A step back?

The next morning, Paul and Molly both woke upped with a groan. “On, man. I’m glad you were able to work on my legs, but I still feel like I was pulled in 3 directions & still groggy.”

“Ya, that sun seems really bright this morning,” Molly concured, “and what do you mean ‘work on your legs’?? Is that your glad for, Sir?” she said grinning up at him.

“Oh, trust me, that is a glorious memory,” he corrected. “And, don’t get me wrong, you are amazingly talented and I love the things you do with your mouth, but last night seemed really exceptional.”

Molly grinned proudly and licked along his nipple, “ya, that massage oil tasted really good too, but it really seemed to enhance your flavor,” giggling a bit, “it was a great bouquet of flavors that complemented each other well; my compliments to the chef.”

“We’re not doing that again,” Paul chuckled. As he looked at the clock, “oh, crud! You gotta get to work, hun!”

“oh, frick! I forgot it was Friday,” she exclaimed as she dashed around to get dressed.

Paul got up and tossed together a breakfast to go for her and was rewarded with a deep kiss as she took it to go out the door, “God, I wish I could stay here and have leftovers, Sir.”

“Get to work, slut,” he smiled with appreciate.

Pouting she left with a giggle, “yes, Sir. All yours.”

Feeling all his tight muscles, Paul checked there was nothing pressing on his work mail, and switched into his trainer outfit to try to stretch out some kinks. He did what he could, but was afraid of pushing too much so tried responding to some e-mails.

The chair felt extra cold under his bare thighs and a little chilled without the vest, but he was able to get some focus and get back to work.

Before long, he got the Gadget, vest, & trainer sneakers, and moved over to kneel at his spot and tried to spread his knees to the new marks, but the tension was still making it hard to get to even with stretching this morning.

“Hey, Paulie. How are doing today?”

Jumping a little in surprise, Paul responded, “Hello, Trainer Bill. Doing alright, but feeling a little tight & sore from yesterday.”

“Well, understandable. We spent a lot of time doing it yesterday, and I can see you’re not quite back to the goal. We’ll keep pushing some today, but you need to get beyond those points and further.”

“Yes, Trainer Bill. Where to first?” <BUZZZZZ>

“Like the eagerness; start with some stretches and let's work on holding them at the extension point. See if you can push a little past that.”

“Yes, Trainer Bill.”

After several good iterations of stretches, Bill moved Paul over to the treadmill and continued the walking and voice training.

Just a few steps into, Bill stopped it with a quick <<buzz buzz>>.

“Yes, Trainer Bill?” Paul responded stopping the voice track to listen to him, but keeping up the pace.

“K, you’re not hobbling along in the shoes, but your steps are really-wide; you’re forgetting to pull them in to help roll your hips.”

“Sorry, Trainer Bill.” Paul quickly changes back to trying to walk closer to a straight line and remember the motions Bill took him through.

“That’s better. Something is still off, but I’ll keep an eye on it. Continue with your vocals, Paulie.”

“Yes, Trainer Bill,” Paul tapped his ear and tried to focus on his steps, “I am beautiful. I am wonderful...”

This continued several times with Bill trying to use the gadget to remind him, occasionally stopping the vocals, but still not quite there & the voice still left a lot to be desired for him.

Finally, the time was up and Bill went ahead & stopped him to close out.

Paul knelt in position, and looked up at Bill on screen and could see disappointment in his trainer.

“I’m sorry, Trainer Bill. I’ll try to do better.”

“No, that’s not it, Paulie. There is something else going on and I haven’t full got my finger on it.”

Paul looked at him intently and tried quietly moving his knees apart.

“You’ve made progress since the beginning, there is no doubt about that.”

“Thank you, Trainer Bill,” Paul replied enthusiastically and was rewarded with a <<BUZZZZZ>

“But instead of extending well beyond where you were earlier this week, it seems like you’ve backslid a bit.”

“yes, Trainer Bill.”

“Have you been stretching and working out outside of our sessions?”

“Oh, yes, Trainer Bill!” came the energetic response.

“K, what about about on the weekends.”

“Well,” Paul started timidly, “sometimes, Trainer Bill.”

“K,” Bill sighed heavily & looked down at his notes, while Paul deflated a bit, “you don’t need to live and breathe this, but I think you need to make sure you’re not just going through the motions when you work out.”

“Yes, Trainer Bill.”

“Try to push and extend yourself a little bit even if I’m not there. Don’t back off just because it hurts a little; use the pain to push yourself that extra inch.”

“Yes, Trainer Bill,” Paul tried to enthusiastically focus and listened closely to the critiques from his trainer to ensure he did better before him.

“Spend some time this weekend doing your stretches. Even if its just watching TV or something. Instead of sitting on the couch, pull out a map and stretch while you watch.”

“Yes, Trainer Bill. I will.”

Glancing through his notes for other details, Bill absentmindedly responded, “Good... good girl.... also, see if there is something about your vocals. The words and pronunciation is there, but something about the pitch is still telling.”

“Yes, Trainer Bill,” felt the odd <<buzz>> in the middle of Bill’s speech. I’ll look for more tips on vocals.”

“Good, good,” Bill closes his notes, “well, I think that’s all for today. You have a good weekend; ok, Paulie?”

“Yes, Trainer Bill. Good-bye"

Paul could feel a lump in his stomach like he just screwed up a project for a client. Standing up, he went through some stretches to try to see how far he could pull himself and tried walking around the apartment a few times to see if he could keep his foot falls right.

Noticing the time, he took care to put his training outfit away and do some laundry, before getting some dinner together.

Molly came bounding in with a couple of large bags from the local hardware store.

“Hey, hun, need some help?” Paul inquired as he moved toward her.

“NO!” She quickly quipped, “um, stay there. It’s a surprise,” Turned to toss the bags in the garage.

“K,” Paul chuckled.

“Should I even ask ‘what’?”

“No, Sir, it’s a surprise,” she said beaming, “but I’ll show you tomorrow.”

“Ok,” he said kissing her, “ready for dinner?”

“STARVING!!” She responded emphatically. “I feel like I’ve been hungry and exhausted all day.”

“Well, hope you enjoy it.”

They spent the dinner together with only the occasional cooking quip before finally relaxing together on the couch. Paul almost felt antsy while sitting but could feel sleep pulling him down.

Turning in to bed early, they rested up for a previously unscheduled weekend.