She was coming back from catering, trying to stay out of everyone’s way. She knew that something was happening tonight that had all the talent worked up, and she just wanted to stay away from all of them, particularly since she didn’t know some of them very well. She knew David was finishing up with some requested business that the office had asked him to take care so he was still tied up. All of that went through her head as she tried to locate the women’s restroom.

“Hey Carrie, hey Chica,” she heard someone say. She turned to the voice and was greeted by several of the newer additions to the roster, all smiling at her. She smiled back politely. She didn’t know the guys very well, but was always polite, at least at first.

“Hey Carrie,” the tallest one said as he broke into rapid Spanish. The only word she understood was her name, but she knew he was asking her something, just didn’t know what. The other two were smiling and laughing at his comments. She wished she could remember more of her high school Spanish classes, but the only thing that stuck in her brain were numbers and that was only thanks to Sesame Street.

“Pardon,” she said still smiling. The speaker spoke to her again in rapid fire Spanish, so she didn’t have a clue what he said. Several other workers walked by and noticed that the newest additions to the roster had decided to pick on the wrong girl. Most of them just walked away, knowing it wasn’t going to be pretty, once Batista found them. Another voice was heard as he barked at the three in rapid Spanish. She didn’t know what was said, but she understood the tone. She turned to see who it was and was greeted by the sight of Eddie, still scolding the others. She understood the word Batista, but he was speaking so rapidly that she wasn’t sure she heard him correctly anyway. They backed away from her as they listened to Eddie’s tirade. All looked a lot less happy as they turned and fled.

“Thank you, Eddie,” she said to him as he watched the others walk away. She didn’t know Eddie very well, but she knew he was a good guy. She had seen him with his family and with the fans.

“You’re welcome, Carrie. You gotta be careful around some of the guys,” he warned her sternly.

“Um, okay. I know that. What was such a big deal with them? What did they want,” she asked him.

“Mami, I’m not sure you want to know,” he said as he grinned at her.

“Yeah, I do so I know how to avoid that kind of stuff in the future,” she said.

He shrugged and shook his head as he said, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. They were asking you if you would be interested in having sex with all three of them, at the same time,” he told the little lady. She threw her head back and laughed. It wasn’t the response he was expecting.

“That’s rich, Eddie,” she said as she wiped her eyes. “Do they think some women fall for that shit,” she asked.

“Some women do, believe it or not. But they thought you were a fan. Well, a specific kind of fan and they’re the ones that are usually open to that,” he explained to her. She still smiled as she shook her head.

“They thought I was a rat? Do I look like one? I didn’t think I did. Not enough makeup and hair spray for a start,” she giggled. She couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off her face. It was just so unbelievable to her.

“Carrie, you have to be more careful around here. I know you’re still new here, but there are some people that wouldn’t have been as nice as them,” he explained. She didn’t seem to be taking it seriously, he worried.

“Okay, but why are you telling me this and not letting me fall on my ass? Did David ask you to watch out for me?” She had her hands on her hips, remembering her irritation at that discovery when they were still with RAW.

“No, not Dave,” he said. She looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to tell her so she could get pissed. “Cena.”

“Damn it. Does he think I’m so stupid that I don’t know how to take care of myself,” she said quietly, completely forgetting about the recent confrontation in the process. Eddie reassessed the little lady in front of him. He knew that John had asked him to keep an eye out for her to keep her out of trouble. He had a fair guess as to John’s reasons, but didn’t know her very well. He couldn’t help smiling as he thought of this little fireball with his laid back friend.

“Why are you smiling at me,” she asked him.

“Nothing Senorita, nothing.” He walked away from her, knowing that John had a handful with her and asking him to keep an eye out for her looked like it was going to be a full time job.

She waited until after she was finished with the ladies room before she picked up her cell and called him.

“Hey, Baby. I miss you,” he said as he answered his cell.

“What’s the deal with assigning Eddie the task of being my watch dog? You know I hate that,” she said. She could hear him sigh before he spoke again.

“He was supposed to be discreet, what happened?”

“Some big Spanish speaking guys thought I was a rat,” she said, still surprised by it.

“Baby, you okay,” he asked her quickly. Shit, that was exactly the kind of thing he was worried about.

“I’m fine, thanks to Eddie. What’s the deal with you guys, John? You know what a bitch I am, you know how mean I am, why do you worry,” she asked him as she raked her fingers through her hair, knowing it was making it a bigger mess.

“Baby, I know how you are and that is exactly why I worry,” he said quietly. “Where was Dave during this shit,” he asked her.

“Stuck in some bullshit meeting. He seems to get stuck in a lot of those recently. I know he hates them, but they seem to be constant.”

“I know how he feels, I am sitting through that shit too. Guess it must be something that we champs have to go through when we switch, I don’t know,” he said.

“Maybe. Aside from my being mad at you for this Eddie thing, how are you,” she asked him.

“I’m okay, I guess. Too many flies around, as always. Triple H has been helping me with some stuff,” he admitted.

“Absorb everything you can from him and Rick. They’re full of good info. Of course they’re full of some other stuff too, as I’m sure you’ve found out,” she laughed.

“Oh yeah. That too” he chuckled.

“Hey speaking of flies,” she said. Oh here it comes, he thought in reference to his recent activities, trying to prove something to himself.

“You should see Randy. He must be trying to hit some personal best or something. It’s pretty sad, but he seems to leave ‘em all happy,” she laughed. She told him of a few instances where Randy was so exhausted that he couldn’t work very well in the ring, so they had him just do some promo work. John just laughed with her, thanking God that she didn’t know about his recent unsatisfying activities. He didn’t know how guys like Randy could continue that pace and not give a shit about who they were.

“Good thing Vince is with RAW most of the time,” John said. “Not sure how that’d fly if he was there and Randy was too tired.” John had met Vince several times and tried to stay away from him when possible. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but he had a well documented temper so it was best to stay away when possible.

***

She had spilled her coffee down the entire front of her grey suit, so she needed to change. She had grabbed her street clothes from her small bag and went into the ladies rest room to change. She was trying to catch up with Chris and David. They said they’d wait for her just down the hall, past the pop machine. She had enjoyed the switch in brands so far she thought as she walked back to them. The travel schedule was different, and she was using David’s old notes from his previous tenure with Smack Down. Kris’ idea of keeping notes was pure gold, she admitted. David didn’t think it was necessary at the time, but he had come to appreciate their importance. There hadn’t really been any major problems so far. There were some familiar faces she was pleased to see; some from David’s OVW days, and some from RAW. Randy was also here now, so it wasn’t so bad. It was just the fact that it was change that she hadn’t wanted to make, she rationalized to herself.

“Carrie? Carrie is that you?” she heard a familiarly deep sexy voice say.

Oh no, he was here today? Could she pretend she didn’t hear him? No, that was too rude, plus there were too many people around anyway. Her heart started to pound. Oh God, you can do this, she told herself as she gulped and turned to his voice.

“How are you,” she smiled as she turned around and looked up into the eyes of her last serious love. He smirked at her and reached down and picked her up as he said quietly into her hair, “Mini, it’s been so long. You look so good, honey. I’ve missed you.”

To hell with it she thought, and she hugged him back, a full body legs wrapped around him type. She missed him too, and wanted him to know it. He was surprised, but not upset at the hug.

“So do you love, so do you,” she said quietly, as she unwrapped her legs in preparation for being set back down on her own two feet.

“How long has it been?” he asked as he set her back down, not quite ready to believe she was standing in front of him.

“Years, too many to talk about in mixed company,” she winked. He knew she was referring to the many pairs of eyes that were watching the unimaginable scene unfold in front of them.

“Um, can I get you something to drink or…” he left it open so she could decide what she wanted to do and where. God, ever the gentleman to her after all these years, she thought.

“Since we have so much to catch up, please just grab me a water and let’s go chat. You have your own dressing room, right?” She knew he did, but that was for all the eyes and ears that hadn’t moved. It’s like everyone else was frozen she thought. He nodded, walked over to the bucket full of ice and water bottles, grabbed several and took her tiny hand with his free hand. They turned and walked back they way she had come, intent on going to his room for some privacy.

The entire area was silent, not believing what they had just witnessed, ‘Taker knew Batista’s Lil’ Sis? David was stunned into silence. He and Beniot had waited for her to catch up, right where they said, so he had a front row to the entire spectacle. He realized someone was talking to him, trying to get his attention.

Tuning back into, he heard Chris ask him, ”Did you know he knew her?”

“No,” was all he could manage at the moment. The smaller man looked sharply at his friend and realized his friend was just as surprised as the rest. He was speechless.

“I think we have some items that corporate wants us to sign,” Chris said, trying to get the stunned man’s attention. With a small incomprehensible grunt from the larger man, they both turned and walked to the make shift office area to sign the requested items. Off the main area, just inside a hallway, another had watched the scene unfold before the entire crew. He contemplated this new relationship and would try to find a way to turn it to his advantage, if possible.

Once they were safely inside his dressing room, he turned to her again and said with his half smile, “It’s so good to see you.”

She stepped onto a chair, reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and said, “Shut up,” and kissed him deeply.

He was again startled by her action, but responded in kind by putting one hand on the back of her neck with his fingers in her hair and the other on the small of her back. Her fingers stroked the back of his neck with familiarity. The kiss was supposed to have been just a friendly one, but it quickly caught fire and grew into something more than either had anticipated. His hand crept down to massage her ass. God that felt so good, she thought. His other hand slid forward to lightly touch her breasts, causing them to respond to his gentle but familiar touch. His actions eventually were too much for her and she groaned in response. That noise brought her back to reality and she regretfully ended their kiss, knowing that circumstances were not the same as many years ago.

He was quiet as he tried to get his breath back and his mind in gear. He wanted her, just as he had years ago. He thought his desire for her might have dimmed over time, but that kiss had proved him wrong. She felt so good to him.

“Min, I missed you. I, I don’t know...” he stumbled looking for the right words he wanted to say. She still had her hand on the back of his neck, playing with his hair. It used to drive him wild when she did that, and damned if it still didn’t shut his brain off.

She smiled into his blue eyes and said with feeling, ”Honey, I am so sorry for running away.”

He rolled his eyes and said, “Min, I pushed you away. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was all my fault, ya know? I’ve had a long time to think about it. You were young and I was a pushy bastard, it’s a wonder it didn’t happen sooner.”

Since she was still standing on the chair she leaned over and kissed him very lightly this time on the lips.

“Eh, I was just a baby and wouldn’t have known a good thing if it bit me on the ass,” she winked.

He flushed instantly, remembering some of their bedroom antics. She stepped off the chair and sat down on one of the oversized chairs he had been provided. She accepted one of the water bottles he offered, cracked it open in preparation to taking a long drink. She needed to get her stomach back under control and her brain back in gear, she thought. Oh boy, she had thought she was an adult and could handle herself, but seeing him and being back in his arms made her feel like a horny college coed again. Well that’s what you were last time you saw him. She wasn’t blind, she knew she was having the same kind of effect on him.

He was quiet for a few moments as he looked at her. His memories of her surfaced as he remembered how crazy they were together. He watched her hold the water bottle, watched her take a long drink closing her eyes as she did so. She still does that, he thought. She was also twisting her hair, he noticed. He remembered her habit that she had been trying to break since childhood and obviously hadn’t succeeded yet. His mind was a complete mess. He wasn’t prepared to see her today, especially today, he thought. He had another battle over the phone with his wife, this time over nothing important that he could tell. That kiss had felt so right. He had heard that she was traveling with Batista, but didn’t know why since he had yet to run into her, until now. Some folks said they were sleeping together, he doubted it. She didn’t look like she was traveling with a lover, he knew that look.

After a few more swallows of water, she thought she might be ready to try intelligent conversation. “I seem to remember someone telling me he’d retire before he was forty,” she reminded him gently.

He shrugged, “Well, my wife wants me to retire now.”

“Smart lady,” was all she said. They were both silent for a few, absorbing all the differences from the past to the present circumstances.

“I hear you have a new baby,” she asked.

“Yeah, yeah we do,” said the proud new papa with a smile that lit up his face.

“You better have some pictures, or I’m going to have to kick your ass” she warned him sternly. She used to always say that, she never attempted it, but she always warned him with that threat, he remembered.

“What? Oh yeah, sure if you’re interested.” He was surprised that she wanted to see anything related to his current life. He was surprised she remembered that ass kicking joke, too. If life had been different, he wondered if they would have worked out if he hadn’t been so pushy and insistent. He pulled out his wallet and pulled out the first picture of their new baby.

“This is Emma, just after she came home from the hospital,” he said proudly. He wanted to share Emma with her and he didn’t know why.

“Oh, she’s gorgeous. She must look like her mom,” she said to him, knowing he’d get her tease.

“Yeah, she does,” he said quietly. He flipped over to the next picture. One side had a picture of his wife, and one side had a more current picture of Emma. “Here’s a newer picture. She’s three months old in this one.”

“Oh, let me see these better. I’ll give it back. I hope you don’t any money in there, ‘cause I might liberate some of it,” she grinned as she took his wallet from him to see the pictures better. She noticed the picture of the pretty lady, but first looked at his new little girl. She could see the resemblance to his wife, and realized it would get more so as she grew up.

“What a precious girl. You know you’re going to have to lock her up when she gets older, if her momma is any indication,” she said while glancing at his wife’s picture. He didn’t really know what to say to that because he had been thinking the same thing. Boys were so much easier, particularly for dads. She flipped over those pictures to see the next.

“These can’t be your boys,” she exclaimed. Wow, it had been a long time. They were young men now, she noticed.

“Yeah, I know. It makes me feel old when I realize my oldest is almost as old as I was when I started in this business,” he laughed with her.

“Don’t I remember you telling me he was playing basketball and thought that was the only thing important in this world?” She remembered that? He was amazed at her recollection.

“Yeah, basketball hasn’t changed, but girls are also high on his list of priorities too,” he admitted with a chuckle.

“Is he going to get to play in college?”

“Oh yeah. Kentucky,” he said proudly. Just thinking about his oldest made him proud and he couldn’t help smiling.

“Did he really have any choice in the matter,’ she teased.

“Well, not really,” he admitted with a shrug.

“How’s your younger son, Matt?”

“Good, football is his game. Not sure if it will take him through to college yet. He’s just started high school and is doing great in some computer science classes.” She remembered his kids’ names? He was impressed. He wasn’t sure he would’ve, if the roles were reversed. Speaking of that, “What about you, any kids?”

“I have five beautiful kids and they live at my brother and sister’s houses. I let them keep them just so they can feel important,” she said with a wink.

He was surprised. He had thought she would have been married a long time ago and settled with a family of her own. If he had known, he might have done something about it, but his timing was off with her, as usual.

“Just never…?”

“Nah, never seemed like the right time. Plus it is so much more fun being an aunt. I get to fill ‘em full of suger, shake ‘em up and send ‘em home.” They were both quiet for a few moments, lost in their own thoughts.

“So tell me more about your boys, how they’re doing, how often you get to see them. I want to hear about all that stuff.” She did want to know that he was doing all right and would soon find out by what he had to say about his boys. She still had his wallet and was flipping over to some more pictures as he started to tell her about Matt and his latest escapade involving his mother’s car power locking system and some silly string. By the time he was half way through describing how Matt’s mother had been unable to open the car doors, they were both howling with laughter. He missed her laugh, he missed her smile, he didn’t realize how much until now.

There was a quick knock and the door to the room opened, David walked in to their laughter. He was confused by the scene before him. The most revered and feared wrestler in the company was laughing his ass off with Carrie. Great big belly laughs, not just polite laughter. They both looked up as he walked in.

“Hey, I thought I’d come ask you if you were going to eat any dinner,” he said to Carrie, lamely. He knew how pathetic it sounded even to his own ears.

“Oh, I don’t know. How do you feel about dinner, love?” She was drying her eyes, and still giggling.

“Depends, any idea what it is today,” he directed at David.

“I don’t know. I just know Carrie didn’t eat earlier and she asked me to remind her so she would eat something today.” David said as inoffensively as possible.

“You still doing that Min?”

She pulled a face at him, ”Yes” and stuck out her tongue at David. He blinked, he wasn’t too sure how to take this version of his lil’ sis. It was a version that didn’t usually come out unless they were at home.

“All right, let’s go see if you two can clean up the catering area all by yourselves. Make sure to leave a little for me, unless of course it’s icky, then don’t bother.” She had another thought, “Maybe clear out catering is a better word,”

“How can you say that? Everybody loves me. At least that’s what all the internet hacks say,” ‘Taker said with an injured look.

“Yeah, yeah whatever. We all know how full of truth they are. All we need to make this party complete is Triple H and I can guarantee you we wouldn’t have to wait in line,” she giggled.

David never really thought of it that way, but realized she was right. Nobody messed with him or Hunter and nobody ever messed with ‘Taker.

David stuck his hand out to ‘Taker, “Pleased to finally get to meet you. Dave Batista.”

‘Taker took the hand that was offered and gave him a stern shake, “Good to meet you. So you’re the lucky one who gets to make sure she behaves. How’d you get that duty?”

“Eh, wife’s sister. You know how it is,” he grinned at the bigger man.

“Yeah, unfortunately I do,” he grinned back.

“Shut up both of you, before I kick both your asses,” she said sternly to them with her hands on her hips. They were teaming up on her, she couldn’t believe it. But it was nice to see his smile again. She missed that. David teaming up with him was unexpected, but she figured it was some guy testosterone thing, so whatever.

***

He remembered the first time he saw her, he thought she was a kid. She was at the same gym as him, pedaling her ass off on one of the bikes. She had her eyes closed and was focused on something else, anything other than the unpleasant task at hand. He was in town for some odds and ends that the office needed him to take care of and stumbled on the gym by accident.

He came back the next day to use it during some down time. He was frustrated with the speed of the paperwork at the office so he thought going to the gym would help him burn off some energy and clear his mind of the issues of his impending divorce.

He was working on rehabbing another knee injury and was focused on keeping his motion slow and steady while watching some young kid on one of the bikes. She was tiny so he wasn’t sure why she was working so hard on it, but she definitely was. He hated that part of his workout, cardio was never fun but this little one was busting her ass, making him feel like a slug for just working his legs that day. He got up to adjust the machine some more and looked up and realized that she had left the bikes. He scanned the small gym, looking for the kid. He didn’t see her so he walked back around to his bench and literally ran right into her. She looked up in horror at him, recognizing him he was sure.

“I’m so sorry,” she said to him. Her voice didn’t sound like a kid. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.” No, her voice didn’t sound like a kid’s voice at all.

He extended his hand to her,” You okay?” At her quick nod, he said, “Sorry to run into you,” he said with a smile and invited her to call him his given name. She took his hand into her small right hand and gently shook it. No way was she going to be able to call him that, so she’d do what she normally did and not call him anything for now and hope he didn’t get offended

“My name’s Carrie ,” and she smiled back at him. No, she isn’t a kid at all, he thought to himself. “Sorry to disturb your workout. I was just going to do some simple pull ups and then get out of your way,” she said. .

“You’re not in my way, don’t worry about it. I’m just working legs today,” he smiled at her as she went around to the bar anchored to the wall. She nodded and starting looking for something, he didn’t know what. She went to the check in desk and asked for something. The man behind the counter handed her two big phone books. He had no idea what she was doing so he watched her, intrigued. She walked back to the pull up bar and put the phone books underneath it. Ah, now he understood. She was going to use them as a step to reach the bar. He was so used to having difficulties being too tall that it never occurred to him that being too small was equally frustrating.

From his seat on the leg press he was able to watch her variety of pull ups. She started with the standard, then flipped her hands over for thirty more. He was amazed, he watched as she walked her hands apart to make it more difficult and to use more shoulder and back as she proceeded to do thirty more. He was getting tired just watching her, he smiled to himself. She finally called it quits after abusing herself more than the average person, but he was starting to get the feeling she was far from the average gym user. He made a mental note of the time and realized he would make sure to be at this gym tomorrow, in case she was. She fascinated him and he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was her no nonsense attitude about her work out or maybe it was the fact that she was beautiful, but small enough to be a kid, but definitely was not one. Maybe it was all of that and more, he didn’t know or care. He just knew he’d be at this gym same time tomorrow. He watched her give the phone books back with a smile to the guy behind the desk and gather up her water and go in to the ladies locker room.

There were several other men in the gym and he realized all of them had been watching her, because as soon as she left the noise level picked up considerably. He wondered if she was aware of her admirers, he had his doubts. She didn’t seem to be the kind of woman that went to a gym to look pretty and attract attention, she went to work out. He finished his workout and left for the day, knowing he’d be back tomorrow. Problem was, he was back the next day and she wasn’t. He was disappointed, because he wanted to talk to her. He asked the guy behind the desk about her.

“She was in earlier today; she’ll be in later this evening too. She’s been coming here twice a day for several weeks, I don’t know why,” he supplied before asked. That was surprising, she didn’t look like she needed to hit the gym twice a day, she must be prepping for something, was his only logical explanation.

“Do you know what time she comes in the evening,” he asked the helpful counter guy.

“Usually after five, but before six,” he said. The stature of the larger man was making him nervous. He usually just talked to people on the phone, not in person. He nodded his thanks, knowing he’d be seeing that guy again today. He decided to skip his workout and try again in the evening.

His patience was rewarded that evening because as soon as he walked in, he knew she was there. She was back on a bike, killing herself with cardio. He also noted that there were furtive glances her way from several other men in the gym. Regardless, he was going to try to talk to her today. He needed to work on his legs so he waited for the leg press to be free and stayed on it so he could watch her. He didn’t realize that he was also creating a minor stir, due to his sheer size. He waited for her to be finished with her cardio and left the leg press to go meet her. Several others had similar notions, but stopped as soon as they saw the big man approach her.

“Carrie, right,” he asked her quietly. She looked up from her bag with water in hand, and smiled at him.

“Yes,” she responded with a slight smile.

She gathered her stuff to go to the pull up bar. There was a small stack of weights on the floor, from someone switching around but not putting them back on the racks. He followed her because he still wanted to talk to her but didn’t know where to begin. He realized her intent as she started stacking several of the bar bell weights under the bar.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to use that to reach the bar,” he asked her. She was bent to the task of shifting them.

“Yes, it’s the only way I can reach it. I can’t jump that high and the phone books were missing this morning.” He debated with himself for a moment, not sure if she’d let him help her, but he thought he’d try.

“Let me help you. I don’t want to see you fall off those, they aren’t very stable.” There, he said and now it was up to her if she’d let him.

“Oh? Okay. Thanks, that’s a huge help. Why this bar is up so high is beyond me,” she stated while she looked at him.

He could see that she was unsure of him, so he stayed out of her way until she was ready for help. She stretched her neck, her shoulders and her arms, then looked at him for help. He put his hands around her waist and boosted her up to the bar with ease and stepped back. She was so small and so light. His hands encircled her waist easily, he remembered thinking. He stayed out of her way for her pull ups, she did her first two sets of thirty the same as previous, but walked her hands out further than last time and struggled to do thirty more. When she looked like she was finished, he stepped forward to help her down. She looked at him and nodded. He reached up with his hands, once again encircling her waist and set her down lightly.

“Thank you, my knees appreciate your help,” she said with a smile to him. Knees? Now he had something to talk to her about.

“Your knees? Don’t tell me you abuse your knees too?” he said quietly. She nodded shyly at him, not sure of herself around the big man. “That’s what I’m rehabbing right now,” he said.

“Yeah, I remember your workout the other day,” she admitted.

“Are you almost done here? I’d like to talk to you, but would rather find a nicer place than a gym,” he said with a smile to soften his question.

“What? Um, yeah. I’m pretty much done for the day. I have some stuff to do this evening, but it’s not urgent,” she admitted.

“Okay. Meet you back out here when you’ve changed? Does that sound alright to you,” he asked her. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous, but he was.

“Sounds fine. I’ll be about fifteen minutes. Thanks for asking me, see you,” as she turned and walked to the locker room. The big man was aware of other peoples’ eyes on him as he went in to the men’s locker room for a quick shower and change.

He thought he was quick, but she was quicker. She was waiting for him as he walked out of the locker room. He smiled at her and they both headed out the door together. He couldn’t help noticing that she was dressed in jeans and a t shirt, making her look younger than she probably was. Her hair was still damp from her shower but he was pleased to note that she didn’t fuss with it, like many women he knew, including his soon to be ex wife.

“I have to ask you Carrie, please don’t take offence but are you old enough to go in to a bar,” he asked as they walked to their cars in the lot.

“You’d be amazed at how many times I get asked that, so none taken. Yes, I am old enough, thank you,” she smiled at him.

“Where would you like to go? I don’t know this area very well,” he admitted.

“Um, do you want a bar or do you want somewhere quieter? The bars around here are usually packed with students, so they’re loud.”

“Quieter would be nice,” he admitted.

“Okay, follow me and let’s hope I don’t get us both lost,” she said as she got into her car. He remembered they ended up at some park along the river, he didn’t know its name. But he did remember many other details about that night.

“This okay with you,” she asked him. He just nodded as he closed his car door. “I hope you don’t think I’m rude, but I was guessing you don’t want to have to deal with crowds on your off time?” There were very few people at the park, but lots of geese and ducks.

“Here I was, thinking I was in disguise and no one would recognize me,” he teased. She looked up and grinned at him. They found a nice picnic area along the waterfront and settled on a bench. She pulled her legs up and tucked them under her. He watched her and grinned. “I don’t think this bench is big enough for me to do that too.” She smiled at him, but stayed silent. “Okay, it’s killing me. Why do you go to the gym twice a day?” She shifted on the bench at his remark and took a deep breath before answering him.

“I’m training for a tournament I have coming up and I need to build some strength, along with some more stamina,” she explained.

“Oh,” was all he said as he absorbed this news. He felt better knowing she wasn’t just a gym rat. “What do you do when you’re not training?”

“I still have a few graduate courses I have to knock out, then I’m a free woman,” she said as she looked into his eyes. So she is young, he thought to himself. How young are you when you’re in graduate school, he didn’t know because he never finished the first four years.

“I can see you’re trying to do that math, aren’t you?” she smirked. He nodded. “I’m twenty two, last quarter of masters.”

“Last quarter? Isn’t that early?”

“Yes, but I got a head start. Plus the sooner I’m done, the happier I’ll be. Do I get to ask you questions yet?” She looked over at him and smiled.

“Sure,” he said, thinking here comes all the typical fan questions.

“What kind of knee injury do you have and how long is it taking to rehab,” was her first question. Nothing about his profession really, nothing about working with this famous person or that.

“I was stupid and tore my ACL. I knew I strained it, but kept working with it, so it’s my fault,” he admitted. She shook her head.

“I had a similar injury last year and I’m trying to avoid it this time around by building strength. It took longer than I wanted to heal and I don’t want to go that route again if I can help it. Is that why you’re here? In this area, rehabbing?”

“No, not really. The surgeon is in Florida, but I live in Kentucky. I’m here to get some stuff sorted out with the office. Things take forever but if they don’t get it right, it’s a bigger pain in the butt to fix it later.”

From there he asked her what she was studying and he remembered her rattling off something confusing, but knew it had to do with computers.

“What? Don’t I look like a geek to you,” she laughed as she saw his expression.

“No, not at all,” he admitted. He was enjoying their easy conversation and her sense of humor. It had been a long time since he was relaxed enough to laugh he realized.

“Hey, this is a really pretty park, let me show you some more of it, if you’re up to it,” she teased him. She stood up and waited for him and then held out her hand to him. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to hold her hand. He was reminded how small she was as he held her hand while they walked the rest of the park. She pointed out some historical markers along with some offended duck families that they disturbed on their stroll. He was relaxed and enjoyed her easy chatter. Before long, they were back at their cars. He knew it was time to let go of her hand and say good bye.

“Thanks for showing me the park, I enjoyed it and your company,” he said truthfully.

“You’re welcome. I had a good time too.” She was getting into her car so he knew he’d better act quickly.

“What time are you at the gym tomorrow” he asked before she shut her door.

“Ugh, five am. I have a mid term tomorrow, then again at five pm,” she said.

“How about I meet you there at the evening one, I know I don’t want to be there for the early shift. You can show me what you want to work on and I’d be happy to give you my help, if you’ll let me.”

“Really? That’d be great. I can use all the help I can get. See you then and thanks, bye,”

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