Hello there..

Let me start off by giving my sincerest apologies to the few people who followed this story. I have been on a 3-week hiatus. I enjoyed 2 weeks off from work and on vacation in Dallas with my boyfriend. It was beyond amazing! But I missed writing and I missed this story! So.. If you would accept this gracious & humble apology, & I will gladly continue on with this fanfic :)

Also,

There are a lot of extremely talented writers in this forum. I haven't gotten around to reviewing but I will soon. Keep writing these amazing stories. You all are my inspiration!

So..

Without further ado,

The THIRD installment of "Filling The Void.."

Disclaimer : I do NOT own any of the ideas or characters from The Boondocks.

Chapter 3: Chance Encounters.. Do You Believe In Fate?

In the bright-lit enormous 2nd floor fitness room, a slightly sweaty Huey Freeman jogged at moderate speed on his treadmill. His black iPhone 4S clipped to his side with two sleek earbuds connected from the phone to his ears, The Weeknd's The Morning playing.

He was definitely in his zone..

The smooth beat and incredible electric guitar riff over the hook helped him focus.

"All that money, The money is the motive.."

Sadly, at this point in his young life.. it was. He was focused, determined, and hungry. Eventually, he'd get back to his life's main purpose, until then his focus was on the security that money would guarantee him. Staring out the large ceiling-to-floor glass window, at the tall office buildings across the street, his mind was already busy systemizing and organizing his tasks of the day. After his run, he stepped off the treadmill grabbed his water bottle to quench his thirst and grabbed his white terry-cloth towel wiping away the sweat around his temples & forehead.

His eyes scanned the room to see if any of his regulars had shown up, "No one.. Hmph, figures." he scoffed. Huey had built up a notorious reputation of being a hardass, overly demanding, & sometimes frightening personal trainer. He pushed every last one of his client to the core, and after giving them 30 seconds of recomposure his foot was back on their throats (figuratively speaking,) pushing them even further past their limits. Huey didn't give a fuck though.

"These people and their cozy, lazyass, over-privileged lives.. It wouldn't kill them to break a fucking sweat."

and he would make sure he'd be the one to make them exceed just that. After assessing that none of his lazy ass clients hadn't shown up yet, he decided to squeeze in a few minutes on the weight machines. Throwing his towel over his left shoulder, he stepped off the treadmill pausing to check the time on his phone, when a female voice spoke.. "Excuse me, is this treadmill being used?" Without turning, he gave a slight nod toward the machine beside him.. "It's free.." he said casually.

"Thanks.."

He simply shrugged his broad shoulders and walked off in the other direction.

"Hey, you left something behind.."

Huey quietly huffed. Turning back, he looked all over the machine for something he might've left, before noticing the female standing on the treadmill holding his water bottle. His eyes focused on the woman before him, she was about 5'9.. five inches shorter than he was. Her skintone was a honey color, and a lean athletic build. An average sized 34-B bust sitting respectively under a snug plain white tee similar to the one Huey wore, but obviously fitted for her feminine figure. Her small hips were covered by black slim-fit Nike yoga shorts, her long toned legs left shown.

White footies and a stylish pair of Black and Clearwater blue Nike Air Griffeys adorned her small feet. Her head was covered by a healthy crop of thick, black short hair that stopped at mid-neck, she wore it in a uniquely boyish hairstyle, with a side fringe that covered her right eye.

It perfectly framed her face, which was nothing less than beautiful, full and pouty bare pink lips, a small button nose, high cheekbones and a tiny beauty mole underneath her left eye and the far right below her bottom lip.

But what stood out most was her eyes.. strangely captivating. The right pupil was a hybrid of amber and emerald green, whilst the left was a striking pale gray.

"Complete Heterochromia.. a birth defect." Huey thought to himself.

Her naturally arched eyebrows and thick black eyelashes defined her facial expression. She seemed a bit timid in her movements as she stepped from the treadmill to hand him the water bottle.

"Sorry about that.." she said in a quiet manner, looking towards the ground. Huey's eyebrow slightly arched as he noticed her passive behavior. He grasped the bottle from between her delicate fingers. Brushing her wrist with his fingertips, the brief contact caught her attention, as she finally looked up from the ground into this strangers face. She was taken aback.

He was extremely handsome, everything about his stature, physique and attitude screamed manly. With a quick glance she noticed two piercing reddish-brown irises, a small but fresh-trimmed goatee and a large, well-kept dark brown Afro.

Before a awkward silence could set in between the two, Huey pulled his arm back, the water clutched in his hand. The young woman stepped back onto the treadmill and began inputting her preference settings for her workout.

Huey stood a second longer before speaking again.. "You're a new face.. giving Tudo's a trial run before joining?"

"Actually, I joined just yesterday." she responded, still busying herself with the treadmill settings.

Huey nodded his head in thought.. "Well, welcome to Tudo's Fitness.. I'm Huey Freeman, lead trainer and fitness coordinator, my first session comes free as courtesy of the gym, weekly sessions afterwards start at-"

"I don't need a trainer.. Thanks" she interjected.

She began her workout and with the tap of a button, the treadmill came to life and she started walking at a moderate pace.

Huey's eyes slanted in annoyance at the way she cut his sentence short..

"Is that so.." his voice carried an undertone of sarcasm.

She immediately picked up on it and turned her head slightly in his direction..

"Yes. I appreciate the kind gesture of the gym, but I do not need your services Mr. Freeman.." she spoke politely but her tone was final.

She could've melted into the ground, the look he was giving her was so intense. She felt him analyzing her from head to toe.

Boy, she must've really ruffled this guys' feathers.

She quickly turned her attention back to the treadmill, pressing another button causing the speed of the treadmill to increase, sending her into a light jog.

Huey decided to take a different approach to this. She obviously was a bit headstrong. He walked over to the front of the treadmill and stood there.

"What's your name?"

She really hadn't planned on making this much social interaction today. Little did she know, her and Huey shared the same sentiment. After the panic attack she had earlier.. She was feeling anxious, and unsure of what she might say. Glancing down at him, she decided to engage him and offer her name.

"I'm West.."

"..Different" he thought.

"Here's another offer.. Why don't you shadow me for the rest of your time here today.. We'll train in the same areas, then you can decide whether or not you're better off on your own." He was definitely pitching his best sell.

Now it was Wests' turn to raise her eyebrow.

"So he negotiates?.."

She carefully considered this offer before engaging him again.

"Alright.. we can begin, AFTER I finish my run." she said letting a small grin grace her features.

Huey smirked. "Okay then.. I'll be over by the weight machines."

Two hours and thirty minutes later..

Huey and West stood around the Dasani cooler filled with water bottles & Powerades. Huey honestly wanted to dunk his entire head in the ice cold water, he was spent. Since he started working at the gym he'd never had a workout that intense. As humble and quiet as little Miss West was, she was an agile and a fierce competitor.. Hell she could be a trainer here if she applied for the job.

West chugged down the last of her water before tossing it in the trash can a few centimeters away, and grabbing another bottle. Huey wiped his sweaty forehead before grabbing himself a bottle.

The two quietly recuperated on a bench next to a Nature's Own vending machine, only sounds of their tired breathing & crinkling water bottles was heard between the two. Huey glanced over at West who met his gaze, the two shared a brief smile amongst each other. They had found common ground in their work ethics. Huey leaned forward resting his forearm on his knee & one arm held his water, it meeting his lips every so often.

West leaned back her head rested against the wall, she looked at the fluorescent lights high above her head. She was glad she took Huey up on his offer.. He was in actuality a great trainer. Focused & easy to keep up with.

He wasn't bad on the eyes either.. Her eyes scanned over his back down to his arms, the biceps.. How they flexed without him even trying.

"Oh this is so cliche.. Let me get a handle on my hormones before I grope him or something.."

she shook her head before rising off the bench, her long glistening legs caused Huey to glance up at her (..and back down a few times) before she spoke.

"This was great.. so.. um.. I'm gonna go and hit the showers, i have some other things scheduled for today."

"Yeah. Yeah.. I understand, I take my lunch in a few." he said.

She nervously ran a hand through her hair not sure of what to say next, " So.. same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah.. that's cool, I can move around some clients so we can meet regularly around that time."

Huey already knew his client that was previously booked for that time slot would pitch a bitch about being rescheduled without notice. Like he cared.. The policy was if you missed more than 2 scheduled sessions with a trainer, you were at risk of being bumped by another potential client.

The rules were pretty flexible and could be worked out, but in this case Huey wasn't going. The two set a timeframe for their workouts and shortly after parted ways to the women/men's locker rooms.

Once outside the gym, Huey retrieved his phone from his pocket, headphones still plugged in it's jack and wrapped carefully around the phone. He stood there unwinding the cord carefully, when West walked from the doors of the gym, standing a foot away from him fishing for her own phone from her brown leather canvas bag.

She was dressed in casual wear.. Light blue jeans, a gray v-neck sweater, & brown fringe knee high boots. She looked lovely in her simplicity.

Huey longed to say something to her.. But what? They'd just met a little over 3 hours ago. And as they worked out together they'd hardly spoken to each other.

And why the hell did he feel a need to be chatty with her anyway.. She was a regular client now like everyone else. He made an effort not to become too cordial with them anyways.. But she seemed to be on an entirely different wavelength.

"Its possible me and her can engage in normal, educated conversation.. I guess." he considered all the factors of how his next actions could set things in motion : if the end result was bad.. Things would be awkward between the two, though he was pretty sure in this scenario, she could remain professional.

And if everything went well?

"Damn, I hadn't even thought that far.."

He was so busy thinking of how it'd all blow up in his face, he didn't stop to think about what would happen if everything went smoothly. Before he got too lost in his own over-analyzation of the situation, he spoke..

"West.. are you from Woodcrest?" he asked, immediately wanting to facepalm himself for asking such a basic, dumbass question. And it rhymed. What a douche.

She smirked, noticing he seemed a bit flustered with his question, she looked up from the ground and met his eyes. "No.. Dallas, Texas."

"Oh.."

Fucking Douche.

"Well I gotta be going.. We'll talk again tomorrow, See you Huey." she gave him one last grin before turning to walk off in the other direction towards her car. Huey watched her walk to the car and hop inside before she drove off. Putting his earbuds back into his ear he hit resume on his music player, bobbing his head slightly with a small grin as he walked across the street in the direction of the deli.

"Girl put in work, Girl girl put in work.."

So! Hoped you like that little piece. The next chapter will be retracing Jazmine &Huey's past and why they're not really on speaking terms.

Our mystery girl finally has a name & and physical identity (meaning we have an idea of what she looks like) Her & Huey will have more interaction next Chap.

Did I mention Ceasar would be in this story? Well he will.. As Huey's best bud of course.

I decided somewhere along the line i'll do some commissions for this story. But for now I'll be using reference pics for our female characters (mainly Jazmine & West and Cindy) As for the guys.. Try to imagine the most painstakingly attractive, older versions of Riley, Ceasar and Huey lol.

Okay, so I made a photobucket (at the last minute) devoted to this story.

If you visit my Bio.. There are the links for the lovely ladies from this story. Sorry about me re-uploading this chapter lol.

xo.