Samantha - Carter's Gym - Part of Chapter 1

Chapter One

Holding in the sigh she wanted to express, Samantha Presley continued to put on the make-up her fiancé, Ian Barnes, insisted she wear.  They were going to dinner with his mother, and after a long day at work, she was dreading it. 

That woman always had something to say about Sam’s appearance, even though Sam was one of the personal trainers at the gym she worked at and was physically in shape.  If her future mother-in-law wasn’t complaining that Sam was too muscular, she judged Sam on her clothes or make-up or some other perceived flaw in Sam’s appearance. No matter what Sam did, she would never meet Mrs. Barnes’ exacting standards.  She would never be feminine enough to meet the older woman’s approval.

“I think your dress’s skirt might be too short,” Ian stated from the doorway, watching Sam apply her mascara. 

Straightening up, she looked at where the hem brushed the top of her knees.  On somebody shorter it probably would have fallen below their knees, but Samantha was not short at 5’10 and many skirts fell a little higher than they did on somebody shorter. 

A thought flickered through her mind to get her co-worker’s girlfriend to try on the same dress and see where it fell on her.  Emily was several inches shorter than her even though they wore the same size or almost the same size.

“What’s wrong with the length of my dress?” she asked, pulling her thoughts away from Emily and the injustice of skirt hems on shorter versus taller people.  “I can bend over without flashing anybody.”

“I hope you aren’t bending over where you can flash people.”

Rolling her eyes, Sam sighed.  “I work at a gym.  I’ve mastered my squat form and can gracefully squat down with my legs together without issue.”  Even if one of her knees did pop a little when she practiced that move at home.

Sometimes, Ian was just as demanding and persnickety as his mother.  If Josh or Tristan saw her practicing moves to ‘maintain her modesty’ at the gym, they would die laughing.  Tilda and Emily as well.  They didn’t know what it was like having a significant other who found fault in almost every single little thing you did.

It was well-known at work that none of them liked Ian.  Tilda – Tristan’s significant other – was quite vocal about her dislike; she frequently told Sam that Ian did not treat Sam right.

Rolling his eyes, he held back the comment he wanted to make.  He had made it so many times she had the sentence memorized and could hear him mentally thinking about how as soon as they were married, she would have no reason to keep working at the gym with her male co-workers.

Even though Tristan had opened a daycare for gym members and employees in the building next door, Ian did not consider the daycare workers to be her co-workers.  Even if Samantha considered Emily, Shawna, and Taylor to be co-workers and friends, and she frequently ate her lunch with whoever was taking their break in the daycare’s break room and kitchen at the time.

She also ate in that breakroom whenever Evan did Ian a favor and brought her lunch and opted to eat with her.  Ian had no problem with Evan bringing her lunch; probably because Evan usually also brought news that Ian was unable to join her for lunch even though they had scheduled a lunch date.

It was complicated, and it really shouldn’t be, but because Evan and Ian were friends and coworkers, whereas Tristan and Josh – along with the ladies in the daycare and Tilda – could barely tolerate Ian, Evan was acceptable company. 

Sam and Evan were careful not to tell Ian that her co-workers and Evan got along.  Evan had even signed on for a few personal training sessions with Josh.  It was amusing that Evan and Josh got along better than Sam and Josh ever did.

“Change your dress, Samantha,” Ian commanded, breaking into Sam’s thoughts.

“If I change my dress, we’ll be late to dinner with your mother,” she countered. 

“At least put on one of those button-up sweaters.”  He dismissed her comment about being late and started leaving the room. 

“But it’s the summer,” she whispered in response, knowing he couldn’t hear her, “and we’re eating outside.”