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he didn’t like it.
    “Come with me,” she demanded.
    Devin swallowed a piece of his bagel.  “Would you give me a minute?”  He wasn’t about to drop everything just because she finally decided to make an appearance.
    “Nope.  Come on.  The food will be here when we get back.”
    “You’re not going to let me eat in peace are you?”
    “Nope.  You might as well come.”
    Devin tossed down his napkin, and dumped his uneaten food in the garbage.  “I hate being so wasteful,” he mumbled.
    “I know I’m sorry, but this will be worth it.”  She led him across the deck to the elevator. 
    “So where are we going?”
    “I’m gonna kick your ass.”
    The elevator arrived and Devin hesitated, after hearing what Shepherd had said, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to follow her.  But a group of people stepped behind them, giving him no choice but to get into the elevator.
    “Excuse me?”
    “I want to make you pay for breaking my heart ten years ago.  It took me a while to come up with this, that’s why I’ve been MIA.”
    “And what exactly is
it
.”
    They stepped off the elevator and Devin let Shepherd lead the way.  They stopped at the gym.  “Here we are,” she announced.
    “The gym?”
    “Yep.”
    “I’m not dressed.”  Devin gestured to his outfit:  a polo shirt, shorts and a pair of athletic shoes.
    “You’re fine.  They have my equipment in the office.”
    They stopped by the egg carton size room where Shepherd picked up one head guard and one pair of boxing gloves. 
    “We’re gonna box?”
    “Nope, I am, you’re gonna be my punching bag.”
    “But that’s why they have punching bags!” Devin protested.  “That’s what you should be hitting.”  They strolled to a quiet corner.
    “That’s a good point, but a better point is that a punching bag didn’t cheat on me, you did.  Scumbag.  Sorry I couldn’t resist,” she added at seeing his look of astonishment.  She slipped on her gloves then thrust her hands out for him to tie.  “Thanks,” she said after he tied them.
    “Where’s mine?” Devin asked and Shepherd put her hands on her hips, which was hard to do, since they kept slipping off but she still managed to look stern.
    “Seriously?  You’d hit a girl?”
    “I just want to protect myself.”
    “I’m leaving you unprotected like I left my heart years ago.”  She slipped on her head guard.  Shepherd began shuffling around, and began air boxing to warm-up.
    “Sorry.”
    “I know you are, but this will help me a lot.”
    “You’re looking pretty good, like you’ve boxed before.”
    Shepherd continued her fancy footwork.  “Not at all.  Just Tae Bo and occasionally working out on a punching bag, that’s all.”
    “
That’s all?
  That’s serious.”
    “How do you think I stay so toned?  Certainty not lifting all those glasses of margaritas and daiquiris.”  She flexed her biceps.  “These are the result of a lot of hard work…just like yours.  Ready?”
    Devin nervously nodded.  Shepherd threw a punch at him, it landed on his arm.  “This is for cheating on me.” She jabbed him in the stomach, he didn’t flinch.  “This is for lying to me.”  Devin stood silently while she pummeled him.  He watched helplessly as her eyes watered, he knew that tears weren’t far behind.  She jabbed his arm. “This is for not respecting my love.”  She kicked him hard in the shin as tears began streaming down her face.  She sobbed loudly and when she was done, she slumped into Devin’s arms.
    “I’m so sorry Shepherd.  So sorry.”
    She lifted her tear stained face.  “You hurt me.  You took away my trust.”
    “I’m sorry baby.  I was so wrong for that, I was so immature.”  Devin hurried over to a counter and plucked tissue from a dispenser.  He used them to dab at her eyes.
    “Thanks.”  As soon as she calmed down, she pulled off her boxing gloves then slapped Devin across the face, her hand stung, but it felt