19 Chapter 19

Rob's friends Marnie and Carlos were waiting for them at the cafeteria, plates of salad and large tumblers of iced water already in front of them. Ethan smiled at both of them, glad to see friendly faces. He was still processing what Rob had unwittingly said earlier, about not missing something you always had until it was gone. By all rights he should have been thinking about Julia, or at least missing her in some way.

But ever since he'd made plans to visit Rob in Montana, Ethan had barely ever spared a thought for her. He felt disgusted with himself. No wonder she'd dumped him; he'd been a horrible boyfriend to her, even without his confusing feelings for Rob coming into the picture.

Today was only his first day at the ranch, and already Ethan had almost embarrassed himself a couple of times, sneaking glances at Rob like he was some pervert who couldn't keep his eyes off his best friend. It was even worse earlier, when he'd caught Rob off-guard out of the shower and just in his towel.

Rob had always been shy about his body, refusing to take his shirt off in public and even rarely around Ethan. But today, Ethan was in disbelief at just how much weight Rob had lost in such a short span of time. It boggled the mind - almost eighty pounds in six weeks? Then again, Rob and his fellow participants were made to spend almost the whole day at the gym, and their food intake was carefully controlled here. Maybe it did make sense.

As Rob went to fetch his and Ethan's food, Ethan sat down with Marnie and Carlos first. "You guys don't even look tired after your morning workout," Ethan said in amazement. "How do you do it? I'm wiped even after an hour at the gym."

"Oh trust me honey, it was hell at first," Marnie told him, sipping her iced water. "My first week here, I cried like a little girl and begged my hubby to let me go home."

"Marnie's tougher than I am," Carlos said, looking at her with an admiring smile. "I had to keep getting off the treadmill, I threw up so much."

"It was tough for everyone," Marnie acknowledged, patting Carlos' arm in a maternal fashion. "But we got used to it, you know?"

"They also start you off with just an hour at the gym in the morning, then one hour in the afternoon," Carlos explained. "Then they slowly ramp up the intensity and the hours, I guess? We also have to go through a physical before we start, to make sure we can take it."

Ethan nodded. Rob had explained all that to him in the beginning, because he'd been worried about the trainers working Rob to the point of collapse. "I mean, as long as they make sure they're looking after you guys," he conceded.

Rob came back with Ethan's steak salad, and chicken for himself. "What are you guys talking about?" he asked, setting down iced water for Ethan.

"How bad it was when we first got here," Carlos said with a laugh. He nodded at Marnie, and the two of them clasped their hands in prayer. Ethan politely waited for them to finish saying grace with a loud 'Amen!' before he started digging in, along with the rest of the table.

They were chatting about their torturous exercise routines when someone walked up to them, sitting down to join them at their table. Ethan's mood soured when he realised it was Ruud, who was eating some weird tofu concoction instead of salad. "How was this morning's workout, guys?" he asked, glancing over at everyone.

"Pretty good, chief." Carlos looked proud. "I lifted a new personal best of 150lbs for deadlifts. "

Ruud reached over and gripped him on the shoulder in congratulations. "Good, good I'm proud of you. That's good for a new PB." He looked over at Marnie, who said she'd managed an entire hour on the stair climbing machine without stopping. Ruud seemed proud of her as well.

"What about you, Hutch?" Ruud looked over at Rob. Maybe it was Ethan's imagination, but he thought Ruud's stern demeanour softened a little every time he spoke to Rob.

"Um, not bad. An hour on the treadmill at 6mph, followed by my upper body routine," Rob said a little shyly.

"Any new PBs?" Ruud asked, glancing over at Ethan for some reason.

"Uh, I lifted 100lbs for my overhead presses," Rob said. It must have been impressive, for both Marnie and Carlos were applauding him. Even Ruud was smiling.

"Good, good. Just keep working hard, okay? Don't be sidetracked by any...distractions." Here, Ruud's eyes flickered towards Ethan again before he continued eating.

The conversation during lunch pretty much centered on gym routines after that, which bored the hell out of Ethan, but admittedly it got more interesting when Ruud started sharing some tales about his colourful life in Johannesburg, and how Dr. Elliot (the person who started and set up the ranch) had heard of Ruud's work with helping severely overweight individuals to lose weight, and invited him to come work with her in the States.

"I miss my clients back home in Joburg," Ruud said a little wistfully, as he finished his tofu bowl and chugged some iced water. "But I'm happy I got to help you guys too. You're doing really well."

"You gave me my life back," Marnie said, getting a little teary as she stood up to hug Ruud over the table.

Now Ethan felt guilty for being all suspicious and wary of Rob's trainer. The man had literally saved Rob's life and helped him get healthy, so the least Ethan could do was to be supportive and appreciative. "Yes, I know Rob appreciates you a lot," Ethan told a surprised Ruud. "So-- thank you. I hope you help him reach his goal."

Ruud just smiled at him. "I will. I promise I will."