New Markets - 02 (29 page)

Mia walked over and asked, “Everything okay?”

I replied, “Machine’s creaking when I stand on it, I think I’m too heavy for it.”

She laughed, “Not likely, that machine’s rated for up to five hundred pounds.”  She glanced at Rael, “Rael, you should warm up at a slower pace at first.” 

She stepped forward a bit to look at the speed setting.  He had it set to twelve mph.  He shrugged.

“It’s not pushing me hard, should be just fine.”

Her eyes narrowed as she slowly went from Rael’s arms and torso, down to his calf muscles.  Her lips were pursed as she thought.

She said, “Lance, try a bike to warm up with.  I’ll check out this machine.”  She walked over by me and started it up, then began jogging on it.

I nodded and joined a pair of ladies on recumbent bikes.  They both stared at me a moment before saying hi.  The recumbent machine also creaked a bit when I sat down.

“Hi ladies, how are you today?”

One said, “Good.  Are you a trainer here?”

“No, I just normally work out in the morning.”

She looked like I didn’t answer her question correctly, then asked, “You do a lot of weight lifting?”

“Ah, yeah.  I’m just warming up here, I normally don’t spend much time on the cardio equipment.” 
Not that it feels like warming up.  It doesn’t feel any different to not pedal versus pushing the speed up a ways.  And what’s with the pedals being so tiny?  Have my feet grown that much?  Bah, this is a waste of time; I should go hit the weights.

“How much can you lift?”

“For which exercise?  I can pretty much max out the bar’s weight.” 
Well, I couldn’t, but that’d be dumb to say I could lift four hundred pounds and then go lift one thousand.

“Wow.  I pretty much stick to the bikes and stepper.”

“Weight lifting is good, for both guys and gals.  You should give it a try.  You aren’t likely to bulk up like this.”

“Err, well, maybe if I had a partner….”

“There you go, or ask some of the guys for help.  Most will take some time out to show you the ropes if you ask.  Speaking of, it’s time I get over there and hit the iron.”

I stopped pedaling and carefully got off the bike.  Mia lightly grabbed my left triceps and said, “Machine seems okay.  I’ll keep a close eye on it though.”  Her eyes left mine and she stared at her hand for a moment, and then raised an eyebrow again.  Her eyes flicked back up to mine and she walked back to the counter.

Rael stepped alongside me and said, “Bah, warming up’s a waste, you’re hitting the weights now, right?”

I nodded, said goodbye to the ladies and walked over to the weights section.  Rael followed me there.

I greeted the few guys working out in the section, then stretched and tried some pull ups.  As with everything, my own weight felt like nothing to me.  I shifted my grip and tried single-handed pull-ups.  Again they were easy.

Rael looked at me.  “Try lat pulldowns with four hundred pounds.”

I quickly grabbed the large freeweights and put them on the bar.  “Nothing.  As in, it feels like a balloon.”

The front door opened, and Tina Marie Raddatz came in.  She scanned in quickly, said something to Mia and walked toward the section we were in.

The door was to Rael’s back, but when Tina entered I noticed Rael stand motionless, his chin lifted up for a moment.  He turned to look behind him and smiled at the sight of Tina.

Rael looked back at me and said, “Dude, I could smell her enter.”

“Uhh, is that a good thing?”

“Yeah, she smells good.”

“So why does it stand out?”

“Because I recognized her smell, her scent, from Sunday.”

“Whoa, very cool.”

Tina dropped her bag off to the side and said, “Hey guys!”  She looked flushed, as though she’d just finished jogging.

I said, “Hi Tina.  Good to see you, I thought you worked out in the mornings with us?”

“Well, yeah.  But you haven’t been here since Saturday.”

Rael raised an eyebrow.  “So you had Mia call you when we next came in?”

“Uhh, like, no or something.”  She bit her lower lip and avoided looking directly at us.

Rael laughed, “I heard you thank Mia.  Somehow I don’t think it’s for letting you in.”

“Okay, okay.  After seeing what you could do on Sunday I wanted to see what you can do in the gym.  No Steph here?”

“Not today.”

“Cool, I get the men all to myself.”

I grabbed a bunch more of the free weights and put one thousand pounds on an Olympic barbell.  For the heck of it I picked it up, and yet it still felt light to me. 

When I moved to grab more weight Rael said, “You’re going to break the bar.”

I shook my head, “This is rated at fifteen hundred pounds.”  I double checked the total weight on the bar, then picked it up again.  I sighed and my shoulders slumped as I felt the weight of the bar.  It still felt lighter than the bar alone used to feel.

I nodded to Rael, “You try it.”

He shrugged and stepped in front of the bar.  He was far more cautious than I’d been, placing his feet well and using proper lifting technique.  He looked surprised when he had it at his waist.

“It doesn’t feel like just the bar, but….”  He proceeded to do biceps curls with the bar while standing in place.  “No, this is really light; it might be okay for a high rep workout at best.”

I looked beyond Rael; Mia was slowly walking up behind him.  Rael carefully set down the bar, stood upright and shrugged.

Mia stepped up alongside him.  Her mouth hung open as she looked from the weights to Rael, then to me.

I motioned the others back a step, carefully picked up the bar with one hand in the center, then lifted it and began doing curls.  “No, still nothing.  It’s like lifting a gallon of milk used to be for me.”

Mia whispered, “You’re a super now.”

One of the other guys working out had stopped, and said, “Man, that’s awesome.”

She reached over to Rael and grabbed his arm.  He laughed, “Oh, sure,
now
you want to grope me.”

She replied, “No, I want to feel the difference.  Your triceps are firm, but not rock hard like Lance’s.”  She looked over at the other guy and motioned to his arm, “Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

“Don’t flex though”  She felt his arm and shook her head.  “I can feel the difference in the muscles.  Do yours feel really tense right now, Lance?”

I replied, “No.”

“Does it feel like you are walking around flexing all of your muscles all the time?”

“Nope.”

“Very cool.”

“Yeah, except for the part about not being able to work out.  This is your best bar, I feel like I could twirl it around, even at fifteen hundred pounds.  Well, assuming the weights would stay on.”

“I doubt they would.”

Another pair of men had joined our circle.  He said, “Big and Strong.  They might sell a weight set made for bricks.  Mind if I check out your arm?  I’d like to see what she’s talking about.”

I flexed my arm and stood there for each of them to feel.  Then Mia made me relax the arm and do it again.  The consensus was that there was no difference.

One of the guys asked why there was a difference.

Rael replied, “He’s a brick.  I’m, well … not.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right, bricks are always the big, heavily muscled supers.  Are you guys a difference race or something then?”

“What do you mean?”

“If bricks fit one set of attributes, and the other types are significantly different, like a blaster I suppose, then could each be a different race?”

“We’re both human.  Or at least we started out that way.”

“Huh.  Just something to think about.”

I said, “Well, there isn’t much use working out.  I can’t push myself, he can’t either with these weights.  I almost need some kind of gym for supers.”

Mia said, “Hold that thought.  Let me look into the cost of the equipment and what I’d have to do to the building to make it so a super could work out here.  Well, that and insurance costs….”

I raised an eyebrow.  “Do you realize how much I can probably lift?  I’ve thrown an old car way up in the air.”

Tina jumped in, “At least thirty to fifty feet.  He can also jump really, really far.  He’s got to have, like, quads of doom.  No offense, Lance, but just look at your feet.  They’re like … huge.  They had to have gotten larger just so you can land right.  You need new shoes too, you tore these.”

I looked, sure enough the sides were split on both.  I groaned.  They hadn’t felt tight when I jammed them on my feet….

Mia nodded.  “Okay, I’ll start making some calls.  How about if I call you when I find something out, Lance?  I’d love to keep you around, and who knows, maybe I can add to my clientele.  I might have to ask around to see if anyone would be worried about working out with supers though.  I don’t want to lose anyone either.”

I grinned.  “I’m cool with that.  I’d even chip in on some of the cost of the equipment, depending on just how bad the price is.”

Tina said, “I’d think that most people would find working out with supers to be pretty cool.  If anything the concern would be by the super being annoyed at constant questions.”

I said, “I don’t mind.  I don’t see it as being any different than someone coming in at the beginning of their weight loss or muscle building program and asking questions.”

Mia said, “Hmm, maybe I could offer pins that say ‘Don’t Ask’ on them for the supers who want to concentrate on their workout.”

Rael said, “I like that, along with a sign asking people to respect their privacy.”

Mia said, “I’ll whip up an impromptu set of questions and ask people.”

I said, “Well, I’m heading out, then.  Can’t workout today, and I could use nabbing some food before going to work.”

Mia raised her eyebrows, “Holy cow, I’d hate to be someone causing trouble in your club.”

“It’s not like we really muscle that many people anyway.  Prevention before a scene becomes a problem is our main focus.”

“Mind if I text your cell, or call you when I’ve got more info?”

“Feel free, it should be on my profile.”

“Thanks.”

Tina said, “Rael, I don’t suppose you’d hang out for a while and spot me?”

Rael replied, “Err, I drove Lance.”

I laughed, “I think I can make it there.  Quads of Doom, remember?”

Rael grinned.  “No problem then.  Go warm up first.”

Tina nodded and headed off.  Rael followed.  Mia muttered to herself as she returned to the front desk.

I waved to the other guys and bid them good evening, stopped by the locker and changed into my work clothes – a pair of black pants, shoes, and a black shirt with Score!’s logo embroidered on it.  The dress shoes split when I put them on.