"It's nice to see you are awake," Coach Schmidt smiled as Kimberly and Tommy slowly began to wake up. Both looked around and noticed they were in a musty basement. The walls had several cracks and there was a huge crack in the ceiling. The room was cold as ice and Tommy and Kimberly quickly huddled together to stay warm. Both were still in their lion clothes. "Tommy, she was doing wonderful. She could have competed in the Pan Global Games."
"She was getting too skinny. Were the Pan Global games all you cared about?" Tommy asked as his teeth began to chatter. "She was supposed to be training for the Pan Global Games, not losing weight. She was not eating. One day I saw her throw her lunch in the trash."
"When she started training under me, she was fat and heavy," Coach Schmidt reminded Tommy. "Before you got involved, she was prefect."
"You caused her to be insecure about herself," Tommy grumbled. He could fell the cold air coming from the air vent above him on his bare skin. "She was not getting enough sleep and she was exercising in the middle of the night."
"I was trying to get my career back," Coach Schmidt yelled in Tommy's face. "That is something I've wanted for years. I used to be one of the best coaches. My cheating methods and over training athletes worked... until I over trained an athlete and they died."
"Is having to be the best all that mattered to you?" Tommy questioned in an angry tone.
"What goes on my gymnastic practices doesn't concern you," Coach Schmidt screamed and he turned towards Kimberly. "And you..." He slapped Kimberly across the face. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL ANY ONE WHAT WENT ON DURING PRACTICE!"
"I thought I told you never to touch her again!" Tommy yelled at Coach Schmidt. Kimberly fell in Tommy's arms after passing out. He knew they weren't safe with Coach Schmidt and they had to get out of there. "I hate you, you two faced monster."
"I'm sorry that I had to be so blunt with you," Coach Schmidt hissed as he knocked Tommy down. "How could you be so cruel? I care about her."
"In ways that I'll never understand," Tommy answered harshly.
"Please let Kimberly know I care about her," requested Coach Schmidt as he handed Tommy daffodil's.
"She's allergic to daffodil's," Tommy yelled as he threw the daffodils' in Coach Schmidt's face. "Are you trying to harm her?"
Coach Schmidt got tired off arguing with Tommy and he quickly walked up the stairs. "Tommy, you are stupid and worthless," Coach Schmidt yelled as he stood in the door frame. "No wonder you don't have very many friends. Take care of your princess because you will never see anyone else again!" Coach Schmidt slammed the door and locked it.
Tommy picked up Kimberly who was laying on the floor. Holding her close, he walked around the small room. It only had a bed, a dresser, a small table and two chairs, a small bathroom with a shower, and a TV. On broken bookcase there were some puzzles, word search books, crossword puzzle books, card games, and board games. "I'm sorry, Beautiful," Tommy apologized as tears formed in his eyes. He pulled down the covers and laid Kimberly in the nice cozy bed. She looked like she was in a peaceful slumber. "I'll be back precious, I'm going to take a shower."
Tommy stood on the old rug as he finished shaving the facial hair off his face. "That looks so much better," Tommy smiled as he looked in the mirror. It felt so good to get a warm shower with a bar of soap and can wash his hair with shampoo. His breath was finally minty fresh. "At least he left us some hygiene items down here." He put his new tooth brush on in the tooth brush holder and laid the tooth paste next to it. His eyes landed on the old worn out lion cloth that he was stuck wearing for last several weeks. Tommy put the worn-out lion cloth back.
As he was walking out of the room Kimberly walked in and quickly gave him tight hug. "Thank goodness, you're still here!" she cried. "I woke up and you weren't there. I thought Coach Schmidt took you."
"Actually, he had no intention of taking you," Tommy assured her when he gave her peck on the cheek. " He said that we aren't going to see anyone else again."
"Tommy, it's my fault that we're in this mess," Kimberly sobbed as she began to squeeze him harder. "I shouldn't have gotten involved with that coach. If I didn't our team wouldn't be struggling. I wouldn't have fought with you and I would never have lost that close relationship we once had. Now, we're having to rebuild our relationship."
"Beautiful, you never lost that close relationship with me," Tommy answered in a gentle voice and he wiped her tears with his thumbs. "In fact, this has made us closer." He wrapped his arms around her and just held her a minute and he felt her trembling.
"I love you," Kimberly whispered.
"I love you too," he replied. "Why don't you go get a warm shower, and then I cuddle with you for the rest of the night."
Kimberly stared and looked into the mirror. She was finally able to dry her hair, and use soap and shampoo, which was something that she couldn't do in ages. At last her breath finally smelled minty fresh and she was finally able to use deodorant. And she was finally able to clean her nails. "I wish I had something else to wear," Kimberly sighed when she looked at her ragged lion cloth and jungle bra. "I miss my pink clothes so much." Kneeling she put on the ugly looking outfit and walked back into the room.
"Kim, come get under the warm covers," Tommy instructed when he saw her walk out of the bathroom shivering. She crawled in bed and he quickly pulled the cover over them. Kimberly snuggled up to Tommy after he spooned her into his arms. For several minutes, all Tommy did was hold Kimberly, giving her extra warmth with is body heat. "Is this better?"
"Much," she smiled, snuggling closer to him. She loved feeling his smooth and soft bare chest brush up against her skin. "Tommy, I'm afraid we'll be here awhile."
"I know," he sighed as he held her against his chest. "Beautiful, no matter what happens, I'm going to take care of you. We'll both get through this."
Time went by even slower for Kimberly and Tommy. The clothes Coach Schmidt gave them to wear was much worse than the lion clothes. Kimberly had to wear a purple strapless bra and a purple mini skirt. Her bra showed more cleavage than the jungle bra did. All Tommy had to wear was a pair of purple shorts. When Coach Schmidt was bored, Kimberly and Tommy had to belly dance and act like mimes to entertain him. Then they were sent back down to the basement. They got their meals through a doggy door. When they didn't have to entertain Coach Schmidt, they usually snuggled up together and watched TV. It had gotten colder in the basement so they stayed under the covers.
One night, Tommy woke and he finally had an idea about how they could escape. He looked down at Kimberly who was still fast asleep in his arms. Tommy leaned over and turned the lamp on and sat up. "Tommy, why are you up at this hour?" Kimberly asked as she snuggled up next to him to get warm. "It's late and we should be sleeping."
"I finally thought of away about how we can escape," Tommy replied as he hugged her against his chest.
"It will never work," Kimberly yawned and started to rub her tired eyes.
"He won't know I'm out of the basement, "Tommy promised her when he got out of bed. "We'll manage."
"I'm not letting you go up there alone," Kimberly warned him as she grabbed her hand. "You're all I've got and don't want anything to happen to you."
"I don't plan on leaving you down here, while I go look. I'm taking you with me," Tommy smiled and he lifted her out of bed. He walked up the stairs and opened the door. "The reason, why I decided we'd do it tonight was because he couldn't open the slot, when he brought us our meal. Remember, he had to open the door? He got a phone call and said he'd put the pad lock on the door later, but never came back."
"How do you know this is a good idea?"
"When we had to stand steal like statues for two hours, Coach Schmidt was drink several bottles of beer and got drunk," he whispered as he opened the door. "He isn't his normal self and that can come to our advantage."
"What do you have in mind?" Kimberly giggled she picked up a flash light and turned it on.
"You'll see," Tommy promised as they walked up to the second floor.
