Dead Fit - 23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

On Wednesday, I had only two clients scheduled for training sessions. I expected to have most of the day to sit at my desk and figure out how the lesson Sandy had given me on front-running might apply to Todd. I really should have done that right after I saw Sandy on Tuesday, but she overloaded me with information and I needed a little distance to maintain my sanity.

My plans were foiled when a mass shipment of workout gear and nutritional supplements arrived. The usual routine was for all trainers to take one-hour shifts to inventory the merchandise and put it on display. This time, though, Gary asked me to stock the entire shipment on my own.

I could hear the other trainers whispering among themselves. This was Gary’s way of taking away responsibilities from me, punishing me for taking too long to help Trevor reach his goal. They wondered how long I would last at the gym, doing mindless tasks that had nothing to do with my degree. I wondered the same.

It wasn’t fair and I felt singled out. I wasn’t the only trainer who struggled to help their clients achieve near-impossible goals. Plenty of other trainers failed to satisfy all of their clients. The difference with me, though, was still being new on the job; I needed to prove my worth. At least the other trainers had some success stories to tell. I still had none. So, like always, I kept my mouth shut and did as the boss instructed.

By the time I finished stocking the shelves with protein mixes, energy bars, and diet pills, it was the end of the day. Neither Ana nor I had plans after work, so we headed to the Shipwreck for happy hour. The menu of free food items included fried zucchini and chicken wings. Not the healthiest selection, but appetizing nonetheless. While we drank beer and nibbled on our snacks, Ana gave me an update on her life.

“I finally had the nerve to call Lanita,” Ana said.

“What’d she say?”

“We talked about it and worked it all out,” Ana said, casually.

“You’re kidding. She's still willing to be your friend after what happened on Saturday?”

“Yea, the whole thing was kinda funny. When I called Lanita on Tuesday, she was still annoyed with me and scolded me for not being more careful. Then she said she was partly at fault because she shouldn't have let me try it unsupervised. She said the client is never coming back to the store again. And that's when she started laughing. I guess she really hated that client, one of those high maintenance customers who was never happy with the service she got. Lanita said I actually did her a favor by getting rid of Miss Harrison. We had a good laugh about it. Everything is cool now.”

“Ana, things just have a funny way of working out for you,” I laughed.

“Don’t get too excited. Believe me; there's still plenty of things that go wrong in my life. I just don't tell you about them.”

“So now what? Are you going to spend more time at G1 Salon?”

“Actually, Lanita suggested I take an introductory course for being a hairstylist to see if I like it. I figured I should just take the plunge, so I registered to take a class at Westwood College yesterday. It isn't too far from my house. The class starts right after Labor Day. I promised myself that I’ll go to class at least every other time. If I do like it, I can register for the full program. And if I don’t like it, I can drop out and I’ll only have lost a few hundred bucks.”

“That sounds reasonable, Ana.” Actually, attending class only half of the time didn't seem reasonable to me, but at this point, I was just glad she hadn't given up on the whole idea of finding a new career.

“Enough about me. Let's talk about something more exciting,” Ana said, with a little twinkle in her eye. “Give me the update on you and Brian.”

“Things are going alright, I guess. I finally had a talk with Brian about his relationship with Todd. It turns out that those two used to date.”

“Really,” Ana asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

“Yea, but I guess I’d be lying if I said it was a total shock that those two were together. I always knew there was something more between them.”

“And you’re okay with them having dated?”

“Does it really matter? I mean, even if it bothers me, what can I do about it? They dated and that's that. I can't go and change the past,” I said. There was agitation in my tone and Ana picked up on it.

“You know once, before you started at the gym, my aunt who lives in Mexico called me and said she was sending me a package for my 21st birthday. It was my favorite aunt who I hadn't seen in years. I totally had this image of what she was gonna send me. I thought it was gonna be a huipil, one of those authentic Mexican tunics for women. I mean, come on, it was for my 21st birthday. A major milestone in my life, the year I officially entered womanhood. So I gave her the address to the gym. I didn't want her to send it to my home. I figured if I wasn't there, the mailman would leave it on my porch and one of my ghetto neighbors would steal it.

“I waited and waited for a large package to arrive. My birthday came and still no package. But when it still hadn't come three weeks later, I knew something was wrong. So I asked Gary if a package had been delivered for me at the gym. He scratched his head and said that he remembered putting a little box for me on the reception desk a few weeks back. When I went back to the reception desk, sure enough, I saw a little box sitting there with my name on it. It was from my aunt. I'd been expecting a large box to arrive all this time, because that's how I had pictured it in my mind. The truth was, it had been sitting in front of me for weeks. I never noticed it, because I was expecting something much bigger.”

I knew where Ana was going with this fable, so I interrupted, “Let me guess, the little package actually turned out to be a much better gift than the large package you had pictured in your mind.”

Ana flared her nostrils and stuck her tongue out with disgust, “Oh, hell no, Jaysen. The present she sent me was ghetto. Not just ghetto, it was hella ghetto. It was this ugly-ass crucifix with all sorts of fake jewels glued to it, on a silver chain that was almost completely tarnished. I can't tell you how pissed off I was. Hell, I'm still pissed off. I mean the thing looked like my aunt found it at the Goodwill. If I would have known what it was before I opened it, I would have just written, 'return to sender,' on that box. I've never spoken to that aunt, again. Crusty bitch don't even know my style.”

I gave Ana a what the hell kind of look and she composed herself. “Sorry, that wasn't the point of my story. The point is, that small package eventually led me to something better. A few months after my birthday, I started dating this guy who dropped out of the seminary after he realized he wasn't willing to give up sex. He was totally prude when we first started dating. We would only do it in the missionary position. But then, one day I wore the crucifix to see if we could do a little role play to spice up our sex, and, oh man, that set him loose. That was the best sex I've ever had playing the young and innocent nun, being seduced by a horny priest. And it's all thanks to that little package I initially thought was disappointing.”

Ana closed her eyes and looked like she was having an orgasm. “Oh, yea!”

I exhaled loudly and rolled my eyes. Ana got my hint.

“Okay, okay, back to you. I know Brian's your first boyfriend and all. And he may be the one, or he may be the one for now. You know?”

“Not really,” I admitted.

“Well, you've had this idea brewing in your head about what you want your boyfriend to be like, right?”

I nodded.

“Enter Brian. You're comparing him against this perfect boyfriend you've created in your mind. It's just like the perfect birthday present I was expecting. Now, it could be that once you see the package, it’s exactly what you expected. Then that’s great, you got what you wanted.

“But it sounds like the package isn’t exactly what you had in mind. So, you can knit-pick at it, finding reasons why you shouldn’t like it. Or you can take this package and enjoy it while it’s in front of you. Maybe in time you’ll grow to love it just as much as the one you created in your mind. Or maybe after a while, you realize the package isn’t for you anymore and you move on.”

Ana’s story was a little bizarre. I didn't want to dwell on the image of her wearing a crucifix and playing the role of a nun. No matter what she was wearing, there was nothing innocent about Ana. But strangely, the deeper message tucked away in her perverse story struck a cord in me.

“Okay, Ana, you’re right in saying Brian’s not 100% what I expected. Are you telling me this story because you think I should stop dwelling on his shortcomings?”

“Yup. I think you have to quit comparing Brian against your ideal boyfriend. I’m sure based on how you’re acting, your ideal boyfriend is someone who doesn’t come with baggage. I got bad news for you, Jaysen, everyone has baggage. It's unrealistic for you to think you're gonna find someone who, like you, has never dated before.”

Ana hit the nail on the head. It was no big secret Brian's relationship with Todd bothered me. But it wasn't just because Todd was being investigated for criminal behavior. It was also because I had always imagined dating a guy who, just like me, was new to the dating scene. Free from baggage.

“What do you think I should do? Just forget those two used to date,” I asked.

“You don’t have to forget about it, Jaysen, just stop dwelling on it. Stop purposely trying to find flaws in Brian. Maybe something you should consider is spending your energy on building your relationship with him. Forget trying to figure out who he used to date. Forget trying to investigate Todd's crimes. Just enjoy your time with Brian.”

I could see Ana's point that I should spend more energy on growing my relationship with Brian and less on finding his flaws. But I couldn't quite bring myself to agree with Ana on stopping my investigation of Todd. I didn't want to get into a discussion with her about it, so I quickly changed the subject, “What did you do with the necklace?”

My ploy worked. Ana got sidetracked and forgot about Todd, “Oh, hell, I threw it away when I broke up with the ex-priest. I’m telling you, it was ugly.”

By the time she finished part two of her rant about the necklace, the chicken wings were nothing more than a pile of bones and our pitcher of beer was empty. It was time to call it a night.

While we walked to our cars, I said, “I’m proud of you, Ana, for turning around two disasters and taking steps to find a meaningful career. I'll be checking up on you once school starts to make sure you're going to class and doing your homework.”

Ana smiled, “You know that all of this is thanks to you, don’t you?”

“How so,” I asked.

“Well, if it hadn't been for you planting in my head the possibility of being a fitness instructor, I would never have even tried teaching a class. And that means I would never have gotten on Gary’s bad side, which means I wouldn’t have noticed how awful his hair looks. Because of all that, I think I’m starting to figure out what I really want to do with my life. And it’s all thanks to you.”

Ana gave me a hug and got in her car. Then she rolled down her window and said to me, “You know, if you do harbor any guilt for the whole aerobics class disaster, you can make it up to me by letting me practice hair styling on you. If I stick with the program, I’ll need to complete 100 hours of styling on test subjects in order to graduate. You can be my guinea pig.”

I made a little grunting noise and wrinkled my nose. She laughed at my pathetic imitation.

“I'll help you in anyway I can, Ana.” And I meant what I said, even if it involved getting my hair worked on by an amateur. I'd draw the line at letting her use bleach on my hair, though. Everything else was fair game.