It was my first job out of college. I was a faceless wheel in the cog of Capitalism. The office I shared with a handful of other slackers was separated from the rest company by both attitude and distance as we were about half a block away from the rest of the offices. The only thing that united us was the crappy intranet site we logged into each morning. It was a repository of corny jokes, Dilbert comics, and the occasional missive from upper management.
The one thing I enjoyed about that site was the section for swapping. People traded books, CDs, lawnmowers and other, less tangible, goods. I came upon the idea one day while walking around the parking lot at lunch that I could really do for a walking partner. I needed to loose those extra pounds that I had gained at college and missed human interaction. When I returned to the office I placed a two line ad on the intranet.
No one beat down my door, of course. Most people spent their lunch hour loitering in the dank corners of the office park, dragging on cigarettes and gossiping about the people that weren't there. Yet, a week later, a reply did arrive.
"BEEN WATCHING YOU. THINK I CAN HELP. LET'S MEET AT LUNCH."
I expected to meet another overweight twentysomething but, instead, the person waiting for me in the parking lot that day looked more like he had just graduated from boot camp. He smirked when he saw me. Something about him scared me. It could be that he looked more like a bully who was there to punish me for some unforgivable crime against the pecking order than someone who was intent on helping me.
"How much do you want to lose?" he asked, jumping right over introductions and small talk.
"I dunno," I shrugged. "Maybe 20 pounds?"
"Not enough. You could lose 50 easy and still use some work. You need toning and a lot of cardio," he said, looking at me more like a piece of meat than a coworker or walking partner. I was a bit put off, to say the least.
"Come on. Let's walk," he said, starting out. I didn't want to be rude so I fell in step with him as best I could. He was walking so fast that I started gasping for breath after a block. "You really are out of shape," he sneered. "I can help you. Do you want that?"
"Yes," I said, gulping for air.
He handed me a card. "Meet me here after work tonight. No excuses." And with that, he was off and running (well, jogging), down the block, opening a distance between us.
At first, I thought that he was some kind of Gym recruiter. But, when I got to the address on the card, I was surprised to find that it was a residence. The garage door was open and there was a large, opaque screen in front of it. Unsure, I walked up to it and called out, "Hello?" I realized that I didn't even know the name of this guy.
"Open up the screen from the side and come in," he said. I was amazed. The inside of this rather innocuous garage looked like some kind of twisted version of Gold's Gym. Benches, weights, and other odd implements of exercise filled the room. He lay on one of the benches, lifting a large barbell overhead. After a few reps he put down the weight and sat up, dabbing his sweaty forehead with a towel.
He looked me up and down, the corners of his mouth moving south with distaste. "You expect to work out in that?" he asked, scoffing. I had dressed in what I thought were workout clothes -- sweatpants and a t-shirt.
"Go into the house. All the way down the hall is my bedroom. Third drawer down on the left in the tall dresser are some better clothes for you. Go on. Hurry up. I haven't got all night."
I felt like a spy, going into a stranger's house while he wasn't around. I could hear his grunts and the clang of metal as he continued to workout in the garage. I tried to avert my gaze and just walk down the hall but was too much of a snoop for that. I checked out his living room -- austere and neat -- and look around his bedroom a bit as well before looking in the chest of drawers. His bedroom was also immaculate. There were a few pictures on the top of his dresser of he and a very well-built woman. The looked to be at some kind of auditorium and both were smiling from ear to ear. The one item that looked completely out of place in the room was some device hanging from the ceiling. It looked to be ropes and pulleys and I imagined it to be either some kind of decoration or an exercise device.
The clothes he had wanted me to wear were much more skimpy than I should have liked. Tight Lycra shorts and a mesh shirt. I was amazed when they fit (just barely) and very self conscious when I came back to his garage, my own clothes bundled under my arms as to not let them get too far from me.
He introduced me to a rather strenuous workout regimen and didn't hesitate from pushing me past my limits. The next day at work I was sore as hell. I saw him while walking at lunch but he either didn't see me or chose to ignore me. I had agreed to meet him three nights a week and, the next night, our routine was very much the same. I changed in his bedroom and came out to workout with him for an hour before retreating, worn out, back home.
This became our routine. He never seemed to enjoy my company or even looking at me. He treated me with contempt every time I saw him. This went on for months. Gradually, I noticed the pounds coming off and the soreness abetting in its intensity.