When I Knew

by Jayrin Park

  I got into my car and drove frantically to the location my father had sent me. I was a little scared of the location of the gym. Downtown wasn’t exactly the safest place.

  I finally arrived at the gym. I looked at the large signboard that held the name of the gym.

  “Fitness with the Pears?” I readout. It was a weird name for a gym. I pushed open the door of the gym and looked around for my parents. The gym was a little crowded. Everyone was too busy to notice me enter.

  I spotted my dad and my mum talking to a tall, muscular man. He was good looking from where I stood. He had on a wife beater that showed his biceps and triceps. His hair was brown and tousled. I bit my lips as I stared at him.

  I walked up to them to get a closer look at the man’s face. He was just like I had imagined. He was beautiful. He had brown eyes and full rosy pink lips. His chiseled jaw was neatly framed with a clean heavy-stubbled beard.

  “I’m here! I’m here!” I alerted them of my arrival.

  My eyes hadn’t even left the instructor’s body. I touched the corner of my mouth to see if I was drooling. He noticed me, and our eyes locked. His eyes scanned my body while mine scanned his.

  “You’re late!” my mother scolded. I rolled my eyes at her. I knew she was going to ruin the moment I was having with this good-looking instructor.

  “I overslept, I’m sorry. Sorry, Dad.”

  “It’s okay, Lela, let’s just start,” my father smiled at me. I was pretty sure I heard my mother scoff. I ignored her completely and focused on the dashing instructor that stood in front of me with his hands folded across his chest, flexing his biceps.

  “Hi Lela, I’m Mike. I’ll be your instructor for this program,” he said extending his hand. My eyes didn’t leave his warm brown eyes as we shook hands. His hands felt firm but soft as well. His voice was just as pleasing as he looked. If I wasn’t happy about the gym before, I was definitely happy now.

  Chapter 3 - Thin

  Mike Pearson

  I was getting a little impatient waiting for my client’s daughter. I hated waiting so much. It had been over half an hour, and she still hadn’t shown up. I swung my hands back and forth as I waited awkwardly in front of the two older people.

  “Maybe we should start without her,” Lisa said. I nodded in agreement. Their daughter didn’t seem interested in working out.

  “Let’s start with a little cardio because it’s your first day. I don’t want you feeling sore everywhere,” I said to them. They nodded at me.

  “It hasn’t even started, and I feel sore already,” Tom sighed.

  “Don’t be lazy, baby,” Lisa pinched her husband’s cheeks and smiled at him. They looked so in love. Seeing them like that together made me remember Camilla. I suddenly felt unmotivated to do anything.

  “I’m here, I’m here!” A female voice brought me out of my pity party. I looked to where the voice had come from and saw a figure moving closer to us. I assumed immediately it had to be the daughter we had been waiting for. The resemblance to Lisa was so uncanny.

  She was beautiful. Her eyes looked like the sky. Even with her blonde hair in a messy bun, she was still the prettiest girl in the room. My eyes roamed her body. She had a wasp waist and well-rounded hips. A little cleavage surfaced in her sports bra.

  “You’re late, Lela,” Lisa scolded her.

  “I overslept, I’m sorry.” Her voice was soft but still had a little power to it. I didn’t miss her eye roll. I could already tell she was one of the feisty ones.

  “Dad, I’m sorry,” she pouted at her father. She was definitely a daddy’s girl.

  “It’s okay, Lela, let’s just start,” Tom said, trying to break up the tension between the two women. I nodded and introduced myself again to their daughter, Lela.

  I led them to some equipment I had lined up.

  “So, I drew out a plan, and we’re going to start with some cardio,” I started. They all nodded. I could still feel Lela’s eyes moving up and down my body.

  I handed each of them jump ropes. Lela’s hand brushed up against mine as I handed her a jump rope. Her hands felt smooth and soft. Our eyes lingered with each other’s for some seconds before we both realized, and we looked away. I quickly turned my attention back to her parents hoping they hadn’t noticed our interaction.

  “I’m going to get you to do a hundred jumps with that rope,” I stated. Lisa and Lela nodded while Tom groaned.

  “You can do it. You don’t have to jump as fast as you can,” I tried to give him a little pep talk. I was mainly focused on Tom, as Shawn had told me the personal training was mostly for him.

  I indistinctly glanced at Lela as they began to jump. I felt like a creep, but I couldn’t stop looking at her. There was something intriguing about her. She had innocent baby blue eyes, but something about them yelled, “Don’t mess with me.” Her eyes were focused on the mirror in front of her.

  “Done.” She dropped the rope in front of me, breathing heavily.

  “Someone’s a show-off,” I tilted my head to the side and smiled.

  “How do you think I got this body?” She used her hands to emphasize her curves. My eyes followed her hands carefully.

  “There are lots of ways people get it done. Dr. Ben down the corner give bodies like this all the time,” I joked.

  “No knife marks here, I can assure you,” she shot back. “So, do I have to wait for them to finish?”

  “Not really, you can use the treadmill while you wait.”

  “Okay, umm…” She looked like she was trying to remember my name.

  “Mike.”

  “Yes, Mike. I’ll be over at the treadmills,” she said, walking away from me. It took every bone in my body to stop myself from staring as she walked.

  “Ninety,” Tom said loud enough for me to hear.

  “We both know that’s a lie, Tom,” I chuckled at him, “You can do it. How are you hanging, Lisa?”

  “I’m almost…done.” I could barely hear her over her loud breathing.

  “Okay.” I turned my head back to see how Lela was fairing, and she was doing well on the treadmill. I wanted to walk over to where she stood, but I advised myself not to. Tom needed this program more, and I wasn’t going to abandon him. It felt nice being back at the gym. I hadn’t realized I missed it so much until I came back. Seeing people get more motivation each time I spoke made me excited, but right now, I wasn’t feeling as enthusiastic as I ought to be.

  * * *

  Another day in the gym and my excitement of coming back had gone down a lot more. I prepped the equipment needed for the day and waited for Tom and Lisa. I was worried that Lela was going to come late again – and I was right. This was the third time in a row we’d had to wait for Lela. She was an hour late this time. Her delay didn’t sit well with me, and her father insisted for us not to start until she came.

  “She’ll be here, don’t worry,” Tom assured her.

  “Honey, we don’t have to continue the program with her, you know?” Lisa looked around the gym impatiently.

  “But we have to. This is a family thing, remember,” Tom said.

  I rubbed the back of my neck to ease my frustration. They were lucky I hadn’t found another client yet.

  “Ugh! Everything is so loud and bright,” Lela said. We hadn’t even realized she had walked in. Her eyes were covered with large sunshades, and she had a cup of coffee in her hand.

  “God, I have a headache,” she groaned.

  “Don’t you have the decency not to keep others waiting?” I knew it wasn’t my place, but I was angry, and my patience had worn thin.

  “Don’t yell at me, sheesh, you’re not my father.”

  I clenched my jaw and counted to ten in my head. I wasn’t about to lose our gym customers because I couldn’t handle tardiness.

  “I apologize. I just don’t like waiting, that’s all,” I said politely.

  “Nonsense, we should be the ones apologizing for our daughter’s behavior,” Lisa eyed Lel
a where she stood. Lela sat on the ground in front of us.

  “You guys can start without me. I’ll join you when the banging of my head has reduced,” Lela made a motion with her hand that we continue.

  “Don’t do anything Steve wouldn’t do,” I thought to myself. I ignored her completely and addressed her parents. Just when I thought I had clients that were going to make my coming back to the gym rosy. Lela was going to be a pain. I could see it. I sighed and carried on with the training.

  Chapter 4 - Burden

  Lela Olsen

  I knew I was being a pain in everyone’s flesh by coming late, but I really didn’t want to be here. My mum and I had been fighting more than normal since we began the gym. The gym had brought more harm than good to us as a family. The only motivation I had for coming back was the hot gym instructor.

  My work was starting to become a lot more stressful too. I had been getting a lot of offers to review places now that my blog had a bigger audience. Between reviewing clubs and restaurants at night and getting up early for the gym, I was always worn out from the lack of sleep I had – hence my lateness to the gym. No one had asked me why I was late. All I got were evil stares and yells from my mother and pity faces from my father.

  “Could I speak with you?” Mike said interrupting my thoughts. I nodded and stopped the treadmill.

  “You want to speak with me?” I asked him. I was a little surprised. Since I got to the gym, we’d never had a ‘could I speak to you’ moment. This was new.

  “Yeah, it’s about your lateness to the gym,” he sighed.

  “I already apologized to everyone.”

  “You do that all the time, but I know you’d still come late tomorrow. I personally don’t like people who come late all the time, but I’m willing to bear your tardiness because of your father,” he sighed.

  “I’m not tardy, okay? I just have a lot going on...”

  “You do? Then why don’t you let us know you’ll be late beforehand like a normal person?”

  “If I ever did that, it would be to inform everyone I wasn’t going to be around,” I shrugged.

  “At least consider your father, okay?” he said, turning around to walk away.

  “You think that’s not the only reason I’m here? I barely get any sleep, and I still try to make it on time for the gym, only for everyone to hassle me. Maybe I should just never show up,” I said, getting down from the treadmill and looking around for my little gym bag.

  “Wait! Wait! I didn’t say you should leave. Look, I’m sorry, okay. I just got back to the gym and was hoping everything would run smoothly, but it isn’t as rosy as I wanted because you keep coming late. Look, how about you text me the night before if you’re going to be late so I can understand?” Mike said.

  “Are you just trying to get my number?” I smiled.

  “We-well no. I mean yes, but it’s for work purposes.” He scratched the back of his neck nervously.

  “Too bad. I’ve been wanting to give you my number since, and it’s not for work-related purposes,” I joked.

  “It wouldn’t be bad to have a number on my phone that isn’t related to work,” he smiled. My confidence levels dropped immediately. My flirting flew out the window. I suddenly became shy and looked down. My hand twirled my hair in a nervous fashion. His smile was just as gorgeous as he was.

  “Umm yeah,” I managed to let out.

  “I’m not with my phone right now, but if you’re willing to wait a little after today’s training, I’ll give you my number.” He winked and turned to walk away but stopped.

  “By the way, you should tell them, so they understand too,” he said pointing to my parents and smiled before walking away.

  I stood on that spot for a while before regaining myself. Mike was right about telling my parents why I was late all the time. After all, this training was to bring the family closer. I sighed and walked over to where my parents were resting. They looked beyond exhausted. I was proud of them both for working this hard.

  “You guys look so fit already,” I waved at them.

  “I’ve always been fit. It’s your father who cannot stay away from the drive-through,” my mum replied.

  If I wanted to get back to how we used to be, I needed to stop finding the fault in everything she said.

  “I promised not to go to any drive-through again, Lisa.”

  “But Mrs. Denise caught you at the drive-through last week, didn’t she?” My mum shook her head at my father.

  “It was a moment of weakness. A little backsliding, that’s all. I’m coming back stronger.”

  My father was still panting a little. I chuckled at his reply.

  “So, I wanted to apologize for my lateness these past few days.”

  “You already did, Lela, and we forgive you,” my dad said.

  “Yeah, I know, but I wanted to tell you why I’ve been late.”

  “This ought to be interesting,” my mother deadpanned. I was about to release a snarky comment, but I held myself back.

  “So, I’ve been getting a bigger audience on my blog, and now a lot of restaurant owners have been calling me to come and review their places. I’m getting paid a lot for each review, and I always come back late at night, so I end up oversleeping,” I explained to them. “I really try to be on time sometimes, but I’m always too tired.”

  “Lela, you could have told us earlier,” my father said. His eyes glazed with a tinge of sadness.

  “I know. I just didn’t want to burden anyone. I’m sorry,” I told them. My mother remained silent, which surprised me a little. Normally she would have had something to say, but instead, she kept her lips sealed. Maybe it was her way of feeling sorry for me. I wasn’t too sure.

  “Just let us know each time you’ll be late, okay?”

  “Okay, Daddy.” I smiled and returned to the treadmill, anxiously waiting for the day to be over so I could collect Mike’s number.

  Chapter 5 - Stares

  Mike Pearson

  My mind raced as I waited anxiously for Lela’s text. I would continuously check my phone to be sure I wouldn’t miss it. Finally, her text came in.

  “I’m going to be late again. I’m sorry.” I stared at her message unsure what to say. I didn’t want our conversations solely to be about her being late. I wanted to get to know her more.

  “Oh, okay,” I texted her back. I put my hand to my face regretting my already sent reply. I knew I should have said something better, but that was all I could come up with.

  “Oh, okay? This is really only for work purposes?” she texted me back. It had been too long since I had flirted over text, so I was rusty.

  “We can change that if you want?” I cringed as I hit send.

  “I’d like that very much.” She sent a smiley emoji after. I smiled at my phone and knew that I had succeeded in taking the awkwardness out of the conversation.

  Lela and I texted all night to the point where I knocked out during our conversation. I woke up with my phone next to my head. Today was going to be a good day. I got out of bed and entered the kitchen downstairs.

  “Good morning,” I smiled at my brothers, who were already having their breakfast.

  “Isn’t it too early to be happy?” Shawn grumbled. His new clients had scheduled early morning gym sessions, and he wasn’t a morning person. The bags under his eyes seemed to laugh as he chewed his cereal.

  “It’s a great day, Shawn. Be happy!”

  “Can I slap him?” Shawn asked Austin.

  “Violence will not be tolerated in this house,” Austin said. “Anyways, boys I’m out. Steve has somewhere to be this morning, so I’m opening up with the gym. See you losers later,” Austin said, leaving Shawn and me alone in the house.

  “I have to go too. My clients hate me so much. Why do I have to work this early?” Shawn groaned and walked into his room, leaving me alone. I made myself breakfast and wondered how today was going to be with Lela after spending the night texting.

  Would her
parents notice any difference in our interaction? I thought to myself. I shook my head and wolfed my breakfast. I needed to get to the gym earlier than my clients.

  * * *

  Tom and Lisa smiled at each other as they walked hand in hand to where I stood. Lisa giggled at something Tom said and tapped his shoulder playfully. I watched Tom peck Lisa’s cheeks after saying something else and she laughed. It was cute watching them display their affection for one another.

  “Good morning Mike,” they said at the same time. They laughed at each other.