No promises on regular updates, but I seem to have a lot more time on my hands these days...who knows what could happen? Thanks to Levesque-Rollins823 for the welcome back review and also to nerdygirl3.14 for the follow!
I hope everyone is staying safe these days!
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The hotel was able to take their bags and hold onto them until their room was available. The front desk clerk assured Seth that they could check-in by noon at the latest. "That's not a problem, it's going to take me at least a couple of hours to get a few things covered at the gym - could you arrange to have our bags brought to the room once it's ready?"
The clerk nodded, "Absolutely Mr. Rollins, we'll have everything set up for you when you come back."
Seth put an arm around Olivia's shoulders and the two of them started walking back out to the car. Olivia did enjoy the ride in Seth's car, but she wasn't used to being cooped up in it for such long stretches. Her pace slowed as she thought about it - she actually wasn't used to any of this: the car rides, the hotel rooms, dealing with non-stop people on an hourly basis without being able to hide away when she needed some time to herself. She felt a brief sensation of dread - she was going to be meeting Seth's managers and employees and clients very soon - what if she made a bad first impression? She didn't want to distract Seth from his business, but what was she going to do if she needed a break?
Seth noticed her slowing down and felt her shoulders tense. He stopped and looked down at her pinched face, "Liv? Something wrong?"
She looked up at him, "Maybe…" She pursed her lips, "Have I mentioned that before we met three weeks ago, I didn't do car rides, or hotels, or strangers?"
Seth narrowed his eyes, wondering where this was going, "No…"
"How about that before you and I met at the class reunion, I had not been out in a social setting since Mark died?" Olivia dropped her eyes to the ground, feeling the dread take hold more firmly, "Seth, I guess i'm just a little nervous about having to hold my own in the company of strangers. I don't want to make things awkward for you by freezing when things get weird for me…" She looked up at him resignedly, "Maybe I should just find a coffee shop to disappear in for a few hours."
Olivia felt the heat of the early morning start to beat on her as they walked through the parking lot to the car. They were standing in another parking lot having another emotional heart-to-heart - was this where couples have deep in depth conversations in the midwest? She shook her head, "I don't want to embarrass you Seth -"
Seth stopped and pulled Olivia closer to him, then let go to look at her. He reached a hand up and smoothed her hair back against her head, "I can't imagine a situation where that would ever happen Olivia." He took a deep breath, trying to school his thoughts before speaking, "I want you to be there with me - I want you to meet the people I work with, and I want you to be there to give me advice, I want you to tell me your opinions, I want you there because my girlfriend should be with me when I make decisions that will affect both of our lives…" He met her eyes and couldn't look away. Seth needed Olivia to hear him. He needed her, plain and simple.
"However, I don't want to push you into something you're not ready for. We do have a smoothie bar at the box, but there's also a Starbucks and a Chapters within walking distance if you need to get a bit more privacy." He took both of her hands in his, and decided to push on, "I just needed you to know that for my part, I'm in this for the long haul with you - and I want you to know what that means on my end…"
He held his breath, watching as Olivia's eyes widened and her face went carefully blank. He'd finally done it - he'd said enough to scare her off and he swore silently to himself. He didn't want to say anything else - he didn't want to take back what he'd said, either. So he just waited.
His heart dropped into his shoes when she let their hands drop between them. His gaze shifted to the floor, which was why he missed Olivia launching herself at him in a bear hug until the very last minute. He held her close to him, feeling her hair tickle his nose and feeling the warmth of her cheek against his and loving every second.
"Everything about this scares the hell out of me - everything we have done since I met you has been like doing it for the first time all over again," she whispered in his ear. "I didn't think I'd ever feel this way again...I don't want to lose it...I don't want to lose you." She loosened her grip around Seth's neck so she could see his face, "I'll go and do what I can - I'll let you know when I need a break...but I'll come back, I promise."
Seth looked down at Olivia and his heart was full - he knew this was a million miles outside of her comfort zone, but to know she would try to be there for him despite that fact was everything to him. He bent his head and kissed Olivia tenderly, really wishing that he didn't have a full day of staff meetings and gym workouts ahead of them. But this was, after all was said and done, a business trip from the outset and the schedule had been settled months ago.
He smiled at her and took her hand again, pulling her gently towards the car, "C'mon...let me show you my other family…"
Cross The Line CrossFit was located on the fringe of the downtown/industrial border of Ann Arbor. It took up two units of a six unit industrial mall, which gave tons of room for everything a CrossFit gym needed - good height for climbing ropes, lots of space for weightlifting racks, wall ball targets, and room for not only an audience when they ran area competitions but also a small space dedicated to a smoothie bar - complete with a section of paleo snacks for the discerning athlete.
Olivia had been to Seth's Cincinnati gym a few times, but this was much, much larger. Cincinnati was a harder real estate market to find something suitable in, and the prices in the places Seth had wanted were way out of his budget. Ann Arbor was a more forgiving market, and when he found out that there were not just one, but two units side-by-side available, he jumped at the opportunity. Even at 8:45 in the morning, a full class of twenty was taking up one half and the other side was occupied by a group of a dozen Open Gym members doing their own workouts, surrounded by rowing machines, racks, and assault bikes - it still seemed spacious and open.
Olivia couldn't help but gawp in amazement at the sheer size of the place, " Holy crap, Seth - this place is gorgeous! So much space - Cincinnati is great and all but this is totally next level..." she marvelled.
Seth smirked and gave her a reassuring wink, "Cincinnati is a small space, I know. This place was a total fluke to find - it's kind of my model for future locations. More space means you can run more programs concurrently, you can host competitions, and as long as you can keep the membership up, you're laughing…"
"Always a catch, isn't there?" Seth's gym manager approached them from across the gym where he had just finished a one-on-one coaching session with a client.
"Eric! Good to see you, man - how's it going?" He pulled Eric into a bear hug, then shook his hand.
"Things here? Couldn't be better - just finished up our monthly competition last week, our numbers have been steady for the last few months - we picked up a few new members after the competition, so things are growing steadily." He saw Olivia behind Seth, and smiled, "And this must be Olivia - Eric Young, and it's a real pleasure to meet you."
Olivia froze for just a second, definitely not expecting that Seth would have mentioned her at all to his staff. She returned the welcoming smile and extended her hand, "Hi there - Eric? It's so nice to meet you." Eric took her hand, then pulled her in for a quick buss on one cheek.
"Olivia, don't mind Eric - he means well, but personal boundaries are not his strong suit…" he looked meaningfully at Eric, and hoped he would take the hint. He hadn't anticipated that Zahra would become a point of conversation between them - this was about Olivia, and the last thing she needed after the events of the last day was to worry about comparisons with his ex-girlfriend. He was mildly surprised at the resentment that flared up at the thought of what he almost lost - being here in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the healthy gym brought it home for him. Seth really loved to be in the middle of the activity - the people, the music, the atmosphere was full of life and energy - the community here was like no other.
"Seth? Dude, where did you go?" Eric had taken Olivia ahead to give her the tour of the facility, and had thought that Seth was right behind. His temporary trip to the clouds gave them quite a head start - at Olivia's questioning look, he shook his head to let her know he was okay, and jogged a bit to catch up to the tour.
"Still planning on doing the workout today?" Eric asked. "I thought we could do a workout, clean up, then do the update meeting over lunch? Olivia, you're welcome to join - if you get bored, the strip mall down the street has a great coffee shop/bakery/bookstore, it's like a ten minute walk."
Olivia exhaled a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding - the thought of going somewhere in a strange city all by herself was so frightening, but still held such an wanted to understand more of what Seth's business entailed, and if she could help him out with a pair of fresh eyes, she would. "I think I'll tag along if that's okay?"
Seth felt a weird mix of pride and anxiety at her reply - he wanted Olivia to know what he did, if it brought them closer together, that was great...but a very small voice in the back of his head was whispering ...this is how Zahra started to worm her way in… He shook his head to get rid of the voice, making Olivia look at him with eyes wide. He immediately felt contrite for causing her doubt, "Of course it's okay! But I warn you - there is nothing more boring than hearing two Crossfitters go on and on about workouts, shirt orders and smoothie bar menus…" He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in to him, kissing her soundly on the top of her head.
Olivia thought it may have been intentional that the hardest workout in CrossFit - Murph - was planned for the day Seth came to check the place out. Olivia liked running, but she wasn't a speed runner...and running two miles separated by an ungodly number of pushups, sit-ups, and squats sounded more than a little intimidating. She opted for the assault bike, which caused some strange looks, "Look, I just don't think I can keep up with the pack, and I don't want to get lost on the outskirts of Ann Arbor, so just go and have fun running - I'll be biking my little butt off, and probably not be able to walk in the morning."
Seth shook his head, "You know I wouldn't leave you behind, right?"
Olivia took a deep breath. "Of course I know that - but you are here to see how things are going and talk to your members - how can you do that if you're at the back of the pack babysitting your…"
"My girlfriend?"
Olivia blushed, "Yeah…" she couldn't fight the smile that Seth mirrored on his own face.
"God you guys are so cheesy…" Eric came by with a towel for each of them. He looked at Olivia and saluted, "You sure you don't want to come for a run? We aren't superhuman, not everyone is a runner...you would definitely have a partner to run with."
Olivia shook her head, "I've got company here too, I'm sure I'll be fine - you guys have fun sweating it out…" She had been mildly tempted to give it a shot anyways, but she had meant what she told Seth. If he was always with her, he'd not be able to give his full attention to the reason he was coming out here in the first place.
Seth took a step closer to Olivia, "Well, at least you're air conditioned in here...if you need me, I-"
Olivia laughed, "Seth, what could possibly happen in one of your own gyms in the span of five minutes?" She reached up a hand and caressed his bearded jawline, "Go. I'll see you back here - if I haven't passed out on the floor before you get back." She pulled his face down to hers and kissed him gently.
Seth smiled against her lips, then reluctantly pulled away, "I'll be passing out beside you, I'm sure...it's been a while since my last Murph...Have fun." He turned and walked to join the crowd by the open garage doors, who gave him some good-natured ribbing about being away so long.
"We didn't think he'd ever get past what Zahra did to him...you must be something special." A woman's voice on her left turned her around.
"I'm sorry?"
The woman who had spoken to her was tall, and had obviously been doing CrossFit long enough to have done at least one regional competition, whose tank top she was wearing. Her hair was pinned up, and she wore brightly coloured leggings. The outfit was completed with the obligatory pair of CrossFit -branded Reebok Nanos in black and hot pink.
The woman held up her hand in surrender, "I didn't mean anything by it, it's just we all saw what she did to him - what he almost lost - and we don't want that to happen again." She began a slow pedal on the air bike, pistoning her arms slowly in tandem with her knees alternating up and down. She looked over at Olivia, who was suddenly feeling more than a little unwelcome.
Olivia got on her own bike, and began to pedal just a little bit faster than her neighbour. She probably should have anticipated that her presence would be viewed with some suspicion, but she hadn't thought that anyone would come right out and say it. "I know what Zahra did...Seth does too. Do you think he's stupid enough to make the same mistake twice?"
Her neighbour's reply was lost to the countdown beeps of the time clock, and then they were off. The Murph workout began and ended with a mile run, Olivia was going to do both miles on the air bike and after the first half mile, she thought maybe she'd made a mistake. Her legs were cement, and she felt a tiny bit nauseous, so she backed off a little bit on the speed. Olivia noticed her neighbour picking up her tempo and despite her fatigue, she couldn't help but nudge the rpm needle just a bit higher.
Her legs staggered as she got off the bike to complete the rest of the workout: 100 pull-ups, 200 pushups and 300 squats. Topped off with the second mile of biking. Olivia thought maybe this had been a bad idea. Even scaling the workout to jump ups instead of pull-ups, she was seriously considering taking a taxi back to the hotel for an ice bath. She was going to be crawling out the front door - maybe Seth wouldn't mind carrying her to lunch…
When she saw her neighbour was already making her way to the floor for push ups, she focused on finishing the final ten jump-ups and started on the next stage of the workout. She saw Neighbour's head turn her way when she began her 200 pushups and smirked. She was grateful for the one break in leg workout, but the bike was equally hard on the arms, so again, she was acutely aware of areas she needed to improve if she was going to continue to do this.
At the first squat, Olivia thought about just rolling over and giving up. The effort required to push herself back up made her stagger slightly when she finally stood straight up. Towards the end of her 300, Olivia began to hit the wall, she was hot, she felt like she couldn't get enough air, and everything felt like it weighed twice as much as it normally did. When she got back on the bike, she saw that her neighbour had already begun her final mile ride, and the runners were starting to come in.
She staggered over to the bike, which now seemed to have a seat that was fifty feet high, and hauled herself up. Feeling like she could see the end of the line, she began the first push of the pedals. Olivia tried to at least match the tempo that her neighbour had set and felt a tiny surge of victory when she matched her pace at last.
Then Neighbour sped up.
Olivia matched her again.
Then Olivia went faster.
For the final five hundred yards, Olivia and her neighbour traded tempo. The crowd of runners had gathered around them and were taking turns cheering for the leader.
Olivia heard Seth's voice above the others, cheering her on, and found a new gear to dig some more speed out of. She didn't know who finished first, she only knew that once she was done, she collapsed across the front of the bike until she could get her feet out of the pedals, then slowly crumpled down onto the rubber floor. She had never been so happy not to be moving.
"That was impressive new girl...but you need to get up and walk it off."
Olivia opened her eyes and saw her neighbour above her, extending a hand to help her up.
"Oh hey, neighbour...don't drop me." She gripped the hand offered, hoping that she wasn't going to slip out, and pulled herself into a stand. The other athletes came over for a round of high-fives, congratulations, and then went to spray down the floor spaces.
Her neighbour came back around, "I'm Theresa...how long have you been doing CrossFit?"
Olivia exhaled heavily, still trying to catch a breath, "Two weeks? Maybe a little less...I only started when I met Seth, but I was doing a morning jog five days a week before that...so this was completely out of my wheelhouse...I'm Olivia by the way...good to meet you."
Theresa raised her eyebrows, "Two weeks, eh? Well that's not too bad, new girl...hope we'll see you back here again." She looked at Seth approaching, "Unless you hurt him, or try to screw him over...then you'd better hope you don't see me again."
Olivia smiled thinly, "Well...thanks?"
Seth came over and gave Theresa a high five, "Nice job Taylor - but next time, maybe don't try to break my girlfriend? I kind of like her…" He put his arm around Olivia's shoulder, and although she was a hot sweaty mess, Olivia didn't mind one bit. She let herself sink into him, and took another deep breath.
"I never want to do that again...I don't even think I have legs anymore, I have concrete pylons…"
Seth grinned - when he came in from his final mile, he saw the crows that had gathered around the two air bikes and couldn't believe that Olivia was keeping par with one of the more competitive female athletes at this gym. He immediately worked his way through to her side and began cheering her on, giving her advice that he was certain she couldn't hear. Theresa was a hard one to get respect from, but she seemed to have warmed to Olivia. Most newbies she wouldn't give the time of day until they'd proven themselves to her.
"Do you know how freaking proud I am of you? Doing your first Murph and taking on Theresa? I mean granted, she was nursing a torn hamstring, but you still kept up - that's not an easy thing to do. Let's get you over to the smoothie bar and get some BCAAs into you - you are going to a lot of nothing tomorrow, whether you want to or not, I'm thinking…"
Olivia was blushing under Seth's praise, but also thinking she could have toned down her workout just a tad...at least to the point where she was going to be able to walk under her own power tomorrow. "Thanks...I think...I don't know what made me go so hard...I think I might have a competitive streak in me somewhere…" She managed to put her other arm across Seth's chest and give him a weak hug, "How was your workout?"
"Well it's over...that's probably the best thing I can say about it. No one likes Murph, but it's kind of a rite of passage - you can't say you do CrossFit until you've done at least one…"
Olivia raised her hand in a weak cheer, "One of us...one of us…"
They sidled up to the smoothie bar and collapsed onto the stools. Eric came up behind them and clapped a hand on each of their shoulders, "Nice work, kids...still up for a lunch meeting? Or do you need a nap to recuperate first?" He looked over and spotted the barista, "Hey Shane! I think our boss needs something to replace the five pounds of water he lost out there...and maybe so he can walk in the morning." He looked over at Olivia, who was still collecting herself at the bar, "And give Olivia whatever she wants - she put T2 through her paces today...she deserves it." He sat down beside Seth, "Seriously though, if you need some time to get your energy back we can put the meeting off until later - I should have warned you it was Murph day."
Seth looked at Olivia, "What do you think? Can you make it through a couple more hours of sitting? I can take you back to the hotel if you want…"
Olivia took a deep breath and exhaled, "Sitting is my favourite...as long as I don't have to move, I'll be just fine…"
As it turned out, the meeting was not even that long. The financials went fairly quickly - expenses, income, assets, investments. Things were definitely on the rise, and if they were able to retain their new members, they might have to look for a second location or a bigger building in Ann Arbor going forward.
"Do you have any issues keeping newbies?" Olivia asked.
Eric shrugged, "You get the usual January resolution explosion, then you might get a bunch in May before summer hits, and then there's some that join in September...it's not for everyone, but we try and make it accessible for as many athletes as we can, and help as many people in their fitness journey. But you still lose some for reasons that you can't control...moving, finances, schedule...but we have one of the best retention rates among similar sized gyms in the city."
Olivia whistled, 'Looks like Seth has left the place in very good hands...do you offer fitness options for kids?"
Seth nodded, "We have something for all different ages - it's an after school schedule - primary school kids, elementary school, and then the junior and senior high kids. We even get the sports teams coming in regularly to train in the off season."
"That's really impressive you guys...and what about the other end of the age spectrum - what about seniors? And I'm not talking about the incredibly fit silver foxes you have coming in - have you ever thought about doing an outreach of some kind in the long-term care centres?"
Seth and Eric exchanged glances, gears turning.
"Write that down, Eric."
"I'm already there, coach."
Eric looked Olivia over appraisingly, "You know, I'm going to be completely up front with you and say I was a little apprehensive when Seth told me he had a guest on this trip. I know you have heard about our former ...well I'm not sure what her actual title was, but I will say that she was not one for either hard work or good ideas of her own... I've only known you for a few hours Olivia, but I can tell you right now, I'll take you over her anytime."
Seth reached for Olivia's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, "I never had any doubt in my mind at all." He leaned closer to Olivia and kissed her looked over at Eric, "Any new business we need to discuss?"
Eric shook his head, "Nope - we're on schedule for the summer series leading up to regionals in August, we've got our Festivus competition lined up for late September...and then we'll see you back here in October, I guess? I'll start digging into the senior's outreach and hopefully have something roughed out by the next time we meet." He dug two of his business cards out and handed both to Olivia, "Put your numbers and email on one so I can get in touch if I need to - okay to pick your brain while you're on the road?"
Olivia tentatively reached a hand out and took one of the cards, turning it over in her hands, "You want my input?"
Eric handed her a pen, "Why not? It was your idea, and where there's one amazing idea, there's gotta be more...and I want to hear every last one."
She smiled and wrote her contact information on one of the cards and handed it back to Eric."No guarantees I'll have any more...but if I do, I'll let you know."
Seth looked at his watch, "Well, if there's no other business, I think our hotel should have our room ready, and I am really needing that shower before dinner...are you ready to go Olivia?"
"My work here is done-I'll send you the bill."
Eric looked at Seth, "She catches on fast, coach."
Seth reached out to Olivia to help her out of her seat and locked eyes with her, "She does at that…" For a second or two, Eric and the restaurant faded just a bit, and Seth was very aware of the woman in front of him. Despite everything they'd been through in the last forty-eight hours, especially the fact that Olivia had just gone through a full hour of CrossFit hell...Olivia could still smile. And when she turned that smile on him, nothing else seemed to matter.
Eric cleared his throat forcefully beside him, "Earth to Seth - still with us, bro?"
Seth nodded, not turning his gaze from Olivia, "Yeah…" Reluctantly he turned back to Eric, "Sorry man, what were you saying?"
"I was asking if you and Olivia were coming to the Box trivia night at the Wolverine?"
Seth closed his eyes and inwardly swore, "I completely forgot...I don't know man, I'm pretty wiped out...I think I might just go down for an afternoon nap and not come up until tomorrow morning…"
Olivia twined her fingers in his and looked up at him, "If you're blowing it off because of me, don't...I would love to have a night out…"
Eric high-fived Olivia, "Atta girl...so coach - see you tonight? First round starts at seven…"
Seth nodded, "Alright, We'll see you tonight, man." He and Olivia shook hands with Eric and parted ways with a promise to return for the trivia night.
As they walked to the car, Seth leaned down and whispered in Olivia's ear, "I have a confession to make...I didn't forget about the trivia night...I hate trivia, I'm terrible at these things."
Olivia ignored the little shiver that went down her spine at the sound of Seth's voice in her ear, "Well, coach, you happen to be dating the right woman - Dean and Renee stopped playing Trivial Pursuit with me years ago. Mark played with me in a bar once and swore he'd never do it again...I have a brain for useless information and it never goes away...I got your back, babe."
Seth grinned and put an arm around Olivia, pulling her close as they arrived at the car. "This is gonna be fun…"