Her Body of Muscle: Winter vs the Nanobots

Chapter 24

It felt more than a coincidence when almost exactly two years following her escorting Jackson out her door, she forgot to silence her phone while deep in the archival room of the San Francisco public library. It rang loudly in the uncarpeted room, startling Winter from the fog of habitual filing. Rushing to the device, she looked down and saw that smiling curly haired face staring up at her. Her face flushed, ears twitched. It's Jackson! She heard her mind screaming, ringing, like a victory-celebrating-bell atop an ancient city's guard tower.

She stood looking down on her phone happily, not so much debating whether to answer as basking in the attention that smiling face was paying her as the phone sung out and vibrated across the table. Oh my god, yeeeees. She thought with a smile.

Reaching down she grabbed the phone and swiped to answer. Nothing. Looking down she realized that in her ecstatic state, after two long years, she had waited too long to answer. After only a moments hesitation, she unlocked her phone and clicked the missed call.

"Hello?" She heard Jack answer hesitantly.

"Hey!" Winter said, almost too familiarly she realized.

There was an excited breath on the other end that in a mad dash started rushing words out. "Winter! You answered, I mean, it's so good to hear your voice. How are you? What are you doing these days? Are you ok?" And then a quick pause as Jackson realized he was probably a little over excited.

"Nothing too new." Winter reported. "Just working and living I guess, but, ok, Jackson, I'm so sorry I ignored all your calls back then, I just..."

Jack jumped in before she could continue. "No no, Winter I get it. I mean, it's not like I forgot about.... Well... forgot about you know, all of that. But It was a lot. I get it."

Winter breathed a sigh of relief and waited for Jackson to continue.

"So... I know this is sudden but, umh, well it's hard to explain. Is there any chance I can see you?"

There was literally nothing at the moment Winter could imagine wanting more. She flushed thinking about all the nights lying in bed, her mind funneling back to Jackson, nights imagining his smile, his touch. She had been living a life in her mind that wasn't a reality. Betraying a deep seeded desire she had not allowed her walking reality to embrace. But that was then, and this was now.

"Absolutely." Winter said. "I'd love to see you. But I'm working till 7pm." Winter paused, she imagined Jackson walking down the lonely corridor towards the isolated archival room. Seeing him push open the door hesitantly, joining her in the private work sanctuary she had escaped to for the last several years.

"Why don't you just come over here and see me now. At work." She blurted out, wondering if she sounded desperate.

"Yes, definitely! I mean if that's alright?" Winter's heart skipped a beat, his enthusiasm and excitement were undeniable. Was there any chance her own preoccupation and second guessing her alienation of him was a mutual constant thought on both their minds?
"Where is work anyway?" He asked.

After careful instructions from parking to how to navigate the echoing halls of the grand old building, Jackson suggested a 30-minute eta. Winter tried to focus on several final filings, but her mind was racing in expectancy. Years removed from the mind-numbing horrors of two consecutive nearly sleepless traumatizing evenings, she had had time both to process and, as she now realized with conviction, prepare to let her guard down to those deserving of trust. It had not been by design. Not exactly. But the fight or flight instincts of years prior had faded under the tutelage of mental focus of dogged workout fanaticism. While her body had seen unparalleled improvements in strength and composition, her mental and psychological wellbeing had benefited more than she realized. The childish fears had faded, replaced with a permanent conviction in self-discipline. There had been no other way to build up time under tension, reps beyond pain thresholds, unwavering consistency in diet, sleep and physical care without the evolution of her own mental fortitude.