Arena Ch. 06

"Sure," Coy says, reaching down with his uninjured arm to help Todd stand up the mat, lifting it as if it weighs nothing at all.

When Sierra joins Coy, Giselle, and Rick in the conference room after her shower, she's dressed in a pair of pleated khaki pants with a pale blue shirt tucked in, showing off her figure nicely. Once again Coy feels an attraction to her that he can't explain. He's wanted other women, but that's a purely physical reaction triggered in any man who thinks he's going to bed a beautiful and sexy woman. This is somewhat like that, but there's more. He wonders if perhaps he has found his Giselle. Seems unlikely, and this desire is probably just the result of them rolling around on the floor, but stranger things have happened.

"Now that you're both here," Rick begins, "Immersion Playground would like to have you sign a contract to appear in our next immersion. We can negotiate separate contracts for each of you if you prefer, but as a gesture of good will, I'm willing to state openly that we will pay you both at the best contract you can negotiate. I don't like to play games and I'd like to have the contract signed today if possible."

"I'll agree to any contract that Sierra negotiates," Coy says, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head, wincing slightly as his left arm comes up.

Sierra looks to Coy, rather oddly, Giselle thinks, before turning her attention to Rick. "I told Charlie what I was looking for," she says.

"That you did," Rick replies. "We can negotiate a percentage of the immersion or a salary, but not both. That's off the table and non-negotiable."

"What if I walk?"

"Then you walk. I'd like you to be in this immersion. From what I have seen here today, you two are a perfect match for what we envision, but we do have another person that will replace you if we can't come to an agreement. We'll let Coy heal up, and we will do this all over again."

"What if I walk too?" Coy asks, leaning forward, putting his hands on the table.

"Then we are back at square one," Rick says. "Look, we can sit here all day and talk about what we won't do, or we can begin to talk about what we will do. It's up to you."

Sierra looks at Coy. "What do you think?"

"It's your show. I'll back whatever play you make." He looks like he's about to say more, but he just leans back in his chair again.

Sierra drums her fingers on the table. Her first instinct is to walk out. Anytime someone tells her something is non-negotiable that gets her dander up, but she knows that's just her stubborn streak showing. She really does want to do this, and do it with Coy. As much as she enjoys her tumbles with Will, she thinks that Coy shows the potential to be even better. And she likes him as a person, better than any man she's met in a very long time. Offering her a hand up each time they fought, even when he lost, that's real sportsmanship, and she likes and respects that.

"Fine. I'll take the flat contract. One hundred thousand."

Rick wants to leap at that, but he didn't want to seem too eager. "Seventy-five."

"No," Sierra states flatly. "It's one-hundred thousand or I walk."

"What about you, Coy?"

"I'm not doing it without Sierra," he says easily, never moving from his reclined position.

Rick pretends to think it over, but he's actually silently thanking Charlie for low-balling Sierra at the front end. "Deal," Rick says, standing and reaching across the table to shake Sierra's and Coy's hands in turn.

Giselle sits quietly throughout the negotiations, preparing the contracts as she listens. Having them agree to one contract makes it easy. Once the first one is finished, she simply copies it, changes the name, and it's done. She finishes the contracts as Rick is sitting down after shaking hands and she sends him both for his signature. After he affixes his digital signature, he sends them back to her so she can notarize them before sending Sierra and Coy their copy. Moments later their copies are back, signed. Giselle notarizes their signatures, places a copy in the Immersion Playground files, and then sends a copy of their contract to them.

"Done," she announces. "Welcome to Immersion playground."

One hundred thousand dollars! For one day's work? For having sex with the most desirable woman he's ever met? Coy can't believe his good fortune and extends a hand to Sierra. When she takes it, he stands, pulling her up out of her chair. He first shakes her hand, then pulls her close for a hug on a whim. The hug is completely platonic, like a hug he would give his sister, but when they separate he feels a strong desire to kiss her. He looks into those brown eyes and time stops until he looks away, eyes going anywhere else so he can get hold of himself.

"Glad to be here," he says, looking at Giselle.

Sierra is excited beyond any business deal she's ever made. She's surprised after Rick's hard-nosed negotiations over the percentage, he caved so easily on the price. She wonders, briefly, if he would've paid more. Still, that was twice what Charlie said they were willing to pay so she didn't feel she'd done badly. When Coy extends his hand, smiling broadly, she takes it, shaking it firmly as he pulls her to him for a hug. She's surprised, but glad nonetheless. She's never been much of a hugger, well, unless she's fucking of course, but for some reason this felt right. When they part she looks into his face, waiting for him to kiss her. She'd welcome it, but at the last moment he looks away. No matter, this isn't really the time or the place, and she'll have him soon enough.

Charlie and Todd are sitting in Charlie's office, waiting on the conference room door to open, discussing the wrestling match. Now that it's over, and no one is hurt, she can admit that she is more than a little aroused after watching Sierra and Coy squirm on the mat, sweating and grunting as they struggled against one another. Until this moment she didn't fully understand the immersion they were making, but she has to admit there's a certain appeal to a man and woman locked in a non-violent struggle. And Todd obviously found it appealing, as he is just now losing his erection, an excitement she is certain she will use on him later this evening.

When the conference room door opens and everyone exits with smiles, Charlie feels herself relax, letting tension go she didn't even know she held. Rick stops in her office.

"Good meeting?" she asks.

"Very," Rick acknowledges. "So, you think Sal could host us for lunch to celebrate the latest members of the Immersion Playground team?"

Charlie smiles broadly. "I suspect we can work something out." Salvador Colloni—Sal to his friends—is the owner of Mangia!, a small Italian bistro and friend of both the Roses and the Chamfers. While they don't eat there often, lest they weigh three hundred pounds, the food is uniformly excellent and their default restaurant of choice for celebrations or when desiring an Italian meal.

After some wrangling it's decided that the Roses and the Chamfers would go in Rick's Ford while Coy and Sierra would follow in Sierra's well-loved Jeep.

Coy has no idea where Mangia! is, but he's just along for the ride. so he'll let Sierra worry about directions. As they bounced along he looks at her, her hair flying about in the open Jeep, dark teardrop sunglasses shading her eyes. The Jeep Moab fits her perfectly. Though obviously well taken care of, the Jeep is built for go, not for show. No carpets, no doors or top, no chrome trinkets, a winch on front and back, and a stick shift of all things. He can't remember the last time he saw a car with an old fashion, six-speed transmission. They didn't talk. He doesn't feel like yelling over the whining tires and the roaring wind, so he just watches her as she drives.

Sierra becomes aware of him looking at her, really looking at her, as they bang along in the Jeep. She took the doors and top off when the weather turned nice to better enjoy the 'wind in the hair' freedom that only a Jeep can give you. While it makes talking difficult, she rarely has passengers, so that isn't a problem. Finally she can't stand his gaze anymore.

"What?" she yells to him with a huge grin. "I got bugs in my teeth?"

He shakes his head no, but he doesn't look away.

Normally she would be put off by someone staring at her so intently, but his gaze didn't affect her like that. In fact, she rather enjoys it. Strange, this is all so very strange...

Charlie pinged Sal on the way, so he's expecting them. They arriving during the thick of his lunch hour rush, which means almost half the tables were taken.

"Charlie and Giselle, so good to see you again," Sal booms out in his thick Italian accent, hugging each in turn. "I see you have brought another lovely woman into my humble restaurant."

"Sal, meet Sierra Pederson and Coy Bell," Charlie says, introducing their guest as Sierra blushes slightly. "Coy, Sierra, this is Sal, maker of the finest Italian food anywhere."

Sal shakes Sierra's hand and then Coy's. "He's a big guy. I have to give him extra portion," Sal says, using a stage whisper to Charlie while shaking Coy's hand.

"I hope so," Coy says, taking an instant liking to Sal. "I'm starving."

Sal seats them at a table and brings out both the lunch menu and dinner menus. "For my special guests, you may order off the dinner menu if you like. It will take longer to prepare, but the selection is much larger." Sal waves a waiter over. "I'm sorry, but we are short-staffed at lunch, so I won't be able to wait this table personally, but I will keep an eye on Dwayne to make sure he does it right." Sal gives Dwayne the 'I'm watching you' look before smiling and slapping him on the back as he returns to the kitchen.

The group decides to order from the lunch menu so to not put Sal out, and when the food arrives Coy's plate has a sandwich and a half on it, causing everyone to laugh. While they eat they talk about the upcoming immersion in the most general and polite terms to avoid prying ears. Rick explains that they still need to finish the construction of the arena set, something that both Coy and Sierra express an interest in seeing, along with selecting extras to fill the stands. Their stars will also have to come in and be fitted with their gladiator costumes, early next week if possible. But other than that, they are nearly ready to capture.

"When are you planning on capturing?" Coy asks. It seems to him there's still a lot to do.

"July twelfth or nineteenth, that's two Saturdays, is what we are shooting for. Just over four weeks. We're kind of backed up at this point because we had a hard time finding you two," Rick says with a smile. "The good news is we can slide that if we need to. It's not like we have this huge production schedule that we have to meet."

"And how long will the production run?" Sierra asks.

"One day," Rick answers.

"One day?" Sierra asks in surprise.

"Our immersions aren't like vids. We capture what we capture. We don't do takes and we don't shoot multiple angles. You and Coy will arrive, do what you do, and we're done. Simple as that."

"Seems like a lot of trouble and expense for what you get," Sierra says quietly.

"Vids are expensive to make. Immersions more so. You'll be amazed at the arena we've built. It's the real thing. It has to be, or you won't believe it, and therefore the person experiencing the immersion won't believe it. Why do you think we charge what we charge?" Rick asks rhetorically.

"So Charlie wasn't shit—pulling my leg when she said it isn't scripted and it really is the last man, or woman, standing?" Sierra asks.

"Nope. You win or lose on your own. The outcome isn't scripted."

Sierra smiles and looks at Coy. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"Yeah. I should have ordered oysters," Coy says, causing the entire table to snicker.

"Maybe," Sierra allows still giggling, "but what I was thinking is, we'll be competing on more equal footing. You were a little overmatched today."

Coy stuffs the last of his sandwich in his mouth and swallows before responding. "About that. What are you, some kind of ninja?"

Sierra decides he deserves the truth, earning that right on the mat. "No, but I am a black belt in jujutsu, a martial art form that specializes in grappling and pins in case you didn't know. You really never stood a chance." She sees he is about to say something so she rushes on. "Don't be mad at them," she says, jerking her head toward Charlie and Todd, "they didn't know either. Having said that, you did exceptionally well today, better than anyone without training had any right to. I told Charlie and Giselle after the match that you came closer than anyone I have ever grappled with to breaking the holds. You should be very proud of yourself. In jujutsu you bow as a sign of respect. You certainly have mine."

He stares at her, not sure how he feels. "You might have warned me," he says with just a trace of bitterness.

"What fun would that have been?" she asks playfully. "Tumbling around on the mat with you today is the most fun I've had in months!"

"Great fun," he says, rolling his sore shoulder.

"Look, don't take it too hard, okay? The code says you don't go around bragging about your rank. Plus, and I mean this sincerely, you proved your mettle on the mat today. And lastly, I enjoyed the hell out of our little wrestling match. Didn't you like it, just a little?" she wheedles.

He gives her an easy smile. "Okay, yes I did. More than a little. Right up to the moment you tried to pull my arm off. I particularly enjoyed the third match," he teases.

"Oddly enough, that was my favorite as well, even if you did win," she says with an easy smile of her own.

The four principles of Immersion Playground look at one another, each wondering if Coy and Sierra see what they do, two people discovering they really like and respect each other, falling into the first blush of new love.

Once back at the Immersion Playground office, Todd and Charlie immediately pile into Todd's Honda and leave for home. Rick and Giselle agree to stay the rest of the day just in case something comes up, and to clean up the offices. Before entering the office, Rick and Giselle saunter up to Coy and Sierra, sitting in Sierra's Jeep, talking quietly until they see them approach.

"I am excited about what we've accomplished here today, and I look forward to working with you both. Of even more interest to me is you two, personally. May Giselle and I give you a little advice?" Rick asks.

When neither says anything, simply looking at one another, Giselle takes that as tacit approval to continue. "Rick and I were talking about this just a moment ago. Don't do what you're thinking about doing. Not yet. Wait, let your desire build, wait until you're in the arena to act upon the attraction that you feel."

"I don't want you to take this as a suggestion from a boss to an employee," Rick joins in. "Take it as friendly advice from someone who cares. This advice has nothing to do with Immersion Playground, not directly anyway, but Immersion Playground is a family, and you're part of that family now. We think you two are in a unique position. If you wait, you'll experience emotions of such power that you'll be blown away by them. I'd like to capture those emotions in an immersion. Not only for Immersion Playground, but for you two as well."

Giselle takes over the conversation again. "You're both adults. You can make your own decisions, and what you decide will have no bearing on your contract, but I want you to think about something. Think about the way you felt during your wrestling match today, and think about how you feel when you first act upon your attraction to another person. Now imagine those two events combined."

Rick reaches into the Jeep, shaking first Coy's hand then Sierra's. "We've said our piece. The rest is up to you. We'll see you Wednesday," he says before backing away so Giselle can step in and shake their hands. After she shakes their hands, Rick and Giselle turn, Rick's hand on Giselle's back, and enter the Immersion Playground offices.

Coy and Sierra sit in silence for a time. "Is it me, or was that just slightly weird?" Sierra asks.

"It's not just you, but why do I have the feeling we should listen to them?" Coy asks. "How did they know I'm really attracted to you?" She'd been staring out of the windshield, looking after Rick and Giselle, but her head snaps around at his question. "Don't panic," he laughs, holding up his hand in a warding off gesture. "I just mean I feel this strange attraction to you that I've never felt before, that's all. I must like women that can kick my ass."

She's so startled by his question her head whips around without conscious decision, like instinctively looking toward a loud noise. As he clarifies what he means, she relaxes a little. The last thing she wants is to have some simpering man hanging on her, but she has to admit, she's finding him very appealing at the moment, and she'd gladly accept him in her bed right this moment if he were to ask.

"So what do we do?" she asks.

Coy heaves a huge sigh. "I don't know," he says, pausing before continuing. "Can I be honest with you?"

"I think you should be, considering what we've signed on to do."

"Okay. Cards on the table. I want you, Sierra. I want you as badly as any woman I've ever met. Is it because you kicked my ass, or we were rolling around on the floor? I don't know. Will I feel the same way in the morning? I don't know. I do know that I have a date tonight and I no longer want to go. What I want is to throw you in the back of that truck and wear the springs out on you."

She smiles at the thought of fucking him in the back of his truck. She kind of likes that idea too. "Do I hear a 'but?'"

"Yeah, but it's complicated and hard to explain."

"Just say what you have to say."

He takes a deep breath, gathering up his courage. "But... I..." He stumbles, not sure how to state how he feels, "I feel like there's more than just fucking you, like I want to get to know you as a person, as corny as that sounds. He snaps his fingers. "Have you experienced Rick and Giselle's immersion?"

She is somewhat stunned by what he's said. The odd thing is, she knows exactly what he's talking about. She feels closer to Coy, after knowing him for only four hours, than she does to Will.

"Yes," she says slowly.

"Okay, assuming Giselle feels about Rick the way Rick feels about Giselle, I have that feeling for you. Oh, not so powerfully of course, but that feeling is definitely there, like you are something special that I should take the time to discover. I guess another way to put it is that I want you, not just your body. Most, maybe all, of the women in the past, it was about the sex. But I don't feel like that with you. Not so much anyway. What I mean is..." He growls in frustration, scrubbing his hair furiously. "I don't know what I'm saying. It's just that you're different somehow." He laughs again, self-consciously this time. "Does any of this make sense or do I just sound like a babbling idiot?"

She looks away, leaning on the steering wheel and staring at the Immersion Playground office. "Actually, surprisingly enough, it does." She turns to look at him. "Even more surprisingly, I think I feel the same way about you. I'd love to have you fucking my brains out in the back of your truck, right here, right now, but I'd like it to be more than simple physical gratification. Is that the way you feel?"

"Yes!" Coy exclaims, "That's it exactly!"

"Is that love?"

"I have no idea. I don't think I've never been in love." He smiles at her. "But I think I want to find out."

"So once again, what are we going to do?"