Chapter 26 - Titan @ The Iron Works
On Tuesday, instead of the usual training session in the apartment, a trip out to The Iron Works was scheduled for Julian.
Callum could no longer put this off. His first thought was to let Julian attend warts and all, but when he was there on Monday, he looked around and, with fresh eyes, could see things that could be tidied: red brick dust on tops of machines that needed cleaning, and other small jobs that could be done.
Callum enlisted Jack and Rosie to help him, allocating tasks to each of them.
He didn’t tell them the why, saying just that the place needed a serious spring clean.
Grudgingly, they set to work, each taking items from the list they made, fitting them between covering reception, scheduled classes and booked personal training sessions.
***
Tuesday 18th February 25
On the Tuesday evening, Callum felt quite nervous.
Julian had arranged to come at 9 p.m. so they could train before the gym closed, which was earlier than their normal session. He was on edge from lunchtime onwards, and both Jack and Rosie noticed, so in the end he relented and told them.
“Julian’s coming here to train tonight at 9 pm.”
“Ah, now it all makes sense,” Rosie said, “the tidying, the cleaning.”
“I don’t see why we had to clean up for that dude; he’s just coming to exercise like anyone else,” Jack said grumpily. Callum looked at him, hoping that he would be gone before Julian arrived.
“Well, it needed doing, and the place looks great,” Rosie added, trying to keep the peace.
Much to Callum’s annoyance, Jack hung around.
He didn’t shoot off like he normally did after 5 pm, so he guessed he was waiting around to meet Julian.
It wasn’t so surprising. He probably wanted to see who Callum was dating, but Jack also knew that Julian was rich.
Callum hoped to God that Jack didn’t blurt something out about bailing them out.
Jack could be a loose cannon at times and very headstrong.
Callum was in a personal training session with Sandra, one of his regulars, scheduled to finish at 8:30 pm. He expected Julian to arrive at 9 p.m. as arranged, but he nervously kept watching the door and was surprised when he strolled into The Iron Works just after 8 pm. Shit! Why was he so early?
Julian was casually dressed in grey sweatpants and a navy-blue hoodie, with a holdall in one hand and water bottle in the other. Callum excused himself from Sandra and bounded over. Julian was already talking to Rosie, with Jack hovering nearby.
“Hey, you’re early,” Callum said, giving him a quick peck. “How come?”
“Ah, something got rescheduled, so I decided to come down early and check the place over before our session.” Julian was looking around, taking it all in.
“Well, you’ve met Rosie already. Let me introduce you to Jack, my business partner.,” Callum said nervously.
Julian shook his hand. “Hi, Jack, good to meet you”
Jack seemed surprised at the strength of the handshake. “You too, man. We’ve heard a lot about you.” Jack was making an effort, Callum noted. Instead of his usual drawl, he was speaking properly and even being polite.
“Look, Julian, I’m sorry, but I’m with another client for a bit, so we can’t start our session early,” Callum said.
“No worries,” Julian replied, “ I’m sure either Jack or Rosie wouldn’t mind showing me around?” He left the question mark at the end of his statement. Both of them clearly wanted the honour, but it was Jack who spoke up first.
“I can give you the tour, Julian, no problem.”
With that, Callum went back to his client, Rosie back to the desk, although not taking her eyes off Julian, and Jack took charge. Callum saw Rosie take Julian’s bag and bottle and put them safely behind the counter, whilst Jack was talking, showing him the reception area.
Callum struggled to focus on Sandra, but they were only halfway through her session. He made sure she got the attention she needed whilst watching Julian carefully, being guided around by Jack.
“Who’s the big guy? Is he a new trainer who’s going to be working here?” Sandra enquired, clearly aware something was going on.
“Ha, no, that would be Julian, my boyfriend,” Callum replied, sheepishly.
“Well, you won first prize,” she laughed. “he is built and handsome with it.”
Callum smiled to himself. It was strange to think that he would have to get used to this kind of reaction over his boyfriend. He felt a surge of pride.
Jack took Julian around the reception and gym areas, showing him the various machines, answering his questions, and he seemed to have quite a few, although Callum was annoyingly too far away to hear.
Julian was laughing, Jack too. They seemed to be getting on well.
They disappeared into the changing rooms and were gone some time before emerging, Julian now in just black shorts and a tight white compression shirt that highlighted his physique.
Callum saw that every eye was on Julian.
He looked at him, really looked at him. Julian looked massive.
Maybe he just hadn’t noticed it over time, but his shoulders and arms were almost too big now for his torso and waist. Callum would need to check this, and he hoped he hadn’t been overworking him.
A smile crept across his lips as he thought about some of their workouts together. Stop. Focus.
Jack took Julian over to the mats, and they started pulling equipment out. Was Jack starting Julian’s session himself? Callum looked at Julian, who just smiled and indicated that it was ok. Jack saw this and ran over to Callum.
“Cal, I’m just going to start his session. Anything I should know specifically?” He was clearly out to impress Julian.
“Mainly core, Jack. Lats, abs, that’s what we’ve been focused on.”
“Got it,” Jack said, springing back.
Whilst Callum finished Sandra’s session, Jack took Julian through his paces.
Was Julian putting a little extra effort in?
Every move, every exercise looked textbook, and Jack wasn’t having to correct much at all.
Jack seemed very comfortable in Julian’s presence, which was a relief to Callum, and he even noticed Jack grabbing hold of him at one point, pushing his shoulders to the floor to indicate a variation on a move.
Once Sandra was finished, Callum saw her out, booked their next session, and went to take over from Jack, who was currently holding Julian’s feet whilst he did sit-ups.
Jack had worked him hard, and his top was now soaked through.
Anyone who hadn’t already admired Julian’s physique was left in no doubt of his body.
“I can take over now, thanks, Jack.”
“Yeah, OK, buddy. I was enjoying training your man. He’s 100% on it isn’t he?” Jack stated, getting up.
“Oh, he certainly is,” Callum added with a smile, causing Julian to smirk.
Jack gave a fist bump to Julian, who was still lying on his back.
“Thanks, Jack, appreciate that.”
“My pleasure,” Jack said cheerily as he headed to reception.
“Well, how was that?” Callum asked, indicating that Julian should continue.
“Seems an okay guy, not a bad trainer, actually. But I’m not in the market to swap mine; I’m quite attached to him,” Julian said, breathlessly, between sit-ups.
Callum laughed. It was a different experience Julian being here, but it soon settled into just two guys working out. Callum could see that everyone was watching them intently, and he was particularly glad the gay guys weren’t around.
The gym crowd thinned as time went on, leaving only Callum and Julian, along with Rosie who’d lingered. When they finished, she brought his bag over, and Julian had gratefully taken a small towel from inside.
As Callum cleared away their equipment, Rosie asked, “Did you enjoy your workout, Julian?”
“All good, thanks Rosie,” he responded, wiping his sweaty brow with the towel. “Hey, don’t forget to send me that picture, please,” he added as Callum came back.
“What pic?” asked Callum, wondering what they were talking about.
“Oh, Julian asked me to email him the stand-up picture of you from reception, you know the one with the dumbbells,” Rosie confirmed.
“Why on earth would you want that?” Callum said curiously, turning to Julian.
“Because.” Julian leant into his face and gave him the gentlest of kisses, “that is a lovely picture of you, and I want it on my phone. That’s why.”
Callum and Jack had paid Matteo to take some photographs of them in training poses when they first opened The Iron Works, which they’d used in publicity and on leaflets.
Rosie had got huge posters of them both printed, which were displayed behind the desk at Reception.
Julian had seen it, Callum guessed, whilst he was chatting to Rosie when he arrived.
“Ah, OK, but you can get a picture of me anytime, you know that.”
“Yep, I know, and I shall, but I also want that one.” He smiled. “It’s just a great picture of you.”
Rosie had a huge grin on her face, “Aww, you two are way too cute. I will email it to you tomorrow, Julian, I promise. I’m off, can you lock up Cal, only I’m late already. Pleasure to properly meet you, Julian. Hope we get to see you here again.” And off she went.
“Right, what now?” asked Callum. They were the only two people in the gym.
“Now, we hit the showers, cadet,” said Julian, smirking.
“You seriously want to shower here Julian? I mean, it’s not exactly what you’re used to.” Callum frowned.
“Lock that door, and yes, we are going to shower here,” Julian added, his voice low.
“Mmm,” Callum replied, knowing exactly where this was heading, and relieved he’d taken care of personal cleanliness earlier, just in case. “Let me lock up and put the bolt across,” he said, smiling. “We really don’t want any interruptions.”
He duly locked up and bolted, so they were assured completely privacy.
They headed to the changing rooms where they both stripped. Julian looked across at Callum; they were the only two there, and a bit of roleplay came to mind.