Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy. Rights go to Richelle Mead.
I stood in front of the mirror.
A girl stared back at me, her long dark hair bound up into a high ponytail. Her dark eyes were serious and she stood tall – clad in her new Peak fitness uniform.
At least the uniform was super comfy consisting of a pair of black sports leggings and a lilac polo shirt with 'Peak Fitness' embroidered on the top right corner. I had a lanyard around my neck which held my staff card – basically my name and a photo of me with a barcode below it so that I could enter parts of the building that were off-limits to the customers. The staff card also had the word 'INTERN' printed below my name so that everyone knew that I was still learning.
Getting into 'Peak Fitness' had been easier than I thought it would be. I'd been 'dismissed' as an FBI agent and sent in with my real name. I'd had doubts – actually I was pretty sure I'd be shot on the spot – but it had all worked out quite well. They'd brought it up at my job interview but I'd told them that I was pushed into by mother and that I'd hated working there with everything I had in me. I told them that I resented my mother for it and that once I'd been sent to a different branch away from her, I'd quit. That part had been false of course but we were the ones manipulating the situation here.
After one last look-over, I deemed myself presentable and made my way to the door, scooping up my keys on the way.
The drive to 'Peak Fitness' didn't take long – it was situated less than fifteen minutes away – but I felt a little guilty for using my car. I was officially representing good health and here I was getting to my new job the lazy way. I could only hope that my new employers didn't think anything of it.
When I got there I was glad to see the staff section of the carpark full and I briefly glanced over them as I walked past, hoping to spot Eddie's little green Prius. I sighed when I found it. Don't get me wrong – I confident I could bring these people down, it would just be nice to have a friendly face around. Taking a deep breath, I walked in.
The building was familiar enough considering that I'd been in there three times now – once to apply for the job, the second when I got an interview and the third to sign my paperwork and get a tour. The building wasn't exactly huge so I fairly comfortable.
I was greeted by the sight of the large reception desk which had three people seated behind it. A lady sat watching me whilst two younger girls sat talking. I recognised one of them as Meredith but kept my features neutral as I made my way over to where the older lady sat.
"Welcome to Peak Fitness. May I help you?" she asked politely. I almost rolled my eyes at her - I was lined up so I clearly needed help. Up close she looked older than I'd originally thought; she had to been somewhere towards her early to mid-fifties.
"Uh, hey. My name's Rose. Today's my first day. Is Mikhail around?" I asked, referring to the guy I'd had my interview and tour with. He'd told me he was the assistant manager when he'd met the first time. Apparently the actual manager had been away at the 'managers meeting'. The 'managers meeting' was pretty held at the start of every month and the managers of all 'Peak Fitness' braches got together to discuss marketing and strategies.
"Ahh, yes," she gave me a weird look but quickly replaced it with a false smile. "I'll just call him."
She grabbed what I imaged was the PA and called an announcement for 'Milkhail to make his way to reception'.
Seconds later I caught his figure as he made his way over. He grinned when he saw me and stuck his hand out for me to shake.
"Rose! I'm glad you came back!"
"When was I not going to?" I asked, a little confused.
He scratched the back of my neck. "Er, some of the other guys thought I was a bit too enthusiastic last time I saw you. They got the impression that I'd scared you off."
"What? No! You're great!" I laughed, punching his shoulder. That was most definitely something that I hadn't done at the FBI but so far, I really liked it here. Mikhail was really cool – especially for someone with power – and I'd liked the staff I'd met on my tour. It seemed like a dynamic environment.
"Oh, phew! Had me worried for a sec," he faked wiped sweat from his brow in exaggeration. "Oh hey, Alberta, meet Rose. She's out latest and greatest. Rose, this is Alberta: also assistant manager, although she has more to do with the business side of this around here."
I turned to Alberta and smiled politely. "Hey."
She smiled back and gave me her hand to shake before turning to Mikhail. "When did you hire her?"
Oh. Well that would explain the look. She didn't know I'd been hired. Wait, didn't Mikhail just say that she co-managed this place?
"She came 'bout a week and a half ago but head office only got back with the paperwork on Tuesday. It's all been sent up and processed so she'd good to go. Don't give me that look, Al. Belikov's approved her."
The disapproval that had set over her face cleared up immediately.
"Ah. You should have said so," she told him. "It's nice to meet you, Rose. Belikov won't be in for another half hour but I could give you a tour if you like? And introduce you to the others?"
I glanced at Mikhail. Would it be rude to tell her that I'd already looked around?
"Actually, I showed her around on Friday. She met some of the staff when she was here and I'm sure Belikov will introduce her to the rest when he gets in."
"Right, well I'll show her administration side of things."
Mikhail agreed and after wishing me good luck, went back to work.
I was now faced with Alberta who was sort of an intimidating woman. Working for the FBI had intimidation beat out of me but as I looked up at this ageing woman, I realised some of it was still there.
"Well, come around," she told me. "First of all, I'd like you meet Jill and Amy. Jill, Amy, this is Rose -our new trainer."
I gave a small wave to Jill and 'Amy' as I introduced myself. I really had to force myself not to laugh at the fact that Meredith had been sent in as 'Amy'. Everyone at the office knew that 'Amy' was the name Stan had given to his pet mouse. Poor Meredith.
"Actually, I'm not fully qualified yet. A few more weeks and I should be though," I told them. That was the catch. Because I had no real experience in training people, the FBI had enrolled me into a personal training course that was supposed to be done at a flexible part-time rate over six months.
I'd smashed it in two weeks but I still had to wait six weeks before completing the mandatory three day on-campus part of the course. The theory part of my training had been enough for Peak Fitness to hire me. Eddie however, had been sent in as a fully qualified trainer. As a more experienced agent, Eddie had run quite a few of the training sessions for younger recruits so my mother had deemed that we could pass him off as a trainer. All this qualifications and documentation had been forged.
"That's cool," Jill told me. "I'm just excited to have another girl around here."
Meredith snorted. "And what am I exactly?"
"I-I meant, be-before you," Jill stuttered. I raised my eyebrows. Did they have a problem with each other?
"Enough," Alberta cut in. "Get back to work."
With girls now occupied, Alberta launched into an admin lecture. She taught me the basics, like clocking in and out before moving onto the more complicated – such as member recruitment and security details. It was a lot to take in but I think I managed alright.
At nine-thirty on the dot, the sliding doors opened and I took a deep breath. Alberta had told me to try my best serving whoever walked in next through the door. I looked up, ready to catch their eye and encourage them over.
As it turns out I didn't need to. The moment they walked through the doors, their eyes met mine.
Deep, deep brown eyes. I forced my gaze away from his to take the rest of him in. He was tall, like really tall – six-five or six-six maybe? He had long, dark hair that had been pulled into a pony tail at the nape of his neck. A slight coat of stubble brushed against his strong jawline and I found myself almost salivating. The man was perfection. I'd never seen someone so attractive in my life. Well, that was until I caught sight of his clothes.
His track pants were a pretty standard sight in a gym - as was his polo for that matter. What struck me as odd though – really, really odd – was the long jacket he wore over his outfit. A duster, I think it was called. Regardless of whatever it was called, it had taken this gorgeous man and made him look like he'd walked right out of a western movie. I couldn't stop staring.
That was until he walked over to me and I readied myself to speak. However, before I could say a word, he offered me his hand. I took and he shook it firmly.
"You must be Rosemarie. My name is Dimitri Belikov. I'm the manager here at Peak Fitness."
I let my man-eater grin play over my lips as I took in my attractive new 'boss'.
"Call me Rose, I think I'm going to enjoy working for you."
Quick note: I'd love to get some thoughts on how you guys would feel if the next chapter was in DPOV so please drop me a comment and let me know if it's something you'd want to see.