But then I hear her voice mail message.
“Hey… um… I kind of got in trouble.. uh.. don’t be mad. The principal will be calling you… okay, bye.”
I breathe in deeply through my nose and let it out slowly. What on earth did this girl do?
Next, I click on the voicemail from the principal. She’s firm and to the point, simply saying that I need to call her immediately.
I take a bite of my sandwich and then decide to get it over with. Lunch is only twenty minutes and then I’ll be dealing with those third graders again. I call the principal.
I’ve never seen this woman in real life but based on her personality on the phone, I’m picturing a tall, imposing, terrifying woman with a mean face. She tells me that Janie was caught making out with a boy in a locked teacher’s bathroom. Both Janie and the boy have been suspended from school for three days.
Then, to make matters worse, this woman goes on about how she knows I’m Janie’s guardian and not her real mother, but that I need to take more responsibility for her so that she will become a productive member of society. Yeah, duh. I get it. I don’t need the lecture. Does she think I’m not trying? I’m only six years older than Janie is. It’s not like I’ve got my life all figured out!
I think about that horrible woman for the rest of the school day. I keep hearing her voice in my mind, chastising me for being a bad surrogate mother to my niece. I’m trying as hard as I can, but she doesn’t care. It’s not like I told Janie to go off and make out with some boy, so how is her bad choices my fault? Ugh.
After the last of my kids get on their school busses, I head back to the classroom and gather my purse. When I look up, Jason is standing in the doorway.
“Need a ride to the gym?” he asks.
“Oh, no, that’s fine,” I say.
“I don’t see your car in the parking lot. Did you get a new one?”
I shake my head. “I have an Uber.”
“Cancel it. I’ll drive you.”
I haven’t actually placed the order for an Uber yet, but I feel really bad letting him drive me places. We weren’t even really friends before this whole thing happened. We were just casual coworkers. Now he’s seeing me more than anyone else since he gives me rides to work.
“You are way too nice,” I say, giving him a smile. “But, I’m fine, really.”
“No, I insist. We’re colleagues, Tasha. And I drive right by the gym on the way home, so let’s go.”
I heave a sigh. I guess I really shouldn’t turn down a free ride.
Jason talks about himself the whole time we’re in the car. I think he’s one of those older divorced guys who feels like all the fun parts of his life are over so he compensates by talking about all the things he thinks makes him cool. But he’s not cool. It’s just kind of a dork.
I thank him when he drops me off at the gym. I still have half an hour until my shift starts, so I walk over to the café next door and order a coffee. Hopefully it’ll help me stay awake tonight, and take my mind off Janie’s problems at school. I kind of want to ask which of the two cute boys she was making out with, but I can’t do that. I don’t want to encourage her bad behavior.
She and I need to have a serious talk when I get home, but I won’t even get home until after ten o’clock and she’s usually in bed by then. Oh well, I think, as anger flows through me because once again I remember that principal’s shrill voice in my ear. I’ll wake her butt up and make her listen to me. She has to know that what she did is not okay and now she’s suspended because of it. I have to set some rules. I have to toughen up and make sure she doesn’t fall apart and ruin her life like her own mother did.
I get a coffee from a purple-haired barista who has way too much happiness in her voice. This girl must love her life. I guess I’m envious, because I’m so not in the mood for her happy, peppy attitude. I just want my coffee.
Once I have it, I walk back to the gym. Noah is walking out right when I get there. “Hey, boss,” I say, smiling because it’s hard not to smile around him. He’s just really, really cute.
He looks surprised to see me, but his lips part into a smile a second later. “Hi. You look…” He pauses, frowning. “I don’t know… stressed? Everything okay?”
I snort. “How much time you got?”
He checks his watch, then gestures to the bench just outside the door to the gym. “Twenty minutes until your shift starts.”
I bite my lip. “I don’t want to waste your time talking about my problems.”
“Are you kidding? My time is worthless.” He grins. “I was just going to go home and watch TV. So, vent away.”
Oh my gosh he is so cute when he stretches his arm out toward the bench. He’s got some serious forearm veins and that’s super sexy. I walk to the bench and sit down and he sits next to me. “You sure?”
He nods. “Of course.”
I take a sip of my coffee and decide that a talk might actually help me. “It’s my niece. She’s seventeen and she lives with me. I’m her legal guardian as of about eight months ago.”
“Oh, wow,” he says, and he looks genuinely interested.
I nod. “But the thing is, I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m not old enough to be some great role model or anything. And now she got in huge trouble at school today and I’ll have to, I don’t know… like yell at her or something?”
I shake my head and sip my coffee, wishing it would hurry up and make me feel better. “I’m just so scared she’ll end up a pathetic loser like my sister. I want her to be a good kid. I don’t know what to do.”
“No one knows what to do,” he says. “You just do your best. You’ll figure it out.”
“And if I don’t?”
I look up and our eyes meet, and a soft smile slides across his face. “You’re a really great person. I think you’ll be fine.”
I chuckle. “You don’t know me very well.”
He shrugs. “I know enough. I hired you, right? Clearly I think you’re capable.”
“Yeah, of working at a gym. Not raising a teenager.”
“Eh,” he says, giving me a playful grin that makes my toes tingle. “I’m pretty sure raising a teenager is exactly the same as wiping sweat off exercise equipment.”
I burst out laughing. “Maybe all I need to do is dust her off and she’ll be good.”
“We should write a parenting book. We’re clearly experts.”
“We’ve got this all figured out,” I say with a laugh.
Noah watches me for a moment, his eyes filled with…something. I don’t know what. But it makes my whole body warm. “You’re a part of the Roca Springs Fitness family now,” he says a few moments later. “That means you’re one of us. If you ever need anything, you just let me know.”
“Thanks…” I say, my voice soft. “I really appreciate that.”
9
Noah
It’s around noon on Friday when Kris calls me. I miss his first call because I’m busy helping a client, so then he sends me a text with a string of skull emojis, which pops up on my smart watch. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I’m guessing that if he was actually dead, he wouldn’t be texting me emojis.
After helping the client, I walk up to the front desk where I’ve left my phone and I call him back.
“Man, I’m sick,” Kris says instead of a hello.
“You sound terrible. What happened?”
“I don’t know. I was out late last night working on my bike and the cold front blew in. Maybe that’s what got me. I’ve been sick all morning. Finally felt good enough to call and tell you I can’t come in tonight.”
“It’s cool, you take care of yourself.”
“It’s a good thing I waited to get sick until we hired the new girl,” he says with a laugh. “At least now she can handle the gym while I’m gone.”
“Yeah, that is lucky.”
And he’s right, because Tasha is great and she can totally handle the gym all by herself. But after we
get off the phone, I’ve already made my choice. I don’t want her to be here alone, late at night, where anything bad could happen. I’m going to stay here with her.
And it’s not just because I’m crushing on her. I don’t feel comfortable leaving a new employee to fend for herself all night.
But, because I am crushing on her, I can’t act like the idea of hanging out with her doesn’t send a thrill of excitement through me. Good job getting sick, Kris.
I think about her all day, anxiously waiting for the moment she gets to work. After what she told me the other day about her niece, I have even more respect for this woman. Suddenly and unexpectedly becoming the guardian of a teenager is a big deal, and not a responsibility many people would want. But she stepped up and she’s doing amazing. Tasha is a strong woman, who does whatever it takes to succeed, and I find that sexier than her looks. And her looks are incredibly sexy, so that’s saying a lot.
When she arrives at the gym, I try not to stare at the guy driving the car that’s dropping her off. I know he’s older than I am, and I don’t want to start comparing myself and how I think I’d be a better match for her. I don’t even know this guy, and I already feel that way. I would treat her like a queen. I’d give her anything she wanted.
“Hey, boss,” she says playfully as she walks into the gym. I lift a hand in a casual wave, trying to play it off like my heart’s not beating hard for her.
She walks into the locker room and emerges a few minutes later wearing her work uniform. She walks right up to me at the front desk. “Where’s the cool boss?”
“Cool boss?” I say, pretending to look offended.
She holds up two hands in innocence. “That’s what Kris calls himself. I didn’t make it up.”
I laugh. That sounds like Kris. “And what kind of boss am I?”
“Well… he calls Brent the chill boss.”
“Okay… and me?”
She bites on her bottom lip. “You’re just the boss.”
“Just the boss?” I ask, watching her features closely to see if she’s lying.
She shrugs. “Yep. I think you’re the serious one of the group.”
I exhale. “I guess I am. I mean, my instinct is to defend myself and say I’m actually cool but… that’s something a serious loser would say.”
Her face tilts up and she smiles softly at me. “You’re not a loser.”
“I don’t even have a cool boss nickname so, that makes me a loser.”
She rolls her eyes. “Nah. You’re cool.”
When she says it, she reaches out and taps me with her knuckles. “I think you’re cool, at least, and I’ll have you know that my opinion is highly regarded among first graders.”
“Oh? That is good to know,” I say. “I hear first graders have pretty solid opinions.”
“They certainly do.”
She grins at me and I wish I could stay in this moment forever. Just me and her, here in this gym, no other people around to ruin everything. But the real world exists, as much as I don’t want it to.
I nod toward the parking lot, at the invisible memory of the car that just dropped her off. “You can give out free memberships to family and stuff,” I say. “Your boyfriend could come work out if he wanted.”
She flinches. “Boyfriend?”
“It was just an idea,” I say. “Since he already drops you off, he could just stay and work out.”
Her eyes go wide and then she makes a gagging face. “Oh God. No. No……” She sticks her tongue out. “Ew. No.”
Relief like I’ve never felt before slams into me like a freight train. “That’s not your boyfriend?” I ask.
She shakes her head and flails her hands like the very thought of dating that guy is grossing her out. “No. He’s my coworker. He’s just being nice and giving me a ride to work until I get my car back.”
“Ah…” I say, trying to be casual about it all. But in my head, I’m dancing around like a kid, so happy to know that she’s single. “Sorry about that.”
She waves away my words. “No big deal. But if I ever do get a boyfriend, I probably won’t want him working out here.”
“Why’s that?” I ask.
She shrugs and glances toward the cardio machines. “There are way too many beautiful women here. Like, stunningly beautiful women. I can’t bring a guy around that or he’ll lose interest in me.”
I cock an eyebrow. “Not if you’re dating a decent guy.”
A bark of laughter escapes her. “Good one.”
I can tell there is some kind of hidden meaning to her words, some memory she’s just thought of and wants nothing to do with. I’m dying to know what it is, but I have to keep this professional.
The work phone rings and I excuse myself to answer it. It’s our equipment supplier and he’s having trouble with an invoice. I tell him I’ll call him right back.
“Trouble with suppliers,” I tell Tasha. “Can you handle things up here?”
“Yep. I’m good.”
“Cool.” I tap my hand on the counter, stalling for a few seconds more because all I want to do is keep hanging out and keep talking. But work has to come first, especially since she’s an employee and not a girlfriend.
Back in my office, I’m on the phone for an hour getting everything all sorted out. This is the reason I’m the regular boss. Not the cool boss or the chill boss. I’m the guy who fixes every problem. Sorts out every issue.
Once everything is fixed, I lean back in my desk chair and stare up at the ceiling. I see that stupid missed spot of paint and I close my eyes, breathing in through my nose. You can’t like Tasha, I think. I should stay in this office until we close and not go back out there. It’ll only make me like her more.
A new email appears on my computer, sent to my work email address. It’s from someone called SecretCrush88.
Um, what?
I click on the email, assuming it’s spam. But it’s addressed to me.
From: SecretCrush88
Dear Noah,
Hi. I know this is weird, but it’s the only idea I have to talk to you. The thing is… I’m crushing hard on you. Like… hard. Like, all I can think about is you and how adorably handsome you are, and how great you are with your customers. You’re the whole package, Noah, and I can’t stand not being your girl. I want to tell you in person. I want to talk to you and win you over. But I’m terrified you’ll say no.
It’s not because I’m ugly or anything… because I promise I’m not. It’s just… our situation is a little weird.
So tell me… do you like anyone? Is there someone in your life that you see occasionally that makes you smile? Could it be me?
Yours,
X
My jaw drops. I sit up straighter and read the email again. This is beyond weird.
I glance at my office door, but I can’t see out into the gym from here. My first thought is Tasha. Did she send me this email? Is she out there right now wondering what I’ll say back?
The thought is insane. I mean, I like her a lot, but… this anonymous email is kind of weird. If she liked me too, surely she could have just told me? Or flirted with me? Or…
Maybe none of those things. We have to stay professional after all.
But maybe this email is just some big joke. Maybe Kris sent it to me while he’s home sick thinking he’d be funny.
That’s probably it.
I stand up and walk out into the main gym. Tasha is sitting on the barstool behind the front counter organizing all the stuff on it. I walk over and sit on the stool next to her. If she just sent me that email, she’ll be acting suspicious, right?
She yawns. “I’m so ready for the weekend.”
She doesn’t even look over at me as she says it, and that’s making me think that maybe she didn’t send me the email.
“Me too,” I say. “Any big plans?”
“Yes.” She takes all the pens out of the cup and arranges them so they’re all facing the same way. “I am going to sleep.”<
br />
I chuckle. “Sounds like a good plan.”
“Mmmhmm,” she says, yawning again.
“You still don’t have your car, right?”
“No, but hopefully I’ll get it soon.”
“You need a ride home?”
She shakes her head. “I just get an Uber, or call Jason.”
“Let me take you home,” I offer. “That way you don’t have to ride with the creepy guy from work.” My brows pull together. “Well… with that creepy guy from work. I guess I’m another guy from work too.”
She smiles over at me. “Yeah, but you’re not creepy.”
I swear my heart skips a beat.
10
Tasha
I feel like all I do is blink, and then it’s Monday morning. Just a single blink. All I did was fall on my bed and close my eyes, and bam. Monday. I don’t even know where my weekend went. I guess I slept it all away trying to let my body rest from all the work I’ve been doing.
I sit up in bed and turn off the blaring alarm, which I’ve grown to hate, even though it’s just doing its job. I yawn and stretch out my arms. This weekend went by way too fast, but I try to remember it just to hold onto the forty eight hours of free time I had, and be grateful I had it. If the gym’s hours weren’t so great, I’d have been working on the weekends, too.
Janie and I had a talk about the boy she’d made out with at school. She said I have nothing to worry about because he’d already ended things with her for another girl. I told her boys are jerks. I told her all about the times they’d been jerks to me, and then she cried, and then I cried too.
And our neighbor knocked on the door Sunday morning saying he’d gotten an extra dozen donuts for his family but they didn’t eat them all. He’s an older man, a grandfather with four grandkids that live with him and his wife in their two bedroom apartment, and he always brings us extra food. Sometimes I wonder if he’s just being nice, or if he deep down knows that we’re struggling with money. Maybe it’s both.
Flirting with the Boss: A love at the Gym Novel Page 5
