Chapter One #2
I was thirty-four years old, and I told myself I still had time to pull myself out of this despair.
Me telling myself I still had time, only made me put my journey off another day, then another month.
The clock wouldn’t begin until I started.
I stepped closer, and the doors slid open automatically.
Inside, the gym was louder than I expected.
Weights dropped, the sounds of hip hop music flowed through the speakers, and the electric sounds of the whirring of treadmills competed with the loud shouts of training, encouraging people to do “just one more rep.” The voices layered over each other like life didn’t pause for anyone in here.
Everyone was running their own race. I stood at the entrance for a second too long, then walked over to the front desk.
The front desk had two computers, scanners sitting on the counters, and two women standing behind the counter.
They were both two different types of pretty.
The first one looked like one of those Instagram fitness influencers who snuck and got thousands of dollars’ worth of surgery but posted half-naked pictures in the gym.
Her long weave, extra chocolate skin, clustered eyelashes, long red nails, and extra-tight ALO set made her look like she belonged on a pole.
The other woman was petite with long legs.
Her complexion was light enough to be mixed; she had her blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail, wore short French-tipped nails, and wore a Lululemon workout set that fit her like a glove.
She looked like a gym employee instead of a Magic City bottle girl.
“Hey! Welcome in,” the light-skinned petite one said as I looked down at her nametag, and it read Shelly.
“First time?” she asked. I nodded, and my voice felt stuck somewhere behind my ribs.
“Yes,” I replied timidly.
“You’re in the right place,” she said sweetly, already typing. “What’s your name?”
“NY’Airy.”
“That’s a beautiful name I’m sure people mispronounce it a lot,” she giggled, causing me to loosen my shoulders a little as I leaned on the counter.
“Girl, you have no idea. I have been called Nyasia, Nyla, and every other thing you can think of,” I chortled.
“Unique names can be a blessing and a curse. Imagine someone calling out SHELLY in a crowd and five women turning around because they all have the same name.” She pointed at her name tag, causing me to laugh out loud.
She had a great sense of humor, and I felt bad for assuming that just because she was pretty and thin, she was going to be a bitch.
“We are glad to have you here at Brick she was that bitch, and she knew it.
A woman like her would have Larry on his knees begging for her to stay with him, not leaving her for another woman. I didn’t need the shy cuteness of Shelly. I needed the ferociousness of Trallis so I could make my ex come crawling back.
“You can set your bag right here on this table,” she told me as we walked past one of the mini tables set up with chairs in the very front.
“Don’t worry, we never have to worry about any thefts.
We have cameras in every inch of this room, and our parking lot outside has multiple cameras showing the entire lot.
We also have an off-duty cop patrolling 24 hours a day to ensure the safety of our members.
I know you may have heard on the news about those few women and men who were robbed at other gyms in this area, but we don’t play that shit here.
Our members are completely safe,” she assured me.
I actually hadn't heard about anyone getting robbed at the gym, but it made me even happier that I chose Brick if it wasn’t being cleaned more often than once a week, this wasn’t the place for me. She rolled her eyes and smirked at me.
“Well, I just told you that we have cleaners on staff who make rounds every hour, and the gym is shut down completely for one hour every day, so it can be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. Our members are not allowed entry into the facility at 2 pm. You didn’t hear me because you weren’t listening to anything I was saying.
” Trallis folded her arms across her chest and stuck her hip in the opposite direction.
I was caught red-handed. I blushed and looked away.