She admitted that a pending the last few hours of your day getting a workout in might have been an odd choice for some people, but in her mind it was the perfect way to minimize stress for the busy week she knew was ahead. It was also good for relieving any sore muscles she might have gotten from laying in bed all day. Plus, she just loved the atmosphere of hanging out in the gym at night from all the other times she’s tried it. She knew it would be the most spacious, relaxing, and comfortably private for her when most everybody else had already finished their routines and gone home.
Marissa was so lucky that her friend recommended her to the Goal Body Gym. It was one of those new, high-tech, trendy places with the exercise room in its own underground level away from any perving eyes. And the best part was that it’s monthly membership was so much more reasonably priced than any other place she’d heard about. The front entrance had a fully stocked nutrition bar, so she’d never have to worry about packing snacks, and the weight room had all these cool kinds of machines for muscles she never even knew could be trained. And most extra of all, was the fact that each of the locker rooms had their own saunas next door (which she was never brave enough to try, but maybe some day...?)
When she got there, she saw that her guess had been right on the money; there was nobody inside save for two or three other night-goers like her and some of the personal trainers, who were getting a little bit of their routine in before clocking out. She wasn’t sure when exactly they were closing, so she went to go change quickly into her athletic gear, a cropped tee and a pair of leggings, before heading right over to the machines. She got halfway through her third set on the seated row before someone came up to her:
“Woo! Marissa. You brought your game today, huh?” said a strong, peppy voice from behind.
Her heart went aflutter as soon as she heard it. She glanced over her shoulder at the tall man bearing in his pearly white grin at her. Even from underneath the black, sleeveless top he wore, she could tell his core was shredded to the extreme just from the way the spandex hugged it. The same could also be said of his legs, which bulged through his sweatpants at the thighs like they could run laps all day like a cheetah.
“Uh...O-Oh, hey, Julian.” She answered with her eyes still wandering. “Fancy seeing you here.”
For every gym Marissa had ever joined, she made it a point to get at least acquainted with her favorite trainer, and for this one, it was Julian. She knew it would be him right from the first day, when she saw his warm, encouraging personality stand out among his friends. God, how an affectionate animal of a man like him could just melt her. And to top it off, he was a natural ginger with a dusting of light golden hairs along his beefy arms that gave him a kind of exotic flair. At times, she likened him to this romantic picture of an Old Norse warrior stuck in modern day.
“...so then, I had to take Baxter to the vet to get it dislodged.” She heard him said, not sure of when she tuned out. “And that’s why I traded shifts with someone else to make it in this late.”
“Wow! That’s so funny. Haha!” She tried playing it by ear. “Um, who’s Baxter again?”
“He’s my chocolate lab. You met him once before at the park remember?”
“Oh! Right, right. How could I forget.” She could tell she was already floundering. “That’s really cool of you.”
“Cool...” He returned with his usual carefree swagger. Somehow, she knew he just let her off the hook with that. “Hey Mari, you wanna workout together? I wasn’t really thinking it until I noticed that perfume you’re wearing is damn good, and I’m digging it.”
She raised an eyebrow and only just noticed he had been sniffing the air around her. Could it have been the tonic she took? Was this what her aunt had meant about men who showed “preexisting attraction” to her?
“Yeah, sure. I’d love to join you.” At any rate, she wasn’t about to look a gift horse this pretty in the mouth.
Julian then guided her throughout just a small portion of his intense-style exercises, from side extensions to pull-ups and a bunch aerobics in between. Every few minutes of it made her want to keel over, but Julian kept pushing her on through the pain with some motivating words and even a congratulatory butt grab, which she assumed before was just between guys.
“Man, I still can get over how GOOD you smell.” He said walking back to lockers with her after they finished. “What even is that vanilla?”
“Uh, yeah. It’s a...special brand from overseas. My aunt sent it to me.”
“Well, you’ve got to tell me where she ordered it, because I gotta get some for my girlfriend to wear. Whenever I finally get one, that is.”
She parted ways promising to tell him about it another day upstairs at the juice bar. Her whole time changing, she was filled with regrets of taking it a step further with him. Of never taking it a step further with him. Julian was like a guy straight out of her dreams, but she never really could tell if he was interested. Would he even be okay with finding out what she was into? Would she be alone forever unless she found someone who was? All these familiar doubts kept on stewing in her mind, until she stopped and remembered what was different this time: the vials that were sitting in her purse. She picked one up and gazed at it thoughtfully.
“What if I could make him mine right now?” She said darkly and glad that there wasn’t anyone around to hear her.
It might have been a crazy thing to try, but now was the perfect time to see if her aunt’s words were more than just moonshine. She finished up in a flash before circling around to the men’s locker room to find him.
“Julian, wait!” She found him easily, mostly changed into his street clothes. Above all, she was probably the most relieved to learn that they were the last two people in the gym.
“Mari, what’s up?” If she didn’t know better, she could have sworn he seemed happier to see her than before.
“I...I got something for you...” She held up the tonic to him anxiously, unsure of what she was really doing. “It’s, uh, an electrolyte
booster. Something else my aunt sent me. I wanted you to tell me if it’s any good, ‘cause I was thinking about requesting it as a recipe for everyone here to have.”
“Sweet, I’m always looking to try something new!” And without much ado, he took off the stopper and chugged it all down in one swig.
Marissa couldn’t believe she had just made him do that. She had just been so enthralled with the possibility that she felt nothing for it until now that it was too late. And, oh no. She didn’t bother to check which one she gave him! They weren’t all the same!
Snatching back the vial from Julian’s hand she looks at the little bit of liquid left inside it and sees that it’s...