After leaving the Galleria, Steven drove back toward River Oaks. But he wasn’t going ho. He had sowhere else to be first.
He had found the gym this morning while searching on his phone. LT Fitness in Greenway, a few minutes from his building. The reviews had been consistent and the facility looked serious, which was enough for him.
The building’s gym was an option, but it wasn’t what he needed. A residential gym served residents who wanted convenience. What Steven wanted was sothing built for actual work, with the equipnt, space, and structure to support consistent training over ti. Those were different things.
Twenty minutes later, he pulled into the parking area, found a space, and cut the engine. He stepped out, locked the car, and walked to the entrance.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside.
The lobby was clean and well-lit, with high ceilings and the faint sll of fresh air and rubber that ca with a serious facility. Through the glass panels ahead of him, he could see the workout floor — a wide, well-equipped space with rows of machines, a free weights section along the far wall, and what looked like a turf lane running the length of the back. There were people on the floor, but not many. The midmorning crowd was thin.
A young woman at the front desk looked up as he approached and smiled.
"Good morning. Welco to LT. Is this your first ti visiting us?"
"It is," Steven said.
"Perfect. Are you looking to beco a mber, or would you like a tour of the facility first?"
"Tour first," Steven said. "Then we’ll talk about mbership."
"Of course." She ca around the desk with an easy professionalism and extended her hand. "I’m Claire. I’ll walk you through everything."
She led him through the main entrance and into the facility.
The tour took just under twenty minutes. Claire moved him through each section with brief, clear comntary, letting the space speak for itself without filling every mont with sales language, sothing Steven appreciated.
The workout floor was larger than it had looked from the lobby. The free weights section ran the full length of the back wall, with dumbbells going well above what most comrcial gyms carried, a dedicated squat rack section, and enough bench space that peak hours wouldn’t create a queue. The cardio section was equally well-stocked. Everything looked new or close to it.
She showed him the group fitness studios, the indoor pool, the basketball court, the tennis court and the spa level, which he noted without lingering on.
Then she took him up to the rooftop.
Steven stepped out onto the deck and stopped.
Two pools sat under the open sky, one leisure, one lap, both clean and still in the morning light. The Houston skyline pressed against the horizon in the distance. The deck was wide, with loungers arranged in rows and enough space between them that the area didn’t feel crowded even when full.
He stood there for a mont, taking it in.
"This is part of the mbership," Claire said, watching his expression.
"I can see that," Steven said.
She led him back inside and to a consultation area near the front, where they sat down across a low table. She produced a mbership overview on a slim tablet and walked him through the tiers without pressure.
The tier he wanted was clear without deliberation. The highest available. Full access to every anity, every studio, every facility in the building, with no restrictions.
"What’s the monthly on the top tier?" he asked.
"$299 a month," she said. "That covers everything you’ve seen today. If you’d like to add personal training, that’s structured separately."
"I want a personal trainer," Steven said. "Soone who knows what they’re doing with strength and conditioning. Not a general fitness plan."
Claire nodded. "We can match you with soone based on your goals. Can I ask what you’re working toward specifically?"
Steven thought about it for a mont. He had a clear answer. He wanted to build on what the system had given him. The Physique points had changed his capability. He wanted his appearance to reflect that. Lean, functional muscle. Not bulk for its own sake.
"Strength and definition," he said. "I’m not looking to bulk. I want sothing built properly from the ground up."
"I have soone in mind," she said. "He’s our best for that specific goal. I can check his availability and introduce you today if he’s on the floor."
"Do that," Steven said.
She typed briefly on the tablet and looked up. "He’s here until two. I’ll bring him over once we’ve sorted the mbership."
"Good."
She turned the tablet toward him with the mbership summary and pricing laid out.
Steven looked at it once, confird it matched what she had described. He was about to give her his card, but he thought of sothing and paused.
"Is there an annual paynt option?" he asked.
Claire nodded. "There is. Paying annually cos out to $3,228 for the year. It’s the sa rate, just settled upfront."
"I’ll do that," Steven said, handing over his card without hesitation.
She processed it and a mont later, the system notification appeared at the edge of his vision.
[You spent $3,228. A 2x rebate was triggered.]
[You received $6,456. The money has been transferred to your account.]
He glanced at it briefly and pocketed his card.
"Welco to LT," Claire said, sliding a mbership card across the table. "Let go find Raymond for you."
Steven picked up the mbership card from the table and looked at it for a mont.
He leaned back in the chair and looked out through the glass at the workout floor while he waited, already thinking about what the first session was going to look like.
A few minutes later, Claire returned with a man walking beside her.
He was sowhere in his early thirties, broad-shouldered and lean in the way that ca from years of consistent work rather than any single dedicated phase. He moved with the easy, unhurried confidence of soone who was entirely comfortable in a gym environnt and had been for a long ti.
"Steven," Claire said, "this is Raymond. He’s one of our senior trainers."
Raymond extended his hand and Steven stood and took it. The grip was firm and direct.
"Good to et you," Raymond said. His voice was level and professional without being stiff. "Claire ntioned strength and definition. That you want sothing built properly from scratch."
"That’s right," Steven said.
Raymond nodded slowly, looking at him with the particular kind of attentive assessnt that wasn’t rude but wasn’t subtle either. He was taking stock. Steven didn’t mind. He understood the purpose of it.
"Can I ask where you’re starting from?" Raymond said. "Training background, recent activity, anything consistent or is this a fresh start?"
"Fresh start," Steven said. "I’ve never trained with any structure. I’m not out of shape, but I haven’t done anything deliberate."
"That’s actually a good place to begin," Raymond said. "No bad habits to correct. We build the foundation the right way from the start." He paused. "What’s your schedule like? How many days a week are you working with?"
Steven thought about it. He had the restaurant acquisition in motion and enough on his plate that he couldn’t commit to being in the gym every day. But he also had more control over his ti than he had ever had before in his life.
"Four days," he said. "Maybe five if things are quiet."
Raymond nodded. "Four is enough. More than enough if the sessions are structured well." He tilted his head slightly. "Are you available to start today? I have ti now if you want to get a baseline assessnt done. No heavy work, just movent patterns, mobility, and a general read on where you are. It gives what I need to build the program properly."
Steven checked the ti. It was still mid-morning. The concierge hadn’t called yet, and Adrian’s contact wouldn’t arrive before the afternoon at the earliest.
"I didn’t bring training clothes," he said. Then he rembered. "Actually, I bought a full set this morning. They’re in the car."
"Take your ti," Raymond said. "Changing room is down the corridor on the left."
Steven nodded and walked back out to the Aston Martin. He retrieved the Lululemon bags and one of the Nike bags from the back seat, and headed inside to change.
---
Ten minutes later, Steven walked out of the changing room in a pair of the Lululemon training shorts and a fitted shirt, both fitting exactly as they had in the store. He had the Nike tcons on his feet.
He found Raymond waiting for him at the edge of the workout floor, a clipboard in one hand and a water bottle in the other, which he handed to Steven as he approached.
"We’ll start with movent," Raymond said. "I want to see how you move before we put any load on anything. Squat pattern, hinge, push, pull. Nothing heavy, just bodyweight and light resistance."
He led Steven through the assessnt without rushing, moving him from one pattern to the next with clear, direct instruction. He watched without comnting during each movent, making notes on the clipboard when sothing warranted it.
Steven moved through everything as directed. He was aware, in a way he hadn’t been before the Physique upgrades, of how his body was responding.
The baseline ease that had settled into his movent since the stat increases was noticeable even now, in the simple act of holding positions and moving through patterns.
Raymond noticed it too. He didn’t say anything during the assessnt, but Steven caught the slight adjustnt in his expression when he ran through the squat and the hinge. It was a quiet recalibration on his part.
When it was done, Raymond looked at his notes for a mont, then looked up.
"You move well," he said. "Better than most people who tell they’ve never trained. Your mobility is solid and your body awareness is good." He paused. "There are gaps, the way there always are at the start, but the foundation is there. We’re not going to spend months correcting problems before we can build anything."
"Good," Steven said.
"I’ll have the program ready by your first proper session," Raymond said. "When do you want to co in?"
"Tomorrow morning," Steven said.
Raymond nodded and wrote it down. "Eight work for you?"
"Eight works," Steven said.
They shook hands again at the edge of the floor, and Steven walked back toward the changing room.
He showered, changed back into his own clothes, and packed the training gear he used, back into one of the Lululemon bags, and empty one, and the Nike bag. He picked them up and walked back through the facility toward the exit, passing the glass panels that looked out over the workout floor.
He pushed through the entrance door and stepped out into the afternoon air, walking back toward the car.
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