Icarus

ready to talk about. 'So, yeah, I guess, at the same time.'

'I didn't know you were such a stud.'

'It's not always by choice. But for the moment it's what I've got instead of…' Kid stopped, bit off his words, and turned his head away from Jack.

Jack took a deep breath, then finished the sentence. 'It's what you've got instead of a wife and a home, instead of a family.'

Their eyes met now. And Kid nodded.

'It's what you've got instead of what I had,' Jack finished.

'I'm sorry,' Kid said.

'I think these weights are too light' was all Jack said in response. 'Next time let's move up to five pounds.'

– '-'-'TWO DAYS LATER, Kid's cell phone rang again in the middle of the workout.

'I won't answer it. She can wait,' he said.

'How do you know it's a she?'

'It's always a she.'

'Kid, I'm now officially intrigued.'

'With my love life?'

Jack nodded. 'Who's on this… this team?'

'I feel funny talking about this to you.'

'Consider it part of the therapy,' Jack told him. 'I've been thinking about it. It might be good to hear about what's going on in the real world.'

Kid held back the smile. But his eyes gloated. 'You're paying me to be your physical trainer,' he said, 'not your psychiatrist.'

Jack gave a grudging smile back. 'Sometimes they go hand in hand,' he said.

Kid hesitated, then said, 'Okay. But it did start as a kind of goof. One day I realized I was seeing a lot of women. Four, five, six of them. And individually they were okay but when you put them all together, took the best of what each one had to offer, well, they made a kind of perfect woman. It was like a baseball team, you know. You don't need a real star as long as you've got a real team.'

'So what's the lineup?'

'It's fluid. And you gotta be flexible. Like I said, you can't just go out with the MVP's all the time.'

'That's very magnanimous of you.'

'Just being practical. You gotta go with your occasional gritty veterans, a designated hitter or two, the franchise player…'

'And the Entertainer? She a franchise player?'

Kid shook his head. 'Short relief. My closer.'

'You're unbelievable. What's her name?'

'No names, Jack. Trainer's code.'

'What are you talking about?'

'For real. I'm telling you personal stuff about her, maybe about some of the others. I mean, I know you won't go gossiping or talking about this, but you never know, you might meet one of them someday and I wouldn't want to embarrass her.'

'That's very gentlemanly.'

'Good for business, too. It won't help me get work if people know I'm out spilling my guts about them to all my clients. I'll tell you about them, but it's all nicknames – the Entertainer, the Mortician, Samsonite, the Rookie…'

'Very descriptive.'

'There's some logic behind it,' Kid admitted. 'I'm pretty careful about my nicknames. I pick 'em for a reason. The Rookie'll change – that's just until I know more about her, until I can really peg her.'

'Are all these women clients?'

'Most of them, yeah.'

'That's how you meet them?'

'Mostly. Sometimes at clubs, after-hours places. Bars. I met the Rookie at an after-hours club, then saw her again in an art gallery. Sometimes I meet 'em just walking down the street.' He grinned. 'What can I say? Women like me.'

'Keep going.'

'Gimme fifteen leg lifts and we'll gab.'

Jack began to strain, sitting on the Universal leg-lift machine. As the small stack of weights slowly began to rise and fall, Kid began to elaborate.

'So there's the Entertainer, you know about her.'

'I don't know anything about her.'

'What do you want to know?'

'Something. What does she do?'

'She's a dancer.'

'A few more details, please.'

Kid thought for a moment. 'Okay. She's got a great body, she chews with her mouth open sometimes, which drives me a little crazy, she surprises you sometimes with how smart she is, and she's a little bit sad.'

'Why sad?'

'Because she has to live a secret life.' When he saw Jack's look of confusion, he went on. 'She's got things she can't tell anybody.'

'Not even herself.'

It wasn't a question and Kid nodded, pleased that Jack understood so quickly. 'Especially herself.'

'That is sad,' Jack said.

'The saddest thing there is,' Kid said, and Jack was suddenly surprised to realize that this wasn't really part of the conversation, that this was, in part, Kid talking directly to Kid. Then his eyes focused back on Jack and he put another two-pound weight on the machine. 'But, hey,' he said, 'that's what makes her an interesting closer. Great stuff – but she's too damn wild to depend on.'

– '-'-'SEVERAL MORE WEEKS passed and Jack's body was aching all the time now. But it was an ache that excited him. He could feel his body responding, getting stronger. It seemed as if strength was surging back into him almost on a daily basis. It made him work harder, force his body to absorb more punishment. It made him realize the possibilities and hunger for more of what he was just beginning to taste.

It was in the middle of one particularly grueling session, perhaps the biggest push he'd made yet, that Mattie wandered into the workout room.

'I'm sorry to interrupt,' she said, 'but I'm off to the store. Is there anything special you want me to get?' she asked Jack. His only response was a weak wave of the hand, grateful that she'd rescued him, giving him a few seconds respite from the torture Kid was putting him through.

'Mattie,' Kid said. 'How is it you haven't aged a day since I first met you?'

'Stop messing with me,' she said, but she grinned as she said it. She could not get angry at Kid. She had told Jack several times how glad she was that he was back. How much livelier the apartment had seemed since he'd returned.

'And you've gotten even more beautiful,' Kid told her. 'What's the secret? A pact with the devil?'

'I'll give you the devil,' she said, but her grin grew even wider. 'This is your last chance to tell me what you want.'

'Whatever you get is fine with me,' Jack told her.

She turned to Kid and said sternly, 'And you don't deserve anything special' – she wagged her finger at him now – 'but I'll think about buying you something too if you tell me what you like. No promises now, but I'll think on it.'

'A weekend with you on a romantic island, that's all I want.'

Mattie swatted at him with her hand. 'You are bad,' she said, but she had an extra little skip in her step as she headed toward the front door.

'She likes you,' Jack said when Mattie was gone.