Madtown Fitness is the best gym in the city for the price. The gym offers machines for any fitness level; from the basic cardio machines to EliteFTS Collegiate squat racks. Their plate-loaded equipment is the best in the city. Dumbbells from five to two hundred pounds, Olympic lifting platforms equipped with Nebula half racks, with Pendlay Kilogram bumper plates. Several midwestern bodybuilders trained to championships there. They never increased the price due to the increased prestige, though. I signed up for a membership years ago, but with my work schedule and fulfilling a bitch's every whim I rarely was able to workout. That changed when I took my first step into the gym as a new man.
A new woman was working the front desk. Her name tag said, "Janice". She was an average height blond with perky breasts and looked like the kind of girl that could play a couple sets of tennis and then party all night. Her blue polo and shorts couldn't hide her athletic figure.
"Hi, Janice," I said as I handed her my membership card. She had a genuine smile as she took my card and put it against a NFC scanner. "I think I'm behind on my membership dues. Could you please check on that?"
She scanned the display on her desk and shook her head. "Mr. Banderole..." She puts the card into something under her desk. I hear a sickening sound of plastic being shredded. "Please wait here." She then turns around and walks through a door with a sign above it that said, "THE BOSS".
'Oh, great,' I thought. 'Now I've got to find a gym that has all the equipment I need.' After thirty seconds the most statuesque dark skinned beauty I've ever seen emerged from the doorway. She was tall, with short, shoulder length hair and piercing black eyes. She wore tight yoga leggings with a beige floral pattern and a Madtown polo that did nothing to hide her ample breasts.
I said to her, "What's going on? I'm here to pay my bill and work out."
"Mr. Banderole," she said with an air of authority. "Your sister called and settled your outstanding bill, ordered a VIP upgrade and paid for a year upfront." She reached into a drawer and pulled out a black membership card and handed it to me. "Here's your new card. Please let Janice know if there is anything she can do for you." She then turned and went back to her office without waiting for my reply.
"My sister paid the bill?" I rhetorically asked and examined the new card. On one side it had the gym's red logo and my name and member since date embossed in gold. On the back was the NFC chip and an illustration of a juiced bodybuilder in various poses.
"Yes, sir. She was very nice on the phone and said that if you asked any questions I was to say that the cat got my tongue."
I rolled my eyes. Of course Brenna did, that little minx. "Can you at least tell me what the VIP membership is?"
"As you know we are open 24/7. The VIP package gives you six hours a month of personal trainer time and a running tab at the cafe as long as the bill is settled every month by the first. You can have a massage with our on-sight masseuse or masseur twice a week and there's a twenty percent discount on anything in the pro shop. The card will let you into a private locker room with its own bathroom, shower, hot tub, sauna and complementary towels. Would you like to see that now?"
I replied, "Sure. Lead the way." As Janice led me down a side hallway I asked, "By the way, who was that and exactly how expensive is this?"
"That was Keena, the new owner. She's our main yoga instructor and I'm sorry. I'm afraid that a..."
"Yeah, I know. Cat's got your tongue. Fine."
"Your sister also said to tell you that curiosity killed the cat." Janice twisted around and smiled at my groan. When we reached an unassuming doorway she asked for my card. I handed it to her and she inserted it into a card lock similar to the ones you see at hotels. There was a buzz then a click as she opened the door. I followed her into an area bigger than my kitchen and living room combined. True to the description the carpeted room held a double wide locker with a bench in front of it, restroom facilities, shower and hot tub big enough for four people. A sauna was tucked into a corner. I tossed my bag onto the bench and stripped off my shirt.
"Nice. When did Keena put this in?" I said as I turned to Janice.
Her cheeks blushed as she checked out my chest and abs. I felt...admiration? Hmm, that was interesting. "She remodeled a storage room when a prima donna of a bodybuilder demanded it. He burnt out a few months later. I guess he wasn't as hot as he thought he was. By the way, the intercom by the door is wired to the front desk." She extended the card to me.
I make sure to slide my hand over hers before taking it. "Thanks. I'll let you know if I need anything."
She smiled as her pupils dilated. "Ok. You know where I'll be," she said as she left, closing the door behind her.
I hastily shucked the jeans, socks and shoes I wore. None of my underwear fit anymore so I went commando. I donned my basketball shorts, a thin Miskatonic U shirt, socks and shoes that were thankfully bigger than my usual size. When I was a second from opening the door I gasped as a surge of emotions hit me. I could feel the power filling my muscles. I checked the replies to my thread; the number had tripled. When I checked my profile I found I gained over a hundred followers.
I thumbed the intercom. "Janice, come to my room." I opened the door and shucked the shirt, lowered my shorts waistband below my hips, hiked up the legs and flexed every muscle in preparation.
I hear buzz then "Sure. Be right there".
I handed her my phone when she knocked on the door frame. "Take a vid while I pose."
"O-ok," she said as she took the phone. She lifted to her eye level.
"No. Lower the phone and shoot slightly up." She lowered the phone to her chest level, thumbed the record button and nodded. I keep my head up and lower my eyes to the phone's camera lens. "Thanks for the comments," I started. "Some of you think the pics are photoshopped." I growl into a bursting most muscular pose, "Does this look photoshopped assholes?!" I growl deeply and move into a cobra-hood-like front lat spread, held it for ten seconds, then did a double-bi making sure to flex my pecs and abs and bare my teeth. "Keep watching boys. I'm gonna fucking explode today!" I hold the pose for five seconds then tell Janice to stop recording. I hold out my hand for the phone as I drink in the vibe coming off her.
Instead of handing the phone to me she just stares at me with her mouth open. She snaps out of her trance when I take the phone. "Did...did you get bigger in less than five minutes? What are you doing?"
As I trim the video I reply, "Just a little experiment I'm running. You will be required to take more pictures and video throughout the day." After I posted the video to the thread and my album I looked up and gave her a dominating stare. "Understood?"
I don't wait for a reply and push past her. "There's a shirt required rule, sir."
"Not for me. Close the door on your way out."
I worked my way to the cafe. The trim guy manning the cafe bar tried to strike up a conversation when asked for a couple of bottles of water. He was about five and half feet tall with medium length blond hair. Before I could say thanks he started telling me his life story, beginning at birth in Haddonfield, Illinois. I was about to cut him off when I felt a tingle of attraction from him. By the time he started telling me about his high school graduation I cracked open the bottle of water and remembered I'm shirtless. I started bouncing my pecs throughout his summer off when he hitchhiked to Ventura to be a beach surfer bum for a year. I switched to pumping my biceps (alternating sides, of course) while he placed in a surfing meet. When he applied to UW, caught a plane back to the midwest, joined the university swim team and started working for the gym I started my abs. All throughout the ten minutes of life story (yes, ten minutes) I felt his attraction steadily grow.
"Wow, that's quite a story", I lied. "Put the water on my tab."
"We don't have a cafe tab..." he started. I raised the VIP card and he shifted gears exceptionally well, "...except for you. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Yes, tell the masseuse I will need a massage this evening," I said as I turned to leave the cafe.
"I will," he called after me. "By the way, I'm Steve!"
I grumbled at the wasted time as I exited the cafe and started to cross the lobby to the gym floor. I was about half way through the lobby when I heard, "Mr. Banderole!"
I turned toward the voice and saw Keena purposefully walking towards me. Janice struggled to keep up behind her. Her expression could make a brick wall shake in trepidation. "Call me Br..."
"MISTER BANDEROLE," she interrupted. Her charge towards me stops a foot and a half from my chest. Janice clutched something to her breasts and had a worried expression, shoulders hunched. "There is a shirt required rule in this gym for a reason. You will wear a shirt to protect the members, yourself and the equipment. If you don't like that you're free to leave immediately. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"
"Yes, Keena", I said while I locked eyes with her. She was not going to intimidate me.
"That's Ms. Panthera to you!" She also locked her fierily eyes to mine.
"Yes, Keena," I said with more emphasis on her first name.
The staring contest went on for a few more seconds, only to be broken by Janice. "I have a shirt for you, Bruce." Keena and I both snapped our eyes onto Janice at the same time. She slightly shrunk under our gazes. "It's a leftover from last year's bodybuilding completion. I hope you like it," she continued meekly.
I take the shirt and put it on. To call it a shirt is being generous. It was a huge wife-beater type bodybuilder shirt with the gym logo on the front, light gray and very thin. Even if it was my size instead of a couple sizes too big for me, it would have shown more than it covered. Keena crossed her arms over her breasts. I pulled both shoulders back, raised both eyebrows and said to her, "Better?"
Even though her expression said 'not really' she gave a small grunt, turned, stormed into her office and slammed the door.
