Chapter 13: JUST A LITTLE HELP

Monday morning, Ashleigh got out of bed early enough to make herself a breakfast of oatmeal and a slice of wheat toast. She dressed in sweatpants that were no longer quite as tight and an oversized shirt. She looked at herself in her full-sized mirror. Why was she still fat? Okay, she was smaller; the scale said it and so did her clothes but she was still round…well, her breasts had deflated. It was the one thing she hadn't minded being oversized.

Ashleigh scowled and drove to work. She had to rush if she wanted to get in a full hour. As she headed for the gym she heard the faint clanging sound of bells. She hesitated, alarms, bells…clocks? And then she realized that it was part of a song. She picked up her pace and a smile came over her face. It was the Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd! Lt. Christopher Jamieson was a god among men for playing Time at 5:30 am!

He was pounding on the treadmill but this time he wasn't wearing his hoodie, just a t-shirt and sweat pants. She caught her breath and her steps faltered. She had never in her life seen such a specimen of a man. His body was sheer perfection! His back formed the most perfect V down to a narrow waist and a round butt that begged to be pinched. His arms were wire tight with ropes of muscles. His short-sleeved shirt allowed her to see that Christopher Jamieson was a ginger! He was covered in freckles…tons and tons of brown freckles over his pale skin.

He turned off the treadmill and lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. Oh god…his six pack was magazine perfect, internet porn perfect, but then it instantly disappeared when he dropped his shirt back down. He gave her a crooked smile…or maybe just a smile that was crooked because of his scars.

"Welcome back. How are you feeling?" he asked in that low rumbling country drawl.

"I wanted to thank you," she said offering her own smile. "Turns out I have type 2 diabetes and I was in pretty bad condition." If not for him…well it could have been bad for her.

His expression became concerned. "Are you okay to work out?"

"Yes, my doctor gave me a clean bill of health. In fact he encourages me to exercise. I just have to take it slow."

He cleared his throat. "Um…if you like I can give you some pointers. I noticed that you don't follow a regimen and I can suggest one that will be more effective and take half the time."

"Half the time?" She allowed her eyes to scan his awesome body before she looked down. "But I wouldn't want to take you away from your workout or anything."

"Well…" Christopher cleared his throat and she saw his face turn red. When that happened the scars on his face stood out like white stripes. She tried not to stare and focused on his eyes. He had charcoal grey eyes; a contrast in light and dark, "I could work out with you," he said hesitantly.

Of course she would accept his kind offer. Who wouldn't accept the offer of a free workout coach from a man with a perfect body? Obviously he knew what he was doing.

"Since you workout every day and I workout every day, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't workout together. It would make it more interesting; that and the music." She glanced at the boom box. Time had ended and another Pink Floyd song was playing. "I don't know that song but I know the album; The Dark Side of the Moon."

"Us and Them," he said while staring at her. "You like Pink Floyd?"

"This album is the only thing I know by the group…well except that song about the Wall. My friend and I watched The Wizard of Oz and he said that if you played this album it would be like a soundtrack to the movie."

"Ah…The Darkside of the Rainbow. Yes, it's pretty cool."

She was surprised. "You've done it too?"

"A few times, actually."

"Me too, a few times," she admitted. She had loved the experience of watching one of her favorite fantasy movies against the strange ethereal backdrop of music. It gave a new, funky dynamic to the classic. "I remember that while this song played they were dancing down the yellow brick road and the music perfectly matched their footsteps."

"Yep, remember when the house got carried away by the tornado? The Great Gig in the Sky was playing and it was almost impossible to imagine that it was only coincidence that the music and action matched so perfectly."

"I was thinking the same thing! There was cackling laughter playing while Dorothy saw visions of the wicked witch!" she exclaimed. She could barely believe that this big tough guy had confessed to watching The Wizard of Oz…and more than once. She couldn't even beg DeAngelo to watch it with her even with the backdrop of Pink Floyd's music. As a matter of fact he had said he didn't want to listen to 'white people music'. He was so dumb. Wait…did she really think that? Yeah, she had and he was!

"Ready?" he asked flashing her that crooked grin again. She smiled back.

"Ready." He made her tell him exactly what she'd had to eat this morning and he nodded in approval. And then they went through a routine that was both fun and much quicker. There were ten reps. He told her to spend only sixty seconds on each, no more, no less. Take a 30 second break between each and then start the next exercise. At first she gave him a questioning look because it seemed way too easy. After stretching they began with jumping jacks. Sixty seconds of jumping jacks wasn't really that hard—other than the fact that she'd neglected to wear a sports bra and her boobs bounced around harder than she did.

Christopher was kind enough not to look and she was embarrassed. He had a stop watch and when he called time they just stood around and talked, about music, about exercise, and then they went on to the next exercise and on and on through ten exercises. She was sweating like a pig at the end but she also felt good.

"Are you okay, Ashleigh?" he asked when she leaned over her knees and caught her breath. She nodded and swiped her brow. He passed her the bottled water. "Stay hydrated." She nodded and took a long drink. "You're not going to pass out are you?" He looked concerned, worrying that he had worked her too hard.

"No." She said while straightening. "But I do have to go and check my blood sugar level. Hey, Christopher, you think we can start working out at six instead of 5:30? I'm going to have all kinds of extra time on my hands at this rate."

"That works for me."

She smiled at him. "See you tomorrow. And thanks 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.