Oiled hands slide up along both sides of my spine. They reach my shoulders, and begin kneading the muscles. I can feel crunching between her fingers. I try not to audibly moan. The masseuse doesn't seem to mind my noises though. Ambient jazz softly fills the room.
The redhead leans over me as I lay face down on a padded massage table. All I can see are her tan leggings and white clogs.
I can't recall the last time I had a massage. Maybe it was when my last girlfriend and I went to an all-inclusive resort in the Bahamas.
The masseuse-- I forget her name-- is working miracles on my body. I hear her shuffle down near my legs. She applies pressure to the ball and heel of my foot, which I realize hurts much more now that she's attending to it. It was a long day that was tougher on my body than I expected.
***
The morning began as Chloe greeted me outside my door with another insulated tumbler on a tray.
"No," I said in disbelief, "
more?!
Am I ever going to have any other food besides shakes?"
Chloe lowered her head. I felt a pang of guilt for taking it out on her. "I apologize, Chloe. That was rude of me."
"No need to apologize, Mistress," she said, shaking her head. I took the tumbler from her. "One other thing though," she said softly.
I arched my eyebrows at her. She lifted the tray, and I noticed the syringe. "Another injection? Of what?"
"It's your Cocktail, Mistress. You get daily administrations."
I wanted to protest, but I figure it's useless to complain to Chloe. I let her pierce me in the arm. She replaced the syringe on her tray. "Please follow me." She began heading down the hall, with me in tow.
She led me downstairs into a spacious, open area. The level seemed taller than normal. The stairs even had a landing at the midpoint. I'm guessing this takes up two floors in the building. I was continuously surprised at the size and scope of this operation.
The central floor space consisted of a gym, delineated by padded mat material. Workout machines, benches, and rows of weights were spaced out in the middle. A line of ellipticals and stationary bikes flanked the left and far sides. The right wall was almost entirely mirrors. I noted a handrail along the length of the mirrored wall. The area in front of that had shiny hardwood flooring.
Two other walls were lined with glass rooms. Tables, chairs, and a mounted TV populated each one. Through the glass, I could see windows looking out onto the city.
The staircase we descended was situated along a wall made of concrete, similar to the floors. The ceiling was an array of exposed wooden beams running along the length of the room. Large overhead lighting hung among the beams along with AC ducts.
Chloe guided me to an open space in the gym. There, a man was waiting for us, smiling. He was shorter than me. Probably 5'6" or 5'7". He had olive skin and a full, thick head of black hair. I was kind of jealous. He wore the same black leggings and tank top that I had on, which showed off his defined, muscular body.
"Good morning, Mistress Lisa! I'm Master Anthony," he said. I detected a slight Spanish accent.
"Oh-- uh, nice to meet you," I replied. I still wasn't used to being referred to that way.
"So!" he started, jovially. "I'm to be your trainer for your workout sessions." I looked at him with surprise.
"Ahh, you haven't been briefed on your regimen, I'm guessing?" he asked with a chuckle. I turned to look at Chloe, but found that she vanished without my noticing.
"Well, we want to get you into performance shape and ..." he looked me up and down, "we do have some work to do."
"Uh yeah. Sorry," I said sheepishly.
"No no, I do not mean to be insulting," he quickly said. "Everyone here starts somewhere, and is on some sort of training regiment." He swept his hands around the space. I looked around, and noticed two women on the stationary bikes. They had earphones in, and were focused on their cycling. There was a blonde man on the mats stretching. They all seemed impressively fit to me.
"So," he said, "we'll be working together pretty much every morning. I have a workout plan developed for you. It was quick. I didn't know about you or your situation until a couple of days ago. But we can adapt and adjust it as we go along."
I felt nervous. One of the reasons I hated going to the gym was the sense that others were observing and judging me. I didn't want my out of shape body to be noticed by anyone.
Anthony seemed to pick up on my apprehension and smiled warmly. "Don't worry about anything. I'm here to guide you. There's no judgment. We're here to make progress. It doesn't matter how slow or little. We'll get there. Okay?"
"Okay, deal." I smiled back, feeling more reassured.
We started with warm ups and stretches. I felt the tightness in my muscles as I pulled them taught, especially the hamstrings. Then we focused on core body exercises. Anthony had me doing crunches, Russian twists, and bicycle kicks. It wasn't long before I was drenched in sweat and panting. We didn't even use any weights.
The planks were particularly murderous. Anthony wanted me to plank for a full minute. But twenty seconds in, my body was quivering with effort. I made it to about forty seconds before I collapsed onto the mat.
I stood up, but was still doubled over with my hands on my knees, gasping for breath. "I'm sorry," I puffed.
He shook his head, and clapped me on the back. "Don't apologize. We're just at the starting line. You won't believe how far you'll progress soon!" He handed me a small towel, and I wiped the sweat off my brow. I felt grateful for his supportive attitude.
We ended the session with more stretching down on the mats. He stressed to me the importance of this step. "We'll be going pretty often, and will gain intensity," he explained, "so we want to make sure that you stay loose to avoid injuring yourself and aid in recovery."
I rolled off my back, and noted the large stain of sweat that I left on the mat. He offered his hand, which I took. He lifted me up to my feet without any apparent effort. "We did it! Not bad, eh? We'll keep it up tomorrow!" he said with a grin. I was already dreading it.
I turned to see Chloe at the edge of the matted area, waiting patiently. "I really hope you didn't witness any of that," I told her, wiping my temples.
She smiled, showing a bit of teeth, possibly the first time I'd seen her do that. "I thought you did very well, Mistress."
I scoffed. She led me past some of the glass rooms. I could see a handful of people in one already. We reached the room in the corner. Lily was seated inside, working on a laptop.
She wore a dark blue sleeveless top, with a button down front and collar. Her hair was tucked back behind her ears. Her lips were pursed. She always looked a bit annoyed. She had on black, rectangular framed glasses. They looked great on her. I forgot how attractive she is.
She was working intently, but looked up as we entered. "Ah, good morning."
"Good morning, Mistress," Chloe and I said in unison. Lily nodded in approval. Chloe bowed to each of us and exited, shutting the door on her way out.
"I saw you had your first workout session," Lily began. "Do you have any questions about your schedule?"
"Schedule?" I asked, puzzled.
"You haven't gotten your schedule yet? Where's your tablet?" she asked with an irritated tone. I shook my head and shrugged. "Ugh okay."
She tapped on her phone forcefully. Her lips moved as if reading to herself. "While we get that sorted, we can move onto--".
"Actually," I interrupted, "I have some questions, if I may?" She closed her laptop and nodded. I tried to collect the thoughts that have been swirling in my head.
