“I have a gym in my building and yours costs a fortune.”
“You have a windowless prison with a treadmill and a single rack of weights,” Tish countered.“This place is so much nicer, so much bigger, and it costs that much because there’s so much to do and so many people who can help you do it.And because they have hot tubs, saunas, and fancy bath and hair products in the locker room.”
Misty had no choice but to concede.“Nice.”
“Not to mention, if you tell them I referred you, we both get a credit for a massage.”
Misty thought it over.“A tempting offer.”
Tish took out her phone and scrolled through her emails.“Andtoday’s the last day of a promo where you can sign up without an initiation fee.”
Tish’s gym was still ridiculously expensive, but no initiation fee was one big problem sorted.“Well, I’m dressed for it” — Misty gestured to her leggings and kickball team t-shirt — “and Iwaswondering what to do now that kickball season’s over...”
The two women walked past the partitioned living room, into the hall for the elevator, and then the few blocks to the gym.The space was the size of two or three floors in Misty’s apartment building and flooded with light, and she had to admit this was nicer than her building’s amenity space.
At the front desk, Tish scanned her phone.A guy with heavily teased brown hair and a t-shirt with the gym’s logo smiled at her.“Welcome back, Tish.”
“Hi, Kurt.”Tish beamed at him.
He peered at Misty.“You here on a guest pass?”
“Actually, I’d like to join.”
“Great!You’ll need to fill this out.”He handed her a tablet with the application.
While Misty typed in her information, Tish was all but bouncing on her toes in anticipation of her workout or the thought of them training for the World Winter Games.Either way, it was obvious that she had energy to burn.
“Go on.I’ve got this,” Misty urged her.
“Yeah, you do.”Tish gave her an encouraging look and a squeeze to her shoulder before disappearing into the gym.
As Misty completed the form, she made sure to mention who’d referred her.At the bottom, she clicked a box requesting a personal trainer.
Kurt looked over the tablet.“I see you checked ‘Specific Goal’ for why you joined the gym.Can you tell me more about what that is so I can assign you the right personal trainer?I should warn you that we don’t have a ton of availability right now.”
“That’s fine, as long as I get someone,” Misty said.“I need to get in shape to try out for the first four-woman bobsled team at the World Winter Games.”
Instead of assigning her someone right away, the guy’s eyes widened, and a laugh flew out.He quickly clenched his lips and looked around.“No, wait, I’m sorry.Is this for a reality show?Am I on camera now?”
“No and no.”Misty clenched her jaw against a twinge of irritation.She was under no illusion that training for this would be easy, but she had hoped not to experience that until after she’d found a trainer.
****
“Good job, Ty.”SpencerWhitford looked at the app where he kept track of his clients’ progress.“That’s the most reps you’ve done this month.”
Ty eased the weights back onto the rack before accepting a towel and a fist bump from Spencer.“Thanks a lot, man.”
“Keep up the good work, and I’ll see you on Friday.”
“Sounds good.”Ty headed for the locker room, and Spencer went into the office to load the latest progress from the session into the computer.That took all of five minutes, and it would be an hour before his next client was due.
He looked around the room.The desks were set up in a way that wouldn’t look out of place in any office, but this couldn’t have been less like the insurance agency where he’d worked if the gym executives had tried.Instead of everyone being chained to their desks all day, trainers came in to log their clients’ progress on the nearest computer before going out again.He breathed much easier for it.
A familiar burst of laughter cut into his thoughts.Spencer looked around for the source, then followed the sounds to the front desk.Kurt was there in his usual gym t-shirt and basketball shorts.He was standing next to a woman with a long brown ponytail.She wore a bright green and yellow t-shirt, green leggings, and an expression of consternation.“What’s going on?”Spencer asked.
Kurt looked up.“Tell him what you told me.”
The woman sighed before turning to Spencer.She was tall enough that her blue-gray eyes nearly met his light brown.“Hi.I need to get in shape to try out for the first four-woman bobsled team at the World Winter Games.”
