It was a sweltering Saturday afternoon when Conlan stepped out of the comfort of his air conditioned apartment and right smack into the heat. It was a matter of seconds before he was glistening under a thin layer of sweat. With his gym bag flung over his shoulder and his sunglasses hiding those tempting blue eyes, Conlan set foot towards the gym. He was always humoring to see so many people get out of their cars at the gym when he knew very well they lived nearby. People made interesting choices in life, but driving to the gym was something he would never understand.

It was a busy time at the gym, which was why Conlan chose to go now. He viewed it as a service to the public that he was working out with them. When else would they get the chance to watch him bend over and pick up heavy things? As soon as Conlan entered the complex, he went straight to the front desk where his favorite receptionist was working. “Hey, beautiful.” He said to her as he gave up his membership card. “You’re looking radiant as ever.” He said as he looked at her over his glasses with that dazzling smile of his. After a couple more minutes of laying it on thick with the flirting on his part and blushing and forgetting how to speak on her part, Conlan bid her a farewell with a return promise and a wink. It was too easy.

After setting his bag in the locker room and getting stretched out, Conlan decided to warm up with a run. He started out walking. Once he got the elevation high enough, he sped the treadmill up until he was sprinting, practically up a mountain. The music pumping through his ear buds matched the pace he was going, thanks to technology. Conlan was in his zone. He had great stamina, inside and outside of the gym.

Gideon was glad that he had the afternoon off from personal training to get in some working out of his own. He wasn't obsessed with his body image, per se, but he liked being in good shape - it made him feel good, and working out relieved a lot of the stress that he had balled up inside from day to day. It was easy for Gideon to get wound too tightly, and he hated that about himself, hated always being just one step away from blowing a gasket. However, he found that going for runs or lifting weights could easily counteract the way that he felt and he was glad to have a release.

Sure, maybe it wasn't the best thing in the world to have his release also be his place of business, because if one of his clients saw him letting loose on a punching bag, they might think that he had rage issues, which he didn't...most of the time. Still, a free gym membership came with his employment, and he would be damned if he let a beauteous thing like that go to waste! Sure, he was only working part time right now, but that would switch to full time during the summer when he wasn't taking classes, and he was glad for that shift - extra work hours, less having to read things, it would be a nice relief, since his first year of college had been, well, just as rough as he had assumed, his dyslexia getting in the way of a fluid college career.

After stretching and lifting a few weights, Gideon headed over to a treadmill, starting out at a slow jog. He got into the zone pretty quickly, focusing on nothing but the rhythm of his feet against the rubber "sidewalk". This was it, this was exactly how he liked himself best, moving, not having to think or read or write anything. It was just him, and the running shoes and the gym...and the person next to him who seemed to be in a steady and very intense rhythm. Gideon felt a sudden burst of desire to prove himself, and he upped the incline and the speed on his treadmill to JUST above that of the man next to him. He didn't get competitive all of the time, but he was known to have a streak...especially when it came to working out.

Conlan was reminded of where he was when a petite blonde in very tight, very skimpy clothing occupied the treadmill to the right of him. His eyes took in the curve of her ass discreetly. He was a professional at discrepancy at this point, but then again perhaps that was an occupational hazard. It was next to impossible to take his eyes off of her breasts as they bounced to her rhythm along the treadmill. It should be illegal for women with that level of hotness to be within ten feet of him while wearing tight, skimpy clothing and doing things to make their bodies all that much more attractive. Then again, it wasn’t like Conlan exhibited self control outside of the gym anyways.

Conlan tore his eyes off of the hot babe next door just in time for her to take notice. Now it was her turn to check her out and he wasn’t complaining. He loved being on display for all to admire. If there was one thing he was good at, it was being really, really ridiculously good looking. Conlan kept his rhythm and his eyes straight ahead. He’d let her think he wasn’t interested, for now. That drove the ladies crazy. He’d have her eating out of the palm of his hand before she knew what hit her.

Conlan was only vaguely aware that another man took the treadmill to the left of him. He didn’t have the curves or the parts he was interested in, so he didn’t deserve Conlan’s full attention. That is, until the foolish boy on the left did something Conlan just couldn’t let go. Conlan was terribly competitive. He was a lawyer, so that much was to be expected, but he was also a dick and that raised his competitive streak even farther. When the guy next to him kicked up his treadmill levels higher than Conlan’s, Conlan knew he had to retaliate. So, that’s the way you want to play it, tough guy? Bring it on. Conlan raised the elevation on his treadmill even more and kicked up the speed a notch. He could go on like this for a while.

Gideon was almost completely oblivious to his surroundings. He had worked in gyms for the past 8 years, so he was used to women wearing practically nothing around them, hell, sometimes when he was working with them, he was even touching them, helping them stretch, and that didn't really get him going - he knew how to keep business separate from pleasure and he was very good at it. As a result, he was also very good of keeping himself immune to the women of the gym, even the gorgeous ones that tended to strut around Evergreen - Gideon wasn't sure he had ever seen a town with so many people beautiful people in it before, though he hadn't seen too many towns, so maybe that was the problem.

His workout meant more to him than the hot blonde two treadmills over, though he didn't miss the fact that the other man seemed to be interested. He wondered if they would leave together, and then realized that really, it was just a passing quandary, that he really didn't care what these two did because it in no way involved him. He let his mind wander sometimes, thinking that if he were ever to make a romantic comedy, god forbid, a meet-cute at the gym might be good, something like the power struggle he seemed to have entered with the man next to him, but between a man and a woman - that could definitely have some comedic value.

He noticed the instant that Conlan upped his speed and elevation, and he waited for a bit, not wanting to seem as though he was a RAGING competitor before doing the same to his, kicking it up just a little. Gideon did this for a living, he was strong, muscular and he had physical endurance for days. He ran marathons and participated in triathlons, so this was nothing to him, though it was fairly clear to him that the man beside him was good at this as well, and he vaguely wondered which one of them was better. He looked away from the other man, focusing on a spot directly ahead of himself as he continued to run, knowing that, if the other man upped the ante, he would hear it in the increased pace.

Conlan was always aware of his surroundings. He was observant because it was those little details, the ones that most people missed, that won the cases. Being a lawyer wasn’t necessarily something he could switch on and off when he wanted to. Sure, he could separate business from pleasure, but sometimes the two collided and it was a beautiful thing. Being competitive just came with the territory. If he wasn’t confident he could win, he wouldn’t make a very good lawyer. Conlan was confident, some might even say overly so, but he had every reason to be. It wasn’t every day anyone challenged him and then won. He was used to victory and anything less was a low blow to his overstuffed ego.

Conlan wasn’t about to lose this little battle he had going with the mama’s boy next to him. Especially not when the price he had to pay was the hot blonde on his right witnessing the brutal loss. He didn’t think it was possible to lose, anyways. Not when he spent so much time in the gym. He didn’t know who the kid next to him was, nor did he know what he did for a living, so Conlan really just assumed the other guy would tire out in a few minutes and he could finish off his run as the victor he truly was.

Everything about Conlan was raging. He was a raging competitor, raging partier, and his raging hormones were another issue entirely. He was a man of passion and nothing he ever did was understated or overlooked. One might even go as far as to claim that he was an attention whore, but that would suggest that he went out of his way to seek attention. That was not the case as it was most people went out of the way to give him attention. Conlan smirked to himself and increased the speed on the treadmill. He was covered in sweat and he could almost feel the burn, but he still had a long way to go. His feet pounded the rubber trail to the beat of the bubble gum pop song playing in his ears. It was about time things at the gym got a little interesting.

Confidence was one place where Gideon was severely lacking - at least in most respects. He didn't think much of himself as anything other than an athlete, and he wouldn't go to the olympics for anything, but he knew that he was fit, and he also knew his limits. If his muscles started to burn in a way that he knew was bad, he would stop, because overexerting himself just to out-do some guy next to him, but he also wasn't going to stop before he felt like he was ready to - he had started this little contest, and he wasn't going to end it before he was ready...and he did hope that the other man would be the one ending it.

Gideon had been in Evergreen a little over a year, and while he liked it, he still didn't have many friends. He was quiet, and a lot of people took that to mean standoffish or even arrogant - he didn't think that he was better than other people, though, he just didn't want to say things unless he felt they merited saying, and a lot of the times, it was easier for him to interact with people through actions than words - he had engaged Conlan without having to say so much as a "hello" to him, and that was just the way that he liked it, quiet and unspoken.

He wasn't new to this - going hard and long on the treadmill, as he had trained for and run several marathons in the last few years - he had broken into a sweat, yes, but that was normal and they was a very good chance that he would be like this for a long time, that he would be able to power through longer than the other man. To make the odds more...interesting, he kicked up the incline on his treadmill, though he left the speed the same - he liked the pace he was at and he wasn't going to up it unless Conlan did so, after all, he didn't want to escalate this little "man-off" too much.

Conlan followed a strict routine of gym, tan, and laundry. That is, if the gym meant the gym and tan meant booze and laundry was, well, still what it stood for. Those three aspects pretty much controlled his life with the exception of work. He lived a life of luxury and even though he signed up for the Vow, he enjoyed his bachelorhood. He was starting to wonder why he ever signed up for that damned program. He was clearly a wild and sexy beast that could not be tamed. He wasn’t getting much younger, and he figured he’d try to find an acceptable trophy wife before he slept with the whole town.

Although Conlan couldn’t be sure, because that was one vacation he hadn’t taken advantage of, he had a feeling that this was what it felt like to run up Mount Everest, but much warmer. He didn’t usually up the incline this much, but he was considering doing it from now on. It was a great work out and it added an element of challenge to his warm-up run. Of course, he’d have to revise his entire work out plan at this point. If he ran like this, he’d have to get used to it. He’d be tired at first and he’d push through the tiredness until he knew he couldn’t. After the run, he usually stretched for a bit and then headed over to the weights. He’d probably have to cut the time on weight lifting down, but he’d have to find some other way to show off his hefty muscles and impeccable strength. It was all manageable.

Conlan barely noticed the blonde anymore. His heart was in this competition and his eye was on the prize. He had been running for just over twenty minutes now and he was starting to hit his limit. Conlan pressed on, though. Since loverboy on his left didn’t up his speed and Conlan didn’t really thing the treadmill could get more of an incline, he didn’t adjust anything. He just kept on running like Forrest Motherfucking Gump.

Gideon's routine was far more erratic than Conlan's was. He rushed between work and classes and, of course, his own personal working out time, and he did whatever he could whenever he could, which often included eating on the go, but he was alright with that. Sometimes, when you wanted to have a job and a college education, you had to make sacrifices. All of the rest of his free time went to playing with his beloved video camera, getting stock footage, or shooting movies with some of the other people from his school. A group of them had agreed to work together over the summer making a zombie movie, and he would be doing most of the filming and directing, meaning he was excited about that.

He had never been good at expressing himself with words, but showing people with art or with actions was always easier for him. He had made the introduction to this guy, showing Conlan that he was strong and determined by capturing him in this competition, and while that wasn't normally something that he did, he was glad that he had, because he was feeling good about himself, really doing a grueling work out and knowing that he had to keep his eye on the prize or risk losing it all together. He wanted to win now, mostly because this man was a formidable opponent, and it would be nice to beat out someone who was, well, worth beating.

There was no more incline that they could add, and as Conlan hadn't raised the speed and Gideon wasn't eager too, it was a battle of endurance, now. There was no more upping the ante, no more adding challenges to it, but it was a stale mate, to see who could continue at this strenuous level the longest, and Gideon was still going strong. He looked over at his opponent, smiling slightly before looking away. He didn't know if Conlan was getting close to giving up, but the younger man looked a little on the tired side...then again, maybe he was bluffing, or maybe that was just how he looked. Gideon had at least another 20 minutes in him, maybe more, and for all he knew, this man had hours.

As a prosecutor, it was Conlan’s job to make sure guilty predators didn’t walk to the streets. He could take the tiniest spec of evidence and overturn it to the jury as the most obvious clue to a riddle. It was a little bit scary at how good he was at getting people convicted. He wasn’t ashamed of what he did. In fact, he wasn’t ashamed of anything that had to do with him. Conlan was one proud motherfucker and if you didn’t know that, you did now. He wasn’t afraid to flaunt his stuff because he was that good. He was a busy man who didn’t have the time to spend his life in the gym, although he would if he could. He loved the gym. It boosted his ego, his strength, his body image, and his chances of getting laid. It was a productive hang out spot if there ever was one.

It was rare when Conlan was faced with a challenge he simply could not defeat, and even if he wouldn’t admit it, it seemed like he was going to lose this one. He was running out of steam and, granted, he did start running before the clown next to him did, but that didn’t change the fact that he had a burning desire to prove the kid on his left incompetent. Conlan saw the sideways glance aimed at him and chose to ignore it. Honestly, it was like literally everyone just had to look at that fine specimen of a man that was Conlan Harper, but what else was new?

Conlan ran for another ten minutes and since neither opponent in this silent race upped the levels, he didn’t dare touch the buttons on the machine. His chest was getting tight and he knew he was getting tired. What Conlan did next nearly killed him. Well, it nearly killed his ego, but was there even a difference? Conlan reached his strong hand out to the control panel of the treadmill and hit that pathetic little arrow that pointed down to decrease his speed. His excuse was that he didn’t spend more than thirty minutes on the treadmill, but if he was being honest with himself he needed to start his cool down now before he hurt himself. Conlan would never be honest with himself if it meant admitting defeat though. Over a course of five minutes, Conlan slowed the treadmill speed enough and lowered the elevation to zero percent and climbed off. He didn’t look the other man in the eye. So what if he got off? It wasn’t any of that man’s damn business what he did with his life. Conlan went over to the mats and nursed his wounded ego by stretching out along with the ladies. Ohhhhhh yeaaaaa.

Conlan may have started first, and Gideon knew that, but he wasn't done, he wasn't really close to it, though he wasn't going to try and rub it in by staying at this pace for TOO much longer. He ran the ten minutes with Conlan, then ten minutes longer before starting his cool down, feeling good about the running. He loved the way it felt to really exert himself, to push himself a little bit, and some nice, healthy competition had helped to drive that. Sure, the competition was unspoken, and there was a chance that Gideon had imagined that it was there, but either way, he had gotten the work out that he had wanted, and he was glad for that, even if he had lost he would have been glad for that.

He let out a deep sigh after the cool down and went to the water station. He filled a tiny paper cup with water and downed it quickly, wiping the sweat from his brow as he tossed the cup into the recycling next to him. He liked this place, it was more home than anywhere else in Evergreen, and he was glad to have it be his place of work. He had always found sanctuary in a gym because he had always liked working himself physically, it felt good to be tired out from pushing himself and it felt good to know that he was strong and capable, and sometimes he wondered if he used that to compensate for the fact that his reading and writing left so much to be desired.

He spotted his 'opponent" stretching on the mats, and he wondered if he should say something. The man had been a formidable competitor at the very least, and a flat out impressive man at the most. He walked over to where his own gym bag lay in the corner and pulled out a business card from his wallet. It had the name of the gym, his name, the title of PERSONAL TRAINER, his e-mail address and a phone number of how to reach him. He didn't know if Conlan needed a trainer, but he felt that the already strong man could benefit from the help of a put-together work out cycle. He walked over to the mat and leaned down, handing the younger man his card.

Conlan was nursing his wounded ego the only way he knew how: with a bunch of round things in his face. His ego was more than wounded, though. It was picked up by Mariusz Pudzianowski himself, pulverized by the freakishly strong man’s breath, and the crushed into trillions of thousands of pieces by his little pinkies. Conlan had never felt so low in his life. Well, there was that incident in high school when he puked all over his date at the winter dance after one too many shots of Everclear. But, really, who was keeping count? Conlan was a man who was used to winning and getting what he wanted. Now that he hadn’t been able to outrun the mama’s boy he had been sharing a silent competition with, he needed be surrounded by something he knew he could always have at his fingertips: super hot women in super tight clothing.

Conlan’s eyes narrowed. This was not the last that girly boy would see of him. Oh no. Conlan was determined to prove himself another time. He knew he was better at that boy than something and, dammit! He was going to find out just what that was. He watched the other boy get off the treadmill and his inner pride kicked himself in the ass. If he had really pushed himself, he was sure that he could have lasted those extra ten minutes. Oh, well. It had happened now and Conlan was less focused on the damned treadmill and more focused on another way he could last…

Conlan pretended like he hadn’t been watching his foe in every move he made and imagining ways he could take the other boy out. It wasn’t that hard to pretend like his focus was elsewhere since the only other thing that he had to look at was the ladies. Conlan finished stretching and straightened himself out. It was time to hit the weights. Or it would be if his arch-nemesis hadn’t approached him. Conlan frowned, he couldn’t say this was a pleasant surprise. He considered ignoring the other boy, but when his business card was right under his nose and the boy was under his skin, it became something he could not ignore. Conlan battled with himself at what to do about this situation. First, the boy had wounded his ego and ruined his gym outing as a whole. Now, he was rubbing his face in Conlan’s obvious failure right in front of all of the ladies. Did this man want to be hit?

Conlan glanced at the words on the card, long and hard. The two of them hadn’t shared any words, but so much had been said and none of it was good. This was merely adding insult to injury. Conlan wanted more than anything to take the card and rip it up into tiny pieces right in front of the boy's face, but he knew that wouldn't help his newly battered image. Instead, Conlan sighed and looked at the boy. What, was he mute? “I think you have the wrong person, son.” Conlan said. Did it look like he needed a personal trainer? For god’s sake, he already had a drop dead sexy body. Any man or woman could clearly see that.

Gideon hadn't meant to be rude or to rub salt in any pre-existing wounds. He tried to be a nice guy, at least most of the time, though he always had problems with people who were religious...or people who married women too much younger than themselves, and though he had been working on keeping those thoughts and dislikes to himself, sometimes a simple look of disdain on his part could be enough for him to make an enemy. As a result, he tried his best not to piss anyone else off, at least not intentionally, though there was just something about his demeanor that people didn't naturally warm to...probably how quiet he was.

The older man genuinely thought that he was being helpful - hell, the man that he had been competing with, Conlan, had done a great job on the treadmill, something that a lot of other guys couldn't have done for more than a couple of minutes without petering out and walking away dejected. Sure, Gideon had beat him, but Gideon had the unfair advantage of being a personal trainer and a trained marathon runner. He had practiced this kind of thing for years, and he had no idea what kind of experience Conlan had under his belt, but Gideon knew that he could take Conlan, who was already in great shape, and turn him into an even better athlete.

Gideon had been expecting the man to take the card and pocket it, then either call him or not call him as he saw fit, but the reaction was confusing to Gideon. He didn't have the wrong person, he was offering the card to the man whom he had been unspokenly sparring with on the treadmills...and this was definitely him. Gideon may be quiet, but he remembered the way that people looked. However, this man clearly had no interest in his card, so Gideon shrugged and took it back. "Suit yourself." He was a good trainer and a slew of happy and fit clients let him know that. "Just saying, you could run marathons if you worked on your endurance. I can help you with that. I do it for a living." He was trying to land a job, yes, but he wasn't going to get it if this man had no interest, so if Conlan said no, he wasn't going to push it.

Conlan was a man who put everything on display. He drove an overly showy sports car that most people in the town probably could only afford to dream about. He was a logo whore and displayed his wealth in the clothes he wore. He had a job that gave him a reputation in his field and around town. People needed lawyers, and he was there to serve them. He had an ego large enough to suffocate the entire population of China. When it came to modesty, Conlan was a stranger to even that very simple concept of not being self absorbed and too proud of his achievements. As if there was even such a thing of being too proud.

Conlan had no interest in getting in better shape or being more of an athlete. He was a lawyer, not training for the Olympics. He worked out to main this god-like body. He kept himself toned and ripped purely for the benefit of the ladies and anyone else who wanted to admire. Conlan wasn’t going to rip the one thing Evergreen had to look at and admire away from their very fortunate eyes. The public needed him. He was eye candy and he played along, sometimes allowing them to believe they had a shot with the insanely attractive man, even if it was clear they didn’t. Even if Conlan wanted to kick it up a notch, he would take care of it himself. He got this far getting in shape by himself, he didn’t need some tool bag at his side ordering him around.

Conlan’s spine stiffened at his last declaration. I do it for a living. Well, Conlan didn’t do this for a living and he was almost certain he could still kick this guy’s ass. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. Honestly, why did people feel the need to push another’s buttons, so to speak? Conlan pushed buttons in the courtroom, because nothing screamed drama and excitement like a little tension in the air. It was different when someone else was doing it to him, though. Especially when he ego was already so wounded and his pride bruised. Conlan turned and looked at the boy. “Are you aware that you are violating IC 35-42-4-6 under the Indiana Code of Law regarding solicitation and harassment?” Conlan asked without any real anger in his voice. “Because if you aren’t, which I assume you’re not because who would purposefully break the law and then admit it, I can help you with that.” Conlan’s tone was dripping with sarcasm and although he was bending the interpretation of the law slightly, he was still making his point. “I do it for a living.” He finished, mirroring the other man’s words. It was almost as if Conlan was rubbing his career in the man’s face. Because he so was.

Gideon felt his eyes widening as the man spoke, swiftly and with great force. The whole thing was really rather terrifying, and he wasn't sure how to handle the situation. He was afraid of the abrasive nature of the speech, and he genuinely didn't understand what he had done to warrant that kind of reaction from the man. He took a step backwards, trying to figure out what he had said or done that had upset the man so much. In his mind, their little spar on the treadmills had been amiable, no big deal, and he had thought that the man would welcome at raining partner based on his healthy want for the competition, but it seemed as though it were something more than that.

"I'm sorry if I have upset or offended you," Gideon said, crumpling his own card with his hand as he tried to figure out how to reply. Perhaps that was all he needed to say - after all, this man was clearly educated, and while for all Gideon knew he could be making that law up, it sounded real, and Gideon didn't want to get into a battle of wits with anyone, let alone someone who had gone to law school, hell, Gideon himself had only just started college, and reading and words were not his best attributes.

He decided to leave it there, not wanting to start a fight, especially not since this was his place of business. Sure, he had better endurance than this man, but if a verbal match turned to fists, he wasn't sure if he would be able to hold his own. Gideon was strong, yes, but violent? Not unless he felt truly threatened, and he didn't want things getting out of hand. He turned and walked away from the man, his feelings hurt, as he still didn't really understand what he had done. What he did know was that he was going to look that law up as soon as he got home and see what it really meant.

Conlan smirked as the man widened his eyes. He loved throwing lawyer garbage out there. It was like he was speaking a different language that no one else could understand and he loved it. He got his kicks from how stupid they looked when they didn’t know what he was talking about. He didn’t exactly expect a nobody like the Personal Trainer to understand what he was saying. Oh, the satisfaction of having an overpriced education. He hated how innocent this other man looked. Conlan was pissed that he just got his ass handed to him on the treadmill, and then even more pissed that the man had the balls to approach him and tell him he didn’t know what he was doing. Why couldn’t they just decide they hated each other and go on their separate ways?

Conlan was a strong man, but if he couldn’t out shine someone in his strength, he would do so through his knowledge. If that didn’t work, he would throw his success in their face. Most of the time, Conlan could prove he was a better man and if he was challenged, that was exactly what he was going to do. This other man had challenged him and beat him, but he didn’t seem to have anything to say after Conlan’s retribution, and to Conlan that was yet another victory for him. He rolled his eyes when Gideon crumpled his own business card. Did he honestly think he’d be able to get away with that?

Conlan had stretched the interpretation of that law so thin that it could have snapped in his face. The law Conlan brought up was in regards to solicitation and children, but details were a grey area. If he really needed to, he could make a case for himself, but that was beyond unnecessary here. He watched the man leave, and then went on with his excercises.


((done))