To Catch A Star

Chapter Eight

Seth was taking stock of his team after dinner. He waited for half an hour after the canteen emptied out before checking the social rooms and gyms to technically spy on them. Seth knew that he was being a little dramatic, but he took this bit of fun as competition, and he did not like to lose!

He had his notepad at the ready so he could jot down the pros and cons, as well as possible motivations to get the best out of his team. He was even foregoing his run tonight, his plan to get information and help his team was consuming his mind.

He found his first team member in one of the lounges with a group of females surrounding a tv with some kind of reality-romance show playing. Ashley was one of the older contestants, but the soft-spoken Irish woman was determined in classes and sessions. Seth noted that the woman was friendly, a team player and was good with nutrition. He noted how Ashley had left the snacks laid out on the table and was content with a box of cut up vegetables. Ashley had lost twenty-three pounds so far and didn't appear to be losing steam anytime soon.

Seth was then distracted by loud hollering and cheering a couple of doors down. He soon spotted team member number two, Carlos, in the midst of the commotion. The group of men were watching an NFL game on the tv. Seth was less than impressed with the snacks that Carlos was surrounded with. Carlos was one of the trainees kept behind after the monthly weigh in after a sorry five-pound loss, twenty in total since starting. As well as the food issue Seth noted that Carlos put in minimum effort in classes/sessions, had a poor attitude and was loud. That was going to change!

Walking down the hallway, Seth found two more of his team members, Ronan and Tony. They were currently playing a quiet game of pool whilst watching some kind of English version of soccer. He noted how as one was taking a shot, the other was doing lunges – Seth liked that! He found their friendship interesting; Ronan was the youngest guy in the programme whereas Tony was the eldest.

He noted that Ronan, whilst being big in size, was quiet and slightly subdued but moved with power. Ronan had caught Seth's eye while training with deadlifts and knew he was a force to have on his team. He had lost an impressive twenty-nine pounds so far and appeared to have quite the determination.

Tony meanwhile was a friendly, outgoing man with energy bursting out of him. He seemed to get the best out of people around him and even though the man was laid back, he appeared to put in maximum effort. Tony's weight loss so far was also impressive, loosing twenty-seven pounds.

Once he jotted down notes on the two friends, Seth set out in search of his last team member. After roaming the halls for twenty minutes, peering into various rooms and gyms, he gave up and decided to head back to his room. However, as he walked by the gym closest to the trainers' quarters, he noticed the light was on. Seth mumbled thinking one of his peers had forgotten to switch it off but just as he reached for the handle of the door, he glanced through the window. Bingo!

There she was the team member who had eluded him. Andi was an enigma to Seth, he couldn't quite get a read on her, a handle on her personality. On one hand, she seemed an outcast, shying away from groups and seemingly blushing herself to death whenever one of the trainers called on her. He even noted that she never made eye contact with him. On the other hand, she had seemingly struck up a friendship with AJ. He had noticed them sitting together and talking quietly, often.

She was hard working in classes and apparently out of class too, currently on the rowing machine. Seth was pleased that she took the initiative, it also explained the incredible twenty-nine-pound weight loss. Which was especially impressive considering she was the lightest trainee in the programme to begin with, making it harder to lose the weight.

Seth decided to go back to their quarters and leave Andi to train in peace. Funnily enough when Seth entered the lounge, his peers were talking about said team member. So, he decided to flop down in the recliner next to Joe and close his eyes but listen carefully.

AJ – "I'm so proud of her!"

Liv - "Me too, she's the sweetest. She deserves the results she's getting, the amount of time she spends in the gym."

Joe – "She's determined, I'll give her that! I just don't want her to push herself too far, she's probably in there again right now..."

Jon – "What do you expect? The woman is clearly dedicated to this man. I even tried to distract her yesterday with video games and she turned me down! Laughed in my face when I told her she broke my heart!"

Alexa – "She's funny, wish I was there to see that! She doesn't let her guard down too often".

Jon – "Well she loves me, doesn't she. Everyone does!"

AJ – "I might actually meet up with her after this... well, we've spoke about it a little anyway".

Seth's eyes snapped open at that. AJ didn't trust or let people in easily. By the look on Joe and Jon's faces, they weren't expecting that either.

Alexa – "Good! It will do you both the world of good to have a friend to catch up with"
Liv (changing the subject so they didn't make it a big deal) – "Who won the t-shirt game today boys?"

Joe groaned whilst Jon looked incredibly smug.

Seth – "Huh?"

AJ – "Joe and Jon have some game going where they guess what wrestling tee Andi is going to be wearing... by the looks of it, Jon won today"

Jon – "Yep, that's right! One Cactus Jack today!"

Seth hadn't noticed anyone wearing wrestling tees, was he that unobservant? He also hadn't known that Jon was so close to Andi – how had he missed that? It seemed that all his peers were familiar with this woman except for him and if he was honest, that made him feel a bit put out!