Gym was hard today. Bruises and all things scary. Doing martial arts with the guys there as a very small frail woman is very scary. I ended up crying towards the end of it. At the end of the class, I broke down in tears as everyone walked past me. I sat down next to my gym dad as tears shed from my eyes. He asked me if I was ok while everyone else walked past me like nothing. My throat felt constricted and I couldn't speak. I continued crying as I sniffled. "I-it's just hard," I said, my nose red and swollen from crying.
"But it's good that you're crying," he said, trying to cheer me up, a smile on his face.
I watched as the bigger men ran in a circle as their warmup.
People behind us walked by as they did their best not to look our way, not wanting to give me an ounce of sympathy.
"What makes it hard? That it's all dudes?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Every time I get beat up it's always by dudes," I confessed.
He sighed. "I'm sorry that happens. All this stuff must trigger you huh?"
"You know, it's scary for me too. There's guys that will beat my ass. Like him," he pointed to one of the guys warming up.
He looked over at me, "I can always pair you up with someone who'll be more gentle with you. I even encourage you to be rough with me when we're fighting."
I fidgeted with my fingers. As he sat with his knees close to him, a hug from him would have felt very comforting. His dark tattooed arms wrapped around me as I'd take in his scent, not caring that he'd be sweaty as I would be too. Though we weren't at that level of friendship yet, so I brushed off the thought.
I continued to rant about the guys at the gym and guys in general as he heard me out. From my major being slammed to me being put down for wearing makeup at the gym he nodded in sympathy.
It was always nice talking to him. He's a constant reminder that older guys are more caring, sympathetic, and overall mature.
Before I left, I checked in at the front desk about my payment and its charges. Even they didn't seem to care about my well-being. They didn't even ask me if I was ok.
Wearing my sunglasses to mask my tears I waved goodbye to him.
He even asked me if I would come tomorrow. I wasn't feeling up for it, but now I'm considering it.