Prepared to Fight

by E. J. Shortall

  “What? Why would you think that? Why would you ask that? What does it have to do with you? And why do you even care?” I tugged on my hand, needing to free myself from him. His touch was doing strange things to me, things I didn’t want to acknowledge.

  His hand pressed down firmer, keeping my palm locked over the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. “There you go again, answering a question with a question… or several.”

  Hearing the slight humour in his voice, I glanced away from our joined hands and up into his face. His scarred eyebrow was raised and the corner of his lips had pulled up infinitesimally, other than that, his features were still expressionless. “Is he or is he not your boyfriend?” he demanded.

  “It doesn’t matter if he is or isn’t. It really has nothing to do with you.” I flexed my fingers again, and this time he let me go. I grabbed a few napkins from the side and began mopping up the spilled water, feeling confused by the direction of our conversation.

  “In some ways you’re right. It really is no concern of mine who you might be involved with.” I nodded and continued blotting up the water. “However, I need to know if I’ll be stepping on someone else’s toes—on Adam’s toes.”

  “WHAT?” I dropped the napkins and spun around to find him standing extremely close to me. “What do you mean stepping on toes? Stepping on toes how?”

  “There you go with the questions again.”

  “Mr. Oakes… Nathan, are we talking here as client-architect or gym patron-arrogant gym owner? I take it from the fact that we concluded our business meeting – rather abruptly might I add—that it is the latter, therefore, if I want to reply to you with questions, I will bloody well reply to you with questions.” My tone was getting louder as my exasperation increased. “Who the hell do you think you are? You come waltzing in here, for the first time ever, making me feel more nervous than was necessary. You ask me bullshit questions that have nothing to do with your project, and then you have the audacity to chastise me for asking a few questions. So, I repeat, what do you mean stepping on toes?”

  Sighing, I stepped back to rest my bum on the edge of the table again, exhausted from my emotional outburst.

  “I want to help you train, Olivia. I watched you yesterday and saw your reactions in the gym. It was obvious you had motive for being there but weren’t confident enough about using the equipment or pushing yourself. I want to put that right.”

  He was watching me?

  Shame surrounded me as I thought back to what I must have looked like wandering around, looking lost and more than a little overwhelmed. And then the hiking on a treadmill at not much more than a snail’s pace, red and out of breath through pure lack of fitness. Oh. God! It was no wonder he saw me, I must have stood out like a bright ‘loser’ beacon flashing in a dark night sky.

  But what was in this for him? Maybe it was just another sales ploy. Pick the most out of shape people to venture into the gym and push personal training sessions on them. Make them see that they needed the encouragement of coaching to help them achieve their fitness goals. In most cases, that was probably true, but I was the type who rebelled against instructions and orders. How I made it through my education with the grades I did confounded my parents for years. So, there was no way I would stand for some fitness freak shouting orders at me to push my big, fat arse that bit further or work that bit harder.

  Not to mention, after paying my rent, household bills and student loans, I barely had enough money left for my daily latte, never mind an expensive gym membership. Putting myself through university had amassed a mountain of debt, and I was determined to pay it off before I splurged on anything else for myself.

  “Thank you for the offer, Nathan, but I’m not in a position to pay for expensive gym memberships and personal training at the moment.”

  “Who said anything about paying? I like you, Olivia, you’re bolshie, charismatic and obviously challenging. And I enjoy a good challenge.” He smirked.

  “I am perfectly capable of working out on my own, thank you very much. I do not want, nor do I need, you to order me around like some sergeant major, pushing me to do things I am not comfortable with and making me puke everywhere. I have a Jillian Michaels DVD I could dust off for that.” He grunted in disgust.

  Ignoring him, I continued. “I’m NOT a challenge, Nathan, yours or anyone’s. You can’t come in here parading your hot self in front of me and just expect me to throw myself at you, begging you to show me your machismo ways like the floozies you usually deal with. It won’t happen.”

  With arms crossed over his chest, Nathan stepped back far enough that he could lean against the wall, smiling. “Oh believe me you are definitely not my usual type.” Nathan threw his hands up to stop me before I released a full-scale verbal assault on him. “What I mean by that is you are different to many of the women I come across at the gym. I see something in you, Olivia. I want to help you unleash whatever that is. I’ll help you with your fitness and whatever else you want to achieve, and you can help me rediscover something I lost a while back. It will be refreshing—for both of us. But first, I need to know if someone else might have a problem with that. If you have some arrangement with Adam, then I’ll back away.”

  I wanted to laugh. In the midst of the craziness unfurling around me all Nathan was concerned about was if Adam and I were in a relationship?

  “He’s my best friend—has been since we were small children. He’s the one that suggested I join him yesterday and got me the trial. Adam knows me, too well sometimes. He could tell how much those comments I mentioned had gotten to me and encouraged me to do something about it. So if I dare show my face in that place again after yesterday, I will continue joining Adam until my trial ends. Then I’ll have to think of another option.”

  Nathan pushed away from the wall and took the few steps to the table, settling down beside me. “If you join me, I’ll give you a lifetime membership. You’ll be free to use the facilities whenever and however you want.”

  My head hurt with the breakneck speed of our conversation. “It’s a really kind offer, Nathan, but I couldn’t do that. Thank you, though.”

  I stood and began gathering up the scattered paperwork on the floor.

  “Olivia,” he said with softness in his voice that totally knocked me off guard. “Please don’t refuse this because of your sense of pride. Just think about it.”

  I paused. “Why, Nathan? I don’t understand what you can possibly get out of doing this. I’m sure your time is precious. You don’t want to waste it on someone like me.” Grabbing the last of the papers, I slowly rose to face him.

  “You really have no idea, do you?”

  My brow furrowed in confusion. “Any idea about what?”

  Shaking his head, he replied, “It doesn’t matter. I want to train you, Olivia. I won’t take no for an answer.

  I could see I was getting nowhere fast with brushing him off. So despite my better judgement, I found myself telling him I would give it a try.

  For the next few minutes, we discussed when we might both be available and what I might expect from my sessions. I had to admit the thought of seeing him in his workout gear a couple of times a week was a definite plus. So when he eventually left, telling me he would see me at eight the next evening, I couldn’t help but smile. Maybe working out wouldn’t be such a chore after all.

  ***

  “What was that all about?” Adam asked, walking up behind me as I was making my way back to my office. “I turned to say goodbye and he’d disappeared. Or rather he’d not left in the first place.”

  I stopped and waited for Adam to catch up.

  Nathan had left the boardroom alone, insisting he could see himself out. That had given me the time to compose myself and try to comprehend what had taken place after our official meeting. In the short time I’d had with him, as brief as it was, Nathan had lit something inside me. Excitement? Joy? Lust? I wasn’t sure. A mix of all three seemed more likely. The one thing I was sure about was t
hat I wanted more time with Nathan Oakes.

  But I was still confounded by what had happened and not even sure where to start explaining it all to Adam. Taking the rolled up plans from my arms, he looked down at me with concern as we continued walking back towards my office. “Is everything okay? What did Mr. Oakes want? Are there issues with the project? Did he upset you?”

  I chuckled to myself thinking how Nathan would be throwing a hissy fit right about now if he’d heard all those questions spewing in a deluge. If one thing was clear, it was that Nathan Oakes was certainly a straight to the point person.

  “Everything’s fine. He was impressed with the plans, said I’d exceeded his expectations.” I grinned and tamped down the overwhelming urge I had to jump up and down, squealing in excitement.

  We reached my office door, and I pushed my way through, Adam following close behind me. He placed the plans down on my small table. “Well that was a given, the drawings are brilliant. If I weren’t my father’s son and the lucky bastard who will be running this magnificent place one day…” I watched as the blue of his eyes darkened. Adam was good, damn good, at building designs and drawing, but it wasn’t his passion. He’d been forced into the field by overbearing parents laying guilt trips on him about keeping the family business going. Growing up, all he’d wanted to do was study people. He found the diversity of every individual deeply fascinating and had wanted to study psychology and what makes us humans tick. Instead, his father forced him into architecture and figuring out what makes buildings tick instead.

  “… I’d be shit scared of losing my job to you right about now. The two guys I escorted out couldn’t praise you highly enough. I think it’s safe to say you blasted this project right out the park.” He grinned, the pride I knew he felt for me lighting him up like a neon lamp.

  “Thanks, Ad, that means a lot coming from you.” I walked to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. He reciprocated, tugging me in close. The weight of the day dropped away, and I sucked in the first deep, relaxing lungful of air I’d had in days. I finally felt like I could breathe properly again.

  We stood like that for several minutes until Adam broke the silence. “You still haven’t explained why he stayed back, Liv. What did he want?”

  Pulling away from Adam’s embrace, I hoisted myself up to sit on my desk. “He offered me a lifetime membership to Golden Oakes,” I replied nonchalantly, like it was an everyday occurrence to be offered such a thing.

  “He did what? Why?”

  Shrugging, I proceeded to explain my rather bizarre conversation with Nathan and what he’d offered me.

  Adam looked horrified. “You’re not taking him up on the offer are you?”

  “At first, I said no. I wanted to tell him where he could shove his challenge. But then he got me thinking. After what happened yesterday with Barbie, I realised I really do need to start taking better care of myself. He is offering me the facilities and the expertise to help me do just that—at a price I can’t argue with.”

  “But I can help you, Liv. Whatever he says he can help you with I can do it too. I’ll nag you, push you, praise you. I’ll even pay for your gym membership if I have to.”

  I lifted my gaze from the floor to meet Adam’s sad looking eyes. “I appreciate that, Ad. And I know you would do that for me and more, but the simple fact is he is the expert and he’s offering that expertise to me for free. I couldn’t say no.”

  Adam began pacing the floor, shoving his hands deep into his trouser pockets. “I don’t get it, and I don’t like it. Nobody ever gets anything for free these days, Liv. He must be after something.”

  And therein lay my only real fear. What was he getting out of it? He had absolutely no reason to be helping me out. There must have been a wealth of loaded people out there happy to pay for extortionate membership fees and personal training sessions. All he would get from me would be an earache when he started pushing me to do more than I was comfortable with and exasperation when I could do no more than a bit of brisk walking on the treadmill.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. But I don’t want to be another statistic, Ad. Just another person who keeled over and died from a massive heart attack due to blocked arteries and a diseased heart.” I slid off my desk and stood looking up into Adam’s eyes again, pleading with him to try to see this from my perspective. “I would be crazy to turn down this offer. The fact he’s hot is an added bonus too.” I winked and walked over to grab the plans to file away.

  A distinctive growl vibrated from Adam, clearly demonstrating his dislike of my choices. But he was just going to have to live with it. I’d made my decision. Being the stubborn mule that I was, I would not back down. I needed to prove to myself, as well as Adam and Nathan that I could and would do this.

  “Liv, I—”

  “Olivia!” The deep voice echoing from my doorway had my smile dropping immediately.

  “Mr. Ashworth, I was just going to—”

  “Well done. You did a great job.”

  For the first time I could remember, a minute smile tugged at the corners of Robert Ashworth’s thin lips. Then with a slight nod, he was gone. Adam and I both looked at each other, shocked. A compliment from Robert Ashworth? Would wonders never cease?

  This had ended up being a great day after all.

  ~CHAPTER FIVE~

  Friday morning I was a bundle of nervous energy. I’d woken up bright and early and momentarily panicked when I remembered what I’d agreed to. Thoughts about Nathan’s ulterior motives also still plagued me. Who in their right mind would offer to train and support an unfit, slightly overweight, self-confessed gym-phobe? And not get paid a penny for doing so. It made no sense. Still, I concluded that he’d made the offer and all I’d done was accepted. I just needed to roll with it and see how things played out. There was every possibility he might give me one day and then decide I was beyond helping. Either that or he would set me up with a workout plan and leave me to my own devices from then on. I was shocked to realise that neither option was acceptable to me. Despite my nerves, I wanted to do this… with Nathan.

  My distinct lack of appropriate work-out attire had been another source of worry. Having witnessed first-hand the Lycra clad die-hards at Golden Oakes, I knew my baggy sweatpants, oversized t-shirt and discoloured old trainers would make me stand out from the crowd. I needed to look the part. So, with that in mind, I’d decided that after work I would grace my local sports store with my presence and hopefully purchase something that flattered rather than shamed. I tried to ignore the fact that I also wanted to look nice and possibly even vaguely attractive for Nathan.

  Looking at the time display on my PC, I saw it was just past noon. Lunchtime. I debated whether to walk down to the coffee shop for my usual latte and Panini or go to the cafeteria on the top floor and just order a standard salad. After all, I should make a start on the new me now, not just in the gym.

  I’d convinced myself that starting as I meant to go on was the way to go when my desk phone rang. “Olivia speaking,” I greeted the caller.

  “Hello, pumpkin. How did the presentation go?”

  “Hi, Mum. How are you?” I replied, smiling into my monitor and ignoring her infuriating pet name for me.

  “Oh, I’m great, just great.” Telephone conversations with my mother required absolute focus at all times, purely to make sense of her ramblings. She already sounded distracted and I had visions of her petting and pruning her poor house plants as she talked. I swear she’d had more conversations over the years with her plants than she’d had with my dad. She also mollycoddled them, overwatering, over feeding and over pruning them until they eventually wilted and died. Thankfully she hadn’t done that to my dad… yet! Of course it was never her fault if they died. She would swear they had draught problems, had been given contaminated water, and sometimes even blamed it on my dad when he knew better than to go anywhere near her beloved plants. The way she looked after those plants was cute in an eccentric kind of way.

&nbs
p; “Mum?” I questioned when she hadn’t said any more. “What do you need?”

  I heard the unmistakable sound of her water spritzer and shook my head, wondering how long that poor plant had before it would be sent to horticulture heaven. “Oh, right. You didn’t phone last night to tell me how the presentation went. So, how did the presentation go? Did you present everything okay?”

  I chuckled. That was Mum, always multiplying her point, several times. Always asking lots of questions. Suddenly, visions of deep grey eyes penetrating into me as a deep sultry voice demanded why I asked so many questions overtook my mind. A tremor ricocheted down my spine as I remembered the sexy, ripped athlete looking suave and sophisticated in his suit, watching me intently whilst he waited for answers to his questions. “Sorry I didn’t call. The presentation went great and yes, I went through everything professionally. The clients loved it.”

  “That’s wonderful sweetheart.” I heard the pride in her voice and sensed her smile. Despite my parents’ initial wariness about my career choice, they had always shown me how proud they were of my achievements.

  The sound of the spritzer echoed down the line again, and I had to prompt Mum to speak again. “Oh right, sorry, darling.” I sighed at her persistent use of pet names. “I was wondering if you would like to come over for dinner tonight so you can tell us all about it.”

  My eyes widened and I unconsciously began shaking my head no. As much as I adored my eccentric parents, I could only take them in small doses. Meals could consist of anything and everything thrown on the table together, and trying to have an intelligible conversation with them was like pulling teeth. Besides, I had somewhere to be.

  “That’s kind of you, Mum, but I’m going out tonight. Maybe another time, okay?”

  “Oh my goodness, you have a man!” she yelled down the line.

  “What? No. There is no man.”

  “Olivia Buchanan, do not try to pull the cotton over my eyes. You have a date.”

  I rubbed my forehead and closed my eyes, feeling the throb of a major headache coming on. I was getting a lot of them recently. “It’s wool, Mum.”