A Woman Like Me...

The New Mission

     Several weeks had passed since the incident at the party and everyone had begun acting, pretty much, as normal again.  It was almost as though nothing had happened.  I was in the gym that morning, getting in a good work out; I had been slacking the last week or so and I was desperate to make up for it.  In our line of work, you always needed to remain in tip-top physical condition.

     As I was nearly finished with my run on the treadmill, I could swear I felt a pair of eyes upon me.  I tried to ignore it, assuming that it was just one of the guys, checking me out.  The other members of the gang would come here to work out sometimes, as our gym had superior equipment.  Let's just say, I had gotten used to the ogling and being hit on in my own home, often.

     Finally, I could take the feeling no more.  Whomever it was had been staring at me for a good ten minutes while I ran.  I could feel his eyes burning into my backside; like he was trying to will himself to see what was underneath my running shorts.  I hit stop on the machine and instead of slowing down with it; I used the handle on the side to steady myself as I jumped off and turned to face my admirer.

     I could hardly believe what I saw when I turned to him.  Trace stood a few feet back and his face had turned bright red.  I was about to speak, but my breath was suddenly caught in my throat as I took a good look at the man who was standing before me.  Trace's normal crisply styled brunette hair was simply brushed, carelessly, away from his face.  His gray eyes glistened when he looked at me; I assumed from simple friendly affection.  He smiled at me and I felt weak in the knees as the effect of his slightly crooked grin took me over.

     As if all of that was not enough to make any woman melt, he had to top it off by being shirtless, with workout shorts hanging, dangerously, low on his chiseled hips; exposing a set of abs that I could hardly believe were real.  The lines of the tattoos that covered his arms and chest only helped to define him further.  He was absolute perfection; no one should be allowed to look this good.  A man like him should come with some kind of warning label: "caution - can consume your soul with a single look." 

     Just when I was about to lose myself completely; he spoke...

     "Mercy...are you alright?"

     "Oh...yeah...sorry..." I responded, sheepishly, not certain of how long I had been staring.

     "Don't worry about it."  Trace responded with a wink.

     Dammit, that wink.  I felt my heart fight to explode right out of my chest whenever he did that to me.  If I had butterflies in my stomach normally around Trace; then I had a whole swarm when he smiled and winked at me.  I just could not understand what it was about that damn man that made me feel that way.  Why did he have such an overwhelming, all-consuming power over me?  It was all at once, exhilarating and terrifying.

     "Hey, uh..." Trace began as he started to approach me.  "I just wanted to apologize again, you know for what happened a few weeks back."

     "Trace..." I rolled my eyes in response.  "I have told you that you don't have to keep apologizing for that.  I just didn't want you to kill the poor guy.  He was absolutely no match for you.  It's easier to pay off a guy that you beat up; dealing with a body is a whole different set of circumstances.  Especially, if you killed him in front of all those witnesses that we had present at the time."

     "I know.  I promise that I will control myself better in the future.  I was just drunk and, I guess, I wanted to pick a fight."

     I chuckled and shrugged it off.  I really did not want to make a big deal about what happened.  What was done is done.  I know that what happened was an accident; Trace would never hit me like that intentionally.  I had no desire to keep dragging it out and making a thing of it.  I just want to let it go and move on with our lives.