Chapter Text
Irida watched carefully as the sun rise over the horizon, the pink rays little by little were changing to orange flooding the surface of the ocean, in the sky the waning moon was still visible, around it Venus shone with a reddish tone.
The beach was quiet, a morning run was the best way to start the day.
A pause to catch her breath, her muscles throbbing, her racing heart thanking her for the well-deserved rest. She turned back down the path she walked every morning taking the time to slow down, by the time her feet left the sand her breathing had returned to normal.
It was her favorite time of day, just after dawn, soon the August heat would be flooding the streets, but for now the sea breeze was enough to make the weather perfect.
With the routine learned, she walked quickly through the streets, she passed by the same places that she passed every morning and bought the same milkshake that she had been buying for months; the city vibrated with the first rays of the sun and she enjoyed seeing how the businesses opened their doors.
The Pearl gym was a few blocks from the beach, its facade painted white and pink, its silver ironwork gleaming at dawn. At the door there was a new poster from which a young man smiled, his gray eyes and brown hair pale next to the enormous trophy that he carried in his hands.
"Irida!" She heard someone call her name and turned to find her friend running towards her.
"Lina!"
"Oh! Are those the new posters?" Palina moved curiously, her tall figure was distinguished by the pink sweater that characterized the members of the Pearl gym, her red hair fell to the middle of her back.
“juvenile Champion! Lian came out perfect in the pictures" Irida spoke with pride "and..." she said as her hand move to another poster "regional female champion" the photograph of Irida looked beautiful in the silver uniform, her blonde hair framed her beautiful blue eyes " What?" she asked when Palina's reaction was not what she expected
"Aren't they a little small?"
"They are perfectly normal size" but her friend frowned "What?"
“Have you not gone through the seventh and the second?”
“No,” she exclaim, “you know I always take the fast way, why? Oh no!" she hurried through the streets, the 7th was only a few blocks away
"Irida wait!" Palina run behind her
Just above the street, looming behind the traffic lights, between a Macdonall billboard and an announcement for the country club, was the most hideous advertisement Irida had ever seen. There, in large gold letters, over the most insipid shade of blue, it´s read: Diamond Gym, Regional Champions, accompanied by a photograph of a smiling man posing with his arms crossed, his ridiculous blue hair fading into the background, his smug smile seemed to mock her.
"Regional Champions!" she yell indignantly "That's a lie!"
“They won a championship…” Palina intervened
“They only won the men's division!” Irida was not in the mood for technicalities "we won the youth division, the women's division, the over 40, this is inconceivable!"
“Irid, calm…”
"I am calm!" she reasure “Stupid diamonds…” she kept cursing on her way back to the gym
It wasn't like she was surprised, it had been a little over a year since she had taken possession of the Pearl Gym and the Diamond Gym had been without a doubt her biggest competition. Both businesses were just a block away and offered similar services, he naively thought that their victory over them in the past martial arts tournament would be enough to put them out of business, but of course the diamonds would cling to their one and vapid victory.
The performance of Adaman, the owner of the Diamante gym, had been acceptable, successful, his mastery of technique and his speed were enviable, but if they were honest, it's not as if he had had much competition.
"I guess it's a bad time for us to talk about my birthday" Lina risked while they saw the pink of the facade
"Later..." Irida pointed to a girl who was trying to see through the door while she held a pamphlet in her hand.
Irida approaches her when the keys on hand
“Can we help you?”
The girl seemed enthusiastic, she was wearing gym clothes although Irida got the impression that she had been used more to show off selfies than to exercise "I´m looking for the class schedule"
“Just give us a minute” she smile “What kind of classes are you looking for?” the three entered, little by little they turned on the lights and the place was coming to life. Irida had made an effort in recent months to modernize the equipment and make multiple renovations.
She desperately needed the business to succeed, she had risked too much to allow it to fail.
“I don´t know, anything that gives me the opportunity to at least take a look at the champion” she answer in a squishy voice “He is so dreamy”
“He is fourteen” Irida reply in automatic, almost feeling what was coming, surely the girl was not referring to Lian
"What?" the girl stand back
“You are looking for the Diamonds” Pallina guess
"Adaman doesn't train here?" she ask and Irida just sight in frustration, just hearing that name made her angry
“The Diamonds are in the next block, over the fourth” she said with all the calm that she was capable of
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she exclaims and gets out as faster as she could
A man entered without even greeting the girl who was leaving, he was wearing a worn coat and dark circles framed his eyes, somehow he managed to grunt a greeting
“Hey Ingo” both of them reply without much enthusiasm
"What's new?"
“The diamonds stole our clients!” Irida yells while clunching her fist
"They don't!" Palina took the papers behind the reception desk “we have plenty of clients, spinning and aerobics classes are full, not to mention your workouts!”
Irida sight “Yes, you are right…”
“Forget Adaman fans, those bimbos will only pay for the first month”
“Yea…I guess you're right” she must check the state of the machines before the actual clients come “You were saying something about your birthday?”
“Yes” Palina look regrettable “dont be mad”
“I'm alredy mad”
“It will be the Saturday”
"The meteor shower!" Irida complained "We've been planning to see it for weeks!"
“And it wont be in your apartment”
"Lina!"
"No! Listen, Iscan's house is big enough for everyone…”
“Bigger than my places?”
“It has access to the beach”
“We live on the coast, everything has access to the beach!”
"Irida, Iscan and I are dating, he is my boyfriend and when your boyfriend offers to organize your birthday party in a luxurious beach house you have to say yes"
“I wouldn't call it luxurious”
"Well it is and it will be on Saturday, so you have to find a way to deal with it"
“Okay” she said as she pretended to be busy with a bike “so… is he your boyfriend now?”
"Yes, we make it official during summer" her face remained frown for a few seconds, as if waiting for some kind of claim
"good for you" and without being able to bite her tongue Irida added "ungrateful traitor"
“Get over it”
“You would catch me death before dating one of the diamons guys”
"I know"
“But I guess you are free to do werever you want”
“I am” Palina was not a patient woman “so?”
“So what?”
"Are you going to the party?"
"How do you ask me that?"
"Well, maybe you'd like to stay in your apartment with your old telescope watching the meteor shower."
Irida hesitated for only a few seconds, although the idea sounded tempting, she couldn't miss Palina's birthday
“Of course I'm going! I wouldn't miss it for the world, even if it means having to put up with a bunch of blue jackets and her airheaded leader."
“Werever you said” Palina roll her eyes “ just please promise that you would behave”
“What do you mean by that!?”
“Please just be nice!”
“Jezz, I would be the nicest”
“Promise”
“I promise”
“Good” she finally agree “now get out of my spot, I have a class to give”
Little by little the morning spinning group was filling the classroom, Irida walked unhurriedly to her office on the second floor, there was a lot of paperwork to do after the summer brake, it was her duty to calm her temper and start doing such a work ; To her misfortune, when she opened her curtains, her problems smiled back at her. On the horizon where she usually could see the sea there was nothing but Adaman's smug face.
.
.
.
The work in the Diamante gym began early, although they did not have the budget for new machinery, they made up for it with hard work. Opening early and closing late meant more classes, more variety and therefore more customers, in addition to the fact that memberships could be paid per week, per device, even per class, with more affordable prices, perhaps this year they could finally get rid of the competition .
Adaman had an spending plan and a strict work schedule, he had been running the business for years. The Pearl Gym had always been around the corner, but it was since the new management had taken over that it had started to cause him problems. The Perla gym had always specialized in giving martial arts classes at unaffordable prices, a little school for rich children and parents willing to pay to get medals, but the new owner had turned the business around: she hired spinning and aerobics instructors, bought luxurious and modern machines, filled the street with the most horrendous publicity (a lot of brochures in bright pink) and to finish they had swept the last tournament. The little they had left if they wanted to survive (and win) in the business was to redouble their efforts.
"Focus!" he yell at his parter, from the other side of the mat Iscan seemed lost in his own thoughts, even thus he dodged the first blow.
Iscan moved slowly but surely, he was a man with a robust complexion, his skin was tanned by the beach sun, his gentle character was reflected in his daily actions and he had the advantage of having much more patience than his rival
“Come on! Hit each other!” Arezu and Melli, both gym instructors, cheered them on from off the mat. Alongside them were several small groups of potential customers watching them.
Adaman wasn't entirely sure about the new publicity strategy, clinging to his only victory in the last tournament was cheap to say the least, and literally becoming the face of the gym could be mistaken for vanity.
Iscan's gaze remained impassive waiting for his next move but Adaman would not give in easily, if he was expecting an attack, he would attack him.
He charged at Iscan with his trademark speed, knowing that Iscan would evade the blow, immediately changing trajectory, a risky move if he was fighting an unknown opponent, but he knew Iscan all too well and knew that he would lean to the right, his left ankle had been left badly injured from a fishing accident as a child; Iscan narrowly avoided the second attack but caused him to lose his balance, Adaman soon took advantage by kicking him in the stomach.
Some observers applauded enthusiastically, the diamond clan fighters were distinguished by their speed and it was always a spectacle to watch them.
Adaman got off the mat trying to greet the curious who were watching the fight, attracting new customers was essential for the survival of his business, his friends began to talk loudly as always
"I can't believe that out of all of us you're the one with a girlfriend!" Arezu, one of the aerobics instructors complained “the shy Iscan! Life is so unfair!" Adaman was barely paying attention to the conversation, the correspondence was already on the desk, just seeing the envelopes with the bank stamp made his stomach turn "How is it possible that you got a girlfriend?"
"Well, I don't know what to tell you" Iscan replied shyly as he wiped his sweat with a towel
"By sheer miracle!" Melli, the yoga instructor, chimed in. "Didn't you rescue her from a flood?"
"OH OH!" Arezu yells excited “tell us the story! Come on Iscan! I love the story!”
“Rescuing is an exaggeration…”
"Oh pleaseeeee... i love the story is soooo romantic"
While checking the notifications the words of his friends were making a distant noise, the landlord had increased the rent, it was not possible, it was barely August, every year the rent increased by January.
“I just ran into her the past April, you know… in the storm that knocked down the post on Sixth Avenue, she was walking down the street, totally soaked, looking for her dogs that had gotten lost in the storm; I just did what anyone would have done and helped her find them, from there we just connected" Despite the awkwardness of the topic, Iscan's face lit up when he talked about his girlfriend
“So romantic!” Arezu seems to enjoy the conversation “The perfect love story”
"Yes..." Melli interrupted "If it weren't for the fact that his girlfriend works for the enemy"
"Don't be dramatic Melli"
“The great Melli is nothing but the right amount of drama!”
"Does that mean you're not going to the party?" Iscan timidly asked, Melli just looked at him without understanding his question
"On Saturday" Adaman finally decided to enter the conversation "Iscan is planning Pallina's birthday at his house, for some reason we are all invited"
"You don't have to go if you don't want to" from his expression they knew that Iscan was lying
"Why wouldn't we want to go?" Arezu hurried up before anyone else had a chance to speak "It's a party, we spend the weekend at the beach, we get to know Iscan's girlfriend…"
But Melli and Adaman were not convinced
"Come on guys! Pallina will take her friends and I will not know anyone ”
"You should have thought about that before going out with a pearl" Adaman regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth, he wouldn't have to talk to Iscan like that, the effect of his words quickly showed in the face of his friend
“Don´t listen to them Iscan!” Arezu jumped to the rescue "He's just jealous!"
"Jealous why?"
“Well…” Melli pushed her long curls away from her face. “He actually has a girlfriend”
"Which side are you on?" Adaman exclaimed "and I don't have a girlfriend because I don't want a girlfriend"
"That's what everyone who doesn't get a girlfriend says"
"I don't want a girlfriend" he repeated
"Oh please Adaman... you've spent so many painfully single months that is sad"
"Hum... excuse me" one of the groups of onlookers who had seen the fight had approached "Do you think we could take a picture?" one of the girls was holding her phone in her hand while smiling nervously
“Yes.. yes of course!” Adaman smiled as he turned her back on his teammates classmates and took a bunch of pictures with the girls, when they left, he turned to his friends with a superior expression "As I was saying..."
“OH! That does not count!"
"What? Why not? I can get whenever girl I want, unlike others”
"Those are fans, it's different" Arezu did her best not to show her indignation "They don't know you, Iscan has more merit for dating a pearl, you would never achieve something like that"
"Excuse me? I could get a Pearl girl anytime, it would be no challenge.. no offense Iscan”
"I'm not even a part of this conversation" he said putting his hand in the air
“Well, show us” Arezu was smiling and once again Adaman regretted his recklessness
"What?"
“Get a date with a Pearl girl” she was having a great time
“How? What? Why? i.. i have no time for something like that i mean, when i would…?”
“The saturday” Melli was practically jumping for excitement “In the party”
“That the must stupid thing, what would I do something like that?”
“I will work for free, one week” he rush and Arezu doubt for a little while
“Two classes” she offered
Adaman thought about it for a few moments, he could save a week's salary from Melli and two free classes from Arezu, with that he completed the increase in rent for the month.
“Only a date?” he ask
“A kiss” Melli said triumphant “A kiss and I will work one week for free”
“Two classes” Arezu clarified
A kiss from a pearl girl, It couldn´t be that difficult right?
“You got a deal”