“Good morning sir” she greeted.

I raised my head to see who Fayo was greeting. It was Badmus Kolawole. I had never seen Badmus outside the office before, so he looked quite different to me. He was clad in a jumper and a tee-shirt. He didn’t look like the normal boss I had seen from time to time. He looked good, very good. His biceps were quite obvious from his tee-shirt and they were very toned.
“Do you gym here too?” He asked Fayo.

“No sir. I brought my friend Teni Ayorinde. She works in HR. It’s her first day here.” She pointed towards me.

“Good morning sir” I said.

“Morning. So you’re the Teni who got suspended yesterday?” He asked.

“Yes sir”

“I see you’re using your suspension well. Keeping fit is very important”

I didn’t know whether his statement was complimenting me on keeping fit or whether it was insinuating that I was fat and needed to lose weight.

“That’s what I have been trying to make her understand sir. She doesn’t want to work out. I had to practically beg and drag her here. She even made me promise that I would talk to her trainer so her routines wouldn’t be difficult.” Fayo said.

Badmus burst into laughter and Fayo joined him. I wanted the ground to open and swallow me. After the man had made a comment that implied I was fat, Fayo was now adding salt to injury, by implying that I was lazy. I just smiled sheepishly as both of them mocked me.

They finally stopped and Badmus said,

“Teniola, working out isn’t so difficult. Once you get used to it, you’d never want to stop. You should try it first before complaining about it.” He advised.

“Yes sir. Thank you sir” I managed to mutter.

“You’re welcome. If you don’t mind, you can work out with me. At least I would be able to give you a little push from time to time.” He offered.

“It’s not a problem sir. Fayo already hired trainer for me.”

“Trainer ke? No o. I didn’t pay for a trainer o. I only paid for you to use the gym. So better attach yourself to Mr Kolawole now o.”

I didn’t understand why Fayo was lying. She had said it many times that she hired a personal trainer for me, so why was she changing her mouth in the front of Badmus?

“But Fayo, you said you hired a trainer for me now.” I was confused. What was she trying to do now?

“I didn’t Teni. You must have heard me wrong.” She insisted. I didn’t answer.

She looked at her time and exclaimed,

“Jesus. Past 7. I have to run now Teni. You know your way back to the house abi?”

“Wait. I thought you were following you into the gym?” I asked.

“I was, but you can go in with Mr Kolawole. He knows the gym even more than I do. I’m sure you’re in good hands. Right sir?” She asked Badmus.

“Right Fayo. Have a good day at work. I’ll come in later today.” He said, as if dismissing her.

“Thank you sir. “ She said.

She got into the car as I crossed to the other side. She started the car and wound down.

“Aunty, behave yourself o. Don’t embarrass me please.” She whispered to me.

“Be going abeg. Bye bye” I said.

After she drove off, Badmus led the way into the gym.

The gym was well equipped and filled with many people. Those who were minding their own business and working out on their own, the ones that were working out with their trainers and the girls that were showing out like Fayo. Badmus showed me to the counter to get my membership card. I presented the receipt Fayo had given me before they gave me the card. As we walked to the equipments, Badmus greeted a few people here and there.

“What would you like to start with?” He asked me as we stopped.

“I don’t know. I guess the easiest one.”

He laughed and said,

“Nothing about losing weight is easy Teniola.”

“I know sir. But I am sure there are equipments for beginners and equipments for the experts like you. So just show me the one for beginners. I’ll start there”

“You can start with the treadmill over there” He pointed.

“Ok sir. Thank you sir.” I started walking towards the treadmill.

“Teniola” He called me back.

“Sir” I walked back to him.

“When we’re not in the office, you really don’t have to call me sir. Makes me feel a little, old.”

“Ok sir. Sorry, Badmus” I laughed.

“Thank you.” He smiled.

I went towards the treadmill and started working on it. It wasn’t so hard at first, but after a few minutes, I started to lose my breath. I stopped to rest for a few minutes. Badmus walked to me with a dumbell in one hand and a bottle of water in the other.

“You’re already tired?” He asked.

“Yes. I’m beginning to reconsider this weight loss thing. I’m not even that fat sef.”

“No you’re not. You just need to lose a few inches here and there.” He pointed to my waist.

As if I knew. When he said keeping fit was important, he was actually yabbing me. I didn’t have any reply so I just gave a dry laugh. He streched the water towards me,

“Drink some water. It should help.”

“Thank you.” I took the water from him and downed the whole bottle.

“Well, there goes there my water.” He muttered.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to finish it.” I apologized.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get another bottle.” He walked back to where he came from.

I managed to work on the treadmill for about 15 more minutes before I gave up. Afterall, I didn’t come to the gym to kill myself. 20 minutes of workout was enough for the day. I decided to go home. I walked to Badmus to tell him I was leaving.

“I’m done sir. I’m going home.”

“Already?”

“Yes. I’m already tired.”

“Tired? You won’t lose weight by working out for 20 minutes everyday. You need to put in more effort.”

“I didn’t work out for 20 minutes sir. I jogged on the bridge before I came here.”

“Well a few more minutes of dumbbell exercises won’t hurt.” He urged.

“Dumbbell ke? I’m not building muscle na.” I looked at him in confusion.

“Who told you dumbbells are for only building muscles?” He laughed.

“Well, I don’t know much about gym stuff. I see a lot of these body builders using dumbbells and lifting weights, so I just figured that it was just for them.”

“Dumbbells are good for everyone. They give you toned arms. If you’re working towards a smaller waist, toned arms will surely compliment. Here, just take the dumbbell forward and backward. Simple.” He stretched out one dumbbell.

“Not today. Maybe tomorrow” I said.

“Come on. What are you rushing home for? It’s not like you have a job to go to.”

“Touche. I’ll stay.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll drop you off once we’re done.” He consoled.

“No need. I’ll find my way.” I said.

“I insist. Here.” He extended his hand again. I took the dumbbell from him and I almost fell to the ground. I could have sworn that with that dumbbell in hand, I was carrying myself. Badmus burst into laughter. I was humiliated. When he saw that I wasn’t finding it funny, he stopped laughing and apologized. He took the heavy dumbbell and gave me a 2kg one.

“This should work.” He said.

In my mind I was glad that he gave me a lighter one, but my head kept telling me he was looking down on me for giving me 2kg dumbbells. Which weight will I lose with a 2kg dumbbell?

I started working with them and I was able to go on for about 20 minutes. By then, Badmus was done. We left the gym and he drove me home. The drive to the house was quiet, except for a few chuckles when the radio presenter made funny remarks. All I could think about was catching up on my favorite blog, Goodies Corner. Whenever I wanted to be sure of whatever I wanted, I always confirmed from the blog. There were product reviews, restaurant reviews, brand reviews, name it. Goodies corner had the most legit reviews on anything I wanted to check out. We maintained that peace until we got to the estate gate. Then, something happened.

66 Comments on Side Chick Wars- S1E11

  1. haba now,this is bad ohhh,I am on edge here,please dont go and kill me with suspense,I am eagerly waiting for the. next episode pls,keep it up

  2. As soon as I read ‘ Then something happened’, I shouted out loud “What happened again ooo”?!. Lol. Suspense will not finish me. Can’t wait for Friday. Great job!

  3. Nice, very nice. It gets more interesting and suspenseful week after week. I can also see what you did there with the goodies corner, nice advertising strategy 👍🏽

  4. Cool adverts, at least got me connected to things I liked, they should sha do you well and make sure you keep posting coz I love love love your work just downed 3stories

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