Chapter 7

At work, the situation as to the number of patients Mark treated daily remained pretty much the same. He was usually done before noon in treating his patients. The number of fitness center members increased which made that a slightly profitable operation. The low number of patients Mark treated however required the Foundation to make up the difference between the treatment fees and his stated salary.

Throughout the week he had many thoughts about Paige. There was something about her besides her good looks that attracted him. She acted like an honestly nice person and was fun to be with. That she laughed at his jokes was definitely a plus and she seemed to enjoy being with him. He was counting the days till he saw her again.

It was late afternoon on Friday when he saw her BMW pulling onto his driveway. He greeted her with a hug and carried her suitcase into his house. She told him the drive wasn’t bad because of less traffic for some reason.

They sat around and talked for a while. Mark gave Paige her choices for dinner of either ordering a pizza or going to the diner for fish and chips. She quickly gave him her response and just as quickly they were off to the diner for the fish and chips.

It was a good meal with her saying that this type of food could become addictive. It wasn’t all that low in calories so the frequency of eating this type of food she said needed to be watched or you would be packing on the pounds.

Back at Mark’s home, they had an adult beverage, watched some TV, and continued the conversation. Paige said before they go to the game tomorrow she would like to stop at the fitness center and see where Mark works.

For breakfast, Mark made pancakes and sausage. Paige had dressed down a little in that she was wearing jeans, a sweater, and a windbreaker. She, in Mark’s opinion, looked damn good.

At the fitness center, there were several cars parked there. Walking in they were greeted by Judson Kilgore who was working the reception desk. He was a young man who gave the appearance of being an All-American boy. Since it was Saturday and Mark rarely came in on a Saturday, Judson asked if there was a problem. Mark said there wasn’t, that Paige just wants to look at the facility.

In walking away from Judson, Mark said to Paige, “That’s a shame.”

“What’s a shame?”

“Judson’s condition. He is a sharp young man but when he walks he walks with a distinctive limp. That is a result of a bomb exploding in Iraq. He didn’t lose a limb but because of the injury, he can’t do heavy physical work. He is dating a young lady and he wants to marry her but working at a minimum wage job is going to be difficult to support a family. He deserves to have a good break in life.”

“That is a shame,” said Paige.

The size of the facility and the types of machines as well as the number of them she said surpassed all the fitness facilities she had ever seen. The only thing missing she said was a swimming pool.

“Don’t let John Wilkinsing’s mother who is a member here hear you say that, because if she does and tells John that, they will be breaking ground for one in a week,” laughed Mark.

The football game was pretty much a repeat of the prior week’s game with the home team winning. The differences in the scoring were the four field goals kicked by the home team that clinched the win.

After the game, they went back to Mark’s home where they washed up and dressed getting ready to go out to dinner. This time Mark had made a reservation at Parenti’s which was the most upscale restaurant in the area.

To be expected Paige looked nice in the dark red dress she was wearing.

There were a large number of people who wished to dine at Parenti’s this night. Because of that, they needed to wait for their table to be ready and they did that by going to the lounge and having a drink. Mark could tell that it was Paige’s good looks that were attracting some attention from the people who were there.

During this waiting, she told him that she had read his book and thought it was a good read. She said the storyline was something that had the possibility of happening in real life. He thanked her for the compliment but said a lot of credit for the book needed to go to his editor who contributed to the writing and unfortunately has passed away.

The dining was good because of the food and Paige’s company. She said she had done some computer research on the area and noticed where there was a country club near here with a top one hundred rated golf course. She asked Mark if he had considered joining this country club. He said he had but since he didn’t golf decided against doing that.

After the meal, they drove back to his house. There they sat on the couch and turned on the television. There was some talk since they were not seriously watching what was on the tube.

Mark turned to her and said, “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“May I kiss you?”

Smiling she said, “Since you ask so nicely, yes you may.”

She came easily into his arms and they had a very nice kiss with her slipping him a little tongue. When the kiss ended he moved his head back a little from her and looked for a while into her eyes and then moved back and kissed her again. Her soft lips and active tongue made kissing her quite enjoyable.

After a kiss ended she said. “Now it is my turn, so can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Is that all you want to do is just kiss me?”

He saw the smile on her face as she asked him that question.

“Not on your life,” he said as he moved to kiss her again.

When that kiss ended he stood and offered her his hand which she accepted and rose. She knew he was going to take her to the bedroom and she had no objection to him doing that. Once there they both undressed and then reclined on the bed and made love.