Around the edge of the section, machines offering different weighted exercises for just about every part of your body were occupied by grunting men and women, their eyes glazed over as they concentrated on their workout. Some wore earbuds wired to phones and iPods.
All along the wall, others were positioned with their weights and kept an eye on the mirror as they lifted. Just being there among them made me feel stronger.
Tiana and I selected a pair of weights each and stepped into an open space nearby. She squinted as she thought, then lifted her arms to her sides with a weight in each hand. “Okay, I think I remember the routine my personal trainer showed me. We’re going to do repetitions, just watch me and follow my lead.”
“Go ahead and teach me, oh wise one,” I joked, raising my arms until my position matched hers.
She smirked and shook her head. “You’ll be begging for mercy halfway through, I guarantee it.”
“Wanna bet?”
“You’re on,” she said, immediately launching into her routine. I tried my best to follow her lead, but as she promised I was ready to fall to my knees and beg for this cruel and unusual punishment to be over not long after we started.
Determined to keep up with her though, I gritted my teeth and pushed through the pain. My muscles burned and quivered, and the grunts coming from some of the others around me quickly started making sense.
By the time Tiana put down her weights and grabbed the bottle of water waiting next to her ankle, I was about ready to collapse. My arms felt like jelly as I finally set my weights down and took a few deep swigs from my own water.
“How was that?” she asked. She patted her brow with her towel and hung it around her neck, ready to put the weights back in their place.
I did the same with my towel and with trembling arms, managed to place my weights back in their rest. My skin was red from the workout, but I felt surprisingly good. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to move a muscle tomorrow, but it was great actually.”
She held up her hand for a high five. I gave her one, but not without wondering if my arm should be going kind of numb. “I’m glad. And think of it this way, if you can’t raise your arms, you can’t put your hands on your delicious boss.”
I cracked up and nodded in agreement. “Another good point.”
“The only kind I make.” She winked as we started making our way to the showers. “There’s a new salad bar just down the street. Want to go check it out for dinner?”
“Sure.” Something fresh and crunchy sounded like just what I needed after that. A quick shower and a brisk walk later, we were standing in front of what I had to admit was an impressive display of salad ingredients.
Tiana surveyed the options available and quickly settled on a pesto chicken salad, while I ordered their chef’s special. Surprisingly, the atmosphere in the salad bar was pleasant. There was no hint of quiet desperation in the air, no feeling of joyless calorie counts or deep-rooted eating disorders.
We got a table while we waited for our food and did some people watching while we talked about our plans for the rest of the week. In keeping with what we’d been doing all day, we enjoyed some fun girl time and plowed through our food before Tiana grew solemn once she was done.
She pushed her bowl away and folded her arms on the table in front of her. “Have you decided what you’re going to do when you get to work tomorrow yet?”
I dabbed my mouth with a napkin and shook my head. “Not really. I was planning on winging it when I see Jeremiah tomorrow.”
“I wasn’t only talking about that.” She leaned toward me. “A crazy woman came at you in his office, what are you going to do about that?”
I sighed, pressing my lips together for a moment while I thought. “I know I have to tell him. I just don’t know how. What if she’s his girlfriend or something?”
“What if she’s not, and she’s an actual threat?” Tiana argued.
“I thought about that.” As unsure I was about her relationship with my boss, if she posed a danger to me or to some of the other employees, something had to be done about her. “There has to be a security protocol in place for a situation like this. Maybe not this exact situation, but something like it?”
“True,” she said. “I’ve never been involved in anything like this, but maybe you should go to the building security first thing in the morning. You could let them know about the woman who threatened you and ask what the proper procedure is to follow.”
It was a better plan than any I’d had. “Yeah, I think I’ll do that. I just hope someone there will know who she really is and what to do.”