“I’ll be your personal trainer.” Arron reached out with his hand to Maya. He had short salt-and-pepper hair, sand-coloured skin and a triangular fit build as he wore a red shirt with the gym’s logo on it—a burly man with a hammer motive reading ‘Magni’s Gym’.

Maya involuntarily looked at his tight nylon shorts, accentuating the curves of his butt and sculpted thighs. She grimaced. The guy had a shockingly good appearance, with the most unnaturally white smile Maya had ever seen.

Aaron winked at her, showing off his bleached teeth. “You’re Miss Maya de Cook, right?”

There was a thought bubble that surfaced in Maya’s brain. “That’s the cockiest and most fake man I had the misfortune laying my eyes upon,” thought Maya, gulping back the urge to spit at him. She knew she wouldn’t like him.

The man took the initiative, shaking Maya’s hand. His grip was firm and inhumanely smooth, with no rough edges or calluses—she felt like touching a slimy eel who used too much hand lotion. Maya reeled back from the man and turned to her Valkyrie.

“Val,” she whispered. “Who’s this weirdo, and why does he know my full name?”

Putting a hand on Maya’s arm and one on the man’s wrist, Val extracted them from one another. Resting her hand on Maya’s shoulder, Val gave her a warm smile, which did little to reassure her.

“Maya.” Her voice was as sweet as Maya remembered, but something in her tone made Maya rattle. “This is. Aaron.”

“So far NOT so good,” thought Maya. She narrowed her eyes at the stranger, whose white grin never wavered. “Your grin is so unsettling and false. What are you hiding!?”

“He’s my. Personal. Trainer,” explained Val, which unsettled Maya even further.

“I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT A PERSONAL TRAINER!” her inner voice screamed.

“And today,” Val continued, holding Maya’s hand. “He’s yours. Too.”

“Wait, what?” Maya felt like someone slapped her in the face. “You didn’t tell me anything about it!”

“Seems like she didn’t.” Aaron’s contrived laugh grossed Maya out. “I offered her my help the first day I saw her coming in. We talked and assisted her with her workouts. Then I got wind of your troublesome weight problem, Miss De Cook.”

Maya turned to her girlfriend. “Val,” Maya hissed through her gnashed teeth, “what did you tell that guy about me?”

“I- I didn’t. I don’t-” Val was in full-on panic mode, waving her hands and trying to find an excuse for what Aaron just said.

Then they heard him laugh loudly.

“Just kidding,” said Aaron, and clapped his hands so loudly that everyone in the gym stopped what they were doing to look at them. “Miss Val here is a quiet woman. She’s very focused on her cardio recovery program and doesn’t engage much in social cues. I gauged your problem just by your struggles and plumper figure. After all, it’s the prime reason many come here. Losing excessive fat so the partner doesn’t lose interest in you is NOTHING to be ashamed about, Miss De Cook.”

Maya wasn’t ashamed of anything. Sure, sometimes her weight and body embarrassed her, but she knew Val liked her. So Maya didn’t question herself in the slightest. But right now, she was more than a little agitated by that stranger.

“You deliberately pulled all the attention on us,” concluded Maya, exhaling deeply through her nose. “I’m gonna rip off your head.”

Val squirmed uncomfortably in her place, unable to keep her composure as she anxiously wrapped her arms around Maya’s as if this situation was all her fault. Maya could feel Val’s worry seeping through her arms into Maya.

Which only fuelled her anger.

“Oh, I’m gonna slug you!” grumbled Maya.

Aaron clapped his hands again, pulling Val out of her stupor and Maya out of her homicidal ideation. Her anger bemused him.

“Let’s discuss your weight loss program privately, Miss De Cook. Meanwhile, Miss Val, let’s continue your Thursday Program and focus on your glutes and cardio.” Aaron eyed Maya slyly. “I believe you played enough warming up with your girlfriend and could use a proper workout.”

—ˋˏ❋ˎˊ—

A pang of betrayal settled in Maya’s heart when Val left her in Aaron’s care to do her workout. She snatched Val’s hand, hoping to stop the Valkyrie, but Val simply rubbed Maya’s fingers and gave her a tense smile before withdrawing.

Being left alone with Aaron in his private office wasn’t particularly pleasant. She developed doubts that there was something weird going on between Val and Aaron when Maya trotted after him.

Unlike Maya, Aaron looked the type of person anyone would find attractive. From the triangular build of his broad shoulders to his tight t-shirt with his bulging biceps and athletic arms. His too-short shorts revealed a little too much of his slim but firm calves and thighs, thought Maya.

“Granted, my shorts aren’t any better, but he’s obviously doing it on purpose!”

Maya couldn’t get rid of the feeling that Aaron was putting up an act with his entire appearance—as if he put too much effort into selling a perfect image of himself—only to ruin it with his attitude. If Maya didn’t know any better, she would have suspected that Val might have something left for him since Maya once had a crush on someone looking like him back in school.

“There’s something massively wrong with you, though I don’t know why,” she mused.

“Take a seat, Miss Tubby, and we can begin.”

Maya blinked. “Excuse me? What did you just call me?”

“Hm?” Aaron simpered pretentiously. “Miss De Cook, I said. Please take a seat or keep standing. It’s good for the gluten,” Aaron laughed and stood up, tiptoeing up and down and flexing his podex for Maya to see.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“I seriously don’t like you. And stop swaggering with your ass.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust. “How do you know my family name?” she asked.

“Your girlfriend’s membership card runs through your account.”

“Ah, that tracks it.”

Aaron played with the bobblehead doll on his office table, distracting himself. “Tell me about your body, Miss Tubby,” said Aaron, pretending to care.

“Wha-” Maya blinked, dumbfounded at the question. “How about, no?” she spit out. “I don’t want to? Who frames a question like that, anyway!?”

Aaron shrugged. “Fine by me. I have conducted it already. You’re roughly 163cm (5'4”) tall, in your early twenties, with an estimated weight of over 90 kg (198 lbs), which puts you well over the overweight category, with a BMI score of 32.6.”

Maya needed a moment. Resentment froze her facial muscles, opting for utter shock instead. The last Maya felt this furious was back in her school days with the bullies she dealt with.

“Excuse you?” Maya slammed her hands on the table—the bobblehead doll broke on impact with the ground. “Do you even have the slightest idea how INAPPROPRIATE this was!? This counts as sexual harassment! Who do you think you are!?”

“I’m a personal trainer. It’s my job to make those calculations." Aaron cared little about Maya’s outburst and jotted down some notes. "I see your type every day. It's not that difficult to make an accurate observation. I bet you came here because, let me guess, you gained a stone, and the button of your pants broke? I bet you're embarrassed even to have your girlfriend touch you-"

Aaron caught Maya’s hand before it hit his face. Maya was seething, her face crimson with anger. She had endured comments like these from an obnoxious classmate who poked at her body for years until Maya finally lashed out with an apple at her.

“I can tolerate my mother’s nagging because I know she worries about my health. I can tolerate Austin’s character flaw since he apologised for his mistakes, but this man?” Maya's breaths came in ragged gasps. Her chest heaved as she struggled to compose herself. She closed her eyes to swallow her anger unsuccessfully.

There was only so much that anger management could bring under control. Looking at Aaron, Maya knew he was intentionally malicious about every word that came out of his mouth. He wanted to hurt Maya's self-esteem and dominate the conversation. Lashing out was not a solution, but she didn't expect him to catch her hand and clutch her wrist like an iron vice.

The amused glint in his eye only infuriated her further.

"Let go of me," demanded Maya, lacing her words with poison.

"Oh, deary," Aaron cooed. "Rather, let's discuss your diet plan, shall we?"

Maya pulled out her hand when he finally let go. She rubbed her irritated skin and brushed the wet hand cream of his hand against her shirt.

"I'm leaving," said Maya and turned, not wasting another minute on that man.

"What would your girlfriend would think of that?"

Maya stopped before the door. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Aaron's lips quirked upwards. He crossed his fingers and rested his elbows on the desk. "She's a regular with an active workout schedule. Over 8 hours a day is an impressive sum for our recovery program. So, let's be frank."

Maya grumbled. Her mood was so sour that she didn’t even have the energy to make an obvious pun.

Aaron went on. "Wouldn't she find it disappointing if her personal trainer offered you his precious time and help, but you're about to leave after just one measly hour of training? What would she think?"

Aaron interrupted Maya before she could say something. "It would have been such a waste of time when you can’t appreciate her honest effort to help you." That stung Maya’s heart. "She could have done so much more to benefit her recovery, but noooo… she put it on hold for you, and you can’t even appreciate it! Wouldn’t that make you a horrible partner?”

Aaron came closer to Maya, backing her into a corner and intimidating her with his build and his words. Maya shuddered. She knew Aaron was obviously gaslighting her, but she fell right into his trap as her emotions to disappoint Val overpowered her.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, her confidence waning.

Aaron’s dimples concave. He motioned to the chair in front of him. "Why, I’m Aaron Trullan, your personal trainer. So let’s talk about your body specs and create your healthy diet plan, Miss Tubby."

Aaron chuckled sardonically. He motioned for Maya to sit back down and took a seat in front of her. His shit-eating smile only grew. She knew it was only about to get worse.

—ˋˏ❋ˎˊ—

Val increased the speed on her treadmill and adjusted her breathing.

“Not good. Enough.” Val had been running for almost half an hour but only covered 10 kilometres—a casual Sunday walk by Valkyrie standards. (~6 miles)

When her asthma was acting up again, Val relented and decreased speed. She had not been in her top form for a long time now. And it showed. Her stamina plummeted fast, her muscles strained to keep up, and then there was the sudden asthma she developed.

“Oh wow, you’re really not in your top form,” said Tamara in one of Val’s returning memories. She leaned against the treadmill with her muscular arms in one of their usual sleeveless, white dresses and low necklines. Val’s older sister blew at her freshly done nails. “You know, you train when you’re upset, and when you train, you’re even quieter than usual. Tell me, what’s wrong?” cooed Tamara, sitting on an empty bench and polishing her short axe with one knee crossing the other.

“I-” Val wheezed when her chest constricted. “It’s-”

She recalled the moment. The corners of her lips brightened up when she thought back to her small training session with Maya. It was not her usual regiment, but she enjoyed it. Then there was the issue with Aaron, and Val’s smile dropped.

There was no denying he was a great help so far to help her recover her strength, but the way Maya reacted to his sudden appearance was a lot. She planned for a private session. Just the two of them. But when Aaron came to offer his help, Val felt inadequate for the task. Especially how Maya took it.

“I didn’t. Want. To make her. Feel. Bad.” Val fell into a coughing fit and almost tripped over her feet on the treadmill. Her chest hurt; her airways constricted, and she desperately reached for her inhaler.

Val hated nothing more than how weak she had become since she fell to Midgard for reasons she couldn’t recall anymore. Gripping the inhaler, Val took a puff and sat down to recuperate. The tightness in her chest didn’t get away, but this wasn’t from her asthma.

Guilt gripped her with the thoughts of how she unintentionally hurt Maya. Sitting down, Val needed a moment to breathe when she saw Tamara before her again. The older Valkyrie whipped a hair out of Val’s face, and her eyes crinkled in amusement.

“The same worrying frown like then. You never let your brain rest.”

Poking Val’s nose, Tamara’s image blurred out to that of Maya. Val immediately felt a little better and rushed over to her.

“You’re. Back.” Val hugged Maya and briefly brushed her back over Maya’s new hairstyle. She preferred Maya’s afro the way they were, but couldn’t complain about her new look, either. Asking Val, she didn’t think Maya needed a diet, as she liked Maya regardless.

“How. Are you?” asked Val, placing her hands around Maya’s waist.

Maya sniffed and looked away. “Fine,” she said. “Let’s just go home today.”

“Oh no. She’s upset,” thought Val, brushing her thumb over Maya’s hand. “Of course. Let’s go home-”

“Not so fast,” said Aaron, who stood at the treadmill Val used, tapping the display. “Your performance dropped. Until you correct this, you won’t get home.” he grinned over to Maya. “How about we try your new regime in the meantime, no?”

Val could feel Maya tremble under her hug. Softening the hug, Val asked, “Maya. Are you. Ok?”

“I’m fine,” said Maya and extracted herself from Val. “Let’s get this day over with.”

Maya walked away, leaving Val with an empty pit in her heart.