BEAST (9 page)

“That works for me.”

She smiled at him. “See you tomorrow.
And t
hanks
again
.” She figured that he was only doing this to help her out and she really appreciated it—even if it was just because he felt sorry for the fat lady. He certainly didn’t
need
to work out. He was perfect.

~***~

Christopher stood there momentarily before remembering the camera and then he tucked his head down and left the small gymnasium and headed for the security office. They had different locker rooms than the civilians and as he walked purposefully toward them he noted that not one person gave him a strange look, made offensive references or gave him a hard time for working out with the civilian. He knew they’d been watching because what else was there to do?
So why…?

Damnit, they had a bet on him!

He didn’t mention it and no one tried to encourage him one way or the other. But he wanted no parts of their games and was happy to be left alone. That night he stopped at the supermarket. He’d already picked up his normal groceries for the week Saturday morning. But now he needed extras, like fruit and fresh vegetables. He wasn’t sure what kind…so he just picked several different kinds.

When he got home he picked Maggie up in his big hands and held her up, staring into her kitty face. “Guess what? I made a new friend.” She purred and batted her kitty eyes and he gave her ears a brief stroke before letting her down. He flipped on the CD player and slipped in the Dark Side of the Moon CD while he went about his nightly chores.

The next morning while he waited for Ashleigh he looked into the camera and flipped it the bird. Then he slipped in a mixed tape that he’d just created. There was a little Joan Jett, Summer Madness by
Kool
and the Gang and Us and Them because he knew that she was particularly fond of those tunes. He pulled out the mats and began his stretching.

Ashleigh came in and plopped down next to him.

“Good morning.”

“Morning.
Um, I brought you…” He passed her a thermos.

She accepted it curiously. “What is it?”

“It’s a protein drink. You don’t have to drink it if you don’t…want it.”

“No, I do. Thanks.” She said quickly, not wanting to offend the nice man but truly not wanting a protein drink. They were nasty. She took a quick sip. She took another sip. “This is a protein drink?” It was good. “What’s in it?”

“Protein powder, fruit; mango, pineapple, apple, oranges, strawberries…I wasn’t sure which fruit you liked so I kind of made a medley.”

“You invented this yourself?”

“Yep.”
He grabbed his thermos. “This is what I have for breakfast every morning. Well, mine has less fruit and more vegetables. But I have kind of a strange taste. Vegetables actually taste good to me.”

“Me too.”
She said while smirking. “I like all food—which is my big problem.”

He huffed. “Yeah you say you do, but do you like
brussel
sprouts?”

“Yes; baked as a casserole with sliced onions and cheese. It’s very yummy.”

“Asparagus?”

“On the grill with slight dusting of parmesan cheese.”

His eyes lit up.
“Eggplant?”

“
Sauteed
or roasted, but best on a veggie sandwich.
Believe me Christopher…I like
all
food.”

“You’re a foodie?”

“Yes.” She gave
him a sincere nod. “I would
even eat a cow’s eyeball if it’s sautéed in butter and garlic.”

Christopher cracked up laughing. “I can’t quite go that far, Ashleigh. Head cheese stops me cold. I once thought I saw an eyebrow in a slice of the stuff.” He grimaced. Now it was her turn to laugh.

Christopher never found much of a reason to laugh. Sometimes he thought some of the guys told funny jokes and stories and he would chuckle along with them. But with Ashleigh he actually laughed. She was funny without even trying. Every day he would bring her a new smoothie so that she wouldn’t have to make breakfast before their workout. And since she loved all fruits and vegetables he would blend strange combinations and have her guess them. One day it was green grapes, green apples, cucumbers and spinach. Another day it was carrots, fresh ginger, apples and pomegranate juice.

“You must spend a ton of money on this.” She said as she enjoyed his latest invention; a grapefruit, radish and pineapple protein smoothie.

He shrugged. It cost a lot but he enjoyed creating something that tasted good enough to make her eyes roll up into her head. It was his big quest.

“You should let me give you some money for this.” She said. She had offered before but he had quickly declined. They had been working out together for two weeks and Ashleigh actually understood what people were talking about when they claimed to be addicted to exercising. She looked forward to getting up every morning and getting to the gym. Her body was slow to look any differently, at least to her own eye although she had resorted to pulling out the
smaller
outfits that she had
long ago
outgrown and packed away.

She had even bought new warm up pants because once while doing jumping jacks her other pair had begun to slip down and she’d had to hold them up with one hand. Lance and Kendra kept gushing over how much smaller she was but
each night
she pulled off her clothes and still saw a fat woman…

“You guys, you should meet Christopher.” She said as they met for lunch. She had a chicken
C
easar
salad with balsamic
vinegar
and oil dressing, no cheese.

“You mean the scary man in the basement?” Lance asked. “No thanks.”

“He is not scary.” She stabbed a chunk of chicken and shoved it into her mouth hungrily. “He is about the nicest guy I think I’ve ever met. I kind of want to invite him to lunch with us one day.” He seemed kind of lonely to her. He never said it, but he wasn’t married, no children and whenever she asked about his evening the only thing he ever said he did was play his guitar. He never mentioned any other people except his mother and father.

“And he works with Homeland Security?” Kendra asked with interest. “It’d be nice to have some connections in Homeland Security.”

“Well, I suppose if you are planning a career in international terrorism.” She swirled a tomato in the dressing and popped it into her mouth.

“They make good money.”

“I’m sure.” He certainly spent a ton on protein shakes. “He was telling me that he has to go out and bust drug dealers and gang members.” Ashleigh found herself grimacing. “He doesn’t like talking about it but it sounds dangerous.”

“Did you ever find out about his face?” Lance asked. He was eating a bowl of gazpacho and Ashleigh kept eyeing it.
She
shook her head.

“I don’t want to ask and he hasn’t offered to tell. It’s obvious that he has a
hairlip
, but the scar goes all the way up his forehead and into his scalp.”

“Maybe he got hurt while he was on one of those dangerous missions.” Kendra said. She stared at Lance’s soup with interest
, too
. “Is that good?”

He nodded. “Want some?” Both women lifted their spoons and began eating his soup to
his surprise. He leaned back in
his chair and smiled in amusement.

“Rick and I are going away for the weekend.”

“
Ooo
!”
Kendra exclaimed.

“Romantic weekend?
”
Ashleigh asked.

H
is eyes r
olled
up in pleasure
.
“Romantic…most definitely romantic.”

“He is good for you, Lance.” Ashleigh said and sighed.

He placed his hand over hers. “You’
re going to find your Mr. Right,
Ash.”

“Ivan still asks about you…” Kendra said while spooning more of Lance’s soup into her mouth. Ashleigh looked suddenly uncomfortable. “Damn, I can’t get enough of this. It’s so good.”

Lance pulled his bowl away from her. “You are gaining all of the
weight that Ashleigh is losing,” h
e said. And then his eyes got big. Kendra glanced away guiltily.

“What?” Ashleigh asked while one of her friends kept staring and the other tried to avoid the stare.

“You’re pregnant!”
Lance accused
.

“What?!”
Ashleigh asked.
“But when?”

“God, you
bitches
! You ruined the surprise. I was going to show you the ultrasound picture!
Why did you have to go ruin it?!”
She suddenly giggled happily and they hugged, knocking over Lance’s glass of Sangria in the process.

“Oh my god, you’re going to be a Mommy!” Ashleigh gushed as they patted at the spilt wine with napkins. “Well how many months are you?”

“I am five weeks.”

“You’ve been pregnant five weeks and you haven’t told us!” Lance screeched.

“I’ve only been certain two weeks!” She reached out and took her two best friend’s hands. “You don’t think I was going to hide my pregnancy for the full nine months, did you?”

Ashleigh smiled but something inside of her dropped. Lance had Rick and they were falling in love. Kendra was going to have a baby. When was it going to be her turn?

That night when she returned home from work, she slipped off her shoes, placed her jacket over the back of the dining room chair and curled up on her chez lounge still wearing her pencil skirt and silk blouse. She got up suddenly and slipped in Some Kind of Wonderful. She smiled as she watched Watts playing the drums.

I wish I was cool like Watts, tough like Watts. I wish I was anybody but me
.

~***~

“Hey. You’re kind of quiet.”
Christopher
said,
his accent heavy to Ashleigh’s ears.
She was sipping her smoothie in deep thought. She glanced up and smiled.

“Um…
acai
, cabbage and mango?”

He chuckled. “Not even close.”

“Not even one?”

“Nope.”

“I give up.”

“Green apple, a tiny bit of watermelon, pears and green tea.”

“Green tea?!
That’s cheating. Whoever heard of a green tea smoothie?”

He smiled. “It’s good though, right?”

“Delicious.” He stood and then helped her up. Whenever he gave her a hands up she was again amazed by his height, and of course his big hand swallowed hers. Being a fat woman next to a man that was feet taller than you was good for the ego. She felt dwarfed by Christopher.

“What’s it like being so close to the sun?” She had asked him once. His charcoal grey eyes had twinkled.

“Amazing.”

They went through their workout and when they got to the tenth rep she didn’t even believe it. “We’re done?”

“Done.”

“No
way…I’m
still breathing.”