Personal trained: part 1

Picture story! This is the first chapter of a new long-ish project that will take me some time to write -and- render. I'll post the last page of the fairies comic next week and then start publishing updates on this story more consistently.

[part 1]

"Come on! We got two more sets to go!" May shouted, but Christina noticed how the tone in her voice had shifted over the course of the past two months or so from a vigorous shout to an almost annoyed, forced encouragement that she uttered because she was paid to do so.

She was giving all she had. She really was, but her body seemed to act on its own. She let go the kettlebell, and dramatically sat on the floor. "I can't go on" she said, huffing. "I'm all out". May gave her a look that spoke a thousand words. She almost seemed disgusted by her weakness, but she quickly recomposed and said "Well babe, you gave all you had, and that's great!". Christine had learned to read through the fake words of this woman. She had felt so motivated during the first weeks of her new training regimen, but now she saw her body not going anywhere. She had paid May twelve months in advance, and was starting to regret it. 

This was supposed to be her good year. She'd never exercised, and had always been blessed by a genetically gifted good shape, but now that she'd surpassed the age of 25 she was starting to notice little things that weren't there before. Nobody in their right mind would have called her fat, yet she saw that her belly wasn't as flat as it had been no more than 3 years earlier, and her butt didn't look like those you saw on Insatagram anymore. So she had decided to hire a personal trainer and spin things around, but the only time of the day she had an opening was at 7 AM. Not even the gym secretary was there yet. She'd clock in a bit after 9.

As she wheezed, laying on the ground, she caught a glimpse of her personal trainer. She was a very short woman, but her amazing body and the perspective Christine was looking her from made her resemble a goddess. A cold glance from the woman made her notice that she'd been staring at her body for too long, and quickly looked away, blushing. She wondered if she'd notice it. 

"Can i go now?" she said, casually looking at the squat rack that was in the opposite direction. "What? No! We have some core work, and then stretching!" was the almost irritated answer. "Come on babe, this is the reason you're here" the smaller woman pulled her up. God, she was so strong. "Hurry up babe" - babe. That word sounded so fake pronounced by her. When she heard her say that for the first time it sounded so affectionate. She had quickly grown accustomed to it, but she soon realized that it was just a nickname devoided of any significance, that the woman used with all her customers. Still, Christine assumed her position, and prepared for another excruciating round of planks. 

"Sorry babe, quick stop to the bathroom." May told her. "But i'll leave the timer on my phone, so you know when to pause your plank". The irritating woman left her phone on a bench while Christine attempted to stand perfectly still. While she sweated profusely, she realized that she had no idea of how long she was supposed to keep the position, and the phone wasn't giving any signals of ringing. She did her best, not wanting to disappoint her trainer, but fatigue eventually took over. She landed on the floor, exhausted. 

Since May hadn't come back and the timer seemingly hadn't signaled anything yet, she decided to check. The phone was unlocked, and the screen flashed 00:30, showing that May had simply forgotten to start it. "Who knows, maybe i even beat my own record and i'll never know" Christina thought to herself, cursing at the forgetful woman. "She spent half our session wiht her face stuck inside the screen, and when it's actually useful, the bitch forgets to use it" she shook her head. And who knows, maybe if she'd put the phone down straight away none of the following events would have ever happened. But as soon as the phone chimed and a text message overlayed the background, she instictively clicked on it, opening the whole conversation. 

-On my way babe- was the last text. Pretty innocuous. The profile picture showed that it was May's next client, a gorgeous woman who seemingly had a very close relationship with the trainer. Christina envied their friendship, and always felt left out of the conversation when the two were engaged in speaking to each other. She knew she had to mind her own business, but she was just too curious and couldn't resist peeking in the conversation. What she read left her speechless. The timestamps showed that all the May time had spent on her phone she was texting this woman, but the content was disgusting. It took her some time, but at the end, Christine realized that they were speaking of her. 

Christina was fuming. One time! It had happened one time! And May had told her not to worry, that it was fine! She had lost balance while trying a yoga pose, and had fallen on her trainer covering her with her sweat. She had apologized profusely, and May had told her that it was an accident, that these things happened, but had been visibly disgusted. And to make things worse, it was obvious that she had told Vanessa, and the two had been mocking her for a while on the subject! But the worst thing of all was the nickname. Fatso. How dare they! Christina even thought of leaving without saying goodbye, but instead decided to stay and confront the woman who had been so rude behind her back.

[continue...]