Another day at the gym. I’m in a good mood today. Ambriel is supposed to finally be coming out of the NICU; I can hardly believe it. They’re letting her out almost two weeks sooner than we thought that they would. Tonight after work, I’ll be coming home to my girls instead of driving up to the hospital. I’m really looking forward to it. I head into the gym, and its business as usual. Laurel and I are doing a little better about being around each other, but I suppose at this point it doesn’t matter. Once the marathon is over, I’m quitting my job here. I’ll probably have to pick up another side job somewhere until the boxing thing kicks back up again, but I can’t keep being around Laurel. It’s driving me crazy. The marathon event is three weeks away, and all my work is going to pay off soon. The event will be good for the gym, the community, and my reputation –so I’m not going to ditch Alex until it’s over with since I am running pretty much the entire thing.

I don’t do much running around the gym today as far as repairs go. I am up to my throat in paperwork and to-do lists in preparation for the marathon. I’ve been on the phone with the Battered Women’s Home all week; they have a number of men and women who volunteer for them who will be coming out to help. My phone beeps, letting me know that it’s time for me to go get ready for the self-defense course.

I head up the second floor in the large glass room that overlooks the majority of the gym; this is where I teach one of my smaller, more intimate classes. It also works as great advertisement for any women who are in the gym to see my student’s plain as day up here having fun and learning. I get the room set up, and the class piles in. I’m not paying much attention to the faces while I work to get a CD player working; I like to start some music while the women warm up; they seem to like it too, but the damn player is giving me fits this afternoon.

Finally, some music starts, and I stand up and turn around just as fucking Vivian, my ex side-chick, comes strutting in. She flairs a slip of paper around and slaps it against my chest. “Hey boo,” she says playfully, “looks like I’m your newest student.”

I snag the paperwork from her. You have got to be shitting me. As if I don’t have enough women to deal with in my life right now. I look at the paperwork, and I cringe to see it’s true. She joined the fucking gym, and she signed up for my class. The five other women who are here all stare at her. She looks like a total joke in her brand new, ridiculously tight pink leopard print yoga pants and her sports bra that is really just a glorified push-up bra. Her hair is braided back instead of your typical ponytail, and she has done her makeup. Who does their makeup before a workout?

“Um… okay,” I grumble. This is the last thing I need right now.

“Okay, ladies,” I say to get everyone’s attention –they’re all staring at Vivian who is clearly prepared to make a show of herself.

We start with a warm up –basic stuff, jogging in place and stretches. Vivian, I swear, is intentionally doing everything incorrectly just so I have to come over and show her what to do. “So how have you been?” she asks as I help her into a stretch.

“Good, you?” I respond shortly.

“Been missing you,” she says with a wink as I lean over to help push her into a stretch.

The other women are staring; I’m sure they can see the discomfort on my face because I’m not trying to hide it at all. Then she crosses a line –and she does it in the over the top style that is Vivian. While I’m bent over helping her into a stretch, she reaches her hand straight up my gym shorts. “What the fuck!” I shout and tumble back in surprise, landing flat on my ass next to her.

She just laughs. The other women are staring; they saw it. I mean, it’s not like she tried to be sly about it. “What the hell is wrong with you?” one of the women, Margie, snaps at her.

“Seriously?” another chimes in. “He’s trying to teach a class.”

Vivian waves her off. “Sorry. We’re old friends, I can’t help but to screw with him.”

“Well screw with him later,” Margie says.

Vivian winks at me, “gladly.”

“Fuck off, Vivian,” I say and stand. “Get out.” I point towards the door.

“I just paid for this class. You’re not kicking me out,” she says and stands. “Come on, I was just screwing with you. You didn’t used to mind.”

“Yeah, well, I’m fucking married now, Vivian. Back off,” I warn.

“No, you’re not,” she reminds me. “That bitch left you, remember?”

“Get out!” I snap. “Right now!”

“Since when are you such a pussy?” she asks, crossing her arms –quite hell bent on causing a scene.

The other women are standing and glaring at her as though they think their stares are enough to scare this psychopath away. Where did she come from all of a sudden? Honestly –I haven’t heard from her in months. Not since she scratched up my Ferrari with her keys after I had dumped her to marry Brandi. That was a lifetime ago.

“Get the fuck out, Vivian!” I shout again.

She takes a breath, puts on an innocent pout, and starts towards the door. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I didn’t mean to cross a line.”

Bipolar. She’s got to be bipolar or a damn sociopath or something. She looks like she’s about to start crying. I don’t want to come off as a complete tool in front of my clients, so I step out of the room for a moment to talk to Vivian before I send her on her way. The soccer moms don’t know how crazy she is, so I don’t want to come off as a complete jackass. They can see us clearly through the glass walls as we stand out on the second floor track. “Look, you should try to get your money back. This place is expensive, and you really shouldn’t be coming up here just to see me,” I begin.

“Why are you acting so distant towards me?” she asks. “I mean, you used to cheat on Brandi with me all the time. What’s so different now –the baby?”

“I was seeing you and Brandi at the same time, yes, but I left you when I decided I wanted to marry Brandi. I’m not interested in cheating on her, got it?” I can’t believe how blatant she is about this. What is wrong with her?

She suddenly puts her hands on me; I swear I might punch her. She strokes my chest and reaches out and grabs me between the legs like it’s nothing –like the entire class, and now where we’re standing, the entire gym, isn’t watching. “Fuck!” I shout and give her a shove, but she’s latched onto my groin like a damn lobster. “Get off me, you crazy bitch!” I push her, and she intentionally falls over. It’s obvious to me and to everyone else in the gym that the fall was intentional. I see Alex running up the stairwell.

“Get out of my gym!” Alex roars, and she yanks Vivian up by the hair. Damn, Alex.

“Let go of me, you bitch! I’ll sue this place. One of your employees just knocked me over,” she snarls.

“I’ve watched men tumble over during NBA games whose falls were more convincing than that,” Alex hisses and marches towards the stairs, still gripping Vivian by the hair. I follow; I know how feisty Vivian can be, so I’m pretty sure Alex is going to need help getting her out the door. The soccer moms, they all love drama, are not too far behind me.

The female fighters –Lillian and her crew –are already out in the parking lot to escort her of the property. Vivian breaks free of Alex and slaps the shit out of her. I reach out and grab her under her arm to pull her away from Alex. “That’s enough!” I shout. “Damn it, Vivian! Have some self-respect!” I scream, and I spot her car. I walk her over to it, and I give her a shove.

Half of the gym is out in the parking lot standing behind Alex and me. “I want my money back!” Vivian shouts, pointing a finger at Alex.

Someone in the crowd tosses Vivian all the shit she had stashed in the locker room; it was one of the fighters. Vivian scrambles to grab everything and throw it into the back of the car, cussing me and Alex out the entire time. Alex holds up her phone and snaps a picture of Vivian. “I’ll put it back on your card.”

“Why did you take a picture?” she snaps and steps forward like she’s going to try to take Alex’s phone. I step between the two of them and take a few slaps from her.

“I’m going to put it on a charming poster with a Do Not Allow Inside reminder on the outside of the gym… although, I’m sure all of my employees will remember your crazy ass after this,” Alex snorts slightly and puts her phone into her gym shorts.

Vivian takes a step back, observes the growing crowd, and huffs. “Fuck all of you!”

“Get off my property before I call the police,” Alex warns.

“Fine! I’m going!” she turns towards her car, pauses, and then turns back to look at me. “You know, we weren’t the only ones goofing around back then, Jonathan. If I were you, I’d get a DNA test for that pretty little baby girl of yours.” She climbs into the car before I can question her about what she meant, and she peels out of the parking lot.

DNA test? I’m pretty sure my entire world just fell apart.