ChapterOne
JUNI
“I don’t expect to have to wait when I’m paying a membership fee.” The woman sighs and turns away, leaning her back against the reception desk.
She has a point, but there’s nothing I can do.
Langstones is full.
There’s a one in, one out policy at our busiest times, and today as soon as one client leaves, another client arrives. The usually peaceful waiting area is packed with people waiting to be let into the main gym, most of them looking at their watches and raising their eyebrows.
Langstones, we have a problem.
Ivar is training a client in the main gym, his cousin Theo is walking a prospective customer through our joining steps and Alan, the new trainer, is picking up our bulk delivery of protein powder. Which means it’s left to yours truly to handle the horde of unhappy members.
I’m not sure I signed up for this. Although, to be clear, I didn’t sign up for anything. I came along with the three Langstone brothers from Arizona to the little town of Darlinton, as part of the gang. I don’t know if we even discussed what my role would be in the beginning. The brothers insisted I have a stake, so I own ten percent of the business.
Part of me loves how they consider me to be part of the family. The other part feels like the Langstones are still the big bosses, with their majority share. I’d like to be asked about whether I’m down for handling the most difficult part of the business - customer relations - but there isn’t much chance of that considering we’re only barely holding it together right now.
Cole, the eldest Langstone brother, has his hands full with a new baby. He also manages a thriving food delivery business which involves traveling to out of town suppliers on a regular basis. He’s given up training clients for a couple of months until he and his wife Alyssa are on top of things again.
Aron, the middle brother, moved to Everburn with his fiancée Olivia to set up the second branch of Langstones. Which is doing well. But as a consequence it’s only Ivar and I holding the fort out here. No huge decisions can be made without a family meeting. Which of course nobody is ever available for. Therefore no decisions get made.
I make a lot of the smaller decisions myself, to save time, without escalating them. And Ivar, being the youngest in the family, has a point to prove, so he’s working extra hard to show he can handle it on his own.
A crowd of six young women who came in together after work leave the main area of the gym. I let the waiting clients in as they exit. The women giggle and, as they go out, gawp back into the main window facing out from the gym.
I know who they’re looking at. One of our newest clients steadied herself against the reception desk on the way out today and winked at me. “I didn’t expect to be trained by a young Brad Pitt crossed with Thor, know what I mean?”
I laughed, but it’s not the first time someone’s drooled over Ivar. It was the same old story in high school too. He was an all-star athlete, prom king and general golden boy. Terrible at math, though, but I tutored him enough for him to scrape through.
That was before the Langstones’ parents died in a car accident. It broke all of them, but Ivar changed. He’s still a joker but he’s more sarcastic, less open. Flirty but fickle. It’s like he won’t show what he really feels to anyone, hiding it behind a mask. And most people take him at face value, but I know him better. I know what he’s hiding.
The door behind the reception desk swings open.
Mrs Ellerty walks slowly out, followed by Ivar. He towers over her - the Langstones’ lofty height means they loom over us mere mortals - but there’s a grace in his movements. He’s a fantastic dancer, but then I’m not bad myself.
“Juni, you tell Ivar he has to go easier on me next time. I don’t think my thighs are going to recover…” She swipes her card on the reader at the desk and I hand her a bottle of water.
I smile. “Ivar, you need to go easy. We don’t want to scare one of our best customers away…”
Mrs Ellerty pats the desk for emphasis. “Hear, hear.”
Ivar rolls his eyes. “No promises. You’ve improved so much, Mrs Ellerty. I only push you hard because you’re so great at rising to the challenge.”
She rolls her eyes. “Flattery will get you everywhere, young man. See you on Friday.”
We watch as she leaves. Ivar is prouder of Mrs Ellerty’s progress than any of his other clients. She came to see him once she’d completed her physical therapy after she’d had a stroke. He’s taken his time and focused on making her stronger, and the difference after six months is amazing.
Ivar leans over the desk. His aftershave, a warm spicy smell, is so familiar to me. I’d never say it to him, but it smells like coming home.
“Okay, Miss Juni, what’s next on my schedule?” He calls me Miss Juni because he says I think I’m the boss of him and everyone else.
“You have Mariette in five minutes, so you have enough time to grab a drink.” I tap the laptop to check the schedule. “And we need to talk about how we control access to the gym at busy times. People are getting pissed about having to wait in reception. Plus, I can’t have them all here staring at me with angry eyes while they wait for the gym to get less busy.”
He sighs. “I know. We should just figure it out ourselves. If we wait and try to get Cole and Aron involved, it won’t get sorted out until next year. Tell Mariette I’ll see her inside.”
His broad-shouldered frame disappears into the main gym. Every conversation I have with him, I feel like I’m nagging him. All the responsibility is on our shoulders, but it weighs more heavily on mine. Maybe because Ivar always gives the impression nothing is too big a problem for him.
