Moments Lost and Found (13 page)

 “And?” James prodded.

 “And what I saw, and what I
read was great. I have to admit, I was a huge fan of
The Badge
, so I was
so excited when I heard you were working on a new series.” She paused and then
continued, “It takes a true creative visionary to be able to come up with a completely
new show, new characters, a new story. I imagine that after working on
The
Badge
, after all those seasons, that those characters become part of your
life, especially on a show like that where it was so real, so to be able to not
let their personalities bleed into your new characters has to be very, very
challenging.”

James nodded, “Challenging is a nice
euphemism.” And the three of them chuckled. “You seem to get it. It’s like,
after these people being in your life for six years, day in, day out, just one
day the door closes and you never see them again. It really takes time, for me
at least, to say goodbye to them.” He looked around like he was making sure no
one was listening and then said, “I still have dreams where they’re so real
that I wake up and feel like I’ve got to write another episode, but I can’t
because the show’s over. It’s this odd sensation like the characters are buried
alive but they still have more to say.” He smiled and then said, “I know, I
must sound like I’m a little too invested in people who don’t exist.”

 “Not at all,” Sam said.

Laurent chimed in, “It’s why your
work is so good. If your characters weren’t worth missing, I doubt we’d be
standing here premiering
The Greater Good
.” James chuckled and clapped
him on the back again.

 “And that’s why I’m glad this
is on your network.” James looked at Sam and said, “This man doesn’t pull any
punches,” gesturing towards Laurent, “After our first meeting, I got in my car
and said to myself, we have to work together. That was the first pitch in my
entire career where no one blew smoke up my ass.” They all laughed.

 “Speaking of which, I should
go over there.” James said as he rolled his eyes and motioned to some industry
folks. “Really nice to meet you, Sam. Hope you enjoy the show.”

 “You too, James. And I have no
doubt I will.” They all exchanged handshakes and James moved through the crowd
to mingle.

Laurent leaned in and whispered into
Sam’s ear, “You remind me at every turn why I love you so much.” Sam was taken
aback. It wasn’t that he hadn’t told her before that he loved her, but it
wasn’t like him to be so effusive. And especially not in public. She looked at
him with furrowed brows, so he explained, “You’re very impressive, Samantha.”

 “Not just arm candy?” she
smirked.

 “Not just arm candy,
Cheri
.
You’re the entire meal.” He said as he squeezed her and they made their way
into the theatre.

Laurent made good on his promise of
self-defense lessons, not that Sam had any doubt that he would. Sam tried to
persuade him to let the trainer come to her house, in the privacy of her home,
but he wanted to be there, to make sure she was getting trained properly. Sam
couldn’t argue as it was a gift. She knew his heart was in the right place,
that he just wanted her safe, though she did think he was over-reacting. She,
after all, was the LA native. She was the one who had ferocious pit bulls. And
she was still a relative nobody. No stalkers, no enemies, no reason to think
she’d be a target more than anyone else. But none of that mattered. Laurent
wanted her to be able to protect herself, “when I’m not there to protect you.”

Sam couldn’t help but stifle a
laugh. She knew he was in amazing shape and trained with a trainer five days a
week. But Laurent Román truly fighting off a bad guy? She just couldn’t see it.
Not, of course, that she’d ever say anything even close to that to him. He was
a man after all, and she knew that his ego, while well deserved, still needed
stroking.

So, self-defense lessons it was. Sam
begrudgingly knew it wasn’t a bad idea at all. Partially because she grew up in
this town, she had seen it change and knew friends who had been attacked. Sam
always had a macho streak in her, partly because she had always worked out, she
was always fit and strong for a woman. And she knew how to carry herself. She
walked with purpose, head up, strong stride, all the things that women know
they should do. But, she also knew that as strong as she was, men were simply
physically stronger than women. Period.

It was a Saturday morning when the
trainer arrived. Sam was in running tights and a tight fitted running tank top.
They’d be working out in Laurent’s home gym, so she figured this apparel was
appropriate. Laurent seemed to appreciate it too, being that it showed off all
of Sam. That is, until the trainer arrived. It wasn’t someone Laurent had ever
worked with. This man, Craig, was a self-defense specialist recommended by
Laurent’s regular trainer, Jeff.

Craig was, in a word, gorgeous.
Model gorgeous. Sports model gorgeous. Laurent, at 6’2” was typically the
tallest man in the room. When Craig walked in, he easily had an inch, maybe two
on Laurent. And that wasn’t all. He also was at least 15 years younger than
him, maybe more, with broader, more muscular shoulders. And, he could have been
a professional model. So, he was young, built, beyond handsome, and strong. Sam
laughed to herself that this would be a very interesting first, and likely
last, training session with Craig. She remembered back to Laurent’s first
meeting with Mark, and how he acted. Mark, while good looking, wasn’t even
overt about his physicality. Craig, on the other hand, well, that was his job.
And damn if just by the looks of things, he did it well.

Sam had a hard time not staring at
him. Every time she did, she turned to see Laurent looking at her. Early on, as
he was demonstrating something, Craig asked, “Is there something wrong?” to
Laurent.

Laurent said, “Give us a moment.” No
‘please’, no ‘thank you’. He pulled Sam aside and said, “Samantha, I see you find
him attractive the way you keep staring at him.”

Sam couldn’t stifle her laugh,
“Laurent! He’s demonstrating moves and showing me how to do things. I’m
supposed to look at him!”

 “
Merde
.” He said as he
sighed, shifted his weight from foot to foot knowing Sam was right but not
liking the situation any more because of it.

 “Laurent,” she said, but his
gaze drifted towards Craig as he stiffened, “Laurent!” Sam said louder, which
got his attention. He turned back to her, “Don’t worry about him. He’s here to train
me, remember? This was your idea!” Laurent actually rolled his eyes which made
Sam laugh again, earning a scowl from him.

 “So, you’re just looking at
him because he’s your trainer? Nothing more?” Laurent asked, some might have
thought it was less of a question and more of a command.

Insecurity wasn’t a personality
trait of Laurent’s, so hearing him ask that question and seeing him like this,
Sam knew the situation could tip either way. The fact was, this Craig was f-ing
gorgeous and as much as Sam loved Laurent, she didn’t mind looking at the
physical specimen that was Craig. “Yes, Laurent, nothing more. He’s my, our,
trainer. Period.”

Laurent ran his hands through his
hair and acquiesced, “Ok. But I swear if he tries anything.” Sam, again had to
hold back her laughter.
If he tries anything
, she thought,
he’d win,
cause he’s a damn trainer training us in self-defense!

But Sam just nodded, smiled and then
lifted up onto her tippy toes to plant a quick kiss on is lips, a subtle
reminder that she was his.

They resumed their training. Craig
spent about an hour showing Sam some basic moves. He also explained that part
of self-defense was obviously physical, but part of it was emotional and
mental. He explained that he would not only simulate physical attacks, but also
‘play the attacker’ in terms of verbal assaults. His goal was to make it as
real as possible. He also explained that there are ways to mentally and
emotionally protect oneself and that talking down an attacker sometimes worked
along with the physical. Of course, if someone was going to try to hurt someone
else, talking might not do anything to change the situation. But Craig wanted
to offer as many solutions to as many possible situations as could be
presented.

After running through three options
for getting away from an attacker coming up from behind, Craig suggested, “Ok,
now try them on me. I’m your attacker.” Laurent had been observing everything,
but giving them a respectable distance so as not to crowd them.

Craig came up to Sam from behind and
grabbed her. Sam tried to implement some of the moves that Craig had showed
her, but in a quick instant he had her pinned, throwing her to the ground. He
was on top of her, looking down at her as he held her wrists in his hands and
pinned her legs with his. Even though this was make believe, Sam went into
survival mode, struggling to buck him off, but she was no match for him. And it
was already too late. All the moves Craig had shown were to prevent her from
getting into this position in the first place. Sam hoped that lesson number two
would be what to do when / if this happened again.

Craig started taunting her, not
because he was mean, but he wanted this scenario to be as real as possible, “Oh
yeah, baby, you like it rough too? That’s right, just try to break free.” He
even chuckled as he looked down at her. “What, cat got your tongue? Come on,
you know you want it, wearing that little tank top and those, what are those?
Yoga pants? God I love those. Can see every curve.”

Sam was struggling at this point.
She knew it was fake but she was going along with the scene and wanted to fight
him off, “Fuck you. Get the fuck off me.”

 “See, I knew you liked it
rough!” was the last thing Craig said before Laurent yanked him off of Sam.

 “Whoa, whoa, wait, Laurent,
hold on there.” Craig was saying, arms up, as Laurent tried to pick a fight
with him, “Laurent, look at me, I wasn’t attacking her. I was pretending. I
just wanted to see what she’d do in that situation. Dude, I’m not the bad guy.”

Laurent was panting after exerting
himself but mostly because his adrenaline was sky high. He couldn’t help how he
reacted. Finally, he let go of Craig and walked towards the corner of the gym,
pacing for a moment while he ran his hands through his hair muttering to himself.
Craig took the opportunity to help Sam up. He reached down offering her a hand
but she shook him off knowing that if Laurent saw, his mind might start reeling
again. She just smiled sheepishly and got up on her own.

Laurent came back over, looking
Craig in the eyes and said, “Thank you, I think that’s all we’ll need from
you.” Sam could tell that Laurent wasn’t just pissed, it was more than that.
She knew that it was rare that Laurent couldn’t control a given situation.
Obviously, his solution to control this situation was to end it.
Not a
terribly mature response
, Sam thought.

As Laurent started to walk away, Sam
put a hand on Craig’s forearm, silently telling him to stay. Sam then walked
over to Laurent. “Laurent, he was just doing his job.”

 “I don’t like someone like
him, here, doing that to you.”

 “Laurent, he wasn’t
doing
anything to me. He was assessing how I would react in a similar situation so he
could train me.” Sam then turned and addressed Craig, “Craig, you were just
doing your job, right?

 “Yes, ma’am.”

 “Can I ask you a few
questions? I’m afraid we might have gotten off on the wrong foot here and
before we make any decisions, I just want to make sure we have all the
pertinent information, ok?” Craig nodded, “So, I’m going to guess you’re ex-military,
right?”

Craig straightened, put his
shoulders back and nodded, adding, “Yes, ma’am.” Which sealed the deal.

 “And I’m going to guess that
you weren’t just regular military. Judging by your discretion and how you’ve
handled this situation, assessing both of us, I’m guessing you were special ops
or seals or something on that order. I know you probably don’t want or can’t
tell me specifics, but am I in the ballpark?” Craig just nodded. Sam nodded in
acknowledgment and said, “I thought so.”

 “And Craig, is it a safe bet
that if we were to hire another trainer from the service that employs you, that
we’d be sent someone similar?” Now both men looked at her, “Big, strong,
commanding, knows his shit and is here to perform a duty.”

 “Yes, ma’am.”

 “I see.” Sam turned to
Laurent, “This is what you paid for, Laurent. You wanted someone like Craig to
come and train me to defend myself. So whether it’s Craig or someone else, at
some point you’re going to see a big, strapping young man on top of me, goading
me to get me to react, am I right, Craig?”

He nodded again, almost sheepishly
now and replied, “Yes, ma’am.”

 “Craig, were you trying to
hurt me?” Sam asked suddenly.

 “No ma’am!” he said as if he
were responding to a drill sergeant.

 “Craig, were you trying to
come on to me?”

 “No, ma’am.” This time, he got
it and was less offended by the question.

 “Laurent, I like the idea of
learning self defense. And I like Craig. We can try someone else, but I don’t
think you’re going to find someone who’s at his caliber, but ugly, old and
weak.” She paused, seeing that she was actually getting through to him. “Do you
want to try someone new?” Laurent looked at her and then looked at Craig, and
asked,

 “This is your job, correct?”

 “Yes, sir.”

 “And what you were doing to my
girlfriend, my Samantha,” he pulled her to him, “That was just part of the
exercise?”

 “Yes, sir. I am not here to
hurt her. I’m here to help her.”

Laurent exhaled loudly and then
looked at Sam, “You like the idea of learning how to defend yourself?” he asked
softly.

 “Yes. Once again, you were
right.” She smiled sweetly at him. “Laurent, imagine how I could have kicked
the crap out of all those paparazzi in Paris if I’d had the training.” Sam knew
that was a low blow, going for such a sensitive subject, but she needed him to
imagine the benefit of this training in a real situation, not just in theory.

Laurent took a moment, and then
turned to Craig and said, “Craig, I apologize. I saw a man on top of my woman,
and I couldn’t see anything else.” Laurent held out his hand, which Craig
accepted. Even if Craig didn’t realize it, Sam knew it was rare that Laurent
was wrong, or in a position where he felt he needed to apologize to anyone. Sam
knew that, in and of itself, was huge.

 “Mr. Román, I understand. And,
if you’ll let me do my job, I’ll make sure that at the end of a few months,
your ‘woman’ will be able to kick my ass.” Craig said with a lopsided smile.
Laurent laughed and nodded.

 “Ok, I’ll look forward to
seeing that. Now, let’s continue.”

Sam came to look forward to her
workouts with Craig, even though they were all under the watchful supervision
of Laurent. They were a nice addition to her workout routine, but more than
that, she liked the fact that she was learning something new and feeling more and
more confident about her ability to defend herself. Up until working out with
Craig, she had never realized just how little she really did know when it came
to self-defense. Obviously, she hoped she’d never have to use what she was
learning, and she also knew that everything Craig was showing her, even as real
as he tried to make it, she knew it was all simulated and choreographed.

Sam tried not to focus on Laurent
during the workouts. Whenever she would look over at him, Craig would use that
opportunity to get her, and remind her to stay focused. “It’s simple
distractions when we let our guard down, those can be our downfall.” He would
say. Sam thought to herself,
my whole life I’ve had my guard up. Ironic that
now, I let it down with Laurent and I’m being told to put it back up again.

She knew that Laurent both loved and
hated watching their training sessions. She knew he took pride in watching her
get better and more skilled, but watching her with Craig never seemed to get
easier for him. Not that they ever discussed it after that first session, but
Laurent’s mere presence made it perfectly clear that, even though it was
Craig’s job to touch, grab, pin and be physical with Sam, he hated seeing
another man like that with her. It wasn’t just seeing another man touching her,
Sam thought. It was having to hold himself back from being the one who
protected her. She knew that his instinct was to step in and take care of her,
of any situation. So to stay back on the sidelines and watch went against every
part of his nature.