Prompt 26—Strange

She had a favorite machine at the gym. The last elliptical machine on the right—overlooking the basketball courts below. She liked it because she was used to it, it seemed to be more oiled than the others, it was near the fans, and because sometimes, on Saturday mornings, she could spy on a game of shirts and skins.

But Calleigh hadn't been to the gym on a Saturday morning in a long time. Work had been unnecessarily hectic the past few weeks—the good people of Miami just didn't seem to want to stop killing each other. The only time she'd been able to get to the gym was late at night, when no one else was there.

It was good that the gym was open twenty-four hours a day; otherwise Calleigh didn't know when she'd get there. She shuddered to think of having to rely on Denise Austin or Leslie Sansone purring at her every morning to keep in shape. She had her routines she liked to follow: a half hour on the elliptical, a few miles on the treadmill and a few sets of crunches on one of the exercise balls in the yoga room. All followed by a nice, hot shower which almost guaranteed her enough relaxation to go home and collapse.

She had just plugged her iPod into her ears and raised her eyes to the screen to set her weight and workout length when her eyes caught a familiar someone breezing through the doors. She smiled and waited for him to notice her. Eric stopped to talk to the all-night receptionist and accepted a basketball from her after a moment. Calleigh couldn't help but smile to herself as her eyes wandered to the empty court. Must be my lucky day.

After all, just because she was on a diet didn't mean she couldn't look at the dessert menu.

Eric caught her eye and waved, crossing through the rows of stationary bikes to get to her. "Hey, what are you doing here so late?"

"I could ask you the same question," she smiled, punching in her weight and selecting a course.

"I'm still wired," he confessed with a shake of his head. "Crazy stuff today, huh?"

She nodded. "Well crazy seems to be what we do best lately."

"Are you here all the time this late?" he looked concerned as he glanced down at his watch.

Calleigh didn't want to get into her routine of planned exhaustion. She didn't want to tell him that the only way she could sleep at night was to run until she felt her legs would give out. It was complicated and it would worry him. No need for that. She shrugged carelessly. "Only when I can't get here in the mornings."

"All right," he accepted this easily. "I'm gonna go shoot some hoops for awhile, hopefully I'll tire myself out."

"Enjoy yourself."

"You too," he smiled as she began to move her legs on the machine.

It only took a few minutes to get into a rhythm and soon she was pedaling fast, her heartbeat quickening, a layer of sweat glistening on her face, arms, and chest. Calleigh stared at the stand-up comedian on the television mounted above the machines. She would not let her eyes wander over the railing. She would not.

x0x0x

Just because she wasn't looking at him, didn't mean he wasn't looking at her. He'd known she was lying about how often she came to the gym this late. He knew she had never been one for normal sleeping patterns, but lately it seemed to be worse. And now coming to work out past midnight on a regular basis? Something wasn't right.

Eric sank a solid three-pointer before he stole another glance at Calleigh. She had finished on the elliptical and had moved on to the treadmill. He watched as she started out at a normal pace which morphed quickly into a jog. She jogged for a few moments, breasts and ponytail bouncing each time her tennis shoes connected with the conveyor belt. Eric watched with dismay as she furrowed her brow and pressed a few buttons on the consol in front of her; the jog quickened rapidly until it appeared Calleigh was literally running for her life.

He shook his head and returned to the game he'd been playing against himself.

x0x0x

With her hamstrings still twitching, Calleigh stepped carefully out of the shower and into her robe and flip-flops. She squeezed the remaining water from her hair onto the bathroom floor and squeaked her way into the locker room. Expecting to be alone, as she almost always was, Calleigh stopped short when she realized that this particular evening, she wasn't.

Eric was sitting on the bench, waiting for her.

"Eric, I don't think you're allowed to be in here," she said, her shoulders tensing as she tucked her bathrobe tighter around herself.

"Why do you do that?" he asked, raising his eyes to meet hers. "Why do you push yourself like that?

Ignoring the worry and confusion she saw in his face, Calleigh walked past him to her locker. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I think you do. Why do you go so hard on yourself when you're working out?"

"I like to keep in shape, Eric. It's kind of a job requirement," she brushed off his concern.

"There's a difference between keeping in shape and working out the way you do, Cal."

"I'm afraid I don't see where you're going with this."

"What are you running away from?"

She stopped rummaging through her bag and looked at him. "I'm not running away from anything."

"That's not what it looked like to me."

"When I want your opinion on my fitness routine, I'll ask for it," she snapped, standing to her full height and crossing her arms over her chest. "I really don't think you're allowed to be in here, so I suggest you leave."

"Calleigh, c'mon," Eric stood as well, realizing he had crossed that delicate line in their relationship.

"You know, Eric, I don't do this to you—I don't make assumptions based on isolated events and judge you and act like I'm concerned."

"I am concerned. Calleigh, something's not right. You're not sleeping, you're not eating, you're working out like crazy…what's going on?"

She stared at him for a few minutes, debating crossing that line. It was one thing to be friends at work, even outside of work. It was something completely different to be confidantes. "It's nothing."

He shook his head. "You know I'll just keep asking. Are you sick? Do you need something?"

She realized suddenly that, with the exception of the running, she probably did look like she was covering something up. An image of Marisol fluttered through her mind, pulling with it a wave of guilt. "It's nothing like that, Eric, really. It's stupid."

"Then what's the big deal in letting me help you out?"

With a heavy sigh, Calleigh dropped onto the bench next to her open gym bag. "Jake…" she stopped and shook her head, cursing herself for the way she was feeling. "Jake moved the rest of his stuff out last week." She shrugged and gave a short, mirthless laugh. "I guess I just miss him more than I thought I would."

"Cal," Eric sat down next to her and put a tentative hand on her back. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, really." She waved away his sympathy. "We've been over for awhile I just…I don't know. It's just that sense of having to start all over again."

"Yeah," he nodded, "it's scary."

"It was just nice, while it lasted, to have someone to come home to, y'know? Have something to look forward to on the ride home."

"That would be nice."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Eric's hand still rubbing small circles in the terrycloth of her robe.

"I'm sorry I worried you," she said finally, staring at the lockers in front of her.

"I'm sorry I ended your relationship."

Calleigh gave another laugh. "It would've ended eventually, don't worry."

He got to his feet and smiled down at her. "You going to be okay?"

"I'm fine, I promise."

Eric bent and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I know."

x0x0x

Two weeks had passed quickly, the workload had slowed down, and a torrential downpour had broken the heat wave Miami had been stuck in. Things were looking up. Calleigh had taken her paperwork home with her for the night, ordered a pizza and opened a bottle of wine.

She dropped down onto the couch thinking that perhaps single life wasn't as bad as she remembered. There was a knock at the door.

Slightly annoyed, Calleigh paused her TiVo and got up. She smiled, however, when she saw Eric through the peephole. "Hey," she said pulling the door open. "What are you doing here?"

Eric noticed the wine glass and immediately regretted not calling first. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, no, of course not. Come in," she welcomed him inside, not getting a reading on what was going on. "So what's up?"

"I've been thinking about what we talked about," he began nervously, "at the gym, that night."

"Uh-huh…"

"Anyway, I was thinking about it and the opportunity just sort presented itself…" he stopped his meandering and looked at her squarely. "I got you something."

"You did?"

"If you don't like it, I'll just return it and that'll be that but I couldn't stop thinking about…" he stopped himself from saying 'you' and rephrased. "I was just thinking that it might be something to help you out."

Calleigh felt a smile forming as her brows crinkled. "Okay…well, what is it?"

"It's out in my car, I'll be right back. But close your eyes, okay?"

More than a little bewildered, Calleigh did as she was told and waited patiently until she heard Eric return. "Can I open them?"

"Not yet." His voice got closer. "Hold out your hands."

She did as instructed and felt something small and furry placed in them. Not waiting any longer, Calleigh opened her eyes to see a tiny, chocolate colored kitten staring up at her with large green eyes. "Oh my God."

"Like I said, if you don't want him, I'll be more than happy to find him another home but I just thought…" Eric shrugged shyly, still waiting for Calleigh's reaction. "I just thought you'd like someone to come home to."

"He's so tiny," she said softly, leaning her head down to examine the kitten more closely. Equally curious, the kitten stretched its tiny neck forward and touched its nose to Calleigh's, earning a giggle. "Where did you get him?"

"The lady up the street was giving them away; my nieces picked him out." Eric regarded her carefully. "What do you think?"

The kitten was rubbing its velvety head under Calleigh's chin. She smiled. "I think he's going to make an excellent roommate."

"The girls named him Cubano, but you can change that if you want."

Calleigh looked from at this strange little animal with its dark fur and green eyes to Eric and smiled. "I think it's perfect."

It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her.

Just fluffy EC stuff.

Not too shippy.

R/R?