FITNESS TRAINING-E

By the time Ace Wagner woke up, his side of the bed was empty, and Astrid was nowhere in sight. He noticed a note beside the bed saying the toiletries and clothes were in the washroom. He showered promptly and when he closed the room door, he came face to face with Grandpa Jones.

And by the look of his face he knew the old man was miffed. Ace greeted him good morning and he gruff a reply before showing him the dining table. A simple breakfast was laid, but there were no tea or coffee. Just milk, bread, butter and cheese; essential English breakfast. Ace had his fill and stood up to clear his cups and plates before Grandpa Jones called him.

`Young man. May I have a word with you?', he asked looking straight at Ace Wagner.

Ace was puzzled as to why Grandpa Jones wished to speak to him. He simply nodded.

`Enlil mentioned about firearms training. Do you have any suggestions? Anything in mind?', he enquired.

`Well, I have a security firm, Sigma Force Securities, whereby we train our people for… you know safety', he stammered a moment, wondering if he should tell the truth.

`May I ask if you can train Astrid in guns? How much are the fees?'.

`Yes, she can train with us. Money is not an issue..'

`I mean can YOU train her?', this time Grandpa Jones emphasized on Ace.

`Yes, sir'.

`Good. No one else. Only you', he stared at Ace.

`Yes, sir', Ace was sweating by now. Grandpa Jones's stare was getting into his nerves. Ace excused himself and went towards a room where he can hear shouts and grunts of annoyance.

He slides the door open to see Astrid doing push-ups with a weight belt attached to her waist. She was wearing black tights paired with a pale grey workout crop top. Her top was covered by side bow tank shirt. Astrid raised her brows in acknowledgement. Enlil nodded to Ace.

Ace wanted to speak to Enlil about the mysterious tattoos and dove direct to his questioning.

`Hey, Enlil. Care to explain about her tattoos?',

`What do you want to know?', he asked.

`Everything', Ace sat on the mat next to Enlil, both watching Astrid.

`I told you, she is different. She dreamt of her mother and the chain sort of tinkled. When I dashed into her room, she wasn't trashing so it was a positive sign. And the tattoos are a sign of it. More like a blessing from her mother'. He explained in length.

`Did yours appear in the same way?', Ace was curious about this so-called third race of people, but he remains sceptical.

`Yes, indeed. But mine has been completed ages ago', Enlil got up to start stretching.

`Grandpa Jones okayed with the firearms training', Ace spoke nonchalantly.

`That is a good sign. That old man was tight in knots earlier', Enlil shook his head when he suggested earlier in the morning. I guess he must have thought about it weighing the benefit of it for Astrid.

Both spoke about the types of guns for training and discussed a suitable timetable for Ace and Astrid. Ace requested for half-day with him and Enlil rejected outright saying she needed to learn the basic strengthening exercises. Eventually, they agreed for a 2-hour session, 3 times a week, followed by night school and he drops her back to her house.

Astrid finished her push-ups after a gruelling 30 minutes and looked at both men with their head close together in discussion.

`I am done, Enlil. What's next?' Astrid sat on the mat and drank some water.

Ace who waited patiently for her to finish simply scooped her up and without warning kissed her lips. His tongue pried her mouth open, and she put her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Her slightly salty lips and the taste of her sweet mouth stoke the flame of yearning, his tongue danced in a heated blaze with hers, easily domineering the fire, until she was burning in need.

Ace peeked through his lashes and saw her cheeks in red, her brows raised slightly and eyes relaxed. Hot and sexy, just the way he wanted her. He smiled into his kiss, and slowly pulled back, Astrid leaned on his chest and breathed hard. Ace waited until her breathing even out.

`Don't disturb her Ace. Both of you get a hold of yourselves'. Enlil chided them.

`Ace, what was that for?', she asked, and he put her down. Astrid wiped her face and body with a towel. She drank some protein shake and smiled at Ace.

`Morning kiss, love', he spoke huskily. Ace told his secretary to postpone his meetings for today and instead guide Hadwin on the SOP of their work.

`You box, Ace?', Enlil took wrists wraps and started wrapping Astrid's hands. She put on her boxing gloves and started practising punches on the speed bag.

`Want to give it a go?' Enlil suggested and threw a pair to Ace who took them and put it around his hands.

Both men warmed up and Ace spoke up `Krav Maga okay with you?

`Sure. Let's give it a go'. Both men removed their shirt and took their stance.

Enlil took a jab at Ace who slid past him and used his palm to push Enlil's head back and twisted his body before throwing him on the floor. Enlil swipes his legs at Ace who jumped, but Enlil caught Ace in a Full Nelson. Ace moved his hips to Enlil's side and put his legs behind him before lifting Enlil's right leg up and crushed him to the floor with Ace on top of Enlil and elbowing his chest in the process.

Both stood up and Enlil grabbed Ace in a bear hug and lifted him off the ground. Ace wrapped his left leg on Enlil's and Ace used his palms to hit Enlil just above the groin several times. Enlil let go and staggered backwards. Ace swings his hand to hit Enlil but he blocked it and strike Ace's face with the base of his palm, pushing his face aside and pulled his head down to his knees before hammer fisting Ace and holding his neck to push him away.

Enlil held unto Ace's neck a second longer and Ace used that opportunity to move back and rotate his body to disengage Enlil's hold before elbowing Enlil on the neck and kicking his shin in the process. Enlil was bend and his right hand immediately held Ace's head in a headlock.

Ace punched his stomach with his free right hand simultaneously pulling Enlil's hair backward with his left hand and hammer fisted his neck again. Enlil grabbed his right hand in the process and Ace used his left hand and pulled his hands from Enlil's grip and elbowing Enlil's neck in the process.

`Kickboxing', Enlil alternated, and Ace nodded. Both men showed no sign of tiring and Astrid continues with her punches. Despite Enlil practising kickboxing with Ace he kept his tabs on her.

To Astrid's eyes, both men seemed to whirl across the room delivering sidekicks, front kicks and roundhouse kick every now and then. When Ace got into defensive mode, Enlil strike and vice versa. She noted both avoided sweeping kicks.

Every now and then when they grappled, both used Krav Maga to separate themselves or throw the other opponent off balance.

`Astrid move to heavy bag', Enlil instructed, and Astrid changed to a cylindrical heavy bag and started throwing power punches and occasional kicks.

That was how they spend their morning, kickboxing and alternating to Krav Maga. Astrid had to train boxing while watching them alongside her. Enlil was strict with her and Astrid could not ogle at Ace's sexy chest gleaming with sweat by now. She wanted nothing but touch his chest and kiss it. He was a distraction. And she needed to concentrate.

Astrid closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. She honed her ears to listen to the sound of air movements. She absorbed on the energy of wind and commanded it. When she opened her eyes, it was a darker shade of brown. And her tattoos gleamed a darker hue. Enlil watched her from the corner of his eyes and briefly nodded in approval.

Astrid used the power of the wind to punch, kick and build up her agility and stamina in the process. She stopped looking at the men beside her and fixated on the punch bag and speed bag, alternating between them. Every punch and kick, firmer and stronger, pushing the bag further. She became a lean mean machine in a short time.

When the clock stroke 1.00 pm, Grandpa Jones walked into the gym room to invite all 3 of them for lunch only to see them panting, and sweaty, lying on the floor. Enlil and Ace had bruises on their body, while Astrid's wrapped knuckles had traces of blood on them.

`All of you better shower before you sit on my chair', he spoke to them sternly and left the room just as fast.