Jake (JMJ2)
Well-Known Member
Make a Wish
By Jake (JMJ) and ST
By Jake (JMJ) and ST
“Come on Mark, one more rep! Push!”
The obese man grunted and huffed with all his might, straining to get the barbell back towards the bar. Behind the bench, a svelte redhead had her hands at her sides, refusing to help the man as he struggled with the 185 pounds of weight.
“You can do it! You did 3 last week, you can get 4 now, come on!”
“I...don’t...think I can. I can’t do it Susana!”
Susana looked around and noticed that one of her co-workers at the gym was now eye-balling her something fierce. She was here on a part time basis and didn’t want to get in trouble for a client who couldn’t improve at all. She was desperate.
“Mark,” she whispered close to him, “if you get this up now, I’ll go grab a cup of coffee with you, just like you’ve been asking me for the past two months.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” the redhead said breathily.
“Oh, great!”
Mark summoned the last bit of his strength and pushed the bar all the way up, extending his arms fully. Susana was about to grab the bar, instead Mark brought it back down before straining some more and completing an extra rep. He was exhausted, but he had done it.
“Wow, look at you! Two more reps from last week! You’re getting better!”
She glanced over at her co-worker again, who simply shrugged his shoulders and resumed sipping his protein shake.
Mark stood up from the weight bench and took a big gulp of water. He was all smiles, even through his reddened face. Susana looked at him puzzled.
“You almost died, why are you smiling?” she asked while handing him a towel to wipe down the bench.
“I was able to do something I couldn’t last week, plus I get that coffee with you. Why WOULDN’T I be smiling?” he responded after wiping off the bench.
“Ok, wise guy. You got ten minutes now on the elliptical. After you shower we can go get that coffee.”
“Bakery next door ok?” he asked.
Susana shrugged her toned shoulders.
“Fine by me, though I still don’t get why they put a bakery next to a gym. That’s like putting a liquor store next to where they hold AA meetings.”
“Guess they want to get people to fall off the wagon. And since Labor Day just passed, they probably get more business. Let me go do this elliptical so we can get coffee.”
“A deal’s a deal.”
Mark struggles through the aerobic exercise, but eventually finished. After they both changed, they met up at “Nino’s Italian Bakery” where Mark had already ordered them both a coffee and a cheese danish.
“I’m not eating this, but thanks for the coffee, Mark.”
“Oh, I just figured I’d be polite is all. Most people like Danish, especially from Nino’s,” he replied while blowing on the hot coffee.
“I don’t like them, even if I wasn’t a part-time personal trainer,” Susana explained.
“I’m sorry. I never asked though, why do you only do it part time?”
She took a sip of the warm beverage.
“I need the money. I am still only an intern at Wentz, Wentz and Yold, even though I passed the bar AND have a license. Since I’m only an intern, I don’t qualify for overtime which I need to pay off some of my loans. I guess since I’m older than most interns at 27 they want me to suffer a bit,” she said.
Mark listened intently as the svelte redhead continued chatting about her job.
“Well, at least you have a job that has some flexibility. I don’t. My company likes to send me on business trips and I hate it. Having to buy two planes tickets for your ass kinda sucks!”
“That’s why you’re doing these training sessions though, right? To lose weight?” Susana asked.
Mark blushed.
“Well, it’s true that at first I did want to lose weight, but once I saw how pretty you were, that’s why I’ve been following up on the sessions.”
Susana just shook her head.
“Mark, I told you, this isn’t going to happen. I want my career to take off first and you’re not really my type. I don’t mean that in a bad way, you’re definitely cute and you’re funny, but you’re, well. You know...” she trailed off.
“Fat,” he finished her sentence for he.
She sighed.
“I was going to say robust. You do wear it well, I will admit that. And I really admire all the charity work you do too. As it is, I can’t.”
Mark stroked his thin beard and glanced down at his paunch. It was covering up most of his lap, his hairy belly peaking out ever so slightly from his tight shirt.
“What if I lost more weight? 50 pounds?” he asked.
“That’s not what I meant, Mark. And besides, you’ve been doing these sessions for three months and you’ve actually gained 7 pounds.”
“I really enjoy food, and muscle weighs more than fat, right?” he retorted.
“Mark…,” Susana started.
“How about I lose 100?” he smiled at her.
“Stop. I think big guys belong with big girls and skinny guys go with skinny girls. There are exceptions, but mostly that’s how the world works. I’m sorry, Mark. I’ll still train you though, I do genuinely enjoy your company.”
Mark shook his head.
“Well, to tell you the truth, I actually do have a business trip coming up next week, so I may be out of town for awhile. I don’t know if I’ll have time when I get back for these gym visits. I’ll let you know.”
“Ok. I’m really sorry, Mark. I don’t want to hurt your feelings,” she said before standing up.
Mark glanced over at her and took her body in. She was about 5’1” to his 5’9”, but their weights couldn’t be any more different. She was very skinny, barely 100 pounds soaking wet and next to no curves. Her face however was very beautiful and her green eyes and red hair made her seem rather exotic. He always thought that if she had her hair up, it might make it appear that her head was on fire.
He, on the other hand, was more than obese; he was morbidly obese weighing in at over 325 pounds. He carried almost all of it in his stomach and chest though he was really round everywhere. He popped the rest of the napoleon into his mouth and stood up.
“It’s ok, I’ll call the gym when I get back.”
He extended his hand for a handshake, but she gave him a hug instead before exiting the bakery. He watched her non-existent behind get swallowed up in her sweat pants and then hung his head low before exiting the eatery.
Once outside, he turned and walked back towards his apartment. Just as he gets to his front step, he saw a woman standing in front, her arms folded.
“Oh, hi, Marian, right?” he asked the woman.
“Yep, it’s Marian. I just wanted to thank you again for all you did for us last month. Darren would have never found a job had you not put in a good word for him with your boss.”
“Glad I could help. They gave him that job in Jersey?” Mark asked.
“They did. You’re really a lifesaver. I got you something as a thank you. It’s not much, just a thing I found at an antique store. Supposedly, it grants wishes. Kooky, but it looks nice, right?” Marian said, holding out her hand with the gift.
She handed him a small oval stone that was mounted onto a weighted bottom, one that was probably nothing more than an interesting paper weight. The green tint reflected off the dwindling sunlight as he inspected it.
“Thank you for this, but you didn’t have to get me anything, I just like to help people,” he shrugged.
“Well, maybe this thing really will grant you a wish, for all the good you’ve done for us and the community, you deserve it.”
She hugged him and then turned to grab a cab. He waved as she left and then glanced at the item again before heading into his apartment. He tossed his gym bag in the hallway and took note of his very well maintained apartment before plopping onto the couch.
“Dunno what this is really supposed to be used for, but maybe it’s valuable? Maybe I can look into it tomorrow. Still bummed about Susana, really do wish we were more compatible,” Mark grumbled to himself.
He looked down once more at his gut and realized the shirt wasn’t covering it anymore. He grew frustrated and took it off, sitting there in only his sweatpants.
“Who the hell are you kidding, the only way that’s happening is if you lose weight and we all know you’re never dropping any pounds,” he said, shaking his head.
With that, Mark put the paper weight down on the coffee table and turned on ESPN to catch up on the sports world. He channel surfed for a few more hours before bed, laying out a suit for the next day of work. That night, the jade oval stone glowed eerily translucent before magically returning to its usual color. The next day, Mark took the item to his office and left it on his desk, not realizing what had just been unleashed.
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