His Blonde Little Secret

Chapter 9.

I stare up at the large building, feeling myself grow smaller and smaller as time passes. By now the sky is beginning to darken as the start of nightfall arrives. Street lamps spark to life, illuminating the area around me. Cars zoom past behind me, drivers desperate to get into the comfort of their own home.

"Come on Bella," I urge myself, taking a few steps towards the doors. My hands and legs begin to shake and the voice in the back of my head keeps screaming for me to turn back around. . . Seclude myself in the safety of my bedroom. I breathe deeply, wiping my hands down my workout leggings to get rid of the sweat building on my palm.

"You can do this, your comfort zone will kill you." I whisper, giving myself a pep talk.

How bad can it be? The glass doors of the building opens suddenly and I come face to face with a woman in her early twenties. A gym bag is slung over her shoulder and her face is red and blotchy signalling she's had a good workout. She holds the door open, giving me a small smile —

"Are you going in?" She asks me, slightly out of breath. Her chest rises heavily up and down as she waits for my reply. I automatically nod, running forward to grab hold of the door.

"Thank you," I whisper, watching her walk off towards a parked car.

Hot air greets me from the inside of the gym lobby and I swallow the lump in my throat, entering the room. The door swings shut behind me and I jump, feeling startled. I glance around at the walls that are painted a bright blue, pictures of fitness models covering the walls with motivational quotes underneath. The lobby is empty and I walk further inside, looking around for the directions to the gym room.

A large arrow pointing down a corridor with the word 'GYM' in red block letters catches my eye and I head towards the direction, ignoring the wobble in my legs.

I hold my head up high, faking confidence even though on the inside I'm absolutely terrified. I warily head straight for the glazed double doors on the end of the corridor making out shadowy figures behind it. My heart is racing wildly against my chest and I can hear the thump, thump, thump of it in my ears.

Just ignore everyone and head straight for the machines. . . You can do this Bella!

I mentally prep myself and grip onto the door handle, pulling it back in one swift movement. I'm instantly delved into a busy atmosphere, loud music booming from the speakers in the corner. The area to my right has four or five treadmills lined up against the wall. Three of the treadmills are occupied, people running in unison together almost as if they belong in a gym advert.

Opposite that are exercise bikes along with yoga mats. A bunch of posters showing the correct stretching positions cover the walls. I turn my head, feeling my throat dry up as I inspected the left side.

Rows of shelves with different sized steel weights covered the walls along with machines that I've never seen before. A dozen of bulky males are huffing as they struggle to lift the bars and conquer the leg machines. All I can see is a vision of muscular arms, gym vests and plenty of male body hair.

Their faces are staring straight ahead, a look of determination written all over them. Eyes glazed over as they carried out each rep, pausing before continuing as they strived for perfection and success. This side of the gym is extremely intimidating to someone like me who'd never set foot in a gym before. The stench of testosterone in the gym is overwhelming and if it wasn't for a female running on the treadmill, I would have guessed it was a males only gym. I ignore the few burning looks I'm getting and head straight for the treadmills which is one of the only machines I know vaguely how to work.