by K. F. Breene
The progression continued. Donald had to let go because Krista was too far away, so Georgie reached up and grabbed her hip bones.
“Krista, I’m not getting fresh, alright? Please don’t kick me in the balls,” Georgie said as he struggled with her weight.
“Georgio-buddy-o, you need to do some weights. You’re making me feel fat,” Krista said through the strain.
“Are you sure it’s me?” He answered with a wheezing laugh.
“Okay, Krista,” Sean said, “I’m putting you through now. Get ready.”
Krista had her forearms on Bob, making her much too close to his gross, straining face. Georgie was awkwardly trying to grab her lower stomach to hold her up. Sean wasn’t letting go because he knew she would topple to the ground. In short, it was a mess.
“Sean, just let go!” Krista yelled.
“You’re going to fall!” he retorted.
“Let go!” Krista yelled again.
“I got her…kinda!” Georgie exclaimed.
The ref moved in closer, followed by three more guys he’d called in.
“Don’t let the refs touch me!” Krista screamed. “I will not let all this go to waste!”
“We’re just here in case something goes wrong,” The head ref said, hands out.
“Something did—I showed up. Sean let go.”
Sean let go. No one was ready for it even though they were expecting it. Krista went down like a sack of potatoes. Georgie tried to help, but ended up falling with her. She skidded down Bob’s fat stomach and hit the dirt with a loud grunt. A ref fell on top of her, followed by Georgie, followed by another ref.
“Great job, guys,” Krista wheezed to the refs, flattened against the ground. “Good looking out.”
“Are you okay?” Sean asked too loudly.
“I’m fine. It could’ve been worse. I could have rocks in my mouth instead of dirt. Dirt doesn’t chip teeth.”
The whole progression was quickly helped to their feet. Georgie was dusted off, and Krista thankfully wasn’t touched.
“Okay,” she said, looking everyone over. “Dean, you think you can follow my lead? Your hole isn’t as high, but you’ll have to do much the same thing I did.”
Dean looked like a cornered rabbit. “Sean, probably best if you do it.”
Sean smiled and hung his head. “I was afraid you would say that. Alright, how are these two guys going to get me up five feet in the air?”
“Lift you?” Krista asked with candor.
Donald and Dean had a hell of a time trying to get Sean through the ropes. Sean tried to keep it together, and barely did so using all his strength. His whole body was taut, the sun glinting off his straining shoulders. He came through the ropes, looking for someone to hold him on the other side. It was slim pickings. Bob backed away like the coward he is, so Georgie and Krista stepped up with hands out.
“Krista, your arms haven’t a hope of holding me!” Sean yelled, his shirt coming up and exposing his exerted, rippled abs.
“Put your hand on my shoulder,” she said back, trying to get her mind off of him naked. “Me strong like bull—except my arms.”
He did so with both Georgie and her. The difference was, Krista didn’t bother holding his arm like Georgie was—Georgie was a lot stronger. Instead, she put her hands on her thighs and did a wide, half squat. She hoped it would be stable enough. Georgie followed suit.
Sean’s muscular arms held him as Donald and Dean staggered him forward.
“How does a skinny, six-foot guy weigh so much?” Dean asked while the veins were popping out in his neck.
“Muscle is much heavier than fat,” Donald rasped. “Made of denser material.”
It took everything they had to lift him enough to get him through the rope, then they unceremoniously shoved him the rest of the way. The refs ran in again. They did exactly as bad a job with Sean as they had with Krista.
“Bob, make sure his feet don’t hit the ropes!” Krista yelled as the guys were pushing.
Bob didn’t move all that fast, and didn’t get there in time. Luckily, it didn’t matter. Sean came hurtling toward them, the refs panicking, Krista and Georgie accepting their fate, and Sean curling his feet as he fell so they missed the rope—barely!
Georgie held his ground pretty well, having a good 200 lbs to anchor. Krista didn’t. For the second time in a half hour, she went down like a sack of potatoes, followed by Sean. Followed by two refs.
Rather than get up right away, unlike the refs, Sean just laid there, face buried in her neck, upper body sprawled over her. It felt good. It felt like old times when they laid in random spots in the house after sex. She felt his body on her, his heartbeat racing hers, and again thought home.
The bad news was that they weren’t alone.
“Ouch,” Krista said with her arms spread out in the dirt.
Sean slowly got up, then pulled her up after. The way his eyes bored into her said he had exactly the same thought she did. He wanted her. Really, really badly.
“Next,” Georgie said out of breath.
Everyone groaned.
They got Dean through the next highest one, which was only about four feet in the air, then Donald through one in the side that was small, but doable at about three feet. They were all through. Desperately tired, dirty and disgruntled, but through.
No one talked as they followed the ref to an area that had a big rope ladder with lunch awaiting on the other side. All they had to do was climb over. The catch—because there always was one—the rope wasn’t stationary. They swiveled all over the place as they climbed. It took balance. Donald fell off twice. Dean once. Georgie did okay, but cursed the whole weekend after. Sean was like a monkey and Krista did just fine, being that the rope wasn’t high off the ground to incite Krista’s fear of heights. And Bob…well, Bob didn’t fare so well. He did eventually make it, pushed on by Dean, but it took five attempts.
All the attempts, combined with Krista’s acceptance and success, grated on his last nerve. He was about to crack. Krista saw it a mile away. He would not join the team. Of that, she was certain. And because of that fact, if she ever hoped to remain with the company, he had to be pushed out. He had to be humiliated. And she was happy to do so—but the timing had to be right.
Chapter Twenty
After a break and some sandwiches, they charged forward to the next challenge. It wasn’t their idea; they would have stayed on a break for another three hours, but the ref was keeping them to a schedule. Apparently not many of the other regions tackled as many obstacles as L.A. did. Well, actually, they showed up to the same number of obstacles, but not as many actually went through with it. Imagine lifting Perry…
Because of that, L.A. was behind on time.
They went on to puzzle after puzzle, the challenges thankfully getting easier physically, but harder to solve. There were blocks that had to be fit together. There were word puzzles and riddles. All of it intended for the team to work together. And it did, for the most part. Everyone had a say if they wanted it. And most gave input when it was something they were good at.
It was through those challenges that a few things started showing through. The first was those who were melding as a team, and those who were getting farther apart. Donald and Georgie had thoroughly joined team Krista, and had always been with team Sean. Bob was not comfortable with team Sean, and still loathed the sound of Krista’s voice. It was Dean who was the surprising element. He was not drifting with Bob, as he once did. Instead, he tried to participate as much as possible, excited with the challenge and working together. He was also turning a blind eye to the girl. He obviously still didn’t love her, but he didn’t hate her, either. His mind was opening.
This further enraged Bob.
The next thing to come to light was who really led. Sean was the boss. In that, there was no question. But he always looked to Krista for input. Always. Sean would strategize the issue, figuring out what would be best, then turn to Krista. Krista would almos
t always agree, then come up with the shortest path to that goal. It was Krista who looked to everyone around her for input, and fed it back to Sean for the final approval. When they were on par with each other, they were yin-and-yang—everyone else enhanced an already cohesive team.
The last issue was how irritated the ref was getting that everyone tried everything. Bob didn’t want to, that was clear, but he was pushed and prodded to do so. At one point, Krista thanked the man-code. Otherwise, Bob would have walked off ages ago. It was from the ref they learned their only competition was New York, who was also still at it, and who also had most, if not all, of its members doing all the challenges.
“No way they got through the top hole, though,” Georgie said as they walked to the final challenge.
“Your team should really not listen to me when I am speaking into the walkie-talkie,” the solemn ref said in front of them.
“What are we going to do, plug our ears?” Krista asked.
“Speak in Spanish,” Dean suggested.
“I speak Spanish,” Georgie intoned.
“Me, too,” Donald said. “I am taking classes with my kids.”
“Then speak French,” Dean altered.
“I speak French,” Krista volunteered.
“Un peu.” Sean chuckled.
“More than a little!” Krista shot back at him.
Sean smirked.
“Well, speak in muffled tones behind a tree, then, if you don’t want to be heard,” Dean said with a smile and a sigh.
“New York did not get through the top hole, no,” The ref said, resolute. “They passed their youngest member through the hole that Mr. McAdams went through. One person did not finish.”
Krista was about to tally points when they landed in front of their final challenge. There were a bunch of extremely tall trees with ropes and contraptions spread throughout. Sounded great, sure, to an adventurer. To a girl afraid of heights, who didn’t see a way up the tree, and also didn’t see ground under the challenges—since they were in the tree-tops—things were looking dicey. She lost her nerve immediately.
“I give up.” Krista walked over to a log and sat down.
“Can’t,” Sean said as he surveyed what was next.
“I don’t like heights. I don’t feel well. I am exhausted. I am hated. I don’t fit in. I. Give. Up!”
Sean turned around, realizing she was serious. “Geegee, we need you to finish strong. You can do it.”
All time worst pep-talk.
“You need, you need, you need!” Krista shot back in a snot. She was hungry and tired, the two biggest enemies of cohesive team work. It was an extremely bad combination and Sean knew it. She was pushed past her limits, and now he would have to beguile her in every way he knew to turn her attitude.
Proving his point, she said, “Well, I don’t care what you need.” Her dialogue was dry, meaning she was hamming it up for effect. Sean had to thank her desire to continue acting like a 12-year-old in front of Bob for that one. “You always get what you want. You always get your man. Everyone bow down, Sean needs something. Well, guess what? This is what I need: To lay down and die. And here’s what I’ll do for you—let you skip the burial. You’re welcome.”
“Krista, this is the last hurdle. After this, either we’ve won or we haven’t. Just one more.” Sean persuaded.
“What part of I give up did you miss? I thought I was pretty clear. Fire me and move on. Bob wins, I lose. All you men can sleep at night.”
There was a pause as Sean racked his tired brain for tactics.
Into the din Bob said, “She’s right, we don’t need her.”
She was tired and hungry, but not yet mad and unreasonable. Bob had just changed that.
Krista got up so fast her head spun. She rounded on him. “What did I ever do to you, Robert? Did I screw your wife in a past life or something? Why are you always down on me? Do you hate vaginas in your proximity that much?”
Bob’s face got purple and he exploded. It was the show-down each of them longed for, displayed for the whole team to see, within earshot of god-knew-who.
“What do I hate about you?” Bob said, stepping toward her with balled fists. “You’re lazy! I had to work my way into management. I couldn’t lay down and spread my legs to get where I am! You disgust me!”
Krista’s brain flooded with rage. Sean came over to stop them, but everyone else stood very still. Except Krista. She took a page out of John Susan’s book after a case of Red Bull.
“First of all, are you implying that I slept with Tory? Because he was the one who hired me. Second, are you implying you’ve ever worked a day in your useless, good-for-nothing, King-of-all-lazy life? Because I have! I have worked my ass off to get where I am. I did two years of changing everything in my sight, including Phil’s job, thank you very much, to get where I am. I have reduced the company of two salaries, made processes so much better that the operational savings is already starting to pour in, and I always get my job done before the due date. Always! You’ve done none of that. You do your work half assed all the time. Your employees think you are useless. All they do all day is play on the Internet. I’ve beat all odds to get where I am, and-I-am-still-struggling. I prove myself constantly, and I still have it tough. You have a cake walk compared to me. What the hell are you bitching about?!”
“Sean made you manager,” Bob retorted pointedly.
“I became manager after he got hired, okay. And yes, I screwed his brains out. I liked it. I would do it again. But-that-was-before-I-even-got-the-job! Two or more years before he got the job. Are you implying that I am so good that he quit his old job, convinced Tory to hire him and move him from San Francisco to L.A., two years later, just so he could make me manager for my services? Is that what you are implying? Because if you are, you are a real dumb-fuck, Robert!”
“Krista, that’s enough,” Sean said firmly.
Krista froze at Sean’s words. That lasted long enough to take in Bob’s smug grin. Then she decided that she didn’t need this job that badly, and turned to Sean slowly. His eyes widened.
Krista threw her pointer finger at him. “No, Sean. That isn’t enough! You have defended this horse’s ass the whole time. You’ve let him get away with murder. He does nothing, misses his deadlines, talks crap about me, talks crap to me, is a canker to this team, and you say nothing. I miss one detail in a report I did on top of what I was assigned, and you make me drop everything and do it all over. For-a-detail-you-hadn’t-even-thought-of. And this idiot calls me LAZY? That’s rich.”
Krista turned back to Bob with a whoosh. The crazy had been let out and now Krista would let it run its course. “Let me tell you something else, Robert.” She got right up in his face and lowered her voice. “I do my job well. Whatever it is I take on, I do it to very best of my abilities. You sent spies after me in a sad attempt to play 007 and all you learned was that Sean and I were an item once upon a time. I have spies, too, Bob. But my spies are under my management, and unlike you, I am a good manager. If I go down, Bob, I go down fighting. So think about that next time you spread a rumor about me, or everyone will know that you are as useless to your wife as you are to this company, you impotent jerk!”
Bob’s mouth snapped shut and his eyes got bigger than the world. Krista stared him down for a second, daring him to say something, then turned on her heel and walked away.
She’d made it about three strides when Sean said, “Krista, a word, please.”
The way he said it brooked no argument. Sean rarely exerted his full weight as a boss. Usually he would learn his employee’s style and talk to them in a way they could best understand. People thought he was a softy because of that reason. And he was, for the most part. Until someone crossed the line. Then his bending willow routine turned into a willow belt sculpted in steel. Krista thought of him like a rich man’s sword. Pretty, artfully done, intricate precision and detail, but if it needed to, it’d cut you in half.
He was the sword. Krista was
the steel mace. At least today she was. Blunt and traumatizing was the way to get Bob out. She’d just done what was necessary.
Still, Sean was the boss. It had been the wrong day for a stress pressurized hangover.
She followed him with a grimace on her face. She was in trouble. She’d crossed the line. She’d yelled at the boss and a co-worker in the space of ten minutes. Sean didn’t take that kind of thing lightly.
It was definitely time for Krista to seriously entertain Dorito’s. More money and less Bob sounded good to her.
When they were about ten feet away from the others, but still in hearing range, Sean stopped and turned to her. He wanted her chastisement to be public. That was her punishment. Much worse than quiet research. She hated being disciplined in front of people, and he knew it. He was planning on using it, because it had to be done. The way she acted had to be called down.
She hated that she knew all this. Sometimes it was better to sulk into the face of misunderstanding.
Sean started the chastisement in a firm, low tone. “I give you a lot of freedom. I let you have the run of it most times. This weekend I have bent over backward to try and help you acclimate—“
Krista opened her mouth to argue but Sean held up one finger and said, “Don’t.”
There was such dominating force in his eyes and power in his body, Krista immediately froze. He was six feet of cold, hard muscle. He looked perilous, and despite herself, butterflies filled her stomach and her legs got tingly.
But she wasn’t scared for once. His dominating treatment wasn’t bringing dark memories to the surface. The realization of that astonished her. Because he was faster. She could run longer, but he was a faster sprinter. Unlike Jim, who only had a few quick steps, Krista would have to be well in front of Sean—well in front of him—to get away. Her usual fear didn’t surface, though. And it was because she knew Sean wouldn’t chase her. If she got scared because he got animated, he would let her run, then wait for her to return. He would stay right where he was, for hours if necessary, on a cold path in the park, because he trusted she would come back. When the fear rubbed off, and she found herself again, she would return. And ask to be held.
