Interesting in Stuff

I texted Megan yesterday as I was leaving the office. I said, “Haven’t heard from you in a while. Hope all is well! We should have dinner or something soon.”

I was intentional in not really saying anything. I was mostly just looking for a response. And to let her know if she was avoiding me because of Thanksgiving, there was no reason for her to do so.

She responds almost immediately. It’s in no way a direct response to anything I said, but rather awkwardly out of nowhere which is (I’m learning) normal for her. Her message says, “I’m at the gym tonight. Come work out with me?”

I thought about it. I’ve never been to her gym even though she has frequently invited me. I like my gym. And of course it’s not about the money, but she has said she’d not only get me into her gym for free but that she’d be willing to be my trainer for free.

So I texted back and said, “Sure, I’ll meet you there?” and she responded that she’d come by and pick me up because parking there can suck unless you have the membership tag. Fine with me.

I got home and grabbed my gym bag and she met me shortly after that. I didn’t have much time to rest and I wasn’t super excited about spending time at the gym. I’m not sure why I felt an obligation to do this with her. I mean, she takes extraordinary care of herself and I envy her commitment to fitness, and it wouldn’t hurt if some of that rubbed off on me. But I was feeling lazy after a workday.

She didn’t say a word about Thanksgiving, or that it’d been two weeks since we’d seen each other after her practically living at my house for the weeks prior to the Thanksgiving. I asked her what she was doing for Christmas and she said she was going to be with her sisters in California. Without giving it any thought I told her that if she needed a ride to or from the airport I was willing to help. I immediately regretted saying that.

I had this idea in my head that her gym was a borderline brothel, mostly because she had told me straight out that she has sex with several of the people she trains there. But I was surprised by the facilities. She gave me a little tour and then asked what my preference was in terms of her being a bit of a trainer for me or if I just wanted to work out.

I answered honestly that I’d never worked with a trainer and wouldn’t mind her professional input but didn’t necessarily need her to be as formal with me as she might be with a paying customer.

She proceeded to blow my mind. She was so thorough and perfect with everything she did with me. It was a side of her I’d never seen before. I guess I’d call it “professional.” She also really knew what she was talking about (or at least was very convincing that she did). When we were done I couldn’t compliment her enough. I told her I felt guilty that she gave me so much attention for free and she said it was just nice to hang out with me.

We walked into the locker room and she stripped to shower with zero shame (not that I expected her to have any). She told me there were private showers I could use if that made me more comfortable, and then she walked over to the communal shower area. I felt like it would be awkward to shower with her and awkward to specifically want privacy when she clearly felt no need for it. But it was nice that she didn’t really even wait around to see what I was going to do. Like I was making a bigger deal out of it than necessary.

She drove us home and then reminded me that she is also a masseuse and she’d be happy to help me if I have some sore muscles after that workout. I honestly couldn’t tell if that was a real offer or if she was just saying it as a friendly way of acknowledging that she’d worked me out hard. But then she said, “I’m totally serious, text me tomorrow if you want a massage. I’m very happy to do it.”

She parked in her garage and I started to walk home and she stopped me to hug me and said, “Thanks for hanging out with me.” I have to admit I hardly considered what we’d done to be “hanging out” considering how much effort I had to put into her exercises.

I told her we ought to make some kind of workout schedule and she seemed thrilled with that suggestion.

I’m sore in several places today so I just sent her the text, “I’m so open to that massage if the offer is still good.”

“I was actually hoping you would be, call me when you’re ready.”

This will be interesting.