Steven kept gaming until midnight before he decided it was time to sleep. He turned off the console and went to bed.
***
The next morning, he was already up and driving to the gym. He intended to get there on time.
He had no intention of keeping his trainer waiting, and he had deliveries to look forward to, so he needed to be back early.
He arrived a few minutes later, as the gym wasn't far from his place. He grabbed his duffel bag from the back seat and walked to the entrance.
Steven walked through the entrance and spotted Raymond near the front desk, gym bag over one shoulder, a coffee cup in his other hand.
Raymond looked up as Steven came through the door and gave a single nod of acknowledgement.
"Right on time," Raymond said.
"I said eight," Steven said simply.
Raymond smiled briefly and finished the last of his coffee, dropping the cup in the bin beside the desk. He was already dressed for the floor — training shorts, a fitted shirt, the kind of worn-in training shoes that had seen enough sessions to have earned their place.
"Let's get you signed in properly first," Raymond said, gesturing toward the front desk.
Claire wasn't in yet. A different staff member handled the check-in, scanning Steven's new membership card and confirming his details without fuss. It took less than two minutes.
Raymond led him through to the workout floor, which was quieter than it had been the previous morning. A handful of people were already training, but the space felt open and unhurried.
"Before we start," Raymond said, setting his bag down beside a bench, "I want to talk through the programme. I put it together last night based on what I saw yesterday. I want you to understand the logic before we put it into practice."
"Go ahead," Steven said.
Raymond pulled a folded sheet from his bag and opened it on the bench between them.
"Four days a week," he said. "Upper and lower split, alternating. Day one is upper body push — chest, shoulders, triceps. Day two is lower body — squat pattern, hinge, posterior chain. Day three is upper body pull — back, biceps, rear delts. Day four is a full body session with a conditioning component at the end. The fifth day, if you come in, is active recovery. Mobility work, light cardio, nothing that competes with the main sessions."
Steven looked at the sheet. The structure was clear and logical.
"The first four weeks are foundation work," Raymond continued. "We're not chasing numbers. We're building movement quality, getting your body used to load, and identifying anything that needs correcting before we push harder. After four weeks, we reassess and start progressing properly."
"Understood," Steven said.
"Questions?"
"None," Steven said.
Raymond folded the sheet and put it back in his bag. "Then let's start."
***
The session ran for sixty minutes.
Raymond worked him through the first upper push day with a precision that Steven appreciated immediately.
Every exercise was explained before it was loaded, every set was observed, and the corrections came quietly and without condescension — a hand repositioning his elbow, a word about his shoulder position at the top of a press, a brief demonstration when something needed more than a verbal cue.
Steven moved through it all without complaint.
The weights were moderate. Raymond had been deliberate about that, and Steven understood why. Foundation work meant nothing if the form broke down under load. He focused on what Raymond was asking him to focus on and left his ego out of it entirely.
By the end of the session, he had worked up a genuine sweat and felt the specific tiredness in his chest and shoulders that came from muscles being asked to do something structured for the first time.
The Physique upgrades had given him a stronger baseline than he would otherwise have had but the session had still been demanding in the way that good training was supposed to be.
Raymond handed him a water bottle at the end and looked at him with the same quiet, assessing expression he had worn through most of the session.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
"Good. Alive," Steven said.
"That's the right answer," Raymond said. "Tomorrow is lower body. Come in at the same time if that works."
"It works," Steven said.
He set the water bottle down on the bench and reached for his phone.
"I want to sort out the training fees before I go," he said. "Is there an annual option the same way there was for the membership?"
Raymond nodded. "There is. Most clients go monthly, but we can structure it annually. It comes out to $31,200 for the year. Four sessions a week, sixty minutes each, with programme design and progress tracking included."
"I'll pay now," Steven said, pulling up his banking app. "Send me the account details."
Raymond pulled out his phone, opened a payment details card the facility provided for exactly this purpose, and held it toward Steven. Steven looked at the details, confirmed them, and made the transfer without hesitation.
The system notification appeared immediately at the edge of his vision.
[You spent $31,200. A 9.5x rebate was triggered.]
[You received $296,400. The money has been transferred to your account.]
Steven kept his expression still, but behind it, was a satisfaction that only large multipliers produced. Nearly three hundred thousand dollars returned on a single transaction.
Raymond glanced at his phone, saw the transfer notification, and looked up.
"Appreciate it," he said, with the straightforward manner of someone who didn't make a performance of gratitude.
"See you tomorrow," Steven said, picking up his bag.
He walked back to the changing room, showered, and changed back into his clothes. He packed his training gear into the duffel bag, zipped it, and slung it over his shoulder.
He walked out through the lobby and pushed through the entrance door into the morning air.
The Aston Martin was where he had left it. He got in, set the bag on the passenger seat, and started the engine.
His phone rang as he pulled out of the parking area. He glanced at the screen at a red light and saw it was an unknown number. He answered.
"Good morning. May I speak with Mr. Steven Craig?" The voice on the other end was professional and unhurried.
"Speaking," Steven said.
"Good morning, Mr. Craig. This is calling from Marcus's regarding your Ducati Superleggera V4. I'm confirming your delivery window for this morning. Our team will be with you between ten and twelve. Does that work for you?"
"It does," Steven said. "I'll make sure access is arranged."
"Perfect. We'll call again when we're thirty minutes out."
"Appreciated," Steven said, and the call ended.
He checked the time. Just past nine.
He had time.
He pulled out onto the street and headed home.
***
He stepped into his apartment a few minutes later, went to the bedroom, and dropped his dirty training gear in the laundry basket, making a note to deal with it later.
He was heading to the kitchen, hungry from the session and not having eaten before the gym, when his phone rang again.
He looked at the screen and saw that it was another unknown number.
"Good morning, Mr. Craig. This is James calling from John Lobb. I'm reaching out to confirm your delivery for this morning. We have your order ready and our courier is scheduled to arrive between eleven and one. Would that window work for you?"
"That works," Steven said. "I'll be home."
"Wonderful. We'll need you to sign for the package on arrival. The courier will call when they're on their way."
"Understood. Thank you."
The call ended.
He set the phone down on the counter and opened the refrigerator. Before he could decide what to make, his phone buzzed with a notification. An email this time, from Burberry. He opened it.
The subject line read: Your Burberry Order — Delivery Confirmation.
The message was brief and cleanly formatted. His order had been dispatched and was scheduled for delivery between ten and two that afternoon. A tracking reference was included, along with a note that the courier would require someone present to receive the packages and that building access details had been noted from his original order.
He read it once, confirmed the window worked with everything else already scheduled, and set the phone back down.
Before he could reach the refrigerator again, his phone rang a third time and it was another unknown number.
He picked up anyway.
"Good morning. Am I speaking with Mr. Steven Craig?"
"You are," Steven said.
"Good morning, Mr. Craig. I'm calling from Cartier Houston regarding your order. I wanted to personally confirm that your piece will be delivered today by our dedicated courier service. The window we have scheduled is between twelve and two this afternoon. The courier will require your signature and a valid photo ID on arrival."
"That's fine," Steven said. "I'll be here."
"Wonderful. Our courier will call ahead when they are approximately twenty minutes away. Is there anything else I can help you with this morning?"
"Nothing else. Thank you."
"Thank you, Mr. Craig. Have a wonderful morning."
The call ended.
Steven set the phone on the counter and looked at it for a moment. Three calls and an email inside twenty minutes. The morning had become considerably more structured than he had planned, but not in a way he minded. Everything was arriving today and he intended to be here for all of it.
He turned back to the refrigerator and started making breakfast.