Chapter One – Burning Nips #2
“He had his eyes on my tits, not my face. Besides, if he didn’t ask for my number, I’m good on that.” Tay straightened. “My days of chasing male attention are long behind me. I’m thirty-eight, after all.”
“You’ve been saying that for four months.” I laughed at my friend’s new catchphrase that began with how she was almost thirty-eight and transitioned after her big party on the lake. “Are you ever going to stop?”
“Yes, as soon as I’m thirty-nine.” She winked. “Then I’ll be almost forty! Can you imagine?”
“Yes, I can, considering I’m already forty!” I laughed at her. “You’re right, though. You should probably wait until your nipples heal before you go after any man anyway!”
“I’m headed straight home to find myself an ice pack!
I’ll keep these suckas numb until they heal if I have to!
” She pulled her key out and unlocked the car.
“Let me know who my trainer will be. You’re right, I can’t deal with you.
You’re too tough, and it would ruin our friendship if I accidentally tripped you during a run. ”
“If you think I’m not putting you with the toughest guy I've got, you’ve lost your mind!” I shook my head. “I can’t put you with someone you’ll just chew up and spit out.”
“What if I promise to be extra nice?” She fluttered her eyelashes at me. “I’ll bake them cookies and everything.”
“I love you, but we both know you can’t keep that promise.” I laughed. “You keep your cookies to yourself.”
“Fine, okay. Sign me up for the boot camp! I can take it!” She laughed, flexing her muscles, then winced when the movement caused her shirt to pull tighter across her chest. “Shit!”
“Girl, go home. I’ll talk to you later.”
After about twenty more minutes of goodbyes with follow-ups about topics we’d forgotten to cover, we finally parted ways.
I swear, the older we got, the longer the farewells were.
I used to think old folk had an unspoken fear about not seeing people again, and that was why they dragged out the endings to their meetings the way they did.
Now, here I was, doing the same thing with my friends, and I couldn’t honestly say my earlier observations weren’t right.
Only, it wasn’t a fear of dying before seeing each other again like I thought. It was the understanding that life got busier as you get older, and time moved so much quicker when your planner was full of random To-Dos that honestly could probably wait.
You might mean to hook up again within a few weeks, and then you blink, and six months have gone by.
You’ve cut your hair, your friend has a new man, and somebody done lost a job!
Time slipped away so easily when you weren’t paying attention, so when you had those moments together, you wanted to stretch them out as long as you could.
While Tay headed home to ice her tits, I headed back to work.
I had to shower and prepare for my three o'clock class.
It was my favorite of the day, full of newcomers who were only there testing the waters.
They often chose a mid-afternoon class because it was safest. The early classes typically had our advanced clients, people who needed minimal direction through their cardio and weight training.
The evening classes were full of angry nine-to-fivers looking to let off steam.
I loved the timid ones who had to be encouraged to perform. Because every time they got it, they lit up! It was something about watching another person’s confidence bloom that really did it for me. That was my favorite part of my job.
Once at the gym, I made a beeline for the showers. Before the next class arrived, I had showered, changed into fresh workout gear, and prepped the space.
The first session was a light cardio blend with some floor work. The second was a spin class, which I was itching to do, because I’d choreographed something new and couldn’t wait to see how everyone took to it.
I checked the list and noticed there were two unfamiliar names listed, so I set up the extra spaces. It always made me happy to see unfamiliar names. It meant business was still growing and people were learning about us.
Low R I joined them in their dance as I greeted them.
“Shontae! I’m down eighteen pounds now!” Kiara, a third grade teacher who’d just gotten engaged, wiggled her hips and bumped hers against mine as she accepted cheers from those around her.
“I’m so proud of you!” I clapped, and the other women joined me. “And you look amazing. How do you feel, though? That’s what we care about. Like I say, there are a lot of skinny people who feel like shit.”
“Better than I have in a long time. Girl, I walked up the flight of stairs at my job the other day, you know, the crazy long flight I told you tried to take me out? Anyway, child, I wasn’t out of breath at the top!
I couldn’t have done it without you, girl!
Honey, I don’t know what you’re pumping through these vents in here, but my entire mindset has shifted. ”
“I said the same thing to my sister! I’m still trying to get her to agree to come and join us.
She’s pretty fit, but she could use the inner self-help,” Charmaine chimed in.
“She just rolls her eyes at me, but I tried to explain it. It’s like the air is different here.
All my troubles fall away when I come through those doors, and all I care about is moving my body.
I have never felt that way going to any other gym. ”
“It’s all about the mindset. I told you.” I winked at her. “I pride myself on helping you all move past the mental blocks. Change how you think about things, and the world will open up. We’re here to be healthy, to feel good in our bodies and to be empowered on whatever our journey is.”
“Listen to her, already wearing her motivational speaker’s hat!” Vicky pointed over Kiara’s shoulder. “You’re going to do great when you’re on TV! I saw you posted you will be on the big stage soon. I wish I could fly out there just to see it live!”
“That would be amazing, but they’ll be airing it a ton afterwards. Plus, you get me live any time you want, right here.”
Thank God for topic changes, because I did not want to have to address what they said about the gym.
I know they were being playful, but to the people who came to the gym, the thing that made them feel so good was the motivational speaking.
It was my calm demeanor and my welcoming spirit.
And while all that was true, there was a lot more to it that they didn’t know and I couldn’t tell them about.
All that mattered was that they were actually getting what they needed out of their time with me.
I wanted them to succeed, and if using my special gifts made that happen, I would do it.
It was the usual crowd, and I was happy to see so many returning faces.
Then, the first of the unknown showed up, a woman who, I could tell by the way she moved in her skin, felt bigger than she looked.
It was something I witnessed a lot. For a lot of people, how we see ourselves rarely matches reality.
As the time neared for the class to start, our last newcomer hadn't arrived yet. Not wanting to hold up the class, I assumed they weren't going to come. It wasn't uncommon for someone to book a class and never show up. They could have lost the nerve.
Just as I went to remove the additional space and allow everyone to spread out a little more, the door opened. When I turned and saw who it was, I had to catch myself. Down, girl!
A dark-skinned goddess of a woman walked in, dressed in pink workout wear. She was tall, curvy, and confident. Unlike most of the people I was used to seeing in my midday class, she moved with presence and poise. Everything about her felt intentional.
“Welcome in. I'm glad you could make it.” I greeted her with a warm smile.
“Thank you.” She gave me a simple grin, and as I took in her eyes, deep and brown, I felt like there was something off about them. They didn’t quite fit her face.
“You can take this space right here, and we'll get started.” I pointed at the mat I was about to put away.
“Perfect,” she said slowly, scanning the room before her eyes returned to me.
There was a moment between us, a subtle change I felt, like a breeze that quickly faded.
The air seemed to shrink around us. The atmosphere in the room suddenly felt different, as if something had altered it.
Just as the change hit me, the feeling settled, and everything returned to normal.
I searched her face to see if she had noticed it, but it didn’t appear she had.
Was that me? That’s new. I thought to myself as I walked away from her and took my place at the head of the class.
My abilities had appeared when I was a young child.
I knew it after I found my aunt sobbing about the death of her husband.
I was only seven when I stood across from her and hoped with all my heart she could feel better.
I imagined her serene and without the pain of her loss.
Moments later, my aunt softened, her shoulders relaxed, and she fell into a deep sleep.
It happened like that, time and time again, when I pushed my own emotions or my desired ones onto someone else. When I hit puberty, all hell broke loose in my home. Think of everyone, ages two to sixty-two, all behaving like a fourteen-year-old girl. Yeah, those were fun times.
When my Great Aunt Bertha threw a pie out the window because the garnish wouldn’t settle right, I knew I had messed up!