Rachel had enjoyed a whirlwind romance after she serendipitously met Josh when he came to conduct a fire inspection at her yoga class. She helped him out with an embarrassing splinter problem at the time, which sparked an instant connection and their relationship blossomed. The year that they spent together had been the best time of Rachel's life.
But it was now three months since Josh had moved on. Being much younger than Rachel and with less world experience, he had felt the irresistible allure of a sabbatical. He broke off their romance, found an interstate posting at a metropolitan fire unit and moved out of town and out of Rachel's life.
Rachel remained in contact with Josh's colleagues from the fire station. As a couple, much of their social life had revolved around the friendships and commitments of his job, and Rachel had been more than happy to share in Josh's life. She was not yet ready to let go of all of those connections.
Together, they had a full calendar of events associated with the fire department. Fund raisers, a monthly pub night, and invitations to council events. Whenever she socialised with Josh's colleagues, her mind turned to the fantasies that she and Josh talked about in bed. She imagined the fit, sexy firemen at the function, shedding their clothes naked, as if they were all at a sex club, and she'd flirt with them, before Josh would invite them into a private room to continue their erotic games.
She wondered if she had brought the demise of the relationship upon herself. There had been so much tantalising pillow talk incorporating other people. Rachel would concoct sex stories that involved situations with Josh's colleagues from the station, sometimes mere titillation and sometimes hardcore, some stories with a single partner, while others involved the whole team in unrestrained lust. On other nights, Rachel would fabricate scenarios that would involve the women from her yoga classes in bedroom antics involving Josh and herself.
Maybe Josh felt that he needed to experience it himself, in real life, and that their erotic role playing was not enough. Rachel thought that she was satisfying all his needs, but perhaps she missed something. Maybe it was just a natural progression for a younger man to seek freedom and to avoid commitment but it got her down to think that it might just be her.
In retrospect, she also worried that her incessant talk about her failing yoga business had brought them undone. She didn't want to sound depressing but every time she discussed the financials of the enterprise, it was never positive. She concluded that Josh couldn't possibly understand the ins and outs of running a business, being in a stable salaried job.
She thought about him constantly but now it was time to move on and she decided that her life was due to start a new chapter. It was time to be brave and make a bold move. While her community yoga venture was now shut down, she felt sure that repositioning the offering would be a winner. She decided that it just needed a new upmarket location, a fresh enthusiastic clientele, and some sort of niche in the crowded yoga market.
After searching all the locales in the county, she landed on a bohemian part of town. She predicted this area would be the next to undergo gentrification as hoards of wealthy people moved into more manageable apartment-style living. She concluded that the demographic would have plenty of time on their hands, an abundance of cash, and a liberal outlook that would lead them to try healthy new pursuits.
Rachel landed on the idea of a hot yoga boutique. It was a well-known concept, but there were no other similar studios for miles around.
After a short property search, she found a suitable location in an old rundown commercial property. She didn't have much capital behind her, so the old brick building suited perfectly. Her leasehold was a large area on the third floor, serviced by two slow old elevators.
Most other spaces in the building remained vacant, and she imagined that in time the property would be bulldozed to make way for more apartments. But for now, it suited her business ideally, and she was able to prominently advertise out front of the lobby.
She inherited a strange layout from the previous tenant, which must have been some sort of commercial operation. Her floorplan had many smaller rooms, but there was a large open area which was perfect for a yoga floor.
There was some ancient central heating infrastructure in the premise. Rachel thanked her lucky stars that the large studio area had three radiating elements, connected directly to flues that passed from floor to ceiling. She would need every ounce of heat from those units for her hot yoga, she thought.
She worked out where the reception would be and moved a desk into place. She bought cheap shelving and assembled it in one room near the lifts for the clients' use. She installed another shelving unit in a room on the opposite side which would store all her yoga equipment - mats, blocks, blankets and straps.
Rachel donned her work clothes and got to work in the main studio to convert it from an industrial box into a friendly space.
The rear wall of the studio had large glass doors which opened onto a small balcony, and formed a delightful visual backdrop. She painted the walls in light and breezy colours and laid do-it-yourself carpet squares across the floor. She installed some large mirrors on the brick walls on the periphery of the room. Standing back at the entryway she admired her hard work. It looked perfect and now she was ready for business.
Before opening day, Rachel realised that she needed to arrange the mandatory fire inspection. Through her connections with Josh, she had a direct line to the station, and she called the team lead Murray to make an appointment. Murray was always pleased to hear from Rachel, and she knew that his affable character would make the inspection sail through easily.
However, when Murray worked through his checklist he found all manner of compliance problems with the property. He methodically looked through all of the rooms in the tenancy, checking the radiators, measuring distances and pressing buttons on the little fire detection units. He conducted all his work wearing the full bright orange fire uniform, and Rachel wondered if the property was in such dangerous condition that he needed his fire protective outfit in case the building caught alight at any moment.
"I'll let you get away with it for now, but you really got to get the fire escapes in order. Technically it's the problem of the landlord, but you'll be the one to be liable and fined," Murray said.
He ushered Rachel out to the balcony to show her the issue. "This office used to have and outdoor fire escape here, can you see?" He pointed to some rusted old bolts protruding from the brickwork. "It's been disassembled. I don't know how the previous tenants got through their annual review."
Murray accompanied Rachel inside and pointed to the ceiling. "These alarms are pretty dated too. Look Rachel, all the guys at the station really like you and we really want to keep you safe, so I'll tell you what. I'll install these back-to-base detectors around the place. If there's a fire, they'll access the cellular network and trigger a signal directly at the station. And we can come to save you," he concluded with a grin.
"How much will those cost?" asked Rachel, feeling worried about how the business case might be stacking up.
"For you Rachel - on the house. Think of it as compensation for the shitty way that Josh skipped out on you."
"Oh thankyou Murray," said Rachel with relief. She flung her arms around his neck and held him tight. Murray was not expecting the reaction, and was even more surprised when he detected Rachel sniffle and felt a tear drip onto his neck.
"Hey, hey," he said supportively. "It's all good. We're all here for you Rachel. I'm sure the business is gunna be great. And don't worry about all the fire stuff - it's going to be fine."
"Thankyou so much Murray," Rachel said, wiping her eyes. The pent up emotions from the failed business, Josh's departure, and all the effort of setting up the new studio welled up and surprised her. She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Now, give me that paperwork, and off you go. I've got a studio opening to prepare."
Opening day was a big success and the business went from strength to strength in the following weeks. It turns out that Rachel's building had plenty of parking which was problematic at the other studios. The ambient warmth of the hot yoga room was an additional drawcard that the locals couldn't resist.
She built a nice clientele of regular customers. It was Rachel's only source of employment and her only commitment nowadays, so she was able to offer classes all day long, even if there were not many patrons. As a bonus, running so many classes had a positive impact on her body, and she was feeling as fit and as strong as she looked.
However, disaster struck just when things were looking up. Word had got around about the appeal of hot yoga, and nearby facilities started to make the same offering. Gyms, pilates studios and recreation centres all started offering hot yoga, and they could provide the additional activities that Rachel could not. The steady decline of her previous business had taught her that she needed to move quickly to find her segment of the market. It came to her quickly.
Hot Nude Yoga.
She gauged her clients' interest at successive classes. It would be a female only class, of course, but that was not much of an issue since her customers were all women anyway. The students seemed keen, but the proof would be in the pudding. Would they come?
Rachel decided to forge ahead, and concluded that the studio needed to be modified. No-one was going to be comfortable with windows for the benefit of voyeurs in the outside world, so Rachel purchased some translucent paint and frosted them over. The mirrors were also a problem, and they too received the frosting treatment. It was such a shame because they were one of her favourite features of the fit-out, making the studio seem light and open. But she knew that discretion and privacy were key to making vulnerable clients feel comfortable.
She didn't have a budget to install walls or even dividers on the yoga floor. But she decided that she could hang sheer curtains from the ceiling, and they would provide little cubicles of privacy.
Rachel planned to continue scheduling her regular hot yoga classes in conjunction with the naked yoga, and realised that she needed to convert the layout of the room between nude and clothed sessions. She found that she could tie the curtains up fairly easily to get them out of the way. In time, if the nude students discovered that they were comfortable with putting their bodies on display, then the curtains would be easy to remove.
