Getting Over Edie Ch. 03

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nerd4music
nerd4music
1,625 Followers

Grady rolled his eyes. "Tom Brokaw isn't even a print journalist, you dick. Besides, catching pussy is the farthest thing from my mind right now."

Benny's gruff chuckle rumbled through the phone. "Listen, keep tonight open. I've got some plans for you."

"Oh no," Grady groaned. "Listen dude, I really can't handle another night of alcohol. My liver is going to stage a freedom revolution if I don't take a decent break."

"Nah, bro no drinking. I got you covered man. You're gonna like this, trust me. Listen, I gotta go but we'll meet up later. I'll call you later tonight and let you know the deets."

"Alright man, I'll see your bitch ass later." Grady pressed 'END'. It felt really good to talk to his boy. He felt like this was the first in a series of steps that were slowly but surely leading him to a much happier existence, or at least relief from the feeling he lovingly referred to as Walking Zombie Syndrome.

The day practically flew by with a series of meetings and phone calls. When Grady finally returned to his little slice of cubicle it was nearly five-thirty. He supposed he could dick around the office for a couple of hours or just bite the bullet and return home.

Without a second glance, he gathered his things and headed to the elevators. Today felt extremely productive and all he wanted was a cigarette and a beer. No cigarettes or spirits tonight, he chided himself. Tonight was sober and smoke-free Grady.

The commute home took over an hour and a half. By the time he finally rolled up to his apartment, the New York sun was already bedding down for the night under a cluster of purplish-blue evening clouds.

Grady climbed the steps to his building and was about to put his key in the lock when a strong hand gripped him firmly. "Jesus!" he exclaimed, his heart thumping wildly in his chest.

"Hey there Hot Stuff," the gruff voice growled.

"You got a purty mouth. I'm gonna butter your bread."

Grady rolled his eyes as his heart rate eased slightly. "Fucking Benny, man. You douche nozzle!"

Benny appeared from the shadows, gasping for air amid loud laughter. "You...should have seen....your face," he panted. "Fucking priceless."

"Har har har" Grady replied sarcastically. "I should have gone with my instincts and knocked you on your ass."

"Now that I would like to see," Benny said as he wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes. "It was a joke, princess. Lighten up."

"Oh I'm light. I nearly shit my pants, but I'm alright. What the fuck are you doing lurking in the dark?"

"I told you, we were going to do something tonight."

"Like what? Return the scare favor? What if I'd had been Mrs. Petrelli from upstairs? Would you really want the death of an old woman on your conscience?"

Benny rolled his eyes and stuffed his balled fists into the pockets of his grey hoodie. "Will you calm down? I knew it was you the entire time. I don't go around sneaking up on old ladies and random strangers."

"Obviously you've never seen yourself in action at a bar. You do some straight up sneaking-up-on-girls-like-a-damn-creeper shit."

"ANYWHO," Benny continued in a loud voice. "I'm going to need you to stop whining and get the hell upstairs. What you've got on right now simply won't do."

Grady was confused. He glanced at Benny's clothes. Along with the hoodie he was sporting black basketball shorts and black running shoes. With his scare tactic and creeper clothes he was definitely looking the part of a man to avoid.

"Do? Do for what? Where the hell are we going and what the hell are we doing?"

Benny's hazel eyes churned with irritation.

"Listen, will you stop asking a whole bunch of useless ass questions? I'm not going to answer them. Just take your happy ass up those steps and up to your apartment so you can change clothes and so we can finally move the fuck on."

Grady was all set to grumble, but the maddening gleam in his best friend's eye told him to shut his cakehole and oblige. Grudgingly he walked up the steps with Benny close behind him.

"Jesus Benny if I knew you were going to ride my ass all the way up I would have asked for breakfast first."

"Yeah, I don't think so chief." Benny replied.

"The last thing you need is food. No joke, you are carrying some serious junk in the trunk right now."

"Shut the fuck up," Grady shot back, unlocking his apartment door.

"No seriously. I think you need to buy new pants. I can definitely hear the seams splitting on these. Oh shit! There goes another one. If I squint real hard I can actually see a hint of underwear."

Grady tossed his keys and messenger bag on the counter. "Is there a point to all this lovely commentary or are you just trying to make me feel shitty about myself?"

Benny clapped him soundly on the back. "I'm just saying, dude. You used to be in shape; now you're kind of fluffy. But I'm here to help my boy get back to his fighting weight."

Grady shot Benny a look, his blue eyes suspicious. "What the hell are you talking about?"

For the first time since he scared the shit out of him, Benny looked sympathetic. "Listen bro, I know you've been going through some shit these past months. Edie, man...she was a fucking head trip and the way she treated you was some bullshit. But you have to admit, you let yourself go. As your friend it's my responsibility to whip your bubble butt back into shape. I mean, come on dude. You're starting to make me look bad."

"No, I believe it's the Cheetos-inspired spray tan that makes you look bad."

Benny punched him playfully on the arm. "Be nice, dick. I'm trying to help you out. And for general knowledge purposes this isn't a tan. I have a natural olive complexion."

Grady rolled his eyes. "Yeah whatever. So where are we going?"

"I called in a favor with one of my buddies who works at Silver Gym."

"Silver?" Grady's eyebrow rose considerably. "As in Herman Silver, your uncle?"

Benny shrugged. "I said it was a buddy. Didn't say it wasn't a family buddy. Uncle Herman owes me a solid after I did some detail work on his Lexus. He's giving you a sweet discount."

"Gee thanks."

"Hey, try to sound a little more grateful. I thought you'd be happy."

Grady sighed. "I am, dude. I'm just a little stressed from writing. I do appreciate your help, though. To be honest I really didn't think too much about what I was going to do to improve my body. I've been so focused on fixing what the fuck's being going on in my head.

"Hey I hear you, bro," Benny said with a nod.

"But for now let's leave all that 'head trip psycho-babble bullshit' to Tony. Tonight we're working on your fitness." He wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Now will you please go and change out of those pants? They are seriously holding on for dear life."

*******

It was nearly an hour later by the time Grady and Benny arrived at Silver Gym. Grady was a little nervous but excited at the same time. It'd been a while since he stepped foot into a gym. When he was dating, he worked out at least three times a week. He wasn't a gym rat like Benny, but he did a little work—just enough to keep his bulky shape somewhat fit. He was proud of his thick arms and solid chest.

Now he was more than a little doughy. The definition in his arms was softened and the solid thickness of his middle was pretty much a spare tire.

"Come on man," Benny ribbed. "Stop looking at yourself in the mirror and let's get out there."

He tossed a blue hand towel at him, landing it right on his head.

"Yeah, you're just jealous I'm hogging the mirror. I'm sure there must be some reflective surface you can stare into for the next two hours."

Benny chuckled. "Whatever bitch." He stuffed their gym bags into one locker and slammed the metal door shut. "So I'm thinking we should do some cardio and then lift. We've got to get your endurance and stamina back."

Grady nodded. "Sounds like a plan." They headed out the locker room and down the hallway. "Dude, I really do appreciate this."

Benny shrugged. "No problem, man."

Thirty minutes later, he wasn't so sure about thanking Benny. In fact he was pretty sure if he could breathe he probably would have choked him out. He'd only been on the treadmill for twenty-five minutes or so but he was already sweating buckets. His legs felt like jelly and he was breathing like an emphysemic man on a respirator.

Lifting the hem of his shirt, Grady wiped the dripping sweat out of his eyes. Sweet crispy Moses, he prayed. Please just let me get through this.

"Come on Grade!" Benny shouted from the treadmill next to him. "We've only got five more minutes left. You can do this, man!"

Grady shot him a murderous look.

"If...you...don't...stop...with this goddamn Richard Simmons routine..." he panted loudly. He tried to finish his threat but was more concerned with trying to conserve his oxygen than promising to pulverize Benny.

Benny chuckled. "It's alright, old man. We're almost done." Leaning over, he turned up the speed on Grady's treadmill. "Now push it, Fatty. Three minutes. Let's get it!"

"Fuck!" Grady heaved. His body was screaming for him to stop. His lungs ached, his calves were on fire, and he was in desperate need of water.

Grady closed his eyes, attempting to shut out the cacophony in the gym. It was only him and the treadmill; no Benny or anyone else. He tuned out the sound of the blaring rock music, the soft, heavy clink of the weight machines in the background, the televisions broadcasting random highlights from college sports games. It was just him, repeating the 'push push push' chant over and over in his head.

When the treadmill suddenly stopped, he had to grab onto the handles to keep from falling. "What the fuck, Benny!" he growled.

A sheepish grin spread on his handsome face.

"Sorry bro. Just trying to get your attention."

Grady flipped him the finger as he stepped off the treadmill.

"I see you're back in form," Benny remarked with a laugh. "How do you feel, champ?"

He grabbed his bottle of water from the treadmill and gulped down half of it in one swallow. "I feel like I'm gonna hurl. But in a good way."

"Atta boy! Don't worry, that feeling will go away the more you work out."

"Benny, I've worked out before."

"Not the Benny Silver way. When I'm through with you, you're gonna look like the Man of Steel, dude."

They both laughed. Benny chugged some of his water. "I'm so pumped, bro. We're gonna change the way you eat, the way you work out. It'll be fun. You're going to need an extra pair of hands to catch all the pussy that'll be coming your way." Benny's eyes lit up. "Speaking of pussy, I think I see something I like."

Grady rolled his eyes as he wiped his brow with his t-shirt again. "At the gym, Benny? Really? Dude you need help."

Benny clapped him on the back. "The gym is a prime spot to pick up girls. Hot, sweaty chicks in tight clothes. It's Guido paradise. Look at the talent over there."

Grady's gaze followed the direction of Benny's finger. He had to admit, the chick had an amazing body, even though all they could see was the back. She was tall with slender curves, a generous ass scooped into tight blue shorts that barely came to mid-thigh.

Her bright yellow tank-top was snug against her skin, showing off a slight hourglass figure. She was all leg too, miles and miles of taut cocoa-colored muscle and smooth skin, something Grady definitely approved of.

He was surprised by his reaction towards the girl, but also pleased. After pining over Edie for God knows how long it was nice to know he could still appreciate the female form, especially if it wasn't his ex. "Alright perv," he said to Benny. "Let's stop creeping on some chick and get back to work. I'm pretty sure weights are next."

Benny was unfazed, his hazel eyes glazed over in appreciation. "Yeah...I'll uh be there in a minute. I just want to see what she looks like." His eyes lit up when the girl gathered her long dark hair into a high messy ponytail, the actions making her already large breasts even more prominent.

"For fuck's sake man it's just a girl!" Grady slapped him upside the head. The loud noise, coupled with his raised tone made the girl stop and turn. Grady was momentarily shocked when he realized who it was. "Arden?"

Arden's face lit up with recognition. "Grady? Hey!" she said with a wave. Gathering her towel and water bottle she sauntered over. "Hey dude," she said cheerfully. "I didn't realize you belonged to this gym."

"Well, actually it's my first day."

"That's awesome! I'm so glad you decided to get back into shape."

"That's all because of me," Benny interjected.

Grady rolled his eyes as Benny positioned himself slightly in front of Grady. He extended his hand to Arden. "Hello beautiful. I'm Grady's personal trainer. My name is..."

"Dude, I know who you are. And I know you know my best friend Stevie. You remember Stevie, don't you Benny?" The gleam in Arden's eyes was devilish and Grady couldn't help but laugh. Arden glanced up at Grady. "How are you doing?"

"Same shit, different day. Things are getting better. I'm starting a blog to be a companion piece for my columns."

"Sweet. I'll be sure to check it out." There was an awkward pause before Arden spoke again. "Well I gotta jet. I've got to work on a dance piece for class tomorrow. It was nice seeing you Grady. You look good." With a slight wave, she was off.

"Well shit dude, if I'd known beforehand you were into that I would've backed off" Benny said with a sly grin.

Grady shot him a look. "The fuck are you talking about?"

Benny continued to give him the 'yeah, right' look. "I saw what went down with you two?"

"Went down? With me and Arden? Are you mental?"

"Not mental, just observant."

"Yeah well your Inner Eye must have glaucoma. Nothing of any sort went down."

"Mmm-hmm. Whatever you say, bro. I know what I saw. She's into you."

Grady scoffed. "Whatever dude! She was just being polite."

"Okay. We'll play it your way, chief. But I know what I saw." He waggled his eyebrows and Grady felt an overwhelming desire to punch him in the face.

"Whatever. Now can we please get back to working out? I've got some work shit to take of whenever this is finished."

Benny shot him another smug look before nodding his head. "Whatever you say, man. Are you ready to pump some iron?"

Grady nodded. He'd agree to pretty much anything to get Benny to shut his damn mouth. Sure, Arden was noticeably kinder to him, especially after the night of the Love in Chains show. But this was the first time he'd seen her since that night.

Truthfully, he'd been so consumed with cleaning up his life that he didn't have the brain space for her. But Benny and his goddamn teasing jump-started the wheels in his head. Did she really have a thing for him?

Better yet, why should he even care?

********

Chapter Four is on its way! Be sure to check out my blog for updates and excerpts. Thanks lovelies!

nerd4music
nerd4music
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12 Comments
AnonymousAnonymousabout 10 years ago
😘

Reading your stories is a welcome change. Thanks nerd! I am so glad i found this. 😘

AnonymousAnonymousover 11 years ago
Wow

Just wow...

babyxmas224babyxmas224almost 13 years ago
Please!

Please post a new chapter! im dying to know what happens! we've all been waiting for months!!!

AnonymousAnonymousabout 13 years ago
WHERE?!

IS CHAPTER 4???? I'VE BEEN PATIENT! I CANT TAKE IT ANY MORE!

please?

ArtFormArtFormabout 13 years ago
Pls pls pls post up the next one soon =(

I don't know how many times I've checked to see if ch 4 is up! Hehe. I really love your style of writing... it's so real! I'm not sure if real ppl are that blunt to each other but the conversations in this series were so engaging that I kept laughing and laughing even though I was reading it at 3am.

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