You are My Passion

Buddy Ambush

The Zumba session was in full swing, the people loving every minute of it. After twenty minutes, Max changed routines and gave them a five-minute break

‘Good one class’ Max complimented them and went to drink water from the dispenser nearby

They cheered and clapped, he noticed the newbies were not mixing up with the oldies

‘Okay this week we have new comers’ Max said gesturing to Nikita and three others who had resumed recently.’ Let's show them some love’ Max announced clapping

The twenty others present clapped and went over to introduce themselves and Nikita made some new acquaintances during the short break time. Exchanging numbers and even had an event proposal pitch to one

Max took that time to set up the aerobics area for a boot camp session, signaling to Terra and Manny to bring him the items required for the set up. His dexterity was amazing to watch and the many females there couldn't tear their eyes away from his dashing looks and rippling muscles straining against his shirt.

He lived for the show it seemed, as he deliberately flexed his muscles while placing some items in place on the floor. Nikita observed this and sighed Wow! busy guy. she looked around with displeasure

Susan seized the opportunity to stand very close to Nikita ‘Hi Newbie’ she said coldly

‘Hello...’ she said, tearing her eyes away from Max's glistening body as he ramped up some tyres. As she turned to smile at who it was, she saw it was Susan and her smile froze at the hostility she saw on her face

‘Yeah…well this is your typical gym…there are no buddies here so save that smile for someone who wants it’ Susan hissed

Nikita narrowed her eyes at her but kept quiet. She made to move out of the area but Carla stepped in from the other side and blocked her path

This was all going on discreetly and with all the chatter going on, no one readily noticed the mini ambush

Nikita eyed the two ladies and said in a low voice ‘Get.out.of.my.way.now’ she warned

‘Aww come now newbie, we are just getting friendly with you’ Carla said laughing and looking around to make sure everyone was fooled into thinking they were just having a nice chat

Nikita rolled her eyes and slightly pushed her out of the way but stopped when she heard Susan

‘Don't ogle Max too much newbie…he belongs to me. That dexterity you see is way higher when locked in a room with him’ she snickered, eyeing the shocked look Nikita gave her when she understood the hidden meaning

‘Yeah, it is all about size and dexterity’ Carla said, smirking, running her hand over her lower body

Nikita looked at them and at Max and realized they were either his current or ex-lovers and she was immediately disgusted

‘Really? well I don't care’ Nikita said, nonchalantly, starting to move away from them

‘You should care dear…. there is a lot of equipment here’ Susan said looking over at the guys doing bench presses and press ups ‘Choose any of those… leave my man be’ she warned, scowling

‘Yeah his equipment is limited to us’ Carla said, giggling, satisfied at the mortified look on Nikita’s face

‘Wow…you ladies are the worst’ Nora said passing by just then ‘Pay them no mind Nikita, those are expired products’ she giggled, tugging Nikita away from them. They were miffed all over again

‘Thanks’ Nikita whispered as they went towards the aerobics set

‘Anytime girl. I noticed the toxic bunch with you from my desk so had to get you quickly’ Nora said, soothingly, rubbing her hand up and down her arm, trying to calm her down. She knew those girls would have fed her with rubbish talk

Max was done with the set up and was walking over to them oblivious of what had happened

‘Thanks’ Nikita said to Nora smiling slightly

‘Yeah thanks for glass doors’ Nora laughed ‘See ya’ she said in a sing-song voice heading back to her desk

Max got to where Nikita was and beckoned on her to come over to start the class

‘Are you okay?’ Max asked concerned at the frown on her face

She nodded her head ‘It's fine… I'm good’ she said sharply, with a blank look, still upset from the Susan-Carla clash

‘Well okay...’ he said clueless

He looked around and called everyone together ‘The pitch is set now…pick a buddy’

‘A what?’ one of the newcomers asked

‘Someone you can pair with for the exercise…. someone you will compliment as you get on the dual combo workouts’ Max replied, doing a demo of what he meant, by leaning on the back of one of the guys nearby and lifting him up

‘… and since you all have exchanged numbers you can build that friendship away from here and boost each other and ensure you all come here daily’ Terra answered from the side, ready to assist Coach in the bootcamp

‘Nice’ Nikita murmured, she turned to pick a partner but met Max in her path

‘No Nikky… I get to pick you’ Max said, with a mischievous look

She laughed. It was silly to be pissed at him really. It was not his fault the ladies ambushed her. She shrug off her disgust ‘Okay gym buddy’ she replied smiling

Max smiled ‘Yeah so can I have my gym buddy's number...?’ he asked ’…you know…to encourage her when we are out of the gym’ he said, winking at her

She rolled her eyes. ‘You can always get my number from the registration card Coach’ she said laughing

He held her hand and leaned in ‘Max...call me Max’ he said, whispering in her ear

‘Okay’ she gulped, swooning again at his nearness

‘Here, let me’ he said, reaching for her phone and punching in his number

She saved it and dialed his number...it rang. He took out his phone from the sports pouch around his waist and saved her number

‘Saved!’ he said, beaming at her

‘Yeah’ she giggled, looking around to see all eyes on them, waiting for Max to begin the sets

‘I'll be sure to chat you up later tonight...on your workout routine’ he whispered and stepped back, smirking

She giggled ‘Yeah sure’ she replied, basking in the attention

----------------------

‘Your workout form has really improved Nikky’ Max drawled, as she absentmindedly fiddled with the strings on her hoodie, enjoying his gaze on her

She was now a regular at the gym and would stay the entire morning session until break time and then Max would have her stay back to have a drink with him in the lounge area. Afterwards when she leaves, he would find the teasing smiles of Nora and Manny on him, which he would flip off, laughing as he went into his private office to rest before the evening sessions

Today they were seated again as usual on the couch at the reception. lounging and enjoying their smoothie drinks

'Yeah, that was an impressive workout, you did better than you had ever done these past three weeks since registering here girl' Nora said cheering, eavesdropping on their conversation as usual

Max squinted his eyes at Nora at the interruption, chuckling when she wiggled her brow at him. He turned back to Nikita, who seemed entranced by him

Nikita smiled bashfully ‘Well I do have a great Coach don’t I?’ she said, feeling her face getting all flushed and heated, she looked away from his gaze, looking around the reception area

Most gym patrons had gone home, leaving only the weightlifters and some model-like looking guys she didn’t recognize who were setting up the tracks in the next part of the building she thought was rarely used

Max followed her gaze ‘Well you are a good student of a good coach’ he leaned in and brushed his index finger lightly over her nose to get her attention back on him

She giggled looking back at him ‘Yeah yeah…so who are those?’ she asked pointing to the guys she saw earlier. They always seemed to come in after the aerobics classes were done. She was curious since they never did enter the gym but went straight to the tracks

‘Those are some boys from my academy, training them to be champions in the track and field events in their schools or competitions in town, state and sometimes internationally’ he replied, smiling and waving to the guys as they walked past

‘Oh okay so I guess I have to let you go over there then’ she said trying her best not to frown. She looked forward to these times she had with Max, sorry to always have to leave.

They practically spent all day and night together on the phone when not at the gym, discussing everything from exercise to fitness to nutrition to his passion for sports and she found herself always checking her phone at night to see if a chat had dropped and she was always thrilled to find something snazzy he said

Max noticed her expression and his heart leapt in anticipation of what he was going to do now as he was sure it was time to make his move. After two weeks of playing it platonic, he felt he could take it further with her.

‘Nikky darling you do not have to leave. Those boys are good on their own today, I wanna be here with you right now’ he answered in a low voice, flashing his dazzling smile and reclining back on the chair and motioning to her to do same

She smiled ‘Well do we talk about…oh I know… tell me about how you got into all these?’ she asked waving at the complex. All she knew was his passion as an athlete and nothing else. Whereas he knew everything about her business and her interests, well she was quite the chatterbox and he apparently a great listener. But not today, she was determined he would talk and she would do the listening

Max chuckled ‘Well that is easy to talk about girl…Frank and I bought this place together and we decided to build it the way we wanted to, different from how regular gyms are run’ he started, crossing his leg on top of the other

‘Oh nice’ Nikita said smiling, inching closer to him, getting comfortable as she rested her hand on his leg facing him

Max grinned and warmed at her touch, he reached out to stroke that arm she had placed on him as he continued

‘We have two major things here. One is the workouts customized for each client on our app, combined with their nutrition diets and then the second is we train all upcoming sports athletes like my Dad did’ he said,

His eyes momentarily darkening and almost getting misty at the mention of his Dad.

Coach Logan was an inspiration to Max and his friends all through high school and afterwards when Max won at the tracks and races, he was sure his Dad was in the crowd, rooting for him...until a few years ago

Nikita rubbed his knee softly in comfort ‘Your Dad….he is no more?’ she asked haltingly. He nodded

‘Aww’ she replied, squeezing his arm and mouthing a sorry to him. He shrugged and continued

‘It’s cool. So back to what I was saying….We also use the gym to build our bodies as bulk as we want without a worry as to time outs or payments…well me though, Frank’s girl has him banned from evening workouts because of the temptations’ he said, chuckling

‘Temptations’? she asked, puzzled

‘Yes Nikky, you see, my blog on social media is designed to rack up followers and drive traffic to this place and it has made me open to advances from one too many women’ Max said flippantly

Nikita’s heart sank. She gently removed her hand from his leg just as Manny passed by

‘Mm-hmm, advances that he looks forward to all the time and takes advantage of always might I add’ Manny said coming to prop up on the chair next to them

Max glared at him ‘Not cool Coach’ he muttered ‘Besides I am a lively coach, comes with the description’ he said quickly when he noticed the frown on Nikita’s face and the change in her body language

Nikita tried but couldn’t hide her frown as she began looking into her bag in search of nothing really. She wondered to herself what she was doing with this Max guy. She barely knew him and here she was getting all drawn away and he may be a player for all she knew, she sighed

Max eyed Manny in a look-what-you-have-done manner

‘Yeah well the girl has to know right?’ Manny said, chuckling.

Max was like a younger brother to him and he had been his coach since his teenage years. He had worked at Max’s Dad’s gym before the old man passed on and when Max had called him to come work with him at the new complex, he obliged gladly

‘Nikky do not mind Manny, I hope he is not scaring you away now’ Nora asked, coming by just then with a magazine

Nikita looked up relieved to see her friend ’Yeah well….no big deal’ she said, shrugging.

Max narrowed his eyes at her and looked at Manny who merely shrugged

‘Hmm Nikky always lay it on the table, do not hold back please’ Max said in a strained voice. He had been planning to woo the lady and now it looked like she was closing up on him

‘It is cool, so I liked all the routines you took us on today Manny’ she said smiling, changing the subject, as Nora went towards Max with the magazine in her hand

‘Yeah, you had great form too…I am sure you are no stranger to these things’ Manny said in admiration

‘No not at all, I was kind of a gym rat myself in my town before I moved here recently to set up my business and all’ she answered, trying not to think back to why she had to leave her town in the first place

‘Oh cool…no wonder you know how to do most routines well. Perhaps you can be one of our support coaches here when we have our monthly heats’ Manny said, giving her shoulder a playful shake

‘Oh? That will be so nice’ Nikita said beaming, telling Manny all about her love for fitness

Max looked at them, glad that Nikita was back to her jovial self. He nodded at Manny, a silent exchange that meant keep it up

Nora snorted and Max glared at her ‘What is your problem?’ he whispered

‘Nothing… now look at the real problem’ Nora said placing the magazine on his lap, pointing to an article. Max was furious at what he saw