Chapter 30
Brooks
Day 5 without her.
The gym is boring without her. Life is quiet when she isn’t around. I train. I train others. I do gym admin. I strum my guitar, wishing it was her fingers playing and her voice I was hearing, instead of my own.
I want more. I need more. It’s time to do something new and challenge myself.
I set my tuna steak and edamame beans aside—it’s lean protein and greens, I can’t be expected to be a kale convert after two weeks. Come on! Opening the lid of my laptop, I set it on the kitchen counter in front of me and find Drew’s e-mails about franchising.
After an hour, I think I understand the basics—someone else owns the land, someone manages the gym, but it’s my style, my training regimes, and my brand they use. I make a note of things I need to ask Drew. How do I make sure the quality of the training is maintained? Who pays for equipment and the fit-out of the gym? Do I get to dictate which suppliers are used and how many members the gym has?
I go to the fridge for a beer but when I reach inside, I decide to take a club soda instead. By the time I’m finished reading everything Drew sent me, it is after midnight and I am pooped.
* * * *
Week 2 without her.
Stepping out of the elevator, the first thing I see is the new gold sign saying:
WELCOME TO
STATHAM HARRINGTON
I’m so damn proud of my buddy for getting his name on the wall.
“Hey, handsome. Admiring the art?”
“Hey yourself,” I say, hugging Sarah.
“I’ll take you through to the meeting room. Drew is just finishing up a call. Do you want coffee?”
Following her impressively fast strut in sky-high heels, which ought to be considered an extreme sport, I tell her, “Actually, I’m not drinking so much caffeine.”
She stops, dramatically—in true Sarah fashion—and spins to face me. Holding her hand to one side of her mouth, she whispers, “Don’t let the attorneys hear you slander their best friend. Men have been killed for lesser things.”
I’m still smiling at Sarah as I stand in the meeting room and take in the view of Manhattan’s skyline under the early morning sun.
“Brooks, my man.” Marty comes into the room and shakes my hand. “I can’t stay. I’ve got a mock deposition in two minutes, I just wanted to say hi. Are you coming to poker at Drew’s on Saturday?”
“I’ll be there.”
“Great stuff, great stuff. All right, got to go. When I make him wait, my client is like you when you’re hungry.”
“Shit, you better get going.”
“I know, right?”
As Marty leaves, Drew comes in. “Hey, buddy.” He shakes my hand and we take a seat at the glass table. “Do you want a bagel or pastry or something?”
“No, man, I’m good.”
“You’re turning down food? Sarah says you don’t want coffee, either. What the fuck?”
“Since you made me buy this suit and it’s like two inches too small, I can’t afford to eat pastries.”
“The suit is the perfect cut, Brooks. You’re just used to elastic waistbands. Right, let’s get down to it.”
“I’m ready. I’m in. Let’s franchise.”
Drew smiles as he sips his take-out coffee. We talk through everything I think I understand. Drew fills in some blanks and answers my questions.
“What happens next?” I ask.
“We look for a property. I can get someone from Real Estate to help with that. They know good commercial Realtors. Unless you have an idea already?”
“Not on the property front. I do have an idea for a manager, though. Do you remember Mickey and Brad, the brothers who bought my first gym in Brooklyn? Well, they did a good job of it. I’d like to float the idea by them.”
“Are you sure? I mean, are they commercial enough?”
“No.” I chuckle. “But they managed to keep that gym afloat. They’ve never expanded it, but I know the membership is at capacity. They are capable of doing it and, more to the point, I trust them. Let’s give them a chance.”
He nods slowly, as if he’s contemplating. “They’re good guys?”
“Yeah, they’re solid.”
“Your call, then. Speak to them.”
We end the meeting with a plan of action in place. It feels pretty damn good to be taking an extra step, pushing myself. More than anything, it feels fucking phenomenal to know that I’m doing it for me.
Drew shakes my hand and I pull him into a man hug. “Thanks, Drew, for pushing this. I had to work through some stuff, but I wouldn’t have done this if you hadn’t been nagging me like an old wife.”
He thumps my back harder than necessary but laughs. “I’m glad you’re getting through your shit, Brooks.”
* * * *
After thirty minutes of interval training on the treadmill, I hit Stop and roll back with the belt until I’m standing on the gym floor. I smile at the thought of Izzy’s jelly legs the day I added on to her training because she’d pissed me off again. As I rub sweat from my face with a towel, I wonder where she is, who she’s with, what she’s doing. I contemplate sending her a message. Maybe telling her about the plans for the new gym.
The walk from the gym to the showers gives me time to think better of the idea.
When I’m back in my office, I have a missed call from Cady. I call her back.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Hey, baby. Did you call?”
“Yeah. I, ah, I’m sorry but we need to talk about me moving into NYU. I don’t know who wants to drop me off, you or Mom. I mean, I would like it to be you and, you know, you could lift stuff better than Mom and Richard. But Mom wants to be there too. She’ll probably cry or something, I don’t know. Anyway, I don’t know what you want me to tell her?”
I suck in a breath and exhale heavily down the line. “You don’t need to be in the middle of this, Cady. I’ll speak to Alice.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, of course. What are you doing this weekend? Will you both be home on Sunday morning?”
“Ah, yeah, I’ll check but I think so. Will you…are you saying you’ll come here?”
I scratch my head, not sure at all, but there is no time like the present for conquering shit you don’t want to conquer. “I’m sure. Let me know what time.”
A text message comes through to my cell a few minutes after we hang up.
MOM SAYS 10AM AND SHE WILL MAKE BREAKFAST. K?
Breakfast with Alice. Well, fuck.
SOUNDS GOOD.