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Chapter 1
Making new friends is easy, it’s not killing your old ones that’s hard.
Jade
Jade arranged the mats for the private group that was coming in with a sense of pride. Her Parkour gym, Leap, was the physical manifestation of a long-held dream. The last two years she had spent getting established had been a rollercoaster of success and struggle. Finally, she was making a steady profit.
For her, Parkour wasn’t only a job or a way to make a living, it was a way of life. Something amazing that she loved sharing with anyone with an adventurous spirit. It was an out of the box way to look at the world in which you learned not just how to overcome obstacles but to do it with flare.
Jade’s phone buzzed, letting her know someone had come in the front door. She pasted on a smile and jogged to meet her newest students. The hilarious Southern lady she’d spoken to on the phone said she and her friends were looking for something fun to do together every week. She planned to take them through the basics of Parkour, Mountain climbing, and maybe the trampoline if they had time.
The five women were an interesting mix of people, ranging the spectrum of body shapes and sizes. A woman came towards her with a big smile, teased up red hair, and a t-shirt with the words, ‘Namaste, y’all’, printed in glitter. Jade had to hold back a laugh at the unique image she pulled off flawlessly. Something about the sunny personality that exuded from this woman’s pores reminded her of the person she’d spoken to on the phone.”
Making a guess, she held out her hand. “Are you Val?”
“That’s me.” Her southern accent was unmistakable. “These are my girls.” Pointing to the closest woman, she smiled. “The tiny one is Pixie. To her right is Tari, Cami, and my best girl, Jojo.”
“You just say that because she knows where to buy all the clothes that glitter,” Pixie teased.
Jojo winked and struck a regal pose. “A drag queen without sparkle is like a flower without scent.”
Jade laughed. These were definitely an eclectic mix of women. Pixie looked like her namesake, though she was probably the same height as Jade. The woman had blonde hair and a much more delicate build. The tall, elegant woman next to her, Tari, looked like a runway model hired to display the yoga gear she was wearing to perfect effect. Cami was a medium tall, curvy woman with bright purple hair who stood arm in arm with the African American drag queen. Jojo was impressive, her top a sparkly riot of color. She topped over six feet, and had muscles that impressed even Jade.
She gave them her best professional smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”
“Oh my god, you’re Jade!” Jojo squealed. Jade blushed. Now and then, people recognized her from the ‘Parkour Warriors’ TV show. She had been on the show for almost six years but hadn’t become a featured contestant until year three. “I’ve watched every single one of your episodes. You are one badass bitch.” The way the woman snapped on the last word made her laugh.
“Yeah, that’s me. I’m glad you liked the show.”
Jojo turned to Cami and grabbed her hands. “Seriously, you don’t recognize her? She’s Jade, the tiny one that kicked the asses of all those guys on that show. She’s like, part monkey, part Hercules.”
The purple-haired girl turned with wide eyes. “Oh my god. I loved w-watching you. You put that big, trash-talking m-muscle-head to shame. What was that, in the semifinals?”
Trash-talking wasn’t usually a part of the sport, so Jade knew the event she was talking about. Sometimes new competitors tried to make a name for themselves by hamming up for the camera. Luckily, the fans of the show wanted nothing to do with drama like that.
They preferred to focus on possible love connections or stories about overcoming difficulties. They had loved to drag out the video of the injury that ruined her Olympic chances. They would praise her for overcoming adversity. No one had ever understood how painful it was to be reminded of her unrealized dream.
“Yeah. He didn’t believe that muscles, when they’re too big, are a hindrance in Parkour.” To do well in the sport, you had to be strong, but there was a balance that most people didn’t understand.
“I don’t think too many muscles are ever a problem.” Pixie waggled her eyebrows.
Jade shook her head. “Well, it’s not the muscles, so much as the mass that comes along with them. A lot of the challenges require you to hang by your fingertips, and there is only so much strength you can build in your hands.” They were veering way off topic. “So, Val told me you all are interested in a more non-traditional workout. What made you guys think to try here?”
“Well, Pixie and I,” Val gestured between herself and the small blonde woman, “we’ve recently had babies. We were talking about wanting to get a couple of baby pounds off.”
Jade looked over at the two women with surprise. Sure, maybe they were a little softer around the edges. But there was no extra weight on either woman.
“She said something where our men could hear and they thought it would be a good idea to take us down into their gym.” Pixie laughed. “I don’t mind watching my man lift those heavy weights. But after about ten minutes, I was bored out of my mind.”
Cami laughed. “So then I started teaching them p-pole dancing. It is wonderful exercise. But since the only poles we have are at a strip club or in the m-middle of the Clubhouse, our men would interrupt and we got distracted.” The woman had a slight stutter, but no one seemed to notice. Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “One night when we were w-watching that Warrior show, Jojo suggested it would be fun to do something like that.”
Val spoke up. “So I looked around, and I found this place. I didn’t have any idea you were on that show.”
“Yeah. I was on pretty regularly for four years. When Eric, the co-owner, and I, won the team competition over in Japan and got that big payout, we decided to open up this gym.” Jade gestured around the large warehouse area. “I still do competitions if they’re local, Eric travels anytime he gets a sponsorship or finds a way to finagle it. But I prefer doing Parkour more for fun than for competition. I enjoy teaching others.”
“That’s fantastic,” Jojo said. “I hope I don’t sound like a crazy person, but do you think it’s a good workout routine? Some of their men thought it would be a fun waste of time.”
“Oh yes, it’s definitely a full-body workout. Today, I’m going to run you through a couple of the basic activities we teach. We offer several styles of training here. If this is going to become something regular, then you can either focus on one thing, or cycle through the different activities we offer. Any of them will build your stamina and strength.”
