The moment I set foot on the gym, I felt self-conscious. A 50 year-old man had no business mingling with the younger generation with their perfect bodies, or at least that's what I thought they were all thinking, specially if that 50 year-old man had never done any work out in his life.
But I really wanted to. That was why I was here. Making that decision felt empowering in the safety of my own home with my wife and two sons encouraging me. Now, as I slowly walked through the people lifting, squatting, running, jumping...I felt like a pussy. Some of those people I even knew because it was a small enough town. The young man who worked there was a neighbor and the son of friend. My cheeks burned as I approached him.
"Mr. Eliezer, how are you?" Kai said. He was twenty-two at most, wearing sweat-pants and nylon shirt. His bulging muscles were envy inducing.
"Hello, Kai. Hmmm. I wanna apply. I mean, start working out. But if I'm too old, just say so, I'll understand."
"Nonsense. You look great already, sir. Working out will just boost you further." He was smiling broadly and winked a brown eye. His compliments were so nonchalant that I felt they were sincere. "After signing up, we need to take some measurements and you can start tomorrow. Follow me."
He took me to a backroom where he checked my weight, 202 pounds. I cracked some jokes about my round belly to which he somehow realized I was being self-conscious and once again complimented me. I assumed he got many people feeling ashamed of their own body and knew how to deal with them. He was much younger than me, but in that environment he was the authority. Then he asked me to take off my shirt.
"Do I have to?" I asked.
"Common procedure, sir." He was smiling. "Look, I know there's nothing I can say that will make you feel magically comfortable with your body, but Mr. Eli...You don't look bad. For your age, I mean, that's pretty good. So come on, up up up."
"Well, it's not exactly my body that I'm ashamed of..." I shut up, but I began to caress my own arm. The visible part of my arms were a pretty good indication of what the rest of my body looked like. They were absurdly hairy, from the back of my hands to the sleeves. I forgot the last time I took off my shirt in any public space.
Kai stared at my arms. "So you're a hairy man. Seriously? I wish I was like you, sir. Besides, just the two of us here."
Right. I was being foolish. Still I felt weird as I pulled up my shirt, and looked straight ahead least I catch a negative reaction from Kai. What I don't know won't hurt me, that kind of thing.
Kai asked me to raise my arms, and I cringed, knowing that my armpits were like two wild jungles. I gave up on trimming long ago. I didn't know I was going to be inspected like this. I was in my 50s and still blushed.
He took measurements from my waist, my arms, my legs. There was a lot of touching and I couldn't help but feel like a monster, imposing this young man to touch my disgusting hairy body. I glanced at his face for one moment and noticed how red he was.
"Sorry," the word came out of my mouth.
He looked at me for a split second, then lowered his flushed face.
"If I knew I would need to take off my shirt, I would've at least trimmed all this hair, son. Sorry," I repeated.
Kai shook his head. His face got even redder as he avoided my eyes. Shit, he couldn't even look at me.
"It's disgusting," I said, trying to give him some comfort.
"No..." his voice was strained. His eyes were gleaming at me. "We're almost done, sir...I do not think you're disgusting. It's impressive."
"You don't have to make me feel better, Kai," I said, with a forced chuckle. I was repulsive.
When he was done, I quickly put my shit back on. I was beginning to doubt if I was ever coming back.
"Oh shit, sir...I forgot to...to...measure your waist."
"I thought you did."
"No, I forgot, sorry. Could you take off your shirt again?"
Fuck. I almost said it wouldn't be necessary since I wasn't coming back, but I didn't know how to say that without being too awkward.
Once again I showed my black-haired belly. He put the measure tape around my waist, fingers brushing against my skin. It took him a few seconds to get the measurement.
"Now the legs," he said.
"Wait, didn't you do the legs?" I asked, confused. This time he knelt in front of me, a very weird position since my crotch was right in his face. He got very close to my leg and slowly put the tape around it, rubbing my hair. "Uh, shouldn't you be writing it down?"
"My memory is good..."
"Okay."
When he got up, his erection bounced in his sweat-pants. "All right. All done, sir."
"Uh, thanks."
I put my shirt back on, once again glancing at his crotch where he clearly packed a wood. He finished writing down the measurements.
"Tomorrow?" he asked.
"Yes. Tomorrow."
The next day, Kai followed me around the gym. He was going to supervise me closely, and guide me, to make sure I didn't overextend myself. By the end of the day it felt like he was the cruelest man on Earth and I told him so, which made him laugh.
"Just starting, sir. And it's gonna hurt like hell tomorrow, specially on these arms," he said, brushing my arm slightly.
"I can't wait," I said.
"Somehow with the sweat you look even more hairy," he said, just throwing the comment out there.
"I plan to trim it, swear it."
"Don't do it, sir." His voice sounded almost surprise, like a beg. Strange.
"People look at me like I'm a monkey or something."
"Fuck them. You look great," he said. "You do," he repeated vehemently after looking at my face.
"You're just saying that, but I noticed how weirded out you were Yesterday, don't deny it."
"Sir, I was surprised because I've never seen someone so hairy like you." He was whispering now, making me lean slightly towards him. "But I wasn't weirded out. You're like a god of hair. It's pretty impressive."
I chuckled. I needed some water. He watched me drink it.
"Promise you won't trim anything..." he said, looking at me through the mirror, straight in the eye.
"Alright."
