Chapter One
“And one…two…three…and hold!”
The music pumped out loudly as the room of mostly women, and a handful of men, held their stretches, bent over, bottoms up in the air. They were all at various stages of development and abilities, but Ashleigh was proud of every one of them.
“And release…nice and slow…and stand…”
She ran her fingers through her short –and now pretty wet– black hair and grinned at the room, bouncing up and down on her toes and shaking out her limbs.
Everyone copied her, their red hot, sweaty faces looking relieved to bring the session to a close.
“You’ve done great, guys!” She laughed buoyantly and ran over to switch off the music, still full of energy despite the intense one-hour work out. Most of the others in the room were all puffed out and ready to drop, but not Ashleigh.
“I’ll see you all next week!” she called out as her clients began to disperse, a general hum of chit-chat filling the air as they talked about the session, or their plans for the weekend. Her Friday evening sessions were always her favorite. Everyone was in such a good mood and pumped to have a couple of days off work. It was different for Ashleigh though. Being a personal trainer, she often found herself working weekends too, but she didn’t mind. She enjoyed what she did, and operating on a self-employed basis allowed her flexible hours.
Draping a towel around her neck and taking a swig from her water, Ashleigh headed out the room after the last of her clients, wandering down the corridors of the gym where she worked towards the front desk in the reception area. She needed to clock out and let them know the session was over, and also check when she was next booked in. Tuesday was her next regular session, but she was pretty sure she had a private one booked before that.
“Hey, Trina,” she smiled at the girl on reception as she arrived.
Katrina, or Trina, as everyone called her, had quickly become one of Ashleigh’s closest friends since she’d started working at the gym a year and a half ago.
“Hey, Ash,” Trina grinned back, looking relieved to get a bit of a break from the monotony. Working the reception desk was a pretty boring job, all in all. “How’d it go today?”
“Yeah, great.”
“You look a little sweaty.”
Ashleigh laughed and wiped her forehead with the towel. “Yeah, I’m in severe need of a shower, but just wanted to check about next week.”
“Uh yeah… one sec…”
Trina tapped on the keyboard and pulled up Ashleigh’s schedule, while Ash glanced around the reception area and looked up at the TV, catching a glimpse of the latest news headlines. Nothing good, as per usual.
“Tuesday, you’re in for your spin class…”
Ashleigh nodded, as Trina continued.
“Oh wait, and it says here you’ve got a one-to-one with Bryony on Monday morning at 10. That sound right?”
“Yeah, that was it. Honestly, I couldn’t remember, my mind’s like a sieve these days.”
“Yeah? Good job I’m here then,” Trina smiled and clicked off the screen. “You got a lot on your mind?”
“Kinda,” Ashleigh shrugged and took a swig from her water. “I’ll fill you in after my shower; I feel skanky.” In truth, she probably could have told her what was up right then and there, but she had just lost her nerve – again.
Trina laughed and reluctantly turned her eyes back to her work, not suspecting a thing. “Alright, see you in a bit then.”
Ashleigh strode off back down the corridor and took a left, disappearing into the changing rooms. She opened up her locker, took out her bag, and found herself a spare shower, letting the hot water wash away all the hard work and any nagging thoughts she had regarding the conversation she was about to have with Trina. She knew her friend wouldn’t take too well to her news, but she hoped she’d be supportive nonetheless.
She didn’t bother drying off her hair, just patting it with a towel then slicking it back. Having short hair was a real bonus – it dried off so quickly on its own. Next, she got changed into some fresh clothes and stuffed the old sweaty ones in her bag, swinging it over her shoulder. She checked her appearance once in the mirror. She still looked hot, but at least she was hot and clean now, rather than hot and sweaty. Her cheeks were all rosy and fresh; healthy. She grinned at herself, flashing a set of sparkling white teeth, then left the changing rooms and strolled through to the reception at a more leisurely pace, feeling chilled and relaxed after her shower, and in a better frame of mind to be able to talk to Trina.
“Hey.” She leaned her elbows up on the desk and Trina immediately swung her chair around to face her, crossing her arms over her chest.
“So…what have you got to tell me? Have you got a boyfriend or something?” She gave a little squeal of anticipated delight. She was always asking Ash whether she’d managed to land herself a boyfriend yet, and the answer was always the same. A resounding no. And she wasn’t interested in that type of thing. Not at the moment. At least, that’s what she kept telling herself. She certainly didn’t want to rush into a relationship after the last handful of disasters. She’d been hurt in the past, and she wasn’t about to walk down that road again anytime soon.
“Noooo, it’s nothing like that,” she laughed and rolled her eyes in response. “It’s not even…a definite thing yet but…I’ve been thinking about it a lot, which explains why my head’s a bit all over the place right now.”
“Come on then, spit it out, what is it?”
“Well, uh… I’ve applied to be a runner on a movie.”
Trina’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Oh, no way!”
“Yeah, I just like… I saw this advert, and I just thought, why not? I’ve always wanted to work in the movies and most people start off being runners so…it’s kinda the bottom rung on the ladder type of thing,” she shrugged, trying to play it down. “You basically drive people around, go and get coffee and sandwiches, post mail, print off scripts, odd jobs, you know?”
“Okay, but like, does that mean you’re gonna be quitting here permanently? How long’s this job last and where’s it filming?”
Ashleigh bit her lip. She knew that question was bound to come, and it was the reason she’d been nervous sharing her news initially. “Well, it’d be out in LA and–”
“Whaaaaat? You’re ditching us for Hollywood?” Trina laughed.
Ash chuckled and shook her head. “Look, I probably won’t even get the job, it’s such a long shot. Imagine how many other people apply for this kind of thing, and I’m just…some personal trainer. There’ll be people much more qualified than me.”
Trina frowned and pulled a face. “Psssh, don’t think like that. You’re awesome. Why wouldn’t they want you?”
Ashleigh smiled and bit her bottom lip softly. “Thanks. And…well, I guess I would be leaving here but…not permanently. The shoot would only be a few months and then I’d be back.”
“Nah, then you’d be snapped up by Hollywood and enlisted in some other movie, then another, then another. I mean, that’s the whole idea, right? You’re doing this because you want to break into the film industry? Not just do one movie then return home to your ordinary job with us boring lot.” Trina grinned, her voice full of humor, and obviously not mad about this at all.
“You think I should go for it?”
“Of course you should, babe. I mean, yeah, I’ll be sad to see you go but…this is your dream! I remember you gushing about wanting to be in movies when we first met. You gotta follow your dreams, Ash. Come here.” And at that, she stood up and opened up her arms to give Ashleigh a hug over the desk.
It was true. As much as she loved being a personal trainer, her heart had always been in the movies, ever since she was a kid. It was her passion, and her dream.
Ashleigh grinned and happily leaned into it. “Aww, thank you. That’s really sweet of you, Treens…but y’know…like I said, it’s a long shot anyway.”
“Try and think positive, yeah?” Trina murmured near her ear, then gave her a squeeze and pulled back from the embrace. “And in the meantime, I’ll see you on Monday.”
“Yeah, see you on Monday,” Ashleigh gave Trina a final little wave as she headed to the electronic double doors and the exit, to her car waiting outside.
The cool evening air was refreshing and welcome, and the encouragement from her friend filled her heart the whole ride home.
‘Think positive.’ Well, she would certainly try.