More Nights With Kate (Jack Ryker) (16 page)

“I’m starving, but I’ll need a few minutes.”

“Of course, I’ll let him know that we’ll be down in a
while,” Jack said, running his hand along my cheek.

He always makes me feel better
.

~~~

As we sat down to a wonderful dinner that punctuated a
fantastic afternoon with Jack, I just couldn’t shake the pit in my
stomach.  No matter how much I tried not to think about Dad, I couldn’t
avoid it.  Angry, frustrated feelings kept rising to the surface and the
same thoughts were playing over and over in my head. 
He deserted us.
 I’m not returning his call.  Maybe I’ll call Mom instead.

“Are you alright?” Jack asked, as I continued to be consumed
by my thoughts.

“If you were in his shoes, what would you have said to
me?”  I asked, wanting some fatherly insight.

“First of all, I would never be in his position. 
However, if I were, I would’ve started out by saying how sorry I was for
abandoning you.  Then I would’ve simply told you that I’m here for you if
you ever needed to talk.”

“But that’s not what he did.  He didn’t even wish me a
happy Valentine’s Day.  All he said was that his call was important and
that I needed to return it right away.  Who does that?”

“If I were you, I would send him a text saying that you
appreciate his concern, but you are doing just fine.  Then simply wish him
a nice Valentine’s Day,” he replied with a solemn look.

“I was considering just calling Mom and giving him a message
through her.  However, I like your idea better.  I’ll send Mom a text
wishing her a Happy Valentine’s Day as well.  I’m not going to say
anything about Dad.  I’ll wait to see if she asks about it.”

“If she brings it up, then you’ll assume that she tipped him
off?”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

“Well, don’t jump to conclusions.  He could’ve just
heard about it.  We did make the
Daily News
after all,” Jack
replied, placing his hand on mine.

~~~

After dinner, Jack agreed to watch
The Notebook
with
me.  It’s one of my favorite movies of all time.  After a long day of
misadventure, sun and sex, followed by a great meal and a glass of wine, Jack
was having one hell of a time keeping his eyes open.  It reminded me of
how my dad would crash in his recliner after a tough day at the office, back
when we lived in the old house.  
The good old days, as Mom would
call them.

“Come on, old man, I’ll tuck you in,” I teased, as I pulled
him from the love seat.

“I woke up too early this morning,” he retaliated.

“I know, it has been a long day,” I said, as I helped him
out of his clothes and into bed. 
Our life is going to be an adventure,
but we’ll have to make sure to get all of the excitement in before 10 pm.
 
I joked to myself before leaving him with a kiss. 

“I’m going to watch the rest of my movie if that’s alright.”

“No problem, sweetie.  Sorry to crash on you.”

I didn’t mind, actually.  It had been a full day and I
needed to think about what I wanted to say to Dad.  My initial reaction
was to tell him to fuck off and go away, but I reconsidered. 
I know
that Mom wasn’t easy to live with and it wasn’t his fault that the entire credit
market collapsed.  He knew that she would never let him live it
down.  He had no choice but to leave.
  I wanted to let him know
that everything was all right, while gracefully telling him that I didn’t need
any fatherly advice.

I wrote: 

Hey Dad… I was surprised to hear from you earlier. 
First of all, I understand why you left us.  You were in a no win
situation and I can’t say that I blame you for fleeing.  It was a very
hard time for Mom, Belinda, and me, but we got through it together. 
Although I’m not happy with the decisions you made, I forgive you.  I’m
not going to carry a grudge because I really do understand.  You may want
to talk to Belinda, though.  If anyone has ‘daddy issues,’ it’s her. 
She’s not as strong as me.  My life is good and there is no reason for you
to be concerned.  Take care and give my best to your new wife.  Love,
Kate

I should’ve replied by email instead of text
message.  T
ears continued to flow down my face as I tried to turn my
attention back to the movie
.  I do understand why you left Mom, but you
should have stayed in touch with Belinda and me.  A father should never
abandon his kids, it’s just not right.  No visits, no birthday cards, no
phone calls…there is no excuse for that.  Just go away, Dad.

February 15, 2012 5:00 am

Jack

I woke up exhilarated once again, feeling as if my whole
life was ahead of me.  It was in such stark contrast to how I had felt
just six weeks ago when I had awoken to another New Year. 
It’s amazing
how much difference one person can make in your life...  for better or for
worse.
  With our first lover’s holiday behind us, it was time to focus
on getting our business affairs in order.  Brandon was in L.A. meeting
with a few key merchandisers and I needed to get back in touch with Rich to see
if he was interested in raising some private equity. 
If we are going
to take on my nemesis, we will need more initial capital.

After downing a protein shake, I got on the elliptical for a
little interval training.  Up to this point, I had just used the
treadmill, but I felt so good, I decided that it was time to take it to the
next level.  During my recuperation week, I had been doing research on
various interval-training techniques.  The one that really appealed to me
was called Sprint 8.  The developer of the program had a YouTube video
that demonstrated how to do it.  It was a quick 20 minute workout, which
was very appealing to me.  In his second video, he interviewed guests who
talked about the incredible results that they were getting in just 8
weeks. 
That appeals to me, too.
  The results seemed
miraculous and participants claimed that it felt as if they had found the
Fountain of Youth.  The part that really caught my attention, though, was
the surge in growth hormone that occurred as a result of doing the
workout.  Over the past year, I had done a lot of research on hormones,
and the key to youth was definitely growth hormone.

The workout seemed simple enough.  Warm up for a few
minutes, go as hard as you can for 30 seconds, and then recuperate for a minute
and a half before going all out for another 30 seconds.  After repeating
the cycle eight times, the 20 minute workout was over.  Then I would just
have to cool down for a few minutes and I would be done for two or three
days.  He stressed that I couldn’t do it more than three times per week,
which was music to my ears as well.

My intent on that first day was to limit myself to two or
three cycles, then increase by one cycle each time I did the workout. 
Within a couple of weeks, I would be able to do the entire workout. 
However after doing my first two cycles, I felt incredible; it was great to get
my blood flowing again. 
I’m going to do four cycles. 
After the
fourth cycle, my heart rate was peaking at about 165 beats per minute, which
was something I wouldn’t have dared to do prior to the pacemaker.  I
coasted for two full minutes and it dropped back down to 145, just as it was
supposed to.  I decided to do a fifth cycle. 
I can’t believe how
good this feels.  I haven’t worked out this hard since my football days.

Needless to say, after the fifth cycle, I felt as if I was
in the home stretch.  There were only three more to go and everything felt
just fine.  Eva always gave me hell about that particular character
flaw.  I had never been able to ease into anything.  Regardless of
what it was, I always went all out or I didn’t do it at all.  By the end
of the eighth cycle, I was glad to be done, and was rather proud of myself for
completing it. 
Starting out with two or three cycles… that advice was
obviously for wimps.  It wasn’t that hard,
I thought as I hopped off
the elliptical and went over to the treadmill for a five minute cool down
session.

My cardiologist had told me how important it was to cool
down after a hard workout.  The goal was to bring your heart rate back
down gradually to about 125.  Honestly, it was advice that I had never
needed to use in the past.  As I started to cool down, everything was going
just as planned.  I watched my pulse slowly drop to 150, then 145, then
140, before my body suddenly turned on me. 
Oh my god.
  My
stomach began to burn with an intensity that I hadn’t felt in a long, long
time.  I pressed the emergency stop button and stumbled off the treadmill
feeling like I suddenly had the flu. 
Oh shit, this isn’t good.

I thought about going to a different bathroom so I wouldn’t
disturb Kate, but there was no way I would’ve made it.  By the time I made
it through the door, my head was spinning and I felt as if I had just polished
off a whole bottle of bad scotch. 
My god, I’m going to be sick. 
Am I having a heart attack?  This was so fucking stupid.  What the
hell was I thinking?

Kate

I awoke to the sound of Jack getting sick in the
bathroom. 
Oh shit, he has the flu,
was the first thought that went
through my mind.  I heard him groan and cough after which I leapt to my
feet fearing something far worse was going on. 
He always coughs when
he’s having irregular heartbeats.

“Are you alright?” I asked, as I opened the door and found
him on the floor leaning over the toilet.

“I’ll be alright… just give me a minute,” he gasped looking
as if he was having a heart attack or something.  He was all red, sweating
profusely, and when he looked up at, me his eyes were completely dilated. 
This can’t be good.

I scrambled to the dresser to retrieve my phone and the
first relevant number I saw was Carla’s. 
She knows CPR and how to use
that defibrillator
, I thought as Carla groggily answered my call.

“Carla, I think Jack is having a heart attack.  Please
hurry,” I pleaded, feeling a sense of panic wash over me. 
I should’ve
learned to use a defibrillator.  I need Carla to give me a refresher on
CPR, too.

“Are you okay?” I asked once again, as I returned to the
bathroom to find Jack with his head on his arm braced against the toilet seat.

“I’m not having a heart attack.  I just overdid it on
the elliptical machine,” he said, still looking as if he was on the verge of
something horrible.  Much to my relief, I heard someone running down the
hallway towards our room. 

“Is he conscious?” Carla asked, as she burst through the
door with her portable AED kit in hand.

“Yes, he’s on the floor.  He says he’s fine,” I
replied, moving to give her room.  “Thanks for coming so fast.”

“I just overdid it on the elliptical machine,” Jack
reiterated, as Carla quickly surveyed the situation. 

“What the hell were you doing on that?” she asked, as she
looked over all of the beads of sweat that had dripped on the toilet lid as
well as floor around him.

“It’s a workout called Sprint 8.  It’s interval
training,” he replied, as his symptoms appeared to ease a bit.

“Sprint 8?  Are you crazy?  You just had a heart
attack last week,” she replied with a look of shock on her face.

“It wasn’t a heart attack, and my heart is fine.  I
just got an incredible stomach ache after doing it,” he explained, brushing
aside her concern.

“Have you eaten anything this morning?” she asked, as she
checked his blood pressure.

“I had a protein shake, but I probably should’ve eaten
something, too.”

“How hard were you going at it?”

“I went all out for 30 seconds a few times.  It felt
really good at the time.  During the cool down, I suddenly felt like I was
going to throw up.  It almost felt like I was drunk or something.”

“It sounds like an overload of lactic acid… you were
definitely working out way too hard,” she replied, shaking her head and still
looking a bit shocked.

“I’m starting to feel better.  I just need a protein
bar or something,” Jack said, as he staggered to his feet.  “Maybe we
should go have some breakfast.”

Even though Jack hadn’t admitted it at first, I immediately
knew that he had done the whole workout.  He had watched those video
several times and I knew that he wanted to get started as soon as
possible. 
I never imagined it would be this soon.  
As
Jack wiped the sweat from his brow and threw on a clean shirt, I began to
realize that he was completely convinced that there was nothing wrong with his
heart. 
In a couple of days, he will be back on that elliptical
machine.  Hopefully, he will use a little more restraint.

Jack

Ever since my experience with the light, I somehow knew that
there was nothing wrong with my heart.  I knew that Kate and everyone else
around me still looked at me as being sick, but I wasn’t. 
I know that
this wasn’t the safest way to prove my point, but there is definitely nothing
wrong with my heart.  It didn’t skip a single beat!

“You did the full workout, didn’t you?” Kate asked as we sat
down to breakfast.

“What do you think?”

“I know that you did.  I could tell last week that you
were dying to try it out.”

“You’ve already got me figured out, huh?”

“Yeah, I’ve almost completed the six week crash course,” she
replied with a shimmer in her eyes.

“I was able to hold my heart rate between 145 and 165 for
the full workout,” I admitted, as I dug into another less than spectacular egg
white omelet.

“Seriously, Jack?  Were you trying to kill yourself?”
Kate asked with the same look of shock Carla had displayed earlier.

“No.  I knew that the pacemaker would kick in if
anything got out of whack; otherwise, I wouldn’t have done it.  I just
needed to prove it to myself, as well as to you.  I don’t want anything to
stand in the way of the adventure we’re about to embark on.”

“Okay, but keep in mind that you’re 49, not 29,” she said in
a motherly tone.

“That may be true, but I just might surprise you.  The
main difference between someone 49 and someone 29 is their level of growth hormone. 
If I do this three times per week, I can get my levels close to where they were
20 years ago.”

“Really… that’s pretty unbelievable,” she said not sounding
convinced.

“I’m serious.  In fact, over the next eight weeks I’m
going to replace my testosterone therapy with this workout.  I knew that
those shots were a quick fix.  Quick fixes never work out well over the
long run.”

“Now that’s awesome news!” Kate replied
enthusiastically.  “I want you to feel good and if you can do it naturally
I’m behind you one hundred percent.”

In two days I’m going to do that workout again, although
this time I’ll back off after four or five cycles...  six at the
most.  I’m not sure what that whole lactic acid thing was about, but I’m
just impressed that I could work my heart like that.  I haven’t done
anything close to 170 beats per minute in at least two decades.  Actually,
that probably explains the lactic acid thing.  After my stem cell
injections on Friday, I’m cutting back on testosterone and going 100% natural.

Kate

Even though I told Jack that I had him figured out, he
still blows my mind on a regular basis.  Just over a week ago, he
basically coded and had a pacemaker installed.  Yet, he came home totally
energized by the experience.  Today he practically kills himself
exercising; again, he’s exhilarated by the fact that his heart didn’t give
out.  He’s definitely wired differently than anyone I’ve ever known. 
Maybe that’s what makes him so awesome.

After breakfast and a quick shower, Jack flipped into
business mode.  He had a rather long conversation with Rich about raising
additional capital for the corporation.  Then we had a quick conference
call with Brandon to see how things were going in L.A.  Since they were
three hours behind us, it was finally 8 am on the west coast.  Jack never
called anyone before 8:00 am, unless it was something urgent.  He always
expected everyone else to return the same courtesy.

“Get the hell out of bed,” Jack jabbed, as it instantly
became obvious that Brandon was still asleep.

“What do you want?  It’s only… shit it’s eight
already?”

“It’s time to get up and get to work, buddy.  Were you
out partying last night?” Jack continued with a big smile on his face.

“Yes, actually.  Deidra heard that I was in town, so
she invited me to the agency Valentine’s Day party.”

“Agency party, huh?” Jack’s smile faded a bit because Deidra
was the head of the modeling agency where he had sent Jackie.

 “Yeah, she said it would be a blast, so I went and
checked it out.  It was mostly bimbos and boy-toys but I did meet a few
cool people.”

“That’s good, how is Deidra?”

“She’s doing great, but she tried to hook me up with one of
the new models,” he replied, causing the remainder of Jack’s smile to
disappear.

“Let me guess.  Her name is Jackie?” Jack speculated.

“Yeah, Jaclyn… she said you were good friends.”

“Jackie was my roommate,” I interjected.

“Okay, that’s the connection.  She wasn’t really clear
on how she knew you guys.  Did you go to Paris together?” he asked, as
Jack’s former smile turned into a definite scowl.

“Yeah, she went to the Paris Fashion Show with us,” I
replied knowing that Brandon would be clueless about such a thing.

“Okay.  She acted like it was some big secret or
something.  What happens in Paris stays in Paris or some damn thing.”

“That’s Jackie, she likes to be dramatic,” I added, hoping
to end the line of questions.

“She’ll fit right in with the other models then,” Brandon
concluded, before giving us a quick business update.  He had met with two
of the largest west coast agents earlier in the day on Tuesday and both had
made a soft commitment to participate in the launch of our new line. 
“They both loved your designs, Kate, and that ‘
Made in the U.S.’
tagline
appears to be a stroke of genius, Dad.”

“That’s exactly what I wanted to hear Brandon,” Jack said,
as his grin resurfaced.