Tares City

46. New Developments

JENSEN CARTER

"Man I still feel like you could use another day or three," Dalton says to Jensen as they walk through the double doors of the gym.

"I'm fine man. And besides, you know me. Can't sit still for more than ten minutes," Jensen replies. "Doc cleared me, says everything's out my system and I feel one hundred percent. Besides, I have trainees depending on me."

Dalton hums in response, the two of them separating off to do their separate tasks. Greeting his first trainee for the day, Jensen hops into the boxing ring with the large man. The two throw jabs and circle each other, Jensen correcting his footwork and posture when needed - Savoring the feeling, glad to be active, adrenalin pumping.

~

Half the day goes by, Jensen busy with his regular trainees and two new ones. With a couple of hours to himself before his next client, Jensen heads upstairs to the treadmill. Starting with a slow jog before upping the speed to a decent sprint.

"Mr. Carter!" He hears a female voice call out to him. Stopping the treadmill, he looks up to see Samantha standing off to the side - Yoga mat in January and a strained smile on her face.

"Samantha!" He calls out in shock, heading to her. "We haven't heard from you since! How's Danny?" Jensen says to her. Standing before her, notices her heavy makeup underneath her eyes - A poor attempt to hide the dark circles and bags. Her eyes themselves were red and puffy as if she'd just been crying. She looked slimmer than he remembered, her hair a bit unkept and greasy.

"Yes, sorry for missing your calls. Danny is fine, everything worked out okay. Though he won't be returning for boxing." She says to him, a fake smile across her face.

Jensen studies her expression before speaking again, "We'd love to see him. Been worried sick. What was the cause of it all?"

"Oh, just stupid teenage decisions," Samantha replies, not offering more information on her son. "Well, I'd best get going, don't want to be late. Goodbye." She says walking away before Jensen could return the farewell.

"Well if that wasn't weird!" He exclaims to himself. Heading back to the equipment, he re-tacks a couple of out-of-place weights and takes brief notice of the gym goers.

"Hey man, you free?" A voice calls to him. Sitting at the bench press, the man looks at him expectantly, waiting for his response.

"Yeah. You need a spot?" He replies, the man nodding yes. Jensen situates himself, the man mumbling a quick thanks before beginning his workout.

~

Completing his set quite quickly, he thanks Jensen for his assistance, starting up a conversation with him. "So, you work here?" He asks between chugging his water.

"Yeah, trainer."

"Oh?"

"Mostly full-contact combat sports but I tend to get in the other things." Jensen elaborates politely. Something about the man did not sit right with him, not exactly sure what - He kept the conversation going to get a better read on him. "I haven't seen you around here before. First time?"

"Yeah. The place got some good reviews so I decided to give it a shot. Got to admit I'm impressed... Though, if you're not too busy, could you show me around?" He says, asking hopefully.

Jensen could see it wasn't genuine, there were some ulterior motives he couldn't quite see yet. Figuring he would be the best person to keep an eye on the man, he agrees to a quick tour - showing him the downstairs dedicated to combat sports and the first upper floor dedicated to the various types of Yoga and Pilates. Keeping the tour short and quick.