You are My Passion

Being a Hero

‘You seem quite nervous man’ Frank said, eyeing his friend’s awkward leg movements

‘Yeah man, the mini start up list will be released soon and we’ll know which of us is going to represent Middletown at the Olympics this year’ Max said

‘You are a sure go man’ Frank said gently, tapping his knee

‘Oh, well you know our arch enemy is going to be there’ Max said, scowling

‘He is not an enemy…but well… sports rival’ Frank corrected, chuckling

‘Whatever, he will be there with lots of other newcomers and all’ Max said, shrugging, recalling just how scheming competitors can be, from setting spies on each other to any outright cause for disqualification

‘Hey man you will be there’ Frank said

‘You know when I was running the track, that was my field but this weightlifting is new territory for me and I want to make my mark before I retire’ Max answered

‘No man you can’t retire, from the races, maybe, but weightlifting…you can continue that till you are forty at least and you are just 29 so chill’ Frank chided

‘Yeah’ he replied absentmindedly, still shaking his legs

Frank asked him ‘What? what’s with you?’

Max didn’t answer, he felt uneasy all of a sudden and the feeling grew every second. He felt really uncomfortable and wondered whether it was just the sports talk

Frank frowned ‘Hey man what is really up?’ he asked, getting frustrated and Manny walked by just then

‘Frank’ Manny greeted, shaking him

‘Hey Coach Mann’ Frank replied. ‘What’s with this guy? he is so jittery today’ he asked, pointing at Max, who just rolled his eyes and looked away

Manny stands with his hands akimbo studying Max before replying ‘Well you know competitions are coming up and he gets quite irritable and nervous’

'…that’s Max for you, you don’t want to be near him at this time’ Frank chuckles

Max snickers back ‘Well hey…. she looks like she is going to be the coolant I need in this place at this time’ he nods towards Nikita, licking his lips

‘Oh yeah’ Frank said, corking his brow

‘Yeah!’ Max answered smugly

The men laugh and Manny leaves to go back into the gym

Nikita had overheard bits of their conversation and she turned to Nora ‘So he is into sports professionally?’ she asked

Nora nodded. ‘Yeah he is a sports fanatic that one’ she said with pride

Nikita beamed

‘… look at all his trophies’ Nora points to all the pictures of Max on the wall behind her which she had not noticed earlier

‘Oh that’s really impressive’ Nikita says. She turns to Max ‘That’s impressive Max’ she called out, pointing to the trophies

‘Yeah’ Max replied, smiled slightly

‘….and we have many more coming up’ Frank responded, clapping his hands happily while Max looked away, continuing his jittery behavior

‘Mm okay I know someone who—‘ Nikita started to say when they heard a loud startling noise at the entrance door BANG

It was a gunshot, everyone stiffened and turned to the door to see a rough looking middle-aged man, with overgrown beards and wild shifty eyes standing there. He was clearly on drugs. The clothes he had on looked like rags and his hands trembled where he held the gun

‘Hey! Nobody moves’ the man said evilly

Max exchanged looks with Frank

Manny had been at the gym door, he turned to look at the gunman

‘I. said. NOBODY. MOVES!’ he shouts, pulling the trigger on Manny

The bullet missed and broke the glass doors. The gunman was enraged and started cursing, shooting maniacally into the air, making everyone duck for cover

Max and Frank threw themselves behind a chair, crouching low to take in the situation, they observed the ladies scampering behind the reception desk

Max made to go protect Nikita but Frank pulled him back

‘Hey come back here, she is fine, she can hold her own’ Frank whispered, looking over at the ladies who were hiding behind Nora’s desk

The gunman snickered and walked to where the ladies were and pulled out Nikita, pointing the gun on her ‘Anybody moves and I blow her brains out’ he sneered, looking around disdainfully

Max’s eyes darkened

‘Hey bro what are you thinking? Frank asked, eyeing his posture, he knew his friend was about to go all macho now

Max looks at him ‘Well we have given him time to shoot and it’s like he is not gonna run out of bullets and he’s got my girl'

‘So what are you going to do about it?’ Frank asked with a knowing look

‘Mm he got into a gym where 90% of the people here are weightlifters. It’s the lions den man and I’m gonna show him just what he walked into‘ Max muttered, flexing his muscles, his face taut, his eyes raging

Frank chuckled quietly ‘Time to be heroes yeah?’

‘Yeah it is time to be a hero man, that’s my girl he’s got there, you leave it for me’ Max replied, getting up

Max stood up stealthily and walked slowly, calculating his next moves. He motioned to Nora to push the emergency button under her desk.

Nora nodded that she had done it already, Max smiled, he knew this would be easy

‘Let her go’ Max said, as he approached the man with a taut look

The gunman turned to him, holding up Nikita, smirking ‘So what are you going to do about it?’ he replied, eyeing Max up and down, seeing he had no weapon with him

Frank signaled discreetly to Manny crouched at the other end of the room and they began inching forward stealthily behind the man as he stood facing Max

Max chuckled darkly ‘Well I am going to show you that you just walked into the lions den’ he sneered, fast pacing a walk to him as he talked

It happened so quickly, before the man knew it, Max had hit him with a triple hook jab knocking off the gun in his hand and at the same time numbing his reflexes with some jujitsu hacks, allowing Max twist him about and knee him up badly

In a few seconds the man was sprawled on the ground helpless, even before Frank and Manny could manage an attack from the back

Nikita who had been surprisingly calm during the whole hold up began to tremble wide eyed and Max rushed to her grabbing her in a tight hug ‘it’s okay Nikky baby…It is fine’ he cooed

Frank and Manny grinned at Max and gave him a thumbs up as they began dragging the assailant to a corner

The other gym guys and the male trainers around all ran in and took over, dragged the man to the tracks where he became the punching bag for the day as he was thrown about severely before the police men that Nora had called came bursting in to handle the situation

Nikita hit Max on the chest with her hand, finally finding her voice, ‘What was that…. how could you… he was with a gun…you could have been shot’ she shouted

Max chuckled, ‘Hey heyyy baby’ kissing her lips. ‘No… I waited, he was with a pistol and I knew he had run out of bullets that’s why I made my move’ he said tongue in cheek

She stared at him like he was crazy

‘Besides I was trying to be a hero’ he said, beaming

‘Huh…trying to die’ she snorted not impressed ‘don’t you dare do that again’ she hit him on his chest again

He seized her hand and drew her close, capturing her lips

They parted a few seconds later, Max hummed ‘Calm now?’ looking into her eyes lovingly

She giggled ‘I guess’ she kissed him lightly ‘So you are a wrestler too?... that was some cool Jackie Chan stuff back there’ she said, her eyes filled with admiration

Max laughed ‘Yeah…one of my many talents…comes with the territory’ he said shrugging, still holding her in his arms

She smiled, sinking into his embrace ‘Thanks for saving me there’ she hid her face in his chest, muffling a sigh, it had been really close. She was sure her brother would have a fit if he learned of this

‘Sure baby, this complex is a safe place, should never have happened’ he gritted out annoyed

She soothed him, rubbing her hand across his back gently

Frank and Nora led the police men to where the shooter lay, after the severe beatings received. When they had written the statements, the man was carried away, a very bloody faced man and his gun confiscated

‘How did they come by so fast anyway?’ Nikita asked, as they all walked to the driveway, watching the police leave with the gunman handcuffed in their car

‘We have a safety security button, I hit it once we hid behind the desk’ Nora explained, coming to stand beside her

‘Wow sharp!’ Nikita exclaimed, grateful the short ordeal was over. She had temporarily gone blank when she ducked under the registration table

Strangely the assailant had gone for her alone and not anyone else, Nikita brushed it off, thinking perhaps it is because she is a girl. She shrugged off those thoughts to listen to what the guys were saying

‘...Yeah well my cousin is sharp as she should be’ Frank said proudly, grabbing Nora from behind and pecking her cheeks happily, she laughed, swatting him away

‘Yeah well I pay your cousin to be sharp’ Max said dryly, still holding unto Nikita, this time, in a side hug

‘Oh shush …like you are not my cousin too?’ Nora said, sticking out her tongue

Nikita looked at them wide eyed ‘How is that?’ she asked

‘Ooh we are related in a weird way. My side married his side somewhere down a tree line so we are all cousins’ Nora explained, pointing at Max

‘Distant cousins’ Max snorted, wrinkling his nose at Frank playfully

‘Yeah very distant, I don’t think I have any of his wayward genes’ Frank replied, laughing

Max punched him ‘Shut up’ he said glaring at him

Frank ducked and evaded the blow, chuckling ‘Well I think I will head home now, I don’t think I can work out now’ Frank said, heading to his car parked nearby

Nora went back inside to fetch his bag

‘Yeah... too much drama, I think I will close here too for today’ Max says, looking at Nikita, gently rubbing his hand up and down her arm

Nikita smiled slightly at him, ‘Yeah we all need a break’ she shook her head to try to clear her mind of the memory of it. She wondered how the guy had broken through the defense systems and seemed to have targeted only her

She shuddered, thinking what that might mean

Nora came back out with Frank’s gym bag and passed it to him in his car

‘You too Nora, take a break, let Manny handle anything in the evening okay Manny? He said turning to the man

‘Yes please... I agree, go rest your pretty feet Nora’ Manny said, subtly eyeing her as he left to the tracks to close up the session with the guys there

‘Oh hmm Manny eh?’ Nikita teased, she had not missed the look he gave Nora

‘Oh shut up girl’ Nora giggled, she knew the guy had the hots for her for the past three years but she was waiting for him to make the first move

They laugh, Max narrowed his eyes ‘Manny? What? do not even-‘ he began possessively

‘Oh shut it’ Nora said, cutting him off with an eye roll, going back into the gym to get her bag

Max had his mouth gaping in shock as he looked at her and back at Frank, who was laughing uncontrollably

‘See why I do not like letting on she is my cousin?... she won’t respect me again in front of you’ Max whined to Nikita

Nikita got close to him teasing him ‘…What kind of respect were you thinking my hero.... ?’ she whispered, eyes on his lips before pressing her lips on his

‘Oh man just take this to a room’ Frank groaned, getting into his car

Max smiled against her lips ‘My thoughts exactly,…. Nikky wanna go back home with me? Let me give you some *TLC after such a harrowing day,... where I saved you’ he said smirking seductively

She giggled ‘Let’s go’

Max was thrilled, Frank just shook his head, starting his car

As Nikita walked to the car lot to get her car, Max waited with Frank, wiggling his brow at him

Frank snorted ‘So since this is official how about I invite you two to a couples hang out?’ he asked

‘Ephraim's?’ Max asked, looking around at the entrance and to the security post near them

‘Yeah’ Frank replied nodding

‘Oh okay. I hope it'll be Nikita’s style?’ Max said, squinting his eyes at the security post

‘Bring her first. Gina and Karen will break her in’ Frank replied, moving his car slowly

‘Okay. Phoenix coming? Mel?’ Max asked

‘Sure’ Frank replied smiling

‘Okay then….when is it?’ Max said, interested now since their mutual friends will be in attendance

‘Next Thursday’ he answered, revving the car to leave

‘Count me in…whatever that is’ Nikita chimed as she drove up beside them

Frank laughed ‘See you then’

‘Yeah yeah see you. Now we go to my place, this beauty needs some home care’ Max said, opening the driver’s door and kissing Nikita on the cheek

Frank shook his head in amusement ‘Bye lovebirds’ he drove off, softly honking his horn as he passed the security post in response to the guard who greeted him as he climbed up the steps to his post

Max squinted his eyes at the guard, face hardening Where was he when the assailant broke in??? Max clenched his fists hard to contain himself. He looked at Nikita ‘Let me drive ...Manny will bring home my car later’ he murmured. This guy is about to get seriously beat up, he fumed