The Plot Sickens

[melissa]

Episode 12

Gory Thrush

Pinky was blissfully happy. She couldn’t stop singing in the shower, putting orange juice on her Weet-Bix (by mistake, of course) or the kettle in the fridge. Her mother kept telling her to stop daydreaming or she’d end up microwaving the cat. But she just couldn’t help it. She was in love!
She would never admit it to Travis. It was far too soon. But as was her habit, when she fell, she fell in deep. She couldn’t wait to see him at training today. It was going to be a hot one. She laid out her best sundress on the bed before hopping into the shower. While soaping up her hair, she thought about how he looked in his black shorts, shining with sweat as he went about his drills, handballing and kicking, flying to take a mark, and tackling. She thought she wouldn’t mind if he caught her in a tackle! Then imagined working down those shorts… She grinned. Maybe he’ll kiss me today. I wonder why he hasn’t? He’s been such a gentleman, holding my hand, taking me to the movies… but I want smoochies! It had been nearly three weeks. Was he slow, or timid… or gay?
Pinky didn’t want to ponder on that one. She stepped out of the shower, dried herself off and got dressed. Once she had tidied up her new short hairdo, she picked up her old mood ring from the bathroom bench. For the first time in five years, she didn’t feel anything – no otherwordly force, no spirit watching over her, nothing! Pinky wiped the green stone with a tissue, hoping that it would work once it was clean. But again, nothing. It was as if Gran had sensed she was happy; that she didn’t need her grandmother looking out for her anymore. Maybe Gran had passed on to a better place? Maybe she got herself some action and was too busy to talk to her anymore? She wished her grandmother were here in person. She would have loved Travis. Nice, decent boy. Old-fashioned values, she would have said.
No, she wouldn’t, Pinky told herself. Have you completely forgotten what she was like? She would be asking if he’s slipped me the salami yet! Gran was a bit of a naughty old girl in her time. Actually, she wallowed in sin until the day she died, but Pinky preferred to remember her as the Gran she wished she had.
‘Lisa! Jen’s here!’
Pinky ran over to her strappy sandals and pulled them on. Finally, she grabbed a bottle of perfume from the nightstand and sprayed it in front of her, then walked through the mist like she’d seen someone do on TV.
She tried not to run downstairs. Taking them one at a time, she managed to look poised and not too eager to get to training!
Jen was waiting down by the front door. ‘Wow, aren’t you prissied up’, she said. ‘What’s the go?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Where’s he taking you today, in order to not kiss you? This is insane, Lise. What’s wrong with the man? No, seriously. If he doesn’t kiss you today, with you looking like that, you should ask him what the deal is’.
Pinky frowned. ‘I had wondered about that. I really wish he would! You don’t know what it’s like. Total torture! He’s there, and he’s gorgeous, and he’s… I don’t know. Do you think he’s just shy?’
Jen shrugged. ‘I have no idea. You should ask him, though. Get it out in the open. He might surprise you’.
‘Yeah’, Pinky decided. ‘I think I will’. She took a second to check her reflection in the gilt-edged mirror over the phone table. Ran her hand through her hair to mess it up, just a little. She didn’t want to look too polished.
‘Lise?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Where’s your ring?’
‘Oh… Um… I don’t think it works anymore’. Pinky looked down at the pinky finger on her left hand. It looked bare, somehow.
Jen stared at her friend. ‘What do you mean, it doesn’t work anymore?’
‘Well, I picked it up after my shower, and usually, it’s kind of heavy, like it’s carrying her spirit or something. And I can feel her presence, you know? But today, it was light. Like she just wasn’t there anymore’.
‘Gran’s passed on, hey?’ Jen said, sympathetically. ‘I mean, in the ethereal sense’.
‘What’s ethereal mean?’
‘Forget it. Come on’.

At training, Travis gave Pinky a wave as he jogged past, shirtless in the warm sun. Jen had to admit, her friend had a good thing going. If he didn’t kiss me, she thought, I’d be getting pretty antsy, too!
She strolled along the boundary, her trademark sunnies a part of her face as usual, as she looked for Heath. She couldn’t get his crooked grin out of her mind. He was nowhere in sight. Bugger. Probably in the gym or something. She went back and sat beside Pinky. Her friend looked worried. In fact, she looked downright anxious.
‘What’s the matter?’ Jen asked her.
‘Nicole and Lindsay just walked past. They looked at me and sniggered. What if they know something I don’t know?’
‘They’re just being cows again. Don’t worry about them. If Nicole had a brain she’d be dangerous’.
‘What if they know why Travis hasn’t kissed me? What if he told Jason and Cameron, and they told their girlfriends, and…’
‘Pinky! Look at me! Don’t stress! Guys just don’t talk like that to each other. Trust me. If he hasn’t kissed you there is no way he’s telling any other guy, let alone those two’.
‘You think?’
‘Absolutely’.

Travis stopped for a breath beside Tex Walker and Brent Hall. ‘Hey, Hallsy… Can I talk to you for a minute?’
‘Yeah, ‘course, mate’
They both looked at Tex, and Tex slowly got the message. ‘Oh, sorry! I’ll… see you guys later’.
When Tex had buggered off, Travis bit his lip and wondered how to ask the unaskable question. Hallsy looked at him. ‘What’s up, mate?’
‘Well, I’m seeing this chick, and I’ve heard you had… well, I’ve heard you two have a history. I just want to know… Actually, I’m not really sure I want to know, I just kind of have to know… what went on’.
Hallsy had waited patiently until Travis stopped babbling. He looked him square in the eye. ‘So, who is she, and I’ll tell you if it’s true’.
‘Lisa Petty’
Hallsy then did something Travis didn’t expect. He laughed. Threw back his head and laughed! That can’t be good, Trav thought.
‘What?’ he asked Hallsy. ‘What’s so funny?’
‘Well… let me put it this way. We had a nickname for that girl. When I…’ he looked up at Travis and thought he’d better give the poor chap the clean version. ‘When we were… together, Lisa and I, she gave me a dose of something I won’t be forgetting in a hurry. I don’t think she gave the matter of condoms much thought. At least not back then. I didn’t have one, she didn’t have one, and it just kind of… happened’.
‘So… what did she give you a dose of?’ Trav wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.
‘Doc says it was the Clap. Cleared up now, though’.
‘And you’re sure you got it from her?’
‘Mate, I don’t exactly have ‘em lining up like Daisy or Taz. I take what I can get’.
‘Okay, yeah. Thanks mate’. Trav wandered off by himself to think. His face was an unhealthy shade of grey.

Dids was running alongside Ben Johnson and Shane O’Bree. Jade liked the way he looked in his shorts, his thin t-shirt hugging his shoulders and chest. She wondered if he’d sorted things out with his girlfriend. She kind of hoped not. Standing with her hand over her eyes, admiring Dids from afar, she didn’t notice Emily come up beside her until she felt an elbow in the ribs.
‘Ouch!’
Em laughed. ‘Sorry, but weren’t you meant to meet me after training the other day? I looked for your car and you were gone’.
‘Oh no! Oh, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you why I forgot’.
‘Try me’.
‘I gave Alan Didak a lift to the pub. I swear, I thought he was almost going to ask me in for a drink. He was telling me his woes about his girlfriend. They were having a fight in the carpark when I got there’.
‘You came to pick me up and left without me? Okay, Dids is a good excuse! Is he nice? I’ve never actually spoken to him’.
‘Yeah, he’s okay. How cute is he, though?! What kind of girl has a guy like that and flirts with someone else?’
Em looked at her friend carefully. ‘Jade… you don’t have feelings for the guy, do you?’
‘No! No, of course not. I mean, he’s gorgeous, but… no’.
‘Speaking of gorgeous’, Em said, as Dale walked over and grabbed her around the waist, planting a lusty kiss on her. Jade wished she had someone who would do that in front of all his mates. Em laughed and stared up at her new boyfriend, adoringly.
‘Hi Jade’, Dale said, as if he’d just noticed she was there. Yeah, thanks Daisy, she thought. I’m invisible as usual.
‘Hi, Daise’. She said, gazing at Dids as he passed her again, and almost falling backwards in shock when he saw her and waved.
‘Nah, you don’t have feelings for him at all’, Em teased.

Come to think of it, Dids was feeling a bit odd that morning, too. Woke up beside his girlfriend and found himself thinking of another. Again and again Jade’s face kept coming back into focus behind his eyes. He didn’t know why. He supposed she was pretty cute, and he wouldn’t kick her out of bed, but he had Cassie. In his mind there should be no contest. He went to training, and like a Kylie Minogue song, he just couldn’t get Jade out of his head. And there she was. Maybe I’m developing psychic powers, he thought. I knew I was going to see her today, and here she is. Nope. Don’t think so. Oh, shit. This is the last thing I need!

Wondering when she was going to see Heath again, Jen turned from the bar in the member’s lounge and ran straight into him! Luckily she hadn’t bought a drink in a glass or it would have been all over her fresh white t-shirt. Or all over his, and he’d have to take it off, she thought.
Aloud, she said, ‘Oh, sorry! Hi, by the way’.
That crooked grin again. She longed to kiss it off his face!
‘Hi. How’s the old bomb?’ he asked.
‘Still battling on. And she’s not a bomb – she’s in pretty good nick for her age’.
He took a swig of his water. ‘Whatever you say. How old is… she, anyway?’
‘She’s a 1987 Dihatsu Charade, thank you very much! So, she’d be younger than you’.
‘Not by much, though’.
‘She doesn’t look that bad, does she?’
He shrugged. ‘No. Not if you don’t count the dints I noticed in her back bumper. And the rust around the back near the licence plate’.
‘You took a good look at her rear end’, Jen teased.
‘You jealous? Turn around and I’ll check out your rear end’ he joked.
Jen blushed. ‘You’re not a ass man, are you? That’s so Homer Simpson’.
Heath looked her right in the eyes. ‘D’oh!’

Will Travis get over Pinky’s past?
Will Heath get over his butt fetish?
Will Dids get Jade out of his head?

Tune in next episode, when you’ll hear Pinky say “Kiss me, you freak!”

[luvlicca]

ohhhhhhhhh, next episode please!!!!!

[yadie05]

geez these episodes keep on getting better, heath u tease nice way to bag her car to make her feel better!!!! We want MORE

[leelee]

ok ok where was i in this episode? huh? huh? huh? everyone else got a mention except lil 'ol leelee

[bellastar]

hey, i didn't get a mention either, leelee!

by the way, great episode, as per usual!

[luvlicca]

yes it was a great episode!!!!!

[melissa]

Thanks guys, sorry, Leelee... i think you're in either the next one or the one after that... i wrote 2 the other night cos i got on a roll...

Episode 13

Fingercuffs…

Travis jogged over to Pinky after training. ‘We need to talk’, he said. Pinky’s heart sank. From the look on his face this couldn’t be good. Was he dumping her? Actually, it was kind of hard to dump someone you’re not technically even going out with. Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure what the status of the relationship was.
They walked for a while, not really saying much but wondering what the other was thinking. Neither of them were very anxious to start the conversation. They found a nice spot under a shady tree and sat down.
‘Travis, do you like me?’ Pinky blurted out. ‘Because we’ve gone out… I don’t know, three or four times, and you’ve never even kissed me! Do I have bad breath, or something?’
‘No. You don’t. I just… wanted to clear something up first’. He looked as though what he was about to say was going to be hard for her to hear.
‘Go on’. Pinky had an idea she knew what it was. Not for the first time she wished she could just erase the past two years of her life. Just cancel them out. She’d done a lot of things she wasn’t proud of, and she had a feeling she was about to suffer the consequences.
‘Did you give Brent Hall an STD?’
There it was. Out in the harsh light of day. Ugly and honest. Travis felt like an a***hole for having to ask the question. She looked stunned. ‘He told you that?’
‘Yes’.
She took a moment to regain her composure. ‘Well, if he says I slept with him, it’s unfortunately true. But he also slept with a few other people I know about, and I’ve never had an STD, so if he got it, he didn’t get it from me’.
She had looked him right in the eye as she had said that. She’s either a really good liar, Travis thought, or she had the Clap and didn’t know it. Except that he wasn’t sure if that was possible.
‘He said that you guys didn’t use a condom and that he doesn’t get a lot of action, so he was sure it had to be you that gave it to him’. Travis explained.
Pinky fumed. ‘I can’t believe that guy! He had two ferals all over him at last year’s Black and White Ball! And they didn’t give it to him, I did?! Travis, I regret sleeping with him. I really do. It’s one of the dumbest things I ever did, but I didn’t give him anything. I’ve always used protection’.
‘He says you didn’t back then’.
‘And he would know? He’s the only time, I swear. And only because I was drunk and I had just broke up with a boyfriend. I’m not expecting you to believe me. Just give me the benefit of a doubt’.
She seemed on the verge of tears. ‘And to think all I was worried about was that I might be pregnant! He’s got a nerve! Creep!’
Travis didn’t know what to say. Even worse, he didn’t know whom to believe. Both his brothers and Hallsy had told him this girl had a past. Warned him about her. But his heart – and other parts of him we won’t get into – wanted to believe her.
It seemed he had taken too long to let her know what he was thinking, because she got up and started to walk off, wiping her eyes as she went.
Travis realised in that moment that he didn’t want to lose her. He got up and jogged after her. ‘Lisa! Lisa, wait’, he called. But she wouldn’t turn around. In fact, she seemed to be going faster. He broke into a sprint. An old lady walking past mistook him for a mugger or something, because she took a swing at Travis with her handbag. Well trained in dodging bumps from the opposition, he dodged the missile and kept going. ‘Wait! I believe you! I believe you!’ He shouted.
She stopped in her tracks. Seconds from running out in front of a tram. She turned and looked at him, running toward her, instead of away from her as she imagined. She started walking toward him. When he got to her she said, ‘You really believe me?’
‘Yes. I do’, he said, in between panting for air. ‘I don’t know why I ever doubted you’.
‘So, kiss me you freak, and prove it’.
He bent almost double and pulled her up into his arms. She wound her arms around his neck and their lips met. Barely aware her feet had left the ground, they stood pashing in the middle of the CBD, with people around them clapping and whistling.
It was the best kiss Lisa had ever had. When he finally put her down, she still felt like she was walking on Cloud Nine.

Strauchnie was looking like a bit of a wreck. After he had wreaked his vengeance upon the folk of Collingwood, he became a degenerate party-animal head-banger, and had spent a lot of money on grog and prostitutes. His mates lay about his cramped flat in various states of debauchery; one of them falling asleep beside the toilet bowl. Strauchnie had had to pull him out of there by the feet in order to have a piss in the morning. Still, he didn’t wake up, which wasn’t that alarming. Lucky Phil was often paralytic, passed out on someone’s bathroom floor.
Strauchnie poured himself some Hair-of-the-Dog-that-Bit-Him, and wandered into the living area. It wasn’t even a room, as such, just an extension of the kitchen. He planted his sizeable butt on the sagging couch and raised a glass to the framed portrait of Gough Whitlam on the wall over the telly.
‘You and me, Gough-y’, he said. ‘We were both dumped by our Party, but we will stand strong and true. And come back, and kick their lousy backsides. Cheers, mate’. He took a swallow and spat it back out. ‘Guys! Did someone piss in this?! It tastes like crap!’
There was a knock on the door. ‘I’ll get it’, Strauchnie called out, needlessly because his mates were all out to it on the floor. He tiptoed over ashtrays, newspapers and a bowl of nachos that had gone stone cold and stale, after last night’s party. Looking through the peephole, he saw a couple of very well-dressed individuals with clipboards. Hey, he thought. Maybe I’ve won the Reader’s Digest Sweepstakes or something! He opened the door and was dazzled, both by the morning sun and the smiles of the two young men in front of him in black suits.
‘Yeah?’ He asked, shielding his eyes with his arm. ‘What do yous want?’
After looking at what can only be described as a human version of Barney Gumble from the Simpsons, and reeling from the stench that greeted them when “Barney” opened the door, the taller of the two men introduced themselves.
‘We’re here to talk to you about the Lord. The Lord loves you, and wants to help you become a better person’, he told Strauchnie.
‘Oh yeah?’ Strauchnie asked, intrigued. ‘How?’
‘Well, if we could come inside and have a chat, you’ll find out all about our way of life, and how you could be on the path to a much brighter future’. The shorter one looked at Strauchnie’s stained Bonds undershirt with distaste. ‘We can also help in the wardrobe department. A vital part of feeling better about yourself is looking better’.
Strauchnie eyed these two with more than a smidge of paranoia. ‘And why would you do this for me? You’re not from that crappy Australian version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, are you?’
‘No, sir. We most definitely are not gay. We frown upon homosexuality as unnatural. We are Mormons. Have you read the Bible at all?’
‘The Bible! Of course I’ve read the Bible!’ Strauchnie laughed. He walked over to his bookshelf –which only had one row of books in it – and picked out a title. He held it out to the Mormons.
‘Bound for Glory – by Tony Shaw?!’ the shorter one said, puzzled. ‘But this isn’t the Bible!’
‘It is to me’, Strauchnie said, proudly.
‘Our Bible is much, much older than this… publication’, the tall one said. Strauchnie knew they had told him their names but couldn’t remember them for the life of him.
‘Is it? Wow, cos this was published way back in 1991’. Strauchnie said, lovingly. He took the book back from the fellow in the suit, and held it reverently in his hands. ‘The halcyon days of the Pies! The end of the Collywobbles! The…’
‘Excuse me, Sir, but we’re not football people. We are Church people. We have come to talk to you about your life, and how you feel about the way it’s going’.
‘Oh hey, are Mormons those blokes who are allowed to marry more than one chick at a time?’ Strauchnie asked.
‘Well… it is a part of our doctrine, yes, but it’s a very old law…’ the shorter one tried to explain.
‘I think I’ll give this religion thing a burl’. Said Strauchnie. ‘When do we start?’
‘Well… Sundays, usually’, the taller one said. He handed Strauchnie a card. ‘This has the address of our church. We really hope to see you there. And you might want to dress…. In your best’.

Jen smiled when she saw her best friend arm-in-arm with Travis, walking back down the street to the Lexus Centre. She waved to them, but they didn’t notice, all they could see was each other. It was a wonder they didn’t walk into fire hydrants, and sandwich boards in front of cafes, she thought, amused. But it was sweet to see her friend so happy again.
She found herself in a pretty good mood after training that day. She had watched Heath run through his drills, in a tank top and shorts. He’d been working on his arms at the gym, because they seemed more toned than usual. Emily had said the boys had a new dietician whose chief aim in life, according to Dale at least, was to make them pump iron until their brains leaked out their ears, and eat rabbit food. And do lots and lots of running. The only good thing about this new system, he had said, was that he got to eat a lot of red meat for protein. Carbs were out, though. Well, the heavy carbs like potatoes and white bread. Jen thought she couldn’t exist without potatoes. Especially the crispy, salt and vinegar kind!
But the perving itself hadn’t made her happy. It was the conversation they’d had after, when he’d bumped into her (yet again) coming out of the merchandise shop with three new badges and the current poster.
He spotted the poster and asked her if she wanted it signed.
‘Yeah, that’d be great, thanks’, she said. ‘How was training?’
‘Hard. Mick’s really pushing us these days. And the new dietician…’ he shook his head ‘I reckon she is a reincarnation of one of those Nazi Death Camp soldiers! She knows how to torture people, that’s for sure’. He handed her poster and pen back, and she thanked him, smiling at the mental image of the boys being “tortured”.
‘What’s the smile about?’ He asked, grinning. ‘Do you get off on torture?’
‘Sometimes. When it involves a bunch of guys running around in short shorts’, she said, playfully. He laughed. ‘Well, of course, you would say that. You don’t see behind the scenes, when she really gets the whip out’.
‘Oh, you poor boys’, Jen said, patting him on the shoulder in mock sympathy.
He shook his head, laughing. ‘You try eating watercress and sun-dried tomatoes! It’s disgusting! My stomach’s crying out for a hamburger’.
‘Aren’t you allowed to eat meat?’
‘Yeah; but not the stuff that usually goes with it. Fried eggs, bacon… stuff like that. Not that we overindulged in the stuff before her reign of terror, but… it was nice to have the option’.
Jen nodded. ‘Yeah. It’s good to be able to eat whatever you want, whenever you want. And not have to go to the gym. Unless you want to’.
‘Rub it in, why don’t you! But you look pretty good for someone who doesn’t go to the gym’.
Jen was unprepared for the offhand compliment. She blushed and mumbled, ‘Thanks’. Couldn’t meet his eyes, although she really wanted to! ‘I do, a couple of times a week. I just don’t take it that seriously, is all’.
‘That’s good’, he said. ‘I like a girl with meat on her bones’. His direct stare seemed to bore through to her brain, seeking out her most private thoughts. She felt another blush coming on.
‘Um… it was really nice talking to you… again. I’ve got to go’. She turned and high-tailed it out of there. Her heart was pounding against her rib cage with what seemed like the force of a jackhammer. She got around the corner and leaned against a No Parking sign, and struggled to catch her breath. He was flirting with me, she thought. Was I imagining it? I don’t think so! She hoped she didn’t make an idiot of herself, dashing off like that. She just wasn’t real good at accepting compliments. Especially not from him! The person she least expected to give her the time of day, except as a supporter.
She stood on the footpath half an hour later, waiting for Lisa to acknowledge her existence. Dying to tell her about running into Heath. But Lisa almost passed her by, her arm around Travis’s waist, hip to hip and still staring up into his eyes.
‘Lise! Lisa!’ Jen almost had to resort to whistling to get her friend’s attention.
‘Oh, hi, Jen! Sorry! Trav, I have to go… I’ll see you tomorrow?’
He leaned down and kissed her passionately. Jen’s jaw dropped. Just yesterday Lisa had been complaining that he never kissed her, now they’re sucking-face at every opportunity? Wow, she thought. Whatever she said to him, I’d like the script! She imagined Heath’s lips on hers and felt her cheeks burn. Nah. He’d never… Would he?

Dids looked at his watch. Aah, shit, he was late to meet Cassie again. He’d never hear the end of it! He grabbed his gym bag and headed out the door, careening straight into Jade, knocking her to the floor!
‘Oh, sorry! Are you all right?’ He helped her up.
‘Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t think I’ve broken anything’, she joked. He held her hand a little longer than was necessary, but she didn’t pull away.
‘Oh, Good! Well, it was nice seeing you. And, sorry, again!’ He let go of her hand, almost reluctantly. ‘Gotta go meet the other half’. Jade thought he didn’t seem too thrilled at the prospect. But maybe that was just wishful thinking. He waved and took off, as if he had a bus to catch. She watched him go. She discovered she liked to watch him go. He had a nice rear view! What is the matter with me? She thought. He’s taken! It was really weird. Usually, once she’d found out a guy had a girlfriend or wife, she lost interest in him. But this one was different. She just couldn’t stop thinking about him! She tried to stop. She wasn’t the type that broke up relationships. She was a nice person. Caring. Sensible. She just didn’t go after men who were otherwise involved. Wouldn’t have dreamed of it. Until now.

Coming up on The Plot Sickens…

Jen takes a look behind door Number One
Strauchnie is Born Again;
And the new dietician sees something she likes!

[bellastar]

strauchanie as a born-again Mormon!? Brilliant!!!

get cracking on some more!

[yadie05]

fantastic again cant wait for more more more!!!!!

[luvlicca]

yes yes yes.... more more more...

[leelee]

i missed out yet again! where's al;l the hot steamy action gonge?

[luvlicca]

its coming back slowly i reckon....

[luvlicca]

now your online melissa, i tink we would like the next episode please!!!

[melissa]

Episode 14

Born Again

Yasmine was in the gym one morning, making use of the facilities while she waited on Dane Swan and Sean Rusling to arrive. She’d taken it upon herself to observe the players’ workouts, if for no other reason than to watch sweaty young men lift weights. She figured she was in one of the best jobs in the world; she may as well take advantage of the perve factor. She sat down at the pec-deck and started pressing the pads together with her forearms, keeping an eye on the door.
Just as she’d reached the end of her second set of repetitions, Scott Pendlebury walked in. He was by himself. He walked over to the barbell, did a set of stretches on his shoulders and back, and shrugged off his track top. He was a touch skinny as far as she was concerned, but still rather nice to look at. Around the right age, too. Yasmine was in her early thirties and preferred men at least ten years younger. This one was stretching her boundaries, but what the hell. She found that what they lacked in experience they made up for in enthusiasm. And endurance.
She stuck out her chest a little more and pushed the pads together, turning her head so she could watch Scott – or Pendles as his team-mates seemed to call him – while she worked. He was adding more weight to the bar, which had to have at least fifteen or twenty kilos on there already. She smiled, and finished her reps.
‘Isn’t there a rule that when you lift more than twenty kilos you should have someone to spot you?’ She asked him. ‘If there isn’t, there should be’.
He looked up at her. She stood behind his head, with her hands on the bar so he couldn’t lift. ‘Oh, hi. I don’t know… never heard of that rule’.
‘Well, I’ve just made it. So come on, start lifting’.
Pendles thought she was the bossiest woman he’d ever met, outside of his own mother. But that was cool. He liked older women. And this one had a great rack.
He obeyed, straining to lift the bar, but she seemed to be applying some pressure to it. He dropped it back down on the stirrups and sat up to face her. ‘I can’t lift it, you’re holding it down’, he protested.
Like I’d like to hold you down, she thought but didn’t say. ‘Yes, I am. Just trying to get a rise out of you. Sorry. I’ll let you lift it. Go ahead’.
He laid back down and this time the bar rose fairly easy. She held her hands under it lightly so that if he dropped it he wouldn’t break his nose or drop it on his windpipe.
Her perfume and the inches of tanned skin under her crop top were making it very hard for him to concentrate on his workout, though!
He managed ten reps and sat up. ‘It’s okay’, he said to her, ‘You don’t have to spot me. This is pretty light’.
She smiled, slyly. ‘Am I distracting you?’
He couldn’t believe her confidence. She was pretty hot, but the problem was, she knew it.
‘Kind of. You were in the middle of your workout though, weren’t you?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t mind. I was actually waiting for a couple of your team mates. They were supposed to show up five minutes ago’.
Probably avoiding you, he felt like saying. She could be a bit of a drill sergeant at times. And a heinous bitch, at others.
‘They’re probably still on the oval. I finished up early, cos of my dodgy hip’.
‘What’s wrong with your hip?’ She asked.
‘Fell on it last week, in the second quarter. Hurt like a bi… anyway, the physio thinks I’ve probably got a corkie’.
‘Is it hurting now? I could work on it, if you like’.
Spare me, Scott thought. He could imagine her idea of massage. An hour of being pummelled like a piece of rump steak. ‘It’s okay. I’ll just wack a heat pack on it at home’.
‘Are you sure? I might act like a bitch at times, but these hands are pretty gentle’. She seemed to really want to help him, and not cause pain, which was unusual for her. At least from what he’d seen so far, anyway. He decided to give it a go.
‘Ah, hell, why not’, he said.
After a few minutes on the table he found he was actually surprised. She was right. She wasn’t using elbows, knuckles and God knows what other natural instruments of torture she could come up with to make him scream and wish for an early death. That must be just reserved for skin-fold tests. Her palms were doing slow, rhythmic circles on his lower back and he felt so relaxed his eyes kept closing. When she slid the band of his shorts down a bit though, he woke up quick smart!
‘Sorry, just trying to be a bit more thorough. Don’t worry, I can’t see anything’.
He wasn’t worried about that. He was worried about the way he felt when her hands slid down the sides of his hips. About how the hell he was going to get up from the table with his dignity intact! When she saw how uncomfortable he was with the arrangement, she put the band back up where it was. It was a little too late for Pendles, though. He tried to think about something mundane. Washing dishes. Mowing the lawn. Amanda Vanstone. Aah… that did the trick!

Strauchnie surveyed the territory warily. It was like coming back to the childhood house where some of your worst memories were made. The taunts; the teasing. The endless reminders that he was not up to AFL standard. He put his milk crate on the path in front of the Lexus Centre doors. Stood on it, heard a crack and thought, oh shit, maybe Strauchnie does need to lay off the double-cheese and bacon Whoppers; but after a couple of seconds didn’t hear any more cracks and decided to start his spiel.
‘Ladies and Gentlemen! Hear the word of the Lord! God Almighty is watching you from on high! He sees you when you’re sleeping! He knows when you’re awake!’ (Oh crap, that’s Santa Claus) ‘We are made in his image! The time is nigh to find the Lord in your hearts, people! Denounce Satan! Confess your sins! God loves you! Yes, you…’ he gestured toward a couple of girls in low cut tops and tight jeans with studded belts, ‘You will be loved by God and will sit on his right hand… um…at his right hand! So rise up, people! Don’t give into the temptations of Satan!’ The two girls quickened their pace, giggling as they went.
Brodie Holland and Tarkyn Lockyer were coming out of the Lexus Centre at this point and couldn’t miss Strauchnie in his new black suit, white shirt, and black tie.
‘I see his uniform hasn’t changed much’, noted Tarks.
‘He just can’t stay away from this place, can he?’ mused Brodie. ‘What’s the tubby bitch up to, now?’
‘And the Lord sayeth to you, let there be no more sinning!’ Strauchnie was working up a lather at the mouth, at this point. He sounded like a television evangelist.
‘Oh, bloody hell! Of all the people to start Bible-bashing!’ Brodie groaned. ‘Now we’ll never get rid of him!’
‘Boys!’ Strauchnie yelled, on a roll now, ‘Hear the word of the Lord! Denounce your sins and someday you will sit beside Jock McHale and Bobby Rose in the kingdom of Heaven!’
Tarks couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘Hey, Strauchnie, mate… since when did you find God? You’re the most Godless piece of work I’ve ever met!’
Strauchnie stepped down from his soapbox for a moment to chat with the outcasts.
‘I’m a Mormon, now, mate. A bona fide Man of God. I’ve even got my own Good Book. Here, check it out’. He took a pint-sized blue Bible out of a pocket and held it out. Tarks and Brodie didn’t really want to take it. Give these people an inch and they take a bloody quarter-mile. Give Strauchnie an inch, and he takes the Great Wall of China.
‘A Mormon, mate? Not like you to embrace organised religion. I could see you in one of those Doomsday Cults, though’. Brodie joked, imagining Strauchnie conversing with the Mother Ship.
‘Hey, don’t knock Christianity. It’s saved my life. I used to be this fat, lazy, useless piece of crap. Now… well, look at me’.
‘So, what? Now you’re this fat, not-so-lazy, better dressed piece of crap?’
Strauchnie looked for the voice, which had come from behind him. It was Leelee, looking less than impressed to see the man who had ruined her fashion show and dared to darken her door again.
‘Lose the religion, fat boy. It’s not fooling anyone’. She crossed her arms over her chest.
Strauchnie lifted his hands in protest. ‘Hey, hey! I’m genuinely a changed man! I know you’re probably mad about the whole fashion show thing, but I’m really sorry about that. I was angry at the world, and I used your thing, and made it my thing, and it all just really got out of hand…’
‘Save it for someone who gives a shit, Strauchn; because I don’t. And if you don’t peddle your lard arse out of here, I’ll ring the cops and tell them you’re inciting a riot on the street’.
With that, she turned and walked back into the building.
‘Wow’. Strauchnie whistled. He looked at Tarks and Brodie. ‘Do ya think she’s still mad?’

Jen was looking for Lisa. She knew she was in this catacomb of rooms, she had seen her go through the double glass doors. She didn’t know why her friend was treating her like this, but since she’d started this relationship with Travis Cloke she’d been distracted, dreamy and out-of-sorts. She hadn’t given Jen her full attention like she usually would, when Jen had a problem. Which Jen felt was unfair because she was always on hand to listen when Pinky had boy troubles, or anything else for that matter. And now there was this thing with Heath that probably wasn’t a real thing, just something that she’d built up in her mind, but she really needed to talk to her best friend about it, only these days her best friend seemed to have better things to do.
She looked down the hallway. She was in alien territory now. She knew that if she got caught she could lose her membership. She didn’t have Inner Sanctum status. She didn’t have that kind of money. Then again, neither did Lisa. So what was she doing back here?
She saw a door marked Change Rooms and stood, frozen with indecision. The players would be in training, right? So, there should be no one in there. Trouble was, she didn’t know which door Lisa had gone into. She looked back down the hall. No one was coming. There didn’t seem to be any security cameras, either. She tiptoed to the door and pushed on it, gently. Tried to see if she could hear any noises inside. Nope, nothing.
Taking a deep breath, she crept in. Closed the door behind her. Looked around her. It looked like your average change room. Lockers; benches; showers over in the far corner, blocked off from the rest of the room by a wall, ensuring at least a minimum of privacy. Hang on, was that the sound of running water? She ducked behind a row of lockers. She recognised the sound of a shower being turned on. Someone was in here?
It couldn’t be Lisa. Why would she sneak into the change-rooms to have a shower? Unless it was with Travis!
Jen tiptoed closer to the barrier in front of the shower stalls. A black bag sat on the bench under a row of hooks. A towel hung from one of the said hooks. She looked at the bag, and had a flashback of watching Heath get a water bottle out of his black bag, and take off his shirt… was this Heath Shaw’s bag?!
The temptation to take a peek around the barrier was so strong. She knew she shouldn’t. She knew the longer she stayed there, the shorter the odds were that she was going to be caught in a very precarious situation! But the idea that Heath was behind that wall – naked – was too hard to resist! She had to look!

Next time on The Plot Sickens…

Will Jen get an eyeful, or get caught?
Will Nicole try to break up Travis and Lisa?
And will Dids resist temptation?

[luvlicca]

oh ........ i cant wait for the next ep, i need it now now i tell you......