian smiled, as though he was feeling the same. I hoped no one noticed.

Trevor came in for a workout during his lunch break. He didn’t have an appointment with me, but to give him encouragement, I offered to weigh him in when he was through with his workout. For most clients, I would never suggest getting on a scale more than once a month. It could be discouraging if the client wasn’t making as much progress as expected. But with Trevor, he seemed to actually focus better on his plan when he had regular weigh-ins.

“You're down to 156. See? What did I tell you? Just a few minor adjustments and now you've almost hit your goal,” I said.

Trevor was beaming, but I could also tell he was tired. It must have been the new full body lifts I taught him last week. Trevor was sticking to his plan and I couldn’t have been happier. At this rate, I was confident he would be down to 150 pounds in time for his wedding, making Trevor my first success story of my personal training career.

After Trevor left, Gary made his way over to my desk and asked about the progress I was making with him. Gary was always checking up on the performance of his employees. He gave me two months to get settled in, but now he was expecting me to produce results for the members, just like everyone else. Thankfully, I was able to give him a positive report about Trevor’s progress and he seemed pleased with my update.

I had plans to meet Brian over at his place for dinner right after work. Before I left the gym, I went into the employee restroom to change out of my uniform and into street clothes. On my way out, Gary was walking back to his office and stopped me to ask, “You got out of your uniform quickly. Where are you going?”

Like it was any of his business. “I'm meeting a friend for dinner.”

“Did you clock out yet, Marshall?”

“Yes, Gary, I clocked out before I changed clothes.” Penny-pinching bastard.

“Can I talk to you for a minute? In my office,” he asked.

It was unusual for Gary to keep me after work hours and touch of paranoia kicked in that somehow he found out I was dating a client. Maybe he saw me look at Brian at the gym and could sense something between us, or maybe someone saw Brian and me out together. What if Brian mentioned to Xavier that we were dating? The possibilities rolled through my mind, one right after another.

I followed him into the office, grabbed a seat, and waited for him to speak. I shifted nervously, like a kid waiting to be punished. Finally, Gary spoke, “Ana asked me today if I would consider allowing her to teach some of our group instruction classes, like spin or step aerobics. What do you think?”

I breathed a mental sigh of relief that I wasn’t going to get canned for dating a client. Then I said, “I think Ana is great with clients.” While I had Gary's attention, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to pump her up. “She's a natural at getting people excited to be at the gym. I can definitely see Ana being a great group instructor, keeping people in class motivated. She’s ready to go.”

Gary rubbed his chin and said, “Yea, I can see what you're saying. Let me think about it some more and see if we can't work her in the schedule somehow. Plus we wouldn't have to pay her at an instructor rate, so we'd save a little money.” He was finished speaking, but continued staring at me.

“Is that it, Gary?”

“Yea, that's it. Why? Should there be more?”

“Oh no, I was just checking. See you tomorrow, Gary.” With that, I got up and left his office. And there was yet another quality I disliked about myself – being able to implicate myself just by looking suspicious.

When I was a kid, eating sweets when I should have been eating vegetables, all my mom had to do was stare at me long enough and I would break down with the truth. Some would describe it as “Catholic guilt.” That would probably apply to me, except that I wasn't Catholic.

As I walked to my car, I was pleased at what I had done. Ana deserved a better job and I was happy I could help her get closer to her goal. I wouldn’t tell Ana about the conversation I had with Gary, though. If he did end up letting her get trained to teach an exercise class, I wanted her to think it was because he had complete confidence in her, and not because I recommended it.

When I arrived at Brian’s, he greeted me at the door wearing an apron that said Kiss the Cook. I did exactly as instructed. While Brian marinated chicken on his counter, he asked me to husk some ears of sweet corn. Brian fired up the barbecue and as the chicken and corn grilled, we sipped white wine.

We ate our meal on his balcony, watching people walk along the beach. Brian's balcony had a perfect view of the water and on a clear day, he probably had a picturesque view of Catalina Island. I imagined it could be rather romantic cuddling with him on the balcony, watching the sun set. Hopefully he'd keep me around long enough to experience it.

“So you have a busy week,” I asked Brian.

“Yea, I need to wine and dine some old colleagues this week. It’s all about who you know in the finance and real estate business, so I'm making my rounds, checking in on people I haven’t spoken to in a while. I'm hoping to drum up a little business.”

“Do you ever get tired of entertaining people for work?”

“I think that’s where I’m lucky. Most of my business associates are my friends, so it’s kind of like mixing business with pleasure.” Brian changed the topic, “Are you interested in getting a drink later?”

“Sure.”

Dinner was satisfying. Since Brian cooked the meal, I offered to clean up the mess. While I rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, Brian went to his room to get ready. When he re-emerged, Brian was wearing designer jeans, a long sleeve button up and loafers. He looked hot.

“You're all dressed up. Where are we going,” I asked.

“I thought we could go to Q's Lounge. We have yet to patronize a gay establishment together.”

Q's Lounge was an upscale gay bar catering to professionals who had outgrown the excitement of go-go dancers and tequila shots. This was the second time I had been to Q's. The first time was with Ana, just a few weeks after I started working with her at the gym. Ana enjoyed herself much more than I did. The boys flocked to her and she loved the attention. Several adopted her as their “hag,” a title she relished. I, on the other hand, was uptight the whole night. A few guys came up to speak to me, but I was much too stiff to hold a conversation. Ana went home that night with a bunch of phone numbers and email addresses; I went home empty-handed.

“I feel under dressed,” I said, looking down at my khakis, button up and tennis shoes. “You know the gays can be scornful when it comes to attire.”

“You look fine. Actually, you look really cute.” That's all I needed to hear to convince me I was dressed appropriately.

On our drive to Q's Lounge, Brian said, “I hope you won't be mad at me, but I invited Todd to join us for drinks.”

“Why would I be mad,” I asked, trying not to show any emotion in my voice. Even as I fibbed, I could feel a little knot forming in my gut. I wasn't looking forward to seeing Todd again.

“I know I didn't ask you if it would be okay for him to join us, but I thought having drinks with Todd might be a good way for you two to get to know each other. I think Todd was a little off the night of the party. Give him a chance. He really is a good guy and it's important to me that you like him.”

That seemed like a fair request from Brian. I should at least be willing to give Todd a second chance. But this was it. There wasn't going to be a third chance.

When we got to Q's, Brian and I grabbed a booth. A server who didn't look old enough to be selling liquor came over to take our orders. I figured we were in a gay bar, so I ordered a pina colada, a fu-fu drink I normally wouldn't be caught dead ordering at any other place. Apparently Brian had the same idea, because he ordered an apple martini, a drink I had never seen him order before.

While we waited for Todd, we nursed our drinks. Numerous guys walked by our table and made no attempt to hide their obvious interest in Brian. A few seemed to check me out, too, but maybe it was my imagination. I was two-thirds of the way through my pina colada when I saw Todd walk into Q's. He scanned the crowd and when he saw Brian and me, he smiled and walked towards us. I braced myself to be snubbed.

“Hi, Jaysen, it's good to see you again.” Todd gave me a hug that felt genuinely warm. Then he turned to Brian and repeated the same routine.

He pulled up a stool and said, “Sorry to keep you waiting. I had some business to finish up. How is work going, Jaysen?”

Was this the same Todd I met at Brian's party? The last time I saw him, Todd couldn't care any less about me or my profession and now he wanted to know about my job?

“Things are fine, thanks for asking,” I said cautiously.

“That’s good to hear.”

Our server came back to take Todd's order and to ask if Brian and I wanted another round. Todd responded on our behalf, letting us know that he was footing the bill for the night, in appreciation for Brian's party on Saturday.

When the server left, Todd asked, “So, Jaysen, how do you find most of your clients?”

In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but to think Brian must have told him to be nicer to me. The person in front of me seemed completely different than the person I met before. But then again, maybe it was all my imagination.

Todd was making an effort to get to know me and I needed to return the courtesy. I explained, “Most of my clients come through the door just looking for a membership. They join the gym thinking that they have the knowledge to put together a training program and the discipline to carry it out. After a while, they realize they aren't achieving their goals as fast as they wish. That's where personal trainers come in. We're good at helping people set goals and sticking to them.”

“Well, that's something you and I definitely have in common. Just like you, my reputation is built on satisfied customers. Most of my clients have been with me my entire career. And also like you, if I don't show them good performance, they have plenty of other options to choose from.”

While Todd blabbered on, out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw Derek. What on earth would Derek be doing in a gay bar? I didn't want to turn and look in the middle of my conversation with Todd. It took this long to pull a conversation out of him; I didn't want to mess it up by turning away to see if I really did see Derek.

Todd finally paused long enough in his monologue to take a drink of his wine, giving me a chance to see if Derek was at Q's. When I turned to look, I didn't see his familiar face – just a bunch of strangers looking back at me. It must be the alcohol making me see things that weren't there.

Todd continued, “The only real difference between our two professions is you work with weight and I work with money. In your case, you want to help people lose weight, in my case, I want to help people increase wealth.” I was listening to about every third word Todd was saying, but I had to give him credit, he was making a sincere attempt to get to know me by pointing out all the things we had in common.

It was a different experience being at a gay bar with Brian. In other public venues, we were a little more discreet with affection. But in this environment, Brian frequently rested his hand on my lap or nuzzled my cheek with his nose. I had to admit, while I wasn't a fan of public displays of affection, in the right context it was kind of a turn on. Even more, it made me feel closer to him. Brian could have had just about anyone in that bar, but he wanted to be with me and had no qualms showing it the world.

For the rest of the night, the three of us exchanged light-hearted conversation. We talked about sports, politics, celebrities, and current events. The crazy personalities at Q's also gave us plenty to talk about.

When it was almost midnight, we were ready to call it a night. True to his word, Todd paid the bill. Brian and I escorted Todd to his car, which was parked on a residential street adjacent to the bar. His car was a late model BMW M5. It was clearly Todd's pride and joy, so he seemed appreciative when I admired his vehicle. We watched Todd zip off, then Brian and I walked back to his Rover.

On the drive back to his condo, Brian asked, “So do you feel any differently about Todd?”

“Yea, I guess I was wrong about him. I had a great time tonight,” I admitted. I was tempted to ask Brian if he told Todd to be nicer to me, but I thought, why bother? All that mattered was we could get along.

“I'm glad to hear it, Jaysen. It's really important my friends are good to you. I like you in my life and I want to make sure it stays that way.” He grabbed my hand and held it until we got back to his condo.

Right at that moment, I couldn't have been any happier. I was dating a hot guy who seemed equally as interested in me as I was in him. Trevor was well on his way to reaching his goal before his wedding, making him my first success story since starting at the gym. And, thanks to me, Ana was going to get a serious boost to her career.

Things were going amazingly well in my life. And that should have been my first clue things were going to go downhill.

Really soon.