Commitment Collection 2- Ignition; Turbo Charged; Pole Position, page 6
part #4 of Commitment Series
Yep, Kyle is right. Florian is smoking hot. There’s something about him which instantly makes you like him. I’ve been warned though; I won’t be conned by his easy demeanor.
He comes around the back and meets me in the gym, wearing a black and white vest and matching training shorts. The string ties are left loose, hanging out of the front.
I’m not going to deny it. It’s a sexy look, one which makes me feel prissy for making sure mine was securely fastened.
Kyle has already run through what I need, so we only need a quick intro, which is great because I’m eager to get this over with and back to spending my time with my husband.
It would appear my confidence has been a little misplaced as has my fitness. I’ve had two years of physical therapy, and while I’m back to full capacity on a daily basis, what Florian makes clear in about five seconds flat is that I am nowhere near the fitness levels of my peak.
Nowhere near.
The sweat, usually soaked up by my thick hair, stings my eyes and burns my lips. He has me doing full body exercises that, at one point, were easy to do. Now as I try to flick the rope, my arms and core are OK, but my legs are shot. I can barely stand with them bent long enough to get through the rep.
“We’ve got some work to do here. I love a challenge.” His words are harsh, but his tone softens them, just like Kyle warned me. It doesn’t take the bite out of their meaning though. I may well be able to walk again, but I need to not rest on my laurels here.
“Thank goodness Kyle found you when he did. I have a year,” I pant wiping my brow with the bottom of my tee. “One year to get back on form.”
“You can do it, don’t forget you have muscle memory in there. It’ll come back. We just need to work at it. Now stop playing for time. Another rep.”
Fucking slave driver.
“How about I set you both a target, something you can work toward together?”
“Sounds like a plan. What?”
“I’ll have to think of an activity that will support both of your goals and I’ll let Kyle know during the week.”
It’s still half an hour and several bouts of dry heaving before we wrap up.
He kept shouting, “Your mind is stronger than your body. I think that was fairly clear.”
I’m plopped on a kitchen chair, unable to make it up the stairs yet.
“I told you.”
“I know, but I didn’t think he would be so cruel. Doesn’t he know I’ve had a life-threatening accident?”
“He knows that you want to move past that and race again. He’ll get you there.”
I take a sip of water and then rest my head in my hands, not out of desperation, but because I actually can’t hold it up any longer. “Me and my big mouth.”
Kyle
“Florian, you did a number on El. He hates you,” I say when he arrives for my session two days later. I launch my sweat towel at him for effect.
He laughs while shaking his head. “Hey, that’s what you pay me for. And don’t lob that at me. It stinks.”
“So, have you thought of the activity we’re going to work toward?” I ask.
“Sure, I’ve found the perfect thing. And you’ll get some PR out of it too if you play your cards right.”
“Huh, PR? What are we doing?” I didn’t expect this to be good for business. This is sounding scarily like more of an event than either El or I anticipated.
“Get on with your work out and stop trying to waste time. I’ll tell you at the end.”
I start to complain.
“Twenty burpees, now!”
I thought the rower was my nemesis. Was I wrong.
“Another ten.”
“I’ve already done twenty” I pant.
“I lied, come on, another ten. The heart is stronger than you think.”
“It needs to be,” I moan as I do as I’m told. No one else would get away with bossing me around like this, not even Elliott. And I’m paying Florian. There’s seriously something wrong with me.
We finish up with a run around the lake on our grounds. It’s an activity I used to love. Elliott and I used to do it together and especially during his recovery, but I've not done it since he left. It doesn’t feel the same.
However, this is a good reintroduction as I don’t have time to worry with Florian barking orders at me.
Speed up.
Slow down
Stop.
Walk.
Jog.
Faster.
Now I know how dogs feel when they’re being trained, poor things.
I’m not about to tell him, but I can already sense an improvement in my fitness and that I find this improvement satisfying. Even though I literally could rip his throat out when he’s screaming at me, I do like him.
“Did you used to be in the Army or something?” I ask as I bend over at the end, spent.
“How can you tell?” He chuckles.
“I wonder.”
“Catch your breath.”
The stare I throw at him is pure evil. He meets it with a wide grin.
“So, go on then, tell me what we’re going to be doing. I can hardly wait.”
“Ah, you’re still up for it after today?”
“Of course.”
“OK then, well have you ever heard of something called the tree felling competition?”
“Uh, no, but I think I’m about to.”
“That you are my man.” With that, he slaps me on the back and announces. “Right, I’ll be off then. Until next time.”
Kyle
It’s 10 pm and Elliott and I are finally managing to catch up on the phone. The day has been a disaster in terms of communication. We’ve been unable to manage anything more intimate than repeated voicemail messages.
“At last! I can’t believe I'm able to hear your voice and have a conversation with you. What a day.” Elliott sounds tired, his voice is gravelly.
“I know. How was your breakfast meeting?” I ask.
“It was great. Productive. But, I can’t recall what we discussed now. Thank goodness for note taking; it seems like such a long time ago now. So much has happened.”
“Oh, you poor thing. I wish I was there to rub your shoulders for you, or perhaps something else may help you out.” I lighten my tone, hoping to lift his energies.
“Hmm, sounds good. You know my shoulders are still aching from that slave driver Florian. It’s been days now.” His pitch has lifted to meet mine.
“Ha-ha, mine too. He’s making mincemeat of us, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. Have you heard what he’s planning for our challenge yet?”
“Oh, of course. I’m sorry I haven’t spoken with you. He told me yesterday. You might not want to know though.”
“That bad?”
“Yup.”
He releases his breath with a whistle. “Go on, hit me with it, I’m ready.”
“You sure?”
A chuckle trickles down the line. “I’m not sure, but I don’t have much choice, do I?”
“Probably not. I’ll put you out of your misery. It’s tree felling.”
Something rustles, and I imagine him sitting upright. “Ah, that’s not too bad.”
“Hmm, a tree felling competition. Do you have your laptop? Research it.”
“Of course, it is. I’m attached to the thing nowadays.” He shuffles again, and I hear the lid un-clip open and the sound of the welcome music spring to life. I pick my own up and find the page I want him to look at, give him the website and sit back and wait.
“Oh, jeez. The guy wants us to bound unharnessed up vertical logs, chopping as we go?”
“Yup. And then, notice, these are one-man teams. We will be competing against each other.”
“Jessie will have some fun with this.”
“Elliott, do you ever think of anything outside of a PR angle anymore?” I snap.
I am genuinely frustrated with him. Everything we do has an angle these days. I can’t go to his first drive because of what the press will say, we can’t make home together because I have to live here and do my old job because that will make our business stronger. Forget how it affects our marriage. That’s clearly a secondary consideration.
“Whoa, sorry. But if we’re going to do this, why not get her to PR the life out of it? We’re doing it anyway, so what’s the harm?”
I bite my tongue. Literally, I cram the tip between my two layers of teeth and compress until the sting is more overpowering than the anger surging in the pit of my stomach.
“Kyle, did you hear me?”
Of course, I fucking heard you. “I just thought this was something we were doing. You know, a private challenge, that’s all.”
“Well, we can if you like, but it doesn’t make much business sense. The press will love this and think about it. Elliott Judd breaks both his legs and now he’s hopping up logs like a woodpecker.”
I sigh, a vigorous attempt to level my frustration. I see his point. I don’t agree, but I see it. He’s worked damn hard to be up and mobile again. This will be another highlight and although I’m cursing Florian, I’m also in awe of how clever his choice is.
“OK, get her briefed. But you know, there’s no going back if you make a press parade out of this. We have six months to get ourselves in tip top condition.”
“Precisely my motivation.”
Guess that’s decided then. “I’ll tell Florian, he’d better get us shipshape.”
Elliott
I’ve already got a ton of ideas running through my brain about what we can do to draw the media involved in our event and I bang out an email to Jessie to pick up when it’s a more reasonable hour.
“Hey.” She calls me.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you. Is Zac away?” Jessie met Zac, one of my closest friends, at mine and Kyle’s wedding so I always credit myself for them being so madly in love.
“Yeah, he’s over in South Africa sourcing some more diamonds. What a life, right? So, I’m sitting here alone, waiting for the phone to ring.” She’s only half joking. Zac dreams of Jessie traveling with him, but, Jessie has other ideas. Ever the self-sufficient type, she’s not eager to trade her independence for love. But, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t find it tough with him being away.
I’ve never considered her position before. I just took for granted that she made the right choice. But now that I’m separated from Kyle for much of the week, I wonder about her sanity. Would I continue to work if I were her? It’s not like she needs to. But then, I guess neither do I. Perhaps that’s why it’s always been so simple between us, because we’re so similar.
“Well, I’m pleased I could be of service.” Her voice draws me back to the present. “How can I help you?”
I fill her in on our wood cutting challenge.
“And when is this?” she asks.
“July.”
“July. You emailed me at this hour when I have six months to prep?”
I laugh. “Hey, you didn’t have to answer. I just wanted it off my desk before I forgot about it. You know what I’m like, if I don’t deal with something straight away I forget and then forget that I’d forgotten, and expect you to create a sensation without even knowing about the brief.” I roll my eyes and it comes across in my voice.
“Sensation. What are you planning, mister?”
“Well, now you have loads of notice, you have time to put plans together for a sensational celebration of me making it back to peak fitness. I don’t know if we can take over the wood cutting event itself, but we can certainly have our own shebang somewhere close by.”
“Oh, here we go.” I imagine her rolling her large eyes at me on the other end of the line. “I’ll have a think about what would get us in the press. A charity element would be good.”
“Sure, I’m always happy to support charities. I’m not sure whether it should be a racing one though. Perhaps this should be a personal quest from Kyle and me. We will talk about Judd racing as a by-line but make this more about rehab. Think about it for a bit Jessie and see what you come up with. I don’t want to tell you how to do your job.”
“Excellent. I don’t want you to either, but I do appreciate the direction. You’ve been in the game too long now Elliott; you’re picking things up.” I hear the smile cross her face down the line.
“Hey, when Zac is back, why don’t we all get together? It’s been too long. We’re all about the office these days. We don’t spend enough time chilling together anymore.”
We sign off with plans to put a date on the calendar and with that, I think it’s time for bed. Until I remember I have some more reports to read ahead of tomorrow’s strategy kick-off meeting, that is.
Kyle
It’s my first training day where Florian is going to focus on getting me ready for the lumber jack championship. We have to learn six different types of chops, in one of four stations.
There’s an underhand chopping station which I somehow need to get sorted out, a standing block chop, a springboard pole, and a sawing station.
The springboard pole is my favorite. Although I’m not sure it will be by the time I’m cleaving into a vertical log and slipping in floorboards which I have to clamber up onto. That in itself might be OK, except then I have to start lobbing off the top of the vertical log which will be my support. Understandably, I’m unsure how the reality of this exercise will go.
It all sounds like we’re heading toward another accident if you ask me.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.” Florian senses my unease. “It’s all about the training.”
“Yes, but that’s part of the point. How will El prepare for this when he’s stuck in rented accommodation all week?”
“He has his gym at work. We’ll outfit it with everything he needs and then he’ll be here on the weekends where you have a forest in your back yard.” He says this all like it’s just obvious. To him maybe, but I’m more concerned with his intimate knowledge of our living arrangements for the forthcoming months. He appears to know more about the mechanics of our relationship better than I do, and despite my best efforts, a stab of jealousy knifes right into me.
‘What have they been talking about? Clearly, I’m not necessary for these planning stages.’
I hear the words as they run through my head and I’m angry at myself for feeling this way. Elliott and I have never had the type of relationship where resentment rears its head. ‘What’s wrong with me now?’
But even as I dismiss the emotions, I’m aware it’s like trying to plug a dam and they surge through other parts, bulldozing rationality and washing free the stranglehold I've been managing to keep on my unreasonableness. My diaphragm tightens, and I want to scream. I actually could do with letting out a crazy assed man-scream.
“Let’s get on with this. What do I need to do today?” I snap, wanting to burn away this unwelcome hostility.
“We’re going to see what you’ve got in terms of squats and dead lifts today. Then we’ll add in some clean and jerk and the snatch which I’m sure you’ll be pleased about.”
“Sure am, that’s my bread and butter.” I grin. This isn’t going to be as bad as I thought.
“But we’re also working some explosive kettle bell movements too because you need to have full body strength combined with endurance. That’s why I chose this activity.”
Is he seriously calling this an activity? An activity is a day out at the races, a trip to the zoo with a niece. An activity certainly is not chopping logs at speed for two hours while balancing precariously on a wayward floorboard.
“Fabulous,” I reply.
I catch myself again. I’m turning into a real miserable moaner here. And so, without further ado, I put that piece of myself in the trash can and throw myself into Florian’s exercise plan.
An hour later, I’m throwing up like a good-un, but I’m feeling great. I’m at that stage where my energy has been burned (and my bad mood) but I’m no longer exhausted like I was when I first started working out with him.
The extra bonus is that as I look in the mirror now, with my top off and my muscles ripped as fuck, I have to say, his tolerance to my abuse is paying off.
“Right my man, I’ll be heading off home.” Florian collects his phone that he’s been using as a bleep counter, off the side, and goes to show himself out of the glass doors which take him down the outside of the house.
“Are you doing anything now?” I surprise myself.
“Nah, just off to watch the rugby match.”
“It’s a bit lonely around here with Elliott away. If you’d like to watch it here, I’d appreciate the company.” Again, I’m as surprised as anyone. I hated this guy not half an hour ago and now, as I see the benefits of his hard labor, all is forgiven.
“Sure, that’d be great if you don’t mind.”
“No, of course not.”
I settle Florian on the sofa with a beer. I make sure he’s in my seat. I don’t want him taking Elliott’s space; that would be too odd. It’s weird enough having someone else in the house with me as it is. I feel surprisingly awkward as I leave him alone to dash upstairs for a quick shower. I feel the pressure of time to return back downstairs to my guest.
It’s easy when it’s just Elliott and me. The energy is balanced and we understand each other. Now I regret inviting someone in who throws everything off with just their mere presence.
Elliott
As the week progresses, I find I’m thinking about Kyle just as much but speaking with him less. It’s like our schedules are just lined up to clash. It doesn’t help that he’s on the night shift as the racing fraternity gears up for the first big testing bout of the year.
The anniversary of our first meeting is also quickly approaching, and I need to find something special to mark it.
Except I can’t think of anything, which is not normal for me. I usually have so many ideas floating around, but I am so shattered, I would prefer to sleep than head off on some celebratory jaunt. I’ll ask Jessie, see what she can come up with.
