“I know just the spot,” Brian said, and he beckoned for me to follow him.
I was stunned when Brian and I arrived in the parking lot. I’d never seen so many cars at one house before. It was like the number of cars displayed for sale at a car lot. I knew these weren’t for sale, but I was tempted to ask. Every car looked brand new. They were all luxury cars too. The Rodericks had Ferraris, Rolls Royces, BMWs, Lamborghinis, and other car brands I didn't recognize.
At that moment, I realized how wealthy the family was. Before meeting my new patient, I hadn’t wanted to take the job. I was apprehensive about working for someone with a lot of money and what they might ask me to do, but Brian had changed all that. He opened my eyes to just how enjoyable my new working environment could be.
“Is this enough space?” Brian asked, resting against a car in the fleet.
Instead of responding to the question, I was distracted by his voice. It was the vocal equivalent of a warm glass of milk on a cold Saturday morning, nothing short of soothing.
“Do we need to go somewhere bigger? There's a garden,” Brian suggested, bringing me back to Earth.
“Oh, this is fine,” I responded, trying to comprehend that there was somewhere in the mansion bigger than the parking lot. The parking lot was so huge that all the cars could be parked so that none of them obstructed any of the others.
Brian asked if I needed anything else. I told him that I might need more hands, and he immediately called for some of the house staff. They had so many of them, and about five of them had joined us in no time at all. When they arrived, I stood a short distance in front of Brian and asked him to walk toward me because I needed to make sure he was using the crutches correctly and they were adjusted properly. I told the house staff to stand on both sides and be ready to assist him if he needed it.
He asked to remove his jacket before he started, so one of the house staff helped him keep his balance while he removed his jacket. He had the most beautifully sculpted body I had ever seen.
Brian’s washboard abs were clearly discernible through his white polo shirt. His barrel chest gave him the look of a warrior from ancient Greece. And don’t get me started on his biceps! His arms bulged beneath the hem of his sleeves. He looked like physical perfection.
“Okay, when you use the crutches, you need to be sure to keep all weight off your injured leg, so you will step with the good leg, and then you will use the crutches to keep your weight off the other. See if you can make it to where I’m standing,” I said after exhaling.
Brian inhaled three times before raising himself from the car he was resting against. He had walked out to the parking lot on the crutches, refusing to let anyone help him. When a person is first getting used to them, they can cause pain in the shoulders and underarms. Brian was in good physical shape, but I could tell he was already feeling the discomfort.
I noticed that the crutches were a little short for him, so I stopped him on the fourth step and went over to adjust his crutches while one of the staff members helped him keep his balance. I had him lean against the crutches again to make sure his posture was correctly aligned.
“We can stop now if you want. Using the crutches while they were too short caused extra stress on your back and shoulders. You don't have to do anymore for today,” I said.
“No, I want to finish. I want to come to you.” Brian groaned as he continued moving toward me. I was both impressed and turned on.
The way he’d said, “I want to come to you,” had excited me more than I’d like to admit, and I watched in awe as the man muscled through the discomfort and eventually reached where I was standing.
“I did it,” Brian said with a smile. He raised his head, so we were face to face. Our eyes locked, and the feeling of the world standing still returned as we admired each other's features. We stood there mesmerized. I wanted to break the silence. I searched for something to say, but words failed me.
“How's it going?” Mr. Coleman asked from a balcony I hadn’t noticed until I heard him speak.
“It's going great, sir,” I responded swiftly. Mr. Coleman’s voice had been the distraction I needed to break from the spell. I moved away from where I was standing and reached for my bag to get an exercise mat, so I could teach Brian some exercises that would loosen up the muscles in his affected leg and increase mobility.
***
“Thank you, Ariana. I feel better than before you arrived this morning,” Brian said as I was getting ready to leave after the day’s session. We were in the living room. I had sat as far away from him as possible, so I could keep my wits about me and communicatewhat needed to be done before I came back tomorrow.
“You’re welcome. You did great for your first day. You might have some pain and stiffness in the morning after the amount of exercise you’ve done today, but if you continue at this pace, your sessions will become shorter sooner than I expected,” I responded, getting up to leave.
“I can't wait.” Brian groaned.
“Oh, my goodness, Claudia!” I said upon returning home and finding Claudia watching TV.
“What—you didn't like this patient either?” Claudia turned down the volume on the TV.
I sat down on the couch and stared at Claudia, trying to find the words to describe my experience; I didn't know where to start. I didn't know if I should begin with the insane wealth from which I’d returned or the dreamy man I’d encountered there.
“Well?” Claudia said, her patience growing thin.
“Well, first of all, he was no old man. Brian Peterson Rodericks is a tall, heavily muscled, beautiful man with long, dark hair who crashed his Ferrari.” I stared off into space, recalling how our gazes had locked on each other when he came to me in the parking lot.
“Sounds intriguing,” Claudia said, as she dropped the TVremote and gave me her full attention. She had never heard me speak about a man like that before.
“Claudia, they're loaded, like, Forbes list loaded. They have every luxury car I've ever heard of. They even have ones I never knew existed. Then there’s my patient.” I paused.