Lately it was harder for me to catch up with the rest of my crew. It seemed like they each moved their usual hours for workouts around for one reason or another. Mark apparently had a ton of work piled up on him so he was barely able to make short sessions in the morning. I wasn't really a morning guy and he was still a newbie, so I did not miss him that much, but the rest of my guys? Both Randy and Nathan were showing up late and mostly staying after closing hours of our gym. That used to be a fringe benefit and last resort in most of cases, but it was getting more regular during these past weeks. They kept coming later and later, so we barely exchanged a few words before I had to go home and it was pissing me off. My wife was only too keen to let me go exercise a little later because it meant she would have our apartment to herself, so I packed up my things and went for an evening workout.
Upon arrival I had to admit that the later hour had some benefits. Firstly, there were only few people around so it looked like no waiting for machines this time. Tom was already leaving for some errand, so he just smacked my back as I went in and vanished before I could recover. Other than that, there were only like four people around and one of them was already heading for showers. Randy and Nathan welcomed my presence with a loud cheer and high fives and I was really happy to see those two in a great mood. Other than them there was only the girl that Mark brought few weeks ago and even though I saw her around, it looked like the workouts weren't doing a thing for her so far. To say she was on a heavier side would be understatement. I liked my girls slim and my wife was keeping her figure in a perfect shape, though at times it was making her extremely cranky.
"So, what's up with the music?" I asked after I got changed.
"You don't like?" Nathan raised his eyebrow.
"Well, it doesn't sound like a something that Tom would put on," I shrugged.
"Sorry, that one is on me," Cathy's voice sounded apologetic.
"You do not have to apologize for that, it's not a bad music, I was just surprised by the change of style."
"Yeah, I needed something hipper to keep my motivation up and boys were so kind that they did not object. Tom even let me link my phone with his computer so I can change music depending on the mood, see?" she fiddled with her phone and there was sudden change to the rhythm.
"He let you do that after such a short time? You really had to make impression on him," I couldn't mask how surprised my tone was, but it was true, Tom usually did not warm up to newbies easily.
"To be honest, it's probably only because these guys put in a good word for me," she smiled.
"They did? Really? What did you promise them in return?" I was seriously baffled now. It wasn't like she was a hot girl that they would want to impress her, so why would they even bother?
"Come on, man, don't be rude," Nathan put his hand around my shoulders.
"She had trouble with some exercises and we decided to help, just as Mark asked, nothing more, nothing less. It would not hurt if you could point out any errors to her if you see some, she is trying to do her best, but she is still a beginner."
"Sorry, I meant no offense," I apologized quickly, wondering why he came to her defense. But then again, maybe I was a little rude, she didn't look like she could do any harm.
"None taken," she waved her hand. "I know you have plenty of your own exercises to do, so go work your stuff and if you have a moment later, I would be glad to receive any pointers."
"Sure, sure, I'll stop by later," I nodded in spite of not wanting to do that at all. If she needed so much help with her workouts, she should have paid for a professional trainer.
I quickly forgot about her because I had finally my crew around and it was exhilarating. We were joking around, pumping steel like there was no tomorrow and I finally felt like I'm having fun during workout. I missed those guys but only now I realized how much of a difference their presence made. Sure, Cathy was still around, not entirely fitting in our inner circle, but she wasn't that much annoying and mostly kept out of our way. Her form was horrible though, so from time to time, when we were unable to contain ourselves, someone inevitably had to tell her what she was doing wrong and correct her. Though I didn't want to take part in it from the beginning, even I had to intervene a few times just to make sure she won't kill herself. I knew Tom would never forgive me if I let someone to get hurt in his gym and I would never hear the end of it.
"Thank you, John. I am such a klutz, you don't mind helping me, right?" she asked, scratching her head nervously.
"It is okay, I don't mind," I nodded and realized it wasn't that much of a bother as I thought.
"See, I told you to not be rude and you are already stepping up to the challenge. I need to go, but you should help Cathy a little more while you stay, okay?" Nathan gave me a fist bump.
"Sure, I'll help her," I nodded while he said his goodbye to Randy and went out. I wasn't planning on sticking with her for more than a few reps, but since he insisted, it was probably a good idea to check her form.
"It's feels great to get this much attention from such a nice-looking guy like you," Cathy smiled when I got back to her.
"Slow down, girl. I am here to help you with your workout and that is all," I furrowed my brow at her words.
"I'm sorry, John. I was just joking around wanted to say something funny," she shrugged.
