Chapter 2

The next morning, Lennie rose from his bed a little after 7 a.m. He hadn’t used an alarm clock for nearly a year, except for the few days he went salmon fishing in Puget Sound with a buddy who had an old but dependable fiberglass boat. On those days, one had to be at the dock and pulling away by 4 a.m. to have any chance of catching the early-morning bite when the big Chinook were feeding.

He sat at the end of the oversized kitchen aisle, where he had four barstools along the overhanging side. Eating some eggs, scrambled with sauteed onions and sweet red peppers, and some grainy toast with organic strawberry jam while sipping freshly ground gourmet Costa Rican coffee, he pondered what had happened the evening prior.

Surely Samantha, or Cindy, or whatever that beautiful woman’s name was that he talked with was way, way out of his league. And on top of that, he started thinking about the hollow feeling he experienced after having sex with an escort. In addition, she was 25 years his junior. Naw, he thought to himself, she was only trying to make nice with a stranger for a while.

But then, he thought, she did seem sincere, and dang, she was - to use a phrase of Danny’s - “a stone-cold fox”.

His mind started wandering in a haze of ideas, and it was her brilliant blue eyes and that dazzling smile that he could not shake from his thoughts. She specifically told him that she wanted to go out with him because he was “cute”. Yeah, she used the word “cute”. So there was that.

Suddenly, the front door lock clicked, and the door opened. It was Ms. Olivia Gutierrez, his Latina housekeeper. She visited every Monday and Thursday, cleaning the house, doing the dishes, washing Lennie’s laundry, and changing the bedsheets.

“Hi, Ms. Gutierrez, how are you today?” Lennie asked.

“Everything is good, Mister Lennie,” she responded in her heavy Mexican accent. She had done well learning English as her second language, but still had a limited vocabulary. Lennie had hired her on the recommendation of a friend who had used her for a year but had since moved out of state. She was grateful for her lucky break by being introduced to Lennie and working for him. She was alone in America, except for her young daughter and a brother who had recently arrived from Mexico, and had nobody else to lean on. The steady job from Lennie meant she could stay and support herself, her four-year-old daughter, and her brother—the only family she had.

Lennie always called her Ms. Gutierrez instead of her first name, Olivia, out of respect and to maintain an air of professionalism. He didn’t want her to think he was coming on to her, even though she was a naturally beautiful mid-twenty-something. She was a fantastic, conscientious worker, and he wanted to keep it that way.

“Ms. Gutierrez, I need to discuss something with you.” Her face froze in fear. Was she going to be let go? Oh, please, she thought, keep me on. I so need this job. I can’t lose it.

“You’ve been with me now for three months, and I have had a chance to review your work and remuneration. We need to talk.”

Now the fear started to set in. “We need to talk?” That could only mean one thing: he wasn’t satisfied with her work. Or maybe it was the remuneration, whatever that meant. She had no idea.

“So I’ve been paying you $500 a week, cash, correct?”

She nodded and said, “Si, I mean yes, Mr Lennie. But first, may I ask you a question? What is this remuneration you are talking about?”

Lennie smiled to himself. “That just means what you earn for the services you perform. It’s another word for pay.”

“Oh”. She took a deep breath and realized it might not be as bad as she thought.

“I reviewed everything you’ve done. You’re always on time, and when you leave, the place is spotless. I know I can count on you. You also do little things that are above and beyond your responsibilities. I realized that your remuneration was not reflecting your efforts.”

Oh no! My pay is going to drop! she thought to herself. I need every penny of that to support my four-year-old daughter, my brother, and myself!

“So instead of paying you $500 a week, it will be, starting today, $1,000 per week. Is that ok?”

Her eyes lit up, and a broad smile reached across her face. “Ok? Ok?! Oh my, Mister Lennie, it is great!”

“Good, I thought you would approve. Here is your envelope with the new amount. I have to get going to the gym now.”

Lennie smiled, grabbed his gym bag, and marched out. He never saw the tears of joy on her face as she thought of the many ways she could use the additional money. New clothing for her daughter and herself. Repairs for her old car. A sofa that didn’t have broken springs and threadbare seats.

“Thank you, Mister Lennie. Thank you so much!”

He looked at the wall clock, then left for the gym to be there by 9 a.m. He had just changed gyms the previous week, because the trainer he was using had switched to the new place. This was the first time at the new gym. “Better equipment means more clients,” Matt said.

Matt was his 27-year-old trainer. A former first-round pick, drafted by the Seahawks as a wide receiver, Matt had three good years until the hit that took out his knee ended his career. Lennie was one of Matt’s first clients in his new business and had recommended a few of his friends to help build Matt’s clientele base.

Matt had helped Lennie regain his strength by working a series of light weights, combined with cardio workouts. It was an effective regimen. Lennie felt better and wasn’t winded when he went for a walk or even a jog, as he would have a few years ago. He didn’t have the look of a bodybuilder with a six-pack, but he looked good for his age. He had a knee that had bothered him in recent years, scoped and cleaned up by a knee specialist. The pain went away. He could run again without his knee constantly barking at him.

“OK, old man, time to sweat!” Matt chuckled, walking up to Lennie.

“Are you gonna kill me again like you did last week, Matt?” Lennie groaned.

Matt laughed out loud and retorted, “You’d be disappointed if I did anything else! But I’ll kill you a bit more slowly, how about that? You know that deep down, I like to see you suffer,” he chuckled.

Lennie began with stretching, then did repetitions with the light weights. Each workout, Lennie did the routines in a different order, skipping a few and adding a few others. “We don’t want your body to anticipate the next task, Lennie. Muscle memory will take over, and your workout will not be as effective. Gotta keep those muscles guessing.”

Matt observed and made sure Lennie fully extended himself, needling him if he cut a corner. After that, Lennie went on the treadmill, and Matt raised the angle to simulate running uphill. Lennie lasted for a full half-hour, proud that he reached his goal once again. Then, a half-hour on the weight machines. Up, down, up, down. Deep breaths. After switching from the weight machine to the free weights and completing his routine, Matt gave him a high five and told him to cool down and drink some water, mixed with electrolytes. Sweating profusely while gaining his wind back, Lennie covered his head with a towel and wiped himself down. He then wiped down the machine, cleaning it for the next person.

As he finished and sat back down on a bench, he noticed another trainer, older than Matt, across the room working with a woman who faced away from him. It was a woman with an incredible body and a magnificent ass. The material hugged the curves of her cheeks perfectly as the seam curved into her butt crack, separating each cheek to emphasize how amazing they were. Those buns truly defined what “bubble-butt” meant. It was obviously the tight ass that only a twenty-something could hope to have. She had no chance of hiding that incredible ass in those skin-tight sky blue leggings. She was bent over on the bench, using small free weights with her left hand, then her right.

Damn, Lennie thought, that ass. The material was pulled so deeply between her butt cheeks that each bun was its own entity. Her long brown hair was tied up in a ponytail, which swayed back and forth, back and forth, as she lifted and let go of the weights. She twisted her body back and forth, emphasizing her waist. Then she moved onto leg squats while holding the weights. Up, down, up, down. That incredible ass bent outward at every dip, nearly touching the floor. Amazing, Lennie thought. Her cheeks were as firm as rocks. It was difficult not to stare.

Lennie, still trying to regain his strength after another good workout, gasped when she turned around and looked across the room, right in his eyes. It was Samantha. Or Cindy. She smiled right at him as her trainer was talking to her. He was startled seeing her again so soon. Her presence caught him completely off guard.

Matt noticed his double-take and commented, “Yeah, she’s difficult to take your eyes off of, isn’t she? Tony, her trainer, said she’s been working with him for some crazy long time, like 15 years or something. Oh man, look at her.” Lennie thought to himself, Yeah, I’m looking at her alright.

“Fifteen years?” Matt continued. “She must have started with Tony when she was in high school. And he’s never tried to tap her, even once. Can you believe that? If I didn’t know better, I’d say Tony was gay. But he isn’t, trust me. He’s 45, and he picks up more hot women than I do when we go to a bar together. I don’t get it, she is in-cred-i-ble”, drawing the word out for maximum effect.

“Yeah, she’s most definitely incredible,” Lennie said as his eyes met hers. He got up and slowly but deliberately walked across the room as he carried his damp towel, wiping his forehead one more time. Tony noticed him walking directly towards her and cut off his approach, saying, “Sorry, buddy, this is a private workout, the lady wants her privacy. She has a standing order from me to keep it, right, Sam?”

“It’s ok, Tony, I met Lennie last night. Are you stalking me?” she chuckled while flashing a big smile, letting everyone know she was joking.

Ahh, Lennie thought, she’s using her “stage name”. He wondered if she did this everywhere she went, because she was only working out, not working her profession. “I’m feeling lucky that I’ve run into you twice in less than 24 hours. How are you, Sam?”

Cindy, impressed that Lennie had figured out which name to use, said, “I’m great, now! Although still somewhat tired, I was out late last night.” Lennie blushed. He seemed to be doing that a lot when around this woman.

Cindy finished the last 15 minutes of her workout as Lennie watched her sitting on a bench nearby. When she was finished, she asked Lennie, “Can I buy you a smoothie, or green tea, or something at the juice bar?”

Lennie smiled and nodded. Together they walked over to the juice bar, grabbed a couple of stools at the counter, and ordered their drinks. It was around 11 a.m., and the smoothie bar was empty of other customers. After preparing their orders, the attendant walked away for a while to complete his tasks, leaving them alone.

“Thanks, Lennie, I appreciate your discretion with my name. If you had said my real name, it could have caused problems. I’ve never seen you here before, but you look to have been working out for a while with that cute trainer.” Cindy said, tossing her head toward Matt. “He looks like a kid.”

“Oh, Matt? He’s 27, I think. He used to play for the Seahawks until his knee got blown out. He just moved over to this gym a few days ago. I’ve been working with Matt for over a year now.” Lennie was trying, and failing, to come up with some witty conversation to impress her. But he was worn from the workout, and besides, he was seldom witty in the morning.

As their conversation continued, suddenly, Cindy’s phone rang from her small carry bag. Lennie looked down and into her open bag and saw two phones.

She answered. Lennie listened. “Uh huh, I’m Samantha, how did you get my number? ... From DJ, okay ... Yeah, maybe ... Sure, I’ll do that ... The Olympic at 7 p.m.? Sure ... Until midnight? ... Yeah ... ten, yes ... Right ... A black blazer with a gold chain? ... Okay, see you then, Dennis.”

At the same moment that Lennie’s face noticeably sagged, Cindy said, “You must think I’m a real slut.”

“No, Cindy, as I told you last night, it isn’t my place to pass judgment on a person I’ve just met. I was actually working up my courage to ask you out this evening. If you have other plans, I get it.”

“Yeah, it’s what I do. It’s my profession, and it pays well. And I’m really good at it.” Cindy, or it must be Sam now, didn’t sound defensive or arrogant as she said it. She looked directly into Lennie’s eyes and smiled, showing no regret at the phone conversation. “There is a lot more to my job than just spreading my legs. Most of the time, I work on my clients’ brains and emotions a lot more than their bodies.”

She replayed the last 12 hours in her mind, and after another sip of her smoothie, said, “You’ve seen me finish an encounter and then another ten thousand dollar encounter in two days, and now a third. Trust me, that’s not normal. But when opportunity arises, it’s kind of a waste not to take advantage of it.”

Lennie didn’t really know where to take the conversation. He had a lot of questions, most of them very personal. So he figured that being himself would be the best action plan.

Lennie looked around to make sure nobody was within earshot. “Cindy, I have to say, my mind is going in a dozen directions right now. Other than small talk after a date as she was getting dressed to leave, I’ve never had a regular, normal talk with an escort. I don’t know why I’m so tongue-tied when conversing with you. I’m trying to understand if it’s your occupation or your beauty. Or both. Or even something else. I’m just a confused old man.” Lennie chuckled, using his age as a crutch for his nervousness.

“You’re not old, Lennie,” Cindy countered, as she lightly slapped his upper arm. “You are witty, in good shape, and seem to be a kind soul. Now, quit putting yourself down; it is very unbecoming of you. You have a lot to work with.”

There were a few moments of silence as they stared into each other’s eyes. He wanted her in his presence, talking and smiling the way they are doing now. Suddenly, Lennie blurted out, “Cindy, do you like fish and chips?”

“Yes, if it’s good fish. What were you thinking?”

“How about a luncheon date next Wednesday. Informal. Very informal. We will get fish and chips from Spud’s on Alki Beach, then we can go across the street and sit on the beach in the sand. We can see all of downtown, Elliott Bay, and part of Puget Sound. It’s a great view. I’d like to get to know you better. You’re exquisitely attractive, of course, you know that, but I have to say it.”