"Enough about that," Gladís interrupted. She focused on Esmeralda. She peppered her with questions like whether she had talked to her parents over the weekend or how she'd been impressed by the Miami Dade campus. Esmeralda felt that they were trying to divert her attention, and made a note that she should look up the gym that Flor had mentioned.
Later that night she logged on to her Acer laptop and typed in several spellings of inclination cross-referenced with Miami and gym, until finally a location in a building in Midtown popped up. She noted the directions to it, and reminded herself to visit it the next day.
Esmeralda then settled into her bed to go to sleep. It was past 1 AM and she knew she wanted to be awake and on the go the next day as she was still dependent on the buses, but her earlier forced nap after seeing Flor and Veronica at the pool had left her both overcharged from the sleep and wound up from the scene. Her night outfit of a t-shirt and boy shorts also had her feeling hot. She tried several methods to cool down, such as removing the covers and checking if the AC flow was good from the vents, but finally decided to sleep with the covers and remove her t-shirt and shorts. She was now laying there cooled and comfortable but the sleep wasn't forthcoming, so she began massaging her exposed breasts and playing with her nipples. Rarely had she touched herself in the past, and often Esmeralda had wondered why boys were so obsessed with their own pleasure. Her few successful attempts to relieve her desires solo were enjoyable, but left her unfulfilled when finished.
Now, however, she decided it would be a good way to expend energy and relax, and so she hooked her hands under the waistband of her simple purple cotton panties and peeled them off of her slim hips. Spreading her legs wide under the covers, Esmeralda began running her right hand over her slit and tried to concentrate on her body. Surprisingly, the images that then popped into her head were of women, bodies exposed grinding one on the other, and moaning in passion. It wasn't one continuous scene; rather it was sometimes her cousin and Flor in the same place she had seen them today, and sometimes they were random women she had known in high school or someone else, like her former lab partner Chloe, a shy and skinny raven-haired girl with a slim wiry body and clear pale skin.
This was unlike any previous session, as she continually was able to get her vagina moist and responsive, and after only a few minutes her pelvis convulsed in a climax for what was a short period of time but felt like a lot longer. The satisfaction was brief afterward, so Esmeralda reengaged afterward now imagining herself in tandem with the women she was conjuring up. Then, after what must have been the fifth time, Esmeralda's energy tapped out, and she settled in for a contented fitful slumber.
== Confrontation ==
The 8 AM bus down to Midtown was packed on this weekday, and Esmeralda had to stand initially. She knew she had to be at Incline Nation in the morning so as not to miss what she wanted to see. It was hard to improvise a real excuse for her aunt and cousin on why she needed to leave for the day and by herself, but she finally just told them that she had had enough of being cooped up or driven around and wanted to explore. This was very true in more ways than one. She had packed her tennis outfit and a racket in her bag so that she would have what to wear at the gym, and told them that she was going to check out some courts in the city.
She scanned the faces of the other commuters. Most of them seemed to be boring people, just like in Buffalo, with their business or other work attire, and briefcases. The glimpses she saw of the teens on the bus set her mind back to the images she had imagined the night before. Again, most of the subjects she was focused on were female. What was going on in her mind; had her cousin and friends flipped a switch that Esmeralda had never known she had? Or was this an inclination that she'd always possessed and had always waited for the right event to catalyse it?
Esmeralda shook out of her contemplation and realized her stop was only a block away. She pulled the stop cord and positioned herself near the door. Once the bus had come to halt, she practically leaped out and her bag swung freely against her frame propelling her outward. She adjusted her pace quickly realizing that people would think that somebody walking around like she was would be in distress. Tentatively, she withdrew her directions from her phone and began locating Incline-Nation. It took her more than ten minutes to locate the back-lit blue sign with large bold pink letters embossed on it that pointed an arrow at a stairwell descending below and behind a large storefront building. As she descended the stairs, she could hear the bass beat of some dance music, Groove Armada by the sound of it. Entering into the lobby, Esmeralda surveilled the large space sporting numerous treadmills, stair climbers, ellipticals, stationary bikes, and the like.
She went up to the reception desk. "Hi, I'm Terry," said the woman there, looking to be in her mid-20s, of thick build, but rather fit, "welcome to Incline-Nation."
"Hey. . . um, I'm Esmy. I'm looking to try this place out."
"Oh, I thought you looked new." Terry opened up a drawer and pulled out a flier showing the subscription pricing and periods. "That's so you know how it works here. And there's a list of all of the facilities and machines we have here," she pointed at a different side of the flier. "And you can actually start your free 7-day trial period today, if you want."
"I think I'll do that," Esmeralda answered.
"Great," Terry said as she pulled out some forms and gave them to Esmeralda with a pen to fill out. After that was done, Esmeralda smiled and handed back the clipboard,and she was handed a towel with the Incline-Nation logo, a globe with a treadmill track crossing it.
On first impression Esmeralda began to suspect she had wasted her time. She had to be discreet so that she wouldn't be recognized, so she made sure to wear a bandana, a pair of tinted shades, and an IPod (which was on, but also on very low volume). But it was obvious on first sight that Gwen wasn't there, at least not yet, because at this hour the fitness room was almost deserted apart from a handful of women ranging from their twenties to their fifties. Hopefully, Gwen hadn't come in the early morning.
Esmeralda figured that while she was waiting she might as well fit in and get a nice workout in the mean time. She went to the changing room and put on her outfit of grey lycra tights under a teal leotard. These were actually clothes that she hadn't used since she had been a volunteer for the youth gymnastics team in Buffalo, and the only reason they had been packed was because she had searched for a similar program to work with in Miami. After putting on her Skechers
