Chapter 9: A SANCTUARY FOR TWO?

Christopher heard the door to the gym open. He was surprised. He half expected her to change her workout time though he no longer expected her to give up. It hadn't been a week yet but there was something in her face that drove her and somehow he didn't think she'd be easily swayed from her unknown goal.

He still wore the hood but he didn't allow it to cover his face as completely. He glimpsed her through the mirror going through her stretching. She was moving gingerly. He hoped she understood that her muscles had to tear down in order to rebuild themselves even stronger. He hoped she didn't take the pain as a sign to give up when it was actually a sign that her efforts were working for her.

He saw her get on the recumbent bike. She was wearing grey sweats and a t-shirt that was too big. A cap concealed her hair but he was willing to bet that she hadn't combed it this morning. He liked that she didn't come in wearing make-up, though that could just be an indication that he wasn't counted into a category of someone that she would wear make-up for. Crap, why would he even care about that?

Aerosmith's Janie's Got A Gun was playing. When he was selecting the music to play this morning he wondered what she thought of the music. He wondered if she wished he would cut it down. Well she could wear a headset if she didn't like it…but she never did.

Ashleigh placed her hands on her knees and concentrated. Don't stop, girl. Keep going, girl. But she couldn't. Her butt muscle hurt! And then Bad Reputation by Joan Jett began playing and Ashleigh made a squeak of pleasure. Ooo! That was her song! She grit her teeth and squinted her eyes into slits and she kept pushing as she listened to the words sang by the baddest girl in Rock and Roll!

She got to the end of her rep and collapsed with her back against the seat, head tilted back. The song suddenly stopped and she looked up quickly.

"Good song," She said quickly as the man moved to the door. He hesitated and glanced at her.

"It is." He put his hand on the door and then stopped. "If…you can listen to it if you want. Just leave it in the boom box."

"Yeah. Thanks." He returned it to the boom box, pressed rewind and started the song from the beginning.

"Thank you," she said as he walked out the door. He raised his hand briefly in acknowledgement.

When Beast reached the monitoring room TK punched him playfully in the arm but it still hurt a little.

"What the hell was that for?"

"Making me loose ten bucks. The fat girl came back AND she talked to your ugly ass."

He shrugged and hoped he had hidden his smile. "Oh…well I didn't scare her off, that's for sure." TK clapped him on his back to show that he was just kidding. Christopher felt kind of good. When everyone had returned to their work he flipped the monitor back to the gym.

She was on the treadmill that he used. She tended to go for that one for some reason and she always ended her workout on the treadmill. She was running, not walking. It wasn't fast and she looked like she was in pain but she kept going.

Over the next few days, Christopher noted the girl's endurance improving. She had a crappy workout routine though. Her reps were too long and she didn't pause long enough between them. She worked much harder than she had to and he was surprised that she didn't pull something with her cool down.

He knew where she worked. He'd monitored her while she left the lockers—she spent an ungodly amount of time in there. But he couldn't deny that the effort had been worth it. She always looked wonderful afterwards. She'd get on the elevators for the Federal building and he'd flip screens until he saw her head into the cafeteria. The eyes in the sky were amazing things. He watched her take her breakfast back up to one of the offices on the 7th floor where his camera had no access.

Christopher knew when she went to her bathroom breaks and had seen her leave for lunch. Once she carried back a bag from a fast food restaurant and he zoomed in on it and shook his head. Bad if she's dieting. Maybe it was just a salad; he hoped so. He had seen her in the company of a white guy and black female. Sometimes they went out to lunch together.

Whenever he had to do sweeps or lockdown for prisoner transport he'd make sure he got back by 4:30 so that he could watch her leave each evening. At first she used to limp but not anymore. He would flip cameras until he saw her disappear into her car at one of the outdoor pay lots. As he watched her drive off, he wondered who she went home to.

This second week of Ashleigh's workout, she hurt a lot less, but she was still exhausted at the end of the day. Sometimes she had a quick salad or opened a can of soup but most days she showered, packed her bag for work the next day and fell into bed. She prayed she would build her metabolism up soon.

However she did discover that she actually looked forward to her daily torture session; though not because she enjoyed working out. No, she enjoyed the music. Every day the man brought something cool to listen to. When one song ended she anticipated the next one, never knowing what to expect. Sometimes it was Def Leppard; Pour Some Sugar On Me. Sometimes it was Harry Connick Jr. Once he'd played Summer Madness by Kool and the Gang and Ashleigh had just stared at his back for the entire song.

The man never spoke. But he'd leave the tape or disc—whichever one he brought. Most times she'd leap up as soon as he was gone and would hit rewind to a particular song and start her workout anew. By her third week she could see a transformation in her body. There was definitely more room in her clothes, yet whenever she undressed she still saw a round belly and a big butt. She'd sigh and bypass the delicious pastries in the cafeteria and would get her soup, salad or sandwich at lunch.