As soon as Ray stepped into the gym, there was none of that usual hyped-up noise from people chasing their body goals while juiced up on gear.
Some machines were running, but barely any clanging from dropping weights. No ego-lifter grunts. No fake-friendly chit-chat. And this was the weekend— peak hours, man.
Ray glanced at the wall clock.
"Weird, it's dead quiet," he muttered.
A few members were inside, but their movements looked stiff, and every now and then they'd sneak a glance at their own asses like they were checking if it was still safe.
"Ray."
That voice made his shoulders tense up.
A middle-aged woman with braided hair was standing there, Sonya.
Gym manager. Hot. Strict. Usually pretty chill but right now her tone was short and sharp.
"My office. Now."
Ray nodded, still half-confused. As he walked past the front desk, he overheard some members whispering that maybe this time it was the guys' turn to get their asses slapped and groped. A couple people shuddered, but others were smirking while doing calf raises, hips lifted a little extra high.
----
Sonya's office door clicked shut tight behind him.
The second Ray saw who was inside, he got a little jolt.
There was Mia, the gym owner's wife, the thick-ass chick whose warm cheek he'd left his fingerprints on yesterday. She was sitting on the small sofa by the wall. Hair neat. She huffed in annoyance when Ray walked in.
Next to her.
Her husband.
The owner.
The dude who yesterday looked like he was straight-up cucking for a few minutes.
And in the other chair, Karl.
Regular member.
The guy who, yesterday with Ray, left fingerprints on the other half of Mia's ass crack.
Ray closed the door slowly.
Sonya pointed to the empty chair in the middle of the room.
"Sit."
Ray sat.
No small talk.
Sonya grabbed the remote and turned on the wall monitor.
"Ray," she said flatly, "you remember this incident?"
The screen lit up.
CCTV footage, guys "greeting" female members by smacking and grabbing their asses. Sonya wasn't spared either; she got it right as she stepped out of the bathroom.
Ray watched himself on the screen, looking around nervously, then walking up to Mia and—slap… his hand smacking and squeezing her ass.
Sonya stared Ray down hard, still gripping that remote tight in her hand. The CCTV footage was still rolling slow on the screen, showing Ray's hand landing perfectly on Mia's ass.
"Ray," Sonya said again, her voice ice-cold, "you remember this or not?"
Ray pretended to think for a second, then shook his head casually and shrugged. "Nah, I don't remember, sis. For real."
Karl, sitting right next to him, jumped in quick—like he'd been waiting for this exact moment. "See! Told ya! Even Ray doesn't remember! C'mon dude, I didn't do anything wrong!"
Mia's husband, the gym owner, just slowly shook his head. His face looked totally lost, like he was searching for the right words but coming up empty. His eyes kept darting from Ray to Karl, then to his own wife, but he didn't say a thing.
Mia crossed her legs, leaning forward a bit. Her eyes burned into Ray. "So what exactly do you remember, Ray?"
Ray swallowed hard. His brain got flooded with memories: the warmth of Mia's ass pressed against his palm, how soft it was, that little jiggle when the slap landed, even the warm scent that lingered on his fingers when he snuck a quick sniff in the corner of the gym later.
But he played it cool. "I just remember working like usual, greeting Mrs. Mia politely—ma'am, that's all. Then chatting a bit with Karl about calisthenics."
Karl immediately scrunched his face in confusion, eyebrows shooting up. "Calisthenics? What calisthenics talk, bro? Yesterday we just—"
Sonya raised her hand, shutting Karl up. Her eyes locked back on Ray, like she was weighing whether to believe him or just lose it. The room suddenly felt way smaller.
Mia's husband who'd been silent the whole time, finally spoke up. His voice was low, heavy, like a guy who's giving up but still trying to sound in charge.
"So it's true, huh…" he said, shaking his head again, eyes dropping to the floor.
Ray froze, his body tensing up.
Mia's husband let out a long sigh, then kept going with a tone that was kinda defensive but also like he'd just hit a small jackpot.
"Everybody remembers that incident differently. Something's off, others say they didn't even remember they greeted someone that time. Turns out it really is some weird phenomenon."
Ray was instantly relieved inside. He slowly let out the breath he'd been holding. 'Yes sir… it's just some weird phenomenon.' he thought to himself with a mental grin.
The owner then turned to Mia, eyes full of hope, even reaching out to lightly touch his wife's arm.
"See, honey? It's real! I told you since yesterday… I didn't mean to cheat with your mom."
Karl and Ray nearly jumped out of their chairs. "DAMNNNN!!!!!" Their bodies actually leaned sideways like they were trying to dodge the words the second they came out.