You are My Passion

Smitten

The lady was temporarily struck by Max's handsome looks. He towered over her petite 5 feet 6 inches frame with his six feet two inches height. His jet black hair was cropped short at the base, curly and looked tussled. His physique was a jaw dropping ensemble of ripped muscles and flat abs with thinned out V line visible in the band of his training shorts

She gulped at the sight, but reminded herself that at this gym she was not going to let herself be swooned by another coach, another male… another hunk. She was done with that, her heart still reeling from a recent experience. So she girded her emotions tight as she looked at this masterpiece in front of her

Max finally cleared his throat and spoke up  'Yes… but I would gladly take you on your light warm up routines maybe?’ he asked smiling at the lady client

The newbie nodded, glancing at the wall clock which was just 20 minutes to 11. ‘I guess I can do some fifteen minutes stuff then' she said

‘We are back open by 4 pm through till 10 pm daily so you can choose when you would like to come…I am Maxwell…you can call me Max' Max said in his rich baritone voice, signaling a bye bye to Frank as he led the newbie away into the exercise area, thanking Nora as he did

Nora returned to her desk smiling at Frank, who merely laughed and nodded, finished his drink and mumbled a 'have fun' at Max's receding back

Max held open the doors as she walked in, saying hi to the few people present rounding up their session

‘I am Nikita’ the lady said to him as he led her to one of the treadmills to begin her routine

‘Nikita...such a lovely name.. I’m Max’ he replied smiling widely

‘Yeah…you said so’ she replied amused, earning slight chuckles from those nearby

‘Did I?’ Max asked oblivious to anything and anyone else

‘Mm-hmm’ she nodded and climbed on the treadmill with a slight smile tugging at her lips

Max was entrapped by her beautiful smile as he sat back on a nearby chair and watched her jog…I am a goner for this one he thought to himself

‘What do you do for a living?’ She asked panting as she slowed down to a brisk walk on the treadmill ten minutes later

‘I am... a Coach?’ Max answered dully

‘Yeah sure you are…’ Nikita replied dryly rolling her eyes  ‘I mean what else?’ she drawled

He chuckled in response ‘Oh…okay…Well, I have a physiotherapy degree and that’s how come I run this place’ he gestured to the gymnatorium. ‘I also own a security company among other things..’

‘Okay ..Bodyguard..?’ Nikita asked, slowing down her speed some more, to a light walk

‘Yeah’ he answered. He wasn’t usually so revealing of his private life with clients, but this one had him hooked

‘Oh okay so you do event securities? Bouncers type of thing?’ she queried further, wiping off beads of sweat with her hand towel

‘Oh yeah...the works, cameras, dogs, bouncers, technical support, etc’ Max chimed

‘That’s good, I plan events …Nikky’s’ she answered pointing to herself and mentioning the name of her Event store in the heart of town

‘Oh you are the famous events planner…nice!... wait till I tell Frank’ Max said

‘Frank..?’ Nikita asked confused

‘Yeah the guy you saw me with out front, my business partner’ Max replied, getting up to signal time to change routines

‘Oh okay …right, you own this place together’ she replied, nodding as she recalled the introductions from a moment ago

‘Yeah...we are old gym buddies with the same vision’ Max explained

‘Okay cool…I think I know him from somewhere’ She mused

Max shrugged, coming close to the machine ‘Maybe,... his wife is Gina of GIGI events center’

She stopped the treadmill and gasped out loudly ‘Get out of here…. I know those people…’ she screamed

He chuckled ‘Really...okay then we have to plan a meet then’ he said happily, taking this as an opening

‘Yeah sure, thanks’ she said smiling, getting off the treadmill and looking around at what she would like to use next

His other trainers quickly tried to catch her attention as was the custom there for all new clients, but Max waived them off warning them with his eyes to stay clear

‘So what’s next Coach?’ she asked softly, turning to stand in front of him, fixing those penetrating eyes on him

He wasn’t sure if it was the way she said it or the fact that she was looking at him straight in the eyes…whatever it was made his insides stir and he was momentarily at a loss for words

‘Well I offer myself as your trainer’ he finally replied in a dramatic voice, spreading out his arms and bowing slightly, at which she laughed

‘Okay’ she replied

He walked her to the next equipment, the sit up bench, to round off the session ‘Yeah looks like you know what you are doing and I would not want anyone here dampening your style’ he said suavely

Yeah right...you would not want anyone trying to steal her attention you mean…his inner voice chided

Yeah right so shut it… he laughed at his thoughts

She laughed lightly in response, giving him a pointed look that said she knew his game. 

That laughter was the most soothing sound Max had ever heard and he couldn’t help being smitten by this red head

Oh boy... he thought to himself 

-------------------- 

‘Hi’ Nikita called out to Nora as she strode into the gym four days later

‘Hi Nikky’ Nora replied coming round her desk to hug her

The two ladies had formed a cordial relationship, finding common things to discuss in-between workouts

They headed into the gym area ‘So joining our aerobics class today?’ Nora asked, knowing fully well the usual response 

‘No dear’ Nikita shook her head laughing ‘I'm good with my treadmill and bench’ she said. She did not think she could do all those hard exercises she saw them do

Nora laughed and went over to join the workout group at the center of the room as Nikita turned to go to where the treadmills stood

‘You know you should join the classes soon’ said a voice Nikita had come to like to hear

She turned to him with a wide smile ‘Max!... hi’ she greeted warmly

‘Hi you, good to see you’ replied Max from the doorway, all sweaty and clad in form fitting gym shorts and a loose singlet jersey.

Nikita couldn’t stop looking at his ripped muscles as he approached her. He had seen her from the other room and quickly abandoned his training to come and meet her

He cleared his throat, smirking when he observed her eyes hadn’t left his trunk since he came in. She caught herself and looked away, her cheeks held a tell-tale red tinge

‘Um yeah, so come on... I'm training them today, come join’ he coaxed, reaching out to hold her hand and tug her in the direction of the class

Nora and the others were already taking their positions and he was eager to go and start the class 

‘Maybe tomorrow… just guide me to the treadmill’ Nikita insisted, laughing and pulling her hand away from his. She almost bumped into two people in the process

‘Oh…Hi Terra, Susan’ Nikita greeted the trainers who passed by them just then

‘Hello Nikky’ they chorused, smiling at her, ‘Boss’ they said in unison to Max, who merely nodded in reply but did not look at them

Max narrowed his eyes at Nikita as she playfully jogged away from him 

‘Okay as you like but I give you one week and I'm sure I’ll win you over’ Max said pointing his index finger at her in a “I’ll get you” signal and jogged past her to turn on the treadmill

Nikita laughed ‘Okay’. She walked past a section of stationary bicycles and reclining cycles, noticing the older looking coach there

‘Hello Manny’ she greeted him warmly

‘Nikita’ Manny replied in his gruff voice, nodding. He was coaching an intense drill with the morning cycling class who all looked out of breath and Nikita could see some ready to quit but their coach was as tough as they come

‘Wanna join us?’ she heard one of the gym clients ask her, gesturing to the cycling group.

She looked at him smiling slightly as she recognized him as the guy who had been trying to get her attention since the first day she signed up

The guy was a sweaty pool each time and when he came close to her, she did all she could to not show he stunk. She had overheard Nora call him out on wearing fresh gym wear. The guy still did not get it. Nikita shrugged, mouthing a 'no'

‘Nah I'm sure she doesn't have the strength for cycling’ quibbled a girl who was dressed in very short shorts and a crop top, raising her bum up slightly as she cycled, giving the guys on the row behind her an eyeful

Nikita eyed her and ignored the comment, going over to the treadmill adjacent to them that Max had set up

‘Carla…be nice’ Max chided. He threw the girl who had made the unsavory comment a stern look. He ran a tight ship and mutual respect was his mantra there. It didn’t matter who you were, if you were rude or ridiculed other clients, he would revoke the gym membership and throw them out

Carla pouted. ‘I was only kidding Maxxy’ she said in a grating voice, batting her lashes at him as she mounted the cycler provocatively, exposing a lot of thighs

Max shook his head and turned away. He helped Nikita get on the treadmill, coming close to her and whispering ‘Sorry about that Nikita’

Nikita sighed ‘Sure. no offence taken’ she mumbled, getting irritated at the sight of Carla trying to draw Max’s attention with her noisy comments and deliberate grunts during exercise as he walked past them to the aerobics class.

Nikita tried to block out the noise and focus on her workout. Soon enough the cycling class ended and they dispersed, allowing her pour her all into the trudgeun/jog/walk routine she had mastered on the treadmill

The last four days she had taken to the place and kept the pace even better than the younger gym clients there. Max had given her well thought out routines to do but she preferred to work alone not joining groups or classes.

One of the girls that had been cycling earlier was cooling off on a seat nearby and watching her. She came close to use the treadmill just as Nikita slowed down her run

'Hi' the girl greeted with a wide smile 'You do this so well' she commented, getting on the machine next to her

'Hi, thanks' Nikita replied, smiling. She looked over to see her fiddling with the buttons, obviously a newbie

'Need help with that?' Nikita said, pausing her workout and going over to assist her

'Yeah thanks, the trainers have their hands full elsewhere' the girl said, looking around and seeing the trainers engrossed with other clients

'Sure, no problem' Nikita said, setting the treadmill to a 3.5 speed "So you can increase the speed a notch as you get more comfortable with the pace' she advised. the girl nodded and began her brisk walk

Nikita returned to her treadmill and continued her trudgeun, setting a pattern for the girl to follow

Max had observed this silently and he was glad she was blending in and making friends already 

This is sure to keep her coming to the gym he thought to himself grinning from ear to ear,  plotting his wooing tactics