(A/N: For the record, I haven’t done extensive research on graphic design companies and how their offices work so this is something I created. I also haven’t looked into all the fitness practices mentioned. Keep that in mind, please :))

A graphic designer looking to improve his health v. An Instagram fitness model

#fluff #cute #comedy #steamy #inspirational #interracial

“If you don’t lose 70lbs within the first week of Amethyst Jewel’s Fat Begone, you’ll get your money back guaranteed!”

Michael’s mouth was set into a flat line, unimpressed by the advertisement playing on the TV.

“Amethyst Jewel’s Fat Begone changed my life! These humongous pants used to be mine!”

At the sight of the woman’s flat stomach and taught arms, Michael looked down at his own body. The light brown skin on his stomach was far from firm. While he didn’t consider himself overweight, he couldn’t help but notice the fat went over his belt. Feeling along his back, he suddenly became self-conscious of the rolls there. 

Was this what a healthy person looked like? He wondered, his mood plummeting the longer he looked at the slim brunette.

While she didn’t help anything, Michael couldn’t blame the girl on the screen. For months now, the twenty-seven-year-old has been questioning his lifestyle and, most of all, his fitness. Michael was a graphic designer and the job didn’t require a lot of fitness. The healthy ones in Michael’s field were the people who knew how to keep their backs from aching every two days. So he doubted this culture helped him stay healthy at all.

He let out a soft sigh of relief when the ad was finished and he could finally get back to his show. But as the minutes passed, Michael couldn’t relax. The ad had unsettled him and made him feel restless. It took a few moments for Michael to identify the odd emotion as guilt. Guilt for living his life this way.

It was pitiful, really. One was taught that once you got the job, the career, and the money, you would be happy and satisfied. Yet, with a stable job, a comfortable apartment, and a cat who liked water, he wasn’t happy. Michael cursed, turning off the TV and heading for his kitchen. He didn’t want to think about it any longer. He’d much rather just make himself some food and head to bed.

However, as he warmed up some pasta he made the previous day, letting the cold noodles heat up again, he couldn’t let the thoughts go. Flashes of insecure moments in front of the mirror and clothes getting too small came into his mind. How many things has he had to give away in the past few years? Has his body changed that much?

In a matter of minutes, Michael became fully convinced that he had messed up his life. Now, it would be impossible for him to shake the emotion. As he stuffed the day-old meal into his mouth, Michael began going online to find workout videos. The number of options was a bit overwhelming but Michael also felt a bit excited about it. He was excited for a change. 

Although a bit rash, this decision wasn’t uncalled for. Michael had been feeling listless for the past several months and finally, it seemed like he may be able to fix it. 

Nearly two hours later, Michael found himself deeply immersed in the fitness world. Somewhere along the way, he had stumbled across fitness Instagram which proved to be a bright, vibrant place filled with colorful smoothie bowls and matching workout bras and tights. And the men, that was something else.

Whether lean and toned or bulky and strong, the men had amazing bodies. Michael was all too happy to use the excuse of research to ogle at these guys. When Michael almost posted a comment about wanting a certain model in his bed, he started to laugh at how comfortable he now was with his sexuality. Growing up with a Congolese mother and a Filipino father who were both devout Christians, Michael had ignored his feelings for years. It was only after getting the backlash from becoming a graphic designer and not a lawyer like his Maman wanted that he’d been able to come to terms with their disappointment. While he loved them, Michael had to do what was best for him. The rest of his siblings could handle the straight responsibilities. 

Coming out of his thoughts, Michael continued to scroll through different tags. He passed by post after post but none were getting his attention. His interest peaked, however, when he came across a particularly attractive guy. The man was clearly Latino, his naturally bronzed skin reflecting the light off of his muscles enticingly. His curly black hair was shaved around the side with the top strands kept long. After letting his eyes travel down the man’s impressive—and shirtless—physique, Michael zoned in on his large eyes squinted by his wide smile. 

Instinctively, Michael bit his lip. The other men he had already scrolled past paled in comparison to this guy. He finally tore his eyes away from all the exposed skin and looked at the caption, snorting at what it said

Just finished a new ab routine. Is it working?

The twenty-seven-year-old thought he’d really found himself a wholesale douche. A month ago, Michael would have just scrolled past. Now, though, he didn’t really mind. Maybe he was just getting thirsty-er with age, Michael wondered after his eyes trailed down the man’s golden torso again. 

Without thinking too deeply into the decision, he went to the stranger’s page and followed him. If this stranger was offering up eye candy, he was going to accept it.

—————

Michael groaned noisily as he tried to stretch out his arms and back. The movements made his black spinning chair move a bit but he didn’t mind. This was one of the days when he would come to the office to work and, as usual, the sound of relaxed chatter and people on computers sounded throughout the room. 

Michael glanced behind him, looking away from his desk to take in the room. Bright colors were painted on the walls and clashed satisfyingly with the furniture and floor. Half of the space was taken up by long rectangular tables that people shared to do individual work, like the table he was sitting at right now. Circular tables and couches took up the rest, allowing people to discuss ideas or work alongside one another while comfortably speaking. 

Their bosses tried to keep the environment as welcoming as possible to encourage creativity. Michael actually liked it. It helped to relax people a bit when deadlines and projects got stressful. 

Unfortunately for Michael, that situation did not apply at the moment. He was way ahead of schedule for what he needed to get done and felt bored out of his mind for sitting around with nothing to do. He quickly saved his current project for a second time out of habit and turned off the computer. Then, while staring into his own eyes through the dark screen, his mind drifted to his new favorite pastime. Before long he had pulled out his phone and had gone on to Instagram.

This was undoubtedly becoming a bad habit for him but it felt like he couldn’t help it. Michael smiled at the sight of a new post from Andres. Even his name was sexy and Michael was getting a bit too sucked into the sight of him. For the past two weeks, Michael had been a resident on the stranger’s page. He went through post after post, liking them even when he got to the creepy zone. But did Michael really care? Of course not. 

Seeing photo after photo of such an irresistible man allowed Michael to daydream for the first time in a long time. He loved to imagine what it would be like to hold the man’s attention, to be in his arms and in his bed every single night. 

Such daydreams seemed vital to Michael at this point in his life. He wanted to be in a relationship with a guy who made him feel seen and made him feel special. But, it seemed like every guy he was interested in thought Michael was only good as a friend. The rejections started to get to him and for the past year, Michael had just stopped trying altogether.

The memories were harder for him to relive than he realized. Swallowing down, Michael focused back on what Andres’s newest post was. He expected to be cheered up by it but instead started reevaluating whether he wanted to keep following this guy or not.

Unlike most of Andres’s posts where he was in the well-lit gym or in front of the mirror, this photo had him sitting on a chair in a dimly lit room. Instead of going completely shirtless, the man wore a black button-up left open in the front to show off his abs, and his gym shorts were replaced by black slacks. His curly black hair was hanging in front of his eyes and Andres looked past the strands into the camera. Michael could practically feel heat radiating off of the photo and hitting his own skin. Though he wasn’t sure where it came from exactly. Was it the sight of his exposed stomach or the piercing look the man sent to the camera?

But it was the caption that rubbed Michael the wrong way.

I want you to scream my name

So gross.

Was it attractive? Of course it was. But did Michael want to see it as he scrolled past puppy videos and his friends’ vacations? No, not really. 

There was another photo, this time just a headshot of Andres with his head tilted back, a cocky smirk on his face. This man knew just how attractive people found him: of that Michael had no doubt. The man’s brown lips, a couple of shades darker than his skin, were slightly open, a flash of white teeth and pink tongue peeking through.

Then Michael’s eyes went to the caption and he physically cringed. That was just a bit too much for Michael, even if Andres was ridiculously attractive. Michael didn’t need the eye candy.

Besides, Michael had found his account because he wanted to improve his health and his life. Andres was simply a distraction. A very attractive distraction but a distraction nonetheless. Michael was sure that in less than a week he’d forget about the guy, especially since he would never have to meet him in person.

—————

A strange mixture of excitement and insecurity ran through Michael in waves. It had been a month since he decided he wanted to exercise, but this was the first time he was coming to the gym. He really wanted to improve his life, but the thought of coming to a gym scared Michael a lot. Even at 27, he felt insecure going to a place filled with the healthiest and most athletic. He irrationally assumed he would be judged if he went, so he put it off for a long time.

Unfortunately for him, every workout he wanted to do required things he didn’t have in his house. Every day that passed without him getting into a gym made his own guilt grow until, finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. 

He went to the closest gym to his house, a popular gym chain with a worldwide membership, and got inside to work out that same day. Michael was going to do this, he couldn’t wait another day.

That fiery resolve dwindled when Michael’s fears were confirmed. Fit people were everywhere. Men and women with biceps bigger than his thighs walked by and six-packs appeared nearly everywhere he looked. After his first initial shock, Michael acknowledged the normal people in the room. The fit people that Michael assumed would control this place made up less than half of those in the gym. There were still many of them here but Michael relaxed when he realized they really wouldn’t judge him.

This was safe. 

There were actually several men and women well over 250lbs working alongside men who could have modeled for Abercrombie and Fitch. And no judging glances were exchanged. Michael, who was a boring in-between, would probably barely receive a look from anyone here. 

He walked over to a spare corner of the room which was empty space and placed down a large yoga mat. He began to follow the loud girl on the phone to get warmed up and looked around the room. No one was looking. 

Fifteen minutes passed by uneventfully. Michael was doing full-on yoga with his teacher now. Michael couldn’t help feeling slightly embarrassed anytime odd stretches came up but he continued to be ignored by his peers which, ironically enough, felt amazing. 

The woman led him to place one knee on the mat and extend the other leg out, leaning on his thigh to stretch out his extended leg. He heard her mention something about the stretch helping with the splits but he just focused on getting it done correctly.

He started to get bored when the woman had him hold the stretch for a while. Then, his eyes started to wander around the room. He looked at the walls, the machines, and the people. 

People. 

Person. 

Andres. 

Andres was here.

The muscles in his legs tensed up at the same time his arms did, making it horrendously painful when Michael accidentally pushed down too hard on his leg. His supporting knee slid back and he was now forced into a split. If he had fears about being embarrassed, they were all confirmed when he cried out in pain.

Michael fell over, groaning as he struggled to recover from the pain coming from his legs. His eyes were tightly squeezed shut as if the scrunching would have any effect on the throbbing pain. After several moments passed, Michael thought that he just might be able to stand up. And, adding to his list of perfect traits, Andres appeared to have perfect timing as well.

“You need a hand?” 

Now Michael wanted to die. Was he really going to meet a man he had been ogling for weeks right after embarrassing himself in front of the entire gym? He looked up at the man through squinted eyes. He wanted to say no to somehow spare his pride, but he’d rather not find out what it would feel like to stand up without extra help.

He took Andres’s outstretched hand and let the shorter man pull him up. Details about Andres rushed to him immediately. His calloused palms were smaller but long thin fingers made up for the size. He wasn’t as tall as he’d appeared in photos, slightly shorter than Michael’s 5’11. But his energy was the same. The proud shoulders and permanent smile exuded the confidence that always radiated from his photos.

Michael clenched his jaw. His strong attraction to this man was not helping the embarrassing situation at all. 

“Are you okay?” Andres asked kindly, a soft smile on his full lips. Michael nodded immediately, incredibly tense. He was all too aware of the feeling of Andres's skin and how close they currently were. To make everything much easier on himself, Michael stepped back and pulled his hand away. 

“I’m fine. Thanks for the help.”

The taller man turned around before Andres could say another word. While he did want to get back to his workout, he really just wanted some time to compose himself. He listened to the sound of Andres retreating steps as a blush started to creep up his cheeks. 

Michael simultaneously had the best and worst luck in the world. Andres, the literal god of a man, was here. Now Michael just had to decide if he wanted to keep coming to this gym and risk seeing Andres regularly for a long time.