The Side Project

Chapter 38: Kyle

Chapter 38: Kyle

The Catch

The Catch

Author's Note: Plot chapter to get to know Lauren better and explore this potential investment opportunity.

"Well now that we've brought joy and happiness to our favorite trio of Ohioans, what next?" Lexi asked.

"I thought they were Kentuckians?" Lauren asked.

"They live in Cincinnati now. You know, move to the big city after graduation," I explained.

"I guess for your line of work maybe that's a little different, you probably had to start in a smaller type city, right?" Lexi asked.

"Ah ok. And yep, you're exactly right, Lexi. Kind of have to take a job where you can when you're brand new to the game. KMID Midland represent!"

"Hell of a jump from that to Nashville," I observed.

"I spent a few years at a station in Little Rock after Midland. Probably a little lucky to get the Nashville opportunity relatively young, but I took it," Lauren said.

I thought that sounded like an impressive career progression. I assumed looks were an important part of getting on air jobs, and Lauren was a very attractive woman, but to move up the ladder that quickly I figured she must also have some serious professional chops.

"Was Tanner with you the whole time?" Lexi asked.

"Yep, we knew each other in college, but only in passing. He's originally from Midland and wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do after college so he was living with his parents, working odd jobs. We hung out and he eventually asked me out," Lauren said.

"Big deal for him to leave his hometown for you then," I said.

"A little, I guess that's part of the reason I've given him so much leash with the Alpha bullshit the last few years," Lauren said.

"That makes sense," Lexi said.

"So you guys have any plans for the day?" Lauren asked.

"How do you feel about checking out an abandoned suburban health club?" I suggested. Lauren and Lexi readily agreed to my proposal; like me, they were both eager to see what kind of shape 69 Tuna Run was in.

Lauren offered to drive her SUV back out to the suburbs since there was a good chance she would head home after we checked out the club. She'd explained to us over first breakfast that she and Allie had a loose plan for a group dinner of neighborhood wives that evening and she had some preparations to make. Reed needed to give Allie a ride home at some point so we figured we could catch him for the ride back downtown.

"This drive does kind of suck," I observed. We had just pulled back on to I-65. Saturday midday traffic was light.

"Suburbs kind of suck," Lauren said.

"You know you live in the suburbs right?" I asked.

"Yeah, agreeing to get a place out here really wasn't the best call I've ever made. Thought it would be cool to live in a nice, quiet neighborhood with like minded people. I feel like I was kind of duped by our realtor on that," Lauren said.

"Who was your realtor? I'll make sure to steer clear if I end up needing one," I said.

"Guy named Chester Kidd. Don't touch him with a ten foot pole. Found out after the fact, he's one of the leaders of the Alphas, along with Norman. Chester is basically their head of recruitment from what I can tell. He sold us hard on what a great community they were building out here when we were looking for a house. Then they got their hooks into Tanner after we moved in."

"How so?" Lexi asked.

"They offered him a job at this consulting company a lot of them work at about three months after we moved. He went from being a mediocre salesman at his prior job to a rock star seller nearly overnight. Suddenly I went from being the primary breadwinner to making half as much as him. It was...odd, I guess."

"That is a hell of a jump," I noted.

"Right! At first I was really happy, we were way better off financially than we'd ever been. That was right around when I turned 30. It felt right if that makes sense. We'd been married for about four years, we were both hitting 30. We'd worked hard. We were financially stable. We owned a home in a nice neighborhood. It felt like we were ready for the next stage in life."

I immediately thought about children, but didn't want to bring up what could be a delicate topic. "That stability seems like a far cry from the way things are now," I said.

"Yeah, big time. It's not like anything changed overnight, but it's just gotten worse and worse over the years. They've always had sort of this corporate grind culture at his work, but in the early days it seemed manageable. Like we still spent time together when we could, had date nights, that kind of stuff. I also figured as Tanner gained more seniority the time demands ramp down, but the opposite happened," Lauren explained.

"Sorry, I don't mean to pry, but we heard a lot of the same things about Garrison from Allie," Lexi said.

"Yeah, they all seem to be this way to varying degrees," Lauren confirmed. "I've tried pressing Tanner on balancing priorities, and he always says the right things but the actions never match the words."

"Jeez, that's frustrating. Was he always that way?" I asked. I was utterly committed to Lexi, particularly after what had gone on that morning, but to me Lauren was a hell of a catch by any standard. Successful, funny, poised, and hot. The idea of her partner being anything less than attentive was appalling to me.

"No, not like this. I'm not sure exactly where things went wrong, but he's been less and less the guy I married over the years. He was never the most emotionally intelligent guy, always a follower, but when we were dating he would do anything to make me smile. Now everything is secondary to pursuing 'the next big account' and 'supporting his brothers'. With my early morning schedule and him frequently working late or having events at the clubhouse we don't spend a tenth the time together we used to. And the time we do get together, frankly kind of sucks. Sorry, I'm probably oversharing."

"It's ok, we seem to elicit that," I said, thinking of Rose's emotional unloading from Wednesday night.

"It's weird. You two are just so, like non-judgemental and thoughtful. I'm still so impressed by how you called the Sigma girls on their hangups this morning," Lauren said.

"We just apply logic," I said.

"Well, logic unconstrained by anything remotely resembling convention," Lexi pointed out.

Lauren laughed. "It's a great philosophy. I guess perhaps one I should look at applying."

"I mean, live your life, but you have to admit the day to day you just described sounds like a marriage in name only," I observed.

"That's kind of how it's felt lately," Lauren admitted.

"You thought about getting out?" Lexi asked.

"Yeah. Hard. It's just, we do have history. He moved for me twice. And I'm worried it'll fuck up my image. All my followers think I have this perfect marriage to a successful guy."

It was obvious why Lauren was conflicted. "It's not my place to tell you what to do, but all I'll say is this: nobody deserves to be treated like that dude is treating you, and especially not someone smart and successful like you," I said.

"Yeah, you're right. I've been circling this for awhile. To be honest, after this weekend, I kind of think I'm done. I have no real respect for him anymore, he treats me like a servant when he is around. I don't deserve this shit," Lauren said. "On top of that, seeing thatthatis how he's spending all his time. What the fuck. Honestly, the only thing still giving me pause, is while last night and this morning were funny, there's like this sinister layer to them I didn't know was there. Honestly I'm a little unnerved by it."

"You really think he's capable of something fucked up?" I asked. It was hard for me to envision the clowns running around playing army that morning actually doing anything dangerous, but I also saw where Lauren was coming from. As ridiculous as the Alphas were, they were also completely self-assured and clearly well armed.

"I just don't know. If you asked me that yesterday morning, I'd have said 'no, they're just a bunch of overgrown frat boys' but last night, in particular, gave me pause. Like they really believe they're some sort of prototype for masculine power," Lauren said.

"Fuck, maybe this whole club thing isn't such a hot idea," I mused. I wanted to spend my life having fun experiences, not getting into trouble with a paramilitary cult.

"It's not like you have to live there," Lexi pointed out. "Plus it's halfway to our theoretical rural paradise."

"I mean look, I know for you guys it's a business investment, but I can tell you the community would adore it. I think I'm probably out, but other women don't have the leverage I do between my job and social media following," Lauren said.

"Oh and, by the way, being done with Tanner and likely moving back downtown doesn't mean I'm pulling back on my offer to endorse and support you guys. Still all in on that if you move forward."

"Thanks Lauren, we definitely appreciate it. Honestly that would be a huge key for us. We'd love to support the other Alpha wives, but for it to really work we'd need to attract people from outside the community. As much as I'd like to, I can't recommend this to my bosses just to help out." I said. "It has to make money." Not strictly true, but a worthwhile charade to maintain a little secrecy. I liked Lauren, but we were still getting to know each other.

"You mentioned earlier you might have to oversee it if you do buy it?" Lauren asked.

"Yeah, we'd likely be asked to oversee operations at least to some degree," I said, again leaving out the part that we didn't work for a company, this would be our own money at stake.

"Y'all think you're definitely for real about moving up here then?" Lauren asked.

"I'm not sure. I need to debrief with Reed once we've had a bit of time to decompress," I said. "It's important we make a good recommendation about the investment. That includes not only if we do it, but also how we manage it. Part of our analysis will be how much both of us would need to be here onsite."

"But let's be honest, it's looking pretty good," Lexi said. I turned around and gave her a look. She was being overeager and edging too close to the line about revealing the real nature of our situation.

"Aren't you worried about jobs and stuff?" Lauren asked. "I mean I know you're pretty well off based on how nice the rental house is and y'all paying for dinner and fancy wine. Sorry I don't mean to pry."

"Again, I'd need to examine it in more depth, but if they want me to play a part in managing things obviously it wouldn't impact my job," I noted.

"It's a little different for me since I'm not part of their little cabal," Lexi said. I found that kind of amusing after our conversation last night, but was glad she was back to being cautious about telling Lauren too much. "But candidly, if I feel like moving I'm pretty sure I can bust my employer's balls and keep my job. If I can't? Fuck 'em, I'm good at what I do, I'll find another one. The only reason I need to go into the office is tradition, not that I need to be there for any actual work. I'm pretty sure if I said I'd come to Houston like once a month my boss would be fine with it."

"Lucky duck," Lauren said.

"Yeah, I guess can't really do the news remotely, can you?" Lexi said.

"I mean in theory we sort of could, it'd be messy though," Lauren said.

"So since we might be looking for a place, any recommendations on neighborhoods?" I asked. "Like where would you move?"

"Huh, good question honestly. I haven't really thought through the logistics beyond 'downtown'. I guess maybe something walking distance to the station to start. I feel like I'd probably rent an apartment for a bit and try to re-adapt to life," Lauren said, there was some sadness in her tone.

"It's hard to leave someone, even if you know it's the right thing," I said. I was thinking about my long running, and ultimately toxic, relationship with Tilly from when I was in my 20's.

"Yeah, exactly. Guess you've been through similar?" Lauren asked.

"Yeah, not married, but dated starting my senior year of college for five years," I explained. "It wasn't the right fit, but we had a hard time accepting that."

We rode silently for a few minutes after that. I was replaying some of those final months with Tilly when things had gotten really bad. I was imagining Lauren was doing similar. I wondered what Lexi thought of it all. We'd never really talked about my past in that way.

We got off the highway and soon made the turn into the Alpha neighborhood. As we drove by the clubhouse I recalled the scene we'd observed that morning and smiled. Even with the sinister layer it was still hard not to laugh at the absurdity.

We pulled into the lot of the abandoned club a few minutes later. It was a little overgrown but nothing that couldn't be fixed in a day by a landscaping crew. The building itself seemed to be in good shape.

The building was L-shaped, with the base of the L - the short side - facing the parking lot. To the right, along the long side of the L, were outdoor tennis courts. To the left, at the end of the short side of the L, was an empty swimming pool.

The main entrance was offset to the right of the building. I used the key card Garrison had given us to unlock the door.

The lobby of the club was triangular. Directly to the left of the main entrance were large doors. To the right was a sitting area that overlooked the tennis courts. The front desk was at a diagonal to the front doors.

"This is like such a nostalgia trip for me," Lauren said. "I feel like I remember stepping through those doors and all the stress just washing away."

We went to our right first, and discovered there was a narrow staircase down from the observation area to court level. We made our way down to the courts and discovered there were five of them adjacent to the spine - the long side of the L - of the club.

"Courts look like they're still in good shape," I observed, pleased. If we were going to buy this place the chance to play on a daily basis was a significant motivator for me.

"Too bad there's no lights," Lexi noted. "No reprisal of our glorious tennis sharking." She chuckled a little at the memory.

I gave Lauren a quick rundown of our encounter with a pair of dumb frat brothers earlier in the week.

"Typical A&M meatheads, well played though," was her analysis.

After climbing back up the stairs we checked out what was on the other side of the doors on the 'short' side of the L. It turned out that was the main fitness area. The second story was filled with fitness machines - treadmills, stationary bikes, ellipticals, rowing machines and stairmasters. It overlooked the pools outside. There was a large patio in the 'crook' of the L. In addition to the large lap pool we had seen from the parking lot there was a kidney shaped pool surrounded by lounges as well as a pair of hot tubs and some cold plunge tubs.

There was a large staircase in the center of the room. We trotted down it and discovered the first floor was mostly weight machines and some free weights.

"I can see why you spoke so fondly about this place," Lexi commented. "It's got great natural light, not cramped."

"Not a gazillion mirrors either," Lauren noted. "Enough around so you can check your form, but don't feel like you're in an examination room. I loved how I just never felt any pressure in here. They played this awesome mix of soft rock and like rainforest sounds."

Rather than go back upstairs we walked down a hallway and discovered the locker rooms.

"Oh man, these are great," Lexi commented. There were lots of alcoves and places to change in semi-privacy. The lockers were semi-private cubbies rather than the traditional metal lockers.

"You could put in some couches and stuff too and really make it a good place to relax, like the clubhouse for a pro sports team," I pointed out.

"Yeah, it's weird. There actually was a lot of furniture like that before. Really strange whoever bought this took the lounge furniture but didn't bother with any of the exercise equipment," Lauren said.

"That sort of feels like a clue it was the Alphas," Lexi said.

"Yeah, you're kind of right, it's very on brand for them to take the couches for their frat house and not value the more expensive stuff like the machines," Lauren said, that disdain was back in her voice.

As we continued our tour of the ground floor we discovered saunas, racquetball courts, and a yoga studio.

"Wow, I would have thought next to racquetball courts would be a terrible place for a yoga studio, but they soundproofed the shit out of it, check out how thick this door is," I said.

"Smart. The walls are too, whoever designed this really did an A+ job," Lauren noted.

Next to the yoga studio was a large room that had colorful mats in it but not much else.

"Childcare room?" Lexi guessed.

"Oh, that'd make sense, that's pretty clever if you're trying to appeal to the suburban mom crowd," I said.

"Yep, the neighborhood moms loved it," Lauren confirmed, a bit wistfully.

"No kids for you, right?" Lexi asked.

"Unfortunately no, I thought we were getting to the point it was time to think about that but Tanner just has no interest. I can't even get him to have a serious discussion about it. It's frustrating. I'm 34, biological clock is ticking."

Once again, I felt for Lauren. Having to start over and try for kids that late in your biological window sounded tough.

"I don't want to overstep, but that seems like another reason to get rid of your LIMP," Lexi said.

"Limp?" Lauren asked, confused.

"Oh, um, sorry. It's uh, a shorthand we've been using because we didn't want to call them Alphas, it stands for Loser, Incel, Micro Penis," Lexi explained.

Lauren laughed gaily. "Oh my gosh, that's perfect. They would be so freaking offended if they heard that. I love it!"

I glanced at Lexi, looking for a clue as to whether or not we should just let the discussion of children be. She gave a tiny shake of the head. Not a topic for us to push. Lauren had to make her own decisions.

We continued down the hallway, moving away from the childcare room. At the back of the building was a kitchen area that we guessed was for staff and some storage rooms. There was a back staircase up the second floor which led to some administrative offices.

"Huh, weird, looks like all the security equipment is gone," I noted, seeing the empty racks in a small office.

"They're obsessed with security but they're lazy. I can totally see them scavenging the stuff from here rather than going out and buying it," Lauren said.

"Weird, but hardly a big deal, I think anything more than a basic security setup would be overkill," I said.

There was a door we had to key card through back into the main area of the club. We could see down a long hallway back to where we came in. As we walked the long hallway we checked out more amenities - massage rooms, a second yoga studio and some multi-purpose rooms.

"Impartial opinion - this place fucking rocks. I dunno if you can make it work in this weird location, but like as a facility, it's everything I'd want in a health club," Lexi said.

"Seconded," Lauren said. "This is bringing back so many fond memories."

"I can't believe the Alphas just left all the equipment behind, that's got to be what, like 100 grand of fitness equipment? Hell maybe even more," I noted.

"Are you sure it's part of the deal?" Lauren asked.

"Good point, although if Garrison assumed we're tearing down the club wouldn't he want to try to sell it?" I asked.

"Again, they're incredibly lazy about stuff like that," Lauren said.

I found that confusing. These guys were obsessed with money, but leaving behind a huge saleable asset. Maybe they didn't want the hassle of finding a buyer and had baked in the cost of the equipment in their price. We needed to get to the bottom of it.