Meg
Jai drives us to his gym on Friday. He has an appointment with one of his trainers this morning. He mentioned that he schedules them when he's in town and tries to keep up with the better ones, leaving them as an option for him. This one—he says—is one of his favorites. He's good with fighting and diet.
We arrive and he wraps my hands before I drop off my things in the locker room. I lock up and step out. Jai is already talking to someone—I assume his trainer. I come over and he introduces me.
"This is my favorite trainer, Derek," Jai says.
He smiles and laughs bashfully.
"It's nice to meet you," I say shaking his hand. He has a shaved head with a short well-groomed beard. I think he's younger than Jai—maybe close to thirty or just below. He's not as built as Jai but he has a substantial amount of muscle for his size—slightly shorter than him but close in body mass of muscle proportionally, I guess. We chat for a minute. He seems very friendly and sociable. But I don't want to take up his whole appointment so I leave them to it.
They get into the ring and do their thing while I work on myself. I'm smiling, still reeling from the changes from last night and that amazing concert. I work on the bags first, practicing the motions Jai taught me before. I continue on happily working my arms, back and core quite well until I tire a little. I take a drink from my bottle of water.
"Where've you been?" I hear Brock ask from behind me.
"Keeping busy," I shrug turning around. He's at the bag next to me. I suddenly remember how he spoke to Jai the other day. I think I ought to be a bit more cautious around him.
"You shouldn't neglect your workouts," he tells me teasingly.
I blink in surprise. "I haven't. I've been keeping at it," I respond.
"Fair enough," he replies grinning. "So, how's everything?"
"Good," I tell him getting back to my workout. I switch to my legs now.
"That's good to know. I was a little worried about you," he says.
"Oh?" I question raising an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"I just hadn't seen you in a while. I was afraid you'd gone back home to... Ohio, was it?" he tells me.
"Nope. Not yet but soon," I admit.
"Are things going that bad between you two?" he questions.
I stop my bag from moving and I turn to him.
"I have to admit, I'm not sure why you would think there's something wrong going on between Jai and me. He's honestly my best friend and in a couple weeks he's going to be my husband. We're going to visit my family and get our house ready there. My parents are handling the final touches for our reception. We're going home," I explain.
"Are you living together?" he asks.
"After the wedding, yes. Before, no. I'm still with my parents. I'm currently staying at a hotel here," I tell him.
"Oh, that's surprising," he replies.
I kind of ignore the comment, not knowing where to go from there. I move back to working out with the bag.
"So, what have you been up to?" he asks me between his punches.
"Um... I did some drawings this week. We hung out a bit. I went to some of his interviews, he took me to the park, we were at a concert last night but it kind of took up most of the day," I shrug before kicking the bag some more.
"Which concert?" he questions.
"For King & Country and Dante Bowe," I tell him switching legs.
"A friend of mine went there. It was in Anaheim, right?" he says.
"It was," I nod. "Did your friend have a good time?"
"He told me it was the best one he's been to. He said there was a girl there performing that just got signed—that she was an incredible singer and could play tons of instruments," he tells me.
"That's awfully nice of your friend to say so. Tell him I said thank you and I'm glad he enjoyed it," I reply.
He looks confused. "So, you heard her, too? Who is she?"
"Me," I reply. "I'm hitting the weights," I announce picking up my bottle and hand towel. I dry my face off. I walk to the free weights and take a drink before setting everything down. I grab two dumbbells. I start lifting. Brock comes beside me once more. He lifts some weights, too.
"I thought you were an artist," he states looking at my reflection in the mirror.
"I am," I tell him between reps. I finish and set the weights down. "I also assisted with worship services back home."
"You're a worship leader?" he questions.
"Mostly back up and fill in," I say before starting with another series of lifts.
He still looks confused.
"I can play several instruments and I fill in when someone is unavailable. I also fill in for lead from time to time," I explain.
"What instruments do you play?" he asks.
"The guitar, piano, violin, xylophone, and drums," I tell him.
"The girl last night didn't play the drums," he points out.
"They already had a drummer," I shrug. "Plus, it's difficult to sing and play the drums at the same time. It's not impossible though, but it is to sing and play the violin."
"This is a little hard to believe," he says to me.
"Yeah, it's the same for me. We ran into the Smallbones in the airport in Sydney when we were arriving and they were departing. Then they asked me to perform in Michigan since we were going to the concert anyway. But it was a scheme they concocted so Jai could propose to me on stage," I explain.
I look back to him and he seems like he really does believe me now.
"So you're making a record?" he asks.
"I guess I am," I nod. "They just came up to me after practice yesterday. I'm still struggling with believing it."
I continue to lift my weights and do my workout. I glance up at Jai now and then but I try not to distract him. His trainer looks quite agile and skilled.
"So, what church do you go to?" I ask Brock.
"Oh... um... there's one near my parents' house that we went to growing up," he says.
"Oh," I reply and now I understand. He's not practicing. "Have you considered going more often?"
"Not really," he admits.
"That's a shame," I say softly.
"Why's that?" he questions.
"I guess I take Joshua seriously when he says to meditate on the book of the law day and night to be careful to do everything in it," I tell him.
He laughs, "You can't tell me your current boyfriend does that."
"We do a Bible study together every day," I admit to him.
Jai comes down from the ring smiling at me. "Do you want to get some training in?" he asks me.
"You want to have your trainer train me?" I inquire kind of surprised grinning.
He nods and hums a reply. He kisses me gently and takes my hand, helping me up into the ring.
"Why do I feel like Miss Elizabeth?" I ask him teasingly.
He chuckles at that. "Wrestling fan?" he questions.
"I liked the older stuff. I'm not that big of a fan of the newer," I tell him.
"Me, too," he grins. "I like boxing and MMA, though."
His trainer shows me some moves and we kind of practice sparring—mostly me practicing hitting, then blocking. We work on kicking. I feel like I'm improving.
"So, Jai mentioned you've done ballet," Derek says.
"I have," I nod as I kick the mitts he's wearing to take the impact. He has them kind of low—about waist level.
"Can you kick over your head?" he asks.
"Yes," I nod.
"A roundhouse kick?" he questions.
I ask him to demonstrate so he does.
"What am I aiming for?" I inquire.
"My head or as high as you can get," he grins.
"Sure," I shrug. "I can attempt it."
He encourages me. I recall the motion he just showed me and I try to replicate it. I kick quickly and he actually steps back. He laughs in disbelief and looks to Jai.
"That was good for a first try... and fast. I wasn't expecting that," he chuckles.
"Thanks?" I say questioningly.
"Again," he nods.
I kick again but he's ready for me this time and I kick the pads he's wearing on his hands. He encourages me to keep going. We work on both legs, higher and lower. We work on precision and putting more power behind them. We practice a few more things before we finish up.
I thank him for the help and he smiles genuinely at me.
"It was a pleasure. It's nice to work with females. They're usually much more flexible than most males—faster at times, too," he says shaking my hand once more.
Jai speaks to him a bit and I realize he's talking about setting up some additional training sessions for me. I actually wouldn't mind learning a bit more. They talk about diet and he gives him some advice. I think that's for me, too.
We thank Derek once more and wave goodbye to him. Jai kisses me softly and we part at the locker rooms.