Chapter 33: Gym Politics

Just then the gym manager, Jack, came flying through the front doors like a man who had just heard his building was on fire.

He was in a sharp suit, tie slightly crooked, face already red.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN MY GYM?!"

The second he stepped inside he was hit by a wall of screaming, sobbing, and the leftover echo of open-handed violence. The reception area looked like the aftermath of a bar fight that had somehow involved makeup and yoga pants. Jack’s soul visibly left his body for a second. If a single paying member walked in right now, the gym’s reputation would die on the spot.

The moment Sienna spotted him, she underwent a full Hollywood transformation. One second she was a defeated, swollen mess on the floor. The next she was scrambling up like a wounded heroine in a soap opera, launching herself at Jack and latching onto his arm with both hands.

"Manager Jack! You have to save us!" she wailed, voice cracking on every word. She pointed a dramatic, trembling finger at Elena and Tessa. "Those two witches brought this random street thug in here to ambush Natalie and me! Look at what they did to my face!"

In her head the plan was already perfect. She had spent months keeping Jack happy with late-night "form checks" and special client favors. He was supposed to be her personal nuclear option. He would fire the other two, have the college kid dragged out in cuffs, and maybe even buy her a new filler appointment out of guilt.

Her face, unfortunately, looked like it had lost a fight with a lawnmower~swollen, blotchy, makeup running in tragic black rivers~but she still tried to give him the wet, seductive look that usually worked.

Jack stared down at the creature currently glued to his sleeve and recoiled like he’d just been handed a live raccoon.

"Who the fuck are you?! Get off me!"

He shoved her away on pure survival instinct and, for good measure, slapped her across the already destroyed cheek.

*Slap.*

Sienna spun halfway around, both hands flying to her face.

"It’s meeee! Sienna!"

Her voice came out thick and wet, like she was talking through a mouthful of cotton and regret.

Jack squinted. "...Sienna? Jesus Christ. Did you get attacked by a swarm of bees?"

"It was them!" she howled, jabbing her finger at Jason’s group again with pure theatrical hatred. "They all ganged up on me! You have to do something, Manager Jack~please!"

She attempted another sultry, tear-filled glance. The only thing it accomplished was giving Jack visible full-body goosebumps. He looked like a man who had just remembered he left the stove on at home.

Jack forced the horror down and turned toward Elena and Tessa, trying to look managerial.

"Is any of that true?"

His brain was already doing ugly math. Sienna was convenient in certain after-hours ways, but Elena and Tessa actually brought in real members. Firing them would be messy.

Elena kept her head slightly lowered. One side of her face was still pink and puffy.

"No," she said quietly. "Sienna and Natalie started it. They insulted the customer first and then Natalie hit me when I tried to stop them."

Sienna immediately produced a noise that belonged in a horror movie.

"I’m the victim! Look at my face! Look at it!"

Tessa stepped forward, hands on her hips, jaw tight, looking like she was two seconds away from finishing what Jason started.

"Oh, shut the hell up. You two talked shit to a paying customer, then Natalie slapped Elena. This guy stepped in because it was getting out of hand. Now you’re trying to flip the whole story? You’re shameless."

Jack looked back at Elena.

"That how it happened?"

Elena lifted her chin and met his eyes.

"Yes. They were out of line and treated him like he didn’t belong here."

Jack already knew they were telling the truth. The problem was Sienna. If he left her hanging she was exactly the type to blow up their private arrangement and take it straight to his wife. That risk sat heavy in his gut.

He also sized Jason up in one quick glance~ordinary clothes, young, no obvious money or backing. Easy to lean on.

His frown deepened as he turned toward Jason, clearly about to take the safer political side.

Jason watched the hesitation on Jack’s face and almost laughed.

Looking down on people just because of how they’re dressed? Cute.

He crossed his arms and spoke in a flat, cold voice.

"I’d think carefully before you pick a side. I don’t mind spending a little money. Local news, a couple of guys with banners outside your front door, or just dumping everything online~trainers assaulting customers, staff selling sex on the side, open steroid use. How do you think that lands for the gym?"

Jack’s eyelids twitched hard. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead and his face lost color in seconds.

Jason still looked like an ordinary college student, but something in his tone and the way he stood made the threat feel real. The calm pressure rolling off him felt more like a man used to giving orders than a broke kid. Jack’s own boss suddenly felt a lot less intimidating by comparison.

If even half of that went public, the gym would take a serious hit~and the owner would come looking for someone to blame.

Jack wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and forced a tight smile.

"Hey, let’s not get carried away, all right? We can talk this through~"

He didn’t get to finish.

Sienna, still completely missing the shift in the air, thought Jack was only playing along. Feeling protected again, she puffed back up and raised her voice.

"Keep talking. Anyone can run their mouth. You’re just some broke student. How much cash do you even have on you? You couldn’t afford a single session with me and now you’re threatening media? That’s hilarious. Right, Manager Jack?"

In her head the kid was bluffing~probably repeating something he’d seen online. She wasn’t about to let herself get scared by a nobody.

Jason looked at her swollen, arrogant face and felt nothing but cold disgust.

"All right," he said evenly. "Let’s test it then."