You are My Passion

Attention - seekers

‘Nora… Smoothie’ Max requested, going over to the hand basin mounted close to the door to wash his hands and face and wipe off with a towel slung over his shoulder

Nikita did same after he was done. Max kept his eyes on her as she washed, his eyes running over her curves, smiling to himself. 

Nikita was aware he was staring and she deliberately spent more time over the sink, laughing inwardly at her actions. She got up suddenly turning to him, he quickly looked away, clearing his throat much to the amusement of Nora, who had been silently watching him while stifling her laughter

'Nora?' Max called out as though he had been impatiently waiting for her

‘Alright Boss, it is in the fridge’ Nora replied, getting out two different colored smoothies and passing them to him

‘Thanks’ Max replied, turning to Nikita and gesturing towards the lounge chairs at the reception

She nodded and followed him there. He made the seats comfortable with puffed pillows before ushering her into one, immediately taking the spot beside her and they both sit there, shoulder to shoulder, sipping their smoothies in silence

Nikita slurped on the straw with glee, it was the best green smoothie she had tasted. It had apples, cucumbers and lime in it

‘This is really good’ she commented, turning to see his eyes were fixed on her already

‘Yeah…most people run from veggie smoothies but they are the healthiest. Fruit smoothies with bananas and pineapple won’t let you lose weight as fast as you want but that’s just what we bodybuilders need’ he explained, pointing to his own orange creamy multi-fruit smoothie

‘Yeah shoots up glucose level right... spike in the glycemic index’ she answered, finishing up her drink

Max smiled and nodded impressed. ‘Here …learn more next week’ he said, reaching for a flyer on the center table and giving it to her

‘- Nutrition & Fitness programme expected soon on face book @PNgfitfam masterclasses’ Nikita read out from the flyer ‘Okay’ she smiled, tucking the flyer into her gym bag, her earlier anger at him gone

‘So hope I've convinced you Nikky to join the group workouts. Yeah?’ he asked nudging her gently with his shoulder, smiling widely

She laughed, nodding ‘But at my pace….no use huffing and puffing with these teenagers’ she said, looking over to the door as the racers walked back towards the gym and met with Carla’s group

Max snorted ‘No teenagers here girl’ he said shaking his head

‘Really? She quizzed ‘that Carla bunch look like teenagers’ she said, Nikita didn't want to be bitchy but something about her made her skin crawl

‘No they are 21’ he replied, glancing at them

‘Oh well I'm 25’ she answered with a feigned snobbish look. Nikita was not keen on age differences being able to relate with anyone as a result of her event planning job but still she did not want anyone treating her like the usual gym wannabees so she threw her age in to let Max know he wasn't dealing with a fawning female as she liked to call girls that drew attention to themselves

Max played along ‘Really? you don't say...well you look 14’ he said in a high-pitched voice, mimicking her

‘Yeah 10 years even’ Nikita said and they burst out laughing, playfully jabbing each other on the ribs

Nora smiled as she watched them, seated at her table with hands on her cheeks enjoying the sight

But Susan and Carla were standing together at the reception desk area, not liking the exchange between Max and Nikita. They were miffed that the new girl had caught his attention 

‘Max is getting yummy with the newbie I see’ Carla said, irritated

They were standing close enough to Nora who heard her

‘Yes Carla’ Nora hissed at the interruption to her gaze

‘I'm his favorite you know’ Carla said in a grating voice

‘Sure Carla’ Nora rolled her eyes 

Susan said nothing but she was fuming and was determined to do anything to rock that boat 

Neither Max nor Nikita were listening to anybody around them. They were talking non-stop about her performance during the workout and looked like they enjoyed every bit of the conversation

Just then the outer door opened and a group of bodybuilders strolled in and headed to their corner in the gymnatorium, saluting and waving to Max as they passed

‘I really should go…’ Nikita said smiling

‘Aww and I really was enjoying our talk’ Max whined playfully

She snorted ‘Yeah sure, it is still 9 am… I am certain you have more workouts to coach’ she said, looking at the new set of people who just arrived

‘Yeah we have Manny and Terra for that, I am done with class coaching today’ he said, looking at her and she locked eyes with him, getting lost in his intense gaze

She broke the haze after a few moments and looked down at her laps shyly, a smile tugging slightly on her lips

Max knew to let this go for now before he scares her away ‘O-okay let’s get go-in-g’ he sighed loudly making her giggle

He helped her stand up from the couch and walked with her out of the gym and to her car

The two ladies at the reception exchanged looks and sighed, still watching the whole scenario through the glass doors.

Nora was busy stacking up clean gym towels in the shelf and only turned to look at the driveway when Nikita’s car came into view with Max there

They all watched as Max stood by her car window, leaned in to whisper something to her, she threw her head back as she laughed and moments later, waved to him as she drove off

He watched her drive away with a sheepish grin on his face

Nora looked back at the two ladies and couldn't help laughing, they had huge scowls on their faces, Carla even had misty eyes

‘Those two hit it off from day one and there's nothing you can do about it girls’ Nora snickered, enjoying their discomfort. ‘About time we see some true romance around here’ she said, giggling happily as she went on with her work

‘Well we'll see won't we…we'll see’ Susan muttered to herself mischievously as she looked at Carla's troubled face and back at Max

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‘Hi’ Nikita greeted cheerfully as she walked in

‘Hello’ came the various responses

She scanned the gym as she entered, greeting those working out nearby. She didn't see Max anywhere and she tried her best to hide her frown 

Nora came up behind her and whispered in her ear ‘He's working out with Manny at the track’ Nora teased

‘Hmm am I that obvious?’ Nikita giggled, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment

‘Nah. Boss has that effect on newbies, the women all wanna flock around him’ Nora rattled out before she could stop herself, bending over to do a cat stretch to conclude her own workout for the day

‘Really?’ Nikita said, scrunching up her nose, not impressed. She had witnessed enough of that with her ex

Her friend looked at her and felt bad for saying that ‘Aww raw nerve? Nora said, tongue in cheek

‘Yeah unfortunately’ Nikita said shrugging, setting her bag away and tying her shoe laces firmly

‘Well I'm all ears’ Nora said, wriggling her brow. as she leaned forward in a child pose to finish off her stretch

Nikita laughed ‘No story there…buried and done with it’ she said taking off her sports jacket to begin her workout

She heard low whistles and she glanced to the source. It was the guys in the gym ogling her 

‘Oh oh the Brady bunch are ogling you’ Nora snickered, chuckling as they continued staring even though they had been caught

Nikita looked away and shrugged, ‘Used to it’. She was wearing patterned tights that morning and a fitted top that matched her sneakers. She looked good and she knew it. 

‘Hmm careful now… these guys bite’ Nora warned. She had seen first-hand that gym romance is fleeting and brutal as ever 

Nikita smiled slightly as she bent over to lay her mat turning to give the guys a good view

‘You are killing them girl’ Nora cackled, as the guys could not stop gawking, starting to drool even

Nikita smiled and winked at her ‘That'll teach them to stare’ and they both laughed, making the guys who had been staring to shake out of their trance, giving themselves fist bumps

‘This gym just got hawt’ one of them said, the others nodded in agreement

‘Mmm let's flex some muscles and see if she looks this way’ another said, going over to the multi-gym machine stand to do some squats

Nikita was definitely trending today and all because she wore figure hugging gym outfit. She shook her head in irritation, facing her warm ups together with Nora

Carla and Susan were finishing off their first cycling sets close by, looking at the drama and scowling so hard that Terra had to go over to where they were to tease them a little 

‘Ouch girls, liven up, she ain't blocking you all’ Terra mocked, holding the cycling bar and mimicking their side to side movements

‘Really? She snorted ‘So how come Boss is all distracted and fuming?’ Susan asked, looking at Max who had been watching Nikita and the guys from the door, hands on his waist, stone faced

No one had heard Max come in but he had witnessed the guys doing the fist bumps and heard some of the leering comments about Nikita, he was ticked off but holding it in, he did not want to look like a jealous boyfriend when they were nothing yet. He did not want to scare her off

Terra looked at Max ‘Interesting’ he said squinting and smiling mischievously

Max saw Terra and Susan staring and glared at them, they looked away and he began walking to the center of the gym where Nora and Nikita were 

‘Well well what have we here?’ Max drawled trying to hide his displeasure with a jovial front

Nikita stood up quickly and spun around with the brightest smile on her face on hearing his voice, this immediately calmed Max's jealous heart 

‘Hey you’ Nikita beamed

Max steps faltered a bit as he saw what she was wearing up close ‘Hi Nikky...’ his eyes taking in her outfit and he looked at her intensely ‘You look...’ his baritone voice low and deeper than ever

She blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear ‘Thanks’ she murmured and turned to Nora trying to hide her blush 

Nora snickered ‘Boss man stop making the girl blush yeah’ she said standing up

He rolled his eyes signaling with his head that she should leave them alone

‘Yeah yeah I'm done here anyway’ Nora replied laughing

‘Oh why?... you don't have to go’ Nikita said wide eyed 

‘Nah I'm done. I usually do my workouts before 7am so I can be at my desk early to meet clients. Boss here resumes by 6 am daily and does his workout with Manny till 7am before coming in here to take his class’ Nora replied, folding up her mat

‘Oh okay’ Nikita said, smiling ‘Catch up with you later’

‘Yeah girl we have some unfinished lover boy gist huh’ Nora said to her, deliberately taunting Max

Max stiffened ‘lover boy?’ he asked in a low voice, squinting at them

‘Yeah… wouldn't you like to know’ Nora said, sticking her tongue out at him, laughing as she left

Nikita laughed ‘She's kidding…. there is no such thing’ she quickly said, noticing he looked upset

He sighed in relief ‘Oh’ he said, coming very close to her ‘No loverboy?’

‘Mmm’ she mumbled, unable to breathe. Her eyes trailed his abs that were glistening from his workout. He was shirtless and she could see his very flat abs with defined 8 packs. She was enthralled at the inviting sight 

Max grinned at her ruffled state, glad he had this effect on her and he thought to make his move ‘Perhaps I can apply…hmm?.... I am interested in knowing you more Nikky’ he whispered, but a few people around still heard him

She noticed the gym had gone silent and people were eavesdropping and watching their exchange. She and Max were standing right at the middle of the workout area and he had no care about this.

She quickly shook out of the haze and stepped back, deciding to end the show ‘Yeah yeah… well get in line’ she said casually, winking at the guys who had ogled her earlier and they gawked, knowing that would piss Max off

Max followed her gaze and glared at the men but continued the joke ‘Oh them guys know they don't stand a chance girl…not when I am interested’ he laughed, the guys nodded knowingly and went back to what they were doing. They couldn’t dare compete for her attention now. Max would throw them out

‘Yeah yeah. no kidding around. we've got workout to do’ she said, going over to take her position on the dance floor. It was Zumba day

‘Alright let's get to it. Show's over guys, face your routines’ he said, clapping twice. The gym guys resumed their workout, laughing at what they taught was a joke but Nikita and Max knew it was much more than that

...and so did the trio of Susan, Carla and Terra, who were watching from afar each silently plotting on how to take advantage of this situation for their benefit 

Those for the dance aerobics had gathered and arranged themselves in three rows, well-spaced and waiting for their cue to start. This was Nikita’s first time doing this there and she saw some new faces she had not seen since she started coming to the gym some days ago

‘Let's go’ Max shouted, throwing on a jersey as the music came on and the Zumba began. It was smooth, fluid and just what the class needed to get started

Every once in a while as their gaze met, his eyes locked with Nikita's briefly and the desire between them slowly kindled...