by Twyla Turner
“Simple.” Bradyn took a deep breath. “Those other lasses are vases and she’s a flower pot.”
“Dude, what the hell are you talking about? Vases and flower pots?” Mitch furrowed his brow in confusion.
“Vases are usually beautiful and purely decorative. They’re sleek and sometimes expensive. But they are also the place flowers go te die. They can only bring life to the flower for so long before its empty shell eventually kills it. And if they’re not used te temporarily hold flowers, then they’re empty and meant for nothing more than te look pretty on someone’s shelf or mantel.” Bradyn leaned back in his chair, placed his hands on the back of his head and smiled, before continuing. “Now, a flower pot can be bonnie, painted, or even a little fancy. They can also be chipped and round and even plain. But they’re filled with rich soil and if treated right, they are the place where flowers go te grow. Payton is a flower pot. Those other lasses are vases. I have no need for a vase.”
“Well, shit! I think that’s the deepest thing I’ve ever heard you say. Hell, it may be the deepest thing I’ve ever heard in general.” Mitch scratched his head in wonder.
“Ye need te get out more and talk to more interesting people.” Bradyn chuckled “But it’s the truth of it. I’ve had many a vase in my time, but I’m thirty-two now and I’m looking te grow something meaningful. So I need a flower pot.” He rubbed his hand down his bearded chin. “Ye have a lass of yer own and yer happy.”
“Yeah, man. But I like to live vicariously through you and the ladies you get to tap. Besides, I’m no megastar like you are.” Mitch smiled good-naturedly.
“I’m no star. I just enjoy my sport,” Bradyn denied his popularity.
“Yeah. Keep telling yourself that, Red.” Mitch stood and stretched. “Well, I’m gonna get outta here. See you tomorrow. And try to come with your head in the game, instead of thinking about plump, dark flower pots.”
Bradyn just grinned and clasped hands with his buddy before he left. He breathed deeply and decided to head home himself. His manager on duty could handle closing up shop. He’d earned the early day.
Chapter Ten
“Aww, come on Payton! Talk to us.” Kennedy tried to coax for the umpteenth time as they ran on their ellipticals.
Payton ignored her friend and continued to focus on her breathing. She was currently giving them the silent treatment for interfering with her life. She didn’t appreciate them forcing her to interact with the Red Giant. They know how I feel about large, muscle-bound men. She didn’t understand why they were so dead set on her spending time with him. There were plenty of average, normal looking guys they could’ve tried to set her up with. But no, they had to choose the biggest, most muscular, and scariest looking man to walk the face of the earth.
Luckily, he hadn’t made an appearance so far this evening. Payton hoped that he wasn’t in today. She knew he wanted to discuss the website and just in case, she had done a few mockups and brought her laptop to get a feel for what he wanted. But she still prayed that he didn’t show up.
They finished up their cardio and made their way over to the weight machines. Still no sign of Bradyn. They completed their twenty minutes of strength training. No hint of red hair anywhere, aside from Kennedy’s wild curls. They made their way into the locker room as Payton’s eyes darted around the gym. Nope. Not one bulging, freckled muscle to be seen. She began to smile. It looked as if she was totally in the clear.
Even though she was in a better mood, it still didn’t make her any more talkative to her turncoat friends. They collected their clothes, opting to shower once they got to their own homes. Payton took up the rear as they walked out of the locker room single-file. They turned to head towards the front door. When Mia moved from in front of her, Payton’s heart literally dropped.
Only a few feet away from the locker room door, The Red Giant stood with a small smile on his lips. As if he knew Payton was hoping he wouldn’t show up. Dammit it all to Death Star and back!
“Hello, Payton.” Bradyn began and then looked at Payton’s friends and nodded to them. “Ladies.”
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
“Sup.”
They all greeted him and grinned. Payton would’ve poked them all in the eye with a lightsaber if she had one.
“So I thought I’d wait till ye finished with yer workout before talking to ye about the website,” Bradyn explained his sudden appearance.
“Uh…okay,” Payton said reluctantly.
Bradyn stepped to the side and held a hand out, gesturing towards the back of the building and his office.
“Bye, Payton!” Mia, Royal, and Kennedy all said in unison, wiggling their fingers.
Evil! The whole lot of them!
Her head hanging dejectedly, Payton walked towards Bradyn’s office. As they walked up the stairs, she felt super self-conscious with him behind her. Her ass at his eye level. Once inside, she took a chair on the other side of his desk and warily watched him take a seat as well. His eyes still looked a tad red and irritated, but much better than last night.
“So how does this work?” Bradyn asked.
“You know, you could always create your own website. There are a plethora of sites that enable you to build your own and for much cheaper nowadays.” Payton advised.
Bradyn sat forward in his chair and folded his hands together on top of his desk. He leveled her with an intense look.
“Are ye good at yer job?” He asked.
“Y-Yes.”
“Do ye have a lot of clients?”
“Yeah.”
“So yer not in the habit of convincing potential customers to go elsewhere and no’ give ye money?”
“Well, no.”
“Then why do ye keep trying te get out of working for me?”
“I-”
“Do I smell?”
“N-No.”
“Do ye find me hard te look at? Am I ugly?”
“NO!” Payton denied as she felt the diarrhea rising to the surface.
“Then what is it? I canna figure out why working for me would be so difficult.”
“I-I just think y-you’re doing it to get c-close to me.” Payton stammered, the word vomit choking her.
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“It is for me.” It was right there...
“Why?” He cocked his head to the side. “Did I get my signals crossed? Do ye no’ like lads?”
“Yes, I like men.” …on the tip of her tongue.
“Then what’s the-”
“Because you’re the Red Giant! And I don’t like red giants!” Payton shouted out letting the diarrhea of the mouth fly. She felt her face cringe and her ears heat.
“Red Giant?” Bradyn tested the words on his lips. “That’s what you call me to your friends and in your heid? It is, isn’t it?” He said after seeing a look of guilt pass over Payton’s face. “Which is obviously negative.”
“I’m not trying to be rude or anything. You just kept pushing.” Payton tried to defend.
“What bothers ye most? The red part or the giant part?” Bradyn asked curiously.
“The giant p-part.”
“So ye have a thing against large men, do ye?”
“Maybe a little.” Payton looked away.
“Well, Payton. I’m no’ gonna push ye te tell me why. But I suppose I can kinda guess.” Bradyn paused and then continue with a sigh. “I promise ye this, I will never hurt ye or purposely put ye in an uncomfortable situation. Ye have my word on that.”
“O-Okay.” Payton stuttered out.
There was nothing but sincerity written all over Bradyn’s face. Hmm…maybe he really is the Gentle Giant.
“So let’s talk websites.”
Payton took a deep breath, resolutely accepting her fate. “I made up some mock sites with different styles and looks to them. We can start with that.”
Chapter Eleven
Saturday evening found the girls at their favorite dive bar. It was ac
tually called Dive, not because it was a real one. It was more of a lounge type atmosphere that attracted thirty and forty-somethings.
They’d already had their Saturday lunch, which had carried over to evening drinks. None of them were quite ready to go home yet.
Payton watched as young club-goers walked past the bar on the sidewalk out front. Guys in nice jeans and shirts. Girls in skimpy dresses and sky-high heels.
“Why don’t we ever go out dancing at clubs anymore?” Royal asked sadly as she too watched the twenty-somethings heading to and fro.
“Because we’ve gotten way too old for that shit,” Mia responded honestly.
“We are not too old!” Royal grumbled, offended.
She had barely finished her sentence before a flock of screeching girls came walking past the window. They stumbled along in their heels like newborn foals taking their first steps. The alcohol coursing through their system didn’t help their coordination either. Little snatches of their argument made its way into the bar.
“How could you, Shannon?! I was talking to him all night!” One girl whined.
“It just happened. We were dancing and he just kissed me.” The girl, Shannon slurred and waved the other girl away.
The accuser looked like she was ready to beat the other girl with her purse when Shannon bent forward and lost the contents of her stomach on the side of the curb. The gaggle of girls ran over to help her. The accuser held Shannon’s hair back as she continued to throw up.
“I’m sorry!” Shannon cried once her stomach was empty.
“It’s okay. I love you!”
“I love you, too!”
They hugged clumsily and they all wobbled off to God only knew where.
Royal turned away from the window with a frown on her face. “Yeah, no. I’m good. I forgot for a moment. But I’ve come to my senses now.”
“Good for you. I knew you would.” Mia winked and clinked glasses with Royal.
“So what’s been going on with you and the gorgeous MMA fighter?” Kennedy turned to Payton. “You were so mad at us the other day, you didn’t tell us what’s happening with you two.”
“That’s because there’s nothing to tell,” Payton said before taking a sip of her Vodka Red Bull.
“You’re so lying!” Royal pointed at her. “Your eyes get all shifty when you lie. Spill it, sister!”
“Fine. Do you want to know what your incessant meddling did? Nothing but get him sprayed with a full can of pepper spray. And completely humiliating me in the process. As well as forcing me to have to work for him. I don’t know why you three are so dead set on getting us together anyway. You know how I feel about men. Especially, big ones, like him.” Payton finished her tirade with a scowl.
“You pepper sprayed him?!?” Kennedy exclaimed and Payton winced in answer.
“It’s because I know when a man adores a woman, at least if that woman isn’t me,” Mia informed Payton, bypassing Kennedy’s question. “And that man adores you. Not all big men are abusers and rapists. Just like, not all average guys are nice and harmless. You just have to learn to read the warning signs. What did he do when you pepper sprayed him?”
“Uh…nothing,” Payton admitted reluctantly. “He shouted out in pain, which I’m sure is a normal human reaction. But other than that, he just asked if I could help him back inside and then he asked that in return for assaulting him, that I create a website for him.”
“See!” Mia cried. “If he was some abusive asshole, he would’ve been furious or tried to hurt you or somethin’. At the very least, cussing you out and calling you unsavory names.”
“But he fights for a living! That has to be a warning sign, in and of itself.” Payton defended.
“He fights men his own size who willingly get in a cage with him. Besides, it’s a sport. It’s not like he’s bashing people’s heads in randomly in the parking lot of your local Quiky mart.” Royal reasoned before chugging down the rest of her beer. “It appears that you’ve got a good one. You just need to get out of your own way and go for it.”
“What if he tries to touch me or kiss me?” Payton asked with trepidation.
“Then you’re gonna have to be a big girl and touch or kiss him back. Trust me, you’ll like it.” Mia smirked.
“I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, Payton.” Royal prefaced before continuing. “Especially because I know what you went through and I can’t imagine how that affected you. But sooner or later you’re gonna have to come out of that imaginary room filled with Star Wars posters, video games, and a princess bed and step into the adult life you’re actually inhabiting. Spend time with this man. Try to get to know him. Touch him and let him touch you. Kiss him. Have sex finally! But just enjoy your damn life. We only get the one. Just rip off the Band-Aid, already.”
Payton was quiet for a few seconds. “I’ll have you know, I didn’t have a princess bed. I had a racecar bed, thank you very much.” She raised her head proudly, ignoring Royal’s whole speech.
“Are you gonna try or what?” Royal huffed, exasperated.
“Yes. But I don’t have to like it,” Payton pouted.
“Trust me when I say, yes you will,” Mia spoke up. “When you finally get over your aversion to men and get kissed till you’re breathless and get some D that’s so good you could cry and then make it a little golden crown, you’ll like every minute of it. You’ll be ad-dick-ted.”
Mia, Royal, and Kennedy cackled at their inside joke, while Payton just looked at them and shook her head in disgust.
“You’re all sick.”
“If I’m sick, then I don’t wanna be cured.” Mia grinned slyly as she watched a good-looking man walk by. “You’d do well to get down with the sickness, maybe then you’d loosen up. Now, if you ladies will excuse me, my Doppler Dickdar is telling me the forecast looks hot with a one-hundred percent chance of wetness.”
Mia smiled and then stood up from their table. The three women watched their friend as she approached the handsome gentleman. He turned to look at her and a huge smile spread across his face when he took at the beautiful Latina. Mia said something and leaned into him, lightly and flirtatiously caressing his bicep. The three watched as he instinctively flexed his muscle to make it harder, peacocking for their friend. Mia got even closer and whispered something in his ear, her lips gently caressing the shell of his ear. He looked at her in awe, nodded, and then stood up. He offered her his arm and led her towards the entrance. She winked as they passed by the girls’ table, her generous hips sashaying the whole way.
“Hot damn!!! She’s my hero!” Royal turned away from the door the couple disappeared through, shaking her head in admiration.
“Well, let’s add that one to her list of ‘Zero Fucks Given on this Day’,” Kennedy said, equally impressed.
“To zero fucks?” Royal asked and raised her beer bottle.
“To zero fucks!” Payton and Kennedy shouted as they clinked their glasses.
Their table filled with laughter as they finished up their drinks.
Chapter Twelve
Bradyn spent the next week trying to get Payton to open up. Every day, he came to find her after her workout to go over the website, much to her chagrin. And every day, she told him that he could always call her, which he ignored. Bradyn couldn’t be too sure, but he had a feeling that he was getting under her skin just a little. She fought it tooth and nail, mind you, but he refused to give up.
Normally he would’ve given up a long time ago. He wasn’t exactly in the habit of stalking women or forcing them to do something they didn’t want to do. But her friends continued to give him the thumbs up, and he figured if they were still on board, he was in the clear. And the fact that on several occasions, he had caught Payton staring at him curiously, as if she was trying to figure him out like he was a puzzle, helped him feel better about continuing his pursuit of her.
Staring at him, like she was doing now as he looked over the gym’s website that was still under construction. Brady
n glanced up at her and she quickly looked away and pushed her glasses up higher on her nose.
“I like the drop-down menu and the colors. The site is easy te navigate and uncluttered, but something’s missing.” Bradyn frowned.
“Pictures and videos,” Payton said matter-of-factly.
“But I have pictures already.”
“You need professional pictures of your beautiful facility. And videos of some of your classes.” Payton explained.
“Alright. I’ll hire someone te come and take pictures.”
“Actually, Royal is an amazing photographer. She might be willing to do it for you,” she suggested.
“Thank ye, Payton,” Bradyn said sincerely and she looked away shyly. “Yer a really good web designer. I’m glad ye nearly blinded me, which forced ye to work for me,” he teased.
“I could always spray you again.” Payton tossed back, showing a hint of sassiness.
“No, I think once was quite enough,” Bradyn blinked, remembering how badly his eyes had hurt.
“So…” Payton began and stopped.
“So…?” Bradyn coaxed.
“So, you seem like a decent guy. Why do you like to beat people up for a living?” Payton asked curiously, barely making eye contact from behind her glasses.
“Because I’m good at it?” He posed it as a question.
Payton gave him a look.
“Alright. A long time ago, I was a different person. I was the fat kid. The unpopular kid that got beat up every day. I got tired of it.” He shrugged as Payton looked at him in utter shock. “And someone close te me was hurt and I wasna able to protect her. So I finally took my life into my own hands. I learned Judo, which led to karate, then te jujitsu and so on an’ so forth. I started getting into competitions and one thing led te another and I found my way into the MMA circuit. I was good at it and it was good money. So I continued.”