by Day, Laura
She wanted to cry. She knew it was stupid, but she couldn’t help it. She had come in here hoping something good would happen. She should have known that her good luck streak was going to come to a screeching halt. Now, instead of feeling like she was walking on cloud nine, Marie was holding back tears at the gym. It wasn’t exactly what she had hoped for. Austin had been right. The gym was a stupid waste of money. She didn’t belong in one any way.
“Okay then,” Marie said. “Thanks a lot,” she turned around and walked past the treadmills wiping an errant tear away from her eye. The overly made up woman from before brushed past her giving her a dirty look as she did so. Of course Marie had made a new enemy. Now this was officially a disaster. “No,” Marie said, stopping herself. This wasn’t how this was going to go down. She had done nothing wrong. He had been wrong. “Do you work here?” Marie said turning around quickly, but to her surprise the man was right behind her as if he had been following her.
“Kind of,” he replied with a smirk.
“Well, you’re not very good at it,” Marie said pulling her courage from some hidden depth inside herself. “I was a potential customer and you were just very rude to me. Now not only are you not going to get my business, but I’m also not going to recommend you to anyone I know. So, really, you lose out in this scenario.”
“I actually own the gym,” he said with a sort of shrug.
“Of course you do,” Marie said after taking a deep breath. “That is just perfect,” she shook her head and turned to walk away.
“Why do you want to learn self-defense?”
Marie froze and then she turned around to face him. “It’s a big dangerous world out there,” she said. “A girl’s gotta be prepared.”
Chapter Eleven
Don’t do it Ax-man, he said to himself. It was the beautiful girl he had seen walking down the street. Like a gift from heaven she had just walked into his gym. He almost couldn’t believe it. But he couldn’t have her here. That was way, way too dangerous. The gym was his sanctuary. He didn’t think about women at the gym. But if she were here, he would.
He would always be on the lookout for her. Every time he lifted a weight or did a pushup he would be scanning the gym wondering if she could see. She was a distraction, one he could not allow. But then she turned around and called him rude right his face. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had been so honest with him.
She needed to protect herself. He was almost sure she was running from someone. He looked down at the woman in front of him and something in his gut told him he had to help her. She was right; the world was dangerous and she needed to learn how to protect herself. Axel could be the one to teach her. He could show her how to deal with whomever she was running from. She could be his own personal angel of vengeance. He looked her up and down; she was dressed for a workout in actual work out clothes. That was a step in the right direction. She hadn’t asked him about their selfie policy, which was another good sign.
“So you ready to start now?” Axel asked.
“Now?” she demanded tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked around nervously as if she expected the machines to get up and attack her.
“No time like the present,” he said.
“How do I know you own this place?” she asked, taking a step back.
“Hi,” he said extending his hand. “I’m Axel Connelly. This is Connelly’s Gym. Here,” he walked in front of her and guided her back to the entrance where he pointed at a framed news article with a picture of him standing next the sign for the gym. “See, that’s me.”
“Oh,” the girl said, a blush creeping up her cheek.
“So, I’m Axel Connelly. Who are you?” He hoped she would recognize his name. Sometimes it took people a minute to realize how they knew him. They would touch their hand to their chin and look away from his as they wondered just how they knew that name. MMA fighter, ranked number three in the Northeastern Pro Circuit. He had even been on the cover of a few magazines. But he could tell by her expression that she had never heard of him and his ego dimmed a little at that.
“I’m Marie,” she said taking his hand in a firm handshake.
“You work at the museum, right? My mom is on the Historical Society and she’s mentioned the new caretaker of the mansion is named Marie.”
“That is me,” Marie said.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” he said. “Now, if you really want some training, we can do that. But this isn’t some easy gym class that you can take on a whim. It’s an intense six-week course. You’ll train three times a week with a personal trainer and have access to the rest of the gym’s facilities. You’ll be expected workout between your trainings. Are you really ready for something like that? It’s the training regimen we use for people who want to try MMA. It’s not for the lazy or the weak.”
“I’m in,” she said without hesitation.
“Good,” he said with a smile. “Well, your first training is free, so why don’t go down to the boxing gym and I can see what you’ve got. Then we can sign you up for the full course.”
“Okay,” Marie said.
He could tell she didn’t quite believe herself. She was convincing herself to do this. He could see the nervousness written on her shoulders. She slumped down as she walked and tucked her arms into her body as if she was trying to make herself even smaller. He remembered the town gossip about the single mom who had arrived with nothing. Now she wanted self-defense lessons; this would certainly give them something to talk about at the Historical Society.
He walked behind her, watching the way her ass moved in her tight yoga pants. She glanced behind her as they reached the door and their eyes met for just a moment before she quickly looked away. He pushed open the door for her and, tentatively, she stuck her head into the boxing gym.
“No one down there is gonna bite, go on,” Axel said and she nodded and walked quickly down the stairs. He saw a few heads turn as they entered. It was rare for there to be someone knew in the boxing gym; it was only for professionals and those who wanted to be. But this was the best way to know if Marie could handle it. If she couldn’t, she wouldn’t be able to do the program.
“How much do you weigh?” he asked her.
“None of your business,” she replied, crossing her arms.
He threw up his hands in defeat and walked her to a corner of the gym with a weight rack and a wall of mirrors. “How much physical exercise do you get per week?”
“Um...I have a daughter. So I spend a lot of time chasing her around, but not much more than that.”
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s warm up on the rowing machine,” he said. He set her up on the machine and got on the one next to her. This was not a good idea. Technically she didn’t meet the requirements for their training program. Members were supposed to be in excellent shape before joining. But there was no way he was going to send this woman out of his gym. He was the boss, he made the rules, so he could break them. He would catch hell for it from Hayden, but it might be worth it.
She kept up with him pretty well on the machine. She was a little out of breath and there was light film of sweat on her chest. Axel forced himself to focus. He was doing a job here – that was what he was telling himself anyway. This was his gym and he couldn’t send a potential customer away; she was right: it was bad for business. That would be his excuse if anyone asked.
It wasn’t why he was doing it. He had sent plenty of people out of this gym. He wanted her here. It didn’t need to be a dangerous thing. He could just look and imagine. He could appreciate her without actually getting involved. One training session. He just wanted to see what she was like. They might not be compatible at all. He didn’t need to get ahead of himself.
Five minutes were up and they hopped off the machine. “Let’s see you pull some weights,” he said. He grabbed two eight-pound dumbbells and put one in each of her hand. He turned her so she faced the mirror and he reached around her and took her by the wrist a
nd guided the weights up and down.
“Four sets of ten,” he said and he watched, slightly correcting her form and she lifted the weights.
She was in better shape than he expected. Next time he could bump her up to ten pounds without an issue. Not that he would be training her next time. He was too busy for that. He would assign her to another trainer; maybe Jenny or Lori would be a good fit.
“Good job,” he said as she put the weights down. “Roll your arms and give them a little stretch,” he said. She reached up above her head and Axel forced himself to not look at the way her t-shirt stretched over her breasts. He set her up with another set of dumbbells and watched as she worked. He kept pushing her, expecting her to quit or ask him for a break, but she just grit her teeth and kept going.
Thirty minutes later he brought her over to the squat bar. They faced their own reflection. She was sweaty and her face was bright read. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. She looked at him, ready to hear what would come next.
“You know how to do a squat? Let me see.”
She went down into a squat and stood back up.
He indicated for her to go again and he gently pushed back on her chest to keep from leaning too far forward. “Watch me,” he said. “Don’t let your knees go past your toes,” he said. He lowered himself into a squat and she followed, her form almost perfect. “Good,” he said with a nod.
She stood up and faced him. She was out of breath and her chest rose right underneath her eyes. “So when’s the next training?” She asked him.
Chapter Twelve
She woke up in an immense amount of pain. Axel had instructed her to take an ibuprofen before going to sleep. But she had felt great the night before. She had felt energetic and invincible, like she could do anything. She wanted to run a marathon and paint a masterpiece all at the same time. Now she could barely get out of bed. Her abs and arms and legs were all crying out in pain every time she moved.
She managed to struggle to the bathroom where she swallowed two Advil and then she walked to the kitchen and drank a big glass of water before making coffee. It was her first day off since she had moved here. Her first Saturday. She didn’t need to do anything at the museum. They had a local girl from the high school working the door and giving tours.
But the museum wasn’t open yet. It was still too early. Marie walked over to the security panel and turned the alarms off. She walked down the stairs that led to her apartment and went down into the mansion proper. It was quiet and dark, but Marie never felt afraid down here. The house was just too interesting to keep her away.
Barefoot she walked over the hardwood floor and ducked into the nursery. There were antique dolls and trucks and little trundle beds. In one corner was a small table and chairs all set out for a fancy tea party. Edith had raised eight children, all of them successes. It seemed everything Edith Hawks did was touched with gold.
She could be my saint, Marie thought as she walked through the house in her pajamas. Saint Edith of the museum, patron saint of women in hiding. She imagined Edith would have been proud of her for sticking up for herself the other day. Sure, it was no building a new town, but it was something. Edith would understand that.
She walked down to the parlor and looked out the windows. When the mansion was empty like this, she liked to pretend this was her house. The whole thing, not just the attic upstairs. She would move from room to room like a great lady of an old house in an Austen movie. She would be wearing an old-fashioned dress and sighing about the servants. She would have a gallant and handsome husband with perfect genteel manners.
At eleven o’clock she and Cate walked down to the park. The air was starting to get warmer. It was spring and soon enough summer would be here. They left their heavy coats at home and wore their lighter jackets. It was a bright day and the people of Harksburg were out in full force. They passed a group of ballerinas practicing in their open-air studio and a book club meeting with wine and cheese on a blanket in the park.
They walked past the gym, but Marie didn’t see Axel through the window, so they kept walking. Her terribly hot trainer. He was so strong and almost graceful. She never saw him drop anything. The weights she struggled with were nothing to him. He had walked around the gym with such confidence. She wondered how he had come to own it.
She brought Cate to the park where to other kids from her daycare were already running through the plastic tubing of the equipment. Marie sat down on a bench and pulled out her burner phone. It was a smartphone with a data cap, but, fortunately, the park had WiFi and she was able to Google the name: Axel Connelly.
She wasn’t expecting anything. When you search Marie De Santa all the results were for a biochemist in San Paolo. But Axel Connelly was another story. The first thing that came up was his face; it was a stern-looking picture with the title 3rd in the Northeastern League. He had an actual Wikipedia page. He was an MMA fighter and a good one at that. She scanned through pictures of his bruised and battered smiling face holding trophies and belts.
She looked around the playground shocked. She had no idea her trainer from the other day was a professional cage match fighter. She couldn’t deny that the thought turned her on a little. She watched the last few minutes of his most recent fight. She watched as Axel and his opponent danced around each other. His opponent threw a punch and Axel dodged and returned with a sidekick and a punch right to the side of the other man’s face. He went down in heap as the crowd went wild.
Why had he been training her? He was famous and well known and he owned the gym. Had her threat of a bad review really made him nervous enough to take her on himself? It seemed crazy. Marie stood up and stretched out her sore muscles using the bench to help her. The muscles in the back of her legs were tight and she felt a sweet sort of relief as she stretched them. She had worked harder than she thought the other day.
He had pushed her, really pushed her. But not like Austin. Axel had only offered her criticisms in order to help her. He hadn't been mean or short tempered; he had been patient. She had wanted to impress him – that was what kept her going. It wasn’t fear or intimidation that pushed her. It was something else. It was a desire that came from inside. She wanted to impress him and even more she wanted to prove to herself that she could do this.
He had seen something in her. He had decided that she was worth training and he was an expert. That had to count for something. She stretched her arms high above her and smiled into the sunlight. Maybe she would become a kick-ass fighter. Then she would never need to fear anyone. If she saw Austin she could take him down herself. She wondered how long it took to get that good.
On her way back to the house Marie passed a clothing shop and, with an agreeable Cate in tow, she stepped inside. She had left almost all of her and Cate’s clothes with Austin. She had taken only what she could fit in the trunk and left the rest behind. She was pretty confident Axel had destroyed all of it by now; her grandmother’s quilt and her photo albums were probably nothing more than ash and smoke. But she could make new memories.
She walked around the store looking at the summer dresses and little black numbers, but stopped herself before she bought anything. She didn’t have any plans to go out and the training sessions at Axel’s gym were not cheap. She considered it a good investment, though. Being able to defend herself was worth any price. So she wouldn’t be able to buy anything fun for a few weeks, but she noticed some items she might come back for.
She did grab a few workout clothes on sale. They were black and fitting and little bit more professional than her yoga pants and t-shirt outfit from the other day. She wanted to prove to Axel that she was serious about this. She was ready to work and learn. He could push her as hard as he wanted; she was ready.
Later that night, after she had tucked Cate into bed and the alarm had been set, Marie stood next to an open window in the mansion and looked down onto the little town below. She imagined what it looked like back in Edith’s day. There would be no ele
ctrical light, only fires and candles. She would be able to see more stars. Trees would stretch in all directions and there would no real roads, only cleared tracks in the mud.
What would she have been like back then? Could she have done what Edith had done? Could she have built a town out of nothing? Probably not, but it was fun to imagine. She had another training scheduled with Axel and she was nervous. She didn’t feel stronger. If anything, she felt weaker. Her legs and arms were like jelly and they hurt with every move. But she wasn’t going to quit or pull a no show. She was going to get up and go and prove her worth.
Chapter Thirteen
There was no way he was going to get away with this for much longer. He didn’t train people. Axel hadn’t worked as a trainer in over five years. He made enough money from his fights and the gym that he didn’t need to. So why was he standing at the juice bar in the gym waiting for Marie to show up? He was planning on giving her to another trainer, a female trainer. But when the time came, he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it.
