Asher

“So you didn’t get in,” Ryan asked, barely looking up from the budgeting reports he had been looking over for one of the more well-established clubs I owned.

“We got in for now but I’m not sure how long it will last,” I said with a sigh. The two of us had been working and talking about Cade Rune for the past hour at this point and the more I spoke the more I realized how much of a dick the guy had been. “He said I had time management problems,” I scoffed. “Can you believe that? Me! Of all people having time management problems!”

“I can see it. I mean you would miss literally every flight you took if it weren’t for me setting 10 different time alerts on your phone,” Ryan shrugged. I scoffed at him.

“That barely counts. Flights are different I never think going through TSA will take as long as it does.”

“And business meeting? You always show up to those at least five minutes late unless I drag you by the ear into them.”

“I lose track of time,” I groaned as I pushed away from the desk, work suddenly not very appealing anymore. 

The office was still filled with boxes waiting to be put away but at least it was usable now. I kneeled down to look inside a box that was mostly deeds to my clubs displayed in picture frames. That would be a good distraction.

“So you have a time management problem,” Ryan said, still working on his reports. “That’s not the worst thing imaginable. You can work on that. I’ll just put several reminders on your phone from now on so you aren’t late.”

“I guess,” I sighed. “I just don’t know how much I’m going to like this guy. He seems like such a hard ass.”

“I mean, if it works. He’s the best in the area for a reason. And if you end up not liking him you said he offered to give you recommendations to other gyms so that’s always a backup plan we can use. Did Zane seem to like him?”

“Yeah, he did but you know Zane likes everyone that gives him attention.”

“Not always. He did bite that second-grade teacher that one time,” Ryan said with a small laugh. 

“God, don’t remind me of that.”

“So I guess we just wait for him to bite this new coach and that will be our sign to move him somewhere else.”

“After the conversation we had about it the last time he bit someone I’d be really surprised if he bites anything that isn’t food ever again. He felt so bad about it.”

“Did the gym look nice at least? The pictures didn’t really have a lot of the gym floor, just the parent’s room and the trophy wall.”

“It’s more of a trophy hallway,” I said as I picked up a hammer and began hitting the small nail into the wall. “The gym was nice though, I think. I don’t know much about gymnastics but there was a huge trampoline, a foam pit, a few balance beams, a vault, and some bars. It wasn’t as colorful as his last gym was though. It didn’t have all of the fun-looking mats either. It feels more professional.”

“You said he doesn’t normally teach kids this young so that makes sense I guess. And if he’s a hard ass like you said he might not like all the color. Boring people often don’t like to be surrounded by a lot of color.”

I looked around the colorless office.

“Did you just call me boring?”

“Indirectly, yes,” Ryan said with a small smile he was barely hiding with his computer. 

“Dick,” I mumbled under my breath.

“What are you so worried about? I mean if you don’t like him after a few classes just go somewhere else. And if you’re worried about Zane, you can watch them closely in the parent’s room so you don’t have to worry about him doing something… gross.” I hadn’t even thought about Cade doing something gross. “Just try not to think about it,” Ryan sighed. It’s not the end of the world if this place doesn’t work out.”

“You’re right.”

“I usually am,” Ryan agreed as I stepped back and looked at the wall. All 11 deeds to my club were now displayed perfectly in the order in which I bought them. Slowly, the office was starting to feel more like home. “Now get your ass back over here. You need to pick decor for the new club. The opening is only a few weeks away and you have nothing.” I groaned but sat back in the chair anyway.

“Why can’t you just do it for me,” I whined as I looked over the designer’s top options. “You’re better at this part than I am.”

“Because my name isn’t on the deed and I’m doing other things right now.”

“Then we can switch. I’ll do what you’re doing and you can do this and then I’ll just sign my name on whatever you like best.”

“You’d rather try to get our spending cost down by 11% in three locations than look at the decor,” Ryan asked with a scoff. Neither of which really sounded all that appealing but his work was better than looking at a lot of colors that I could only assume matched.

“Yes please,” I sighed as I ran a hand over my face. Ryan sighed and slid his laptop over to me and took mine away from the desk. 

“You are such a baby.”

“A baby that pays you more in a few months than you would have made in a year at your past jobs.”

“Still a baby.”

“By the way, Zane has another class in two days. Can you put that on my schedule so I don’t have to pay another late fee?”

“And you claim you don’t have time management issues,” Ryan grumbled as he picked up his phone and placed 5 reminders all 3 minutes apart. 

“I just get easily sidetracked,” I defended weakly and looked over the budget Ryan had been working on for the past three hours. “Well there’s the problem,” I said with a scoff. “These labor hours are ridiculous. It’s saying that one employee worked for 24 hours straight. That is not a 24/7 club. These employees aren’t clocking out at night.”

“I love how they assumed you wouldn’t find out about that.”

“Well, if you had been the one looking over these reports they could have continued to get away with it for god only knows how long.”

“That’s why we’re such a good team,” Ryan teased as he clicked on more pictures of the decor, easily matching them with others in a separate file. “So what are you going to do about those employees?”

“They’re fired for stealing labor hours,” I said simply. “And we’re going to have a talk with my lawyers to see if I can charge them back pay for the money they got while not working. And I want those managers gone too. They are supposed to be checking everyone’s time every shirt to make sure this isn’t happening. Put it on the list of things to do and book yourself a flight to all of these locations to hire new managers.”

“You’re not coming with me?”

“I don’t want to drag Zane away from home so quickly after arriving and I doubt canceling classes this soon with this coach is going to make me look better to him so I think it’s best that you do this one alone.”

“Oh a whole week without me,” Ryan teased. “How are you going to survive?”

“I did manage several years before you.”

“Yes, but you had less to do back then and now you’re accustomed to having help.”

“Then it’s a good thing you’re only one call away.”

“I swear to god if you call me at one in the morning again I will kill you.”