Chapter Three — Callum
“Remind me, why are we doing this again?” I ask Trent.
“Because it’s good for relaxation, cognitive function, memory, recovery, all the things,” Trent says.
“You just sound like the brochure,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Yeah, well, they pay a lot of people a lot of money to write those brochures, so there’s good information in them,” he says. I laugh.
“Okay, tell me you’re not secretly doing a paid sponsorship or something right now,” I say. Trent laughs.
“Come on, you’re just being a baby and looking for an excuse to get out of the cold plunge,” he says. I roll my eyes.
“No, I’m not. And we both know it.”
“Okay, well, stop whining and let’s go,” Trent says.
We step out of the locker room and into the sauna.
Thankfully, this social wellness club that we’re at starts with the sauna portion first. Then, of course, comes the cold plunge portion, which I’m not looking forward to.
But that’s a problem for future me, and by future me, I mean me in fifteen minutes.
We settle in. Trent practically drags me into the sauna, insisting we go into that corner on the upper right side. I barely have time to adjust to the place before I see her, on the opposite end, also in the corner, sandwiched between two men.
They’re both attractive. I’d say less attractive than me, but of course I’m biased. They’re both relatively tall, but a bit shorter than me. They both have blonde hair and look a few years younger. They look like they might be Scandinavian.
I keep staring.
They’re talking to her. One puts his hand on Alex’s leg, and I feel my entire body tense up. She laughs and I growl. I don’t even realize I’ve made a noise until Trent looks at me.
“What is it?” he asks. I gesture with my chin towards that corner of the room.
Her eyes flick up and I almost catch them, but then she continues her conversation. I don’t know if she actually didn’t see me or if she’s ignoring me.
“Oh,” Trent says, his voice seeming louder than normal. “That’s her, right? Alex?”
“Yeah,” I say.
“Who’s she with?”
“I have no idea,” I say.
“Well, I mean, you guys aren’t exclusive, right?”
“No,” I say.
“Well, there’s nothing to be upset about then, is there?”
“I’m not upset,” I say.
“Good,” he says. “Let’s enjoy the sauna then.”
Thirty seconds later, a woman enters the room. “Now we will begin the meditation portion. Everybody close your eyes.”
Everyone closes their eyes, except me and Alex. We lock eyes. She doesn’t look away and neither do I. For thirty seconds, neither of us breaks eye contact.
Then the meditation ends and everyone else opens their eyes. The lady keeps talking, and for the rest of the fifteen minutes, Alex ignores me.
Then it’s time for the cold plunge. Oh, this is going to be good, I think to myself.