A Pretty Pill (9 page)

He’s pretty sure of himself
though, and considering his looks, who can blame him.  He’s looking at me now like a guy that uncovered a gold mine... a productive and deep veined gold mine.

“Walk on muscles... I’m likely to pick up a weigh and throw it at your head
. I’ve done it before, ask Paul.” I explain angrily.  He looks at Paul, and Paul nods.

Neither of us mention that the weight was actually one of those pissy little hand weights some women use while power walking, and I aimed it at the wall beside the guys head, as he sat there rubbing his groin and grinning at me.

Ben.

Oh my fucking God... I’m in heaven!  She didn’t even care about my flexing and pissing on her stance.  Every guy in this gym saw it though, they all know I’m marking my territory.  If I really was a Neanderthal as she suggests, I’d be drooling, grunting and bashing her on the head in order to take her back to my cave!  She’s going to provide me with weeks and weeks of chase. I wonder if I’ll succeed in getting her to date me, because even though I know I’m over here for my Mum, I still have a heartbeat, and that means I’m still interested in women.  I mean, I know I was put off by my Mum’s efforts with that Georgina woman; especially thinking how I was not going to do that to my Mum while I was here for her... but honestly?  Georgina didn’t have what this woman has. 

And
what does this woman have? 
Well... she has my undivided attention... my interest!

I have never, ever, in my entire life been talked to
in disgust or anger
like I just was by that woman; perhaps in the throes of passion, yeah... words get thrown around during sex, especially if the chick likes that sort of thing... but for her to be fiery and sarcastic like that normally, and from the onset?  That’s real passion!  And I’m finding it really hot; she’s quite literally oozing sex appeal!  Hence, she has just skyrocketed to my number one spot of interest. I want her, and I’ll wear her down to have her.  I might even try to convince her to stay for more than one night.

After she makes her point crystal clear;
I watch her and smile at her every chance I can manufacture.  It’s making her agitated, but I’ve read there’s a fine line between love and hate, so if she ends up hating me, and then all of a sudden comes around; all the foreplay has been taken care of, right?

Regardless, I’m not leaving this gym till I see her go
; so I can see what car she drives, so I can know when she’s here in future!  No, I’m not stalking, not in a scary way anyway; I’m giving myself knowledge, so that on the days I see her vehicle out back, I know to put on my best performance.

I’m a little shocked when I see her emerge
from the female locker room in jeans and a leather jacket; and a backpack and a helmet.  She rides a bike?  I’ve so gotta see this!

I walk to a window that shows the car park, and sure enough, she’s got a silver and maroon Kawasaki out back that she
straddles.

That’s fucking sexy
, and so not what I would’ve placed on my list of things hot chicks should do... ride a bike, but suddenly; well suddenly, any woman that doesn’t know how to ride a bike from now on, well she’s just going to be boring!  It is now a priority item! 

Jade
pushes herself backwards out of the parking spot, and then she rides carefully off towards the exit.  I’m stumbling over everything to get to the front windows to watch her ride past... and she doesn’t disappoint.  She obviously anticipated me looking, and as she sees me, she briefly extends the one finger salute as she’s gunning her motorcycle past the shopfront.

“Paul... how is it you have a girl like that coming to a gym like this?”  I shout out.

Paul makes an appearance, chuckling.

“She
sees value in coming to a real gym.” He says.

“Indeed!” I say, towelling off the sweat that I ha
ve managed to create today.  “Tell me something about her that will make me believe she’s not just a total bitch.” I ask... I’ll still chase her, but it will be a whole lot nicer if she’s worth weeks of build up.

“She’s a nurse.” He says.

“I’ve known some bitchy nurses!” I argue, but this is kinda hot.

“She was a top athlete throughout her teenage years?” he offers.

“Okay... that’s pretty cool, but still, not a personality winner!” I reason.

“She’s been looking after her little brother entirely alone since she was 19.” He says.

“Damn, that’s what I’m talking about!  She’s nice then?” I ask, taking on the care of someone is in my books a really nice thing... not that I extend that thought to myself, because I don’t.

“She’s nice to me... really nice.  But she gets hit on a lot here by blow-ins and stuff.  Some of them are really gross
; she’s up for your bullshit!  She’ll take you on you know!” he says smiling.

“I’m counting on it!” I say
, because she sounds like she may very well be worth it.  “She comes in daily?” I ask.

“Ye
ah... depends on her shift as to the timing though.” He throws at me... “And no, I don’t have her schedule, so you’re out of luck there Romeo!” he explains, walking back to his counter and back to his invoices.  Before he logs back into his computer, he looks up at me towelling myself and standing nearby, “Don’t fuck her over Ben!  She’s not a game!”

Not a game?  I know she’s not a game
, but the fact is, getting her to fuck me is a game!  It’s a game I’m betting on to win!  So I need to be in my best physical form!  And since I like the fiery disposition; I’m expecting to piss her off immensely by just being my cocky self!

So
now I’ve just decided that my Mum is right. I need to work on myself again, because I’m letting myself go.  So in order to improve my physique, I’m going to stop off at the PCYC on the way home and see if there’s an MMA class there, so I can do some training and sparring.

I give
Paul a knowing look and a wink, before heading to the locker room for a shower.  I know it’s a lot of effort for a fuck, but as I thought before, it could definitely turn out to be more than a one night event.

***

“No, we don’t actually have a mixed martial arts class at the present, because we don’t have anyone to teach it.  But we have Muay Thai and Karate.” The middle aged female behind the counter offers.  She’s a bit bored by the looks of her; maybe she’s had a bad day so far.

“I used to come here when I was a teenager, and I learn
t Muay Thai, Jiu-jitsu and Boxing. I’m a fighter now over in The States, so; maybe I can run some classes?  I’d like to get something going while I’m staying here.”  I explain.

“Well we still have Boxing, but we no longer have J
iu-jitsu.” She explains.  “What did you say your name was?” she asks, squinting at me, like she might recognise me better that way.

“Benjamin Reynolds
, but everyone calls me Ben.” I answer.

“And when were you here?” she asks, a small smile playing across her features.

“Um... I left Newcastle when I was 18, but I trained here right up until I went to Sydney. So, nine years ago?” I respond, doing the math.

“Cliff!” she shouts over her shoulder to the door to
the internal office.  Suddenly, I know she knows who I am, even if she’s never met me, because she’s grinning like a loon, and Cliff is my old Boxing instructor.

“What?” a gruff voice calls back through the door that is only slightly ajar, so people can’t see in to their privacy.

“I’ve got Benjamin Reynolds standing in front of me asking if he can start up a mixed martial arts class!” she shouts back with a huge grin.  Then she lowers her tone, “Hi Ben, I’m Kathy. I think you better get ready for a big reunion... he’s your biggest fan!”

Obviously her day just got better, because she’s smiling
an enormous smile.

Cliff Redmond flies out the door of the internal office and reefs open the door to the admin section, before barrelling out into the foyer area to grip my hand and clap me hard on the shoulder.

“God damn boy!”  He enthuses, shaking his head and grinning from ear to ear.

I thought he was old when I was younger
, and one would expect him to look even older still!  But he looks precisely the same... as wrinkly as an old leather boot.

“Cliff
.” I say, returning his handshake and grinning at my male role model from when I was a teen.

“How’s your Mum?” he asks, leading me to the gym where his boxing ring a
nd equipment is situated.

“Not so good!”  I reply.

“Yeah, I heard you didn’t sign on for this year’s UFC; they reported family reasons, so I guessed it would be your Mum.” He explains.

“Yeah... she’s got t
he Cancer!” I clarify.  “I’m here to help her through the end stages... she’s a fighter, so she wants to extend her visa here in this world!”  I say light-heartedly, but I feel the pinch.

“Damn shame... she’s a fine woman!” he says.

“She is!” I agree, looking around my surrounds.  I came here as a troubled teen without direction.  My Mum was beside herself with what to do with me, so between Cliff, Mark and Troy; I got my three disciplines of training, which lead me to fighting professionally.  I owed it to those guys, and to my Mum!

“Troy gone?” I ask.

“Yeah... he moved away.  Mark’s still here though, putting some lads through their paces; we’ve got some particularly talented ones, some of them may be as good as you were!” he chuckles.

“Do you think there’s room for a class I can teach?”  I ask.

“It won’t be a big class... but yeah, I can think of three young fellas that could be interested in you teaching an MMA class.  One of them will blow even you away.  He’s rough cut, but he’s skilled... he’s got something going on behind those eyes; when he’s in the zone, he’s scary!”  Cliff explains.  I give the man a look of wonderment. I’m surprised he would offer so much praise.  He was always a hardarse!

“Going soft Cliff?” I ask
, chuckling.

“No!” he huffs... “I used to say the same for you... just not when you were around!” he smiles.

We’re sitting on some chairs looking at the boxing ring.

“When’s a good time?  I’ll need three days a week.” I explain.

“Well as you know I do Boxing every afternoon, Monday to Friday, and on Saturday mornings.  But the boys you’re interested in take the same classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  The most talented of the trio, Silas... he also does Muay Thai with Mark on Monday’s and Thursday’s.  The other two do Karate with a guy name Tony on Tuesday’s and Friday’s.  You’d be looking at a later slot, but these guys won’t fartarse you around!” he explains.

I think about it for a bit
; Mum’s in bed by 8:00pm every night... she’s tired, her afternoon rest is really only a slumber, so by then she’s crashing hard.  I could say goodnight to her and be here by 8:30pm.  I’d like an hour and a half session, so at least I can warm up, even if the guys are already!  It should be good!

“Do you think you can arrange something for me?  See if they’re interested, and then I can get the paperwork sorted and start training them
.” I explain.

“Yep... and drop by on Wednesday to see what these three are like.  I should be able to tell you something by then.” He grins.

Ben.

I’m parking out the back of Paul’s gym and I notice the Kawasaki 650 Ninja settled there; and I’m already excited.  I make a rapid exit from my Mum’s car and a rapid entry in through the back door of the gym.  She’s already jogging on my machine
; she’s a little early, but not by much.  She must’ve done this on purpose.

I race into the locker room and throw my bag into a locker and then quickly reef the key out after locking it; almost snapping it off in the process.

Yesterday I was left so delightfully frustrated by this woman I determined that she was not only a match for my sarcastic manner; but that she and I would have real fireworks in bed, and I really wanted that! 

Our
sarcastic banter was ripe with innuendo, insinuations and accusations.  She even slapped me across the face at one stage for suggesting some chest press exercises to improve her pectoral muscles.  I guess being a nurse; she’d know that I may have been referring to her breast size, which incidentally isn’t as bad as I originally thought. 

She wears a sports bra and some sort of tank bra over the top that holds her in while she’s working out, but yesterday, she walked out of the locker room without her jacket on
; and from what I could tell in her singlet tee, she’s got something I wouldn’t mind putting a hand on, if she offered of course!

Before she left,
she noticed me looking at her... so; I asked her what we should do for our first date... what she enjoys doing!  She told me that she has plans that night... (I didn’t give her a day or time)... but for my own enjoyment, I should totally check out a place called
Wild Roses
in Sandgate; because from everything she can gather from me, I’d be totally into that.