Page 55 of The Titan and the Trainer

He headed to the kitchen, in search of juice and coffee.

Martha was there to greet him. “Morning Callum, are you ok?” Her usual smile.

“Yes, thanks, Martha. I slept in. I must have really needed the sleep.” He yawned, and not for dramatic effect. “Where’s Julian, Martha? Do you know, has he gone to the office?”

“No, he’s working downstairs today. He changed his plans at the last minute.”

“Ah, OK, thanks.”

“Can I make you some eggs for breakfast?”

“That would be great, thanks,” he replied, sitting at the breakfast bar opposite her. She busied herself whisking eggs for him after establishing a cheese and ham omelette would be his choice. She gave him orange juice and coffee, and he started waking up properly. The omelette was amazing; he ate every bit.

She cleared his plate away and topped up his coffee. “Callum, I’ve had a go at fixing your shorts. They aren’t perfect, but they are better than they were,” she said matter-of-factly. “I put them over there on the desk,” gesturing towards the Banksy by the window.

“Oh, wow, thanks, Martha,” he gulped, a bit embarrassed that a: she knew he wore leather shorts, b: they were ripped, c: they were probably stained, sweaty and covered in glitter and d: that she probably put two and two together and now thought he was a prostitute. He got up and went over to grab the shorts before any further secrets could spill out of them.

She’d done a great job fixing them, much to Callum’s amazement. The pocket was now back in place, and unless you looked very closely, you could barely see her repairs. He wandered back over with them. “Martha, thanks for doing this. You’ve done an amazing job. I should explain. I dance in a gay club. Julian knows and he’s okay about it, so there’s no problem.” He was flustered.

She put her hands up, “Far be it from me to judge you, Callum. What you do is no matter to me or anyone else. If you get up there and strut your stuff, good for you, I say. If I was a bit younger, I might visit myself and rain down a few dollars at your feet.” She chuckled at her own joke and hugged him.

Callum hugged her back. She really was so kind. “You’re the best, Martha. Thank you. I’ll do you a private dance someday, hey?” He added with a smile and a wink. She laughed again, heading back to the kitchen.

He shouted over, “Hey, Martha, I forgot to ask. Do you know where my clothes are? I left here before. I tried to find them in the dressing room but couldn’t, hence,” and he indicated what he was wearing.

“Ah yes,” she replied, “the drawers immediately on your left as you go in. Your clothes are there. It would be nice if there were a few more of your things here…” She added with a smile, leaving the sentence dangling.

He gave her a tiny peck on her forehead as he passed, and she affectionately touched his shoulder. He had an ally in Martha.

He went back to the dressing room, and sure enough found his briefs, jeans, and the polo he’d been wearing on Saturday. He took a nice shower, used way too much of Julian’s heavenly shower gel, got dressed and straightened the bed. Did Martha come in and do that? He guessed so. He tidied it a bit, thinking about some of the stains he and Julian might have left behind. I suppose she sees it, but she’s worldly wise. If she sees some stains, at least she knows Julian is having fun.

By now he’d decided to just take the day off. He liked being at Julian’s, and knowing he was downstairs was also a nice thought. He popped his head into the gym, empty of course. He walked over to the glass wall, pressed the button, retracted it, then pressed it again to put it back. It was a nice day. He might go for a swim in a pair of Julian’s shorts. He wondered if he had any Speedos? Doubt it, far too playful. He could lay out on a sunbed, maybe even retract the roof to catch some rays. There was the sauna and steam room. He might do a cleanse, get rid of the toxins. The Vacunaut suit, he could try that on but would need help to get in and out of it.

He went downstairs and headed to the business centre where he could see Julian through the glass in the boardroom. He was sitting with a lady he recognised as Julian’s assistant, Kerry, from that second training session where he turned up, but Julian had been called to London. Julian spotted him and beckoned him in. This was going to be interesting. How should he behave in front of his assistant? Did she even know about him and Julian?

He entered the business centre and knocked quietly on the boardroom door. “Come in, you muppet,” Julian shouted, standing and walking around the table. He entered as Julian reached him, giving him a huge kiss and hug that winded Callum. After the discussion of last night, it was a huge relief to see they were back on normal terms. “I’d like to properly introduce you to my right-hand lady. This is Kerry,” he said, turning to his assistant.

In stark contrast to the coldness he’d encountered the first time they met, she stood, came across to him, and shook his hand. Wow, thought Callum, the ice queen has thawed rather... “So nice to meet you … properly,” she said.

“I’m Callum, nice to properly meet you too. We met that one night Julian bailed on our session, if you remember,” Callum added.

“Oh yes, when he had to fly to London,” she recalled. “He was such an absolute nightmare that day, and I was in such a bad mood too, having to hang around so late to tell you he wasn’t there and rearrange. The things he gets me to do...” She looked at Callum with exasperation, and Julian made a pained expression…

“I just need to grab Markus for a moment, excuse me, please.” Julian left them.

“The reason he was in such a bad mood was that he was going to miss your session, being completely honest.” She was confiding in Callum, he realised. “I don’t know what you’ve done to him, but he’s a different man since you’ve been dating. It’s made him so much more bearable, human, in fact. He seems happy for once, Callum. You really have changed him.”

“Ah, thanks,” he said, not really knowing what to say. “ We get on well and it’s all going pretty well, so…” He didn’t know what to say.

“Keep up the good work and just enjoy it,” she added with a warm smile. She was clearly enjoying Julian 2.0, the human version of her boss.

“So, what is he doing today then? Wasn’t he supposed to be in the office?” Callum asked, interested in how Julian had changed his plans. “Yes, he was, but I understand you arrived late last night, and he didn’t want to leave you, so he stayed here. I came over, and we’re working here today.” Clearly, whatever Julian says goes.

“What’s he got on today, Kerry? Has he got meetings this afternoon? She bent down to look at her laptop.

“You can do lunch together, then he’s got a couple of calls immediately after that, but then a two-hour gap before some late calls.” She could see Callum was calculating whether he and Julian could spend any time together today. “He’s free from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. if that’s any good?”

“Yes, please, I’m going to put him through his paces, in his own gym,” Callum replied. “Oh, goodie,” she clapped her hands, “rather him than me! If you ever need to know his schedule, just call or WhatsApp me, ok. I’ll message you my direct number.”