Forever Enigmatic

Chapter 13

IT WASN'T LONG UNTIL she finished her meal. While she zoned out a few more times, she was the first one to finish due to her small plate. Her stomach wasn't filled, but she wasn't hungry either. However, she lamented not having anything to bring back home for the next day. She would have to buy another cup of ramen noodles with the last bit of change in her wallet.

Kyle noticed her annoyance and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, which didn't help the teasing, and asked her what was wrong in her ear. She shrugged. She wasn't going to let him, or anyone else, know about her financial situation. They knew she struggled, but they didn't know she didn't have anything to feed herself at home.

"Are you sure you're fine?"

Sierra nodded at him, but she could tell he didn't buy it. Fortunately, he dropped the subject and kept chatting with her friends.

She sat back and watched her friends get to know her surprisingly charming trainer. He dropped those impenetrable walls and what stayed was an approachable man with the kindest smile. It was an honor to be able to witness him being his most self with complete strangers.

Sierra was used to seeing him greet everyone with a curt nod. It shocked her to see this other side of him. She realized he dropped his guard because of her. If he saw her friends at any other place without her, he'd most likely treat them like the ice king he was; but because they were her friends, he let the ice crumble.

As if he couldn't be any more enthralling.

"So, are you gonna keep working at that gym forever?" Scarlet asked. Her tone took an edge, and Sierra wanted nothing more than to be closer to kick her shin under the table. Always the one without a filter.

"No, I'm hoping to open my own gym after I finish my masters."

Everyone's face mirrored Sierra's when she found out about his aspirations. No one would think of stepping up and creating what they wanted from scratch. It was a lot of work, and sometimes working for someone else sufficed. Kyle didn't want to depend on anyone else. He wanted to create his dream gym and work for himself. It took a lot of grit after seeing everything he'd fix to make better.

It wasn't easy to start from the bottom, but she saw how genuine he was about his future project, and she knew he'd get it. He was determined; and when he was determined about something, he'd stop at nothing to get it.

"What type of gym are we talking here?" Jake asked.

"I want to make it accessible to everyone, no matter your size. I wanted to incorporate a whole plan constructed specifically to a person in order to meet their goal, whether it be losing weight, gaining weight, gaining muscle, and all that."

"I'd join that gym," Raphael chided in. Everyone else nodded.

"Yeah, I always struggle with keeping my quads good for the football season," Jake continued. "No matter what I do, it's my weakest point, and all my trainers work on it, but mostly focus on my upper body. If I could make a plan to target my quads so I can run better, that'd be awesome, dude."

"Mhm, I get that." Kyle pushed back his drink. "Have you considered about what you're eating? What you eat affects a lot. That's kind of why I'm getting my masters in nutrition. In my ideal gym, I'd want to create plans that aren't just workouts but food as well. Food is a great factor, it's crazy. Plus, quads can be targeted with stretches. You gotta be careful not to strain your knees and hamstrings."

If you asked Sierra what Kyle talked about, she wouldn't be able to answer. For one, she zoned out for most of it, and two, she had no idea quads could be built with stretches. She recalled that quadriceps were located in her thighs. She'd worked out enough to have a good idea about where some of her muscles were located. However, she didn't know everything about building up and finding the right balance to toning her body. Kyle was the expert at that.