While the Miller family was sizing up Shane, Shane was also sizing them up.
He could tell at a glance: Dave was from the construction site; the shrewdness emanating from Eileen clearly indicated she worked in an office or something similar; their son Danny was chubby, and the price of their clothes was just average.
Hmm... a very standard American lower-middle-class family, the kind where a slightly severe accident would kick them right to the guillotine.
After a few seconds of silence, Dave came back to his senses first.
"Hi, Shane. This is my wife Eileen, and my son Danny."
He nudged his son, who was still dazed beside him.
Pushed by him, Danny took half a step forward clumsily, his face flushing red. "H-hello, coach."
At this moment, Karen, who had been organizing things in the corner, walked over.
She had caught the look in Eileen's eyes just now, the kind that wished she could suck Shane dry.
She walked up to Shane, directly hooked her arm through Shane's sweaty arm, and pressed herself against him.
"Hi, I'm Karen Jackson." She flashed a fake smile at the Miller family, then looked up at Shane, her tone extremely sweet.
"Honey, are these your clients?"
Feeling the pressure on his arm, Shane took the cue and introduced, "Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Miller, Danny, this is my girlfriend Karen. She sometimes comes here to help."
Only after hearing what she wanted did Karen wave at the Miller family. "Hello."
The Miller family finally noticed there was another person in the warehouse. Can't help it, the visual shock Shane gave them just now was too strong, making them subconsciously ignore her.
Eileen quickly reined in her improper gaze from earlier and resumed her scrutinizing posture.
"Coach Gallagher, nice to meet you. Your training facility looks more orderly than I imagined."
She crossed her arms. "I want to know, for a child like my son with absolutely no athletic foundation and who is overweight, what is your training philosophy? How is safety guaranteed—is there a formal training contract?"
She rambled on with a bunch of questions.
Shane didn't answer immediately. He signaled Karen to let go (Karen reluctantly loosened her grip a bit).
Shane walked to a nearby table and picked up a printed document.
"This is a training agreement and liability waiver, clarifying the responsibilities of both parties, including the issues you just cared about. Not complicated, everything that should be there is there."
Eileen took the document directly to read.
At this time, another warehouse door was pushed open, and Kevin walked in.
"Hey, Shane, I'm not late, right?" He saw the Dave family and smiled.
"Is this your new student?"
Shane chimed in at the right time.
"Mrs. Miller, safety always comes first. This is Kevin, my other student and my training partner. Perhaps you can understand my teaching methods from Danny's trial process. Alright, Danny, come change your clothes. Let's do some basic physical assessment and warm-up first."
Next, Shane demonstrated his professionalism.
His corrections were always on point, and the terminology wasn't hard to understand.
Dave sat on a stool nearby watching, getting more excited the more he watched. Although he didn't understand the ins and outs of fitness, even a layman like him could tell Shane really knew his stuff.
Eileen's gaze mostly lingered on the muscles under Shane's tank top.
But whenever she looked slightly longer, she could sense the gaze from the girl (Karen) nearby.
During the trial session, Karen stuck close to Shane, handing water or towels, and occasionally getting very close.
Towards the end of the training, Shane had Danny try a few sets of rows with resistance bands. Although a bit clumsy, he persisted.
"Alright." Shane clapped his hands. "How does it feel? Danny?"
Panting, Danny nodded. "I think it's pretty good."
Dave walked over, patted his son's shoulder hard, then looked at Shane.
"Looks like I'm lucky to find such a professional coach."
At this time, Shane pointed to the cameras in the four corners of the warehouse.
"Oh, by the way, there are cameras there too. I spent a lot of money to get them."
Shane coughed strategically. "In case, I mean just in case of any accident, or any situation needing clarification, we can check the surveillance anytime. It's very clear."
Cameras!?
"Having cameras means traceability, means clear responsibility."
Eileen started to associate Shane with legitimacy in her mind.
"But—" She wanted to say something more.
Shane rolled his eyes internally.
Damn it, this kind of middle-class white woman is really fcking annoying... He felt a bit irritable. Online had already taken off, but offline he still had to play this game of middle-class safety concerns with these people.
"If Mrs. Miller still feels uneasy, there are other choices in the South Side. Professional gym coaches in the West Side might be more suitable for you."
Dave, standing aside, got anxious immediately.
"Don't, Shane. I think you are very good. This is the place. Danny, what do you say?"
Danny also looked up hurriedly. "Mom, I want to train here. The coach teaches very clearly."
Eileen was also stimulated by Shane's attitude of "leave if you're not satisfied."
Sometimes, appropriate refusal is more useful than desperate promotion.
Eileen pretended to size up the warehouse again before finally saying, "Then let's try for two months first."
"Okay, then according to the plan, twice a week, one hour each time, come over on Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning."
At this time, Shane walked to a small refrigerator in the corner of the warehouse and took out a bottle of homemade drink.
"Do you want to add an energy drink? It can effectively replenish electrolytes and trace elements after training. Many fitness stars drink a bottle of this after training. $10 a portion, added to the training meal."
Dave looked at the bottle of drink and started calculating in his mind:
Drink plus meal fee, an extra $30 a week, plus training fee, totaling only $519 a month. Still very cost-effective.
"Sure. How to pay?"
"Cash, check, or online payment, all work for me."
Shane said, taking out another printed contract, in duplicate.
The contract was signed quickly, and Dave gave a check directly.
Before long, seeing off the Dave family, the warehouse door closed.
Shane looked at the light check in his hand and breathed a sigh of relief.
Karen pasted herself onto him, hugging his waist. "That old woman looked at you weirdly."
Shane rubbed her hat. "I'm not hungry to that extent, okay?"
Kevin also leaned over at this time, took the check from Shane's hand, and looked at it.
"Alright, Shane, open for business just like that? Over $500. I feel like I can be a fitness coach too. And it seems my fat face also contributed?"
"Contributed as a negative example." Shane took back the check.
With sporadic income online and the first offline business officially landing, although the client was a bit troublesome, the first step was finally taken.