Romancing the Stone

Three weeks later Brooke was fully involved with her regular, but mild, workout program, however she had not started on the diet she had planned to, yet. Nonetheless, she and Nathan showed up at the gym every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, at the same time each evening. Brooke had signed up for a class that Sam taught, while Nathan just worked out with the weights, coached by his boyfriend, Bobby.

On Saturdays, the three would get together in the morning and head to the club for a swim or some tennis. Brooke found that she really was enjoying the physical activity. She wasn't nearly as tired as she used to be, and after she got through the first week of muscle soreness, she found she felt better, too. No stiff necks in the morning, no leg cramps from climbing the stairs at work any more. She actually started to feel pretty good about herself.

Ares, on the other hand, bec becoming increasingly agitated with the work schedule he was assigned. He worked Monday through Friday, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Brooke and Nathan didn't arrive until around 7:00 PM during the week. There had not been one opportunity to "bump" into her since he had started.

One Saturday morning, there had been a staff meeting and all the employees of the club had to attend. Just as the meeting had concluded, Ares noticed Brooke heading out to the pool. He quickly changed into his trunks in the men's locker room, and grabbed a towel and a bottle of suntan lotion.

When he got to the pool, Brooke was already in the water, swimming laps. He picked a lounge chair, sat down and slowly began to rub the lotion on his body.

"Hey there, sexy! Need any help with that?" he heard someone say to him.

It was Lettie. She spotted him when he had come out of the locker room and did the same thing to Dex, as Ares did to Brooke, rushed to put on her suit and join him at the pool. She was very pretty, with dark skin and long dark curly hair, and of course, the perfect size-three body.

"Hey Lettie," Dex acknowledged her as she scooted another lounge chair closer to his.

"Spending your day off at work? You must not have a girlfriend, Dex," she said.

"Yeah, well, you know, I thought I’d take advantage of some of the luxuries the club has to offer. Besides, it's nice to sit by a clean pool rather than the sand at the beach."

Lettie gave Dex a sexy smile as she turned over. She lay on her stomach and seductively asked, "Would you mind rubbing some lotion on my back, please, Dex?" She reached behind her back and untied the lower string on her bikini top as if it were nothing. It was obvious she did that all the time, since there wasn't a tan line anywhere on her beautiful skin.

'Here we go again,' Ares thought as he squeezed some lotion into the palm of his hand. He decided he had to end this situation quick, having no interest whatsoever in the exotic beauty who was lying next to him.

Brooke had done half of the rotations she wanted to do and when she got to the deep end of the pool, she stopped to take a short breather. She noticed Dex right away, rubbing lotion on the lady from the front desk, and recognized him from the time she was signing up. Dex and the woman had flirted so heavily that day; she figured the two were probably seeing one another now. Visions orselrself with the handsome man flooded her mind from the way he was applying the lotion on Lettie's back. She imagined those hands on her body, gently, sexily caressing her skin. Suddenly, she felt embarrassed by her body. Although she had on one of those slimming, one-piece bathing suits, she felt like a fat cow after seeing Lettie in her bikini.

Knowing the two lovers would distract her, she lost the enthusiasm to continue, and decided to call it quits for the day. But she didn't want to get out of the pool where she was, at the deep end. Her towel and keys were all the way at the other end of the pool. There was no way she was going to get out and then walk to the other side, having to pass in front of the gorgeous guy and his perfect looking girlfriend.

She began to swim back to the other side when she suddenly was pulled under by something. She kicked in the water, breaking free from whatever had hold of her ankle and struggled her way to the surface. Out of breath, she looked around in bewilderment. No one else had gotten into the pool and she couldn't see anything in the water.

"Oh, that was strange," she said to herself.

Again, she started the the shallow end and again some invisible force pulled her under. This time she managed to let out a scream before sinking under the water. She was pulled down even further than the last time. Struggling to get free, she expelled all of her air and ended up inhaling water. She felt herself weaken, the fighting eased and things began to get dark.

The next thing she remembered was waking up with the lips of a gorgeous man on hers. She coughed and spit up some water, gasping in a deep breath. At first, her vision was fuzzy, but as it started to clear, she realized who it was that was resuscitating her. It was the handsome body builder who was at the poolswithwith the other lady who worked at the club.

"There you go! You're going to be all right. Gave us all quite a scare, you did," the man purred as he gently held her head in his arms.

"Wh…wh..what happened?"

"You nearly drowned! Good thing Dex was here. He saved you," Lettie answered.

Brooke turned bright red. "You … saved me?"

Dex nodded and smiled warmly at her. "It was nothing, really," he said shyly.

“Nothing? You should have seen him. He was heroic! He didn’t hesitate to jump in and pull you out after we heard you scream,” Lettie praised.

"Thank you." Brooke sat up, feeling much better now that she was breathing air again. "I don't know what happened. Something pulled me under and I couldn't break free."

Lettie spoke up once more, "You probably just exhausted yourself and sank. I've seen it happen before when people push themselves too hard. You really ought to take it easier next time. A person your size . . ." Lettie cut her words off, realizing she was about to say something that could be insulting.

Brooke looked down, embarrassed. She announced that she was okay and just wanted to go home and rest. Dex helped her up, but before he could say anything more, she thanked him and darted off to the ladies locker room.

As she headed back inside to change, Nathan rushed up to her in the corridor.

"Brooke! Are you all right?" Nathan grabbed her shoulders and looked seriously into her eyes. "We heard that someone almost drowned in the pool. I knew you went swimming, and I got worried. I prayed it wasn't you."

Brooke smiled and started walking again, breaking free from Nathan's hold. "It was. But I'm fine now. I just want to get out of this wet bathing suit."

"What happened?" Nathan asked looking shocked.

"Let me gangeange first. Then I'll tell you what I can remember of it. Okay?"

He nodded and Brooke went into the locker room. She passed some women who were sitting on the bench in-between locker rows and thought she heard them whispering after she had passed. This left Brooke feeling very uncomfortable. She quickly dressed, not bothering to dry her hair, and exited the room only to find Nathan pacing the floor in front of the door.

"It's about time," he said, breathing a sigh of relief. "What the hell happened, Brooke?"

"Nathan, please don't interrogate me. Not here. Take me home now, please," she asked softly.

After studying her face briefly, he agreed. "Can you wait a moment while I tell Billy I'm taking off?"

"How about I just meet you at the car, okay?"

"Okay. I'll be right there." Nathan turned and went to find Billy to inform him he was leaving.

Brooke felt someone gently place their hands on her upper arms from behind. The toalmoalmost made her shiver it was so soothing. Then she heard that voice, that beautiful deep voice.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right, ma'am?"

Instantly she knew it was him, the man that saved her. Slowly, she turned around. Her face was flushed, partly from embarrassment and partly because she suddenly remembered waking with his lips on hers.

"Yes. Thank you, sir."

"Dex." He smiled. "Dex Baxter, at your service." He took a step back and slightly bowed as he twirled a hand outward in front of him.

"Brooke. Brooke Westchester." She held out her hand, expecting him to grab it and shake it. Instead he took her hand and brought it to his lips and lightly kissed it.

"It's a pleasure to save you, my dear, Brooke," he said, as he released her hand.
ookeooke blushed even more. "I don't know what to say, Dex. I can't thank you enough for stepping in when you did. I probably wouldn’t be standing here now, if you hadn't. How can I ever repay you?" She twisted her hands together nervously.

Dex brought a hand up to his chin in thought. "Well, you could allow me to take you to dinner tonight. How's seven o'clock?"

Brooke was taken by surprise. 'What about your girlfriend?' she thought. Her smile faded and her eyes looked everywhere but at his handsome face. "Ah, ah, I'm sorry. I can't. I have plans," she lied.

"Okay, well then how about tomorrow? Do you have plans tomorrow?"

"Dex, thank you, really. But I can't go out with you," sharlyarly whispered, staring at the ground in front of her. He had really thrown her for a loop by asking her out. 'Why would you possibly want to be with me when you can be with her?' she wondered

"Why not?" he insisted.

"Because … I just can't!" She looked up at him. 'Why are you torturing me like this,' she thought, feeling like she was going to cry at any moment. Her eyes became glossy wet. "I have to go now, my friend is waiting to take me home. k yok you, again, Dex." She quickly rushed through the lobby and out the front door.

Ares stood there in amazement. She refused him? She refused a date with a god? He briefly thought he might be losing his ch but but then discarded that thought for one more appealing to his ego: something was wrong with the woman or she would have jumped at the opportunity to spend time with him. 'Maybe she's into women,' he mused.

Ares shook his head. "Naw," he said aloud. He accredited her strange behavior to the semi-traumatic experience he just put her through. He had purposely caused her to drown, just so he could save her, thus creating a silent debt to him in her mind, as well as the chance to finally meet her and deter Lettie. He figured he would try again the next time he saw Brooke.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


The next two weeks Dex spent as much time at the club as he could, hoping to run into Brooke again, and for two weeks Brooke made excuses to Nathan about going to workout. She was embarrassed. She figured that word would had moved as fast as lightning through the entire club about her little "accident." She had been the subject of ridicule her entire life and this little incident dit het help her self-esteem any. When the two women in the locker room started whispering after she had passed by that day, it had brought back those same painful feelings she used to get when she walked the halls in high school. She did not intend to return to the club, membership or not.

Late one Wednesday evening, she was sitting at home watching Star Trek: Voyager when the phone rang.

She picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Brooke? This is Sam. From the club."

"Sam? Ah, yes. How are you?" She wondered why he was calling her.

"I'm doing just fine, Brooke, but I heard that you had a bit of an accident a couple of weeks ago. Are you all right?" Sam sounded generally concerned about her.

"Yes, thank you. I'm fine noIt'It's nice of you ask."

"Good! I'm glad to hear it. So, if you're doing better is there another reason why you haven't returned to class, then?"

"Um … no," she whispered.

"Then why haven't I seen you here la?" ?"

"I don't know, Sam. Embarrassed, I guess."

"Well you shouldn't be. The same thing happened to three other people after you. Turns out there was something wrong with the pool's water pump system. The suction power was about triple the normal, and created some kind of strong whirlpool."

"You're kidding? Did anyone else get hurt?"

"No, luckily no one else was swimming alone. It's been fixed now."

"You know, I knew there was something funny about that whole incident. I may not be in the best shape, but I know how to swim. It was just so strange. I swear I felt like I was being pulled under, not sinking."

"Well, you were right, Brooke. So, will I see you in class then, tomorrow?"

"Well, I'm . . ."

Sam interrupted, "Oh, come on, Brooke. You were doing so well. I don't want to see you quit now, just because you're embarrassed about something that happened that wasn't even your fault. I really believe you were well on your way to becoming my star pupil."

"Oh, Sam, I don't know." She felt herself blushing.

"Well, promise me you'll at least think about it then, okay?"

"Okay, I promise. Thanks for calling, Sam."

"Bye, Brooke. I hope I see you tomorrow."es ses smiled and hung up the phone.

Hopefully that was enough to convince Brooke to come back. He had never figured this one would be so hard to get close to. He hadn't taken into consideration the fact that she might be feeling this way from his little stunt. He had expected her to practically fall into his arms in gratitude. "Yes, you’re quite a little challenge, Miss Brooke Westchester. I like a good challenge," he grinned.

After Ares called Brooke, he planted that memory into Sam's mind, and Sam actually thought he had called Brooke. Ares also caused the pool's pump system to overload and create the funny whirlpool he spoke of, so he was really telling Brooke the truth, even if it was by his own hand.

Brooke hung up the receiver and sighed. At least she knew she wasn't crazy. She swore something had pulled her under that day and now she knew that was true. After thinking about it for a while, she figured that she probably wouldn't be talked about anymore. She was sure the club would want to put the entire incident behind them, and just hope nobody would sue them over it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


The following day, Brooke arrived with Nathan at the gym. She decided to go back to class after Sam had encouraged her to do so. Sam was very personable, and Brooke liked him as well as respected him for his accomplishments. She had decided, after talking with him on the phone that not only was she going to get back to exercising again, but also was going to start that diet she had been putting off.

Sam greeted her warmly with a quick hug when she entered the room. He looked happy to see her again.

"Brooke, I'm so glad you decided to return. We've missed you."

"Thanks, Sam. I've missed everyone, too. And thanks for the little push to get me going again."

Sam nodded. "No problem."

Once class was over, Brooke caught up with Nathan in the weight room. He and Billy were not quite through with Nathan's round of repetitions so Brooke sat down nearby to watch.

It was completely obvious that the two men were sweeter than cotton candy at the country fair on a hot August day. The way they moved, the littomenoments of eye contact between them, the way Nathan would blush when Billy would touch his abdomen or tell him to suck in his gut and keep his back straight. Brooke thought it was kinda cute. They were quite a pair, those two.

Nathan finally finished up and turned to Brooke. "You ready?"

"Sure am," she said as she stood up. "Night, Billy."

Billy nodded anved.ved.

Just as they reached the door, Dex Baxter was coming into the gym from the hall. Brooke and Dex nearly collided.

"Brooke! How nice to see you," Dex said cheerfully. "You're looking well. You seemed to have recovered nicely from that little pool accident."

Brooke smiled shyly and blushed. She grabbed on to Nathan's shirt so he wouldn't continue walking and leave her alone with Dex.

"Hello, Dex. Yes, I'm fine now, thank you."

"Did you hear that the pool's system evidentially was to blame for what happened to you? Some kind of malfunction, they said. They didn't put two and two together until the same thing happened to three other people. Freaky, huh?"

"Sure is. Well, I have to be going now, Dex. It was nice seeing you again." She gave Nathan a little shove to get him moving again, but he didn't budge.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend, Brooke?” Nathan asked, unable to keep his eyes off the gorgeous man.

"Oh, sorry. Nathan, this is Dex. Dex, Nathan."

"Nice to meet you, Nathan." Dex stuck out his hand.

Nathan grabbed it immediately. "Oh, please, the pleasure's all mine!" Nathan's face was practically glowing and he almost looked to be batting his eyelashes at Dex.

Ares' attention immediately returned to Brooke. "So, Brooke, how about that dinner we talked about? Think you'd like to go?"

Brooke's face saddened. "Thank you again, Dex, but I told you I couldn't go out with you."

"How come?"

"I have a boyfriend, already." She wrapped her arm around Nathan's and continued. "Nathan and I have been going out for some time now. Sorry."

Ares had to try hard to keep from busting with laughter at the thought of the two of them together. Instead, just a small smirk touched the corners of his mouth. "Oh, well, I had no idea. Sorry about that, dude! Didn't mean to step on any toes." He slapped Nathan on his shoulder, who was now glaring at Brooke in anger.

"That's okay, Dex. I'm … flattered," Brooke said. "Well, see ya round."

Dex nodded, smiled and then continued on his way.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Nathan started to give Brooke a tongue-lashing.

"And just what in the HELL was that all about? Are you fucking crazy, Brooke? Me … and you? That's preposterous! Now you've just blown both our chances with him. What in god's name were you thinking?"

"Nathan, please! Not so loud. You want the whole club to know our business?"

"Then tell me why in the world would you turn down a date with that... that... Adonis? I think you must have gotten some brain damage when you nearly drowned. Clearly, you’re not thinking straight,"scolscolded.

"I have my reasons," she answered.

"Then why?" Nathan insisted.

Brooke stopped and glared harshly at Nathan. "Just drop it, Nathan. Will you?"

He could tell by the tone of her voice that he was beginning to piss her off and decided to give it a rest. He'd get to the bottom of this eventually.

They rode home in silence. Brooke didn't even bother to say goodnight to Nathan after she got out of the car. She went inside her apartment, tossed her gym bag oe coe couch and went to her room, where she threw herself on the bed and started crying.

She finally cried herself to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Ares observed Brooke invisibly from the corner of her room. He hadn't a clue why the woman kept turning down his attention and was determined to find out. When he witnessed her crying in such obvious pain, it made him feel sad, an emotion he wasn't too familiar with. Being a god has many benefits, one of which is the ability of self-gratification. Whenever Ares started to feel sadness in his own heart, he would just use his powers to conjure up something distracting and fun. He never had to live in any real pain. Disappointment, anger, yes, but never pain.

He reached out an invisible hand to stroke her forehead and to try to soothe her aching heart and received revelation the moment that he touched her. She did like him, and was quite attracted to him. But she thought herself unworthy of his affections. She thought she wasn't pretty enough, or thin enough, to be seen with someone as handsome as he. He felt her loneliness, her need to be accepted, her desire to be loved, and he understood now why she acted the way she did with him.

He gently stroked her head with his hand and she immediately fell asleep. Then he continued to probe further into her unconscious, to find the stem of her negative emotions. It didn't surprise him to see that most of her emotional problems came from being overweight her entire life. All those extra pounds she carried around seemedharbharbor years of pain, ridicule and alienation. If she could shed the pounds, he was sure she'd shed all those negative feelings that were holding her back, keeping her down.

But this was something he couldn't fix for her. He couldn't just wave his arm and magically make those feelings disappear. This was far too complicated, not to mention that it was against the rules to interfere. This was something she had to do for herself. Frustrated, Ares sat back a moment and studied her in thought.

Maybe there was something he could do …

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


The following Saturday, Dex arrived at the club and headed for the pool. He knew Brooke would be there. He picked a chair close to where she had laid her towel and smiled as he watched her struggling to finish the number of laps she set as her goal for the day. She didn't notice him until she was done and got out of the pool.

"Dex, ah, hi," she said shyly.

"Oh, hey, Brooke. I didn't know that was you in the pool. I didn’t think you would want to get back in there after what happened and all."

"Well, since I found out that it was a mechanical error and not a human one, I thought I'd give it another try. I really enjoy swimming."

"How many laps did you do?"

"Only twelve," she said disappointedly. "But when I first started, the most I could do was eight, so I'm improving." Her eyes sparked up a little.

"That's terrific! That's a good increase."

She started to dry herself off and then picked up her keys, indicating that she was going to leave.

"Well, Dex, I'll see ya later."

"Brooke, wait. Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Dex, I thought I told you that I couldn't …"

He interrupted, "It's not about that, Brooke. I wanted to talk to you about your training
\
"Training? I'm not training."

"I know. That's what I wanted to talk about. I think you would really benefit from some personal training."

Brooke shrugged. "You're probably right, Dex. But I just can't afford to hire a personal trainer. I can barely afford the membership to this club."

"What if I told you that I know someone who would train you for free? It wouldn't cost you a dime. Would you be interested then?"

"Sure! Who wouldn't? Who is this person?"

Dex grinned. "Me!"

"You?" Brooke laughed. "Come on, Dex. You'd be willing to train me for free? How come?"

Dex sat up in his lounge chair and looked at her seriously. "Because, I want to help you. I think you could benefit a lot from my guidance."

"Okay, so what's in it for you?"

"Just the satisfaction of watching someone's life change for the better, right in front of my eyes. I can't really explain how if feels to know that I've helped someone do something important to them. And I think you could do it, Brooke. You seem to have enough discipline to really make it work."

Brooke wasn't sure if she was buying this. "How do you know?"

"Simply because you're adamant about showing up every week. That tells me you at least can dedicate yourself at some level. So what do you think, will you let me help you?"

"I don't know, Dex. It's a very generous offer, but … "

"But what? It won't cost you anything, and I can work around your schedule. Come on. What do you have to lose?"

"Tell you what, Dex. I'll give it some serious thought. Honest."

"Well, that's a start, anyway. Here's my card. Call me if you decide to take me up on my offer."

Ares handed her the card and she reached up to take it from his hand. They touched briefly and her entire body shivered. She had more than just an attraction for this man; she had a need for him.

"Thanks. I'll let you know." She smiled and headed back inside.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


The following Saturday, Dex was already out at the pool when Brooke showed up for her swim. He was sitting in a lounge chair at the end where she usually set her towel and keys, however, he didn't seem to notice her when she had first arrived. She dove into the pool and did her laps as usual. Over the past week, Brooke had also started her diet, 1/2 grapefruit for brast,ast, protein shake with 1/2 piece of fruit for lunch, and a salad for dinner. She hated it. No popcorn for a snack at night while watcwatched TV, no mid-day candy bars to get her through the afternoon, no fast food breakfasts any longer, and she changed over to diet Coke and now used "Equal" in her coffee. All she seemed to think about lately was food.

Dex was a welcomed distraction. She finished up her laps and got out of the pool, traipsed on up to where her towel was, figuring that he would have said something to her by now. He didn't and she was beginning to think that maybe the guy was asleep behind his dark sunglasses. It was his day off, for goodness sake.

She stood there for a minute in indecision. Should she speak to him, tell him she would take him up on his offer, or should she just go ahead and leave, unnoticed? By her hesitance in deciding, the choice was taken away from her.

"I bet you think I didn't notice you, huh, Brooke? So, have you made up your mind about whether or not you'll let me train you?" Dex said smoothly, startling Brooke slightly.

"Oh, you startled me Dex. I thought you were asleep."

Dex pushed his sunglasses up so they rested on his head, revealing his sexy brown eyes. "Well, have you?"

"To tell you the truth, Dex, I haven't really thought about it much. You see, I started a new diet and to be honest, all I've been thinking about lately is food." She looked away from him, embarrassed about divulging such personal information.

"That's terrific, Brooke. I thought you looked a little slimmer!" he complimented, although there really was no apparent change.

"Really? You can tell?" She looked up at him, her eyes smiled.

"Sure I can. Can't you?"

"No, not really. But they say that other people can usually tell better than the person dieting, since we see ourselves in the mirror each day," she justified.

"So noou'ou've already taken the first step towards the new you. Won't you let me help you with the next?"

Dex had a look of such sincerity on his face, Brooke was finding it hard to say no to him, although she didn't think she was ready for this "training" thing. It sounded far more physical than she was willing to put out at the moment.

"Well, I guess it can't hurt. As long as you don't mind giving up your time for me. Just promise me that you won't get mad or hate me if I still fail. I don't think I could take th"
"

"You won't fail, Brooke. I won't let you."

"Just don't expect too much from me. At least not at first anyway."

Dex smiled warmly at her. "We'll take it one day at a time, I promise."

"Okay, then, you have a new pupil," she agreed.

"Excellent!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


After Brooke dried off and dressed, she headed out to the patio where she had agreed to meet Dex and discuss a schedule. They worked out a set time each day, includingurdaurday. Once all was decided, they chatted over diet Cokes, while Brooke waited for Nathan to fi wit with his workout. Ares found Brooke to be quite funny as well as intelligent. When she smiled, her entire face would light up, and she had a laugh that reminded him a little of Aphrodite, sort of giggly. And she seemed so innocent and untouched by the world around her.

But, boy was she shy. Every time he would smile a little too seductively at her, he wad hed her melt and then mentally retract from him. She had built up some pretty high walls to protect herself. Ares guessed that's what people did when others were constantly hurting them. How else could someone her her survive in such cruel times? If she had lived in Europe a few hundred years ago, the men would have thought her a goddess. A healthy woman was a wealthy woman back then. Times sure had changed.

Brooke noticed Nathan in the hall, heading for the pool and figured he was done for the day. She stood and told Dex that she had to go and thanked him for the drink. As she turned to leave, Dex grabbed hold of her wrist to stop her briefly.

"I'm really glad you said yes to this, Brooke. I truly believe that I can make a difference in your life." His eyes held hers, and he spoke softly, almost whispering. "Do you believe me?" He tilted his head a little to one side.

Her eyes ran down his body and then returned to his face. Then she answered him just a quietly, "Yes, Dex, I believe you will."

He released her wrist and she was gone. Pleased with his progress, Ares smiled smugly as he put his hands behind his head, interlocking his fingers, and rested his feet on the chair that Brooke had just vacated. 'Now,' he thought, 'I'm finally getting somewhere. It won't be much longer, now!' he mused.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~