New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

While this happened over two hundred miles away, Alex was already busy talking with Clark. He had texted him first, testing the waters, and Clark seemed the same as usual.

**

'Can we talk?'

…

'Sure. But no more visits to that sketchy underground place… That creeped me out.'

…

'Fine by me. Let's meet back at the gym, if you don't mind. But no sparring this time. :)'

…

'The thought didn't cross my mind. (:'

**

After the quick back and forth, Alex had told Kary he was going out for a bit, to which she nodded, yelling 'I love you!' from the kitchen as the elevator doors closed on Alex's smiling face.

Alex took his time to reach the gym, knowing Clark lived further from it than he did.

He received mixed gazes as he walked into the place, as some people from earlier, mostly employees, were still present. They looked at him like he was some freak, but nothing else happened.

He had half expected someone to approach him and revoke his membership. But apparently, he was worrying for nothing.

About five minutes after he got there, Clark passed the front door. He was stopped briefly at the reception desk, exchanging a few words with a tall guy in a dry-fit gym uniform before walking to the locker room.

Alex caught this from afar, worried he might have caused trouble for the man, but waited for him to come to him.

Clark didn't make himself wanted for long, as he popped out of the locker rooms barely thirty seconds after entering, walking directly to Alexander.

"Alright. I'm here. Let's talk."

Clark sounded a bit colder than his usual self. He also seemed angry.

"Did I get you in trouble with the gym?" Alex asked, feeling guilty already.

"Don't worry about it. I heard you have a big ass penthouse. I'll train you there. Just make sure you buy some good equipment."

"Wait. What? Did they revoke your license? Aww, man. I'm so sorry."

Alex grabbed his head in his hands. This was his fault.

Had he been more open with Clark, or if he had contained himself more and not taunted the man.

All of this wouldn't have happened…

"Listen, kid. I don't want a pity party. I'll bounce back. Just tell me what you want to tell me. They want me and my things out of here pronto."

Alex sprung up.

"Let me go talk to him."

"No!" Clark barked.

"Listen, Alex. I'll gladly keep training you. I'm not angry about what happened earlier. Okay… Maybe a little. But with a bit of time, it'll pass. But don't go shoving your nose where it doesn't belong. This is my issue to deal with. Focus on yourself."

Alex stopped in his tracks, gritting his teeth.

"Fine. Then grab your stuff, and we can go talk somewhere else."

Clark nodded.

"Fine by me. Give me a few minutes."

As Clark said, it only took him a few minutes to grab his things, and they left the gym. But not before Alex stopped at the counter.

"You can go ahead and cancel my membership; I won't be coming back here. Also, I'll make sure everyone I know knows that your gym treats its employees like shit."

He didn't let the woman manning the reception reply and stormed out the front door.

Clark wasn't sure how to feel about Alex's reaction, but he was happy the kid was more loyal to him than the gym.

"Alright, where do you want to go chat?" Clark asked, a big gym bag on his shoulder.

Alex looked at the sizeable bag and decided what to do next.

"You said you'll train me at home. How much is a personal home trainer, usually?"

Clark pondered for a moment.

"Well, someone of my experience usually goes for about four hundred dollars a week. Why?"

Alex smiled.

"I'll pay you a grand per week. Drop that shit at my place, and I'll have an access card made for you. That way, I'll never be late again. What d'ya say?"

Clark took a moment to internalize what he had just said.

"A grand a week is a bit much. I don't want to feel like I'm ripping you off…"

"Just take the money, Clark. I put you in trouble, and you lost your spot at the gym. Let me make it up to you. Please?"

The man glanced at Alex's guilty plea and sighed loudly.

"Fine. But you better expect me to work your ass for that amount of dough. If you pay for a thousand-dollar trainer, you'll get a thousand-dollar trainer. Prepare yourself for a hell untold."

Alex's smile disappeared as quickly as it appeared as he realized what he had done to himself.

'Shit…'

The two men reached the building Alex lived in and stopped at the reception desk.

"Hi. I would like to have a keycard made for this gentleman. It would have to have limited access on specific days of the week and times. Can you do that?" Alex asked the receptionist.

"Sure thing, Mr. Leduc. Could I have your information, please, sir?" she said, looking at Clark with a wide smile.

Alex turned away from the desk, giving Clark a bit of privacy, while he gave his personal info and scanned his fingers and eyes.

This took only a few minutes, and the woman left for a moment to fetch the card from the security office.

Once she returned, she gave the card to Clark, who smiled warmly at the woman before following Alex to the elevators.

"Alright. Let's see what all that money of yours got you. The building looks snazzy, so I expect a posh penthouse," Clark said almost mockingly.

Alex chuckled, pressing his card against the scanner and his other hand on the scanner. He scanned his eyes and said his name before the elevator started moving.

"That is one complicated sequence. How paranoid are you?" Clark asked, eyeing Alex weirdly.

"Hey, don't judge. You try having people break into your apartment and try killing you. You'll get paranoid as well. I'd rather waste a minute in security checks and sleep safe."

Clark shrugged, as he couldn't begin to imagine the situation Alex had gotten into.

When the elevator reached the penthouse on the fifty-second floor, and the doors opened, Clark's jaw went slack.

"Holy mother of cash…"