Taking their places on the yoga mat at the front of the studio, Dominique asked Mateo, "Shouldn't you be watching behind one-way glass or something?"
Mateo laughed. "Yeah, if the gym is missing anything, it's ways to spy on my customers." Instead, he and Dominique were in the first row, two of about twenty participants in a free mobility session. Some of the other people in the room might have known he owned the place, but they did not know that Kalista, the athletic woman in tights at the front of the class, was auditioning for a job.
While they waited for the last few participants to take their places, Dominique scampered over to Kalista and gave her a big hug. The would-be instructor lifted petite Dominique right off the floor, beaming at her.
"You'll be so great, girl. I'm so excited!" Dominique chirped.
"Thanks, 'Nique--now get back in your spot so I can start!" Kalista gave her friend a playful push and looked at Mateo. She shook her head as though exasperated at their mutual friend, but she winked. He smiled back--not too enthusiastically, he hoped. Mateo wanted to play the stern evaluator here, but Kalista had a very infectious grin.
Dominique returned to her mat, almost bouncing with excitement. She didn't bother with the gym, as a rule--she claimed to be more of an outdoor girl--but she'd set up this audition. Mateo had been hemming and hawing for months over hiring someone to run fitness classes. The gym was successful enough now that he wanted to grow in a new direction, and guided classes would appeal to people that otherwise never set foot in a gym.
Running classes, though, took a big investment of time, space, and money, and employees were serious overhead. But Dominique insisted her friend Kalista would be perfect, a total self-starter and a great instructor. And she was a freelancer, so Mateo could just give her a studio and set her loose on all the new customers that wanted the group fitness experience. That sounded perfect to him.
Kalista ran them through a set of easy shoulder and hip warm-ups, then had them move through progressively more complex and challenging poses, holding each for a few minutes. Throughout, she encouraged them to let their bodies go deeper into the pose without pushing or squeezing, to just focus on their breathing and let their muscles gradually surrender. Mateo tolerated mobility work more than he enjoyed it, but found it natural to follow along with her steady, confident voice.
He also, however, found himself distracted by the sight of Kalista. He'd spent many years around fit, attractive people, and he knew how to manage the part of himself that was responding now, especially where a potential employee was concerned--yet Mateo found his eyes fixed on her body whenever a pose didn't force him to face away.
Kalista wore a standard workout outfit, purple tights and loud neon sneakers, with a tank top cut high above her midriff and a sports bra underneath. Somehow, the lines of her clothes kept dragging his gaze along the slope of her back or her sculpted stomach to the wide flare of her hips, the curves of her ass and thighs.
Mateo realized he was getting turned on just watching her move, chiding himself for the dozenth time about fixating on her legs instead of her instructions. He went into the next pose a beat behind the rest of the class and hoped no one noticed, especially not Dominique, who was stretching right beside him.
He hoped Kalista didn't notice, either. There was little question she was perfect for the job. She had skill and poise, and she'd clearly run classes before; some athletes that try to become instructors are great at working out but can't pace a session for an audience, or can't explain why they're doing what they're doing. That wasn't a problem for Kalista. She led them through a workout simple enough for a beginner to follow, but intense enough that even Mateo, in top physical condition, was breathing hard by the time she had them lie on their mats with their eyes closed, her soothing voice helping them cool down.
After class, Mateo waited for everyone else to leave before he approached--including Dominique, who gave her friend another big hug goodbye--not wanting to put Kalista under the spotlight in front of the members. She took a swig from her water bottle and gave him a big smile as he crossed the room, and he felt butterflies in his stomach. He reminded himself what the power dynamic was here: he was evaluating her for a job, and she was simply another fitness professional. That he found her particularly sexy wasn't relevant here.
"You did great!" he blurted. Inwardly, he rolled his eyes. *And besides the foregoing, dummy, you're not in high school anymore. Act like a grown man.* "I mean, I can see why 'Nique recommended you."
"Oh, she's such a sweetie, isn't she?" Kalista said. "How do you two know each other? College, right?"
"Friends since college," he said, nodding. "I wanted to get in her pants at first, naturally..."
