Chapter 1
Teddy
The sound of my alarm buzzing every morning at 5:00AM is something you think I’d be used to by now, right? I mean, I’ve been getting up early for the last two years since graduating acting school and arriving in the city to make a name for myself.
It’s not like I need to get up so frickin’ early to be on set or anything though. Sadly, I haven’t quite had the kind of big break I’d need for that to be my reality just yet.
No, the reason I need to be up and awake before dawn is that this is pretty much the only time that I have to work out in the gym by myself. The rest of my day is taken up by training other people. And then after that, I usually have an acting or improv class to hit in the evening.
Oh, and this doesn’t even begin to factor in the kind of schedule adjustments I need to make for when I have an audition, callback, or even a meeting with a producer.
So, yeah, my life is pretty damn hectic.
Not that I’m complaining. I might only be twenty-one-years-old, but I’ve got enough life experience behind me already to know that it’s better to be too busy than not busy enough. Seriously,with the way that rent and the general cost of living is going up, I know full well that I need to get as many clients in as I possibly can to make sure that I can cover the basics of rent, food, bills, and my training supplements.
Anything beyond that is just a luxury as far as I’m concerned. And right now, I’m about as far away from living a life of luxury as I possibly could imagine.
Still, I try to be grateful for what I do have.
I’ve got my health.
I’ve got my own little apartment that I call home.
And I’ve got some great friends and even better dreams to aspire to also.
Hey, my clients don’t call me an eternal optimist for nothing. In fact, one of my best traits as a personal trainer is that I can always see the bright side of things. Even a client picking up an injury is a chance for them to work on their rehab and ensuring that they’re stronger overall for when they return.
See, I told you I was an optimist!
“Okay, I get it,” I grumble, my ability to look on the upside temporarily nowhere to be seen as I somewhat sluggishly reach for my alarm clock and press down on the big red button to make it go quiet for at least another two minutes.
Slowly but surely I haul myself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed. I know that by the time I’ve put on my training clothes and gulped down some much-needed water and pre-workout supplement, I’ll be raring to go. But right now, my body and mind are still adjusting to the fact that I’m no longer in dreamland.
“Right, let’s do this,” I say, reaching to my side and putting my stuffie Brando to one side. “Pffft. You can stay in bed all day if you want, Brando!”
Brando has been with me ever since I saw him sitting all alone in the window of a gift shop on my first day in the city. With his floppy rabbit ears and smooth brown fur, he looked so adorable that I simply couldn’t have lived with myself had I left him there that day. And the truth of the matter is that I was kind of feeling lonely myself too, and a little scared.
Coming from a small town, my move to the city was something that filled me with trepidation. And it wasn’t like I’d gone to college in a big city either to allow me to get used to somewhere bigger. My acting school was upstate in a small and cozy campus, so I really did have a big shock when I first arrived here.
But Brando helped me get through those first lonely weeks.
I would sometimes lie in bed at night, all alone and with no friends, and Brando was my sole company. I’d tell him stories from my past, and my dreams for the future too. And Brando was listen to me, the dark pools of his eyes staring back at me and making me feel seen.
Thankfully though, I soon settled into my new life and things got easier for me. But Brando has stayed super-important to me and I love nothing more than giving him a real good snuggle each and every night.
But it’s morning now.
Well, kind of… if anyone actually counts 5:00AM as morning? LOL!
I need to get up, changed, drink my blue razz pre-workout drink and get my butt to the gym.
There’s a day waiting to happen and I need to make sure that I’m feeling good and ready to kick some serious butt.
* * *
“One more! One more!” I say, watching on as Skeet pushes himself on the shoulder press machine. “You’ve got this, Skeet!”
“Aaaaaargh, yes!” Skeet says, pushing out a final rep and then allowing the shoulder machine’s handles to return to the starting point. “Hell yeah!”
