Awake with a start. I thought I heard a noise. I sit up in bed and turn on the light of the night lamp. The clock strikes 6:30 am. It's a little while before I wake up, but I don't think I can sleep anymore after waking up. I look at the other side of the bed wondering if Christian slept with me last night. I have no idea.

I am exhausted.

I get up and stretch.

God! My whole body hurts.

I don't remember sex having this side effect. But it doesn't bother me. I like to feel pain for that reason. I smile as I go into the bathroom and brush my teeth before I go out to the kitchen. But I stop at my bedroom door when I see him.

Christian is in the kitchen. He is dressed in a white shirt and black pants, with his back to me. I imagine him finishing breakfast. He turns and picks up a note and pen and smiles as he writes something on the note. He leaves it next to the breakfast and takes the blazer that is on the back of a bar stool. When he puts it on, he is still smiling. He looks up and sees me.

—Are you awake yet? —he asks as he buttons up his jacket and walks in my direction.

I lose the ability to think as he walks like a predator in my direction. He stops in front of me. I look up and lose myself in his gaze. He looks at my body, and looks up again until he stops in my eyes.

—How do you feel?

—Good.

—Sore?

—Deliciously. —I smile at him.

—I'm glad to hear you say that. —he bring his face closer to mine. —I want you to spend the day thinking about what I did to you last night and...— he says to me, pausing and heading for his room quickly.

He comes back a few seconds later with a little velvet bag in his hands.

—And I want you to think about what's in here all day, too. —he says to me with a mysterious smile.

He keeps the bag inside his jacket. And I thought I'd take a look at it when he left. Christian looks at his watch.

—I have to go, I don't want to be late for work.

Shit! Work! That reminds me, I don't have a worthy candidate to present to Men Health tomorrow.

—Christian! —I yell at him when he's already at the door.

He turns to me raising his eyebrows.

—Yes.

—I asked you last night if you'd like to give an interview for a magazine, but with the car broken, you didn't answer. —I ask him very animatedly because I hope that after all we have shared he will not say no to me.

—After I retired, I decided not to give interviews to anyone, Ana. —I think my heart wings have just fallen off.

I feel his steps walking in my direction, he stops in front of me. I don't see him because my head is down and I stare at his impressive italian black shoes. He puts a finger under my chin and lifts up my head.

—Is it that important to you? —he asks as he stares at me.

—Yes, it's the first time that Elena has delegated something completely to me and I don't want to let her down. —I tell him in a tone of supplication.

—What would this interview involve?

—The usual. —he looks at me with an eyebrow without understanding what I mean.

Then I remember that he hasn't given an interview in years. So I proceed to explain.

—Answering a few questions and a photo session, preferably exercising, in case they choose you.

—Okay.

—Will you do it? —I ask him with excitement.

—I will only do it for you, not for Elena. She has too much of a temper to do her any favors. —he says to me as I laugh.

As I do so, I watch him take his phone out of the pocket of his jacket.

—Put in your number. —he says as he holds it out to me.

I keep my contact number, and also my e-mail, in case he needs it some day, and then I give him back the phone. Christian dials the number I just saved and I feel my phone ringing somewhere.

—Okay, I'm off then.

—I'm going to need a picture of you to show to the magazine. —I tell him as he stops right at the door.

—You can use the one framed in my room. But I think you're going to need some pictures of me recently, they won't believe I'm in shape.

Right. He was fat, and he was in a wheelchair.

—I can take some pictures of you after we finish class this afternoon.

—Okay. If you need me, you know how to reach me. —he winks at me and walks away.

I go into his room and take the picture that's framed. He has a beaten-up face, but a smile on his face as he holds up his championship belt. But I can't take this picture. Suddenly the bag he was carrying last night with the things from the store catches my attention. I'm curious to see what else is in it, but it will have to be another time. I can't waste any time now.

I leave the photo on my bedroom table and look for my cell phone. I don't spend much time finding the exact same picture. I put it away and smile before heading to the kitchen to have breakfast.

Before I start, I read the note that has left me stuck next to the breakfast.

Thanks for last night. It's been a long time since I've had so much fun.

Christian.

I had no idea that last night was fun. Exciting, it certainly was. He have a strange way of having fun.

I smile while eating breakfast, and as soon as I finish, I organize the papers to present the candidates to Elena. With everything ready, I get dressed and head to the office in plenty of time.

—Hello Ana. —Kate approaches me as soon as I make my entrance.

I carry the papers in one hand and coffee in the other for Elena as I walk quickly to her office.

—Hi.—I answer her without stopping.

—You disappeared last night. What happened to you? —she asks me as I immediately stop and look at her.

I know I shouldn't tell her anything about what happened last night, so I have to make something up urgently.

—I finally came home, I didn't feel well.

—Did you come back accompanied? —she raises her eyebrows suggestively.

—Yes. Christian accompanied me. —I tell her as I resume my walk to Elena's office.

—Christian! You have to tell me everything at lunch. —she yells at me while I ignore her completely and arrive at Elena's office.

I knock on her door and then walk in.

—Good morning Elena. —I say very happily as I close the door behind me.

I walk over to her desk and leave her coffee as I do every day.

—Good morning, Ana. You're early today. —she says as she begins to drink her coffee.

—Yes. I couldn't wait to show you the candidates for Men Fitness.

—Well, let's see what are our options.

I start pulling out all the interview papers and scattering them on her big table.

—After I finished the interviews, I did an analysis of which ones would attract the most attention from the magazine. And from there only two options came out. —I say to her as I point to the photos of the two candidates.

I can see Elena frowning. Apparently, she didn't like either one of them.

—But I have a third option that wasn't on the list of candidates. —I tell her as she looks up from the photos.

—I imagine a much better candidate than these.

—Of course. —I tell her while I take out my cell phone, I look for the photo of Christian that I have downloaded and I show it to her.

—Christian! —she says to me in amazement.

—Why not? He is a former MMA champion and is in much better shape than the other candidates.

—How do you know he's in better shape than the rest? —she asks me curiously as she crosses his arms and looks up at me with an eyebrow.

—Because he's my Kick Boxing teacher. —I confess to her very quietly in the hope that she won't ask too many questions.

—Did he start over at your Gym?

—I had to move suddenly and continue my classes in one that was closer to me.

Why do he ask so many questions?

—If you think this is the best option to show them, then go ahead. Since you've done everything, I'll let you take care of this completely. —she says with a smile.

—Really! —I yell at her anxiously.

—Yes, I know how much you love this job, it's time you took on a project completely.

—Thank you, Elena! —I tell her I'm excited. —I won't let you down. —I say anxiously.

—I know you won't. Now go and prepare a presentation to surprise them tomorrow.

—Okay. —I tell her as I excitedly walk out of her office and into mine.

I never imagined Elena would trust me with something as important as this. So with the energy and emotion flowing through my veins I start working hard on tomorrow's presentation.

My work is interrupted an hour later by a message from Christian.

"You guessed what I have in the bag"

The truth is that I had forgotten the bag. Now that he reminds me of it, I'm curious to know what he brought with him. So, I decide to answer him.

"I have no idea. Will you tell me?"

His answer comes quickly.

"I'll let you think about it for the rest of the morning.

Think about it? I can't be thinking about the damn bag when I have to prepare a presentation.

Around noon I have the presentation ready for tomorrow and I don't understand how I managed it. After Christian's last message, I couldn't stop thinking about him. And as if he knew I was thinking about him again, my cell phone started ringing alerting me to a text message. As I look at the screen, I see that it's him.

"If you want to know what's in the bag, come to the car and get in the back."

Of course I want to know what's in the bag. So, I go quickly out of the office. I see the car and without thinking twice I open the back door and get in.

As soon as I sit down and close the door, I stand there watching him and my breathing starts to accelerate. He is sitting right next to me, at the opposite end of the seat. I don't know why, but I feel that what he has in the bag will make me gasp with pleasure.

—Hi.—he says to me with a radiant smile and a sensual voice.

Why is he talking to me in this tone? And at this hour.

—Hi.—I answer with a moan.

—Are you wearing panties? —he asks as he looks at my legs and then back at my eyes.

—Yes. —I answer with a knot in my throat. —I don't usually come to work without them, you know. —I answer as he smiles.

I don't know how he can think of me coming to work without any panties. Is he crazy?

—Lock the door and lie down. —he says to me in a low voice while I do what he asks without hesitation.

And then I stare at him with no idea what he's going to do next. I watch him as he slowly brings a hand towards my half-discovered thigh.