by Olivia Jake
So, self-defense lessons it was. Sam begrudgingly knew it wasn’t a bad idea at all. Partially because she grew up in this town, she had seen it change and knew friends who had been attacked. Sam always had a macho streak in her, partly because she had always worked out, she was always fit and strong for a woman. And she knew how to carry herself. She walked with purpose, head up, strong stride, all the things that women know they should do. But, she also knew that as strong as she was, men were simply physically stronger than women. Period.
It was a Saturday morning when the trainer arrived. Sam was in running tights and a tight fitted running tank top. They’d be working out in Laurent’s home gym, so she figured this apparel was appropriate. Laurent seemed to appreciate it too, being that it showed off all of Sam. That is, until the trainer arrived. It wasn’t someone Laurent had ever worked with. This man, Craig, was a self-defense specialist recommended by Laurent’s regular trainer, Jeff.
Craig was, in a word, gorgeous. Model gorgeous. Sports model gorgeous. Laurent, at 6’2” was typically the tallest man in the room. When Craig walked in, he easily had an inch, maybe two on Laurent. And that wasn’t all. He also was at least 15 years younger than him, maybe more, with broader, more muscular shoulders. And, he could have been a professional model. So, he was young, built, beyond handsome, and strong. Sam laughed to herself that this would be a very interesting first, and likely last, training session with Craig. She remembered back to Laurent’s first meeting with Mark, and how he acted. Mark, while good looking, wasn’t even overt about his physicality. Craig, on the other hand, well, that was his job. And damn if just by the looks of things, he did it well.
Sam had a hard time not staring at him. Every time she did, she turned to see Laurent looking at her. Early on, as he was demonstrating something, Craig asked, “Is there something wrong?” to Laurent.
Laurent said, “Give us a moment.” No ‘please’, no ‘thank you’. He pulled Sam aside and said, “Samantha, I see you find him attractive the way you keep staring at him.”
Sam couldn’t stifle her laugh, “Laurent! He’s demonstrating moves and showing me how to do things. I’m supposed to look at him!”
“Merde.” He said as he sighed, shifted his weight from foot to foot knowing Sam was right but not liking the situation any more because of it.
“Laurent,” she said, but his gaze drifted towards Craig as he stiffened, “Laurent!” Sam said louder, which got his attention. He turned back to her, “Don’t worry about him. He’s here to train me, remember? This was your idea!” Laurent actually rolled his eyes which made Sam laugh again, earning a scowl from him.
“So, you’re just looking at him because he’s your trainer? Nothing more?” Laurent asked, some might have thought it was less of a question and more of a command.
Insecurity wasn’t a personality trait of Laurent’s, so hearing him ask that question and seeing him like this, Sam knew the situation could tip either way. The fact was, this Craig was f-ing gorgeous and as much as Sam loved Laurent, she didn’t mind looking at the physical specimen that was Craig. “Yes, Laurent, nothing more. He’s my, our, trainer. Period.”
Laurent ran his hands through his hair and acquiesced, “Ok. But I swear if he tries anything.” Sam, again had to hold back her laughter. If he tries anything, she thought, he’d win, cause he’s a damn trainer training us in self-defense!
But Sam just nodded, smiled and then lifted up onto her tippy toes to plant a quick kiss on is lips, a subtle reminder that she was his.
They resumed their training. Craig spent about an hour showing Sam some basic moves. He also explained that part of self-defense was obviously physical, but part of it was emotional and mental. He explained that he would not only simulate physical attacks, but also ‘play the attacker’ in terms of verbal assaults. His goal was to make it as real as possible. He also explained that there are ways to mentally and emotionally protect oneself and that talking down an attacker sometimes worked along with the physical. Of course, if someone was going to try to hurt someone else, talking might not do anything to change the situation. But Craig wanted to offer as many solutions to as many possible situations as could be presented.
After running through three options for getting away from an attacker coming up from behind, Craig suggested, “Ok, now try them on me. I’m your attacker.” Laurent had been observing everything, but giving them a respectable distance so as not to crowd them.
Craig came up to Sam from behind and grabbed her. Sam tried to implement some of the moves that Craig had showed her, but in a quick instant he had her pinned, throwing her to the ground. He was on top of her, looking down at her as he held her wrists in his hands and pinned her legs with his. Even though this was make believe, Sam went into survival mode, struggling to buck him off, but she was no match for him. And it was already too late. All the moves Craig had shown were to prevent her from getting into this position in the first place. Sam hoped that lesson number two would be what to do when / if this happened again.
Craig started taunting her, not because he was mean, but he wanted this scenario to be as real as possible, “Oh yeah, baby, you like it rough too? That’s right, just try to break free.” He even chuckled as he looked down at her. “What, cat got your tongue? Come on, you know you want it, wearing that little tank top and those, what are those? Yoga pants? God I love those. Can see every curve.”
Sam was struggling at this point. She knew it was fake but she was going along with the scene and wanted to fight him off, “Fuck you. Get the fuck off me.”
“See, I knew you liked it rough!” was the last thing Craig said before Laurent yanked him off of Sam.
“Whoa, whoa, wait, Laurent, hold on there.” Craig was saying, arms up, as Laurent tried to pick a fight with him, “Laurent, look at me, I wasn’t attacking her. I was pretending. I just wanted to see what she’d do in that situation. Dude, I’m not the bad guy.”
Laurent was panting after exerting himself but mostly because his adrenaline was sky high. He couldn’t help how he reacted. Finally, he let go of Craig and walked towards the corner of the gym, pacing for a moment while he ran his hands through his hair muttering to himself. Craig took the opportunity to help Sam up. He reached down offering her a hand but she shook him off knowing that if Laurent saw, his mind might start reeling again. She just smiled sheepishly and got up on her own.
Laurent came back over, looking Craig in the eyes and said, “Thank you, I think that’s all we’ll need from you.” Sam could tell that Laurent wasn’t just pissed, it was more than that. She knew that it was rare that Laurent couldn’t control a given situation. Obviously, his solution to control this situation was to end it. Not a terribly mature response, Sam thought.
As Laurent started to walk away, Sam put a hand on Craig’s forearm, silently telling him to stay. Sam then walked over to Laurent. “Laurent, he was just doing his job.”
“I don’t like someone like him, here, doing that to you.”
“Laurent, he wasn’t doing anything to me. He was assessing how I would react in a similar situation so he could train me.” Sam then turned and addressed Craig, “Craig, you were just doing your job, right?
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Can I ask you a few questions? I’m afraid we might have gotten off on the wrong foot here and before we make any decisions, I just want to make sure we have all the pertinent information, ok?” Craig nodded, “So, I’m going to guess you’re ex-military, right?”
Craig straightened, put his shoulders back and nodded, adding, “Yes, ma’am.” Which sealed the deal.
“And I’m going to guess that you weren’t just regular military. Judging by your discretion and how you’ve handled this situation, assessing both of us, I’m guessing you were special ops or seals or something on that order. I know you probably don’t want or can’t tell me specifics, but am I in the ballpark?” Craig just nodded. Sam nodded in acknowledgment and said, “I thought so.”
“An
d Craig, is it a safe bet that if we were to hire another trainer from the service that employs you, that we’d be sent someone similar?” Now both men looked at her, “Big, strong, commanding, knows his shit and is here to perform a duty.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I see.” Sam turned to Laurent, “This is what you paid for, Laurent. You wanted someone like Craig to come and train me to defend myself. So whether it’s Craig or someone else, at some point you’re going to see a big, strapping young man on top of me, goading me to get me to react, am I right, Craig?”
He nodded again, almost sheepishly now and replied, “Yes, ma’am.”
“Craig, were you trying to hurt me?” Sam asked suddenly.
“No ma’am!” he said as if he were responding to a drill sergeant.
“Craig, were you trying to come on to me?”
“No, ma’am.” This time, he got it and was less offended by the question.
“Laurent, I like the idea of learning self defense. And I like Craig. We can try someone else, but I don’t think you’re going to find someone who’s at his caliber, but ugly, old and weak.” She paused, seeing that she was actually getting through to him. “Do you want to try someone new?” Laurent looked at her and then looked at Craig, and asked,
“This is your job, correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And what you were doing to my girlfriend, my Samantha,” he pulled her to him, “That was just part of the exercise?”
“Yes, sir. I am not here to hurt her. I’m here to help her.”
Laurent exhaled loudly and then looked at Sam, “You like the idea of learning how to defend yourself?” he asked softly.
“Yes. Once again, you were right.” She smiled sweetly at him. “Laurent, imagine how I could have kicked the crap out of all those paparazzi in Paris if I’d had the training.” Sam knew that was a low blow, going for such a sensitive subject, but she needed him to imagine the benefit of this training in a real situation, not just in theory.
Laurent took a moment, and then turned to Craig and said, “Craig, I apologize. I saw a man on top of my woman, and I couldn’t see anything else.” Laurent held out his hand, which Craig accepted. Even if Craig didn’t realize it, Sam knew it was rare that Laurent was wrong, or in a position where he felt he needed to apologize to anyone. Sam knew that, in and of itself, was huge.
“Mr. Román, I understand. And, if you’ll let me do my job, I’ll make sure that at the end of a few months, your ‘woman’ will be able to kick my ass.” Craig said with a lopsided smile. Laurent laughed and nodded.
“Ok, I’ll look forward to seeing that. Now, let’s continue.”
Sam came to look forward to her workouts with Craig, even though they were all under the watchful supervision of Laurent. They were a nice addition to her workout routine, but more than that, she liked the fact that she was learning something new and feeling more and more confident about her ability to defend herself. Up until working out with Craig, she had never realized just how little she really did know when it came to self-defense. Obviously, she hoped she’d never have to use what she was learning, and she also knew that everything Craig was showing her, even as real as he tried to make it, she knew it was all simulated and choreographed.
Sam tried not to focus on Laurent during the workouts. Whenever she would look over at him, Craig would use that opportunity to get her, and remind her to stay focused. “It’s simple distractions when we let our guard down, those can be our downfall.” He would say. Sam thought to herself, my whole life I’ve had my guard up. Ironic that now, I let it down with Laurent and I’m being told to put it back up again.
She knew that Laurent both loved and hated watching their training sessions. She knew he took pride in watching her get better and more skilled, but watching her with Craig never seemed to get easier for him. Not that they ever discussed it after that first session, but Laurent’s mere presence made it perfectly clear that, even though it was Craig’s job to touch, grab, pin and be physical with Sam, he hated seeing another man like that with her. It wasn’t just seeing another man touching her, Sam thought. It was having to hold himself back from being the one who protected her. She knew that his instinct was to step in and take care of her, of any situation. So to stay back on the sidelines and watch went against every part of his nature.
While Sam knew that some women might find his behavior over-bearing, she was flattered by Laurent’s possessiveness. He’d never given her any indication that it could turn into something ugly. He was controlling, but she was an adult. She liked how he wanted to take care of her, but she knew that she didn’t need him to. Perhaps that was why it felt good to her, because she didn’t need it.
CHAPTER 19
In Sam and Laurent’s industry, there were various organizations made up of entertainment marketing professionals. Of all of them, ProMedia was the largest, oldest and probably the one that had the most caché. Executives from all aspects of entertainment marketing were part of this organization, it being one of the rare groups that included clients and vendors on the same board. Sam had been a member for forever but rarely went to their annual conference. It was a three-day event with different speakers from across the industry speaking on emerging markets, the future of advertising and media, audience fragmentation etc.
The few times that Sam did go, they validated why she typically didn’t. The ‘seminars’ where experts (her peers) spoke about, for example, the key to the future of marketing in a new digital world were typically a lot of topline platitudes and rarely had any real substance. Which made sense. Many of the people speaking and those in the audience were competitors. So the likelihood of one agency head or marketing exec sharing the secret to success with their competition wasn’t terribly high. So, in the end, it really was an all day schmooze, with a party to wrap it all up in the evening. Sam had seen her fair share of clients and vendors getting way too drunk together. It seemed like every year there was a story about someone doing something, or someone, in a drunken haze. For Sam, there were more reasons not to go than to.
However, this year, when the email popped up in her inbox, she couldn’t help but take notice. The keynote speaker would be none other than Laurent Román, speaking on the successes and challenges of his new venture, The Network. Prior to working together, Sam had seen his name appear over the years on the ProMedia board of directors. That, coupled with his network, made sense that he would be tapped as the keynote speaker. What surprised Sam was that he didn’t mention it to her. She was going to bring it up but then thought she’d like to see him speak without him knowing she was there. Of course, if he mentioned it, she wasn’t going to hide that she was going, but she felt that since he was the keynote speaker, the ball was in his court to discuss it.
The conference kicked off on a Tuesday, with Laurent’s keynote speech scheduled for that evening. The fact that they typically didn’t spend Tuesday nights together meant neither had to tell the other they’d be at the event. Still, on the day of, Sam was surprised he still didn’t mention it. She tried not to let her mind drift into unhealthy areas, so she decided she’d just go, watch his speech and then go from there.
“So, Sam, you’re going to ProMedia tonight, right?” Steve asked, popping his head into her office. He knew that Laurent was speaking.
“And you’re coming with me as my wingman. You’re not getting out of this.”
“Oh honey, I don’t hate these things nearly as much as you do. Plus, I’m kind of curious to see your man speak. Actually, I’m more curious to see you two together at an event like this.” He said a little too enthusiastically.
“Like we’re a science experiment to observe?” She asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Yeah, kinda.” He smiled. “But in a sexy French media-mogul style science experiment kind of way.”
“That doesn’t even make any sense.” Sam couldn’t help stifle her exasperated laugh.
“Sure it does. Use your imagination. How
many sexy French scientists do you know? Exactly!”
“Whatever. Ok, let’s get out of here by 5. He’s supposed to speak at 6:30 and I want to make sure we don’t miss any of it.”
“My boss can be kind of a hard ass, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to sneak out at 5.” He winked at her and then clapped, “Oh this is going to be so much fun!” he said as he turned and practically skipped out of her office.
Naturally, between client calls and last minute rushes, they didn’t leave until almost 5:45, which was cutting it close, never knowing what traffic could do to a 15-mile drive during rush hour. Luckily, they got there just as everyone was settling into the main auditorium. Sam wished she had gotten there earlier to get a cocktail and relax first, and maybe even surprise Laurent in the reception before, but she’d see him soon enough after.
The lights dimmed and onto the stage walked a very attractive, young blonde woman. She wore a body hugging skirt that came just above the knees, high pumps and a silk blouse. Her spring in her stride accentuated her ‘assets’, which bounced with every step. Sam rolled her eyes.
When she got up to the mike, she adjusted it and then grinned out to the audience as she addressed them a little too enthusiastically, “Good evening everyone and welcome to the 2013 ProMedia conference!” the audience applauded. “It’s great to see such a positive turnout on day one. I’ve seen some familiar faces throughout the day, and lots of new ones! To everyone who’s a first timer, welcome! And to all of our existing members, welcome back!” she giggled a little at the end. Oh lord, who is this woman? Sam wondered. As if on cue, “For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Stacy Little, Director of Events for ProMedia, and it is my great honor and pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker of the evening, someone who I’m proud to call a very close personal friend, and someone who helped me get to where I am today. Ladies and gentleman, Laurent Román.”