*FYI, this is Chapter 2 of 3 that'll be shared here on BC!*

CHAPTER TWO: A HUGE MISTAKE

No. Freaking. Way. Did my company really just sign me up for a women’s gym?

I had a million questions and a billion concerns. So forget the giant line of people waiting — I cut right in front to confront Celine.

“Uh, excuse me?” I said more than a little assertively, holding up the card in question in front of her face.

Celine paused. She examined the card. Then looked at me. Then back at the card. Then back at me again. It took longer than I’d like, but she realized that despite my short stature and long brunette hair, it was indeed a man in front of her holding a $3000 credit for a women’s gym.

“Oh...” she looked at me, awkwardly.

========

“Isn’t this fucking ridiculous?” I shouted. It was almost the end of the work day, and I’d been venting to Brendan for several hours now. I didn’t care if either of us were distracted from work. I was pissed off.

I had explained to him that after confronting Celine, she played dumb and claimed she didn’t remember our brief interaction, jotting down the information of exactly which gym I wanted to sign up for. Of course, she then deferred to her department head, but she failed to admit any guilt.

Celine’s boss, a woman named Vicky, brought me into her office both to calm me down and deliver the news that because the purchase had already been made and I signed the forms indicating this was where I wanted the money to be spent, that there was nothing the company could do. There would be no additional $3,000 credit to spend at Iron Arena or anywhere else.

The only option I had was to beg the management at Iron Athena for a refund — a task which HR had quite bluntly assigned to me.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Brendan assured me for probably the 50th time. “Just go to that girly gym and say it was a mistake. Once they realize you’re a dude they’ll obviously give you your money back.”

There was no choice but to believe Brendan’s plan would work. Small businesses are generally pretty lax on this stuff, right?

I slouched back in my chair, beyond frustrated by the whole situation. A stressful, annoying chore like this was not how I wanted to start my weekend.

========

At the conclusion of the work day, while everyone else was going out to bars, seeing friends or family, or relaxing at home, I was trekking over to a gym I did not sign up for to beg for a $3,000 refund.

While both Iron Arena and Iron Athena were on Halsted Street, Athena was several miles uptown. I was seething with frustration the entire train ride north. And yes, the irony of a wellness stipend causing this much stress was the worst part.

After what felt like hours, my phone navigation finally led me to the sleek but subtle exterior of Iron Athena. Gleaming, pink metallic letters spelling out “Iron Athena: A Gym for Women” protruded from the building, which was sandwiched in between a currently closed antique store and an empty property with a commercial lease sign.

Stepping inside, the lobby looked normal enough. Normal decor, normal everything. A lone woman in her 50s sat at the front desk, busy on her computer.

“Hi…” I said, cautiously approaching her. She looked so zoned in that I didn’t want to spook her.

“Onnnnne second…” she uttered, focused intently on typing something until finally looking up. “Hello! So sorry,” she replied.

“What can I do for you?”

“This is gonna sound weird, but I work at this company called Attention Marketing Agency, and they just started up a ‘wellness stipend’ thing. It’s basically–”

The woman cut me off. “I know what that is. We get a lot of signups from those.”

I nodded, continuing. “Well, my company accidentally signed me up here for it. They made a $3,000 credit purchase…”

Her eyes finally lit up with familiarity. “Oh, that was you?”

“Yes! And as you can see, I’m a guy, this is a women’s gym… I’d like a refund please.”

But the woman kept giggling… and giggling… and giggling…

“I gotta say,” she managed to muster between laughs, “I haven’t been in the business world very long, but that is hilarious. I’m so sorry this happened.”

“Yeah, I know. It sucks. So you’ll issue the refund?”

But the woman’s smile disappeared. “Oh… I’m terribly sorry, but we don’t offer refunds. It’s the policy we set up when Iron Athena was founded.”

I audibly groaned. Probably louder and ruder than I should have. But I managed to compose myself. “Look… I’m sure you have some policy written down that says that, but can’t you make an exception? None of this was my fault.”

She shrugged back. “We’re a business. We need to make money. I’m really sorry.”

I couldn’t believe what was happening! Was I seriously about to be out $3,000 just because of a clerical error that wasn’t even my fault? I wanted so badly to scream, but I knew it wouldn’t solve anything.

“Fine…” I replied through gritted teeth. “Thank you for your time…”

I turned around for the door, but the woman had more to say.

“I truly do feel bad for you,” she added. “Maybe we can work something out?”

I turned around. “Like what? Maybe half my money back? 75% maybe?”

“How about 100% access to the gym,” she said.

Huh? What was she talking about?

But the lady was serious. “Just purchase a membership.” She pulled up something on her computer. “Charlie Lansing, right? It’s showing you have $3,000 worth of credit in your account, so you might as well use it.”

I was totally thrown off. “But… this is a women’s gym.”

“Well, Illinois does have a law permitting single-sex gyms, but I never technically registered ours as one. There’s a mountain of fees and it’s a whole annoying process, yada yada yada…”

“But it literally says on your building ‘A Gym for Women.’ What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, it’s called ‘branding’. Plus it keeps out all the douchey gym bros that everyone hates. You don’t strike me as one of those.”
She might have meant that as an insult — referring to my shrimpy frame and long brunette hair — but I tried to take it as a compliment. Regardless, what she was offering was… bizarre. Frankly, this whole situation was.

“I… I’m sorry. No offense, but this is… insane,” I declared.

She chuckled. “Hey, I’ve never had a situation like this either. But the membership’s here if you want it. Think it over!”

I acknowledged her offer but had very little intent to think any further.

“I’m Monica, by the way,” she added.

“I’m, uh, Charlie. But you know that.”

Monica smiled. “Nice meeting you, Charlie.”

I backed out the door, significantly more confused than when I arrived.

========

I was fully expecting to be roasted by Brendan by the time I got to work. After all, why wouldn’t I be? Monica straight up looked at me and, full-well knowing I was a man, offered me a membership at a women’s gym.

And that’s exactly how I explained it to Brendan. It was embarrassing, sure, but I felt like he needed to know.

“Really…” Brendan leaned back in his seat, respecting my attempts to keep this matter somewhat private. “So what’d you do after that?”

“I left! What else was I supposed to do?”

“Fuck… I’m so sorry man. I guess it’s the company’s money, so it’s not like you’re losing anything.”

“I mean, I’m still losing opportunity. It’s three fucking grand!” I was struggling to stay quiet.

“Why not just pay the Iron Arena fee? It’s another $250 per month, but…”

“I can’t afford that! That’s the whole point of the stipend!” I dug myself further in my chair.

Brendan looked at me, thinking. I could tell he was disappointed. He was losing a potential workout buddy and, I assume, the chance to really grow our friendship.

“Maybe you just do it,” he said bluntly. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

I stared at him. “You can’t be serious. It’s a women’s gym.”

“Maybe that’s a plus? You get to meet chicks. Not like you’re dating anyone right now, right?”

I turned a little bit red. I never told him this, but I’ve… never actually dated anyone before. Sure, a college party or two I’d kissed some girls, but it wasn’t really a priority for me. And not like they were clamoring for me, either…

Brendan stayed firm on his point though. He explained that while girls are often overwhelmed by dudes checking them out at normal gyms — not to mention vastly outnumbered — perhaps a safer environment like this would actually be helpful.

“It’s like playing on Easy Mode,” he explained, twirling his pen in his hand.

Hmm… Easy Mode does sound pretty good…

========

I thought long and hard about the pros and cons of Iron Athena. I liked the idea of an easy intro to girls. I wouldn’t have a wingman or anything to help me out, but there’d ideally be zero competition. How could I lose?

But even beyond the promise of a pickup, the possibility of getting in shape was still enticing. Maybe even joining a different gym, I could still grow closer to Brendan. Just because we’re at separate locations doesn’t mean we can’t share results and encourage each other.

By the time I’d gotten home from work, I’d pretty much made up my mind. I got on the phone and called Iron Athena.

“Hello?” a woman answered. I recognized her voice as Monica.

“Hey, Monica…” I began, but she cut me off.

“Charlie! Good to hear from you,” she replied, to my surprise. “We… we don’t get a lot of guys calling, so I remember your voice.”

“Heh… yeah… So I, uh… I decided to try out a monthly membership. Do you guys do that?”

“We do! Oh, I’m so glad you’re interested.”

“Well, ‘interested’ isn’t exactly right. More like ‘desperate’. I’d still prefer the refund…”

Monica laughed. “Sorry, still off the table. So will we see you tomorrow?”

I remembered Brendan saying he planned to work out on Wednesdays, and tomorrow was a Wednesday. It’d probably be his first day at Iron Arena too.

“You know what? Yes. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Great! Can’t wait to show you around.”

She hung up. As nice as it felt to have closure, it felt just as strange locking everything in – a month’s membership to a women’s gym.

========

Besides informing Brendan of my decision and briefly going over his guidance list of exercises to do, there wasn’t much fitness talk. Honestly, I was a little nervous, so it was nice to keep my mind on work.

Once the work day was over, I hopped on the L Train and rode it all the way up to Wrigleyville, the neighborhood housing my fitness studio for the next month.

Just as before, I walked into the building with the flashy pink sign and noticed Monica hard at work at the front desk. She looked up from her computer with a big smile. I could tell she recognized me — again, likely because I’m the only man she’s interacted with all day.

“Charlie! Welcome! So happy you actually came down,” she shouted out gleefully. “I’ll be honest, I was thinking you’d change your mind after the call.”

“Yeah… look, I appreciate your flexibility, but I promise to stay out of your way.” I held up the gym bag I’d packed. “Just, uh… just show me the locker room, I’ll figure out the equipment myself, and I’ll be in and out.”

Monica’s lips pursed, thinking. She looked at me, then looked at my gym bag. “Hmm… so, two things to mention…”

Monica stepped aside from the laptop, greeting a woman as walked in the door behind me. The woman walked straight down a hallway to the left of the front desk.

“First of all, we don’t exactly have a men’s locker room.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course this was gonna be a whole thing. “The men’s restroom is fine. I’ll make do.”

“Well, it’s a gender-neutral restroom,” Monica noted, then pointed to the one bathroom right off the side of the lobby. “But essentially the same. You can change in there.”

“As long as it’s got a lock on the door, it’ll do,” I thanked her and started walking toward the door. But she halted me.

“Uh, there’s one more thing about our gym… We have a dress code.”

Was she blind? I held up my bag to remind her I brought a change of clothes. “I’m all set, thanks.”

But Monica shook her head. She was pointing to a chart on the wall that I somehow failed to notice.

In big, pink letters — much like the ones on the building — read ‘DRESS CODE’. Pictured underneath were three fitness models. Female models.

Monica looked me straight in the eye, but I already sensed the bad news coming. “Skirt, shorts, or leggings. Plus a tank top or sports bra. No exceptions.”

========

I'll be posting the first three chapters of this novel here on BC over the next week or two. I hope you all like the first two chapters! I'm endlessly grateful for your support.

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Youll-Fit-Right-Gradual-Feminization-...