"Umm, there's kind of a term for people who just sleep together."
"What's the term?" Jamie persisted.
"Ahh...fuck buddies?" Ryan finally revealed.
"Fuck buddies, huh? I must admit I've never heard that one. Do you have a fuck buddy, Ryan?" she asked with a twinkle in her eyes completely enjoying the discomfort in her friend's posture.
"Yeeeah, I have a couple of people that I see occasionally for um..."
"Sex?" Jamie helpfully supplied.
"More or less," she admitted.
"So these are women who feel like you do about relationships?"
"Exactly. They want the same thing that I do, occasional sex and nothing more."
"Do you see these people very often?"
"It depends. I guess I usually see each of them 3 or 4 times a year. But I see my friend Ally more than that. We might see each other 3 or 4 times in a two week period, then we might not see each other for 3 or 4 months. I really like her and we get along great in bed, but we're both really clear that we couldn't ever have a real emotional connection. I think we're too much alike," she admitted.
"But you're missing so much, by never letting anyone get close Ryan," she continued to argue.
"Like what?" she replied, sounding truly curious.
"Like intimacy, and caring, and a depth of feeling that you can't get from casual dating." Jamie was beginning to get frustrated again.
"There's nothing casual about the way I date," Ryan said with a little leer.
"Do you really not understand what I'm getting at?" Jamie moaned as she dropped her head into her hands.
"No, I think I do, Jamie," she reassured her. "I want all those things, too. Just not now. And given that I don't feel that I can commit to one woman, what would you have me do?"
"I don't know, Ryan. It just seems unfair to the women who want more of you and to yourself."
"On one level you may be right," she replied thoughtfully. "But I don't feel that I'm going to be ready for another couple of years. Are you really suggesting that I should be celibate for that long?"
"How long have you gone?" Jamie teased.
"Does it count when I had broken ribs?" she asked hopefully.
"No. I want the able bodied record."
"Hmmm, I guess about 2 weeks or so during finals," she finally replied.
"Two weeks! Do you mean to tell me you have not gone without female companionship for more than two weeks in your adult life?" Jamie was truly floored.
"I love women, Jamie. I really love women. I love meeting them. I love talking to them. I love the chase. I love it when they want to play the game as much as I do. I love pleasing them. I love having someone new all the time. I am never, ever bored," she confessed. "How many women can say that?" she asked in a plaintive challenge.
"I agree that your sex life is exciting Ryan. But who do you confide in? Who do you feel completely comfortable with? Who do you know will always be there for you?"
"Um, well, ahh, you, Jamie," she said with a completely open and trusting expression on her face. "I feel comfortable with you. I confide in you. I know you'll be there for me. I don't have to have sex with you to feel that, do I?" she asked innocently.
"Oh Ryan, that is so sweet," she said as she threw her arms around her neck and gave her a firm hug. "You never cease to surprise me."
"That's just one of my many skills," she replied with a grin as she reached out and affectionately tousled Jamie's hair.
After her last class Jamie walked home and grabbed a salad. She spent an hour preparing for Tuesday's classes then she hopped in her car and drove to the bike shop.
Bill was glad to see her and greeted her warmly. "You are going to love your new wheels," he enthused. As he spoke he weaved his way through the maze of bikes, finally stopping to grasp one and lift it over his head. "Here she is," he said proudly.
Jamie was very pleased. Her new bike was a sleek, shocking day-glo orange. "It even looks fast," she said with delight. The components were top quality, but not the most expensive available. She felt very satisfied about her choices. Bill spent a good ‡ hour going over all of the components and handing her the little instruction booklets for each. He finally had her sit on the bike while it was on a trainer. He adjusted the seat carefully as well as the pedals. He showed her how to clip her new racing shoes into the pedals and had her practice unlocking them a few times.
Next she had to decide on what type of bike rack to buy. They discussed all of the available options before choosing a light, collapsible model that rested on the trunk and rear bumper of her car.
"How can I protect my new beauty from theft?" she inquired.
"Only one way I know of," he replied sagely. "Keep your butt on the seat!" he barked out a laugh as he said this.
"Don't any of those locks work?" she pointed at the array of cumbersome locks on the wall.
"They work very well if you are protecting your bike from someone who doesn't really want it," he flatly stated.
"I really want to be able to take it to campus. I think the only way I'll get all my training in is to ride everywhere," she lamented.
"I might have a solution for you," he said. "I got a nice light mountain bike in as a trade the other day. It's a good bike and I think it would fit you perfectly. It cost about $1800 when new but I can let you have it for $200. It's about 5 years old and the paint is a little scratched up, but I put new tires and brake pads on it. And," he added knowledgeably, "one good thing about doing some of your training on a heavier bike is that your road bike will feel like air. You could also tag along on some of Ryan's night time rides up on Mt. Tam."
"I didn't know she rode up there," she admitted.
"Oh, it's quite a scene," he laughed, "you've got to get her to take you, but bring some band aids. It's a tough group," he said with a wink.
Jamie and Bill loaded both bikes onto the new carrier. She drove home and immediately hopped on her road bike and took it for a spin. She loved the freedom she felt from being able to speed along the streets of Berkeley. I really think I'm going to like this, she thought to herself with a contented smile.
After a pleasant hour riding her road bike Jamie went home to change into her workout clothes. She tossed sweats over her Lycra and headed to the gym.
As she was checking in, she spotted the manager that she had spoken with when she first visited the gym. "Hi," she said in her usual friendly manner. "Remember me?"
"Yes, I sure do," the woman responded. "Did you decide to join?"
"Yeah I did. I really like it here. My trainer was also very impressed."
"I didn't know you had your own trainer," she replied.
"Yeah, she's working at a gym in the City now, but she's looking for a change. She's getting more women clients in the East Bay and I think she'd prefer to work over here now," she embellished.
"Have her look me up the next time she's in," the woman responded. "Maybe we could make her an offer to join us."
"Actually, I'm her business manager," she said confidently as the embellishment switched to outright lies. "What kind of a deal would you cut her," she demanded, getting right down to business.
They moved into the manager's office, where Jamie casually took a chair. "Our standard deal is that independent trainers pay us $200 a month to be able to use the facilities. There is no additional charge when they work with a member but when they have an outside client they or the client pay us $10 per hour."
"Hmm, how many hours a week do most of your trainers book?" she asked.
"Not a lot, probably 5 or so. Some book up to 10."
"So if my trainer booked 15-20 hours a week, what could you do for her?"
"I could reduce the monthly fee," she offered.
"By how much?" Jamie inquired.
"Half?" she replied a bit tentatively.
"That's fair," Jamie agreed. "But I'd like her to get some benefit from the new members she will bring in to the club. The monthly fee for a member is $
85 a month right?"
"Right."
"And Ryan would pay you $100 to use the facilities if she worked 15 hours a week, right?"
"Right again."
"Would you agree to waive her fee altogether if she brought in 5 new members?"
The manager thought about that for a moment before she said, "Yes, I would. We make most of our money off the monthly fee anyway, so that would help both of us," she admitted.
"Do you need any more trainers on staff right now?" Jamie decided she might as well go for broke.
"Only the really unattractive hours, like 6 a.m.," she offered tentatively.
"How much per hour?" Jamie sensed a weakness.
"$15?" she replied hopefully.
"Nope," Jamie was unmoved. "I couldn't let her work those hours for less than $25 per hour."
"How many hours is she available?" the woman asked.
Jamie looked at her appointment book thoughtfully. Absolutely nothing about Ryan's schedule was written there, but she thought she remembered that she was free until 8 a.m. "She's available from 5:30-7:30 Monday through Friday," she stated confidently.
"You have a deal," the woman replied as she extended her hand, breathing a sigh of relief that Jamie was not selling life insurance, or swamp land for that matter.
After she left the office Jamie rubbed her hands together as she scouted the gym. "Ahh, potential patsies," she enthused. She watched each of the women carefully from her position on a treadmill. Finally she spotted one woman who looked both well off and clueless. Jamie hopped off the treadmill and positioned herself next to the confused woman. "Do you need help?" she asked gently.
"Oh, yeah, I guess I do," the woman agreed. "I had someone explain this machine to me last week, but now I've forgotten how to adjust it."
"I get confused too," Jamie admitted. "That's why I've started to work with a trainer," she said conspiratorially.
"A trainer, huh? They tried to get me to sign up with one when I first came here, but I didn't really like the woman who works here at this time of day," she said regretfully.
"Why don't you try mine?" Jamie inquired casually. "I'm certain you would like her. Everyone does. She's normally down on the Peninsula, but she's devoting a few days a week to her clients in the East Bay now. She is simply fabulous." She uttered this last statement as she produced Ryan's business card, which she had stolen when Ryan wasn't looking.
"Is she really expensive? I don't want to spend a lot," she replied.
"Oh she's terribly expensive!" Jamie moaned. "It's absolutely highway robbery! But she's so wonderful that she can get away with it." If there was one thing Jamie was sure of it was that rich people loved to moan about how much things cost. But they also loved to overpay for everything that was trendy. "She charges me $125 but I heard that her rates are going up again! I'm going to have to hock my Porsche if she charges me much more. I see her 3 times a week, now, and it really adds up."
"Wow, that really is a lot. Do you really think it's worth it?"
Jamie leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "I went to a benefit last week in a sleek little Dolce and Gabana sheath. I got more attention in that dress than I knew how to handle. My entire body has changed since I started to work with Ryan. I think she's worth 3 times what I pay her," she confided. "But don't tell her that!" she said with a hearty laugh.
"I have my 15 year college reunion coming up this spring. If she could get me in shape for that I'd be eternally grateful."
"That's the attitude!" Jamie enthused. "Your classmates will think you've found the fountain of youth! Why don't you give me your number and I'll have Ryan call you," she said with a wink.
After two more visits to the club Jamie had filled all of Ryan's afternoon time slots. Now all that was left was to tell Ryan that she had a new job.
After class on Friday they sat at their usual spot and sipped their juice. "Um Ryan," she started nervously, "I've been interfering in your personal life." She glanced down at the ground, seemingly in shame.
"You didn't find me a steady girlfriend, did you?" she asked with a mock scowl.
"No, nothing like that. Remember when you said you would rather work on this side of the Bay?" she asked with a hopeful little smile.
"Yeaaah," Ryan slowly drawled.
"Did you mean that?" another little smile.
"Yeaaah."
"Well, I kind of got you a job," she finally admitted.
"You got me a what?!" Ryan asked in shock.
"I got you a job?" she restated hesitantly.
Ryan's face broke into an indulgent smile. "Do I get to learn the details, or do I just show up and get my uniform? I don't mind flipping burgers but I hate to cook French fries. It's too hard to get the oil out of my hair."
"No silly," she laughed as she slapped her lightly on the shoulder. "I got you a job at 'Women Power' and I think you're really going to like it."
Ryan continued to look at her with a quizzical little smile on her face so Jamie launched into her sales pitch. "They want you to work every morning before school. I know you like to get up early and I thought that you could work the early shift to avoid traffic. So that's from 5:30-7:30. They wanted to pay you $15 per hour, but I held out for $25," she said proudly. She paused a millisecond for a breath. "Then they agreed to let you train people there without having to pay a monthly fee as long as you bring in 5 new members," another tiny pause. "They will charge you $10 per hour to train your private clients, but if it's a client that you bring in or that's already a member you don't have to pay at all," longer pause for a bigger breath. "Oh, and I got you 7 new private clients who each agree to pay you $125 per hour. And that fills up all your free afternoon time slots. How'd I do?" she let out all of her most recent breath and looked at Ryan's stunned face.
The silence went on for quite a while as Ryan continued to stare at her with a slightly opened mouth. "Well, gosh. I was working at a place I didn't like, making no money, working bad hours when I was tired, having no social life, and it forced me to drive my bike through rush hour traffic every afternoon. You found me a job where I work half the hours for about the same money, during the hours I like, and I get my evenings back. You also save me $250 a month in fees, and have found me new clients worth $875 a week," here she paused for effect. "I guess you did okay," she stated casually. After a moment her eyes grew playful. She rose from her chair and stood towering over Jamie. "You know what I have to do, don't you?" she inquired sternly.
"N… n… no," replied Jamie, a little afraid of her reaction to her meddling.
"This," she said as she placed her large hands around Jamie's small waist and effortlessly lifted her to her feet. Those deep blue eyes gazed at her in wonder, as Ryan leaned close and gave her chaste kisses on each cheek, which was followed by a very large, very expressive full body hug. "That is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me, Jamie," she whispered in her ear as tears formed in her eyes. "I don't know how to thank you," she said hoarsely.
Jamie's eyes drifted shut as she relaxed completely into the tender hug. She would have been content to stay just that way for the rest of the day but Ryan finally released her. "I have to admit I had selfish reasons," Jamie said, a bit choked up herself. "I wanted you to be available to go on some evening bike rides with me. I actually heard about some hot ones on Mt. Tam," she winked.
"We'd better get to work if you want to do those, kiddo. That's where the big girls go," she said wisely.
"You're a big girl, can't I go with you?" she inquired saucily.
"I'll take you anywhere you want to go, Jamie, anywhere at all," she replied seriously as she locked her clear blue eyes onto Jamie's smiling face.
Now that Jamie felt comfortable with both of her bikes and Ryan had her new work schedule all sorted out they sat down to devise their training strategy. Ryan agreed that Jamie needed to be on one of her bikes as much as possible. So Jamie decided to ride everywhere in Berkeley and Oakland, rather than take her car. These short ri
des would give her some saddle time and get her used to being on the bike. They also agreed that she needed at least two days of long slow distance rides per week. Ryan suggested that she start off at 15 miles twice a week. She would then increase the distance week by week. She also recommended that Jamie do a very strenuous hill climb every week. Jamie decided that she would start climbing the Berkeley hills behind campus.
They agreed to meet at the gym 3 afternoons a week after Ryan's last class. Since there were 6 main muscle groups Ryan suggested that they work on two groups per visit. She also suggested that they work on Jamie's legs on a day that she did not ride her bike.
On the following Monday, Jamie met Ryan at the gym at precisely 4:00 p.m. Jamie was dressed in a navy blue tank top which covered a gray sports bra. Her thigh length shorts were also gray Lycra and her slouchy white socks peeked out from her high top cross trainers. Ryan wore her new 'Women Power' polo shirt. The black shirt was cut generously, allowing her plenty of room to move but hiding her curves. 'Women Power' was written in lavender scrip across her left breast. 'Personal Trainer' was printed across the back in 2 inch block letters, also in lavender. The sleeves ended just above her elbows, effectively hiding her biceps. I can't believe I go to the gym with her and I still don't get to see her muscles! Black nylon warm up pants also blocked Jamie's enjoyment of Ryan's leg muscles.
Jamie was pleased to see that Ryan looked right at home even though it was her first day as an employee. She greeted Jamie warmly when she entered the work out area. "Hi there, boss," she grinned. "Have you gotten me a raise yet? This is my third hour here, you know."
Jamie just gave her a winning smile as an answer. "So today we're doing trunk and shoulders, huh, Coach?"
"Yep. Did you get your ride in this afternoon? I was kind of jealous when I was in my Chem lab, thinking about you out there pedaling away," Ryan said wistfully.
"I sure did. That trip computer you talked me into is really great. It let me keep a good cadence, just like you told me. I practiced trying to pedal in a smooth circle and trying to pull on the upstroke as well as push on the downstroke. And I've got to tell you, that bike is a dream. I would have kept riding years ago if I had a bike like that. It just feels so effortless."
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