My name is Dean. I'm a 36-year-old single computer programmer. I've had a few girlfriends over the years, but never anything that really got serious. Outside of work, I've always stayed active. I go to the gym regularly, I run, and I've been part of a group of friends playing in a co-ed adult volleyball league for the last 10 years. Admittedly, we spend almost as much time drinking beer as we do playing volleyball, but my other activities keep me in good shape.
My gym has always had a boxing ring, but I literally never saw anyone use it for actual boxing, until a few months ago, I saw a trainer who looked to be in his mid 50s giving lessons to a young (early 20s maybe) guy who looked super fit. It was so unusual to see, so I stopped and watched them for a while. I had always enjoyed watching boxing on TV, but I never saw it up close. After a while, I went about my usual workout routine. Later, as I was walking out of the gym, the boxing trainer was also leaving.
"Hi," I said. "Are they starting to give boxing lessons here? I've never seen anyone actually use that boxing ring until today."
"Oh hi," he replied. "No, I usually train at a boxing club downtown, but they're replacing the roof there this week, and the club made a deal with several gyms that have boxing rings, so we could keep training."
"Cool," I said. "Does your boxing club have classes, or take beginners? I've always enjoyed watching boxing, but I never tried it. It looks like it would be a great way to stay fit."
"Yeah, we take all skill levels," he said. "We don't really do classes though, it's all one-on-one with various trainers. A lot of people do it just for fitness and fun, there's no pressure to get competitive. People who stick with it, usually end up at least getting into sparring with others from the club. You only have to go as far as you are comfortable with."
It sounded interesting, and I was looking for something new to keep me fit. I learned his name was Mike and he told me they offered a free intro session. We exchanged numbers and he said he'd call me later when he had a chance to look at his schedule and we'd set something up as soon as the contractors were done with the roof.
The weeks went by, and I ended up joining the boxing club and doing training with Mike once a week. He was impressed with my progress, learning the basics, and he introduced me to a couple of more experienced guys in the club, and I started to occasionally meet them for sparring. That was as far as I was going to take it. I got to be known as a decent sparring partner to use if some of the more competitive guys needed to work on techniques. Because of that, I was usually sparring with guys who were better than me, and therefore I learned to take hits. It helped me improve, and I was getting more fit than ever, but I had no desire to start entering competitive matches and getting any more serious about boxing.
Meanwhile, I was still meeting up with the volleyball group and regularly going to the gym. I was feeling like I finally found that perfect mix of activities to stay fit and maintain a social circle. I felt good about myself and I was happy with my body. At my age, being 5 foot 9 inches and 165 pounds, nice muscle definition, and still with hair on my head, I considered myself attractive to women. So I was kinda on the lookout for dating prospects. I mean, I had enough going on in my life that I wasn't desperate for a girlfriend, but I just wasn't having regular sex. So I was looking for opportunities to change that.
*****
One evening at the gym, I was just walking out of the men's locker room to leave after washing up and changing. At the same time, a woman coming from the women's locker room was heading towards the door. She looked familiar, and she also gave me a look that said 'I know you from somewhere.'
Then it finally clicked and she smiled and said, "Hey Dean, I didn't know you came to this gym."
As soon as she spoke, I realized it was Christine from the volleyball group. Christine had been playing with our team for several years. There were a lot of friends of friends on that team, and I had never really hit it off with her. Once in a while, having beer after our Saturday games, we'd say hi, but that was as far as I ever got with her. I can't remember who was the friend of hers that brought her into our team. She always acted kinda aloof, and just wasn't very friendly. It seemed like she always had a boyfriend that wasn't part of our group. So I put her into that category of women who felt they needed to act unfriendly in order to demonstrate to everyone that they were "taken." The only other observation I had about her, was that once in a while if she had a little too much to drink at our after-game get-togethers, she had a tendency to become loud and obnoxious, which I never liked.
Anyway, based on my past experience of Christine, who I frankly didn't care much for, I was totally surprised at her cheerfully greeting me like this. Frankly, I was shocked that she remembered my name! I'm not a jerk to anyone, so I returned her smile.
"Hey Christine," I said. "I didn't know you belonged to this gym either."
"I usually only come here over my lunch hour, since I work nearby," she said. "Today was a fluke, I had a deadline and worked through lunch, so I came here after work so I wouldn't miss a workout."
"That's cool," I replied. "This is my usual time to come."
"Nice," said Christine. "Hey, do you know any good places to eat something quick around here? I work near here, but I'm usually jumping in the car and hurrying home after work. I'm starving after working through lunch and just working out."
"Well," I said, "I usually go to this juice place after I'm done here and get a smoothie or something. They have really good sandwiches and salads too. You're welcome to join me. It's walking distance and I usually leave my car here at the gym parking lot and come back for it."