Chapter 121

I saw Melissa and Conny heading out the door as I made my way into the exercise room.

“I thought you’d be in there waiting for me,” I joked.

“One show per night, perv,” Melissa rejoined.

“Good to see how far your dedication goes,” I answered with a wink.

“You’ll be fine,” Conny told me. “See you tomorrow.”

They offered another wave and departed to return to their lives.

I opened the door and stopped in my tracks.

Ben was standing in the middle of the room in a pair of bicycle shorts, a tank top and a purple headband. He was doing jumping jacks – and he looked ridiculous. He reminded me of the old workout videos that we’d sold at a yard sale when I was a kid. Ben was thin and didn’t have much of a body anywhere. He was basically a straight line from his shoulders to his feet.

“I drew the short straw,” he told me. “These are the tightest pants I have. Just keep your leers to yourself, pal.”

I started laughing so hard that I made myself cough. Ben joined in.

“Conny told me how much fun it was to torment you so I thought I’d give it a shot,” Ben told me. “You know, it sort of lacks something.”

“I can tell ya what’s lacking if you want me to,” I replied.

“Boobs,” Ben answered.

“You pretty much got it on the first try,” I said, still chuckling. “Shit. That was hilarious.”

“You should thank your lucky stars I wasn’t bent over to give you a butt shot,” Ben told me.

“I will be sure to say that to the appropriate deity tonight,” I answered.

“On a serious note, do you need somebody to stick around to help you out?” he wondered.

“Nope,” I said. “I’m good.”

“Too bad,” he said. “I was going to offer. I figure my family has to do its part.”

“You know,” I said, glancing around dramatically, “I saw a movie a couple of years ago that had Kim in it. She was in these little Daisy Dukes and...”

I bit my knuckle.

“They’re called ‘jorts, ‘“ I heard from behind me. “You cut off the jeans into shorts... ‘jorts.’”

I turned to find Kim coming through the door. She was wearing workout gear ... although nothing like I’d seen earlier in the day. She wore loose gray track pants with reflective piping along the legs, a baggy white T-shirt and a cap on her head.

I was still looking at her when Ben patted me softly on the back.

“Like I said, my family has to do its part,” he said. “I know you’d rather gawk at this physique but Kim pulled rank. So you’re stuck with her.”

She leaned over and kissed her husband on the cheek.

“I like your physique,” she told him. She pinched his butt for good measure.

“The boys and I will be in the pool,” Ben told her. “Have fun.”

“I will,” I answered for her. He laughed and rolled his eyes as he headed out the door.

Kim rolled her eyes as she neared the lone piece of traditional exercise equipment in the room – a treadmill.

“I am a mother of two and a Golden Globe-winning actress,” she said. “So don’t expect the same sort of ... behavior ... from me that you got from the rest of them.”

“Uh, sure,” I said. “I’m sorry. I was just ... goofing around. I don’t expect anything ... from anybody.”

“Good,” Kim said, smiling at me. She pushed her track pants downward to reveal a pair of track shorts. Then she lifted her T-shirt upward to show that she had on a tighter running shirt beneath it. “Just so long as you don’t expect it. Now get to work.”

My afternoon session was the longest of the day. I had to do 50 reps of five different exercises three separate times. It usually took me about 40 minutes. I got myself situated while Kim got on the treadmill and started a warm up.

“If you’re OK with it, I’m going to be your workout buddy during the afternoons,” she told me. I was doing my favorite exercise – leaning forward, letting my arm dangle and circling my hand. I looked up at her.

“I’m OK by myself,” I told her. “I know you’re busy.”

“I am busy,” Kim said. “I’m busy working out with you. I just got cast for new role. That’s why I’ve been in L.A. so much for the past couple of months. Don’t tell anybody but I’m going to play Tiger Lilly in the Blue Planet movies.”

“No kidding?” I said. “That’s pretty awesome.”

“Yeah!” Kim said. She was picking up her pace on the treadmill. “I’ve got to get into shape.”

I looked up at her trim legs, her tiny waist and her deceptively large bosom. I knew her age to be 35. She was four years younger than her husband. But she looked really good for somebody that, as she’d said, birthed two children.

“Are you familiar with the character?” Kim asked, ignoring my gaze on her.

“From the comics when I was a kid,” I said. “I saw the first ... three ... in the series, I think. But I haven’t seen the last two. When do you start shooting?”

“I’m still two movies out,” Kim said. “We start filming over the winter but it won’t be released until summer after next. One just came out a couple of months ago; they have one next summer and then mine. But I’ll have to shoot a couple of scenes for the DVD trailers.”

“Cool,” I said.

“Do you know who Tiger Lilly is?” Kim asked. She had picked up her pace to a full run but she was still able to have a conversation.

“Sort of,” I admitted. “I read the comics when I was a kid. I know the character.”

“And you know how ... tight ... her costume is,” Kim said.

I knew how the character had been drawn and I knew the movies tried to keep things close to make sure the fanboys would line up in droves.

“Yeah,” I said.

At least her wind was starting to grow shorter as she ran. I had moved to a different exercise that had me lifting my arm upward and I was bathed in sweat.

“So I figure you and I can offer encouragement to each other,” Kim noted.

I lifted my head upward slightly and saw she was starting to sweat as badly as I was.

“Thanks, Kim,” I said.

“I’m really happy to do it,” she told me. “Now shut up and get back to work.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” I offered.

I was concluding my last set of pendulum exercises when the motor on the treadmill started to slow. Kim had kept up a pretty good pace for almost 30 minutes. It was about 29 minutes and 30 seconds longer than I could run that fast.

I stopped with about 10 reps to go and headed to the cooler. My arm always felt the best right after the arm hang. I could actually hold the bottle of water between my two fingers and open the cap. I handed it Kim along with a towel.

She smiled at me.

“You ... you opened the water,” she said, gesturing to my arm.

I wasn’t wearing my sling so I kept my arm tucked to my waist.

“It always feels really good after I just ... let it hang,” I said. “That’s when I have the most feeling in my fingers.”

“All of them?” Kim asked. She had slowed to a walk and she was alternating sips of her water and daubing her face with the towel.

I shook my head.

“Just the same two,” I said as I returned to my spot. I let my arm hang downward again and did the last few circles. Kim finished her workout and returned the favor with water and a towel.

“Thanks,” I said. I took a seat and put the racquetball in my palm. I had to manually manipulate the fingers to keep the muscles in my hand and forearm from atrophying. “You know, Liz said she is going to move some of the other workout equipment in here. I don’t know if she was joking or not but you might be able to do more than just run.”

“She isn’t sure if she’s going to move what she has or buy new,” Kim informed me. “We don’t ... we don’t have a workout room. I just go to the gym in town. Ben hasn’t worked out since he was ... I’m not sure he’s ever worked out. Do you know he weighed 120 pounds when he graduated high school?”

“I doubt he’s more than 150 now,” I replied.

“Not much,” Kim laughed. “His next album is going to be called ‘Corn Fixins.’ I’ll bring the album art over tomorrow. He’s a scarecrow on a fence. I’m not sure they even did makeup or wardrobe for the shoot. I think the photographer just saw him with his elbows on the rails and took the picture.”

I laughed and thought again how all my friends had wound up with someone with a similar personality. Kim had been a comedic actress for years, playing supporting parts in several popular sitcoms since she was 20 years old. She had great comedic timing ... and so did Ben.

My smile broadened.

“What?” Kim asked. She had taken a seat on the edge of my cushioned table.

“I was just thinking how big of smartasses Stone and Spenser are going to be in a couple of years!” I said.

“Don’t remind me!” Kim said, shaking her head. “Your friend Sarah’s boys are already turning that way!”

“You know it,” I said. “Did Brian tell you how they conned him out of ice cream the first time they met him?”

“No,” Kim said.

I told her about the beach trip and how they’d set him up.

“I love it!” Kim said. “I can totally see my boys doing that.”

“I promise to teach them all I know,” I offered.

“Don’t you dare!” Kim replied. “I’m really glad that you’re so good with them. You know, our lives ... Ben and mine ... they don’t lend themselves to close friendships. Yeah, I have some people that I spend time with. Ben does, too. Conny and Evan come over when they can. We’ve started going places with Lucas and Gwen. But the boys were so isolated. They just started making friends with a couple of people from my last show when we got cancelled. I don’t want the entirety of their knowledge to come from me and Ben.”

“I can’t blame you on that score,” I said, winking at her.

“Well, yeah, that too,” she said. “But it’s nice that they can come over here or you guys can come over there and they can still be boys. That’s the thing about so many people that Ben and I are around. They want ... little adults. They would never make sure to invite them to something like lunch today. But you always try to make sure they’re included and entertained. It gives me and Ben a chance to relax and it gives the boys a chance to learn different things that Ben or I might not know how to do. The last time they were here, you showed them how to tie a fishing fly. They were so stoked.”

“Dad and I used to do that together,” I said. “And I got something out of the deal. They tied my shoes for me.”

“I know,” Kim said, gracing me with a soft smile. “They were so happy that you asked them. There were older kids here ... Sarah’s boys and Abigail ... but you asked them. They really like you, Travis. So do we.”