2 minutes and 23 seconds

The Climb

Lady Gaga felt her hand slip and cursed out loud. How many seconds did that cost her? She felt her legs tremble but pushed herself up, with the taste of metal inside her mouth and the glasses slipping down her nose nearly shutting off the air supply. Fuck that, she breathed through her mouth anyway and felt the hot air burn her lip as she breathed through clenched teeth.

Her arms were shaking now too, yet she reached for the metal bar and pulled herself up, up! Faster! Gravity was being a bitch, but she locked her arms around the bar and grabbed her own elbows while she pulled her feet up underneath her, found the stick poking out and pushed herself up again. She quickly let go of the bar and reached over the edge and somehow found the absolute last tiny bit of juice needed to pull herself over the ledge and with her ass up in the air she felt the rocks and sand against her chin.

She was flat on the ground with her legs waddling in the air. I'm up, she thought and tried pulling her legs up underneath her to stand on all four. Her arms were completely drained and shaking like leaves in a storm and she knew she should've used her legs more when she climbed the natural rock wall. If they just let her catch her breath she would be ready to try again and be even faster.

"Stefani, wow! You just might have entered our Tourist Top 10. One minute and 38 seconds!" One of the climbing guides, a latin guy in his early twenties who insisted on being called Rocky – maybe it was his sense of humor – with veiny arms and a nearly a clean shaved head because the helmet would most certainly mess up his hair otherwise, looked at his stop watch and squatted in front of her with a bottle of water in his hand. "How are you feeling? You're not gonna pass out on us, are you?"

"What's... the... expert's... top... 10...?" Gaga panted into the ground and managed to grab the bottle while Rocky loosened the clamp for the safety rope.

"Oh please no, don't tell her. We'll be here all day!"

Gaga heard her best friend Bo laugh and felt a hand around her ankle. It slipped up along her leg and landed on her back. Michael Polansky smiled wide and kissed her on the temple. Their helmets bumped into each other.

"Proud of you," he whispered and she felt his fingers on her neck. "How are you feeling?"

The two guides discussed over their stopwatches and Rocky's partner guide made a note.

Rocky smiled and showed a row of perfect white teeth, "OK, Michael, I'm sorry but you have a long way to go if you want to beat your girlfriend. 2 minutes and 23 seconds."

"It's OK. I think she prefers if he lasts longer." Someone giggled and Gaga heard Bobby snort and the guide turned blushing red as if it was a little too much information for his virgin ears.

Gaga finally crawled up on her feet and opened the bottle of water. She took greedy sips and let some of it run down her neck and back. Dressed in a tiny sports bra and tight shorts she left little to the imagination for those interested. Her body was in magnificent shape, and she felt better mentally than she had done in months.

The piercing sun beams caused her skin to glitter like satin and small drops of sweat to stick to the tiny hairs on her lower back. They looked like beads and Michael was once again struck by how absolutely beautiful she was. He didn't take his eyes off her. Smaller drops of water ran down her thighs, sun tanned and firm. How she managed to climb the rocks without getting a single abrasion on them was remarkable. Her kneecaps were red from exhaustion and her elbows seemed to have taken the most hits. They were covered in the red dust and one of them had an nasty cut. It had stopped bleeding but it looked like it could use some cleaning.

Michael squatted by the medical bag and took out another bottle of water and some wipes and bandages and then he walked over to Gaga. She stood with her hands on her lower back and tried to stretch out her shoulders and back muscles. Bo came over to her and they high fived with both hands above their heads. "The boss as usual," Bo smiled.

"That's me. Because what's the fun in being second?" Gaga said and smiled back while she drank the last of the water. When she was finished she gave her man her full attention and smiled at him. She looked both tired and happy. The corners of her mouth raised and her lips plush and light pink. Visible cheekbones, but still full cheeks that made her look a little younger just this moment. Like she was loving life and life really loved her.

She noticed Michael's medical equipment. "What's up, doc?" she joked.