by Nikki Wild
“No,” I’d said. “Simmons has the belt right now so the odds makers have to list him as the favorite. It doesn’t mean shit though.”
Then I’d looked right into the lens of his camera.
“So if you all want to make your money, hit up the sports book and put everything you have on me. I’m the guy that makes millionaires. Don’t forget it.”
I took another bite of the chicken and greens. It was all I’d be allowed to eat up until the fight, save for some good clean carbohydrates on fight day.
“You feelin’ good, killer?”
It was my old trainer, Jimmy. He always got a kick out of coming along for the big fights. I liked to run my own program for the most part but he’d taken me under his wing when I was a kid. It was good to bring him into the fold the last two weeks or so leading up to a fight to help me fine tune a few things. He had a good eye for footwork and he was low key enough that I didn’t mind his company. He and Nick were the only ones I allowed into my suite during fight week.
“Feeling strong,” I said. “But I think I might go for a run or something, you know, get some fresh air.”
“No problem, kid,” he said. “I’ll make sure the hotel treadmills are open and I’ll get the room cleared out.”
“No,” I said. “I’m headed outside. Gonna jog the strip.”
“Whoa, Luke. I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“Yeah man, you’ll get fuckin’ mobbed out there,” added Nick.
“On a normal weekend you wouldn’t be able to make it two blocks without the whole world tracking you down. On fight weekend you probably won’t get out of the lobby.”
“Don’t worry about it fellas. I’ll make do.”
“Okay, kid. But stay hydrated. It’s hotter than hell out there.”
I had no intention of going for a run. I was at my breaking point. It was time to call her.
My luck turned for the better when I found the elevator empty. There was a spot down by the conference room that I remembered from last time. There wouldn’t be anyone around.
My hat was tugged down low over my eyes. Normally, I wore jeans and maybe a band t-shirt, but because of the sponsorship deal, they had us dressed up in company gear for the weekend. It was worked into every contract.
Still, I thought I’d be able to get by without too much fanfare.
My good fortune continued when I hit the lobby. The area just outside the elevators was empty. That was unheard of for a hotel on the strip. Especially during the weekend.
I slipped around the corner hopped over a restricted access rope, and slipped through the unlocked door into the dark conference room. I was home free. As far as I could tell no one saw me, and if anyone did they had the good sense not to scream my name.
I took a deep breath and hit send before I could talk myself out of calling.
By the third ring my enthusiasm deflated. She was going to let me go to voicemail.
But then…
“Hello?”
“Uh, hey Bria. It’s me.”
“I know.”
“Yeah, right, so… how have you been?”
“Really? You disappear for almost two weeks and that’s all you have for me?”
“No. You know what I mean. I thought you were done with me.”
The phone was muffled for a second as she adjusted it in her hand. Then there was silence.
“Bria?”
“Do you know what happened after you left? Do you know how bad that made me look in front of my boss?”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I never meant for you to get in trouble. But that asshole… he-”
“I know.” She sounded defeated. “Thank you for stopping him…”
“So what happened?”
“Nothing happed right then. I mean, I took off just like you did, but I heard they had to take Kevin to the hospital.”
“Are you upset about that?”
“No. He deserved it. I think he is trying to press charges, but there were witnesses that saw him come at me first...”
“Fuck ‘em,” I said. “They might be lawyers, but I can hire one that will run circles around them. I’m not worried about that at all.”
“Yeah,” she said, uncomfortably.
“That’s not what I’m talking about, though. What happened with your boss? Was he mad?”
“You could say that.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, he and Kevin’s dad go way back. I’m surprised he let me stick around as long as he did before…”
“He fired you?!”
“Suspended, but yeah, it’s only a matter of time.”
“That’s bullshit! They can’t do that. Don’t worry Bri, we’ll sue them for unfair termination. I’ll make sure they give you back pay and everything. Places like that think they can fuck with people, but they don’t have any clue what I can do to them. Forget about them pressing charges. I’ll get a whole team of lawyers to tear that place apart. They won’t know what hit them.”
“Luke, calm down. It’s okay.”
“I’m so sorry Bria. If that piece of shit wouldn’t have been there, then none of this would have happened. I should have waited to deal with him later. It’s just… when he tried to hit you… I saw red.”
“I know. I said it’s okay. At first I was devastated, but I’ve had the last couple of days to think it over and it might actually turn out to be a good thing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’ll have to sell my car to pay the bills and that’s gonna suck. But this might be what I needed to get myself going. I already scheduled a day next month to take the bar exam.”
“That’s great. You’ll pass it. I know you will.”
“Thanks, Luke.”
There was another awkward pause.
“Hey, Bria?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s something else I needed to ask you.”
“I’m listening.”
“I want you to fly out here for the fight. Will you do it?”
“It’s tomorrow night, Luke. It’s too late. Besides, I told you, you don’t have to make anything up to me. I’m doing fine.”
“I’m not trying to make anything up to you. I need you here. I haven’t been able to get my head straight since that day at your office. I thought I fucked everything up for good.”
“That’s… Luke, this is last minute. I can’t afford a flight out there on such short notice...”
“I’ll have the promoter send a jet to pick you up. Please, Bria. I can’t win without you.”
“I don’t know…”
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. If I go in there tomorrow night feeling like this I’ll get my ass kicked.”
“I have a hard time believing that.”
“C’mon. It’s not like you have a job to be at tomorrow.”
I could tell she was smiling now.
“That’s a low blow.”
“Does that mean yes?”
“Yes,” she said. “If you really want me.”
“I don’t just want you. I need you. We can make this work. After we get through tomorrow night it will be like a fresh start for both of us. We can still do everything we talked about. Are you in?
“I’m in.”
I spent the next half hour threatening the promoter.
“Don, if you don’t send that jet to pick her up, I won’t fight. It’s as easy as that.”
“Listen god damn it,” he said, “I can’t send the company jet half way across the county just so you can have your little girlfriend here. Your demands are getting out of control and I have to draw the line somewhere.”
“You know you can make this happen. And you will, because it’s not going to be easy to find a replacement challenger for a title fight on less than twenty-four hours’ notice.”
The stress of his job was doing a number on his face. Despite the thousands he no doubt spent on Botox injections, you could still see the deep
lines in his forehead.
“You’re a real asshole, you know that Greer? Okay, I’ll take care of it. My assistant will get you the information.”
“I’ll make it up to you.”
“You damn well better.”
Bria was ecstatic when I called her with the details. The fastest the jet could make it there was in the afternoon. It would be close, but she would make it in time for the fight.
It felt like a million pounds had been lifted off my shoulders. Knowing that my girl would be in my corner meant I could focus all of my attention on the task at hand.
I made it back to the room a little before midnight.
“What the fuck, kid? There you are. We’ve been going crazy looking for you,” said Jimmy.
“Had a little business to take care of coach, that’s all.” I threw a playful jab at his stomach.
“Business? Jesus you could have given us a little warning. Or at least answered you phone. We thought you bailed on the whole thing.”
“Naw, I never thought that, Luke,” yelled Nick from his spot on the couch. “Never doubted you once.”
With a running start, I jumped over the back of the couch and got him in a headlock.
“Nothing to worry about boys,” I yelled as I wrestled with Nick. “We’re good to go!”
“What the hell has gotten into you?” asked Jimmy. “Now you’re starting to look like the fighter we used to know.”
“Like I said, just had to take care of a little business.”
“Well, whatever it was I’m glad you did it. You had us a little concerned with how you were acting this week.”
I looked down at Nick and cocked an eyebrow. He was still struggling to get out of the headlock.
“Not me, Luke. I never worry about you.”
“Good because the only one who has anything to worry about is Simmons. He has no idea what’s about to hit him.”
Thirty-One
Bria
I checked my phone obsessively. Luke said it would be close but I didn’t know how close. The fight was scheduled to start in less than an hour and we hadn’t even landed yet.
I had to be driving the poor woman who the M.M.A.C.S. sent to get me insane.
“Are we close yet?” I asked for the thousandth time.
“Almost, dear. The pilot is just waiting for clearance to land. He promised that the second a runway opens up he’ll get us on the ground.”
She was sweet. From the moment the car service picked me up she was helping me. She told me what to expect when we got to the arena, the fastest way to get through security to the locker rooms, and a host of other details.
I didn’t have time to do anything before I left. The freedom I felt was similar to what I had when we took the vacation. It was a sensation I didn’t plan on losing this time.
While I was waiting at the airport for the jet to finish refueling I decided to call the office. Christine tried to screen me out but I told her if she didn’t put me through to Jones I’d keep calling all day until I got him.
When he answered there was a lot of trepidation in his voice. He asked how I was doing.
I’d told him that wasn’t his concern anymore. I also told him HR could stop their stupid investigation because there was no way I was going back to work at that place even if they didn’t find me at fault. He was taken aback.
He started in with a bunch of lawyer-speak about how he didn’t want to lose me but because of the liability… and on and on.
I told him I didn’t care about that and then let him know what I thought of him for not seeing my side of the situation. Then I told him what a psychotic bitch his assistant was and how she made all of the employees miserable. He seemed genuinely surprised by that but I couldn’t be bothered to stick around for his response. I hung up on him mid-sentence. It was one of the more satisfying phone calls of my life.
I didn’t even dwell on it either. I had a better path in life now. My thoughts were focused on the here and now. And that meant that the future would take care of itself, whatever it may hold.
Today that meant going to Luke.
The plan was for me to get to the locker room so that I could see him before the fight. They had a VIP section in the front row where the friends and family of the fighters were allowed to sit. I would be allowed in there after seeing him.
“Okay, honey. The captain just told me we are cleared to land. It should only be a few more minutes now.”
“Oh thank you so much.”
I felt a little ashamed that I couldn’t remember her name.”
It was ten after eight now. I prayed I would make it in time.
During the flight I busied myself by reading articles about the fight. A lot of the publications picked Luke to win but most thought it would be a really close fight. It was more real to me now than it had been before.
I’d never been to any live sporting event, let alone a prize fight where the man I loved was one of the competitors. It’s funny, in all the time I’d spent with him I never thought about what it would be like when it came time for him to actually fight. He seemed indestructible to me. Now all I could think about was his humanity...
My stomach turned just thinking about him getting hit.
What if he got hurt?
What if he lost?
I was jostled in my seat as the jet touched down.
“And just like that, we’re here,” said the nameless woman with the soft eyes.
We taxied to a stop after a few minutes of maneuvering around the tarmac by the pilot.
It was eight-nineteen.
“Okay, Bria. The stairway is down. We can exit the jet.”
I took a deep breath and unfastened my seat belt.
Here we go.
There was a long black car waiting for me.
“This way, ma’am,” said an older gentleman in a blue suit. “I’ll be escorting you to the event.”
“Thank you. I think we’re running out of time.”
“I’ll tell the driver to step on it,” he said, with a wink.
Las Vegas Boulevard was packed. I don’t know why I would have expected anything different. I craned my neck to see around the front seat. The driver was doing his best but there wasn’t much room to get around anyone.
“Take a deep breath, young lady. We’ll get you there. If I know anything about Mr. Greer, he won’t let the show start until he’s damn well ready for it to start.”
“Thanks,” I said, meekly. It didn’t alleviate any of my concern.
I decided to call Kaitlyn to help with the anxiety.
She answered the phone in a huff.
“I can’t believe you bailed on me tonight. You were supposed to watch the fights with me, remember? And then you didn’t even answer when I tried texting you.”
“I’m really sorry, I was in the air. I couldn’t get any messages.”
“Wait, you were on a plane again? What is that, like the millionth time this month? Where are you headed to now?”
“I just landed in Vegas.”
“You’re going to see Luke! Did you talk to him?”
“We fixed things. Like you said.”
“I knew it! You should listen to me more often. So you called him?”
“Actually, he called me.”
“That’s even better.”
“But I just wanted to tell you where I was. I’m sorry I forgot to let you know earlier.”
“No, that’s totally fine. Wait… are you there with him now?”
“No. I’m trying to get there but the traffic on the strip is a total nightmare. I’m kind of using you as a diversion so I don’t go crazy with anxiety. I’m afraid I’m not going to make it before the fight. He said he really needed me to be there for him before he went out.”
“Hang in there, Bri. You’ll make it. You have fate on your side.”
“I hope so.”
The phone clicked, then beeped three times. The call dropped. Great.
It felt like
an eternity before we finally pulled up in front of the venue.
“This is it,” said the man sitting next to me. “When we get out I’ll take you right to him. I may be old but I can move fast so stay close.”
My phone told me it was eight fifty-one. Nine minutes to get there.
The old guy wasn’t lying when he said he was fast. I never moved so quickly while wearing heels in my entire life. I held on to the tail of his jacket as we went.
The casino was filled with people. Everyone was dressed in their best dress or suit. There was a real sense of excitement in the air.
I could hear the occasional roar go up from inside the arena as we made our way around to the side entrance. The preliminary fights had long been underway. Only the main event was left.
“Right through here,” he directed.
We ducked down a hallway and went through a small kitchen. Before I knew it, we were in the bowels of the building.
“Almost there.”
This was a restricted area. There were people milling about but they all seemed to have jobs to do. I imagine it was a mixture of tv people and event staff.
“That’s it,” said the old man. “Go on in, darlin’.”
He pointed toward the first in a row of doors that went down a long hallway.
It was just after nine.
I walked up to the door, then looked back over my shoulder to confirm with him that I was at the right one. He was already gone.
I held my breath, turned the knob, and pushed.
Luke’s was the first face I saw. He was sitting on a training table while someone massaged his shoulders. He was looking me deep into my eyes before I even entered the room.
People were bustling about in every direction. It was a mad house.
“Everybody out!” His voice boomed across the room.
There confused glances all around.
“C’mon, I said everybody out. Now!”
“You heard him folks, he said everybody out,” yelled a younger guy who I recognized from the gym back home.
“But we’re almost ready to go out. They want us to start-”
Luke shot him a glare that stopped him dead in his tracks.
The music from the arena speakers beat in dull thuds against the locker room walls.
One by one members of Luke’s team filtered out. I stood patiently to the side as they passed. When the door closed after the last one I ran to him.