Wednesday, July 24th, 2013
Paul was just as cheerful as always when I met him at the gym on Wednesday morning. We got to lifting and he quickly got on with his jaw workout as well, chatting up a storm. He was very curious as to what had been going on with Tori being at my apartment yesterday morning.
"So what's the deal with that girl crashing at your place the other night? Didn't you say you've only been in town for a few days?"
"Yeah, but I've known her for years. High school sweetheart, you know how it is."
"I sure do, but I married mine. You really just ran into her after all these years and she's sleeping with you that same night?"
I set my weights down. "I didn't say I slept with her."
Paul gave me a curious look. "But you did sleep with her, didn't you?"
"Look, Paul, I usually wouldn't answer something like that either way. I'm not really one for that sort of locker room talk. Maybe it's because with some very limited exceptions, I've been in long-term relationships since I was fifteen, so people could just assume I was sleeping with my girlfriend or my fiancée and I didn't have a girl of the night or week that I needed to brag about fucking. I dated Tori, that's the girl who was at my apartment yesterday, for three years in high school. Then I was single for maybe six months, and then I dated Amanda for six years, we got engaged, and then we broke up a few months ago. That's pretty much my entire romantic history. So I don't really feel comfortable talking about whether or not I slept with a girl, that's just not my style. But in this case, no I didn't sleep with her. She slept in my bed, and I slept on the couch." I didn't feel the need to tell him that at some point in the night she had ended up on the couch with me, or that I did end up having sex with her later that day at
her
apartment. Details, details.
"That's cool man, I can appreciate discretion in this sort of thing. Was just curious. Besides, even if you have only ever been with those two girls, that's one more than me. Jackie and I have been together since freshman year of high school, no breaks or anything."
"Pretty rare these days, but it sounds like it's worked well for you. I'm jealous, honestly. I've spent a lot of time in the past forty-eight hours or so wondering what my life would be like if Tori and I had never broken up."
"Don't get me wrong, it hasn't all been sunshine and roses in the," he paused, probably to do some quick math, "nineteen years we've been together. Definitely some ups and downs. But we've made it work. I love her, and I'd do anything for her. Once you commit to that choice, it makes all of the problems seem small in comparison."
"Yeah, that sure sounds nice. Maybe someday." I had thought I had that with Amanda, but I was wrong. Could I get back to something like that with Tori? I'd certainly felt like I had that kind of love for her when I was eighteen, but it was hard to say for sure. What do teenagers know about that kind of commitment? Maybe whatever was going on between me and Melissa could grow into something like that. Or maybe I hadn't even met whomever it was I was meant to marry yet, assuming that such a woman was even out there. Maybe I was just going to be a bachelor forever. As fun as this past week had been, that was a pretty depressing thought.
I was dragged out of a potential spiral into self-pity by the arrival of Miss Triple G, looking just as mouth-wateringly good as usual in a pair of tight red shorts. Before she could even start her workout, a guy with biceps bigger than my head sauntered over. I couldn't hear what was said, but he was pretty obviously hitting on her, and she was pretty obviously ignoring him. It looked like the guy was actually starting to get a bit upset. I gave Paul and look and he nodded. We got up and walked towards them, just in case.
As we got closer I was able to hear what the guy was saying. "You're seriously gonna ice me out like that? Fucking ridiculous. You dress like that, practically begging for a man to come hit you up, and then want to play the frigid bitch?"
"Hey man, that's enough. She's obviously not interested, why don't you go back to your workout," I said, stepping up to the meathead.
"Who the fuck are you? We're having a private conversation."
"Doesn't look like much of a conversation to me. Why don't you just go do your own thing and let her do hers?"
The meathead narrowed his eyes and for a second I thought he might take a swing at me, but then he snorted and shook his head. "Whatever. Waste of time anyways. Good luck with that bitch, but I don't think white knighting is going to get you anywhere either." He walked past me, bumping me with his shoulder as he went by.
Douchebag.
When I turned back I found that Miss Triple G was giving me a look just as cold as the one she'd given the meathead. "For future reference, I don't need any help with guys like that. Or with anything, really." She had an accent that I couldn't quite place. Somewhere back east, but I wasn't sure where.
I raised my hands in surrender. "Sorry, he just seemed like he was getting close to causing a problem. I'll let you get to your workout." She was certainly cold and a bit rude, but I found that I couldn't blame her too much. Looking as good as she did I'm sure this wasn't the first time—or even the hundredth time—that she'd had to deal with that sort of situation, and I was sure that some guys had also used "rescuing" her from an unwanted advance as an opportunity to hit on her in turn, even if that wasn't what I had intended. I couldn't imagine how exhausting it must be to be an attractive female in a gym like this if you weren't specifically trying to attract that kind of attention. Yes, her features were very fine all on their own, and her outfit certainly highlighted her best assets, but she was allowed to dress however she wanted, even in a way that was extremely alluring, without that meaning she was inviting men to hit on her. Paul and I returned to finish our workout and then hit the locker room. With no Tori waiting for me at my apartment this morning, it was finally time for me to get in the habit of showering and changing at the gym before school started and I wouldn't have time to go home between.
I grabbed my stuff from the locker and hit the shower, quickly rinsing off. For a gym locker room, the shower had surprisingly good water pressure and nice hot water. I finished up and wrapped a towel around my waist, returning to the locker. Paul emerged from his shower a few moments later, grabbing his clothes from the locker next to mine. I dropped the towel to step into my briefs.
"Damn dude, they make you carry a license for that thing?"
It took me a second to realize that Paul was talking to me, and then another second to realize what he was talking about. Luckily we were the only people in the locker room at the moment or I would have felt even more awkward than I already did. I wasn't sure what to say, so I just shrugged and said nothing. Paul turned back to his own locker before dropping his own towel to get dressed. I couldn't help but glance over. He was a well-built guy in general—to be expected given his consistent workout schedule—but definitely seemed to be a bit on the small side of things, though it's tough to be sure of that when a guy is soft. Maybe Paul was just a grower, not a shower. Neither of us said anything until we were leaving the locker room, when Paul finally spoke up again, "Oh, I forgot to ask earlier. Would Friday work for you to grab some breakfast?"
"Yeah, that should be fine. You have something specific in mind?"
"Nah, we'll figure it out then. Maybe just get some breakfast burritos." He stopped walking. "Oh, look what we have here."
Miss Triple G was standing by the exit, looking like she was waiting for someone. She turned our way and locked eyes with me and then tilted her head.
Waiting for me?
We continued on our way out and she walked over to us. "Look, I'm sorry for being a bitch earlier. You didn't do anything wrong, I was just annoyed about that asshole. It was rude of me to bite your head off just for trying to be helpful." Once again I tried and failed to place her accent. It wasn't New York or Boston, and it wasn't southern.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure you have to deal with that shit all the time, it must get tiring. No hard feelings," I said. It was good of her to apologize, she had been a bit rude, but I wanted to play it cool. As far as I knew this was the most she had ever spoken to a guy at the gym and I didn't want to screw it up. Better to just plant the seed of a cordial relationship. "I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. I'm sure I'll see you around." With that, I walked out the door, Paul giving her a nod and following after me.
"Damn, dude, you sure played that one cool. She looked stunned when you just peaced out like that."
"I figured it would just undo everything if I took that opportunity to chat her up, and I couldn't think of anything else to say, so it seemed like the right move."
"I think that's the first time I've ever seen her say more than two words to someone. Maybe you're going to be the one to melt the Ice Queen's frozen heart."
