Free Bad Intentions by Nacole Stayton

nod. “And you must be Kaiser?”
    He’s the one nodding now. “Well I’ll be damned.” His accent is thick. He must be a local. “I thought you skipped out on me.”
    “I wouldn’t skip out.” Whatever that means. “This job is really important to me. I’m normally so…responsible. I really am. It’s just my second day on campus, and I…” I turn around and glance at Zoe. “I wasn’t sure how to get here, and this sweet girl offered to help me.” I wink in her direction.
    “No worries. I get it. Here,” Kaiser opens the door wider. “I have a few minutes if you want to interview now?”
    Whew , I exhale feeling relieved. The ad made it seem like the manager was a stickler. Kaiser seems nice. It makes me question who posted the ad in the first place. What if it was Ryle? I think suddenly. No, it couldn’t have been. He obviously didn’t know I applied for the position earlier in the summer.
    “Yes. Absolutely. I’m so sorry for being late,” I ramble as I take a step forward.
    “Make it quick, Kaiser. We have somewhere to be.” Ryle’s deep voice is crisp and clear.
    “What’s he, your master or something?” I spout off, totally ignoring the fact that I should’ve bitten my tongue. There’s no censoring me when Ryle is around. One could say he brings out the inner bitch in me.
    A soft ripple of laughter bubbles out of Kaiser’s mouth. “Far from it, but let’s let him pretend a little longer.” He ushers me inside the dimly lit building with a wave of his hand.
    I follow Kaiser and refrain from looking back to see Ryle’s expression. With the flick of a switch, the room lights up. “Wow. This place is huge.” My eyes rake in rows and rows of cardio machines, a boxing ring positioned in the middle of the room, and a large space with mirrors reflecting a wooden floor and mats – lots and lots of cushioned mats. The place reminds me of my gym back home, minus all the equipment. A girl could go crazy in here with all the floor space.
    “I take it you’re impressed,” Kaiser says from beside me. He’s so close, I can feel his arm brush against mine.
    “Impressed is an understatement. I just found my new favorite place on campus.”
    “And where’s your old favorite place?” he probes.
    “My shower,” I say aloud without thinking. “Ha ha. I mean, I don’t have a coed one. So it’s pretty nice.”
    “I bet it is. You’re one of the lucky ones. I remember when I was a freshman. I got thrown into the coeds and saw things that still haunt me to this day.” He cracks a smile that I can tell is one hundred percent genuine. “Over here is the cardio unit.” He points to his left, my eyes following in that direction. “That screen over there plays movies on repeat. Sometimes you’ll get requests to play chick flicks. I’ll show you where we store the DVD’s.” Kaiser continues to show me around the large space, telling me a story from time to time. I feel comfortable being around him and this place. For the first time since I arrived on campus, I feel like I will truly fit in. It could be Kaiser’s hospitality that’s putting me at ease, but it’s probably the gym itself. It’s always been my home, my sanctuary. I let out a breath of pure contentment.
    “This here is the café. We sell muscle milk and protein shakes, but mostly people just purchase water and fruit when we have it.” He turns to face me and leans back on his elbows, the counter supporting him. “Do you have any questions?”
    I’ve never held a job before—well other than helping out around the gym and coaching—but this interview seems less like an interview with each passing minute. “I umm…I guess not. But shouldn’t you have some for me?”
    “I got your resume in the email. You grew up in a gym. To me, it sounds like you’re going to be the perfect employee.”
    I’m not confident about his interview skills and pray that he’s not a business major, but if he’s down to hire me, I’m