Ultimately, passing whimsy guided Eva today. It was Saturday afternoon; a time normally reserved for relaxing at home or perhaps exploring some high-end shops. Today, however, Eva was driving towards none other than Globo Gym. A building she had seen more times than she could count, but had never paid it any degree of thought. Until yesterday.

What Dana had said in passing lingered with her. Her little assistant at one of those braindead places? It seemed unthinkable, and yet the more she reflected upon it the more amusing the idea became. Dainty little Tina in all her short, timid glory trying to better herself. In many ways it was commendable. A way to build confidence and stay healthy, but Eva saw the woman’s day to day. She knew what Tina was, and Tina didn’t have the willpower to take it all the way. Not so much a woman’s journey to self-improvement as it was a little girl’s feeble attempts to become something she wasn’t - And that sounded so incredibly hilarious that Eva just had to see it for herself. 

Was it petty? Perhaps even mean-spirited and cruel of her? Probably, but any sympathy Eva would’ve held for her assistant shriveled and died the day she was double crossed. Seeing Tina flounder trying to go against who she really was seemed just the thing to shake up her routine a bit; and if she could ruin one of the brunette’s preferred retreats for her then all the better. 

The traffic light flickered green and she drove on, buildings idly whooshing past one after another until Eva saw her destination closing in. By all accounts an otherwise nice-looking building marred by a big garish violet sign. A rather popular locale given the number of vehicles in the parking lot; though Eva preferred the home alternative. Places like these were a waste of money in her eyes. Why drive somewhere and hand over money when you could just purchase the equipment yourself? While musing over such things, her car glided into the parking lot and she found a nice spot relatively close to the door. 

Eva stepped out, not especially dressed for exercise. Designer jackets and hundred-dollar flats made for poor running attire believe it or not. It was unnecessary regardless; this was purely a scouting mission. Perhaps Tina was here or maybe she wasn’t. Either way, this enterprise wasn’t worth the effort of getting dressed up for. She began to walk from her car and noted with a not-insignificant amount of disgust the ragged figure seated near the entrance with a cardboard sign and a plastic cup in front of him. More appalling still were the bills Eva spied jutting out from said cup. Some people just seemed like they would do anything to avoid working an honest day in their life. 

Schooling herself to hide her inherent disgust, Eva moved on without meeting the man’s inevitable gaze. There was no point reading whatever lies he wrote on his sign either. Instead, Eva opted to be the hand of karma - Or foot as it were. While cloaking her intentions with disinterest, her steps brought her ever closer to him. From the corner of her eyes she spied him raising his own to meet her. God she could smell him from down the road. 

“Spare some change?” The man asked with a dry, hoarse voice.

His answer came by way of Eva’s foot kicking his cup of money over a meter away, change and paper bills flying. She never so much as broke stride or made eye contact, breaking right for the gym’s sliding doors. In its glass reflection she could see the slacker scrambling to catch his charity before the wind carried it away. A sight that granted Eva a vindictive smirk as she entered. Were it her way there would’ve been much more than a plastic cup that found itself under her foot; but this was satisfying enough. 

Stepping inside, the full force of industrial air-conditioning hit her like a wave almost instantly. She found herself in a lobby, the walls painted a rather obscene purple with a globe-inspired logo adorning the front desk. A rather young man who seemed of college age was behind the desk, looking to Eva with a hastily-plastered smile. “Welcome to Globo Gym, can I help you?”

Her outfit clearly marked Eva as someone not here to ‘Get Swole’ or whatever these imbeciles called it. That much was obvious she would hope. She met his faux courtesy with her own far more masterful smile and nodded. “Yes, I’m here for a friend of mine and I was told I could find her here. Maybe you can help me, her name is Tina Martin. Short, brown hair?”

Recognition dawned on him immediately. “Ohhh, Tina...! Sure, no problem. She’s right inside. Go ahead.” 

With such lax security, it was no wonder these places needed to rip people off with excessive memberships. Ah well, the poor judgment of underpaid 20-somethings was hardly her concern. Eva stepped past the desk and into the building proper, everywhere active with dozens of people at various exercise stations. Pop music blared from some kind of overhead speaker and countless televisions lined the walls around all the different equipment.

Right. So she had managed to learn Tina was here. Now it was just a case of finding her. Eva kept her eyes peeled as she explored around. Her prey would’ve been about five and a half-feet tall. Undoubtedly pudgy. Brown hair likely matted with sweat. Face as red as a beet. It wouldn’t have been ill-fitting at all to see her nearly collapsing on a treadmill or needing to be saved from a weight bench. Oh goodness were Eva so lucky as to witness that!

The building wasn’t a terribly big one per se, but finding a specific person between the various rooms proved just annoying enough to grate on one’s nerves. The place featured a massive room broken apart into quadrants by semi walls with each section following a different theme. Nice and organized, although it meant Eva actually needed to wander around to find anyone. She thought she had lucked out early on with someone struggling on the treadmills. The person fit the build and seemed meek enough. She even had this incredibly garish orange headband to block the copious amounts of sweat from her eyes. Alas, when she turned the face was much too old. 

And so the search went on, Eva maintaining a distant overlook as she wandered past the main room towards some back halls. These were mostly vacant and seemed to be reserved for classes or the like, and in wandering further she found all sorts of other places. Some kind of yoga room. Rooms dedicated to sports. A damned rock wall. But...no little twerp. Plenty of varying degrees of musclehead, but no small, scrawny brunettes in glasses. 

“...anks Amy.”

Eva stopped dead in her tracks, ears twitching. That was a voice she knew very well; and by happenstance she was close. She remained still and hyper alert for several precious moments when the voice came again. Eva nodded to herself and calmly hurried to follow the noise, all the while listening in as another replied. 

“Anytime. Just try not to give away all your change next time.”

There wasn’t an immediate response to that, but Eva didn’t need one at this point. She returned to the main room and saw the duo conversing near a myriad of workout machines. One was a redhead that was swiftly dismissed as irrelevant, and the other was the peripheral of none other than Tina. At long last she could sit back and...Wait…

What...

What the fuck?

It had to be Tina. There was no other way. Those stupid oversized glasses and that cutesy face were impossible to mistake. Even as she was red-faced and her hair slick with sweat. That much was as expected. It was everything below the neck that threw Eva for a loop. After years of working with Tina there was a certain...expectancy she had when looking at her. Tina was a spineless, delicate thing who couldn’t look her fellows in the eye and struggled to wear anything that wasn’t at least two sizes too big. A woman with technical skill perhaps, but who couldn’t speak without tripping over her words and who walked with a hunched back. A follower in a world of countless others like her. The Beta to Eva Rhode’s Alpha. 

What stood across the room was not Tina. 

Whoever the fuck stood there was...strong. Short like Tina, yes; but built like the cover of a fitness magazine. Almost every inch of her body was at the very least toned. Most of it, however, went well beyond that. What should’ve been limp-noodle arms and legs were instead pairs of thick, chiseled pillars that glistened with a fresh sheen of sweat. The flabby stomach Eva had expected was in actuality a commendable set of taut abs. Not even a slight set of muscles, but very distinct and defined ones - And her chest. Even with a dark sports bra, Tina was gifted enough that Eva did a double take to her own bosom. It wasn’t the sort of thing she felt particularly insecure over, but she had always envisioned Tina as more...compact. Perhaps a third as large as the massive mounds she sported in reality. It was as though every single facet of Tina she had taken for granted were dismissed all at once.

This stranger who looked like Tina was speaking with her friend with all the same mannerisms. The constant need to adjust her glasses and a hesitancy to make eye contact. Two shy habits that went at total odds with her marbled figure. It was a frightening contradiction - the face of a hapless sheep, but the body of an apex predator.

Unbelievable as it was, it had to have been Tina after all but...How did Eva never notice? Just as she pondered that, in the back of her mind she knew why. It was a point she often sneered at Tina for: her oversized clothes. Something she always figured was a sign of Tina’s weakness; when the reality was the exact opposite. It was hiding her strength.

Why...Why on earth would anyone hide something like this? With a body like that she could get so far! Turn so many heads! She could...She could...

She could even intimidate Eva. 

No! Snap out of it woman! Eva shook her head and ran her fingers through her black hair. This changed nothing. Tina may’ve looked like a meticulously sculpted goddess, but if she lacked the spirit to use what she had then it may as well have not been there. If anything, really, this just made her more pathetic. Yes! That’s it. This didn’t disprove her beliefs, it only affirmed them. Another tool in her belt she could turn on the little nerd. Or the...whatever the fuck she was supposed to be. 

Eva’s eyes remained tacitly fixed on Tina. She had come to laugh at a shitshow; instead, she was tacitly awed. After exchanging some pleasantries with her companion, Tina walked with her head held higher than Eva had ever seen, taking a seat on some sort of leg workout machine. Resting her back against a chair, she swung her legs out and pressed her well-defined thighs against a pair of cushioned rods. Her limbs came together a few test reps before offering her friend a nod. The redhead then walked up and began to slot weights onto the rods. One iron disk. Two. Three…

F-Four.

Five.

Six.

Eva didn’t know what constituted ‘a lot’ of weights, but the visual of six metal plates on either rod certainly offered that impression. She watched on with bated breath and her eyes entranced. Off across the room, Tina took a few deep breaths and handed her glasses off to her friend. Once the redhead was safely away, Tina’s legs came together. Effort warped her otherwise sweet visage as she strained against the incredible weights on either leg - Yet she was doing it. The full breadth of her legs’ musculature was on full display for her captive audience to bask in. A pair of marbled pillars that pushed at steel rods Eva wouldn’t have been able to so much as budge. Thick muscles flexed with clear, rock-hard definition that was to be envied. Eva’s heart sank as, for once in her life, it felt like she’d been bested by her own assistant. In a contest she wasn’t even aware of. 

Just beside Tina, the red-haired woman was busy offering words of encouragement and counting the reps. She looked rather fit as well truth be told; Eva simply couldn’t pry her eyes off of Tina. The illusion of physical supremacy she held for so long was gone, the remains pulverized into atoms with every crunch of Tina’s mighty legs. After fifteen or or so, Tina paused to gasp for air as sweat dripped from her chin. Her own face was weary and unfocused, but it was at the supportive behest of her friend she took in a fresh breath, wiped the sweat from her bangs, and went back at it. 

How long she had been gawking, Eva couldn’t say. Long enough for Tina to finish her reps and switch with that friend of hers at the very least. Once her own workout was done, the shorter woman’s features relaxed into the same cutesy appearance and mannerisms that Eva knew. Enough to break the spell that Tina’s body had cast on her. What the fuck was she doing here? There was no satisfaction to be gleaned here from ogling how toned Tina’s ass was. She had better things to do than sit here watching this nonsense. 

I need a drink. She thought bitterly.

Ideally something much more potent than water was what she had in mind, but unfortunately water was all this meathead sanctuary had without spending money at a vending machine. Right there not too far from her, at the very least, was a water fountain freely available. Eva hunched over it and greedily began to partake. Without realizing it, her mouth had grown rather dry after her jaw lingered on the floor for so long.

This...This changed nothing. The office wasn’t a place where Might made Right. Yes...Eva had to remember that. She had all the power. She was Tina’s boss. She was the Vice President of Business, and She would break that little shit no matter how hard she worked out!

“Miss Rhodes?!” 

The last voice Eva wanted to hear rang in her ears. As insufferably soft and petite as ever. Of fucking course she would walk up. Her body stiffened in place before relaxing, Eva rising back up with a genial false smile. “Oh my, Tina? Fancy running into you here!” She said. 

The athletic shortstack stood before her. A head shorter but somehow twice as imposing. A fresh layer of sweat stained parts of her body and in her hands was a half-empty water bottle. Hers was a visage of genuine surprise; which made sense considering Eva was...Well. Eva. “I didn’t know you came here.” She remarked with a tone to match her expression.

“Well, I’ve been considering it.” Eva lied. “I’d heard good things about this place and wanted to check it out for myself. I’m more surprised you’re here honestly.” Her eyes briefly flicked down Tina’s ample bosom and bared physique. “Very surprised.”

Seeming to realize she was exposed, Tina’s arms fell over her stomach and she briefly glanced aside. Ironically, the gesture was more a comfort to Eva than Tina herself. “Y-Yeah, I’ve been coming here for a while. It uh...helps me unwind.”

And a lot more than that by the looks of it. Eva thought dryly. 

“Oh wow. I never would’ve taken you for the type.” She took a few steps away from the water fountain and shuffled in place, one eye on the doorway. This was no different from any annoying encounter at work. She need only indulge in the pleasantries for a bit and then she could leave and put this whole failed endeavor behind her. So but of course Tina had other plans.

Of all the times for the antisocial shrimp to feel talkative, her face just had to light up on the topic of her and fitness. “I get that a lot. I think it’s the glasses.” Tina admitted with a shy smile. “I’ve always loved working out since I was a kid.”

“Oh really?” Jesus Christ she couldn’t care less.

“Mhm.” Tina nodded. “Yeah, back then I used to get picked on cause I was awkward and...and…” She chuckled under her breath and wiped a bit of sweat from her brow. “Well, a lot of reasons.”

“You don’t say.” Eva remarked as her eyes traced a bead of sweat sliding down one of the locks of brown hair. She couldn’t have been phoning this in harder if she tried. Surely, Tina would pick up on the vibes she was putting out. 

Evidently not. 

“So I just started working out to try and build up some confidence and well...I kinda never stopped.” The young woman said with a hint of nostalgia. “Sure shut those bullies up after a while though.” She added, giggling. 

Eva gave a nod and a discreet step towards the doorway. Was there supposed to be a reason behind why Tina was suddenly giving her life story? Or was this just the universe conspiring to keep her in this shithole for as long as possible? “I’ll bet it did.” She and Tina had effectively swapped places, the shorter woman holding a water bottle up and refilling it at the fountain with a smile. “Well, I don’t really wanna bother you, so I’ll…-”

“I can’t stand bullies.” Tina interrupted, eyes lingering on her rising water bottle. “I try not to be a mean person, but bullies just...They make me so mad, you know? I hate when someone thinks they can just take advantage of someone and get away with it.” She said at length.

The air seemed still and heavier. All the noise beyond the hall died down and Eva’s body tensed as her foot stopped mid-step at the entry. “Yeah, I bet.”

“It’s okay though.” Tina pulled the bottle from the fountain and began to screw the cap back on. She turned, eyes locking with Eva’s own. They were brown, she noticed. Perhaps the first time they looked at her so directly, and with Tina’s lips still in a soft smile. There was no hostility or malice in the expression, and yet something about it turned Eva’s blood to ice. “I like to think every bully eventually gets what they deserve. Even if it might take a while.”

Was...Was that a threat?

“Don’t you?” Tina pressed.

“Yeah...I think so too.”

It must’ve been a trick of the imagination, but for an instant the light reflected from Tina’s glasses and it felt as though it were Eva looking up at her. As though their roles were reversed.

“Take care Miss Rhodes.”

“Yeah...See you Monday.”

Never had Eva hurried out of a building so fast.