Authors: Vacirca Vaughn
Phoenix
swallowed, struggling not to stare at the pictures of this gorgeous man in his
shorts again. “So you mean you can make me look like that?”
Paulo made a
peculiar face. “Gosh, I hope not. You don’t want to look like a
man, do you?”
Phoenix sucked
her teeth. “I don’t mean actually look
like
you. Will I look
as good as a woman as you do as a man?”
“I was kidding,
and yes. We can help you address those so-called problem areas to help
you look your best as a woman. I know you gain weight in the middle, so
once you start shedding the pounds, and build up strength and endurance, we
will begin to sculpt your body to help you achieve the look you’ve always
wanted. Now, please, don’t get me wrong. We are not God or plastic
surgeons. Our workout will not produce things that are not there to work
with. What we can do, however, is make you look your personal best, with
the body you’ve already been given by the Lord. Don’t say to me Paulo,
‘can you find a way to make me taller or increase my bust line?’ What we
can do is elongate the torso by addressing certain muscles with exercise and
help your
existing
bust line look better because it is firmer.”
“I-I, uh,
understand what you mean,” Phoenix stammered, flustered at Paulo discussing her
bust line. “Um, so you can help me develop a flat stomach and a better
waist. You can help me tone up my legs and behind, stuff like that.”
“Exactly,”
Paulo said.
Phoenix’s eyes
were skeptical. “You really can help me develop the body I’ve always
wanted, P.? Seriously?”
Paulo
nodded. “Listen, you can achieve this goal. You absolutely
can. But you have to really push yourself. You have to work
hard. You have to stick to our plan. You have to practice
self-control and diligence. You can’t give up and you can’t give
in. You start praying, you follow some advice, and stick to what you’re
starting, and I can assure you, you will see results. Thing is, Sweetie,
I can’t make you do the work. I am here to
help
you, not do it for
you. What you get out of all this depends on what you put into it.
When you feel like you don’t want to be bothered, that’s exactly when you drag
your lifeless body out of bed and keep your appointment with me, got it?”
“Got it.”
“And don’t
forget, we are a
Christian
fitness center. We place God first in
all things, so please take my suggestion: don’t forget about talking to
God about this. Keep praying. Without God, it is really difficult
to do things. I know the world doesn’t seem to get that. I just
hope you understand that soon,” Paulo said, before his lips pressed into a firm
line.
“I am starting
to,” Phoenix said, glancing at his picture. She sighed before taking the
plunge. “I am not sure about church yet, but I am also going to attend
your Bible study. I can come tonight, right?”
Paulo’s face
melted. “Of course you can, Phoenix. I am so glad to hear you
remembered. I didn’t want to push.” Taking a breath, he leaned
forward. “I am proud of you, Phoenix. You’re really getting
started. I just pray you will stick with it. It will not happen
overnight, but it will happen. Once you achieve these goals, in a few
short months from now, and your life changes, you will
kick
yourself for
not ending your suffering a lot earlier. But you know what?
Everything is in God’s timing.”
“I really do
want to stick with it, I really do. I just needed some help,” Phoenix
answered.
“And you now have
it. So are you ready now for our first work out? It’s already eight
and we’re behind schedule. I want to get you on the treadmill for twenty
minutes and on some light weights for ten, just to get you started today.
Then we can go have a light breakfast.”
Phoenix wanted
to ask if he took all of his clients to breakfast.
“And please
don’t tell anyone here about our breakfast date, ‘cause they’ll want to know
why I haven’t taken them,” Paulo said in a stage whisper, with twinkling eyes.
It is a
breakfast…date?
Phoenix’s stomach began to quake. Phoenix
couldn’t keep the smile off her face if God Himself told her to. “I’m as
ready as I’ll ever be.”
“And I’m sorry
to shock you with those
pics
, but we needed to look
at your body to finalize our program. We also like to have our clients
track their progress with before and after pictures. I thought
Nigella
explained—”
“She did,”
Phoenix interrupted, wanting to forget the whole thing, “but I didn’t think
you’d
be looking at them.”
“I see.
You do know you have nothing to be ashamed of, right?” Paulo said, with warm
eyes and a gentle tone, as he leaned over his desk to grab her hands.
“You have
nothing
to be ashamed of. My wife, before she died…she
was a full-figured woman, even more than you, for a large part of our
marriage.”
He’s a
widower?
Phoenix was stunned. She simply stared as Paulo opened
up to her.
“And I never
thought she was anything less than beautiful. And believe me, as hefty as
I was, I had never dated a full-figured woman before her, and yet I found her more
beautiful than anyone I had ever met. I just got to a point where I
wanted us both to be healthy, and well…” Paulo glanced at the clock on his wall
and broke out into a smile. “You know what? We’ll get into all that
another time. We have a work out to start.”
The
disappointment of not having Paulo continue his story was a crushing
weight. “Yeah, okay, another time then. I’m ready to work out.”
“Then our
breakfast date?” Paulo tugged on her hands and winked.
Phoenix held
his eyes as her lips spread into a dazzling smile. “Yeah.”
Paulo sucked in
a breath as his stomach clenched at the sight of her smile.
“Ready?”
Phoenix asked, lost in the golden eyes that had zeroed in on her lips.
Paulo blinked,
cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. Let’s go. And don’t pass out,
okay?” Paulo teased.
“I’ll try.”
Before Phoenix
could take a step, he pulled her into his arms. His words were electric
pulses that massaged her ear, traveled down her neck and spine, and back up
again. “I am so very proud of you,
Querida
.”
All she could
do was breathe in his mint-flavored scent and melt against that rock-hard
chest.
And too soon,
Paulo stepped back and led her, by hand, to the elevators. They arrived
at the co-ed gym on the third level in silence.
When they did,
Paulo grabbed her hand, swung her around, backing her into the nearest wall as
he descended into the small confines of her personal space. His eyes were
blazing when he shouted, “Okay, enough hugs and therapy sessions. It’s
time to work! You are going to move! You are going to sweat.
I am going to work you until you’re begging for mercy! You thought it was
going to be easy? Well, you got me all wrong. Nothing worth having
in life is ever easy. No more Mister Nice Christian Guy. I’m the
general and you’re the soldier. We’re fighting a war. You follow my
orders, Private, and no one gets hurt! You copy?”
Startled by the
sudden change in the tall, gentle man, Phoenix gulped and swallowed. She
nodded.
Paulo leaned
even closer, until his forehead was touching hers. “Do… you… copy?” he
growled.
“
Ye
-yes,” she stammered.
As Paulo led
her to the treadmill, she tried to ignore the churning in her stomach.
What had she
gotten herself into?
Chapter 15
Dear
friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the
Scriptures say, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back," says the
Lord (Romans 12:19).
What
had
she
gotten herself into?
Phoenix
stumbled out of the gym, sucking on that bottle of Fiji like it contained
waters from the Fountain of Youth. Her pristine white tee shirt had
turned into a beige bandage that had molded to her chest and back. Her
hair belonged to someone who had to have been standing in a puddle when
lightning struck. Her legs were trembling, her throat was raw, and she
had a throbbing headache.
Paulo, of
course, did not break a sweat as he ran a five-mile incline as she huffed
through a half-mile on a decline.
Of course I
am five-foot-six and two hundred twelve pounds,
Phoenix rationalized.
But when
Phoenix noticed that flinging hundred pound weights—while she heaved two pound
weights—didn’t even cause Paulo to
flush
, she wanted to use his face as
a punching bag.
Now
that
would
have been a workout she would have enjoyed.
But she was too
weak and too starved to jump on top of him and start wailing away.
Besides, his
saving grace was that he brought her another bottle of water and a fresh tee
shirt and shorts set from his company. “I thought you’d be more
comfortable.”
“How can
someone be more comfortable when they’re already dead?”
“Jesus brought
Lazurus
back from the dead, you know. Let me be Jesus
to you right now,” he said, as he tossed his arm around her shoulder.
“Please, Paulo,
please,” Phoenix said, shrugging him away from her aching shoulders.
“It’s hard enough holding up my own head at this point.”
Paulo coughed
through a chuckle that barely escaped her attention. “Okay, then, why
don’t you go ahead and have a quick shower? I know you didn’t bring
anything with you to change, but I had my assistant, Candice, supply everything
you might need in our ladies locker room.”
Phoenix was
staggered when she found huge complimentary basket from The Lord’s Table
waiting for her with a beautiful card covered in lilac flowers. Inside,
Paulo’s neat penmanship told her, “Phoenix, I’d like to personally welcome you
to our fitness family. I pray you enjoyed our first session together and
I hope this makes it more bearable. God bless you, Paulo.” In the
basket was a three-pack of Dial soap bars, a small bottle of Dial Body Wash, a
shower cap,
Aveeno
facial cleanser, facial
moisturizer, and body lotion; there was a bottle of Degree powder fresh spray
deodorant, an array of wash cloths, two matching bath towels, a short robe,
flip flops, a three-pack of Hanes women’s socks, along with a three-pack of
Hanes panties and three matching sports bras in extra large. For her hair
was a small hair dryer, flat iron, and hair moisturizer. There were three
small laundry bags. There was also a lock and key, as well as a slip of
paper assigning her to a locker in the dressing area.
Phoenix was
filled with awe at how much this man knew what she needed before she could ever
think of asking for it.
She felt
luxurious under the pulsating waters of the massaging showerhead. After
she came out, she was revived. She hurried to dress, using her new sports
bra and underclothes, tee shirt and shorts. Everything fit perfectly and
she blushed as she thought about Paulo picking such intimate garments for her.
Of course she remembered that it was his assistant that had prepared the
basket. Still, the thought of him ordering the items for her made her
feel fluttery just the same.
After placing
the items neatly in her new locker, she brushed her unruly hair into a pony
tail and truly felt like a new woman. Even her normally-ashy skin glowed.
Paulo had also
changed into a fresh set of gym clothes. Phoenix was wearing a red set,
while Paulo wore a green one. She giggled when he said, “Our first outing
and we’re already dressing like twins on Christmas Day? How corny!”
“Seriously,
Paulo,” Phoenix said, reaching up to hug him. “Thanks so much for
everything. That shower hit the spot and those things you got me made it
possible. I couldn’t have dealt with showering and putting on my funky
clothes.”
Paulo’s eyes
twinkled. “I figured as much. I should have told you to bring
something to change into, but I didn’t want to ruin my little surprise. I
want you to know though that if you ever want to bring your work clothes here,
and don’t feel like lugging dirty laundry home, we do have a washer-dryer
all-in-one combo in both of the dressing rooms. You can wash and dry the
previous set of workout wear while you’re in the gym and have it ready by the
time you get in the shower. We try to make this experience as convenient as
possible. Keeps our clients from coming up with excuses. You can
choose to just wash your gym stuff here.”
“You think of
everything, don’t you?” Phoenix said as he led her into the elevator.
“The Word says,
‘if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God.’ So I do. I pray and God
gives me all of these wonderful ideas for my business-slash-ministry.”
Before she
could stop herself, Phoenix ran her hand down his arm. “I see that.
But again, I thank you.”
And suddenly they
were caught in a force field. His eyes trapped hers and they froze.
Phoenix’s hand tingled on Paulo’s forearm, while Paulo’s forearm began to flex
under Phoenix’s hand. And every single nerve of their bodies zeroed in on
those two locations: her hand and his arm. And they could not move.
And they did
not want to.
“Excuse me?”
the voice cut through the force like a hot knife through butter.
Paulo blinked
and dragged his eyes away. “Uh…yeah?”
They turned to
see a beautiful, Latina woman smiling at them. “Are you going up?”
“Uh, no, we’re
going out. Sorry,” Paulo murmured softly.
And he held the
doors while Phoenix walked out. Like a true gentlemen, he beckoned the
woman to enter before he let himself off the elevator.