Beautiful Flasher

She was to be married to a tycoon’s son. A private banker and part-time model, both careers now shelved. She had a new job…rich man’s wife. Her first assignment was to plan and organize an elaborate and breath-taking wedding. Project budget $5 million. Project Deadline – 9 months.

This is how her soon to be in-laws made their money… the hard way. Grandpa was a collie on a construction site, he raised dad well, they worked hard and became labour contractors. Soon they acquired machinery and leased them out to other construction sites. With prudent management and a healthy cash flow, they ventured into property development. Success continued. Junior was educated in an ivy-league college, graduating top of his class. He joined the family business and within 10 short years propelled it internationally through an acquisition of hotels and masterminding cutting-edge high-end residential development. This is your rags-to-riches modern day fairy-tale, and Carmen would soon be the princess.

“Six months and counting!” she told me as we entered the room to take her measurements.

Getting herself in tip-top shape was part of her wedding plan. She has been working out under my boot camp regime for half a year now and was looking absolutely ravishing.

“You know when I first saw you; I didn’t think we could make much of a difference as you were already very slim.” I confided “But your body definition has improved tremendously, you take to sculpting very well.”

“Hey it’s thanks to your expertise. I’m very happy with the results. Of course knowing that the media is going to go trigger-happy on me in another 3 months has been a huge motivation!”

I just love an appreciative client, but I love it more when I get results from a determined one. She lifted up her top so I could take her measurement with a pair of calipers. I did a brief calculation with the caliper results from the 3 parts of her body (Johnson and Pollock body fat test - triceps, abs, and thigh) and was proud to announce that we were right on target with a body fat measurement of 17%!

“I tell you HB it’s all because of you. I’ve been working out either on my own or with other trainers for years and I’ve never got the way I am now. All the credit goes to you!” She was beaming from ear to ear.

“Never have my shoulders been this well-defined and …I’ve got to show you…my chest muscles are so toned that my breasts are just pulled up at the right places…see…”

With that declaration she lifts up her top to reveal 2 cherry pink nipples on yes I must say, apparently thanks to me, very nice looking pair of breasts!

Ladies, please…

I know you confide in me during our weekly sessions and sometimes I may even seem like a best friend or a therapist, but I am not your gynecologist! As much as I would like to exercise professionalism, baring your breasts to me at the most unexpected moment will result in my getting a hard-on. It’s as simple as that! I am after all a hot blooded male! Scrutinising your body through your exercise attire, no matter how skimpy is very different from looking at you bare-breasted. I do not appreciate having to hide a hard-on while parading around the gym with you for the next hour as we go through your work-out!

There are women, beautiful and sensual as they are, who are not aware of their “charms”. These are women who embrace life innocently and whole heatedly. They befriend others easily and will trust you as if they have known you for years. They demand and expect loyalty from you, just as they will so easily give you theirs. They have close friends of both sexes and from all walks of life who span the entire racial divide. They are citizens of the world, a term which implies sophistication and yet this person is pure simplicity. Totally oblivious to the effect they have on others, they are angels on earth.

Or are they really?

A social-climbing strategist can always be suspected but never 100% detected. Such is the ambiguity of emotional manipulation.

Carmen’s dream wedding went off without a hitch. The paparazzi adored her as she made her celebrity debut at her wedding. Thereafter she was seen at all the glamorous events beautifully decked in the finest clothes and jewellery. Her days were spent organizing charity events for which she always got huge publicity. The public needed a princess and I guess, in her, they got one…

A Fine Line (continued)


For the rest of the day, Ian and I tried not to look at each other. It wasn’t difficult, we both had full schedules. We went home without saying a word. I really don’t know who was more uncomfortable.

The next morning, business as usual, but approaching lunch, as he finished with his 10.30am client, I knew one of us had to say something, and it had to be me…

“Hey man, free to workout?”

A smile of relief gently broke from his lips which suddenly looked rosebud-like. “Oh for god’s sake stop it you idiot!” I wanted to slap myself! As if Ian could suddenly turn soft over a day.

“Sure, just let me change I’ll be with you in a sec!”

With that he scrambled up the stairs in shall I say a very macho way.

Man, this was really getting to me; I was scrutinizing his every move!

He came down. We worked out, counting every rep with auditor-like accuracy. I don’t recall ever speaking to him so technically about everything we did. We were both skirting the issue, it was obvious… and extremely uncomfortable.

Finally, after an exhausting work-out, both physically and emotionally, I must say, we had a quick shower and went off for lunch.

This time it was just me and him, neither called anyone else.

“Hey about what happened yesterday…” Ian started, “I hope you keep it to yourself”

“Yeah, yeah of course dude, don’t worry” I was only too eager to offer any assistance after all it was I who infringed his privacy.

He knew I wasn’t a homo-phobe, but he sensed I was in absolute shock over yesterday. I thought the conversation would end at that and that this issue would be closed but no Ian wanted to elaborate:

“You know how I used to teach PE at the Catholic school? I was caught in a compromising situation with a 16 year old boy.” It was my first job I was 22 at the time. The school gave me a year to find another job and resign on my own because my father was so active in the Catholic community and had done a lot to raise funds for the school. This was also the school where I spent my secondary years. They cut me a lot of slack for which I am eternally grateful. My parents never knew about the incident.”

“You mean you’ve been gay all this while?”

Maybe I should have found a better way of putting it but I was totally dumbfounded at the time.

“Yes and no. I’ve always liked girls too! I guess I’m just very flexible with my preferences.” Ian said calmly.

“So for convenience, you just let your hetero side show?” I asked

“Yeah you could say that. Why rock the boat when you don’t have to, right?”

At that point I realized that I was sounding like an inquisitive pubescent. Wide-eyed and gawking. Whether silent or talking I just felt extremely uncomfortable, Ian on the other hand was matter-of-factly answering all my questions like a patient older brother.

It seemed like he and Angie would be announcing wedding plans anytime soon. Ian was as nonchalant as if this was just a one night stand he expected a buddy to understand. I was the one feeling awkward.

Not quite sure how to end this post so we’ll just let the matter rest right here…

A Fine Line


The morning was uneventful. I had three sessions back-to-back with my loyal regulars. The gym was rather quiet by 11.30am. Two other personal trainers were with their clients, there were no other members around so the cleaning staff took the opportunity to mop the floors. As they sloshed around, the floors gleamed with a moist shine and there was a faint aroma of disinfectant in the air. Ah…love the smell of fresh floors!

It was time for my own work-out. Ian, my usual work-out partner was nowhere to be seen. Also a personal trainer, we joined the gym at the same time about 4 years ago. Most trainers at this gym come from a sports background. Ian used to be on the national cricket team and was later trained as a physical education teacher. He went on to teach at a prestigious Catholic boys school, but found that working with children was not his thing. Ironically, now he’s being paid about 3 times more doing basically the same thing; teaching! (lol)

Still not able to spot Ian, I started on my own, he would see me and join me later. Thirty minutes lapsed, I had completed a 6km run on the treadmill and still no Ian. “I’ll just row till I see him.” I thought.

Another 20 minutes went by and Ian was still nowhere in sight. He would have to warm-up in 5 minutes so we could start on weights immediately. I knew he had a 1.30pm appointment, and I’ll be damned if I had to skip lunch, so if he started now we would have to rush.

Maybe, he packed a lunch and was eating in the pantry. I ran up the stairs and checked the pantry. Not a soul. Drinks bar? No Ian. Video library? Sometimes he gets carried away chatting to a member about the latest foreign flick he’s seen. No, not there either. Surely he can’t be taking a dump all this while? Dozed off in the office again, maybe? I ran down the stairs again, opened the office door but only Mae was there engrossed in her month-end report, a compilation of all the PTs payment claims for sessions done.

“Have you seen Ian?” I asked Mae.

“Not since early this morning. Tell him to submit his hours to me by 2pm or he wont be paid this month!” She ordered. “By the way, I had a lot of trouble reading your hand-writing!”

Part of Mae’s job is to submit our session-claims so we get paid. Most of us work on a free-lance basis. Mae is on a salary with fixed hours. She’s on hand to help members with any questions on their work-out and she generally ensures that things run smoothly on “the floor”.

There was only one place left... the changing room. Perhaps he was taking a dump and reading the newspapers from cover-to-cover! I walked past the toilet cubicles, three were vacant, a cleaning staff was scrubbing the fourth.

I walked over to the showers, my last stop, there was nowhere else to look. This was the most unlikely place though. Why would he shower if he hadn’t worked out. Then in one of the shower recesses I saw a familiar t-shirt peeping out from under a curtain. It was Ian’s red Nike top… but the shower was not on!

“Ian! Where the hell have you been! I’ve been loo…”

I sprang down on all fours and did the downward half of a push-up to look under the curtain.

In that instant, I was curious about why he was taking so long and why the shower was not on.

What I saw made me regret not giving him that ounce of privacy that every human being expects behind a drawn curtain.

Let’s just say; Ian was not alone, and the other person was not a woman!

I left the changing room. My legs felt wobbly as I walked down the stairs. As far as I knew, Ian was as straight as an arrow, no a javelin, better yet a giant flagpole! We double dated on a few occasions, when I was still seeing “the one”. We went to Bali with Angie, his current girlfriend of 5 years. Ian and I have spent many a pub night scrutinizing the latest cleavages in town. There was absolutely no reason to think he was gay.

I went to the free weights section. For 5 minutes I must have been doing bicep curls and tricep pull-overs with weights I would’ve given my 80 year old grandmother. Then decidedly, I walked off to have lunch on my own…

WITHOUT showering!