MetaMorph Ch. 02

"Yeah, why AM I here? You wanna gloat? Or go on and on about how it doesn't matter? What the fuck? You know damn well I'm not going to sit here and go 'oh, that's ok Greg. It's all water under the bridge.'?"

Greg took a deep breath. "Look Dan, I know it's hard to understand. I honestly do have a code – I don't get involved with married women where I will fuck up a marriage, more than it's already fucked up. Hell, I have one old producer up in the hills who pays me to fuck his trophy wife. His logic is that if I'm fucking her and keeping her happy and he knows about it, she isn't out fucking anyone else. Whatever. The point I am making is that I thought she was married to someone as hot as she was. I mean, look at her. I thought her marriage was already on the rocks – if someone as hot as her was married to her and not doing the job, then fine, it would be ok for me to. She wouldn't talk about you much; I figured it was because she was on the outs with you. And then you were there in the hotel and I saw you and she disintegrated afterwards and I realized I'd really fucked up. I mean, really."

There was more silence.

"Do you understand Dan? I am really trying to apologize here. I honestly didn't mean to get in the middle of your marriage. I figured it would all be in New Orleans, over before we got back and everyone gets on with their lives. Again, normally, I could give a crap about the husbands or home situation, but you...what I saw in your eyes. I..." Greg trailed off.

Then he started again. "Look Dan. You are a slob. I'm sorry, you are. You don't the confidence of your own abilities, which is why you've gotten nowhere on the job market. You look a mess, you dress horribly and I'm pretty sure you aren't a great lover, or June would never have gone for me."

Dan sat stone faced and then snapped, "Anything else? Is my hair the wrong color? No, wait, I wear the wrong shoes?"

"Dan, I'm a symptom, ok? I'm not a cause. Well, I'm partly a cause, but the fact is that she went for it because she wanted to. You can't deny that – it takes two to tango. Sure, I gave her temptation, but she went for it. Whatever your issues are – and I'm pretty sure you know what they are; there's about three hundred pounds of them – they are between the two of you. Am I a dick for going for it? Yeah, I don't think that's in question. Would she have done it if it were someone else? Well, you answer that."

There was more silence. Dan didn't trust himself to speak, mainly because everything Greg had just said had already occurred to him, he was right, and Dan wasn't going to give Greg the satisfaction of knowing that.

Greg took another deep breath and said, "Look. Right now you are sitting there hating the shit out of me, and I don't blame you one bit. You'd love to get right up and push my face it – it's plain on your face. But you know you don't have a chance. I could send both of these guys away and you know I could still put you on your ass with one hand. I've no doubt you have fantasies about ruining my business or whatever, fantasies we both know will never happen. But here's what Iamoffering you. A chance to get your revenge. Right now you are a three hundred pound slob who probably gets winded climbing stairs. I'm offering you this. Free of charge."

Greg gestured at himself and Dan didn't understand. "What, you want me to fuck you? You are one fucked up dude," he laughed.

Greg sighed. He just wished Dan had understood the value of what he was offering. He normally charged hundreds of thousands of dollars for this service.

"No Dan, I'm not offering you my body. I'm offering you the same body. Give me four months and I will transform you. It'll be hard, but I can do it. This is my business, after all. I'll train you to box and when we are done, you can have three rounds in the ring with me, no one else there. If you are up to it, you can take your revenge on me."

Dan sat there, stunned. He didn't know what to think.

"Dan, I took something from you that didn't belong to me. I have my code, like I said. I don't get involved in volatile situations and this is about as volatile as it comes and I feel in part responsible. I need to do something to help, and I think this is it. I can give you back your confidence and I can sculpt your body if you want. I will even use your hate of me to do it. And I'll give you your chance to fight me, when the scales are even once we are done. Don't tell me you don't want that?"

Dan had to admit that was a tempting offer. But there were questions, so many questions.

"How would this work?" he asked.

Greg smiled. He knew he had him. Maybe he could work off some of this damn inconvenient guilt after all.

"OK, so here's what I'm proposing. Firstly, you go home. Confront June. Have it out – you haven't yet and you need to. Tell her that you are going away for four months. Don't ask her, tell her. Tell her that if she cares about you and wants to make amends, you need to rebuild some trust. Tell her that you'll have friends watching, and if she messes around, you'll know. I honestly don't think she will, she is so fucking down on you man – but tell her straight. Honestly, I think you need the time apart for you to get your head together anyway, although who are we kidding? Once you do, you know you'll take her back. You know you'll never have anyone as hot as her again. Unless I miss my guess you are as hot for her as she is for you. So yeah, while we are doing this, you stay away from her and get your head clear. And those goes for your idiot friends too. You don't need to be getting stoned while you do this.

I don't want her to see you until this is done. I don't want her to know – you need your mind in the game if we are going to do this. There are two apartments next to this office – one is mine and one is empty, that I use for clients. You are going to move into that apartment. I want you close because I'm going to ride you like a cheap whore."

There was silence to that for a moment, when Greg realized what he'd just said. Wisely, he just shut up till Dan spoke.

"Yeah, so I go confront June, piss her off, walk out then she's alone for four months. That's your plan is it? And thus she's completely alone and ready for you sweep in there? Don't make me laugh you idiot. I wasn't born yesterday."

Dan was unimpressed. He was actually getting interested until it became obvious this was just a ploy for Greg to get back in Junes panties.

But Greg was ready for this. "Yeah, I thought you'd say that. So here's what I propose. I have three PI groups that owe me a favor. You can use one of them to keep an eye on her. Or, if you don't trust them because they owe me, you can hire your own group and I'll pay. Or you can get your friends to watch her. Whatever. Whatever you need to know she's not running around on you, with me or anyone else. Ok?"

Dan shifted in his seat. The easy chairs were leather and he was starting to stick to the chair. It was very uncomfortable.

"What about work? You said she wasn't to see me? She knows where I work."

Once more, Greg was ready. He'd actually spent some time working this through once he realized what he'd been a part of, and it was gratifying to see hecouldactually work a problem like this – most of the time it was just a question of keeping hot women from eating the wrong stuff and feeding them lines so they did the extra leg kicks. It wasn't exactly rocket science. Working with this slob would be arealchallenge. If he could do this, it was arealaccomplishment.

"Ok, so the owner of that dinky comic book shop? Mr Wong? He has a teenage daughter."

Dan nodded. He knew Abigail. She was sweet but she also had a sweet tooth and she was also over weight.

"Well, here's the deal. I train her for her prom, so she fits into a size eight, and he keeps paying you for the next four months. I mean, really, it's not a lot of money – comics don't pay much do they? And frankly, I'm pretty sure I could wow and scare that girl into just stopping eating in about an hour. No real challenge there. The job is there for you again when we are done, assuming you still want it."

Dan sat back and squelched on the seat. "So, let me get this straight. You are going to give me somewhere to live for four months. You are going to train me, and teach me to box, and then at the end of this, give me time in a ring with you, and then just send me home?"

Greg sat back and his chair leaned. He nodded to the two guys next to Dan and looked at the door. They left quietly.

"Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?" said Dan.

Greg smiled. "We are talking now. You aren't going to attack me. You want to, I can see it in your eyes. But you are both aware of the fact that I could knock you flat on your ass, and also you are intrigued by my proposition. So yeah, that's what I am proposing. And while I'm at it, a bit of, well, you can either look at it as revenge on June, tit for tat or an education. I fucked June four times, including that night. Yeah, I know. Sorry. So here's what I am proposing. I have a few...friends, shall we say, who specialize in companionship for an evening. They are extremely high class and very very good at what they do. I propose that you have four, er...encounters, with them, and let them teach you what you need to know. It's your call."

Dan was taken aback by that. He didn't see himself as someone who would go to a hooker, but on the other hand, what was good for the goose was good for the gander...

"Look, you don't have to decide now. You're gonna be way too sore for the first couple of this to do anything at night except sit in the hot tub and sleep anyway. But once you've got your equilibrium back, well, we'll talk then. See where your head is at.

One last thing. I know you wouldn't want June to help you, but I should point out that I have three television execs who work out here, several movie producers and lots of agents and agent wannabes, looking for the hot new guy to rep. You'll be here, sitting with them, working out and learning stuff. I can't guarantee anything, but it's a way to start a conversation."

There was more silence as Dan tried to digest all this, with a stunned expression on his face. The whole situation and proposal made his head swim. He was completely confused – on the one hand, he desperately wanted to hurt this man in front of him, as he had been hurt, but on the other, the offer of a body like that and the opportunities that were being mentioned...

Greg rubbed his forehead and Dan noticed, and Greg noticed Dan noticing. He smiled coldly and said, "You know, I've been boxing and training boxers for almost twelve years now. And in that time, not once have I ever been hit to the point where I'm bleeding, at least not in the face. But five minutes in a hotel room with you, and I get a gash that needs four stitches. The only person to sully the perfect face, and it's a three hundred pound man who just wants to get out of the room. Be proud Dan, no one else has ever done that."

There was another beat of silence, while Dan quietly smirked to himself, because Greg spoke again.

"Look Dan, I know this is a lot to take in. It's Thursday today. If you want to do this, we start Monday. You have the weekend to think about it. If you want to do it, show up here on Monday at nine and we'll begin, ok? If not, just don't show up and I swear I'll never see June again. In fact, I'll swear that either way right now."

There was more silence. Dan just didn't know what to say. So many conflicting emotions.

"Dan, say something dude."

More silence.

"OK, well, it can't be said I didn't try. The guys are outside the door. They'll take you anywhere you want to go."

Dan stood up slowly, unsticking himself from the chair. He turned and walked towards the office door, only turning at the last minute and saying, "Can you really do it? Make me like you? In four months?"

Greg smiled. "This is my business Dan. Now don't for a second imagine it will be easy. You'll be doing what I tell you to do and eating what I tell you to and drinking what I tell you to and hating it, because it'll be painful and you'll imagine I am just torturing you for the sake of it. But this has to happen. Marines say that pain is weakness leaving the body. It's not. It's fat leaving the body. You'll be in pain and driven further than anything ever in your life. But if you let me, I'll make you over. I can get you to drop over a hundred pounds and put on twenty pounds of muscle. I can teach you to box and knock someone's head off with one punch. But you have to trust me – no, in fact, you don't have to trust me. You have to hate me, because that'll give you the strength to go on. I'm going to say things to you and be really nasty to you and you'll need your hate to make you keep going. But it'll be worth it. On that you can depend. The confidence you'll build will spill over into everything, trust me on that."

Dan just gave a slight nod and opened the office door. Greg could just hear him say, "Ok boys, off we go. You are MY bitches now."

Greg smiled at that. At least Dan was showing some spunk – he'd been quite worried there for a while, that Dan was simply too much of a wuss to take his offer. But Dan had surprised him. There was a Real Man inside of that fat carcass, and it was now his job to find it and bring it out into the sun.

He also smiled at what Dan had said to his two guys. They were both sparring partners in the ring, and they'd remember that remark when Dan got into the ring with them...

Dan was dropped back at Donnie's, and since Donnie was out, he went for a walk. He walked past blockbuster and went inside on whim, looking at the DVD covers on the walls. All the heroes had square jaws and were built like brick shithouses. That was no surprise to Dan, but for the first time he looked at them picturing himself in those poses, wearing those clothes, looking like they did.

On impulse, he rented Rocky and took it home to watch on Donnie's huge sixty inch TV. He made popcorn, watching the movie and watching Stallone's performance and physique. When Donnie got hoe, he came in, looked at the movie and then just sat down next to Dan, helping himself to some popcorn, not saying a word.

When the movie was done, Donnie fist bumped Dan and said, "Awesome choice man. Stallone is The Man."

He looked at Dan and said, "So what did you do today?"

And with that, everything came tumbling out from Dan. He explained being picked up, the meeting with Greg, what he'd told him about June, his offer, the whole thing.

Donnie sat there, mesmerized by the story, not saying a word. When Dan was done, he lit up another joint he had behind his ear and took a huge drag, let it out and then said, "So you gonna do it?"

He passed the joint to Dan who took a drag and said, "I dunno. The whole thing disturbs me. I mean, if the offer it legit, well, it's pretty amazing. It would be hard but the results man, the results. But I kinda feel like the price of this offer is my wife's ass, you know? I get this as consolation prize, because my wife already paid for it with her pussy. I can't get behind that, if you know what I mean. What kind of douche does that? I'm benefiting because she gave it up? That's some fucked up shit right there."

Donnie took back the joint and took another hit, and then sat there, making smoke rings with the exhale. Eventually he was done and he sat back and considered for a moment and then said, "I dunno dude. I guess that's one way of looking at it. But another way is this – sure, she paid for this, but that wasn't the intention. She was just getting her jollies and YOU are the one paying the price for it. Sure, this is an opportunity, but something tells me that this is gonna be no picnic. Stuff like this never is. On the other hand, the opportunity to stuff it to this asshole and be trained to do it, well... that doesn't happen in the movies man. That's some grade A karma right there. Dude, you didn't ask for this. But this is what it is. Don't make a decision based on should be and might be and perhaps. Make it based on what you want to do."

Dan nodded. Donnie actually made sense. If he'd lay off the ganga more, he might not be living in the basement forever.

"Yeah, perhaps you are right. But if I do do this, I have to go home first. I donotwant to do that. Part of me is still so angry, I don't know what I'd say. I can't hurt her – I really love her, but jesus, I mean, what do you say to that? Do I call her names? Do I slap her? Do I just ignore her? I dunno."

Donnie smiled and said, "I think it'll come dude. Whatever you do, if you go in with not agenda, it's an honest response, and right now I think that's about the best you can hope for. At least it will be 100% honest and authentic."

There he went again. More sound advice. Dan was starting to re-evaluate Donnie. He was more than just a stoner. He was a man deliberately drowning himself in grass so he wouldn't have to listen to his own advice. When Dan got done with his own issues, he'd need to look into how to help Donnie, because he obviously needed some.

But first, more Rocky. Another joint, anddefinitelysome more popcorn.