Plan J

Ch 1: Gym Rat

"Ugh, Valentine Day is coming up. Again." I exclaim, putting my bag down on the floor as I greet Will, my personal trainer, who at the moment is giving me an annoyed look. I should probably start coming in on time, oops.

It was Friday evening and today was last workout of the week and I couldn't be happier except for the fact that Valentines Day's was in 2 weeks and the lobby of the gym already had pink and red streamers hanging from the ceiling. I was so ready for the weekend which did not involve any hearts or streamers whatsoever.

"Come on, sweetheart, live a little. Valentine's Day is a beautiful day in which you show love to those around us. It's about friends and family, not just lovers." He smiles jokingly.

William Fitz is big. And that was not an understatement. He stood at 6'3 and had bulging muscles, well everywhere. His buzzcut and steel gray eyes didn't exactly help his rugged look. He was the type of person that you would want to avoid if you saw him in a dark alley, yet if you did see him in a dark alley, he was probably there to save some damsel in stress. He was a huge softie at heart who loved to joke around and talk about his glory days playing football in college.

"Mhm, is that so? Let's not forget it's the day where girls go 'kill-crazy' if they don't get cute Instagram-worthy gifts."

Will shakes his head while laughing, "Okay true, true. But not everyone is like that, some really do celebrate the love. You'll understand one day, little girl."

"Yeah, not gonna happen. How about we focus on the present and just get today's lesson over with." I could feel my temper rising and I knew this was the wrong time and wrong person to take out the anger within.

"Haha, sure sweetheart, but just remember to enjoy the little moments. Come on, let's start stretching those muscles, don't forget what happened last time." He walked over to the small table in the corner where a small speaker sat playing some soft music.

Will liked to joke around and even give me the occasional inspirational speech but when it came to training, he was a hard ass and took his job seriously. He was definitely the right person for me, he knew what to say to get me moving and the right type of workouts, even if it left me sore for days.

I was not much of a gym rat, but this was what the doctor recommended, literally. Not that I'm unhealthy, at least not physically. My doctor was a shrink, a psychiatrist to be exact. Dr. Sharpe was a nice man probably in his late forties who had a weird obsession with giraffes. His office was decked out with giraffes' portraits and all kinds of figurines.

As I started stretching my arms, I couldn't help but think how a month ago the idea of going to the gym three times a week for an hour and a half was ludicrous. The first few weeks were literal hell! I never thought I could even begin to like it, yet around the third week I started feeling more energized, it was surreal.

I still remember Dr. Sharpe's words, "Remember Jackie, the goal is simple, 'Be Better, Do Better', and this year we're following a plan I like to call 'Plan J', you know the J is for Jackie. I came up with that all by myself."

Dr. Sharpe was a bit dorky and weird, but he meant well and out of all the other stuck-up shrinks I've been to in the past years, he's been my favorite.

This whole new plan was somewhat of a joke to me, they wanted me to get out of my comfort zone and somehow going to the gym was going to fix that? Yeah, highly doubt that. Okay, I'll be honest, it did help with my anxiety and anger issues, but I wasn't going to admit that anytime soon. According to Dr. Sharpe, the gym was only part one into getting my mind to think differently, to reverse the negative circle I've been living in the past couple of years. As simple as that sounded it wasn't, not for me, not for someone who had more skeletons in their closet than they cared to count.