“No husband, no boyfriend, and this is my life,” Krista replied, holding up her camera. “If I make Mr. Johnson happy with this, he’ll sponsor other ideas that I have.”
“But 24/7,” Zach said. “I live in a small efficiency apartment. I don’t have much money. The MMA insurance will help me while I’m under concussion suspension protocols, but…”
“I won’t cost you anything,” Krista said. “I’ll chip in for my share of everything. You’ve got a sofa, right?”
“My sofa is my fold-out bed,” Zach replied.
“I see,” Krista said. “Good thing I’m small, then.”
Krista was at the hospital the next day in time to see the doctor explaining to Zach how he needed to behave for the next week, which was heavy on doing nothing and resting a lot. He warned that there could be dizziness and balance problems, as well as headaches. Zach seemed decidedly uncomfortable with Krista there taking pictures the whole time.
“Look, I’m not so sure that this is a good idea,” Zach said as Krista drove him from the hospital.
“Why, are you dangerous?” Krista asked. “Do I need to be afraid of you?”
“Of course not,” Zach replied.
“Unless you have something personal about me, or a girl, staying with you,” Krista said.
“It’s not that,” Zach said.
“Are you worried about not being able to control yourself and having your way with me?” she asked with faux, innocent, wide-eyed wonder. “You’d better not be thinking anything like that. I heard what the doctor said; no physical exertion of any kind for at least a week.”
“Debate team,” Zach sighed. “Hey, how did you know…” he started to ask when she parked in front of his apartment building.
“A good photojournalist isn’t going to go anywhere unless they know how to do research,” Krista said. “Hey, you okay?” she asked when she saw him get out of the car and stand up, then take a step forward and seem to almost lose his balance.
“Just a bit woozy,” Zach said, grateful for her arm around his waist, his falling across her shoulders. “How tall are you?” he asked, looking down at her.
“5’1″,” Krista replied. “You’re 6’4″ and 200lbs, according to the MMA handout.”
Using her off hand, trying to keep her oversized bag from slipping from her shoulder, Krista was taking pictures the whole time as they entered the building and pressed the button for the elevator. She noticed the very worn carpeting in the hallway when they exited on the third floor and the general shoddy appearance of the place as they made their way to Zach’s apartment.
“I thought you said your place was small,” Krista said when he opened the door. “This is microscopic. Small would be a major improvement.”
“Like I said,” Zach said, dropping onto the sofa with a sigh. “But it’s cheap.”
“I’ve seen messier places,” Krista said as she looked around.
“You really don’t have to be with me 24/7, you know,” Zach said. “You can spend an hour or two with me once or twice a day and get what you need.”
“Not and capture the reality of what you’re going through,” Krista said, shaking her head. “Besides, the way you were walking, it might be a good idea to stick around, make sure that you don’t have a problem. I want to set the camera up as a video, just let it run, okay?”
“Whatever you need to do,” Zach said. “I think I need to lay down for a bit.”
“You don’t have any food,” Krista said after opening the small refrigerator and looking inside. “Or anything to drink. Is there a store nearby?” she asked as she attached a mini-tripod to the camera and set it on top of the small refrigerator, pointing at the sofa.
“Just around the corner,” Zach said as he stretched out on the sofa.
“I’ll go get something as soon as I get this hooked up,” Krista said, pulling her MacBook out of her bag and attaching some cables from the camera to the laptop, then booting it up and starting Final Cut Pro, synching it to the camera’s feed. “I’ll be right back,” she said when she had everything set up to her satisfaction.
When Krista returned 30 minutes later with some groceries, Zach was asleep. Having only a hotplate and a pot to work with, Krista heated up the soup that she had gotten at the deli, then found a bowl to pour some of it into.
“That smells great,” Zach said from behind her on the sofa.
“I’ll take credit for heating it up,” Krista said, finding a spoon and taking the bowl and spoon over to him as he sat up.
“Sorry that I don’t have much in the way of a kitchen,” Zach apologized. “I tend to have enough for myself.”
“I eat from the pot or pan all the time,” Krista said, joining him on the sofa, using a martial arts magazine that she found on the floor to insulate her lap from the hot pot. “It saves on washing dishes.”
“How come a hot chick like you isn’t married or with a boyfriend?” Zach asked. “Are you some crazy bitch or are you into women or something?”
“Paybacks are hell,” Krista laughed. “I don’t mind women, but I prefer men, though I’ve just never met one that I wanted to spend much time with. Mostly they’re just good for a fuck. What about you? You’re not exactly ugly, you know.”
“No time, no money,” Zach replied. “Besides, I’m always training.”
“But you do like girls, right?” Krista asked. “I mean, it’s not a problem if you’re into guys. I won’t put it into the story. It’s not really that uncommon in MMA, you know.”
“Really?” Zach replied. “I-I didn’t realize… I like girls just fine.”
“That’s good,” Krista said. “I’ll clean this up,” she said, taking his empty bowl from him. “Why don’t you take a shower? It’ll make you feel better. Then we can open this thing so that I don’t have to sleep on the floor.”