Berkley looked impressed, and a stunned Amelia said, “You’ve given this quite a bit of thought.”
Lexie shrugged, feigning nonchalance when truthfully, she’d been able to think of little else since the idea took root in her brain.
For years, she’d been watching women—and a lot of men—monetize their social media presence. Lexie herself had been approached with numerous offers since graduating college, but she’d never had the time or energy to make a commitment with an already crazy and exhausting work schedule.
But now? Now she was ready to dive in head first.
“What exactly would I be doing while you travel, then?”
“Opening your gym,” Lexie said. “Writing programs and buying equipment and doing whatever other shit you need to do to get a gym up and running.”
“Are you going to help me with that stuff?”
“Of course I am,” Lexie said. “We’re going to be partners in all of this. Hell, I’ll even ditch Brent and Berkley and start using your gym instead.”
“Rude,” Berkley said, “but I’m in. Lexie and I are young and fit. We’re the perfect people to help you market this thing.”
“Hell yeah,” Lexie said. Then she dropped her voice to a stage whisper. “And I don’t know if you know this, but Berkley is about to marry this super famous professional athlete. I bet he could help us out, too. Maybe offer to carry FLEX products in the gym as a quid-pro-quo type thing.”
“You’ve been spending too much time with me if you’re saying shit like ‘quid-pro-quo’,” Berkley said.
“Okay wait,” Amelia said, waving her hand at the two to silence whatever argument they were about to have. “Let me get this straight. You want to quit yourincrediblylucrative career as a headhunter, something you’re very good at, to start some travel blog with me that has the potential to crash and burn miserably?”
“Pretty much,” Lexie said brightly. “With a few amendments to that statement. First of all, you’ve already been doing this for like three years. Longer, even. We all know you’re good at it. Second, as previously stated, I have a business degree, and as much as I loathe my parents, they’re good at what they do and have taught me a ton along the way. Especially what not to do. We have a lawyer best friend who can make sure we’re getting the most bang for our buck with brand partnerships, and she has a hot, super famous fiancé who can help spread the word about your gym. I think we’ve got this in the bag, honestly.”
“And Brent also has business and finance degrees,” Berkley reminded them.
The waitress came to their table then, topping off their wine glasses and promising she’d be right back with their food.
Honestly, the last ten minutes had been so tense that Lexie had forgotten where they even were.
She looked at Amelia, who was staring into her wine glass as though expecting it to reveal the secrets of life. A glance in Berkley’s direction revealed that she was tapping away on her phone, presumably a message to Brent.
It was several minutes after the waitress finally brought their food that Amelia said, “I’m in.”
Lexie grinned. “Fuck yeah. This is going to be amazing, Ames, I promise. I’ll even foot all the start-up costs. We can do a combined fitness and travel blog. Whatever you want.”
“Okay none of that is necessary. We’ll split start-up costs. I’ll make the down payment on my gym myself.”
“Fuck that. I’m investing.”
“Me too,” Berkley said. “Have you found a space yet?”
“I haven’t. I’ve been looking, but since I thought I had more time, I haven’t actively been going to showings or anything.”
Berkley had that gleam in her eye, like she was concocting a plan and they were all simply about to be along for the ride. “I might know someone who can help. Hold please.”
Lexie and Amelia exchanged looks as Berkley picked up her phone and tapped the screen a few times before lifting it to her ear.
“Hey Mitch,” she said a moment later, and Lexie’s heart sank.
“Berkley,” Lexie warned. Berkley just waved her off.
Lexie was going to kill her.
“Okay so I’m at dinner with Lexie and Amelia and…Yes she’s good. She’s fine. Amelia is good, too, thanks for asking.” Mitch said something that had Berkley snorting. “Anyway, the reason I called. Amelia is in the market for a space she can lease or buy for a fitness center. I figured that’s something you can help her out with.” Berkley listened, murmuring affirmatives as Mitch spoke. Then she said, “Okay, great. I’ll give her your number. Thanks Mitchell, love you bye!” And hung up.
“Berkley, what the fuck!” Lexie whisper-yelled. “We didn’t ask for Mitch’s help. What exactly could he do anyway?”
