Dances with Monsters(180)

"It makes sense," Drew said. "That's a very interesting way to go about training."

"Well, anyway," Heath said, snapping out of his reverie. "Don't stop looking at spaces. Okay? I know you had your heart set on this one, but it's not the end-all, be-all. You can still have your Inspiration Dance Academy…just in a different place."

Drew smiled at him again. "I know. Thanks."

"We could go look, sometime," he went on, hoping he wasn't being too obvious. "At different spaces, I mean. I'd like to go with you."

"I'd like that," Drew replied, squeezing his thigh again. "Thank you."

Heath's face remained stoic, but inside, he was grinning like a little kid.

***

Heath's first order of business, after officially starting as the sole owner of the 17th Street Boxing Gym, was to organize the women's self-defense course. It didn't take long to put together and pull in the right people; Drew volunteered to put the slides together for the classroom portion once Heath completed his research, and he enlisted the help of Connor, Rex and Jameson to work on the physical portion of the lesson. He held it over a weekend, two four-hour days, and started with two hours' worth of classroom information.

He organized the classroom lesson into three categories: Case Studies, Situational Awareness, and What To Do. He spent a solid week working on little else but the research. The physical portion, six hours' worth in total, was extremely important, obviously. However, he didn't want to skimp too much on the case studies, theories and other valuable information; women needed to know exactly what could, and frequently did, happen to them and how to avoid bad situations altogether.

He briefly thought about asking if Drew would allow him to use her story for one of the case studies, but he immediately nixed that thought. It was still too fresh, too personal, and since the details of her case had been broadcast, even if he changed her name, people would still likely be able identify her. He did decide to run all of the case studies he found past her, though, wanting her input. They spent several late nights together, alternating between his place and hers, working on the slides.

On one such night, at her apartment, he'd tilted his head back against the sofa seat from his place on the floor and glanced up at her. "Are you okay with this stuff?" he had asked her quietly, gesturing toward his research on his laptop.

"I'm fine," Drew had replied, glancing down at him from her perch on the couch. "In fact, I, uh—I was thinking. Since my little secret isn't so secret anymore, I thought that maybe—if you think it's a good idea—I'd be willing to talk a little bit about what happened to me. No real details, but sort of from a 'lesson-learned, this can happen to you' type of stance."

"Seriously?" Heath asked. "You would do that?"

She had averted her eyes back toward the television she was watching, but nodded. "Yeah, I would. I think it's about time I spoke about it."

"As long as you're fine with it, I think it's awesome," Heath had said. He felt then, and felt now, immense pride in her bravery.

Now, on Saturday morning, he stood before the group of participants and eyed them. He and Connor had cleared an area to put down folding chairs and set up a slide projector in the middle of the gym and had run off copies of the slides and provided pens in case anyone wanted to take any notes. Drew was sitting in the very back and he caught her eye, nodding slightly. She didn't smile, but gave him a wink and returned his nod.

As he began his introductions and moved into the lesson, he was pleased to see that all of the women were very interested, and asked plenty of questions regarding the material he had provided. When it came time for him to introduce Drew, a hush fell over the audience as she walked to the front. Heath was pleased to see that she walked confidently, and she didn't seem to be nervous. He nodded at her when she came to stand next to him, and took a seat off to the side and behind her.

She began recounting her story to the group of women. She talked about how she'd always been somewhat innocent and naïve about her surroundings, hearing of the awful things that happened to women every day in the world but not really applying them to herself or accepting that she, like so many other women, could ever fall victim to such horrific circumstances.

"But I did," she told them quietly, clasping her hands behind her back. "Someone noticed me, little, innocent, naïve, unobservant me. And he pounced. I almost lost my physical life. I definitely lost my sense of self; I stopped caring about things that once made me happy. I suffered from horrible PTSD. It took a lot to get me where I am today, able to live a relatively normal life, although I still have occasional panic attacks. But the fact that I can talk to you about this today is a testament to the fact that there is life after an attack. But our focus today is to teach you how to be situationally aware to avoid something like this altogether. And later on, show you some techniques that, with practice, can help save your life or get you out of a bad situation if you find yourself unable to avoid it." She paused, glancing around. "I implore you to make practicing the things you'll learn this weekend part of your daily routine. You ladies are mothers, wives, sisters, daughters. Friends. You're needed and loved; each and every one of you. You have touched and are touching people's lives every day—why wouldn't you do everything you can to make sure you're still around for the people that you love and who love you?" She paused briefly again, then nodded and took a step back, giving the group a little wave to signal the end of her speech. The women began applauding, and Heath was surprised when many of them rose to their feet. Drew looked completely embarrassed, but Heath was incredibly proud of her.