“Hi, how many?”
I smiled at her. “One in Hope’s section, please.”
Her posture dropped, and she lost the vibrancy she’d shown when I entered. “Hope’s not in today.”
“Do you know when she’s working next?”
She shook her head. “I’m not allowed to say.”
I leaned forward, giving her a good view of my arms. “What’s your name?”
“Adriane.”
“Adriane.” Her name rolled off my tongue, and she shuddered, giving the effect I wanted. “Adriane, it would mean a lot to me if you told me when she’ll be back. I promise I won’t tell anyone you told me. She was a really good waitress, and my friend and I were a bunch of drunk asses the other day. I wanted to apologize.”
She blinked at me. “Oh. Well…” She looked down at a piece of paper. “Looks like she’s scheduled tomorrow.”
I smiled and took her hand in mine. “Thank you.”
“Y-you’re welcome.”
I walked through the restaurant and out the back door to the parking lot and my awaiting truck. As I headed off, I formed a plan. Dex was right, as much as I hated to admit it—I had to fuck Hope, and soon. Only after, with a clear head, could I take her on a date. That was if she said yes.
I’d given up trying to figure out what was wrong with me, and gave in to the devil in me that wanted her flesh.
When I walked into the gym with a smile on my face, I felt good. The emotion swiftly vanished when I saw our receptionist and scheduler, Dawn, leaning over the front desk and whispering frantically with Aaron, our youngest trainer.
My neck tensed and my jaw clenched as I walked forward. Something was wrong. Dawn’s eyes widened when she looked up and saw me.
“H-hi, boss.”
I looked between her and Aaron—who looked so nervous he’d turned white.
“What is it?”
“Well, Monica had me come in today for a few clients.”
Dawn bit her bottom lip. “Andrew, Ashley, and Teri.”
I turned my neck, my whole body tensing up, my fingers curling up to a fist. “Those are my clients.” They both nodded, and Aaron turned pale. “Is she here?”
Dawn shook her head. “She’s off today.”
“Then she just caught a break, didn’t she?”
Aaron leaned forward. “Jared, I swear I didn’t have anything to do with it.”
I held my hand out to him, and he slipped his in mine for a shake. “You’re good, man. Calm down.”
“If he’d been Shone…” Dawn trailed off.
I nodded. “That’s a different story.” I reached out for the week’s schedule. It was all marked up, many spots with my name crossed off. The following day was the boxing class, and I tapped my finger over the event.
“Dawn, I hired you, and you’ve been a great employee. That being said, I have to ask you where your allegiance lies.”
She wasted no time responding. “Monica talks down to me like I’m a fucking incompetent toddler. She’s always telling me I need to lose weight because I represent the gym.”
Aaron’s eyes snapped to her figure, and he slowly looked up and down the length of her body. Kid had it bad for her.
I stared at her and shook my head. Dawn was petite, five-two and maybe weighed 110 pounds soaking wet. She was healthy and looked good. Her brown hair and brown eyes added to the girl-next-door look she had going on. Many of our female clients saw her and wanted to look like her. They didn’t want to be like Monica.
I let out a strained breath. “Don’t lose a damn pound. You look great, and it’s obvious Monica and I no longer see eye to eye on what this gym represents.” She smiled at me and played with the zipper on her hoodie. I turned to Aaron next. “How about you?”
“I know I’m still a newbie and all, but you took me under your wing. I’ve seen the underhanded shit she’s done to you.” He held out his fist. “I’m all yours.”
I bumped his offered fist and nodded. “Okay, good.” I looked back down at that damn boxing class. “Do you have the list of people signed up for the Thursday class?”
Dawn nodded. “Yeah. There are six people, and most of them are new members.”
“Call them all up and tell them it’s been cancelled for Thursday and moved to tonight.” I looked to Aaron. “You up to teach a class?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You’ve been taking my class and helping me for months. Plus, I’ve been watching you with your clients. Time for the next level. Besides, it’s a small class—you’ll do great.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll be able to help out if you need me, and we can talk this afternoon if you need any tips.” I looked back to the schedule. Dex would be in later, along with Alexa. She’d had more than one blowout with Monica in the past, so I knew she would be on my side. By some luck, Monica’s followers were all off for the afternoon as most of their clients were in the morning.
“We’ll be good today, but not a word can be said to Candice, Jordan, Mike, or Stacie.” They both nodded. I looked up at the clock above their heads. It was almost noon, and Andrew wouldn’t be in for about an hour. “I’ve got to do some things in the office.”
I flipped the schedule around and pushed it toward Dawn before walking around the desk.
“Boss?” Dawn stopped me, and I turned back to her. “I know it’s been rough for you lately, and I’m pretty sure you’ve been thinking about your future here. If you leave, will you take me with you? I like working for you, but I’d have to quit if you left and Monica took complete control.”
Her words gave me a pick-me-up, and I smiled at her. “Deal.”
“Me, too!”
I rolled my eyes as Aaron raised his hand. “Back to work.”
I closed the office door behind me and collapsed into my chair. It felt great to have the support of my employees, and Dawn’s admission along with the support of some of my other employees had me thinking more and more about opening a place on my own.
The gym may have been Monica’s idea, but it’d been my skill that got it off the ground and gave it four successful years. With us no longer together, our working relationship had gone from strained to bad. Our business was suffering because of it and had become a sinking ship in my mind.
Dex had a large client base that Monica was shifting to Shone, and her degrading remarks to Dawn pissed me off. Dawn was the one to find and set up our scheduling software. She kept us a well-oiled machine. Alexa was not only a trainer but a nutritionist as well, and she and Monica did not mix well. Add in an eager Aaron, who was great with every member I’d seen him come in contact with, and they made for a great team.
I flipped through my contacts and pulled up the numbers for my lawyer, and my friend, Dave, who was a commercial real estate agent. It wasn’t the right time for it, but it was the necessary time to get things moving. For my own mental health, I needed to separate from Monica completely.
Chapter 5
Aaron did a great job teaching the beginner’s boxing class. So well, in fact, a few of his students signed up for personal training with him. He seemed so excited.
The call with my lawyer went well, and he started the paperwork to separate me from Title Fitness. Luckily, we’d been talked into a Partnership Agreement when we opened up, something I was very thankful for as it was going to make what would’ve been a messy separation so much easier. However, I wasn’t happy when he told me it would take about ninety days for everything to settle and that he needed to meet with both of us.
In other words, I needed to get a new place very soon. There was bound to be a shit storm when Monica found out I planned on opening my own place with half our employees.
We had signed a five-year lease, and there were only ten months left on the contract. She could hop along by herself in that time.
For the first time in months, I felt pretty good, and nothing was going to knock me down—not even Monica’s persistent phone calls. My phone rang again on the drive to the gym, and for the fifth time in a row, I hit ignore. I knew she was pissed about the cancelled class. Two could play her little game.