I’m not sure the first time I noticed it, to be honest. I’d been going to the gym pretty regularly–you know, decided to finally try and lose those twenty-five pounds I could feel at the end of my shifts. I got the gym membership free through my insurance, so I figured it couldn’t hurt. But this guy–we’d never spoken or anything, but one morning I saw him come in, all pumped and excited for his workout, right? He had sort of…an off season body. Muscled, but a big gut too. He’d head over to the free weights, put his earbuds in his ears, turn on his player…and then he’d just turn around and walk right back out the door of the gym, earbuds still in. The first time I saw it happen, I assumed that he must have forgotten something in his car, but I kept looking over from my stationary bike, and he never came back in. From that day on, I saw it happen a few more times–always the same guy. He’d come in, psyched. He’d put in his earbuds, and he’d leave again–I never actually saw him lift a single weight. So…I was a bit curious, you know? Why have a gym membership if you weren’t going to actually work out?
My work schedule shifted up a bit a few weeks later, after some turnover at the store. I started going to the gym in the afternoons a few days a week, and there he was again…only this time it was the reverse. He’d come into the gym, lumbering, looking kind of tired, leaning back oddly. He’d go over by the weights, take his earbuds out, wipe his forehead like he’d just finished a long weight routine, and then leave. I worked it out–he usually arrived at the gym at around eleven, and that day I say him leave it was about two–what in the hell had he been doing for three hours? Curiosity got the better of me–on one of my morning workouts, he came in and left, like usual–so I got up and followed him out to see where he was going.
I kind of expected him to go to a car–instead he walked off down the sidewalk, and I followed him at a slight distance. I knew I was being a bit…creepy, but I was honestly curious what was going on with this guy. We walked two blocks, and I remember how…odd he seemed to be walking. A little stiff, head straight ahead, not looking from side to side at all. Waiting for the crosswalk, he just…stood there like a statue. Anyway, he turned into a doorway, and I couldn’t believe where he’d ended up–it was a fucking all you can eat buffet. I watched him outside, through the window, as he paid, got his seat and proceeded to start shovelling food in his mouth–plate after plate, I had never seen anyone eat like that. I went in and got a place of my own, eating slowly, and sure enough, for two straight hours he pounded back load after load, before getting up and leaving in time to get back to the gym around two. I followed him back. Saw him walking with the same strange gait as before, and when he got back to the gym, he did the same routine–pulled out his earbuds, heaved a few breaths like he’d just pumped a staggering amount of iron, went and got a drink, and then left.
Should I ask him about it? I pondered what to do for a week. It seemed…so strange, and yet I couldn’t help but feel like I’d witnessed some forbidden secret pleasure of his, because…because the way he’d been eating, it was obvious it had given him some…some incredible pleasure. But I needed to know. I didn’t really know why I needed to know, I was just…what would make someone do that? Pretend to go to the gym, just so they could stuff their face? So the next chance I got, I followed him again, but this time, on the way, a hurried to catch up to him on the sidewalk, walking beside him, and tried to ask him what he was doing. He didn’t even notice me–he just kept walking, eyes unblinking, face forward. I tried again–could he not even hear me through the music? What was he listening to exactly? So I…I pulled an earbud out–well, both of them came out, actually, and I shouted at him again, asking him what he’s doing. He blinked a couple of times, and stopped walking, looking around like he had no clue where he was.
“Hey. Are you alright?” I asked.
He turned to me, “I…where am I? I thought I was at the gym.”
I did my best to explain to him. That he wasn’t at the gym because he’d left the gym, because every day he went and stuffed his face at a buffet. He didn’t believe me–he just put the earbuds back in, his eyes glazed over and kept walking like he hadn’t even talked to me. So I followed him to the buffet, I waited until he’d gotten his first plate and was devouring it, before I pulled the earbuds out again. He recognized me, but I could see he was still confused–so I showed him, that this is where he’d been going…and, well, he freaked out. I mean, screaming freak out, and then he started cursing something, shouting something about some fucking training company, and left at a jog. I followed, and saw him get into his car and speed away from the gym, wondering what in the hell that had all been about.
Bracken's Corner 