Chapter 10 RING CYCLE
“Rebecca Buchan, you have to try harder!”
I grunted.
“Come on Becca, push yourself! You won’t get those pounds off like that. No pain, no gain!”
I tried, putting all my effort into the bench press. I lifted the weights, held them for a moment and lowered them again.
“Do it again! Come on girl. You know you can now!”
Heidi Corris was the new assistant manager at the gym. She was a very fit, very sporty Canadian girl, a few years younger than I was. She was also domineering to the point where I wanted to smack her.
“What you mean is, she's a good coach,” Elena had said when I complained to her after a session. “She pushes you past your comfort zone.”
“Perhaps you're right. Heidi pushes me. But so did my old coach.” And after the fight I'd lost to Jane de Ville, I'd needed pushing. I'd had that fight won twice but in the end I'd lost. Jane had simply outlasted me. After that I’d vowed that no bitch was ever going to exhaust me again. I'd renewed my training, going to the gym as often as I could. In a way it was an excuse to avoid David and Andrew. “Hun, I want to get into shape again.” And I was. I felt better about myself already, especially after I'd thrashed Alice Stumn. I'd shown that I could still mix it.
“Of course I'm right.” You know that. Heidi's a better coach. She focuses on your weaknesses. She drives you hard to overcome them. Just like she did with the bench presses. You really didn't want to do that, did you?”
I avoided the question and replied, “But she's so competitive! It's bad enough here at the gym, but look at volleyball.” Heidi played for Oak Forest, our major rivals in the local volleyball league that was also based at the gym.
“She just wants to win. What's wrong with that? So do we, don't we? And we do most of the time too!”
In some way Heidi seemed to
need to win – at everything. Everything was a contest. Heidi had to be the best at whatever she did. She just
had to win at every sport she played – and she played a lot; kayaking, gymnastics, swimming, all sorts of things. Heidi wanted to be in the winning team. Playing well wasn't good enough for her. She had to be on the best team. She wanted to be the best coach too but in my opinion, she went about it the wrong way.
“Elena,” I went on, “Heidi's like a drill sergeant. I half expect her to wear jackboots and leather and carry a whip! She bullies people! She's always finding fault with whatever I do. She's not like Melinda who praised you when you achieved a goal. With her, it’s like whatever you just achieved is forgotten right away and it’s on to the next level.” It was true. Heidi never praised or encouraged anyone. She drove us all on by continually moving the goal line.
“Becca honey, Heidi said you were complacent. She was right. You just cruised along. Heidi's changed that. She's what you need.” Elena gave me a quick hug. “See you later.” She closed the door as she left, leaving me still packing my gear, mulling over her parting words.
I'd bristled when Heidi had said it. ”Nonsense,” I'd said. “I’m always setting goals and then achieving them.” But Elena repeating it made me think again. Was I really being complacent? Perhaps I'd been too satisfied with my life – good job, good boyfriend, good family. I'd expected Andrew to be more attentive at that pool party where I'd thrashed that red haired co-ed in the pool though. He hadn't been and I'd been foolish. I knew he’d liked me fighting Sara in the pool almost as much as I’d enjoyed beating her myself. I'd expected him to almost crawl back, eager for my favour – but he hadn’t.
And when he hadn't, I'd given him the cold shoulder. I’d gone to David Short’s party and acted as if I were the hostess. That had ended in disaster when Jane de Ville left me groaning on the floor. Even then though, it was my ego that had suffered more than my battered body.
Yes, I guessed I'd been complacent after my win against Sara – the last of quite a few victories over the years. I’d been complacent that I was an experienced and all but invincible fighter, complacent that I’d have guys at my fingertips – till I'd been shocked out of that illusion. De Ville's victory had hurt my self-confidence – and yes, my pride and my ego – as much as my body. Pounding Alice Stumn hadn't redressed the balance. So yes, Elena was right, I did need Heidi to spur me on again.
Anyway, I reminded myself I was going out tonight. David was meeting me for coffee. In fact, he was picking me up from the gym very soon. I was going out next weekend too. Elena had invited me to a housewarming party. Her man Malcolm had bought a traditional Chicago bungalow in Stokie but he'd never lived in it – his law firm had sent him on assignment to London. Now he was back, and Elena and he were moving in. Elena had been so eager for my advice on furnishing and decorating the house. She'd been effusive in her thanks, pressing me to come to the party. I was happy to go, of course and besides, I wanted to see what she'd made of my suggestions.
I was amazed how perceptive, how assertive Elena had become. She wasn't the socially naive girl she'd been only a few months ago. Now she was much more sophisticated. She'd always been brash, even aggressive - that aggression had made her good in volleyball – but she’d been diffident in social situations. She had no small talk. She'd confided to me, how tongue-tied she'd been when she found Malcolm in a bar with his friends. “They made me feel like I wasn't good enough for them.”
Now she was transformed – far more confident. She was developing taste too. She'd mastered Malcolm's particular interests in film and music. She was reading avidly. She was still soaking up whatever I could teach her – at the moment, interior decoration. While I was pleased with my protégé’s progress, I was also a little scared. I was glad she was besotted with Malcolm. I didn't want any competition in my confused love life.
It had been a while since I'd gone anywhere much.
I'd turned down a few invitations from Leo after the Oktoberfest party where he'd egged me on to fight Alice Stumn. I didn't want a guy who got off on pushing his girl into fights. Yes I fought. Yes I liked fighting and yes, liked winning even more, but I didn’t like guys I was out with pushing me into fights. I was independent.
I'd been reluctant to date David after that party at his place – his voice on the phone was enough to remind me how weak, how battered that bitch de Ville left me. I'd seen him around – he'd often come to watch volleyball. He'd come to the gym more than a few times too. He called me at home, pressing me to go out with him. I'd accepted just enough times so he didn't think I was through with him.
Andrew had come to the gym too, both to watch volleyball and to meet me for dates afterwards. I liked both of them, and I knew things could go further but right now I regarded them as just friends I hung out with – friends with
potential benefits perhaps, but no more than that. I still had too little confidence in myself to really date, even after my convincing victory over Alice. I was scared that I'd meet another de Ville who'd hand me an even worse battering while my date looked on – or even take him from me. I knew that de Ville could have had any man – or woman, I guess – she’d wanted that night.
Yet that was still only a half-truth. I wanted to date, to have a guy pursuing me because he desired me – because I was desirable. I wanted some romance – and yes some sex too.
That half truth backfired badly though. By some mischance, Heidi was in the lobby when David came in. By the time I arrived, she and David were more than chatting. He was ogling her – looking right down her cleavage – and she was flirting. She touched his arm with her fingers as I came in.
Heidi had told me she was going clubbing. I had to give her credit, she brushed up well – too well. She wore a low cut black top with a black jacket over it, a black and silver patterned skirt and high heeled calf boots.
“Oh hi Bec! I've met your instructress, Heidi.”
“So I see,” I said icily.
Becca, you shouldn't keep your friends,” Heidi emphasised that word, “waiting.” She flashed a glance that said clearer to another woman than any words would ever be, 'I can take any man from you at the drop of a hat, if I want to.' And then she proceeded to prove her point. “We were talking about the Illinois Train Museum.”
“Yes Becca, I spent the afternoon there, working on some static displays – signals and some interpretative signage.”
He went on and I almost tuned out until I heard Heidi reply, animatedly, “So the display will show a history of railroad signals from signal balls to colour light and CTC. But didn't you say that position light signals were used on the Pennsylvania Railroad? Why are you putting them in the display too?”
I only half heard David's answer, because I was focusing on Heidi. She was more than flirting with David – her body language was unmistakable. But more than that, she'd latched on to one of David's favourite topics – one he could talk about till hell froze over. It was a topic she was totally uninterested in, too – I’d never heard her ever say a word about about trains to us. No, she was making a play for David.
I had to stop this, now! “David,” I said stepping forward, “I'm sure Heidi doesn't want to listen to you talking about signalling systems. I'm sure it’s way too stodgy a subject for her tastes.” I turned to Heidi, “I'm sorry, David's a sweet man but he can go on forever talking about trains.”
“Oh no, it’s all good.” Heidi said sweetly, her eyes fixed soulfully on David's. “I think it’s very interesting. I didn't know the Pennsylvania Railroad served Chicago.”
This was turning into a disaster. “David, Heidi's going clubbing. We don't want to waste her time.”
“Yes, I guess,” David said reluctantly.
“Where are you two going?” Heidi asked.
“Just out for a coffee,” David replied.
“Why, that's rather 'stodgy' don’t you think?” she retorted, skewering me with my own word. “But then Becca, for all her good qualities…qualities like persistence, competence, diligence, trustworthiness…all the things you want in a vet…or maybe in fact
because of them…is a little stodgy at times.”
I gasped, speechless for a moment. Then David replied, “Oh Becca's not always stodgy. She can be quite adventurous…sometimes too adventurous. She sometimes bites off more than she can chew. For example, there was a party at my house – ”
“David,” I cut him off, horrified that he was going to tell Heidi about my fight with Jane de Ville, “we should get going. Heidi will want to meet her friends.”
“Well yes, I suppose you should,” Heidi said, but then she destroyed my night. “David, why don't you come clubbing with me and my friends later, after your coffee? Here, give me your cell and I'll enter my number.”
And to my horror David did just that. It soured my night.
During the next week – the week leading up to Elena’s party – David texted and called me several times. He started by asking why I’d been so distant over coffee. Then he asked me what was wrong. Finally the penny dropped and he apologised for his behaviour with Heidi. I wasn’t sure how long I would wait before I told him I’d forgiven him. He needed to know he’d wounded my feelings – as he had.
All that week I tried to push the memories of how Heidi had bested me out of my mind. I busied myself at work and looked forward to Elena’s party. I’d gone to the gym as normal during that week, determined to put a bold face on it. I’d even asked Heidi how she’d got on with David. There was no way that bitch was going to know how she’d got to me. But I was sure she knew. Her smug, supercilious look told me that. I had to carry on with the pretense that David was no more than a friend.
I saw Elena twice that week before the party –the first time when we trained for volleyball, and the second time when we played. We won the game. But I wished we’d played and beaten Heidi’s team. More than that, I wished it had been some body contact sport like roller derby and we’d beaten the hell out of Heidi’s team – and that I’d personally checked Heidi and sent her spinning into the barriers.
That was wishful thinking.
I blushed when I walked into Elena's house. There was Andrew at the door. He wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off my feet. “Andrew, please! It’s embarrassing!” I tried to speak though his kisses. It was no use. I felt myself melt in his embrace.
“I saw you pull up outside. It's been too long, Becca.” He hooked his arm into mine. “Let’s go and meet our hosts…together.”
Elena smiled a little sheepishly as I greeted her and gave her a housewarming present. “So good to see you both. Now Andrew, can you let go of Becca for just a moment? I want her to come and help me with something.”
“Yes, if Becca promises to come straight back again.” He turned to me and kissed me full on the lips. “You do promise, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I giggled, “I promise.”
“So long as you keep your promise. And have I told you, you look even more beautiful than usual tonight?” He kissed me again.
“Oh go on with you, Andrew.” I laughed, extracting my hand from his. As Elena and I walked off to her kitchen, she said quietly. “I wanted you two to get together again so I made sure Andrew would come, by telling him you were coming. And I knew you would.” She led me into the kitchen.
“Wow Elena! What do you want me to do? Serve up? There’s everything here, ready.” There was so much food and so nicely presented.
Elena giggled slightly. “I had some help. But it’s not help I wanted from you! You’ve got to make up your mind. Andrew likes you a lot…no in fact he dotes on you…and you used to date him. Yeah, I know why you stopped. So he liked watching you fight some other girl. So what? He didn’t
make you fight her. I know you…you like fighting. So do I…well, sometimes. I admit it. You should too. Stop stringing him along, stop playing him off against David Short or some other guy and stop pretending he…and David for that matter…are just friends. Make up your mind…and if you take my advice, you’ll choose Andrew.”
I was astonished that Elena, the naive office girl whom I’d coached, was now giving me advice. What’s more, it was good advice. She’d gotten it wrong about Andrew though. We hadn’t broken up because he liked watching me fight Sara, though that was the story I’d put about so Elena could be excused for getting it wrong. And Andrew’s attentions right then at Elena’s house showed that he wanted to get back with me. ”Ok, ok ,“ I protested, “I’ll do as you say. I’ll go out and spend time with Andrew. Let’s see what he does. “
“If I’m right…and I know I am…he’ll ask you to go out with him tomorrow. You two will be dating again by next week.”
I had blushed when I saw Andrew but I bit my tongue when I saw Heidi as I came out of Elena’s kitchen. If I hadn’t, I'd have blurted something particularly pointed and bitchy. Instead I just greeted her politely but coolly and walked off to find Andrew. I walked him around, meeting more congenial company. Elena introduced me to several friends. We chatted. Andrew was very attentive, always at my side unless filling my glass or my plate.
However I couldn’t help noticing how people – especially guys – flocked around Heidi. What was it, I wondered. She wasn't that attractive. Yes, she was blonde and slim – she’d look as good in a bikini as she did in gym gear – or indeed as she did in the dress jeans and turtleneck she was wearing at the party. She wasn't that clever either. Yes, she had some conversation but I was sure her sophistication was no more than skin deep – scratch the surface and you'd find some average girl. She hadn't even been to college. So what was it?
I stopped myself going further with that train of thought – my sister Kate would have said I was jealous of Heidi. Was I? And if I was, did I have any reason to be? After all, what was she? No more than the assistant manager at the gym, moonlighting as a lifeguard in the swimming season. She'd come from Canada for a better life. So far, I didn’t think she'd found it. She certainly had what my generous Christian sister would say was an ‘attitude’ though I'd be more honest and just call her arrogant. She was a spoilt brat who, no matter what she did, wanted to be the best.
So far as I could see that was only working for her in the sports she played – tennis and swimming as well as gymnastics and volleyball. There, perhaps she
was one of the best. It certainly wasn’t working in her career. An assistant gym manager’s job might be a stepping-stone to something bigger and better but by itself, it was just a dead end job. So far, Heidi hadn’t stepped on to anything bigger and better and so far as I could see, there wasn’t any likelihood of her doing so.
Again I stopped myself. Now my sister would have said I was just being bitchy – and she’d be right. I resolved that I would do my best to chat with Heidi. I took Andrew over to meet her. “Andrew, meet Heidi…the trainer at the gym Elena and I go to.” I smiled as I added, “She’s fierce, always pushing me more than I want to be pushed.”
“Yes,” agreed Heidi, “because, left to yourself, you’d just stay in your comfort zone.”
“Come on, I wouldn’t go to your gym if Ii didn’t want to push myself. I’d stop going if I didn’t like what you did.”
“Didn’t you tell Elena you were on the point of doing that?” she shot back.
I reddened. I hadn’t told Elena that, but I’d certainly thought it.
Heidi went on. “Becca, a word of advice, you’re too complacent.” Then she too stopped herself. “Well,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders, “I’m not here as a gym instructor tonight.” She smiled. “It’s nice to meet you Andrew.”
Andrew smiled back and we chatted for a moment. Then he glanced at our almost empty glasses. “Time for a refill, ladies.” He looked at Heidi. “What are you drinking?” Heidi told him and he went off to recharge our glasses.
After a few moments more chat, Heidi leaned forward and half whispered, “Becca, another word as your coach…your dress is lovely but don’t you think you need just a little more exercise before you’re ready to wear it? You need to lose a few inches around your hips and belly, honey. Still, you’re going to the right gym for that. We’ll have those extra pounds burned off in no time. You’ve just got to stick to the regime I set you.” She raised her voice. “Oh…thank you Andrew.”
I ground my teeth silently. The bitch had seen Andrew returning and had played me with her barbed comment, knowing I wouldn’t dare to reply with Andrew back. I fumed silently as she prattled on for a few moments. Then she stopped, put her hand to her cheek and looked at me. “Oh, I forgot to ask…did you and David have a good night out last week?”
I gulped. “Thank you. Yes, we had a coffee together, that’s all.” I turned to Andrew, whose hand had slipped from around my waist. “You know David Short. We hang out together.” Andrew nodded but he didn't cuddle me again.
Heidi went on, “Yes that’s right, he’s one of your friends.” She stressed that word and left it hang in the air for a moment before continuing “A...close...friend, I'd say.“
“Why?” I snapped. Heidi was picking me apart with her snide remarks. I tried to nestle against Andrew. He inched away.
“Oh, I don’t know,” continued Heidi. “But you called Andrew a friend before when he’s picked you up from the gym. What were your words? ‘A friend I hang out with'? Rather downplaying this lovely man, I think. If I were you,” she turned to Andrew, “I could be seriously offended.”
I couldn’t hold back any longer, “Why are you so in my face? What have I done to you?” I knew I was beet red.
“Oh dear, have I hurt your feelings?” Heidi asked, mockingly solemn. “Honey, it was meant as good clean fun. I meant nothing else by it, really. I’m so sorry if I offended you…but Becca honey, you shouldn’t be so thin skinned.” She walked away, leaving me fighting back tears.
I excused myself. I wasn’t going to cry in front of Andrew. Nor was I going to let Heidi see she’d upset me so badly. I went to the bathroom and after I washed my face, I felt a bit better though the mirror told me I was still white as a sheet. I couldn’t but think of the time at David’s party when I’d been so badly worsted in a verbal duel with Jane de Ville- and how disastrously that night had ended. I was shivering as I sought out Elena and offered to help her in the kitchen. She had seen what had happened and insisted I had a big glass of wine to steady my nerves. She found some chores to take my mind away from the disaster. II was still there preparing snacks perhaps fifteen minutes later when Andrew came in.
“I’ve tracked you down.”
“Where did you expect to find Becca?” asked Elena sharply. “You know how considerate and kind she is. You should have known she’d volunteer to help me. She knew I’d have my hands full, especially as Malcolm is seeing to the bar. Look what she’s done.” She waved her hand over some trays of food. “Now you can help her carry this food around. Go on, pick some up, go out with her and offer it around.”
I could have kissed and hugged Elena. Instead, Andrew and I carried the platters around – together. We mingled with each group we served food to for a few moments, before going on to the next. By the time we’d worked our way around the room to Heidi and the circle of guys around her, I felt much better. All Heidi said was “Thank you, Becca.”
It must have been another quarter of an hour before we finished and were back in the kitchen again. And again, Elena had a chore for us to do – together. I’d never thought stacking dishes in a dishwasher could be so romantic but I found there were endless opportunities for brushing against each other, for short conversations, for just being a couple.
At the end Andrew got me to stand up. “Elena’s right, you’re so considerate…as considerate as you are beautiful.” He eased me back against the wall and we started necking right in Elena’s kitchen. I don’t know how far we’d have gotten if Elena hadn’t come back and coughed loudly. I saw her before Andrew did – she was beaming and winked at me before getting us to carry more platters around.
I was happy again. I forgot all my fears and my fearful memories of the party at David’s house. That is, till I was about to go home. I’d stayed after most had gone. So had Andrew – he was insisting I go for a coffee with him afterwards. I knew what he wanted after the coffee. I wanted it just as much as he did.
I hadn’t seen Heidi for a while and thought she’d gone home. It turned out I was wrong. I went to get some boxes out of my car for Elena to pack some leftover food in – I promised to drop it to a local charity in the morning. Heidi was just getting into her car. She saw me, turned and stepped up till she was standing right in my face.
“So you slunk out of the house!” she spat. “You’re lucky there were lots of guys giving me lots of attention. I could have taken Andrew from you just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “Yeah that’s right, you’re scared. I intimidate you, don’t I” She prodded me in the ribs. “Yeah, you’re overweight, you drink too much…if you smoked you’d be a brunette Bridget Jones, obsessing and uptight but too weak to do anything more than read self-help books and make a token effort at the gym.”
She went to prod me again but I grabbed her hand. She yanked it away. “Oh no you don’t, Becca! I know you got beat up badly…yeah, David told me. You wouldn’t last two minutes in the ring with me. Why? Cuz you won’t listen to me! You won’t take my advice when I train you! Like I said, you’re weak.”
She pushed me in the chest. I almost fell over. By the time I regained my balance and was on my feet again, she’d driven off. I trembled and fought back tears all the way back into Elena and Malcolm’s house.
Andrew met me on the steps. “That Heidi really has it in for you!” He hugged me tightly. I nodded, too upset to speak. Clinging to Andrew’s arm, I went inside and just managed to ask Elena for another wine. She poured me one. I gulped it down and poured another. I spilt some of the wine pouring it and more when I drank it – my hands were shaking so much.
Malcolm told me I’d had too much to drink to drive home. Andrew offered to take me home – after coffee – and that he’d meet me at my house and come back to Stokie to pick up my car in the morning. He was true to his word – he did take me home after coffee – but he didn't need to meet me at my house. He stayed the night. Of course.
About two in the morning I woke up, my head still resting on Andrew's shoulder, and I thought back on the events of the last night. Andrew was right. Heidi did have it in for me, I wondered why. I also wondered why Andrew had come back into the kitchen when he did. Did he feel guilty about leaving me? Did he want sex and saw his chance with me? I almost laughed at myself. All guys want sex, and to be honest so did I – with Andrew. I’d gotten it – and I still wanted more. I kissed and nuzzled him till I woke him up, and then I got what I wanted – what we both wanted.
Before I drifted back to sleep again, I promised myself I was going back to that gym. I was going to find some dirt on Heidi and if need be, I'd fight her too.
It took me a while- some weeks in fact – to find that dirt, but each day, without fail I went back to the gym. Elena noticed the change. “Becca, you're hungry! You're determined, ” she said after a volleyball match. “Not that I'm complaining…it was your aggression that got us the win.”
Other girls like Mona and Carla Mendez noticed the difference too. They almost slunk into a corner, as if scared I'd flatten them if they got in my way. I would have too, if I'd needed to.
My sister told me I was being a bitch, that I was cruel and not the sweet vet that Andrew – and David for that matter – had liked when they first met me. That was enough to make me a little calmer, but I knew I still had an attitude.
But more than an attitude, I now had an edge. I'd discovered some of Heidi's carefully concealed secrets. It hadn't been easy. She'd buried her past quite thoroughly when she came to Chicago. But by volunteering to assist the volleyball League Registrar – a boring and tedious job – I’d been able to access the personal records of every player. So I'd found out not only where Heidi was from but also where she’d played sports in college – and, of course, which college she’d gone to.
Then I'd been resourceful – others might call it luck but I called it diligence. I'd tracked down her college records. The academic records were published in a provincial paper, and a quick examination revealed Heidi had gotten no more than a basic pass diploma. The college paper was also online and showed more than a few pictures of Heidi having a good time, partying and drinking. It also showed that Heidi had started out well in volleyball and gym – she’d gone to college on an athletics scholarship to begin with – but she dropped out of the sporting results in her senior years.
I had a theory as to why. I needed to test whether it was true.
I took my time. I had to – any premature move would betray my plan. But I could afford to wait. I had my surgery, I had Andrew – we were dating again – and I had my other interests. I noted that, for all the guys who seemed to flock round Heidi, who bought her presents and took her out, she didn't have a steady boyfriend. I dropped hints – barbed comments – suggesting to those who'd listen, that Heidi's over-competitive attitude was a mask for her empty life. I knew that the comments would get back to her, of course. I hoped the barbs would hook her. If they did, I'd reel her in.
I knew that my plan was working when Heidi began dropping her own barbed comments again in my direction. She taunted me, “Becca, you're a brunette Bridget Jones…a too-plump singleton, obsessing about your weight, reading your self-help books to improve your love life, your 'inner self'…but not doing anything practical about it.”
I laughed in her face. “On the contrary, I'm very
practically attending the gym, going to your classes. My...err...stamina…on and
off the court,” I giggled – yes it was stagey but effective, “has improved quite spectacularly…at least from what Andrew says.” The other girls around us, the ones in front of whom Heidi had just tried to embarrass me, laughed as they all took my meaning. “I guess I should thank you.” The look Heidi gave me would have curdled cream. I lowered my voice. “Oh, have I spoken out of turn? Aren't you getting any?” I gently squeezed her forearm. “I’m
so sorry.”
That was one of my better barbs, but I was taking the fight to Heidi daily. My comments were cutting deeper. I watched as she squirmed inwardly – and sometimes visibly – at my comments. I knew I was onto something, something she wanted to hide. Sometimes of course I headed in the wrong direction. When that happened and she smiled and seemed relieved, I backed off, only to start the next day when I'd thought of a new angle. Her own taunts – that I was overweight or plain – didn't affect me as they had before. And Heidi knew it.
Then she struck back, one evening after a volleyball match. Both Heidi's and our own team were victorious. I'd showered and came out of the locker room. Heidi came out too. There were a few guys around, chatting with her. I was certain I was on the right track as I sauntered towards her. “Well done Heidi. You played well.“
“You too Becca. You've really got that ‘take no prisoners’ attitude.”
“I had a good teacher. You've taught me to concentrate on the main game. Thank you.” I even gave her a little hug. “But it wasn't always like that for you, was it Heidi?”
I felt her bristle. “What do you mean?”
“Well at college, hun, weren't you a party girl? I mean, even more than now, flirting – yeah,” I giggled and waved my hand at the guys, “even more than now, you had guys drooling over you. After all, you’re drop dead gorgeous…the Canadian cutie! It's more than luck that you exercise and keep in shape. Something else you taught me. But at college weren't you too busy playing and partying, to focus on what you were really there for – selection for the national team. “
Heidi flushed. There was a sudden stillness. “Becca Buchan, you're a bitch!” she snapped. “You're a spiteful muckraker. And you're a loser! Yeah, you got your ass handed to you at David Short's party. Some blonde left you groaning on the floor .” I reddened as all those memories of how Jane de Ville had destroyed me surged back. “Not that I'm surprised, you brunette Bridget Jones. It's you who doesn't focus, who doesn't concentrate. Maybe if you'd done as I told you, you'd have won. As it was, the blonde owned you.” Heidi raised her voice. “Just like I will.”
“What?” I gulped.
“Yeah! Next week, in the ring, right here in this gym. Or are you a wimp, all talk?”
I'd come too far to back down. It would be just as humiliating as if I lost a fight. I couldn't do that, not with Andrew and all my team here. Mona and Clara would never let me forget it.
I bit my tongue, then nodded. “I'll be there.”
We agreed on a time. I walked off with Andrew, holding myself still to stop my body from shaking. The first bar we found, I ordered a bottle of white wine and I drank almost all of it. I told Andrew not to mention Heidi or the forthcoming fight, but even a second bottle couldn’t take my mind off it.
And so it proved the next week. Wherever I was, whatever I was doing, part of my mind was thinking about fighting Heidi. To say I was scared was a huge understatement. I was terrified. Heidi wrestled – her email was heidi_wrestlegirl. I fought and I liked it. Actually fighting, putting my body on the line against another woman, was a high like no other – except winning. That was an even bigger high. But losing – badly, like I'd lost to Jane de Ville – was a pit of black despair. And that, I feared, was what was in store for me against Heidi.
What was worse was Heidi had insisted the fight be in public and in bikinis. She knew how good she looked in one. At 24 she was four years younger than me. At 122 lbs and five foot six, she made me – the same height but a good ten pounds heavier – look fat, as she sneeringly reminded me when she saw me in the lobby before the fight.
I escaped to my change room to put on my sky blue bikini. Then it was time to go out. A quick peck on the cheek and a whisper of encouragement from Andrew and I was walking down the aisle.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I stepped up into the ring and stretched as if relaxing. But my eyes flickered round the ringside. I tried not to show my surprise when I saw David, his brother Adam and his brother's floozy Sara, whom I'd beaten in a pool fight. Alice Stum smirked as she caught my eye. No doubt the slut hoped she’d get to see Heidi work me over like I'd worked her – twice now. Mona and Carla and so many others who had cause to dislike me were there. Leo gave me a quizzical look. Yes, David smiled and waved. Elena gave me an encouraging wave too as she sat ringside with Malcolm and her friend Wendy, but they were just a few friends in a sea of – at best – neutral faces.
Heidi strutted down the aisle, stopping to kiss one of her admirers and to hug another. She oozed supreme confidence. Already my heart was racing, just at the sight of her. She stopped just outside the ring, undoing the white tie that held her sheer black robe together. She tossed the belt and then the robe to the crowd. Guys fought to catch them as Heidi stood in her pink bikini and black boots with a pink stripe down the outside. She'd caught her long blonde hair up in a ponytail.
I turned around, away from her, to strip off my own robe and hand it to Andrew - no dramatic unveiling for me. As he took it, I saw his eyes widen and he gave a choked cry, a split second before Heidi's fists hammered my upper back and sent me sprawling forward against the turnbuckles at the corner of the ring.
"Thanks for coming to your own funeral, bitch!" Heidi hissed in my ear. I turned around rapidly, only to have her knee pound into my stomach. I doubled up as though half winded. Heidi reached for my hair. She thought she was going to drive my face into her knee, already swinging up. But she wasn’t as smart as she was brutal. I wasn't winded – by doubling over, I’d absorbed much of the force from her knee. I surged forward, my head hammering into her stomach. She broke off her attack and stepped back, gasping. I stood up, free.
Not about to admit she'd gotten one over on me, I stepped forward with a traditional wrestling opening, leaning forward to lock up collar and elbow. I hoped Heidi might get the idea I knew more about wrestling than I truly did – or, for that matter, than I do today. She too locked up with me, but then she swung her knee up and this time succeeded in striking my gut hard. A groan escaped me as I dropped to one knee.
Heidi smirked. “Ready to give up, you nothing?”
Dimly I heard Sara cheering support for Heidi as others catcalled. I pushed them out of my mind. I had to concentrate on my foe, not on the crowd. I got to my feet.
Grinning, Heidi closed on me She gripped my hair with her right hand, pulling me up a little. She wrapped her left arm around my head, pulling it in against her side. Belatedly I realised she'd trapped me in in a headlock. Wrapping my arm around her waist I pushed hard, thrusting her back into the ropes. She let go of my head but my relief was short-lived as Heidi slammed her elbow into my back. Again I dropped to my knees.
I heard Andrew gasp, “Take the fight to her!”
Some guy answered him, “She can't! Heidi will cream her!”
Heidi seized a fistful of my hair again, yanking my head back. Then she stabbed the fingers of her other hand right into my mouth, forcing it wide open. She cackled. “Look at this! She's even uglier than before!” I resolved I'd make her pay for this humiliation – but how?
Removing her fingers from my mouth, she slammed my head into the canvas. I rolled away but only to find Heidi had anticipated this. Her booted foot crashed into my back. I groaned as she struck a victor's pose over me – and I fumed too. This blonde bitch was destroying me before the crowd. Heidi must have stood on me for a good ten seconds before she got off and rushed to the ropes. Turning, she came running back using the spring from the ropes to speed her. She leapt in the air, swinging her right leg up as if she hoped to drop it on my neck. But she missed. I wasn't where she expected. Desperately I'd thrown myself to the side. Instead Heidi's leap ended with her feet just hitting the canvas as I got to my feet.
For a moment I stood breathing hard – I needed to recover. Heidi didn't give me that chance. She attacked, trying to grapple me. I kept out of her way as long as I could, ducking, weaving, dodging and simply running away. But there's only so much room in a wrestling ring and it wasn't more than a few seconds before she caught up with me. Again we grappled. This time she bent lower. I didn't know what she was trying to do until she'd grabbed me around the waist and lifted me off my feet. I kicked my legs in despair for a few seconds till she flung me back on the mat.
I gasped but had the presence of mind to roll away when I guessed her plan. She ran back to the ropes and then, again using the spring the ropes gave her she flung her feet into the air. I'm sure she hoped to land her ass in my stomach. Instead she landed her ass hard on the mat. From her squawk of pain, she must have jarred her back.
I got up on all fours then swung an arm out, stabbing my elbow into Heidi's chest. She gasped, then again as the next blow from my elbow rammed into her stomach. “Look at her tits jiggle,” some guy jeered as my third thrust hit even harder. Heidi fell back and rolled to get away.
I didn't let her. Instead I pushed myself to my feet and stomped on her back. “Where are you running to, Heidi?” I sneered.
She groaned loudly as I stomped on her again and lay face down for a moment. I bent over and yanked at her ponytail, pulling her up to her knees and then to her feet. I rushed her across the ring and shoved her face-first into the ropes. She bounced back off them but I caught her and thrust her into the ropes again. For a moment she hung there, her body bent forward over them. I pressed her head and butt down, squashing her gut over the top rope. She groaned as I jeered again. “How do you like it, you cheating slut?”
Clearly Heidi didn’t. She struggled to get away. Pressing my hip into her ass to keep her pinned against the ropes and leaning over them myself, I hammered her shoulder with my elbow Again she groaned. I giggled “You're showing your tits, Heidi. I bet the guys are admiring them.“
Heidi grabbed the ropes in her hand and pushed up. I tried to slam my forearm against the back of her neck but instead, as she pushed up and to the side, I caught the back of my elbow on her skull. I gasped as the pain hit me. I let Heidi go as I stepped back, cradling my throbbing funny bone.
Heidi hung in the ropes for a moment as if she was pinned there. Then she stood up, turned around and came looking for me just as I began to close on her. As she caught sight of me, she stepped back into the ropes and – like she had done several times already – used the spring to give her momentum. She thrust her arm out and clotheslined me. I went down heavily.
Far too quickly, Heidi was onto me, seizing my arms and hauling me up by them. She slammed her hip into my side and let me go. I lurched out of control toward the ropes. She followed, hammering her elbow into my side. I fell into the ropes. Heidi tried to get me in a bear hug. I struggled and almost freed myself, but then she tossed me to the side. I nearly fell to the mat.
As I struggled to regain my feet, she grabbed my hair. “Getting up? I can help you with that!” I howled as she yanked on my hair and pulled me to my feet before slamming her knee into my gut again. She held onto my hair as I doubled over gasping in pain. Yanking on it, pulling me forward off-balance, she spun me around and then let go. I reeled across the ring and dropped to my knees once more.
But as Heidi closed for the kill I grabbed her swinging ponytail in one hand and pulled her forward. She stumbled, bent over. I thrust up off my knees, catching her stomach with my shoulder. I heard the breath explode out of her. I let her go and she fell heavily on her side, moaning.
The crowd was quieter now, focusing on the struggle between us. I couldn’t tell who the favourite was. I hoped it was me.
I was up before a clearly disoriented Heidi was even on her knees. I closed as she tried to get up, snagging her blonde head inside my left arm. I squeezed tightly as I yanked and jerked her head up. She groaned and dug her nails into my thigh as I stood higher, on my toes, as if trying to wrench her head off – and it wasn't just show. I wanted to hurt this bitch as she'd hurt me. That red fighting lust, the lust that made every sense keener, that made my body tingle, was pushing me on - pushing me on to destroy this pretty blonde.
I kept squeezing her neck but I couldn’t get a proper purchase around her windpipe to choke her out and her nails were shredding my thighs. I had to release my grip. I let her go and backed away, my chest heaving. Heidi clambered to her feet. Her face was red and she was breathing as hard as I was.
Needing time to think of how to deal with her, I offered her a traditional finger locking hold. We came together, knees bent, arms raised leaning into each other fingers slipped between each other’s. We tested each other's strength, each of us pushing, each with the right leg placed forward. Each of us groaned, pressing our girls and our foreheads together. We pushed, each straining, each sweating.
Then it happened, one of us weakened – and it was Heidi. Her body buckled slightly, but it was enough. I shoved my breasts onto hers harder. She stumbled. Pressing on her arms heavily and forcing her back as the crowd bayed excitedly, I dropped my head into the gap between us , pushed forward and swung my head up, crashing it into her chin with a cracking sound that I was sure would have been heard all the way in the back of the room.
Heidi groaned. She staggered back, hitting the ropes. This time she didn't bounce forward but simply sagged against them.
I closed, dropped to one knee and punched her hard in the stomach. She folded forward. I grabbed her hair and, sliding my other hand between her thighs, whipped her over my head. She landed sprawling on the mat. I leapt on her, shoved my knee into her spine and clasped my hands under her chin. “Feel this, Heidi!” I hissed.
She shrieked in pain. I pulled harder, arching her spine, bending her neck back painfully. She shrieked even louder. She was terrified I was going to destroy her now. She was right to be terrified. That’s what she would have done to me. She was judging me by her own low standards.
I decided to terrify her a bit more. I stood up, keeping a hold on her by her ponytail, and then stomped hard on her back. She convulsed and screamed. I dropped my full weight onto her back again, and again she convulsed and screamed. I jerked her head up as I resumed the camel clutch, but only with one hand this time
“Let’s give them a show!” I hissed as I undid her bikini top with my free hand and tossed it away. I milked her breast with the same hand as I yanked harder with the other, pulling her head up higher and displaying her breasts to the crowd. Heidi howled in pain and shame. She tapped out, pounding the mat with her fist.
I stood up, dropping the defeated blonde who lay gasping on the mat. Without another look at her, I sashayed back to the change room – sore and bloody, but victorious. Heidi would never cross me again. And Andrew wouldn’t look at another woman twice.
Yes, that was the right result.
This was written after chatting with the delightful Heidi_wrestlegirl who helped me a lot with ideas and descriptions of wrestling and I thank her, Elena who also appears in a cameo role and as always my long sufferering editors.
