With all of her usual playmates otherwise occupied, Dana decides to try mingling at a party in hopes of finding someone new to bed. It's not her strong suit, but her options are limited. Alas, even in a fantasy world like Literotica, not every experience can be a peak experience, and this adventure is not one she will remember fondly. Things will go much better in the next installment, which will be posted soon.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Dana jerked awake when her alarm went off the next morning. She was alone in the makeshift double bed. Randy had gone home exhausted and satisfied at oh-dark-thirty, leaving two very satisfied women in his wake. And Zoe, apparently, had risen and left for her classes without waking Dana. Or if she had, Dana didn't remember it.
She was strongly tempted to reset her alarm and go back to sleep, but she knew herself well enough to know she had to make a habit of getting to the gym if she intended to do it regularly. By the time she'd showered and dressed, she just had time to grab a protein bar on the way out the door. It was cold and blustery outside, and dampened her resolve, but she made it to the gym nonetheless.
A little over an hour later, Dana was no longer cold. She wore gym shorts and a tank top, with her hair in a pony tail to get it off her neck. She was sweating heavily, and breathing like she'd been running. All the same, she was very pleased with herself. She'd lifted more weight today than she had on Tuesday, and would lift more on Saturday. Not a lot more, only ten pounds more on her squat and dead lift than last time, and five pounds on her bench press--but it was a personal best.
The app on her phone beeped at her. Rest time was over. She had one last set of dead lifts to complete and she'd be done for the day.
She stepped up to the barbell and shifted her stance slightly to make sure she was where she needed to be. She went through her mental checklist as she prepared for the lift. "Bend over...grab the bar...shins forward, knees out. Ass up...tits up, neck straight." She took a couple of deep breaths, tensed her abs and dragged the bar up her shins until she stood upright, shoulders back, then down again. Once more. Then again. And again. And one last effort, making sure not to drop the bar but control its descent.
"Oh dear god..." she muttered. The bar felt ridiculously heavy, and she wondered how she'd lift even more next time. She felt simultaneously absurdly pleased with herself and embarrassed. Pleased that she was actually working at something athletic, and making improvements, and embarrassed by how little weight she was lifting compared to other denizens of the gym.
And not just the guys.
The tall black woman with the unlikely name of Bambi, for instance. Dana had watched her squat and dead lift well over twice Dana's body weight earlier today. The same woman, now dressed in street clothes, who had paused on her way out of the gym to watch Dana. Dana raised a hand in greeting. "Hi."
"Hi," she said. "I watched your dead lifts. Mind some advice?"
"Not at all," Dana said, wiping her face with a towel. "You're...I heard someone call you Bambi?"
Bambi smiled, revealing straight white teeth. "Jean, actually--but everyone calls me Bambi." She was gorgeous, and up close Dana could see that she was about forty. She was even taller than Dana had thought, definitely over six feet, and built like a movie star from the fifties.
Dana offered her hand. "I'm Dana."
Bambi's grip was strong. "Nice to meet you, Dana."
"So? You had some advice?"
"Yes," Bambi said. "Don't arch your back quite so much on the dead lifts. I know, the guys here told you to do that. But they're guys and you're not. You're a lot more likely to overextend your lumbar spine than they are. You'd do better to concentrate on trying to pull in your navel to keep your back flat."
"Oh," Dana said. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."
"You're welcome. You're new here, aren't you?"
Dana nodded. "This is my second time here. Well, my third, really, but the first time was just to try it out. How long have you been coming here?" She wondered how long it had taken Bambi to start lifting so much weight.
"I started about a year ago," Bambi said, surprising Dana.
"A year?" She'd made all that progress in a year?
Bambi laughed. "Seems impossible, doesn't it?"
"It does," Dana admitted.
"I know," Bambi said, shifting her purse and gym bag to her other hand. "I remember being where you are now, and thinking the same thing. But if you keep at it, and keep trying to lift more every session, you'll be amazed at how much progress you can make in just two or three months."
Dana nodded, wanting to believe it. "That's what Randy said, and Mr. Blaine--"
Bambi laughed. "
Mister
Blaine? You mean Rick?" The gym's owner and manager.
"Yeah," Dana said, a little annoyed by Bambi's laughter. Calling adults Mister or Missus was how she'd been raised. That she was an adult now herself hadn't magically changed that habit.
Bambi must have seen it in her face. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have laughed. It's just that...nobody else here calls him anything but Rick."
"I guess not," Dana said, trying to let go of her irritation. Bambi had apologized after all.
"And who is Randy?"
Dana smiled. "My boyfriend. He introduced me to this place."
"He'd better be good to you, then, Dana," Bambi said. "You stick to this for six months or a year, and you'll be fighting guys off with a stick."
Dana tried to suppress a smirk, but failed. "What if I don't want to fight them off?" she asked, feeling daring for voicing the thought.
Bambi's laugh this time was loud enough to draw attention from some of the other gym patrons. "Well, that's between you and Randy, I suppose. Good for you for keeping your options open!"
She looked like she was going to say something more, but then shook her head slightly. "It was nice to meet you, Dana. I have to get going, but if you're serious about training, I expect we'll see one another again."
Dana shook her hand again. "It was nice to meet you, too, and thanks for the advice."
She watched Bambi exit the gym, then turned her attention to removing the plates from the bar, re-racking and wiping down everything. She picked up her phone to check the time. Good. Plenty of time to shower and dress for the walk across campus to class.
* * *
Dana returned to her room late in the afternoon. Her classes ran til noon, then she had lunch at the commons before spending some time in the library studying. The room was unoccupied when she got there. The scented candles they'd used to illuminate the room for the threesome with Randy had burned out during the night, leaving only melted wax and a pleasant lingering scent.
Rearranging the dressers, beds, and desks wasn't easy. "This is why you're lifting weights," Dana reminded herself repeatedly. So things like this would be easier eventually. She was grateful for a break when her phone chimed.
Getting sandwich at Jimmy Wong's. Should I get one for you?
Zoe texted.
