Happy Birthday

At the Gym

She walks into the gym, and checks to make sure her favorite machine is open. It is. Doing a little happy dance she walks over to the front desk and signs in. Crystal, the attendant greets her, though barely lifting her head from the book she's currently enthralled in. Shayla reaches behind Crystal, snagging a small towel to keep with her to mop up sweat.

She turns, doing her happy dance again, only to see that the other matching machine is taken by a young man. She stops her happy dance, and walks up to the machine, cautiously glancing at the boy. He's cute, like insanely cute. He looks up and smiles at her, before returning to focusing on his exercise. Reluctantly she climbs onto the machine, and watches herself in the mirror. Horrified she realizes she looks like crap.

She glares down at her feet while she starts her exercise. After ten minutes of embarrassed, self-hating, thinking she looks like a horse, exercising, she gets into her rhythm. Mainly because the cute guy moved onto a different section. She looks up and scans the room through the mirror.

A small movement in the corner of the mirror catches her attention, so she turns around. The cute guy was sitting on the bench on the other side of the room. She freezes and the machine doesn't.

She watches the guys face change from a happy smile to, a frown, a grimace and then a laugh as the entire world around her shifts, and throws her upside down. She stays on the floor, begging that he doesn't approach her now that he saw how clutzy she was.

No such luck, a few seconds pass before his face appears over hers, and he puts his hand out, "Are you okay?"

She fumbles around before placing her hand in his, and letting him lift her up off the ground, "Yeah, I'm fine, that happens all the time. Well not all the time, only on a occasion. Wait, no, that was actually the first time I've ever tripped on that machine."

His face fills with amusement, "So, Shayla-"

She jumps away from him, "Umm, how do you know my name?"

He laughs this time, and points at Crystal, "I asked the attendant girl."

Shayla whistles, "Mighty fine powers there. Usually nothing can get her to look up from those books."

He scratches the back of his neck, "I don't know she watches me every time I come in, well until recently. Last week she started focusing on her books again."

"See, mighty fine powers there." Shayla steps away from him, "So then, mister asks-the-attendant-girls-names, do you have a name?"

He presses his thumb to the side of his jaw, and pretends to think, "Nope, but mister wants-to-go-on-a-date-with-you works."

Laughing, Shayla shakes her head, "I'm not sure, I mean I don't even know your name." She turns and starts to walk away.

He throws his hands palms out towards her, "Wait, I remembered my name, it's Brendan."

"Well then Brendan, I'd like to go on a date with you too."

His arms fall to his sides, "Really? That was easy. The attendant girl told me to give up, you didn't like any guys."

Shayla rolls her eyes, and glances at Crystal, "Don't mind her. She's just jealous."

He looks at the time, "Well, I've got to go, can I get your number and pick you up at 8?"

She looks at the time too, "Sure." She waits for him to grab her phone, and rattles off her number, and as he's walking away she looks over her shoulder at him, "I have one question, have we met before?"

He smiles, and shrugs before walking into the men's changing room. Shayla walks up the front desk and proceeds to sign out, with Crystal still entranced in her book. She taps on the top, getting her attention, and points in the direction of the men's locker room.

"Do you know who he is?"

Crystal shakes her head, "Nope sweetie, not a clue who you're talking 'bout."

Shayla smirks, "Cute guy that asked for my name."

She shakes her head again, "Ain't nobody askin' for your name sweetie."

She turns as Brendan walks out of the changing room, and Crystal notices him too, she turns back to Crystal, "You mean to tell me that he knew my name without asking you? Is there even a Brendan on the sign-in sheet?"

Crystal scans the sheet, "There's a B. Donovan, but that's the only B on here."

Shayla watches Brendan walk out the front door, without signing out. She also reminds herself to not meet up with this stranger alone. She walks out of the building and jogs the 6 blocks back to her apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Done on a mini blue tooth keyboard hooked up to my phone in my unemployment class. I'm sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes.

If you like the story, I'd love to know. If you don't like the story, I'd still love to know.