The Coronavirus caused gyms across America to close, including Cordelia’s. But on this Monday, her gym would open for the first time in three months, and she was eager to return to shaping her body, to make it toned and firm again.
She pulled the glass door open and walked to the front desk to check-in. Two employees, a young Caucasian woman and a young black man, were standing behind the desk. The male employee saw Cordelia first.
“Welcome!” He sounded happy to say it, as if he had had few chances to welcome customers that day. Cordelia handed him her keytag. As she watched him scan it, she couldn’t help but notice his large biceps. She smiled and thanked him, then turned to look around the gym for the first time. She was surprised to see how few people were actually there.
In the large room which held the workout machines and free weights, she only saw a half a dozen people, four of them men and two women.
*Maybe people are still scared of getting sick from the Coronavirus*, she thought. *Or maybe they don’t know the gym is open yet.*