Fade to Black

Jeannie trembled, but nodded her agreement. She knew Steve was strong. But she also knew how in shape Kyle was, how much he ran. She had seen him manhandle reels of cable and lengths of pipe backstage that typically took two guys to move.

"Kyle?"

He looked at her with that same blank expression, and again it made her queasy to not be able to read him.

"What if I'd rather bet on you?"

"You already made that choice last week. This week your choice is freedom or jail"

Fade to black

The weeks passed quickly, and Kyle spent them building his strength back. He had begun to take lighting projects again. His absence from the scene had left a bit of a hole, and his return was widely welcomed. He was asked about his attack at every turn, but refused to give details. The circumstances surrounding his wife were the source or a torrent of rumors. It was widely known that she was now living with Steve. There were those who suspected the truth, and were waiting to see what Kyle would do about it. He was known for a tenacious personality, and none of these people believed he would suffer the indignity of a beating and the taking of his wife without reaction. The stories that Jeannie had abandoned Kyle in his darkest hour, and the fact that he was so well liked had made her a pariah in the theatre scene.

The night of the fight arrived. Kyle walked into the gym in a T-shirt and sweats. Steve was already by the ring, clad in ridiculous looking boxing shorts and a muscle shirt emblazoned with the logo of the gym. Jeannie sat sullenly at a table, holding an envelope containing Steve's titles and contracts, his stakes in the bet.

Steve was surrounded by many of his friends, and all of his gym staff and clients. They were all egging him on, cheering and teasing him about the "light work" he was about to take on. They teased even harder when Kyle entered the room. Kyle and his lithe runner's body looked like no match for Steve's bulging hard body.

Kyle walked straight past Jeannie and dropped his folio containing his contracts, and the recording, on the table next to Steve's. As he climbed into the ring he said "Let's go! no bells, no refs, no stopping until one of us is beaten."

Steve grinned and lumbered to the ropes climbed in, and offered his hand to Kyle. Kyle looked at it and without taking it, threw a jab at Steve's nose. Steve looked up, stunned, with a trickle of blood eeking out of his right nostril.

"No bells!" Kyle said as he stung Steve again. The impressive bulk of Steve's physique made him look great, but he wasn't as flexible as Kyle. His stiff frame slowed down his reaction time, as he moved poorly compared to Kyle's light-footed bobbing and weaving. Steve lumbered after Kyle, but just couldn't make his big body react fast enough to pin down the speedy Kyle. Every time he got close enough to hit his opponent, Kyle made him pay with a flurry of jabs to the face. It didn't take long before Steve's face was swollen, and he slowed in his attempts to bulldoze Kyle into a corner.

Steve soon realized that in the center of the ring he was no better off. Kyle didn't look that big, but he also a short man, and had a sizeable advantage in reach. He also wasn't slowing down, while Steve was getting tired from throwing so many haymakers, the best of which barely grazed their target. As Steve grew weary, Kyle began to connect to his body. It didn't take long before Steve's hands grew heavy, and dropped. Kyle picked him apart.

"Give it up, Steve. You can barely stand. You can't defend. You've lost."

Steve looked up at him, panting heavily. Both eyes were swollen, and blood was oozing from his nose and a nasty cut beneath the one eye that could still see.

"Give it up now, and I'll leave you with more than you deserve. Apologize in front of everyone here. DO it now, and I'll just take this gym, this building and the '58 convertible. You keep the rest. If you don't give up now, I'll knock you out and keep it all."

Steve knew he was beaten. His head was down already when his body sunk to its knees.

"I apologize."

Kyle went to the table and fished out the deeds to the building, the gym, and the title to the '58 Vette. Keys in hand he looked at the unbelieving assembly of Steve's friends and associates.

"I'm closing the gym and opening a theatre school here. I will honor employment contracts you have with Steve, but will expect you to work for me in a useful capacity. If he transfers you to one of his other gyms, I will release you from your contractual obligations here. For those of you who are tenants in the building, I will honor your leases and will treat you fairly in negotiations when they are up. There will be a different atmosphere here however, as this room will be renovated into a theatre. Should you choose to vacate your leases due to this change, I will release you."

Jeannie stared incredulously at Kyle. They had long shared the dream of establishing a community of theatre professionals and amateurs alike, dedicated to furthering the state of theatre arts. He was not only establishing their dream without her, he had the resources to do it because of her betrayal. She felt left out entirely, and suddenly very lonely and cold.

The color drained from her face, she stared at a beaten Steve. His face lacked no pigment whatsoever, as it was already blackening with bruises, and red with blood from the cuts that his friends were just bandaging. Steve never looked so pitiful, so broken. Kyle never looked so bold. There was no gloating, no arrogance, just the cool confidence with which he did everything.

Fade to black

Six months later, Jeannie was still living with Steve. Neither had been interested in the other sexually since the fight. Still, they had to live together as part of their bet. It was a cool co-existence, as each believed the other was the reason for the failure of their fortunes.

Jeannie had quickly and quietly moved from her home, which was now entirely Kyle's. The divorce was finalized long ago. Kyle didn't speak to her since the fight, and didn't return calls the few times she had tried to call.

Steve had worked to continue to build his business, but growth had slowed as word of his failure in the ring spread. He was saving what he had by offering membership packages designed more for the elderly and moms who didn't work outside of the home. Two of his satellite gyms had closed, the rest had lost much of their glamour. He had lost his penthouse apartment when he lost his building to Kyle, and had to move in to a little condo near one of his remaining gyms that now served as his flagship.

His swagger wasn't so bold now, and often was completely missing. Instead of the aura of confidence he exuded before the entire episode with Kyle, he appeared considerably less formidable. His mood was frequently sullen, and he worried continually about finances, as he no longer had the rents from his downtown building to support his other ventures.

Kyle had successfully converted the main gym to a marvelous theatre space. He had converted smaller areas into rehearsal spaces, shops and dressing rooms. He carved out room for an intimate little cabaret theatre, and on the first floor and opened a coffeehouse with a small stage. A summer season was already planned, and the town was buzzing with excitement about the possibilities Kyle was proposing for actors and audiences of all ages. As was his intention Kyle had been so intently busy setting up shop, it almost seemed as if he had forgotten the entire attack which took place not even a year ago.

He still remembered vividly though. He remembered every night when he walked through his own front door. He remembered every night when he fell asleep in his lonely room. He remembered every time he entered a theatre where he and Jeannie had collaborated on a project. As hard as he tried, he couldn't avoid the memories of sharing a half a lifetime, and still not knowing the woman he had considered the love of his life.

He was working on a light plot at home in his studio one night when the doorbell rang. It was Jeannie's brother, Peter. Peter lived in Boston, and rarely left that city. He had in fact, only visited Jeannie twice during the entire time she and Kyle were together. His presence meant something was wrong.

"Hi Kyle. I'm sorry to disturb you, but I really need to talk to you about my sister. Would you mind if I came in?"

Sensing urgency in Peter's words, Kyle stepped aside and ushered him to the living room. He offered a cup of coffee or a beer, but Peter declined.

"I'd really like to get right to the reason I came to see you. I'm really sorry things worked out so badly between you two. I thought you were a great couple, and want you to know our entire family was shocked by my sister's sudden change of heart. She is committed to keeping her part of the bargain. She knows she was foolish to give you up for a fling. But her life with Steve just isn't right."

"She chose Steve over me," Kyle muttered. "It just seemed appropriate that she get exactly what she wanted."

"She chose a fling. She was wrong and betrayed you miserably, and nobody blames you for how you responded. She was foolish, but living with Steve is torture, and now he has made it physical. He hit her, and broke her nose last night."

Kyle was not pleased to hear Jeannie was being abused. He wanted her to have to live with Steve's stupidity, with his early American jock décor, with the life of a fulltime gym rat. He wanted her to be disgusted with Steve's sexist comments and expectations, with his selfish attitudes, with his inexhaustible vanity.

"Take me to her." He said to Peter.

"She's in the car. She wouldn't come in. She's too proud. She didn't want me coming in, and she's really pissed off. I just want you to release her from her promise to spend a whole year living with Steve. She doesn't even want that, but I think next time he'll hurt her worse."

Kyle stood up slowly, and headed for the door. Peter was right behind him.

"Please speak gently with her Kyle. She's been through hell, and though she brought it on herself, she's suffered enough."

Kyle went to the car, and opened the door.

"Please come in," he said to Jeannie. "We need to talk."

Jeannie looked reluctant, but slowly got out of the car. She started into the house, and Kyle whispered to Peter, "She'll be fine. Go to Steve's, get her things, bring them here."

Kyle ushered Jeannie into the kitchen. A wealth of memories flooded back to her. Kyle hadn't changed anything, it smelled the same, looked the same, felt like home. The only difference was that her pictures were all gone. Kyle had replaced them all with pictures of his family. Her eyes welled up with tears, as being erased from her home in this way was devastating. She considered this her home, since she had yet to make a new one and considered living with Steve to be a temporary hell. She hadn't been replaced, just erased from this place she had once loved.

Kyle was acutely aware of her tears, and though he was moved by the woman who was still the greatest love of his life, he didn't go to Jeannie. Instead, he poured her a cup of coffee, and fixed it just the way she had always loved it. He fixed her coffee like no one else, even Jeannie herself. The smell of the steaming brew in the mug and that perfect blend brought her back to herself, though reminding her once more how perfect the husband and life she'd thrown away had been.

"You're moving out of Steve's. Peter's getting your stuff now. You'll move in here. You may stay in the little in-law apartment we built above the garage. You will be independent. When you get right again and start working, you can move out when you choose. If you wish, I'll find you a job in my new shop."

"If you decide not to move out, you may stay as long as you like. I don't ever want to witness romantic activity of any kind, though I intend to bring dates home if I wish. I expect you to care for your apartment, show care for my property, and respect our neighbors and guests. These are the only conditions of living here, there will be no rent. There will be no expectations or promises of any kind of relationship other than a promise of common decency."

"Someplace in me, I'll always love you. In another place I'll always be afraid of whatever is inside you that could have betrayed me the way you did. I didn't want you abused by Steve, so I don't expect you to finish your year with him."

She sniffed back a tear, and looking up for the first time into Kyle's eyes in months, thanked him. She blubbered something about going to live with Peter, but Kyle reminded her that the NY theatre scene was her life, and she wouldn't be able to be without it for long. She knew he was right, and agreed to move in.

"Wait here. I'm going to help Peter. Make yourself at home."

The significance of his last statement was music to her ears.

Fade to black.

Kyle pulled up behind Peter's car. He walked right in to Steve's house like he owned it. Steve didn't exactly like this move, but wasn't in much of a position to object. He had hit Jeannie, and now was here with her brother and the guy that had publicly whipped him. Either of them could send him to jail for abuse now, and Peter was using that angle like a slave driver. Steve was carrying Jeannie's things to the car. Peter had helped him pack, but Steve was doing the carrying. There wasn't much, as her part of the divorce agreement had left her just a couple of keepsakes and her clothing. Steve came back inside from the last trip. He began to speak.

"Don't say a word." Kyle was seething. "You know what has to happen now, right?"

Steve didn't want to hear it.

"You broke her nose. You hit a little woman and messed up her face by breaking her nose. Stand up."

Steve looked at him, but stood obediently.

Kyle stood too. He stepped close to Steve, and before either Steve or Peter could predict what might happen, Kyle broke Steve's nose with a swift right.

Fade to Black

Three years later.

Jeannie still lives in Kyle's in-law apartment. She doesn't date, but is considering starting. She is one of Kyle's most valued colleagues, working as a stage manager, director and teacher at his theatre center. She sees Kyle as her best friend, and a respected boss. She has written a play that has had success in regional theatres, and has been published by a major publishing house. She is financially independent and starting to seem like the Jeannie of old.

Kyle's acceptance of Jeannie back into his life was taken as a signal by his neighbors, family and the theatre community. She was welcomed back into those circles in almost the same stature she had enjoyed all those months ago, even though no one forgot where she had been.

Steve sold his businesses, and after a period of reflection, discovered he didn't like the jerk he'd been. He finally put the degree in PE he'd earned in college to use, taking a job at a local elementary school. He developed a soft spot for working with kids with physical handicaps and other special needs. He has become a Special Olympics coach and volunteers with the physical therapy department of a local Children's Hospital.

Kyle's theatre project thrived, and his programs were accredited by a local university. His programs for school children are highly regarded, and have become very profitable. His professional productions play to packed houses, and have drawn the attention of top NY critics who usually don't stray to far from Broadway houses.

Kyle and Jeannie lived close by each other, but rarely spoke. Though he took care of her when she needed it, he did that out of his own sense of responsibility. She had been the love of his life, and he couldn't see her in complete ruin, beaten and shunned by the community that ran the profession she lived for. Once he had set her up safely, he wanted nothing more from her. He dealt with her professionally, after all, she was good at what she did, and was a tremendous asset to his company. He could not however see her in any other light, and rarely even spoke with her on the level of a friend.

Jeannie accepted her position in Kyle's life as a blessing. She wasn't in jail, she was working, and she was able to make amends with Kyle in at least a small way. She felt living near to him with no chance of his ever again loving her was better than the alternative. There was no way to really make anything up to him, but perhaps, if she stayed here until she saw him happily settled with a new love, and maybe a family, she could be at peace.

It was inevitable. Kyle fell in love with a divorced woman he met at the Cape. She summered in a neighboring cottage with her brother's family and her young daughter. She moved in with Kyle that fall and they were married that October in a beautiful, but small ceremony in Kyle's back yard. Jeannie had declined the invitation to attend, but had watched the event from her bedroom window, the only one with a view. She cried bitter tears as she remembered the events that had brought her to this point, and now the last chapter was complete. Her tears landed on her last little suitcase, she had already loaded the rest in the rental car that sat outside of the garage.

When the party moved into Kyle's house for dinner, Jeannie grabbed her bag, and got in her car. She took one last look at Kyle's house before she drove off. She knew he would find the goodbye letter she had left on his desk once he returned from his honeymoon. She checked her carry on one more time to make sure she had her ticket and passport, and her signed contract for her new job as a stage manager in London. Kyle had his new life now. She shed one last tear, and left to find hers.