Chapter 6
Gia
Things moved quickly after that. I split my time between teaching classes at Claudine’s and in meetings at Stevens Street as I was officially on their payroll now.
I worked very closely with Kenzie to develop the yoga program, class schedules, and decorating the temporary studio, which was built in just over a week.
Many tradesmen were members at the gym, and I was impressed how fast they rallied to construct the space, often working late into the evening on it.
Kenzie had a lot of great ideas from a marketing standpoint to retain Claudine’s current members as well as attract new yoga students.
She was very accommodating to anything I wanted or needed program or schedule wise.
Ashley was working on getting her certifications to teach and Kenzie promised me they would hire another part-time instructor quickly.
Just being around Stevens Street Gym, I learned very quickly how much respect everyone had for Andy Stevens, and anyone else associated with the gym. Kenzie had only been on the scene for about six months, and she was adored by all.
Even though Logan’s sexual appetite was very well known, legendary as a matter of fact, everyone liked him and respected the knowledge he had.
His boot camps were always full. Watching him interact with Andy, the other trainers, and the people who took his classes, I saw a side of him I never would have guessed existed.
He was a good and loyal friend who would do just about anything for anyone.
He shared his vast fitness knowledge with everyone.
He had a great sense of humor. His smile and laugh were infectious.
He was always confident and comfortable in his own skin.
And our nights together continued to be incredibly hot.
And we saw each other nearly every night.
He was an expert at keeping work and our play time separate.
From his behavior alone, no one would ever suspect we had any sort of relationship, not even a friendship.
I found myself stealing glances at him when I was at the gym, hoping no one would see.
I couldn’t stop myself from watching him, becoming more enamored by him every day.
The two weeks passed very quickly and before I knew it Claudine, Heidi and I were saying goodbye to each other and the studio we had spent so much time in.
We taught our last class, the three of us together.
It was packed with clients, many who had been with us for years.
Claudine and Heidi said goodbye to them with hugs and tears.
I knew I would see most of them at the Stevens Street Gym. All the members were set to finish out the class punch cards at Stevens Street Gym, and hopefully they would be retained as clients there. I was moving over to Stevens Street full-time beginning the next day.
This chapter of my life had come to an end.
It was time to flip the page and continue onward.
Tomorrow I would be moving out of my apartment as well.
As promised, Andy had a crew ready. They’d be at my place by eight in the morning.
Thanks to Logan’s help and my friend Sara, my place was all packed up and ready to go.
I still had not told Sara anything about Logan.
I wanted to, but I knew she wouldn’t approve.
Until my new apartment was done, I would be staying both at her place and the guest room at Kenzie and Andy’s house so maybe I would confide in her at some point.
But I wasn’t even sure what I’d tell her.
Even though Logan and I had spent so much time together over the two weeks, I couldn’t really define our non-relationship.
I knew it wasn’t just sex for him, but he still said he didn’t do relationships.
Would friends with benefits be a fitting description?
The soft opening of the yoga studio at the Stevens Street Gym went better than I could have expected.
We were packed for all five classes I offered that day.
And the drop by, to come see the temporary studio, had steady foot-traffic with Claudine’s former members as well as a lot of women I’d never seen.
I know that everyone was interested in what else the gym had to offer.
Part of Kenzie’s rollout to retain Claudine’s former members and hook new ones involved giveaways and half price promotions.
Anyone who came to a class during the soft opening day would receive a Stevens Street Gym yoga tank top and a water bottle with both the Pure Body and the Stevens Street logos on it, and a five-class punch card for free.
They would be able to buy half-price full-gym memberships and half-price yoga class, ten punch cards that day only.
They would also receive one free boot camp class.
I found out while talking with several women I did not know that all the trainers and Logan had promoted the yoga program to their members for the past two weeks.
Logan had passed out flyers to all those who took his classes extending the offer to wives, girlfriends, even coworkers of anyone who took his classes.
And anyone in his bootcamp classes were given the free five-class punch card and encouraged to try it to augment their strength training. I met many of them at the soft opening.
The actual grand opening for the yoga program would coincide with the gym’s party to celebrate the completed construction build out of the new space they’d acquired.
That would be in about a month. With the space they’d acquired, the gym would double the size of the bootcamp facilities, add a dance room, and build new locker rooms with showers and other facilities.
They also planned to move around some of the equipment, paint, and put down new flooring in the main room.
The gym was exactly what Andy had promoted it to be, a community, many of whom were friends or in the very least friendly.
I found out that many of the bootcamp classes had the same people on the same days and times every week.
They had group text message chains between them, and their relationships had grown from strangers into friendships.
Many of them got together outside of the gym.
They asked for recommendations from each other on services, plumbers, mechanics and so forth, many of which were skills possessed by members.
They recommended each other and frequented each other’s businesses.
Since Kenzie had married Andy, she had initiated a weekly emailed member newsletter that highlighted different aspects of the gym, employees, and members.
Me and the yoga studio had been talked about over the past two weeks prominently in it.
She was working on a member service directory to further the feeling of community that they were trying to provide and promote.
By the end of the day, I was exhausted. I decided to stay at Kenzie and Andy’s house, so I didn’t have to drive to Sara’s as planned.
Plus, I had an early morning class to teach, which I’m sure would be full, so staying this close would allow me to sleep a little later.
I grabbed my bag from my car, deciding to leave it in the back parking lot of the gym, and walked with Kenzie to their house.
She was such a sweetheart! She told me Andy’s mom was at their house babysitting and would have dinner made for us.
On that short walk, I learned about their four-year-old daughter, Trina.
She was Andy’s from a prior relationship, but Kenzie was her full-time mommy.
“She used to call me her Kenzie-Mommy, it was so cute, but now it’s just Mommy because she doesn’t want anyone to know she didn’t come from my tummy like her brother or sister here,” she said clutching her belly.
“So, you’re not finding out if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“No, I really want to be surprised when he or she is born. I think Andy would like to know, but he is honoring that I don’t. Maybe with our next I will,” she said with a shrug.
I was almost jealous of Kenzie. Not only was she one of the nicest people I had ever met, but she had it all; married to a great guy, part of this special group of people at the gym, a daughter she obviously adored and a baby on the way.
I knew she and Andy had only been married a few months and she was obviously pregnant before they got married.
Not that I was judging that! I really felt that she and I had gotten close over the past two weeks, and I hoped that the friendship would deepen over time.
We came to her house, a big brick two-story in the great neighborhood.
They even had a little white picket fence!
We went in through the side door by the garage, which led into a mud room off the kitchen.
Within the kitchen, a cherub-faced little girl with Kenzie’s black hair and Andy’s intense green eyes screamed, “Mommy!” when she saw Kenzie.
She ran to her and engulfed her in the biggest hug.
“Hey Kiddo,” Kenzie greeted, picking her up and giving her a big hug. “I missed you today. Were you good for Grandma?”
“Always,” a petite older, female version of Andy replied turning from the stove.
The room smelled amazing. I wasn’t sure what Andy’s mom was cooking, but I was thankful I would get to enjoy it.
“Sheri, Trina, this is Gia,” Kenzie introduced me. “She’s our new yoga instructor at the gym and a friend.”