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From her spot on the ground, Mindy shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight practically causing her to go blind. She was lying on the ground in Central Park, out of breath with sweat dripping down her face.
"This was a terrible idea, Danny. Seriously, there is no reason for this. Remember last time? Do you want me to puke again?"
Danny was jogging in place next to her trying to keep his heart rate up. "We've only gone like 2 miles, Mindy. I know you can run at least another one."
"No, I can't. Leave me behind to die in this beautiful place. They can bury me here too, so it's a short commute to my funeral."
"A little bit dramatic, aren't we?"
"No, we are not dramatic. I was fine with this whole exercise regimen when it was about wearing cute clothes and casually jogging in nature, but I didn't think you would actually make me run for real."
"You'll thank me later, I promise. Come on, just another mile."
She glared at him but took his outstretched hand and allowed him to pull her up to standing again. "Fine, but I'm using the bathroom first."
A few minutes later, after Mindy spent a few minutes in the bathroom catching her breath before having to run another mile, she walked out of the bathroom to the sight of Danny and another guy fighting each other. And it looked like Danny definitely had the upper hand.
"Danny," she exclaimed, causing him to look away and the other guy landed a solid punch near his right eye.
Luckily the other guy's friend intervened. "OK, stop it, man. Let's get out of here. You always do this!" He managed to convince him to walk away before this turned too ugly.
Mindy rushed over to Danny's side. "What the hell, dude? I was only gone for like a minute."
"It's nothing. He just said something I didn't like," Danny responded while walking away from her.
"Said something you didn't like? People say things you don't like every-other-minute, but you typically don't get into fist fights."
"Fine," he yelled turning back around. "It was about you, okay?"
"What about me?"
"The jerk commented on your, um, posterior."
"My posterior. What on earth does that mean? Oh, did he insult my butt?" she asked craning her head to look at it. She had thought it looked pretty good in these pants.
"No, but he was quite graphic in what he wanted to do with it."
"Oh. Ew."
"Yea, so I let him know that what he said was offensive and he loudly disagreed and then he pushed me and I pushed back and he threw a punch and you saw the rest."
"Oh, wow, that's crazy."
"Well, he's not allowed to talk about you like that…or anyone else. I just made sure he knew it. And I was actually winning until you distracted me."
"Sorry," Mindy replied reaching up to gently touch the early signs of the bruise around his eye. "We should get some ice for that." Danny attributed the shiver that ran up his spine when she touched him to the adrenaline in his body re-adjusting to normal following the fight.
"That would probably be good, though I'd like to think the other guy is worse off than I am."
"I'm sure he is. You totally kicked his ass."
"I did, didn't I? And he was definitely at least 10 years younger than me. You know what, I think we can stop running for today."
"Oh, thank God. Can we get some cotton candy?"
"Sure, why not?"
After a few moments of silence, Mindy realized something pretty important about this whole situation.
"Oh my God, you totally defended my honor. Danny! That is like the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."
"I did not! I punched a guy talking crap."
"Yes, in defense of me."
"Yea, yea, it's no big deal."
"I am totally telling everyone this story at the office tomorrow. You, Danny Castellano, are my hero."
"Oh jeez, Mindy. Let's not blow this out of proportion here. Just buy me a cotton candy and put some ice on my face and we can call it even."
"Alright fine, but just keep in mind that the only kind of heroes that stay secret are super-heroes. I wonder what your alter-ego should be named…"
"And here we are at the cotton candy!"
And with that, they ordered some cotton candy. For Mindy, it was practically a food group, but it was a rare treat for Danny. He naturally made some comment about the pure sugar rotting his teeth, to which Mindy responded that she couldn't even remember her last dental appointment. They walked for a little while debating the merits of dentistry before the subject returned to today's events.
"You know, that guy was clearly an offensive idiot, but he was right about one thing."
"What's that?"
"Your butt does look damn good in those pants."
"I know, right?! I should totally get another pair. It might even be enough of a reason to do this again."
"So, next Sunday? 4 miles?"
"Sure, if you want to carry me the last two miles."
"I'm not going to carry you."
"But I so love a good piggyback ride."
"Is this any way to treat the guy who defended your honor?"
"See! You totally did defend my honor." And with that, Mindy looped her arm through Danny's arm and they continued to enjoy the day, at a slower and more enjoyable pace than earlier.