Chapter 10: Freeze Frame

Mike’s Apartment, Tuscaloosa, AL

Early morning, January 9, 2003

I walked into my kitchen to get a cup of coffee and turned on the TV to check out the sports scores, news and weather for the day. A couple of things stood out as I drank my two cups of coffee. I was saddened to hear that Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, died on my birthday. I was a big Bee Gees fan back in the day. In the NBA, Kobe Bryant scored forty-five points, hitting an NBA record twelve three-pointers in the Lakers win over Seattle the previous night. The dude was definitely on fire, but I would not have traded my experience last night and this morning for Kobe’s in a million years.

When I integrated a key sports figure and this incredible record from the world of sports with my incredible experiences with Kaleigh, I knew I was going to be in trouble. I certainly hoped I would be able to focus on my teaching, today, even though super focus wouldn’t be needed. I usually only go over the syllabus, student assignments and other course requirements in my classes on day one. However, Moore Hall, our kinesiology building at Alabama is the place I’ve had my greatest association with Kaleigh. We had five classes together in Moore, and I would see her around the building even when she wasn’t in one of my classes. Going back to work this morning may have just gotten tougher than I expected.

As I got up to put my coffee cup in the dishwasher and grab a high-fiber energy bar, that shiny DVR-CD case caught my attention as I passed the coffee table. There was something about what Kaleigh said as she left this morning that was both unsettling and intriguing. She made it clear that I could watch it but that it was to be save-guarded from everyone else.

What on earth could be on that DVR? What caused Kaleigh to act giddy, yet protective, when she handed it to me?

I highly doubted she would of videoed herself in a provocative manner, as that just wasn’t in her nature. Based on what she told me about her sexual life story, I just couldn’t see her doing such a private and risky thing. Again, I racked my brain trying to determine its content, but couldn’t think of what it could be that would cause those reactions in Kaleigh.

I munched on the energy bar and went to get into my workout clothes. I figured, since I was going to work up a good sweat biking for an hour or so before heading to school, there was no immediate need to shower off this morning’s sexual remnants. It hit me once again during a simple action like getting dressed; Kaleigh had crept into my thoughts and actions. I was like a sixteen-year-old teenager here regarding my new girl. With my former student and now a serious entrepreneur on my mind, I decided I better do something about this and quick.

My options were to call her and just talk, but she would be in the middle of opening up her fitness club and possibly helping some older person improve their life. That option wasn’t good. I could drive over to her club to see her with the excuse of possibly joining up. However, Kaleigh knows I have free use of the university’s fitness center, plus the use of the football team’s training facilities, if I wanted to work-out with the players and coaches. Another dumb option went down the drain. This was driving me semi-nuts, again like a sixteen-year-old after his first date.

Then it hit hard, ‘Just look at the damn DVR disc‘. While still in my workout shorts, I went into the living room and popped the DVR disk into the player. My forty-six-inch TV switched inputs automatically from cable to the DVD, as it started up. I figured I better grab an apple or orange to eat while watching this as that fruit would probably help on my planned hard bike ride.

As I returned with an orange in hand, the picture on the TV changed from blank-static to a view from a fitness club, Kaleigh’s club. She obviously had video cameras set up in the workout area for safety and insurance purposes. I sat on the couch peeling my orange, and saw a good bit of ‘nothing’ going on in the video, so I fast forwarded for about four minutes. The scene didn’t change until I saw Kaleigh move across the screen towards the door in a pair of black and purple biker shorts and a loose purple top. The light from the front door opening adjusted the image somewhat, and then the scene returned back to its original lighting as the door closed.

My brain was processing these images, but hadn’t yet put two and two together yet, as Kaleigh and the club visitor were off camera for a few more seconds. While still out of the camera’s view, I heard Kaleigh’s voice on the TV softly say, “Happy 40th Birthday, Dr. Iron! I sure hope you enjoy the present I have for you. Do you like how I wrapped it?”

I jumped up off the couch as my brain fog immediately cleared regarding the scene on the TV, and exclaimed, “Holy shit!” Then I thought to myself, ‘Kaleigh, what on earth have you done here? Damn, Girl, you recorded yourself at the fitness club!’ After taking a moment to think through things, I whispered, “Good lord, Kaleigh. What did you do here, and why?”

I walked around the coffee table, and paced in front of the couch thinking about yesterday’s events, but still looked at the scene playing out on the TV. I briefly saw where Kaleigh had jumped up, and wrapped her legs around my torso. Then I saw Kaleigh clad in just her bike shorts and black sports bra, pushing me backwards to the padded bench. Based on what I’d seen already, I knew that the camera would cover the area of her awesome striptease in perfect clarity. As she stepped back into the center of the TV screen, I heard her say, “Music, CD #1, volume 15”, followed by good old, Eddie Van Halen and company’s song, When It’s Love.

I sat back down on the couch and watched this beautiful young lady perform for me once again. I remembered saying to Kaleigh that I would never see such an awesome site or display of raw sexuality ever again. The proverbial light bulb went off in my head, and I now realized why Kaleigh had a silly grin on her face when I said that to her. She damn well knew that my statement wasn’t correct, but never gave any hints as to why I was wrong.

‘Damn, Kaleigh,’ she pulled an amazing job off with her planning, stripping and cleverly keeping the evidence of that wonderful event hidden. She even did her best to downplay the significance of the recording by ‘trading it for a travel-mug of hot coffee.’ However, she still couldn’t completely mask her concern about the presence of the recording.

As the video continued, I pondered my thoughts regarding this wonderful girl on my TV screen. When the recording got to the point where Kaleigh held her position with her breasts wonderfully exposed to my eyes, I paused the recording and simply stared at her face. Not even her awesome body position or her full, upturned breasts and puffy nipples could draw my attention from her facial area.

The ‘freeze frame’ of her face at that key moment in her striptease will be burned into my memory forever. The workout area’s lighting created a sparkling effect in her hazel eyes. Her lips and mouth framed her bright white teeth as she flashed her best smile. With the recording paused just as her head stopped whipping around, her golden blonde hair was frozen in a wild display to the side of her face, and her diamond stud earring gleamed brightly. If I had only one picture with me on a deserted island, this frozen image from her chest up would be the one I’d want to have with me.

I couldn’t watch anymore of the recording after I stared at that still frame from the DVR. That image was THE image as far as I was concerned. Nothing else from this recording would top that one picture. If Kaleigh wanted to watch the whole recording with me at some later time, I would definitely watch it with her. But right now, I’d seen all I needed to see of my shining STAR on my TV screen. Before I hit the stop button, I wrote down the exact time of that amazing picture on the notepad by my telephone.

I thought, ‘I might be able to print a copy of that image‘ at a later time. After powering off the TV and DVR player, I tossed the remote onto the leather couch.

That image of Kaleigh was all I could visualize, and it was all I needed to free my mind to focus on my other tasks. It was as if Kaleigh knew I would need a picture of her to set my mind at ease with what happened over the past twenty-four hours. At least that is how I rationalized or imagined her answering my earlier questions... “What have you done and why?”