CHAPTER THREE
“Drop and give me thirty!” Duke screeches.
Ugh. It was one thing to inspire someone to get fit—and another to terrorize them. Though Duke has only been managing the facility for a few weeks, the whole atmosphere of the place has changed. Though the gym needs to change to attract and retain clients to improve our bottom line, I am pretty sure this isn’t the type of change it needs.
“Did you hear me?” His voice is so loud I almost drop my iced coffee. I stop walking towards my office and turn towards the sound of his obnoxious tone. He’s hovering directly over one of his clients. The unlucky woman visibly gulps as he shouts at her. Her face is bright red and dripping with sweat.
“Now!” Duke demands loudly.
She gets down on the mat and slowly begins trying to do push-ups, her arms shaking.
“He’s pretty tough on his clients,” Clara says softly, coming up behind me. “Many of the other trainers have been pretty rough on theirs lately, too.”
I bite my lip. Clara is right. Duke is very hard on his clients…and because he is now the head honcho of the ‘7 Days’ facility, other trainers hoping to impress him have followed his lead. I’ve noticed a drop off in visits from many of our more out of shape clients. At the same time, the buff, physical types are eating it up—loving the new hard ass approach. But though we’ve had an uptick in hardcore fitness buffs joining, our core membership is regular folks looking to lose a few pounds or tone up. They are the bread and butter of the gym, and their numbers have decreased dramatically.
I nod. “I know. It’s sad. The members that need the most help have been dropping off like flies, and enough new folks aren’t joining to replace them.”
“If he keeps this up, we’ll lose a lot more of them,” Clara brushes a strand of hair away from her face. “He’s got some of them freaking out big time. I don’t think they feel comfortable in here anymore. I mean, with Peter’s management style, a lot of the trainers were too easy on our members…but under Duke it has gone way too far in the opposite direction. People are afraid if they come in they’ll get screamed at. And the workouts are so hard. I saw one woman leaving the other day who was literally hobbling out the door she was in so much pain.”
“Someone needs to talk to him about it,” I grimace. “This can’t go on. There has to be some middle ground.”
“Ha! Do you think he’d even listen to anyone? Duke seems to only hear one voice—his own!” She rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, that’s true.” I really don’t like talking about people behind their backs, even jerks like Duke, but until I find another job I need to keep this one and so do all the other staff and trainers that work here. Plus, our clients need us to help keep them fit—this means ‘7 Days’ needs to stay open.
“Harder…push harder!” Duke rages at the woman, who now looks like she’s ready to burst into tears.
“Maybe Noah could say something,” Clara offers. “He’s like the real boss around here anyway. He gets along with everyone.”
That was true. Noah is the one everyone goes to when they have a problem at the gym. With his easy but firm style, he’s a natural leader.
“Alright, I guess that’s enough for the day,” Duke shouts at the woman. “But when you come back next time, you’d better be prepared to work harder!”
“Ok, ok…” the woman sputters, “I, um…I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back. I have a lot going on lately...”
“Another one bites the dust,” Clara mutters under her breath.
“Excuses, excuses…you want to get in shape? You need to do the work.”
As the woman quickly shies away from him, Duke spots us and saunters over to where we are standing.
“Hello, ladies.”
“Hi, Duke,” Clara smiles.
“Hi,” I echo softly.
“Well, that was another great workout,” Duke huffs. “Anytime you want your ass kicked I’m the one to do it,” he exclaims proudly. He glances at his nails. “Yeah, I can whip a body into shape in no time.”
I pucker my lips. “She seemed a little upset when she left. It sounds like you worked her so hard she may not be back.”
“Of course she’ll be back,” Duke grins. “Women love working with me because they know I help them get that tight, sexy body a man drools over.”
I sputter. “What?”
“Come on. Women want men…and they want a hot body so that men want them, too.” He points to a closed door where a spinning class is being held inside. “That’s why they’re all in there killing themselves.” He motions to the main area of the gym, “That’s why the ladies are out there sweating. They want to look hot and sexy for us guys.”
I shake my head. “How about we just want to get healthy and feel good about ourselves?”
“We…did you say we?” he arched his brows. “I don’t see you busting your gut working out.”
“I’m not into lifting weights or spinning…I’d rather take a brisk walk or go running.”
He cocks his brow. “Where were you last night at six o’clock? You were supposed to go running with me.”
“I never said I would go running with you, Duke.”
He grunts. “Ok, so when was the last time you worked out?”
“Really, Duke, that’s none of your business.”
“Well, it kind of is, you know, because if you are going to work at ‘7 Days,’ you need to represent.”
“Represent—what are you talking about?”
“You should be a shining example of what ‘7 Days’ is all about—fitness and health. You say you like to walk and run. But you don’t look like you move very much, if at all.”
“Gee, thanks,” I say sarcastically. But I know he is right. I spend too much time sitting on my ass and not enough time moving it.
“I think Allie looks great!” Clara pats my arm.
“Thanks, Clara.” That is sweet of her to say…but like me, Clara is a naturally big, curvy girl and she is out of shape too. I know I need to move more and lose some weight, but what gives Duke the right to point it out?
“She is beautiful,” Duke says, nodding his head. “Just imagine how she’d look if she worked out!”
“Ok…” So now he is talking about me in the third person. I let out a deep breath. It is so hard to hold my temper. “I have to get to my office,” I say, trying to sound calm and cool. Inside, I am boiling. God, this man is infuriating!