Time was passing slowly for Marissa. She must have looked at her watch 5 times in the last hour but she still had 2 more hours until she was due at the gym. She wondered if he would even be there tonight. Maybe he only went once a week. It wasn't as if he needed it. From what she could remember his body was perfect.

But then maybe the perfect body was a result of him being a gym junkie. If so then he'd be sure to be there tonight. She hoped so. Not that anything was going to happen but she just wanted to see him again.

She knew that he was way out of her league but that didn't mean that she couldn't admire him from afar. Who knows? She thought to herself. Maybe if she could just rid herself of her little problem and gain a bit of experience of her own then maybe … eventually … she'd be able to get someone like him. Although she had a feeling that there weren't too many like him out there and that he was one of a kind.

Just the thought of it made her dejected. She quickly gathered up her books, knowing that any more study was hopeless. She hadn't been able to concentrate on anything else but blue blue eyes for most of the day. May as well have a shower and wash her hair and get ready for work. Surely it wouldn't hurt to try to look her best.

Or at least as good as she could in the uniform that she had to wear.

---

Ryan was having trouble trying to contain his eagerness. He was supposed to be cool calm and collected. Nothing should faze him. But that wasn't how he felt at all. And to top of it all off he had to try to appear calm otherwise Luke was going to pick up on it. But he couldn't remember being this excited since …. He shook his head. Maybe he'd never been this excited.

But then part of him reasoned that he was going to be disappointed. Surely she couldn't be as good as his dreams had made her out to be. Somehow or other she had taken on the shape of the perfect woman … and he was old enough and wise enough to know that the perfect woman didn't exist.

But from what he could remember, Marissa came awfully close.

Luke was stuffing around trying to delay the inevitable whereas Ryan couldn't get to the gym fast enough.

"Are you ready yet?" Ryan asked for what seemed like the tenth time.

"Hold your horses. What's the rush?" Luke asked. "You've never been this keen to get to the gym before in your life. I'm usually the one pushing you."

Ryan knew that he had to calm down or Luke would know that something was up. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we get home." Ryan explained hoping that the excuse sounded believable. "And I've got some stuff to finish off." He informed Luke hoping that he'd not ask anymore questions.

"All right, all right." Luke said picking up his shoes. "Let's go get it over with. Who knows maybe tonight Molly will finally give in to my charms?"

Ryan just smiled. He couldn't tell Luke that he already knew that Molly was away for the week. Otherwise Luke would want to know how Ryan knew that and Ryan wasn't about to reveal his little visit to the gym last night to Luke. That would lead to too many awkward questions. "What about Sarah?" Ryan asked feigning complete ignorance.

"What about Sarah?" Luke asked nonchalantly.

"You can't still be interested in Molly now that you've finally gotten Sarah to agree to go out with you?" Ryan stated.

Luke frowned. "I'm not following your reasoning." He laughed. "I can't see why I should deny myself the charms of one over the other. Not if they are both interested. I'd hate for either of them to miss out."

Ryan sighed. "You do know that this life of yours will catch up with you one day and you'll be left with no one?" Ryan suggested.

"Hopefully that day is still a long way off and anyhow, I intend to enjoy myself while I wait for it to come. The more the merrier." Luke replied.

Ryan shook his head. It wasn't that long ago that he would have agreed with Luke. But some how … or he suspected it was more likely that SOMEONE … had changed his mind.

Now … he just wanted to spend time with one person.

And it wasn't Luke.

---

Marissa knew that she was fidgeting but she hadn't been able to keep still ever since she'd arrived. She tried to think back to what time they had come in on Monday night? But then she realised that maybe they didn't come at the same time every day. Although when she'd spoken to Molly, she had said that they usually came in on Monday and Wednesday. She tapped her knee on the underside of the desk trying to calm her nerves but nothing seemed to be helping.

Would he say hello? Would he even acknowledge her? Would he just pass on through with barely a nod? Would he stop to talk? And for every possible scenario, she tried to think of what she should do in response. If he did talk to her, she wanted to have something ready to say. She didn't want to come across as an airhead just because she had a brain freeze from looking at him like she'd had on Monday. But what should she say? Definitely not "I'm covering for Molly." She couldn't believe that's all she'd been able to come up with. He probably thought that she was some sort of moron after that comment.

She was sure they were late ... or at least later than Monday.

She had just started to relax, having convinced herself that they weren't coming, when the phone rang and she answered it, pleased to have something to distract her even if it was only for a short time. It was someone enquiring about membership of the gym and wanting details of the facilities available and the costs associated with it and Marissa was trying to outline the programs when Luke and Ryan walked in the door.

---

Ryan had spent a large part of the day (and a lot of the previous night) thinking about how he could approach Marissa without Luke being around. He wanted to have the chance to talk to her privately. The last thing that he wanted was for Marissa to think that he and Luke were alike when it came to the way they treated the opposite sex - even if they had been somewhat alike up until very recently. Like Monday.

He'd decided that he would try to get Luke through the reception area as quickly as possible. The less chance that Luke got to say anything to her, the better. Then Ryan intended to take a 'bathroom break' and head back to talk to her. Alone.

He followed Luke through the door and was surprised by the impact that the sight of her had on him. Especially given that he'd already known that she would be there. She was on the phone and her head was bent slightly forward as she wrote something down and the sight of her was like water to a thirsty man. He wanted to stand and take it all in but he knew that he needed to get Luke to keep moving.

Luke hesitated. "Well … Looks like Molly's stand-in is back again?"

"Leave her alone and just head on through." Ryan instructed him. "She's on the phone."

"I can see that. But I'm sure that she'd enjoy a bit of my attention." Luke teased.

"Luke. Just give it a miss. You've got enough girls on the go right now." Ryan said stating the obvious.

Marissa looked up and her eyes glanced off Luke and went straight to Ryan as she continued to speak to the person on the other end of the phone.

Luke noticed the fact that her glance didn't stay on him for even a moment and yet she was obviously enjoying taking in every detail of Ryan. It was obvious where her preference lay and the last thing that he needed was for her to hang up and make her choice known. Better that he got out of there before it became public knowledge. That way he could still try to bluff his way through with Ryan. The chic tally was definitely weighted on Ryan's side at the moment. Luke needed to chalk up a few more just to catch up. He had no idea what Chino had but whatever it was, it looked like it had just snagged another one. Luke moved on past the girl at reception hesitating for a moment to give her a slight wave with his hand as he collected his towel.

Ryan on the other hand was having trouble even breathing. Once their eyes met, it was all he could do not to stop dead but he knew that he needed to keep Luke moving. He didn't want to give him a chance to upset her. As Luke hesitated, Ryan pushed him gently from behind. "Come on. Leave her alone. She's busy." He stated as he guided Luke before him in to the weight's room.

---

Marissa finally placed the phone back on its cradle. She had no idea what she had actually said to the poor person on the other end. From the moment that she'd looked up into his eyes, time had seemingly stood still.

She couldn't believe the timing. She had been waiting 48 hours to see him again and then she'd had to be on the phone when he'd finally arrived. She berated herself. All the time that she'd spent thinking about him and he'd just walked past with only a momentary glance.

Or was it more than that? Was there a silent message conveyed in that look?

She'd been trying to concentrate on what the caller was asking, so maybe she was imagining it all.

He could have anyone she thought dejectedly. Why would he be even slightly interested in her?

She realised that her leg was shaking again and tapping on the underside of the desk. Even if he wasn't interested, just the knowledge that he was in close proximity was enough to have her on edge.

---

Ryan worked out for about 10 minutes and then as planned, he told Luke that he was taking a bathroom break and headed out the door. But instead of turning right in the hallway and heading for the bathrooms, he turned left and headed back to reception. He could feel his heart starting to race and he knew that it wasn't from the amount of exercise that he'd just done but because of the young lady that he was about to confront.

Marissa glanced up from the text book that she had been attempting to read only to lose her self in the pair of blue eyes that had been on her mind ever since Monday night.

As soon as their eyes met, he smiled. He'd wanted to stare into those eyes again ever since he'd first seen her. He didn't ever think that he'd ever want to stop.

"Hey." He said softly.

She smiled and it lit up her whole face. He felt like he'd been given a precious gift.

"Hey to you too." She replied and waited for what was to come. She could feel her heart racing harder than if she'd been working out herself and she was scared that he'd be able to hear it pounding in her chest.

"Um. I was wondering what time you finish up here?" Ryan asked shuffling slightly from side to side with nervousness.

"Um. About 10." Marissa replied. She wondered if he just wanted to know the hours of the gym or was he specifically asking about her hours.

Ryan considered her answer, thinking that he'd have enough time to drop Luke off at home and come back. "If I come back then, do you think that I could take you out for a coffee or something?" he asked, trying with all his might to appear casual.

Marissa felt herself blush.

He WAS interested in her. She could hardly believe it.

She wanted to fan herself but she was concerned that the action would bring even more attention to the fact that she had no idea how to react.

"Um …" she wanted to say yes so badly. But somehow or other all she could think about was Molly's advice. This may have been the guy that she wanted to go out with but he was definitely not the guy that she needed to help her with her problem. She had never wanted more to be a normal non-virgin in her life than she did at this very moment. But she wasn't. As far as she was concerned she was still a freak and the last thing that she needed was for him to find out. This was the guy that she wanted to find AFTER she'd dealt with her problem.

Ryan waited with baited breath. He'd thought that it was a fairly simple question and yet he could see that she was debating with herself over what her answer would be. He hated being in this position. It was no wonder that he usually left it up to the girls to come on to him. He hated the idea of putting yourself out there and declaring your interest only to have to sit and wait to see if it would be reciprocated or if you would crash and burn.

She opened her mouth and the words slowly came out. "I … don't think so."

Ryan felt his heart plummet. "Oh." He said. Nothing in his imagined scenarios had prepared him for this. He hesitated for a moment and then looked back at her just to check that he had heard right but it was written in her eyes. "Okay." He said resignedly and he turned around to head back to the weight's room. Obviously he had completely misinterpreted their earlier signs.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Marissa regretted them. And yet she knew that at this very point in time, she really had no other option. But she could see that he was disappointed and she didn't want that. She just needed to deal with her other problem first. Then the answer would definitely be YES.

As Ryan went to head back to his work out she called out. "Ryan."

He turned around, surprise written on his face. "How did you know my name?" he asked.

Marissa blushed again, she knew that her interest in him was about to be made known. She looked shyly at him. "I asked around." She admitted softly, shrugging slightly.

Ryan smiled. So maybe this attraction wasn't all one sided after all. "Have you changed your mind?" he asked hopefully.

"No." she replied. "But … maybe some other time?" she suggested.

He nodded. It wasn't quite what he'd hoped for but it was certainly better than it could have been. "Okay." He smiled again and then added. "Marissa."

Marissa smiled back and asked. "How did you know MY name?"

Ryan laughed as he turned back to head down the hall and back to his work out and he threw back over his shoulder. "I asked around." He laughed.

---

Marissa sat and wondered if she'd done the right thing. She knew that she wasn't ready for someone like Ryan yet.

But she wanted to be. So badly.

She started to try to make a list of possible partners. She needed to do the deed. With someone … at this point anyone.

It was getting desperate.