Who: Rose Hathaway & Remy LeBeau When: Late October Where: Rose’s Gym What: Remy drops by with his job proposal. Rating/Warnings: PG13 for Language Status: Complete
Things had been quite crazy this month, what with the beginnings of his office being built, Wade turning up in town, and Sharon becoming an official crazy lady--but she was better now, and Remy was much more calm for it.
That was why he’d chosen today to swing by Rose’ gym, looking rather dapper in his pale suit, hair slicked back a little and designer sunglasses perched neatly on his nose. He’d remove them as he came into the gym and tuck them in his pocket, offering a smile to the people who stopped and stared at the idiot in the suit. He didn’t pay them any mind and headed for the ring, where he could clearly see two women having it out.
He hoped one of those women was Rose.
He’d wanted to see her knock someone down a peg or two.
Typical training for Rose was spending quite a few hours in the gym and then doing a handful of sparring sessions during the day if she got the chance. Today was luckily one of those days because one of her fellow gym-mates had asked her to spar when she got in. She went through her usual routine and warmed up before meeting her opponent in the ring. The match was well underway when Remy walked in, so Rose wasn’t able to notice him right away.
Her breathing was heavy as she kept her fists in front of her face and watched her opponent. There were bruises forming already and she could feel her legs starting to ache, but she knew the match was almost hers. The two women came together in the middle of the ring again and sent a few punches at each other before stepping back to circle around each other. Then her opponent got a good knock into Rose’s ribs, but Rose managed to recover quickly and came back with a solid kick into her ribs and sent her down. The girl was down for the count and Rose couldn’t help but smile a little as she made her way back over to her corner to grab some water and towel the sweat off her face.
“Maybe I want to revoke that promise not to have sex with you.” Came the smooth Southern drawl of the red-head, who had come to lean against the ring near her corner. “That was particularly hot.” Something about a woman who could fight.
“I was going to bring flowers... but it seemed a little counter productive.” He was smiling away, though. She looked good sweaty and bruised. Really good.
“Next time, I’ll just bring a few pitchers of beer. Make good with your friends.” Because he had a feeling friends meant a lot to Rose. And if he wanted to get in good with her? Well, he’d have to play hardball.. or step into the ring, as it were.
“I tried to warn you,” she countered with a smirk as she took a long drink of her water before moving to slip underneath the ropes and stand in front of him. The idea of him bringing her flowers inside the gym made her laugh as she wrapped the towel around her neck, “Yeah, flowers wouldn’t have been the best of ideas here. However, I would never oppose them if they were at my apartment.”
“Beer is usually a good thing. Helps dull the pain if you have a few after a practice round, not the best of ideas, but sometimes you don’t care,” Rose was more for protein shakes and an ice bath after practices, but she wouldn’t turn down a beer if Remy offered it, “So, I assume you’re here for a reason other than to watch me creepily.”
“You assume correctly. While watching you creepily is the main reason for my visit, I’m also here to harass you about your answer to my proposition.” He glanced at a man passing by, who paused to look at them as Remy said that.
“Yes, I’m propositioning her. You’ve never seen a man proposition a girl before? Move along.” He’d give a little wave of his hand with a grin, then turn his attention back to Rose once the man had grunted his displeasure and moved along, as instructed.
But don’t think for one second the guy didn’t want to break that pretty face.
“Oh my god, Remy, stop that,” Rose reached out and playfully shoved his shoulder. If he didn’t watch out he was going to get in his own fight here and she didn’t think blood was coming to come out of that suit very easily, or very cheaply, so she had to watch him.
“You just continue to prove your point that you need a protector, I get it. I’ve done some thinking about it and talked it over with my roomie. I guesssss I’ll help you out,” she commented with a wave of her hand before taking a sip of her water. Oh yes, she was making a deal with the devil, but it was probably a better deal than she would get elsewhere.
He was grinning like a maniac by the time she shoved him in the shoulder and he’d rub it in mock pain, though the grin never faded.
“You’re going to regret that-- wait. I mean, you’re not going to regret it. But then I’d be lying-- whatever. What I mean is, you’re going to have fun.” He’d give her a wink, then look around the place and finally back to her. “You can start on the day before Halloween. I’ve got a thing I need to go to.” A thing? Yes, a thing. “Do you mind working Halloween?” Oh, God, here it was-- you were going to regret it already, Rose, you’d agreed to protect a mad man.
Sometimes she couldn’t really follow his crazy thoughts, but she wondered if she would regret it. Well, no way to find out other than to do it and see what happened. She didn’t think it would be that difficult of a job because she hadn’t seen or heard about any major threats against him lately. It could be all in his head, but she would be there just in case it wasn’t.
“I think I can do that. I’ve got the Halloween party at my place on Saturday and you’ve agreed to provide the booze, so you’ll be at my place. I’m not going to consider it work though, so you better be on your best behavior,” She was thinking aloud as she tried to figure out if she could work or not. She had no issue with the working on Halloween, but she didn’t want to work during her own party, “Are you going to tell me about these things? I think you’re not allowed to keep things from me now that I’m working for you.”
“Well, the first one’s a Halloween party, it’s on Thursday, and could have illegal substances. And.. the second one is a friend’s and is on Halloween. And then I’ve got another Halloween party after that-- which requires a short plane ride. And my last party is on Saturday. Yours.” Four? Really? Four? Yes. He was Remy LeBeau!
“I’m always on my best behavior, by the way.” What a crock of shit! “And if I’m not allowed to keep things from you,” he would glance at his watch as if he had somewhere to be. “The crazy bitch might have missed my heart by two inches and deflated a lung instead of grazed me.” He was just being honest.
Right?
Her eyes went wide when he told her that he was planning on going to FOUR Halloween party. Okay, she understood that people like to party, but Remy was taking it to an extreme. If her hair was down her hands would be running through it to take care of the stress levels she could feel rising, “Four? Come on, Remy, you’re going to kill me. Especially one with a short plane ride. You’re really having me jump in with both feet first, aren’t you?”
Yeah, he was certainly a madman and she had made a deal with the devil without reading the fine print first. And then he told her about the person who had shot him and her jaw dropped in anger, “I KNEW IT! Damn it, Remy. You should have been off recovering and not running around. Is this person still out and about with an intent to kill you?”
“I’ve got faith in you, fille.” He’d tell her with a wink and an easy smile. “I don’t know, honestly. I’m hoping it was a random act of anger from an estranged housewife, but I can’t be too sure. The more I think about it, the more I think I know exactly who it was..” But he wasn’t sure he wanted to act on it. What was done was done-- the wound was healing nicely and the scar would be.. relatively small.
It angered him that she had disfigured his perfect body-- he felt like Quasimodo over here-- but he wasn’t sure it required retaliation just yet.
“Oh Remy, you’re such a pain in my ass,” she commented with a roll of her eyes as she stepped away from the corner and started to make her way to the locker rooms and knew he would follow behind her, “So, am I supposed to dress up for these parties or am I wearing just black? We should really sit down and figure all this out. I don’t know exactly what you want from me in that aspect. Like, do I need to be a shadow standing off on the outskirts or do you want me right next to you?” It wouldn’t a stretch for Remy since he was used to bringing around numerous women.
“Oh, I definitely want you within grabbing distance.” Said with a smile. “And I’ll provide your costume, so no worries. I think Playboy Bunny is on the docket for at least one of the parties.” Poor, poor Rose. What had she gotten herself into? “I’m going as Heff.” Like that explained all of it. Of course it did!
“If you want to hang back like a shadow at the Governor’s Ball on Halloween, though, I can understand that. I’ll be bringing along an employee as my plus one. I’ve got hands to shake and she’s very good at making nice.” Tessa was always good for impressing people-- his very own pet computer.
The Playboy Bunny comment earned a groan from her. He would. It was probably the most accurate costume in the history of ever for this man, “Of course. And wait, the Governor’s Ball? How in the world did you swing that?” She hadn’t lived in California for every long, but that seemed like a hard thing to get into. Remy was never short of surprises and she stopped outside the locker room to raise her eyebrows at him, “I’m going to take a quick shower and change because I’m gross. Are you going to be here when I get back? It’ll be like 5 minutes at the most.”
“I know a guy.” He always knew a guy. “The Governor and I are actually already acquainted. We go back a few years. I mentioned I might be interested in sticking my nose into politics and he invited me to the party so he could show me off a little, do some glad-handing.” He shrugged with a smile.
Good Lord, he was going to get into politics?
Poor Rose.
“Yeah, sure, go on. Take longer than five minutes-- I’ll enjoy the scenery.” He’d glance behind him at two girls walking by and give them a charming smile. Understandably, they smiled back eagerly.
Her face fell into a look of annoyance when he mentioned getting into politics. That was not a good move for him or for her. She couldn’t believe he would actually do that, but then again Remy was really ADD so he just flitted to the next thing. She let out a sigh and shook her head, “Oh Remy….. alright, I’ll be right back.”
She wouldn’t take longer than five minutes because she had enough practice doing this after workout ritual. She was walking back out of the locker room about four minutes and fifty seconds later with her wet hair in a braid, new yoga capris, and a tank top. Her gym bag was tossed over her shoulder and she made her way over to him.
Predictably, he was playing with his phone by then. Work? No. Tetris. He couldn’t help himself, he was addicted.
But he looked up with a smile when she came out and would pocket the phone and offer his arm out to her. “Can I walk you to your car?” He knew she likely had to get home, and he had to get back to work.
No rest for the wicked.
“I guess so,” she teased him as she slipped her arm into his, “So, did my performance in the ring pass the test? You still need to get into the ring with me some day. But now that you’ve finally told me the truth about it won’t be happening until I make sure you’re cleared by a doctor.” She was not letting him risk his health in some stupid attempt to impress her or something. She would not be held responsible for that.
“It definitely passed the test.” He would say with a smile, setting his free hand atop hers, as she held onto his arm. “I’m suitably impressed by your skills and your complete and utter ability to scare the shit out of people just by looking at them.” He’d flash her a winning smile before pulling open the door for her and allowing her to pass through first.
“I hope to be cleared in the next month for any.. strenuous activities. It’s been difficult, having to deny myself some of my favorite hobbies.” Sex.
Rose could sense what he meant by his favorite hobby and resisted the urge to roll her eyes, “Well, I’m glad that you find me acceptable now. I really didn’t want you to give me this job just because without seeing that I can actually back it up. And don’t worry, I’ve got a great bitch face that will scare people. So, do we need to sign contracts and things like that? We should sit down and hash out what this job fully entails. And I also have absolutely no idea where you live.”
Oh yes, Rose was making sure she had all her bases covered when it came to this job. He wasn’t going to get the best of her and she was going to make sure she did things properly. Random 2am phone calls would probably not be acceptable and she wanted to make sure he knew that.
Was she going to put that in her contract? Really? “Nah, we can do that tomorrow.” He’d walk her out and pause at his car, leaning in to grab a folder, then turn and hold it out to her. “Take it home. Look it over. Get back with me if you have any questions or objections.” The contract. “And if you like what you see, you can sign it tomorrow at my office and it’ll be official.”
And it was just that easy, Rose. He was just that easy.
But then, she knew that.
She took the folder and gave him a nod, resisting the urge to check the contents right now. What he said made sense and she would definitely be going over everything tonight, “Sounds good to me. Thanks for coming out here and surprising me with this. I appreciate it. What time do you want me to swing by your office tomorrow?”
“I’ll be there from nine to noon or so.” Wouldn’t it be nice to work those hours? “But if you need to come by later, I can always drop by between my other stops.” Meetings, lunches, bringing cakes to people. You know, the usual things that C.E.O.s did. “You’ve got my number, you can text me to let me know when you’ll be by, and I’ll make sure I’m there, how about that?” So flexible.
Just hope he’d be that flexible as a boss, Rose.
“Sounds good to me. I’ll try to make it in those times. Can’t guarantee how well I’ll be moving in the morning, but I’ll try to be there,” she flashed him a smile in hopes that he understood, “Alright, thanks again and I’ll see you tomorrow, Remy.” She leaned over to kiss him gently on the cheek and then started to walk over to her car which wasn’t parked too far away from his.
There was just something about getting kissed on the cheek by a beautiful woman that was so satisfying-- and completely in a non-sexual way. It was like a reward for a job well done and it made him smile like the sun, watching her climb into her car, like any good man might watch a woman just to make sure she was safe. Once she was in and pulling out, he’d give her a wave, then climb into his own and head home.