Title: Work (it) out!
Chapter 2: Fight it!
Author: Ann
Rating: (G to NC-17): G
Spoilers/Warnings: After EOT
Summary: Ranger does a week of working out Stephanie style
Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine. For more information on the workout-programs:
Here is the second chapter of my story. I was working out in the gym this morning again, and thought Ranger would have a little bit more fun with this training than with the first! So really separate from the books and other stories, here's a little fun for all of us! Hope it gives encouragement to go to the gym if you need it J.
PS: the description of the program is the current program of Les Mills, so anybody participating in these programs: you know what I mean! J
Fight it!
Stephanie hadn't seen Ranger all morning, so she was wondering if he was going to come today too, or if he would come up with an excuse why he didn't make it today. She did think today would be much more to his liking, and wondered if it was actually safe to let him participate today. After all, they would be making fight moves, but he was not allowed to touch anybody. Contact between persons was strictly forbidden. But she wasn't disappointed when she entered the room: Ranger was talking to their teacher for this hour, Rick. Even Rick, who was quite a big and very fit guy, seemed to be intimidated by Ranger. It was obvious that he was wondering why Ranger wanted to take this class. Hihi, he would never guess. Mary and July, who had also taken the steps lesson yesterday walked up to her to great her.
"Look, he's back!" Mary was obviously enthusiastic about adding Ranger to the lesson. Well frankly, who wasn't? Only straight men didn't like it probably…
"Do you know who he is? I have never seen him until yesterday." July looked appreciatively at Rangers body. Stephanie was balancing her options. Saying she knew Ranger would probably lead to a lot of pushing to introduce Mary and July to him. Also, they would start asking questions about him, and most of them she wouldn't been able to answer anyway. However, if she said that she didn't know him and Ranger would suddenly walk up to her to say hi, she would look stupid. And it did kind of make her feel good to say that she knew the guy that every women in the room, no scratch that, in the whole gym, was lusting after. Ranger solved her 'problem' when he walked up to her.
"Looking good, Babe." He smiled and she heard Mary and July grasp for air.
"Enjoyed yesterdays workout?" she asked sweetly. He was only trying to show off, so she felt the need to remind him of yesterday.
He just gave her a look and then Rick announced the beginning of the lesson.
'Okay, here we go' was all I could think when Rick took up his position in front of the class. From what Rick and my ex told me, this would be a class that I would be able to do. I of course knew all the moves by heart, the only thing that was new to me would be the sequence in which I had to do them. And I was a fast learner when it came to that, so I was actually looking forward to this. It gave me the opportunity to impress Stephanie. Yesterday after the lesson had ended, she had walked off together with 2 women. They were in this class too, and were very interested in me. I wasn't in them, but well, what can I do about it? However, I hoped that today I could catch her before she disappeared into the locker room, just to chat. Since we saw each other almost every day, we didn't speak to each other a lot outside of the office. And since my building had cameras everywhere, it seriously limited physical contact. No more heated kisses in the alley anymore, and I missed it. I hoped that, by talking to her in the gym, we would find a topic that had nothing to do with work and she would not see me as her boss for a few minutes, but as a nice guy. The nicest guy in the world, that is.
With BodyCombat we always faced the mirror, so we could see our moves and make sure we did it right. However, mirrors also give a wonderful opportunity to spy on other people. I was looking at Ranger, admiring him in his workout gear today. He was wearing black (of course) sweatpants that had straight legs and a black sleeveless t-shirt. He looked delicious. The t-shirt was loose fitting, so when he moved, part of his stomach and wonderful abs were visible. The warming up consisted of a kata, followed by the basic moves for today. Ranger, of course, did them to perfection. When Rick announced that we would have to pick our imaginary opponent for our first fight, we looked at each other in the mirror. I would have to admit that more than once, he was my imaginary opponent. Sometimes because he had said something that had pissed me off, sometimes because it was fun to imagine beating the shit out of Ranger. Never going to happen in real life, so this was the next best thing. Today, however, Lester was my imaginary opponent, since he had been bothering me all morning with questions and assignments. He deserved a good kick in the butt. Or in my mind anyway. Shuffle, jab, back fist.
The next 3 tracks were aimed at muscle strength and endurance. First we had to make moves forward and then shuffle for another series of kicks and punches sideward and then back again. Also, we were not allowed to stand still, so in between kicks and punches we would either jump or shuffle. And we did lots of jump kicks. Ranger jumped and kicked higher than anybody else and attracted so much attention that Mary almost kicked my ass because she was looking at Ranger while she was doing her jump kick in stead of looking ahead of her! For the 4th track, we formed a circle. We had to shuffle towards each other while doing 3 punches and then shuffle backwards, punching 3 times with the other arm. Before we switched to the left hand side, we had to make a few exhausting jumps, namely jump and turn your body half so your other side is facing forward. We repeated this sequence a few times and ended with some more jumping and endurance exercises. Ranger seemed to really like it. The teacher was standing opposite him in the circle, and I was sure that some serious challenging was going on between them. The 5th track was more about working with your arms, so lots of fast punches. It showed Rangers arms off beautifully. Scissors, elbow, jump kick.
We got some time to breathe when we started with track 6. We did different kicks and punches, but slowly, so we could perfect our technique and build muscle strength. More squads to show of Rangers butt, eh I mean, to train your legs. After a while I noticed that more and more people were following Ranger's moves in the mirror, and not Ricks. He had a natural way of attracting attention and he was 100 in control of his body. After the first minute, only Ranger looked at Rick and we all looked at Ranger. Rick didn't seem to notice until Ranger made a mistake and we all did it too. Oops… Luckily, Rick didn't mind and just gave us a little yell to get the attention back to him. Personally, track 7 was one of my favourites. It was the Muay Thai, and consisted of moves in which your hands were open in stead of fisted. Speed was important now and I could feel myself getting tired but in a good way. There was this one series of 3 elbows left to right, then a move upwards and then 6 knee lifts, all done at great speed. It was fun and I always smiled during this track. I caught Ranger's eye, and he was smiling too. I was so distracted I almost hit myself with the upward move, and then quickly focused on my own reflection in the mirror again. Roundhouse kick, cross legs, body shot.
Track 8 was the last track before the abdominal crunches. Just lots of kicking and punching. Let it all go, so to say. Everybody had sweat trickling down their face, but it seemed we all tried to take that extra step when such an attractive man was around. Mmm, interesting thought: how much more calories would be burned by adding attractive men and women to the training? But let's not go there. I joined this gym not only because I like the group lessons and the training method, but also because no Rangeman was around. Especially in the beginning, it was very hard for me just to complete a lesson. And all the guys at Rangeman were in such good shape that I had felt intimidated and unable to relax and enjoy the workout. At this gym, I had lots of women around me. I could hide in the back if I felt like it and could make mistakes without anybody saying anything. We all made mistakes here, we were namely human! We cheered each other on and all of us looked lost when the new choreography for steps was released. At Rangeman, they were all highly trained, and that didn't do much for me. No room for error. So having Ranger around for a week would be fun, but I hoped he wouldn't sign up.
Wow, that must have been the first thing in my life where I didn't want him around… go figure! Upper cut, back kick, cross jab.
The last track before the cooling down was the abs track. And jeez, did they try to kill you with that one! It was long, fast and hard. It started with simple up and down, then our legs fell to one side, then we would extend our legs and retract them. And it just kept on going and going. But Ranger had a field day. We were all in a circle again and Ranger had managed to position himself opposite me, so every time I moved up, I could see him. He was smiling (as the only one) and completed the track without a problem. The rest of us mortals were grimacing at the end, and many of us sighed in relief when we were finally done. Cooling down was always nice, you had completed something and felt good about yourself. The song was one I normally wouldn't listen to because it was sort of soft, but I had found a new appreciation for it since this class had started. Also, listening to the words, it was a bit related to Ranger and me. After our night together and the following morning I had had one of the best and worst experiences in my life. I had backed out of the relationship with Morelli, even though that had turned out okay in the end, and I was afraid of getting close to anybody again. I looked at him, and could see him contemplating the words. He looked a bit sad. I felt a bit sad.
Afterwards Rick had asked Ranger a question, so Mary and July looked at me trying to send me a vibe. Probably they hoped I would introduce them to Ranger. Outside the room they both opened their mouth to start the questioning when I said:
"Listen, he's my employer, that's how I know him. And I don't know him that well."
"Now Babe, we both know that ain't true." He was laughing and I glared at him. He introduced himself to Mary and July, who suddenly couldn't find any words and then he grabbed my arm and lead me towards the locker room.
"Want to have a drink in the bar after we shower?" The words we and shower made me feel hot again.
"I thought you didn't drink?"
"A fruit cocktail." Ah, of course.
"Sure, see you there."
Even before I had my hands on the door to the women's locker room, July and Mary had caught up with me and started their questioning once again. Now here was another reason why I wouldn't like Ranger to join my fitness club!
To be continued with my Wednesday workout hour of BodyBalance!
Music used in this BodyCombat:
BODYCOMBAT® 28 (June 2006)\
1Listen To Your HeartColorBoxTroublePink
2The Final CountdownHeavyDance
3Come With Me (Hixxy Remix)Special D
4Push It AgainDJ Lawless vs Oliver Swab
5HymnTina Cousins
6Hung UpSBI
7FightKopyKatz
8Reach OutMaximum
9SwitchWill Smith
10Because Of YouKelly Clarkson