Frenley walked to the gym as he looked at his phone. Some weird news story about a guy breaking into a cemetery and eating the flesh and bones of dead people has caused quite the outrage online. The comments were a mixture of people taking it seriously and others making fun of the whole situation. He closed his phone and put one of his earbuds in, opening the door as he started his music. Frenley walked past the counter, waving at the person behind it.
He texted Felix to let him know he was here. Fren sat in one of the benches as he waited for the muscular man to appear. While doing so, he looked at his text messages, since the group chat with Mia and Risa had been created. His phone has been blowing up with notifications. Discussions about the dream world and its history, and theories about what the key to dreaming about the world is. Insightful conversations that Fren enjoyed, but that was not the main thing he was focusing on.
While he was at work, Mia sent him a private message saying good morning and wishing him a good day. To which he replies the same. Polite and quick to the point, till Fren found a funny video that reminded him of Mia and sent it to her. That received a laughing emoji from the girl, and in turn, she sent him a meme. Between sending each other stuff and working, the conversation naturally turned to random things both of them found interesting.
But she was not the only girl that he was talking to. Risa started their private talks when Frenley let slip a music reference to a band he liked. The conversation about music slowly shifted to other interests they share: anime and games. Then, it was normal banter between friends. Fren would never guess he would be texting two separate women at the same time. But he enjoyed it nonetheless. But he made sure to always hold himself back when texting the Latina woman.
Fren could not deny that he was developing feelings for her, but he made sure those feelings stayed deep inside of him. It was just a passing thing; she is a good friend, and he does not wish to make things awkward between them.
‘She is way out of my league, I don’t have the looks of my dream self or a toned body. She is just a friend, and a friend she will stay. She may have a boyfriend or girlfriend for all I know. Ain't no way a girl that pretty is single.’
“Oh Frenley!”
‘I can even hear her voice-’
Frenley looked up, but when he didn't see Felix, he looked around some more. His eyes go wide as he notices a tall Latina woman walking up to him. She was wearing a red half-crop top, revealing her tan, toned stomach. The cloth hugged and pressed against the woman's large chest . She wore black yoga pants. A bag hangs from her shoulders. Her hair was nicely tied into a ponytail. Frenley took in her form, every single detail of her body, and the way she walked towards him with a skip to her step.
She was not as muscular or fit as her dream self, but she was in shape and healthy.
‘Fuck, they look bigger when she wears that!’
Frenley's lewd thought caused him to shake his head, pushing his eyes to focus on her face and not her body. Frenley stood up as she got closer to him, and before he could say anything, the tall woman hugged him tightly. Fren tries his best not to press his face against her chest, but it seems like she was working against him with the way she was hugging him. Frenley was the first to break the hug, much to Mia's disappointment. A disappointment she quickly masked with happiness before Fren could see it.
“Ahaha, what are the odds I would run to you today!”
“Well, it is one of the closest gyms to work and my apartment. You live close by, Mia?”
“Yeah, I do, I am a couple of blocks north of here.”
“Ah, I live like two blocks down the street.”
“Well, that means for sure we don't share the same apartment building.”
“If we did, I would be inclined to believe fate wants us together.”
A soft blush color on both of their cheeks.
“Don't say that, that will just make Risa believe her crazy theory even more.”
“Yeah”
“Well, well, what do we have here!”
The duo turns to face the voice as Felix's muscular form comes into view.
“Hello Felix!”
“Mia! I hope you aren't bullying our new member.”
“What? never! Frenley and I are good friends.”
Mia said as she wrapped an arm around Frenley's shoulder. This made the man blush even more. Felix, of course, didn't miss that. Smiling at Frenley, a smile that caused Fren to look away.
“Well, I am happy to see you back to your normal self, Mia. Got me worried when I didn't see you for a whole two months.”
Mia smiled shyly.
“Yeah, I was having some relationship problems.”
“Oh, I am sorry to hear that, my friend.”
“It's all good, I already broke up with the bastard.”
Her words were like a bombshell for Frenley, who looked up at the woman. A hint of hope in the air, and one Frenley squashed down as easily as he breathed.
“Good, good, you deserve much better than him.”
“I agree, fucking cheater thought he could get away with it.”
“What!? Who in their right mind would cheat on you?”
Frenley asks, completly bewildered by what she said. He could not wrap his head around such information. The same way a mortal cannot comprehend the words of gods and the visage of angels. Mia looked at Frenley, then smiled.
“What can I say, some men are just bastards.”
“Jesus, I would never do such a thing with-”
Frenley bit his own tongue as he caught himself. He coughed a bit as he looked at a smiling Felix and a confused Mia.
“Well, Mia! It was a pleasure catching up with you, and I hope to see you more around. But I would like my client back.”
“Ah! Sorry,” Mia let go of Frenley's shoulder as she patted the man in the back. “I will leave you two to it then. Will be seeing you around.”
Mia said as she went towards one of the machines to start working out. Frenley walked towards the muscular man, who was all smiles.
“Don't you dare.”
“Dare what?”
“You got the same smile on your face that my friend Will has when he thinks of something stupid.”
“Haha, alright then, let's get you working out then. For working for someone is better than working for revenge.”
“I ain't doing this for her.”
Frenley said, grinding his teeth, and the muscular man laughed as they walked.
“Keep telling yourself that, better make a move soon, before someone else beats you to it. Quite a lot of guys and some girls have crushes on her.”
A flame of negative emotions washes over Frenley's heart. He looked around the gym and noticed some guys looking at Mia and others walking up to her to chat. The men were more handsome than Frenley could ever be and more muscular than he could achieve in a month or two. His heart tightened at the thought of someone else hugging her. But a sense of disgusting relief washed over him.
‘As I expected, she treats everyone the same.. she got way too many options to even see me in that light.’
A strong slap to his shoulder brought Frenley back from his dark thoughts. Felix was looking down on him with a serious face.
“Hey, I don't know what you are thinking about, but stop it. Giving up before you even started is pussy shit.”
“Dude, come on, I am not even in the same league as her. It's not like it was gonna happen either way.”
“Really? From the way I saw how she treated you, I believe you got more of a chance than the people in this gym.”
“The second time someone said that.”
“If two different people thought the same thing, then my friend, I believe, is right to listen to them.”
Frenley sighed as he looked back at Mia, and at the same time, the tall woman was looking back at him. A warm smile on her face, her brown eyes shining with a light that the fluorescent bulbs could not have caused. Frenley looked away in shame, a soft blush on his face.
“Alright, let's get working out, maybe that will give you some confidence you desperately need!”
Frenley spent two hours working out under the muscular man's regime. It took Frenley all he could muster to look at Mia whenever he had the chance. The two hours of hard physical work combine with his 8 hours of mental work. Having left Frenley exhausted, he sat on a bench with a towel over his eyes. Trying to gather the energy to stand up. Thankfully, he prepped food yesterday, and all he had to do was reheat it. Soon, something cold touched his cheek. This caused him to stand up in shock at the sudden difference in temperature.
He pulled his towel down, his eyes going wide as he looked up at Mia. Holding two protein smoothies in her hand. Her body was as sweaty as his, her red shirt having darkened. She offered him one of the protein shakes.
“Don't know what you like, so I got you vanilla with banana. My favorite”
“Thanks, dear.. haven't found anything that I like in there yet. So the more flavors I try, the faster I can tell you what I like.”
“Great, I would love for that to happen.”
Frenley grabbed the milkshake as he sat upright, drinking it as Mia sat next to him. Her legs were crossed as she drank her own smoothie.
“What to grab a bite after this?”
Frenley looked at her; such an enticing offer was hard to pass up. But he was too tired to be outside any longer. Another difference between his introverted self and her extroverted personality. A difference that his subconscious marks as a downside that she won't like.
“Sorry, dear, not today, I am too tired to be out of my house for a second longer. How about Saturday? I will be here around 8 in the morning.”
Mia smiled widely at his reply, nodding her head as she drank her smoothie.
“Sounds perfect to me, love. Since I invited you, I will pick the place. Hope you are fine with Latin food.”
“I am down for any type of cuisine. I know this sounds weird coming from a guy like me. But asian food is my favorite.”
“You mean like Chinese food?”
“No, no, all asian food. Indian, Japanese, Korean, etc.”
“Oh, interesting. I can't cook much asian food.”
“I would eat anything you make.”
Mia looked at the tired man, smiling with a strange expression. Her cheeks became a bit flushed as she looked away to continue drinking. It took Fren a second to realize what he said. With a face as red as a tomato, he looked at her with panic.
“Wait, I didn't mean it that way! I meant it like…ah-”
“Hehe, it's okay, love, I understand what you meant by it.”
She said, pushing a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. She smiled sweetly at him before she stood up. Throwing away her empty cup, giving no time for Frenley to read into the way she said love.
“Well, I am gonna go ahead and take a shower. See you later, love.”
“See you”
That was all Frenley could muster as he watched Mia walk away, his eyes focused on her hips. As they moved up and down, the way her plump, round rear jiggled with each step was mesmerizing to the man. He soon realized he was staring and looked away, up at the ceiling.
‘Oh Lord, grant me strength… Why must you tempt me with something I cannot have’
His eyes watered at the thought of Mia dating someone else, and his heart tightened into a knot. Emotions he had not felt for ages came to the surface of his mind, and he could not help but blame his loneliness and romantic heart for his current situation.
‘This will all pass away…got to stay strong.. can't ruin this.’