AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The gym is my happy place.” She pressed a few buttons and began to peddle. “I couldn’t stay away.”
I nodded, considering. “I almost did stop coming to the gym,” I said.
Yasmine looked at me askance. “Why?”
I shrugged self-consciously and began peddling. “Michael asked me to,” I admitted. “Said that he didn’t want me to get too muscular and manly-looking.”
“Wait, he told you not to work out because he didn’t want you to get too muscular-looking?”
I shrugged again. “Yeah.”
“Didn’t you say that he’s a college football player?”
I tilted my head, confused. “Yeah?”
“Then he should know that women don’t build muscle like men.” Yasmine let out a breath. “We don’t have the makings for it. The only time women get those huge muscles and the thick necks is when they’re actively training to be bodybuilders. The layperson doesn’t get that kind of physique.”
“I guess.” I peddled a little harder. “I don’t think he meant anything harmful by it.”
Yasmine didn’t say anything to that.
We peddled in silence for a few more minutes before Yasmine stopped and stretched her hands above her head. “You ready to hit the weights?”
“Sure, let’s do it.”
We hopped off of the bikes and weaved our way through the machines. Stopping at a station with an Olympic bar, Yasmine said, “Hold down this station. I’ll be right back.” Whistling a lyric-less tune, she bounced over to the weight racks.
As I watched her ponder over a few head-sized weights, I heard, “Excuse me, are you using this bar?”
Turning toward the voice, I was startled to find an upper arm the circumference of my leg. My eyes slowly traveled the distance from bicep to eyes and was greeted with a pair of moss-colored irises. Twin dimples, like commas, danced in and out of the man’s cheeks as he smiled. His peaches-and-cream complexion colored slightly as I continued my inspection. I followed the smooth slope of his nose down to a pair of full lips. My watch stayed blissfully, mercifully, thankfully silent.
“Um, yes.” I cleared the squeak from my throat. “So sorry, um, my friend and I are starting our workout—she’s over there, gathering some weights—sorry that it’s taking so long—”
“Not a problem, princess.” His grin grew wider as I blushed. “Hey, maybe after we leave here, we could grab a—”
“Nice, cold shower?” Yasmine said sweetly. She dropped the weights under the bar unceremoniously. “I’m sure my friend is flattered, but she’s engaged.”
Sensing danger in Yasmine’s voice and teeth-baring smile, the man held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “Hey, I didn’t mean any harm. You ladies have a nice day.” He sauntered over to an Olympic bar about 20 feet away. One that, I realized, had been empty the whole time. Yasmine watched him load the bar with her lips pursed and her look sour. “Men,” she muttered.
After watching him for a moment more, she turned to me. “Listen,” she said. “I sense that I’m gonna have to say this eventually, so I might as well say it now. Because I like you, I’m not gonna even sugarcoat it, bien?”
Inwardly, I laughed. She must like a lot of people, I thought. In the one day that I had been with the band, she had given it straight to almost everyone. Instead, I said, “Got it. What’s up?”
“Stop being so fuckin’ apologetic for your existence, manita.” When I frowned in confusion, Yasmine sighed.
“Look, I heard you talking to that pendejo when I was gathering the weights. You were apologizing to him for taking the space, but look around you.” She gestured to all of the empty bars. “There are at least three other bars that he could’ve used. He was flirting with you, claro, pero he was being purposely deceptive, asking if you were using the bar. He was asking about the space to get closer to you. All while ignoring that huge rock on your finger.
“Alicia, you have a strength and fire in you. And you’re a badass photog. And you’re fuckin’ tall as shit, Dios Mio. Own all of that. Don’t be a smaller, compressed version of yourself. Stop apologizing for taking up space in this world. Let that fire get some oxygen and grow into a force to be reckoned with. Take up more space. Elbow a few people out of the way, even. But above all else, only apologize for things you actually did wrong. Otherwise, the words become meaningless, verdad que si?”
Though I couldn’t understand the Spanish trickling into her speech, the meaning was clear. I nodded. Shame shuddered through my body, leaving pins and needles in its wake. Yasmine’s look and my review of the situation with Muscle Man made me wonder: when had I become this version of myself?
Yasmine nodded. “That’s better. Now, manita, go get your weights. The real fun begins.”
Something that Yasmine had (probably purposely) neglected to mention was that she used to be a full-time personal trainer before she gave it up to be a full-time musician. The easy-to-manage, chill workout that I thought I was going to have trickled away with each new layer of sweat. Soon, I wondered if I had any water left in my body. No wonder Danny disappeared, I thought. Even my thoughts gasped for more air.
Toward the end of the workout, Yasmine handed me one of her towels. I wiped the sweat out of my eyes gratefully. “How are you feeling?” she asked.
I looked at her with what I hoped was an incredulous look, but in reality, was probably a slightly deranged look.
