171 Cant breathe, crushing weigh (2/2)
'Is he trying for another rep?' Everyone in the room held their breath again!
Then when Ben reached the bottom of the rep, he popped it back up, this time even faster than the last!
Owen nodded. ”Even better than I expected. Decent job, kid, I'll give you a few minutes of my ti—”
He shut up again!
That's because the bar went back down! This time even quicker! And then, like before, it popped right back up!
Now, no one talked. They only watched and kept their mouths shut...as if someone slapped them speechless...
The only one who dared to speak was Owen, who sighed because he'd underestimated Ben. ”Three… Okay, it's pretty go—”
Another rep cut his sentence off!
Down and back up again!
When the bar reached the top, Ben held it there…
This time, Owen waited… He didn't want to speak and be forced to cut off another sentence!
Many of his employees were here. Each time it happened, they gazed at him and showed expressions like he was a fool! A few even started snickering!
It was like each time Ben repped the barbell, it bounced off Owen's face!
Ten seconds later, after feeling he was safe, Owen finally spoke. ”All right. I admit I was wro—”
Another rep!
'You bastard!' Owen was squeezing his fists now! The vein in his forehead that went to sleep was now reawakened by a bitter slap!
But that wasn't the end!
Another rep!
Another!
Ben was repping the 250 lbs with comfort! Like it was a warm-up!
Owen couldn't believe it! Was the weight not heavy? It was damn heavy! So why was it not crushing Ben, but him instead!
The two spotters still had their hands on the bar, but they were hurting more than helping. 'What are we even doing here?'
They felt like idiots! They glanced at Owen with confused expressions, as if asking, ”Should we go, or…”
Soon, Ben blasted out enough reps that his hands were hurting, though not from the bar but from slapping faces!
That's when at the top of a rep, while still holding the weight up, he tilted his neck up and made eye contact with Owen, who understood exactly what Ben's smirking eyes were saying: 'Fooled you…'
…
*Clop*
With silence still permeating the room, Ben locked the barbell back into the rack above, and then sat up and stretched his arms. ”Phew…nice little exercise.” He got up and walked over to Owen. When they were near each other, Ben bent forward a bit as if he was stretching, until his head wasn't far from Owen's. ”Was that good, Boss? Was that enough reps? Do you need more reps?”
…
Owen's eyes twitched…but he managed to swallow back the curses he wanted to deliver. He was in the midst of his employees, and while he could complain and curse under other circumstances, as a manager, it was important he didn't look petty. ”No, that'll do. We can talk about the feature now.”
Despite that, Ben's face still expressed serious doubt. ”Are you sure, Boss? I can do more exercises? Should we do more exercises?”
…
Owen kept his mouth shut, but the vein on his forehead pulsated as if swearing at Ben, the world, and its misfortune to be on Owen's head! 'More exercises your mother! The only exercise I need to see is to get a f*cking priest in here to exorcise you! Where did this demon come from?!?'