by Aimi Myles
Why did I hear the shower? My mind shot to places off limits to visit. If only he knew. The water stopped. Good. Not good. He appeared a few minutes later with the towel clinging to his waist, making sure the carved muscles that detailed his body a little bit below his hips peeked out. Curious to see if that towel would hold, he had my attention.
After squatting down to consult the bottom drawer, I was sure it would unravel. Nope. Too bad because in seconds would have been out of that bed, running to find a towel I could wind up and playfully smack him with real quick. Brayden and Kaz got me a few times with that game. I vowed, but never got the chance, to seek my revenge. Then again, I was glad that towel had stamina because he’d be too tempting.
Deep in my thoughts, Kaz noticed me possibly with my mouth wide open, staring at what was once his back side. His eyes lit up as they opened wider. His hands went straight for his hips, to sit on his skin. No, no, no. I had to stop day dreaming right in front of him. Kaz knew what he was doing. He knew very well. Usually, he’d make a joke. Nothing was said. He returned to his dresser, picked up his clothes, and returned to the bath room to get dressed.
Minutes later he reemerged in some jeans and a T. He began to approach me, and I shut my eyes. He didn’t see me drooling before. I was in the middle of arising from my deep sleep, theta wave style.
The sound of Kaz’s footsteps got louder then stopped as he must have hovered over me. Not wanting to wake me from my slumber, he headed out of his room and closed the door.
I opened my eyes and lie there for a little bit. Kaz liked to play around, mess with me, trick me. Closing the door could have been a test. Not hearing any more sounds, I got up and found that Kaz left a note for me in the bathroom. A silly note, discussing the importance of using the specific towels he laid out for me.
They’ll dry you, comfort you, keep you warm. Make you forget about your troubles after the shower relaxes your tension away. You’ll never want to go home. You’ll want to cook those sizzling fajitas that you made for my eighteenth birthday. And you’ll want to continue through all of your delicacies, pampering me all along the way, while helping to coach me to the world record. So feel free to enjoy this treat below then come join me for the best microwaved breakfast that you’ve ever had in your entire life.
~Compliments of La Casa de Kaz~
I chuckled. Now, I knew what to use against him. If I didn’t get my way, no fajitas. Continuing the jokes, I found that Kaz left a chocolate mint on the towels under the note.
Five seconds into the shower I frowned. How I had missed out on such a luxurious experience, I did not know. Man. Kaz never said anything about it in his last house, only invited me to use his. I, not wanting to feel weird about the situation, stuck to the facilities of his guest bathroom. And I thought that bathroom was great. My fingertips mimicked raisins as I lived in that shower for a little while.
Kaz was right again. The towels were kind and caring. They were warm, having hopped out of the dryer not that long ago. I was curious about how he produced that magic trick but glad nonetheless. All of my dreamy moments halted when I thought about getting dressed. No clean clothes.
I went back into the room to find a plastic shopping bag on the bed. Kaz knew me. He didn’t mind if I had a little look inside. Carefully, I moved the plastic over enough to reveal a few packs of underwear. Women’s underwear in different sizes. For me.
I laughed and was relieved as I got dressed. I became excited when I smelled breakfast coming through the door. That’s some microwave breakfast. I thought you had to cook it to get the same aroma. I sprinted out of that room. He cooked! And it wasn’t burnt.
“How did the lady find her accommodations?” Kaz asked.
What in the world? I know I appeared to be confused.
“What were you watching this morning?” I said and climbed into my seat that was the height of a bar stool.
“Everything was to your liking I hope,” Kaz said.
He put a plate of breakfast in front of me on the small, but tall, cherry wood kitchen table.
It didn’t include egg whites! Yes! He remembered.
“Were you replaced by an alien?” I asked. “The mint, the towels, the garments on the bed, breakfast…”
“The view this morning,” he added.
“What view?”
“The one you gawked at.” Confidence was exuding all over him.
“I don’t recall a view,” I said. “I hadn’t opened the blinds yet.”
“Ah. So to answer your question, I hate seeing you in pain. I did my best to make you forget about he who shalt not be named.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Oh, so his name is—”
“Thou shalt not speaketh of the name in my house.”
“OK, dear sir. But how are we going to refer to your competition?”
“My competition is handled outside of these walls.”
“What if I want to complain?”
“Go ahead,” Kaz said. “I won’t punish you.” I didn’t know how he kept a straight face with that line.
Yeah. I’m keeping that thought to myself.
“So,” Kaz said as he pulled out one of the chairs across from me. “Are you busy today?”
“No.”
“Later on, guess where I’m going?”
“You know, I forgot about the rest of the sobbing I have to do,” I said. “I lost a champion swimmer, and seeing that pool will just bring it all back up.”
Kaz smiled. “It’s good to let it all out as soon as possible. If you keep hanging onto it, you won’t heal. Learned that from experience. Life lesson number thirty five.”
“You mean number four hundred and thirty five.”
“No, I was an exceptional kid growing up. Don’t you remember? Anyway, let’s get back to the conversation where you agreed to help coach me. Get revenge on he who shalt, if it was warranted, by aiding me with your expertise, knowledge, and experience.” He put some toast in his mouth.
“Now, that you put it that way…”
“Be the talk of the whole town. Queen of all queens.”
“Kaz, you were doing well until that statement. I thought you knew me better,” I said. “All that hoopla isn’t my thing.”
“Be a silent partner,” he said.
“Mmmm.” I tilted my head to the side and looked up as I bit my lip. Imagined what could be. No one would think of me as the girl who never made it anymore. Then again, if my secret happened to be revealed, which it would, the fact that I lost so many times would be blasted all over the world. Again. I frowned.
“You nursed me back to health, Mauri. Come on and finish the job.”
I rolled my eye to the side to see him staring, waiting to claim victory.
“OK, enough of that,” Kaz said. “I’m going to get to the cocky athlete side of myself and say I’ll see you there at 2 pm. That gives you plenty of time to go tell your mother about one of the greatest deeds that you’ll ever do.”
“Oh, my gosh Kaz—”
“You’re an athlete. You don’t give up. Not now. Not in the deepest times of trouble. You figure out what you need to figure out. Cry it out if you have to cry it out. You shake off your sorrow. Learn from your mistakes. You get back on your feet. And you win!”
“That was a good speech… I need a recording of it.”
“Mauri.”
“Mmm… Alright.”
“Alright what? I need to hear you say it.”
“I’ll help coach.”
Chapter 7
Mauri
With nothing to do, I hung out with Kaz that day, all the way up until practice. OK, yes I was interested in seeing what other kind of pampering he had in store for me. I also used him to get rid of the rest of my anger for Brayden. And boy had his listening skills improved. I didn’t feel ignored or sidelined at all. I didn’t know I had missed that feeling.
Kaz practiced at a pool in Pinewood, the older facility that we used when we were kids. After crea
ting two Olympic gold medalists, in the same year, Staden got their state of the art aquatic facility. As soon as that happened, all of the college swimmers made the much closer, and super nice, pool their home.
“Here we are,” Kaz said as he parked his truck. “Home of champions.”
“You think they’ll put statues of y’all in front?” I joked.
“And you.”
“If you found Brayden’s vandalized, you’d know who did it.”
Kaz chuckled. “Yeah, Mark.”
“Why Mark? Oh, due to the fight that he and Brayden had.”
“Yeah…”
“Well, he’d have to get in line.” I secured my scarf around my neck and inhaled. “Let’s go.”
The inside hadn’t changed. It was smaller than Staden—a smaller set of benches on the side, not as much wide open space to walk or stand, not as many swimming lanes, and the lights weren’t as bright. We were lucky, however, that it was an indoor pool thanks to the college’s football team.
When Kaz went to put his stuff in the locker room, I thought how odd it was to be one of the only people in there not working. Winter work outs were activities of my ancient past. I turned to the water. It was so still and calm. No one yelling and screaming. No water flying everywhere. No me turning around to the board to see I missed my chance of Olympic dreams by one second.
“Mauri!” Mark cheered. I turned around to give him a hug. I did not remember him as being so bubbly. “Kaz broke down the situation.”
“I’m not here to try and take your place,” I said.
He dismissed my comment by waving. “Agh Mauri. I am not like that. I don’t mind at all. In fact, I may be able to get him to do more things with you. Does he listen to you?”
“I already told Kaz all I would be here to do is repeat what you say. I’m sure there’s nothing new for me to add.”
“Well, two sets of eyes are better than one.”
“We’ll see.”
Mark let me know that his wife did say hi to him for me. Then he teased me about getting insider information from the competition.
“You’re married to Brayden’s coach though,” I said. “You should have the ultimate pass.”
“Oh, no.” He shook his head. “She will not budge. Won’t even talk about flight accommodations with me. But I heard that you dipped your toe into a couple of practices.”
“One and concentrated on the internet the whole time.”
“You had to have watched Brayden a few times.”
“I peeped up every once in a while. If Kaz gets back into the same shape—”
“I am in the same shape baby,” Kaz said, breaking up the conversation. “Watch me work.” He splashed some water on himself then dove into the pool and began doing laps.” I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to handle seeing him too long out of the water. His abs… and then there was his shorts, which he hung, low across his hips. Note one: keep Kaz in the water.
“I’ve got him on autopilot,” Mark said. “He is working hard; I can’t refute that.”
“I see,” I said.
“Most of the mistakes he realizes he makes. When you were in there, you knew too. I’m simply here for him to confirm those thoughts and have ideas bounced off of me. So the job is pretty simple. Watch and wait.”
You don’t have to tell me that again.
Mark and I took a seat on the metal bleachers and chatted about my family, and how Kaz had been improving. We turned our attention to Kaz when he was finished warming up. Mark had him do some vertical jumping exercises, where Kaz would go down to the bottom of the pool and practice quick kicks after pushing up. He also practiced diving and merged it with the skills used in the dolphin kick exercises to develop a strong start.
---
“I’m so tired,” Kaz said as he reclined his head onto the headrest in his truck. He sat on the passenger side. After practice I let him know that I was chauffeuring him.
“That looked tiring,” I said. “So tiring that I feel the burn in my legs.”
“It’s way past burning. I don’t know if I have control of them anymore.”
“So am I dropping you off at your house?” I asked.
“No,” Kaz said. “Your mom wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t visit as soon as I could.”
“Well, if you’re not on cheat day, you will be. She’s going to make you stay for dinner.”
“That’s what I want. Good luck helping me get up once I sit down.”
“Then my dad is going to offer you a drink.”
“I’ll take a non-alcoholic version. Got to save some space for the holidays.”
“Are you sure you want to go today? We can always go next week.”
“I’m sure.”
---
“Hey mom,” I called out, walking into the house with Kaz behind me. “I’m home.”
“I’ll be right down Maureen,” Mom said. “You better have my son in law with you when I get there. I heard he’s back in town, and I heard you saw him. Why didn’t you tell me?”
My mom trampled down the stairs and turned the corner. She was in shock. “There he is! Oh, my you have grown haven’t you?” Mom said with her arms wide open. Kaz ate the attention up and still had his arm wrapped around her shoulders after they hugged.
“I knew I would see you again, Mr. Kaz,” Mom said. “This time, we’re not going to let you go that easy.”
“Good,” Kaz said. “And we have some big news to break to you.”
“You’re engaged!” Mom said and dropped her chin. She patted Kaz on the hand.
“Almost,” Kaz said.
Haha. Almost. Don’t give me a reason to start that dream.
Kaz was waiting on me to say something. “It’s your news to tell.”
“Oh, well I’m going to give the most outstanding contribution that I can give to the world and be Kaz’s coach.”
“Well, that’s a little bit of an exaggeration for that task,” Mom said.
“These statements are from le mind de Kaz,” I said.
“Well, Kaz,” Mom said, tilting her head up at him. “I thought all of those years of practice taught you to go for the win, not second place.”
“Wow,” Kaz said.
“You’re selling yourself short,” Mom continued. “Something like wife and mother to your kids would be a little bit more deserving for Mauri’s description. Food for thought. Don’t worry. We’ll work on it.”
We laughed and headed to the family room. Kaz claimed the reclining chair and fell asleep.
Mom came and sat by my side. “How is Brayden?” She knew exactly what she was doing.
“We broke up,” I whispered.
“When? You didn’t tell me.”
“Yesterday.”
“I’m sorry,” Mom said.
“I know you’re not though.”
“OK, I won’t deny that. You’ve been wasting time with Brayden for too long. I’m sure it hurts to realize what you already knew about him. You may be sad, but look at all of the opportunities you have now. Kaz isn’t going to hold you back. And you know I won’t judge you if you moved on in record time.”
“Mom.”
“I’m just saying. Think about it. I’ve got that mother’s tuition. You’ll thank me later.”
Chapter 8
Unknown
He wasn’t supposed to come back. Not like this! I had him down and out. He wasn’t a factor anymore. He paid for what he did. Paid for the embarrassment I had to endure. Now, he’s walking around town like he runs it. Over in Pinewood swimming his way to the top. Well, he won’t for long.
---
Kaz
“Kaz,” Dusty said as I took a step into his house. “What brings you here?”
“Man, I don’t know what to do,” I said and invited myself to recline on his couch. “You called it back at that restaurant.”
“Mauri.”
“Yeah.”
“You love her.”
“I think so
.”
“You know so.”
“I know so.”
“But you’re worried about her being Brayden’s ex?” Dusty said.
“No.”
“I mean you kept your enemy close, literally. And he took your girl.”
“She wasn’t mine.”
“She was. And now you don’t want to get into a game with Mauri’s heart because Brayden will try and spin it that way. If he wins, you’ll lose her. But you can’t stand to not be around her. I see you stalking her favorite eateries.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “I’ve seen her every day for a week now.”
“But that’s not enough—seeing her once a day for five minutes. You’re in the pool the rest of the time.”
“How did you become so insightful?” I said. “You were the party king.”
“I have my ways,” Dusty said. “So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“You do know you have to apologize. What you said last time would drive any sane person away.”
“But that will bring up all of the emotions and make her sad all over again.”
“If you want her, it’s the only way.”
---
Mauri
Kaz was elated when I told him I’d continue to help him. We had to meet just about every day, making me fight to resist him more and more. He was a great guy, and he seemed to have changed, but I didn’t want to jump into something too fast. I didn’t want to use him to rebound from Brayden. Brayden. That was so strange. The week before exams, he was always around; after we broke up I hadn’t seen him. And I was glad.
Like almost every day after practice, Kaz was hungry, so one day we went off schedule and went out to eat instead of back to his place.
