Till I Tap Out

                                    

                                          
Christian impatiently glances at his watch. It is five minutes to 8:00 o'clock AM when his physical fitness test is supposed to start, and Kat still isn't here. She is exactly the person he expects her to be. Rude enough to show up late expecting people to wait on her just because she had to fly in on a private jet from her photoshoot in the Bahamas. She isn't even that hot.
                          
Three minutes till...
                          
"Sorry, I had to drop my car off at the dealership to get the oil changed." Kat says breathlessly as she struts through the roll-up doors taking Airpods out of her ears and whipping her sweaty forehead.
                          
Deondrick looks at her confused, "Did you run here?" He asks trying to understand why she looks like she just ran six miles.
                          
She nods and drops her stuff, "Yeah I haven't run here in a minute figured it was as good of time as ever."
                          
"The Dodge Dealership is nine miles away..." Deondrick comments and then adds, "And you have a physical fitness test today."
                          
Kat nods at Christian, "Yeah, I know let's get started. I'm already hungry." 
                          
Christian stands there just soaking in the conversation and the insane workout Kat had already done this morning. Only a crazy person would run six miles and then try to pass a physical fitness test. 
                          
Kat jerks her chin at Christian, "Morning sorry I'm not usually late."
                          
"She's not." Deondrick adds from somewhere behind Christian where he is preparing their stations.
                          
Christian shrugs, "It's cool." He tries to show as little attention to her as possible in hopes to avoid the crazy yelling person he's seen compete with Baker. 
                          
Kat nods and begins to stretch. Christian takes this time to look at her. She's about three shades darker than when she left four days ago and somehow, she seems to have become more athletic looking if that's even possible. He can see dark circles under her puffy eyes showing her obvious exhaustion. 
                          
"What test are we doing?" Kat asks.
                          
Deondrick gives her a wicked smile, "The Gauntlet."
                          
Christian and Kat both drop their shoulders at the same time in defeat. The Gauntlet is one of the most intense physical tests an athlete can be asked to perform. 1 Mile,1 Minute Rest, 800 Meters, 1 Minute Rest, 400 Meters, 1 Minute Rest, 200 Meters, 1 Minute Rest, and 10 x 40 yd. Sprints. Then they will have to do a vertical and broad jump test and after that they will try to max out their bench, power clean, and bench press before going through a basic strength and conditioning test.
                          
Kat takes her position on the treadmill and turns to Deondrick, "D you better play some good shit if you expect me to get through this."
                          
Deondrick laughs and nods. Soon 'Tap Out' by Jay Rock booms throughout the empty gym. Kat begins to spring nodding her head to the beat completely losing herself in the test. Christian zones into his own run attempting to beat his time last year. They get through the first part of running in less than 30 minutes due to Kat consistently increasing the tempo and her pace, which in turn made Christian feel like he needed to up his speed. 
                          
The pair are drenched in sweat as they step off the treadmills and set-up for the 40-yard portion, which Deondrick has set up on the indoor turf. 
                          
"You have to pass the cone to hear the beep then you can continue. Ten sprints Bang them out guys." D instructs and they nod lining up to sprint. 
                          
'On to the Next' by Jay-Z comes on, "Oh fuck yeah." Kat grins and pushes out of her stance with a huge burst of speed and power that Christian didn't know women were capable of.