The pool was ice water when Nate's body hit it. A laugh immediately escaped as he gleefully swam around. The sun warmed his upper half as his lower basked in the refreshment of aqua. Suddenly the light brushing of fingertips on stomach caught his attention as a body emerged from the watery depths right in front of him. The beautiful, dark eyes hidden behind glasses made Nate's heart flutter. His mermaid Shannon slowly took his hands in hers and smiled warmly. Nate was speechless.

Her eyes were glued to his. “Wake up, Nate,” she whispered.
*****************************************************************************************************************

Gasps for air were the only sound in the entire empty gym, as Nate searched his surroundings. Kneeling over him were Walt and Shannon, both looking very relieved. Nate slowly sat up, his head throbbing. One of the two very important people on either side of him was telling him something, but spotting Kardissa walking towards the locker room stole all of Nate's senses. Nate Coop had let down the woman he had fallen for, lost to a cheating Stalin sex offender.

“Shannon, what happened to your arm?” Nate asked. He tried to shake off the screams from his muscles.

“That dick tried to stick his tongue in my mouth after he got out of the ring,” Shannon said, “so I socked him in the gut and he tripped me off the ring and I scraped my arm.” Nate's nostrils flared and that anger started to bubble in him again. He awkwardly got to his feet and rushed out of the ring.

“NATE!” Walt said, “LEAVE IT ALONE! IT'S OVER WITH!”

Nate gave no response and ran to the locker room. Walt gave a last look at Shannon and bolted after his friend. Nate slowed his run and opened the door to the far lockers. Kardissa had his shirt nearly on when a thought occurred to Nate. Irenev's words echoed in Nate's mind as he kicked open the door and rushed for the dressing foreigner. The hit met its mark and Kardissa was slammed against the lockers. Before Kardissa had a chance to retaliate, Nate grabbed the gray dress shirt. He pulled it over the sweaty head and gave a bare knuckled blow to the gut.

The shirt eventually made its way off of Kardissa's shoulders, but his arms were caught in a fabric prison. The dark soviet eyes widened. Nate threw everything he had into a final punch and knocked Kardissa to the floor.

“Listen asshole, it's all well and good that you cheapshot your way to to a win,” Nate said through clenched teeth, “but I want you to stay away from my friends and my girl, and get the fuck out of Red Bank.” The adrenaline had all run out of Nate's body. Suddenly he tasted a mouthful of pennies and his arms weighed 50 pounds each.

“You fight dirty, nerds-boy, make nice fight,” Kardissa said. His eyes flashed with fury as a smirk crept on his face. Nate delivered a swift kick to his gut in response. He turned to walk out the door and saw Walter standing in the doorway. Nate lead his friend out into the poorly lit hallway, but stopped after a few steps. Nate poked his head back in the locker room.

“ Pajoousta, you dick,” he said.

“What the hell was that all about?” Walt asked. He threw Nate's arm over his shoulder and eased him back to the more well lit area. “What did you say?”

“'You're welcome' in Russian,” Nate said. A pause hung in the gym, as heavy as the smell of sweat and blood that always lingered there.

“Then followed it with 'you dick'?” Walt asked.

“Well yeah, of course.” The two laughed and Rene walked towards the locker room. Shannon approached.

“This little display of you getting your ass kicked was impressive,” she said sarcastically. Nate looked at her through his right, non-swollen eye.

“You loved it,” he said, and struggled to keep from total collapse. She stepped forward and put her fingertips on his jaw, bringing her lips to his. Nate savored every second of the warmth.

“Sorry to interrupt, kids,” Walt said, “but what do you think is gonna happen with Kardissa and our collective boss?” Shannon's eyes opened, and she began to pull away, only to have two taped hands ease her back into Nate's ever so wanted kiss.

“Or that” Walt said. Walt slowly walked into the locker room, only to rush back in talking very loudly.

“Rene, why again did you set this all up?” Walter asked. He was 4 steps ahead of the boss and a look of relief came over him as Nate and Shannon's attentions went from kissing to him.

“Children,” Irenev said, “My cousin is how you say, ASSHOLE.” Shannon, Walter and Nate couldn't help but smile at the hard pronunciation of the insult.

“Okay, but putting Nate at risk to prove a point is not good either,” Walt said.

“I knew Nate-thanial would beat him, he just needed to push himself harder,” Irenev said walking past Nate.

“That's a lot of trust you put in him,” Walt said, following him out.

“You three are good kids, you make nice to customers, no inter-office dating between you like I assume when I hired, just good kids.”

“Uh, ya know boss!?” Walt said, interrupting, “you uh, can't just leave Kardissa on the floor...uh, the gym will charge you for cleanup.” Seemingly fearing any loss of funds, Irenev quickly walked back into the locker room. Walt looked at Nate and Shannon, and Nate looked at the floor.

Nate felt like he might cry then and there.“Well, it was great while it lasted,” he said to himself. A soft hand touched his face. Shannon returned her lips to his, and sent electricity all through Nate's body.

“Let's get you home and cleaned up.”