Chapter 4 - What Maya Saw
Bethany met Maya at a coffee shop two blocks from the gym.
Maya arrived wearing a navy jacket over her employee uniform. She looked nervous and kept checking the entrance.
“Is everything all right?” Bethany asked.
Maya wrapped both hands around her cup.
“I’m not sure.”
“That usually means it isn’t.”
Maya gave a faint smile.
“I’ve been working at Harbor Strength for eight months. Most members are good people. But there have been complaints about Marcus.”
“What kind of complaints?”
“Comments. Filming people. Posting videos in private group chats.”
Bethany’s stomach tightened.
“Has he filmed me?”
“I think so.”
Maya reached into her bag and removed her phone.
She opened a screenshot.
It showed a private social media group called Harbor Legends. The group image featured Marcus posing beside a weight rack.
Maya scrolled to a post.
The image was blurry, but Bethany recognized herself near a cable machine.
The caption described her as Larry’s “home supervisor” invading his last free territory.
Several people had reacted with laughing symbols.
Larry had not commented.
But his account appeared in the list of people who had viewed the post.
Bethany stared at the screen.
“How did you get this?”
“A former employee is still in the group. She sent it to me because she knew you had joined.”
“Why didn’t she send it directly to me?”
“She was afraid Marcus would find out.”
Bethany handed the phone back.
“Did you tell management?”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“The general manager said we needed stronger evidence. Marcus is close with one of the gym’s investors.”
Bethany looked through the window.
Outside, cars moved through the morning traffic. People crossed the street carrying coffee and bags, unaware that Bethany’s marriage had just shifted another inch toward collapse.
“Does Larry know Marcus filmed me?”
“I don’t know.”
“He saw the post.”
“Yes.”
Maya lowered her voice.
“There’s something else.”
Bethany waited.
“Marcus often leaves his phone recording on a bench. He says it’s for checking his form, but the camera is usually angled toward other people.”
“Why?”
“He collects reactions. Arguments. Embarrassing moments.”
“For what?”
“Attention, mostly.”
Bethany thought of all the times Marcus had provoked someone and then laughed.
“He creates the moment first,” she said.
Maya nodded.
“I think so.”
Bethany sat back.
Her first instinct was to confront Larry immediately.
Her second was to say nothing until she understood the full truth.
Experience had taught her that people revealed more when they believed no one was watching.
“What do you want me to do?” Bethany asked.
“I don’t know. I just didn’t want you walking in there unaware.”
“You did the right thing.”
Maya looked relieved.
“I could lose my job.”
“I won’t mention your name.”
Bethany left the coffee shop with a copy of the screenshot.
At home, Larry was in the garage organizing tools.
Bethany stood in the doorway.
“Are you in a private group Marcus runs?”
Larry’s hands stopped moving.
“What group?”
“Harbor Legends.”
His hesitation answered her.
“It’s just a gym chat,” he said.
“Have you seen photos of me there?”
Larry placed a wrench on the workbench.
“Bethany, before you get upset—”
“Have you?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know. Two, maybe.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“They were jokes.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Larry rubbed his beard.
“I knew you would react like this.”
“Like what?”
“Like it was a major betrayal.”
“Someone photographed me without permission and mocked me in a group that included my husband.”
“I didn’t post anything.”
“You stayed.”
“It’s a group chat, Bethany. Not a criminal organization.”
She held up her phone.
“Did you see this?”
Larry glanced at the screenshot.
His expression shifted.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
Bethany nodded slowly.
“That is exactly what you did.”
Larry moved closer.
“I didn’t laugh.”
“You didn’t defend me.”
“It would have made it worse.”
“For whom?”
Larry had no answer.
Bethany put her phone away.
“From now on, do not tell Marcus anything about me.”
“I barely do.”
“You told him my workout schedule.”
“He asked.”
“You told him I was sleeping in the guest room.”
Larry froze.
Bethany had guessed.
His face confirmed it.
Her voice became very quiet.
“You told him?”
“I needed someone to talk to.”
“You chose the man who humiliates me.”
“He’s my friend.”
“And I’m your wife.”
Larry looked ashamed, but shame was not the same as accountability.
Bethany turned toward the house.
“Where are you going?”
“To move more of my things into the guest room.”
“Bethany, we can fix this.”
May you like
She looked back at him.
“You keep saying we while protecting him.”
