Caged Heart

by S. C. Edward

  "You scared the crap out of me!"

  "Sorry... didn't mean to." he laughed.

  "It's... okay."

  In her head she was really screaming "What the hell is he doing here?"

  "Did... didn't you go jogging with Tony?"

  "Oh... I was really tired from yesterday's boxing and I told Tony I was gonna take it easy this weekend. I need a break. My whole body's sore." he said, touching his right shoulder.

  "Oh...okay."

  "I see the chef's at work early this morning. Need any help?"

  "No I've got it. I'm almost done."

  "Scared I'm gonna ruin breakfast?

  "It's not that...I can manage."

  "Well you have another skillet getting ready for something. I can watch the links and let you work on that." he said, staring at the empty frying pan.

  "Well okay. Promise you won't let them burn?"

  "Promise!"

  Selene was really panicking inside. She couldn't even look him in the eye. She moved away from the stove to give him room and walked to the fridge to get some eggs. Her hands were shaking so badly that she almost dropped one of them.

  "Please, please, please don't bring last night up." she kept repeating in her head, over and over again.

  He was concentrating on the semi thawed links and didn't look back at her. She laid the ingredients on the counter and started combining them. His back was turned to her and she kept glancing at him every few seconds. She took notice of a symmetrical tribal tattoo that ran down his spine. If one looked long enough they would probably see a resemblance to a spear. It was very beautiful work and it complemented his well-defined back. She wanted to touch it... amongst other things; however, now was not the time to start letting her thoughts run away. He was, after all, right in front of her.

  "What are you making?" he asked and looked back at her.

  "A veggie omelet... you don't mind peppers and mushrooms do you? Tony likes to load up his breakfast with vegetables."

  "No, that sounds great actually. I haven't had a good home cooked meal in months."

  "How come? Is training getting in the way?"

  "Yeah, that and when I was with my ex she would cook for me but with my crazy schedule I don't have too much time for myself anymore."

  "Yea, I understand. That's why I try to help Tony out. He can be an idiot sometimes but I know how hard he wants this. He didn't have any support from the rest of our family. They all thought he made a bad choice pursuing a fighting career."

  "Oh yeah? Why is that?"

  "Well I can't really answer for them. I'm sure they have their own reasons... but from my perspective it's tough watching someone you love taking a beat down. Not that I'm saying Tony can't handle himself in a fight, but it hurts my heart sometimes to watch him." she said sadly.

  "So you do watch the fights?" he asked as he turned towards her and began placing the sizzling links on a serving tray.

  "Sometimes... it's exciting watching them, but when it's Tony in there... I don't know..." she paused." It's tough."

  He smiled at her as she looked down and continued mixing the thick batter.

  "He's your family. Of course you care if he gets his ass beat." he laughed and she did as well.

  "It's funny sometimes actually, especially when they're talkin' smack and displaying the manliness. I get a kick out of it…all that testosterone in the air!"

  "Have you ever seen my fights?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

  She frowned and thought about all the fights she had seen.

  "No...I don't think I have. Yesterday was my first time seeing you…I think."

  "Well you're gonna have to promise to watch my next fight."

  "Oh yeah?" she giggled. "When is it?"

  "In two weeks. I'm flying out to Vegas."

  "Who are you fighting?"

  "Volchev." he said nonchalantly.

  Her mouth dropped and she frowned at him.

  “Volchev? That guy?”

  She was hoping that she heard wrong but apparently Dorian was to fight the "Russian Bear." Volchev was a beast of a man who probably weighed over 250 lbs. and was well known for his hard knockout punches. The heavy weight class ranged from 206 lbs. to 265 lbs. and he was much bigger than Dorian. Most would assume Dorian to be clearly outmatched.

  "How much do you weigh?" she said with a frown still on her face.

  "215 give or take." he said with the most amused look on his face.

  "That guy is freakin' huge!" she said out loud, with a hand covering her mouth.

  She realized that her reaction implied that Dorian couldn't take the Russian on and she began to feel bad.

  "Wait, that came out wrong...I didn't mean to..."

  "It's ok." he laughed. "Are you worried about me?"

  "Well... I'm sure you're a great fighter…it's just that, that guy is no joke. I've seen what his opponents look like after his fights and they're a mess." she said looking concerned.

  She had actually forgotten about what happened the night before and was being her normal self.

  "Well, did you know that I beat Tony? The first fight he lost was to me, and he's probably about 20 lbs. heavier. It's not always about the size of a fighter. Depending on their skills, anyone can have an advantage over a bigger fighter."

  "That was you? I remember when he came home after that fight. He was really upset. I guess he was letting his winning streak get to his head."

  "He's a great fighter and I really respect him. I know what it feels like to lose and then have to pick your-self back up again. It's a hard thing to do...and he's lucky that he had you in his corner." he said with a smile.

  "Me? I don't even think I do much to encourage him. At first I made fun of him because it seemed his head was blowing up when he just kept winning. But I started to feel bad for him and gave him some space. I think he's gotten over it though and things are back to normal."

  "He talks about you a lot you know...when we train together. I thought you were his girlfriend at first." he laughed.

  "What do you mean?”

  "Well, you cook, you clean and do a lot of stuff that he can't do for himself… and you don't seem to make a big deal out of it."

  "Yea well that moron would probably keel over if I wasn't here." she giggled.

  "That's what I mean. He’s lucky!"

  "Well thanks, I appreciate it... after last night he..." and then it all came back to her.

  Last night.

  She was quiet for a minute as they stood across the counter. He had a smile on his face and she looked at him with guilty eyes. The front door slammed suddenly and Tony's heavy footsteps were coming towards the kitchen. She nervously chewed on her bottom lip and thanked the heavens that the awkward silence was broken.

  "Somethin' smells good!" Tony said as he walked in with his sweats.

  She quickly went to the empty skillet and poured the egg batter in slowly. Her heart felt like it was going to explode but she did a great job of pretending that nothing was wrong. Dorian went to the dinner table and sat down as Tony came approached the food. He exercised his disdain for manners and shoved a sausage link into his mouth.

  "Damn that's good! I'll take some buttered toast and some black coffee waitress."

  "Don't start Tony!" Selene answered in an annoyed tone.

  "How you feelin' man?" he asked Dorian.

  "I'm alright, still stiff in the shoulders though."

  The two continued their talking but she was so immersed in her thoughts that she blocked it all out and stared at the bubbling omelet. She felt like an idiot who had just made a total fool of herself. After talking to Dorian, she didn't think he would really say anything to Tony, but things would still be awkward between them. All she could do was follow his lead and wait to see what he would do. It was an embarrassing moment for her and she wanted to get past it.

  "Yo Lene! Earth to Lene!" Tony said, nudging her arm.

  "Hmm? What?"

  "You need to flip that
over before it burns."

  Selene, in her deep thoughts didn't realize that the omelet needed to be flipped over five minutes ago. She got herself together and took care of it.

  Breakfast was the same as yesterday's dinner. She was quiet for the most part and let them talk. She wasn't a fan of eggs and only had three sausage links and one pancake. She tried not to look in Dorian's direction, even though he kept taking frequent glances at her. When she was done eating, she headed straight for her room and threw herself on the bed. She didn't know if the weekend could get any worse. For the whole day she remained in her room, only taking a few trips to the bathroom.

  When night fell, Tony let her know that they were going to go out to eat. Selene was relieved. She didn't want to be around Dorian because she was falling for the guy, even though she had no chance with him. She was happy to have them out of the house and decided to have that long hot shower which was denied to her the night before.

  She got into the bathtub and took out her favorite lavender vanilla body wash. She poured the creamy soap all over her hair, her voluptuous breasts, her thighs and her back. This was one of her favorite past times next to sex…or masturbation and she took her sweet time lathering her body. She felt refreshed when she got out and the past events didn't bother her so much, for the time being.

  The bathroom door was parallel to the guest room and as she walked out, she stood in the hallway for a moment staring at Dorian's closed door. She was sure that he wasn't in the apartment this time and wanted to go into the room. She tiptoed out of the hallway and slowly opened the door to the guest room. The scent of his cologne was in the air and she got turned on once again. She walked in and closed the door behind her.

  He kept the room neat and his black gym bag lay on the floor. She looked into it and pulled out his white t-shirt. It carried his scent and she held it close to her body to inhale the sweet odor. Selene knew that she shouldn't invade his privacy but she had never felt an attraction to any man like this before. She was starting to accept that Dorian knew she liked him and if he didn't feel the same, then that would be fine. She had dealt with rejection before and could do it again. For now, she knew that he was single and not an asshole...so far. That was enough to turn her on.

  Selene took her towel off and got on to the bed. She covered her bare breasts with the t-shirt and lay back on the pillows. Her hair was wet but she figured by the time he got back, the sheets and pillows would be dry.

  Dorian's over-sized shirt caressed her naked body as she rolled around on the cool sheets and inhaled his scent. Selene wanted to fantasize about him but instead, she thought about the night before. She wondered why he stood there watching her for so long. She wanted to think that in those circumstances, any man would've probably watched but she didn't have the greatest body and couldn't imagine any good reason for him to watch. He was a well-known UFC fighter and probably had gorgeous women falling at his feet all the time. She couldn't compare to them.

  "Maybe it's because he heard his name and found it funny." she thought.

  It was embarrassing, yet she smiled to herself as she thought about how silly she had been that night and how silly she was being right now.

  "I'm so bad!" she thought. "Imagine if he found me like this."

  She wanted to stay a little longer but they had been gone for a while and it would not be a good thing if she got caught. Tony would never let her live it down and as for Dorian; he would probably think she was a weird freak. She folded his shirt and returned it to the gym bag. When she got up, there was a tiny damp circle on one of the pillows but it wasn't very noticeable and would be dry by the time he came back. Everything looked normal as she took a last look around and walked out the door.

  ***

  Tony and Dorian returned an hour later in good spirits. They were laughing loudly and Selene was under the suspicion that they’d had a few drinks while they were out. She was happy about this because normally, Tony didn't drink since it affected his performance.

  Selene was happy to see him cut loose for once. She also felt that she might be more comfortable around them now since Tony would be too tipsy to bother her. She could hear them in the kitchen and she walked out to meet them. They were both dressed handsomely with button up shirts and slacks; they looked like models.

  "Hey!" she said, smiling at them from the entrance to the kitchen. "You guys look happy!"

  "We had a couple of drinks at the bar and this playa right here got a couple of numbers." he said, eyeballing Dorian.

  "Oh...what'd y'all drink?" she asked, sounding a little disappointed.

  "Just some shots of tequila... nuthin' major."

  "Tony! And you guys drove?" she scolded.

  "We're good baby girl... still in one piece!" Tony chuckled.

  "That's not cool!"

  "Sorry Mom!"

  She threw her arms up and was ready to walk away from them, when Dorian stopped her.

  "Hold on a minute. I got you something."

  Selene looked at him doubtfully. He reached into a big, gold-foil gift bag rested on the counter and pulled out a clear glass case with 2 dozen white chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of pink champagne. She stared at Dorian’s gift for a moment, not really believing that it was for her.

  "This is for me?"

  "Yea, Tony said you liked white chocolate... so to thank you for dinner and breakfast I got these for you."

  "Wow, you didn't have to do that." she said, feeling a little embarrassed.

  "Aww ain't that sweet?" Tony smirked.

  "Well you deserve a lot more than this for putting up with that fool over there." he laughed and gestured towards Tony.

  "Yea whatever... I'm goin' to bed, I'm tired y'all. Night man, don't let her bore you with her smart talk!"

  "Yup... see you in the morning.'" Dorian chuckled as Selene sighed and rolled her eyes.

  Tony walked away and left the two, face to face.

  "That was really nice of you. I'm not used to getting presents." she smiled bashfully.

  "Oh don't worry about it... I figured Tony never even thought about giving you anything."

  "Well, he offered to pay for my groceries for the next two weeks, so that is something."

  "I guess it is." he smiled. "I'll be right back…gonna get undressed."

  "Oh...Okay...aren't you tired?"

  "Not really. Tony had more to drink than I did. Just gonna get comfortable. Don't move okay." and he walked away towards the guest room.

  She thought to tell him that she had to go to bed but she didn't feel threatened by him anymore. He had gotten her a gift and the least she could do was keep him company.

  Selene got out two tiny plates from the cupboard and placed two strawberries on each. She didn't want to enjoy her gift alone, especially because he had been so thoughtful. He returned wearing the white shirt that she had played with earlier and she smiled to herself as she grabbed two crystal champagne glasses.

  "You don't mind a little dessert do you? I didn't want to eat them alone."

  "No, not at all... I wasn't expecting you to share them though." he laughed.

  "I'm not mean…despite what your buddies or Tony tell you about me."

  "No one's ever said anything bad about you… and if they did, they'd have to answer to me."

  "My knight in shining armor!" she replied sarcastically and poured the champagne into the glasses.

  "Yup, that's me!"

  "You don't mind having a glass with me do you? I know that you drank earlier."

  "I don't mind, as long as you don't take advantage of me." and he winked at her.

  She didn't have a comeback for that and laughed quietly as she felt her whole face turning red.

  Selene quickly took her first sip of the champagne and it was delicious.

  "So, what did you do tonight?"

  "Oh nothing exciting... just read a little and relaxed." she said, resting her chin on her hand.

  "Didn't you want to come out wi
th us? I was thinking of asking you..."

  "I wouldn't want to spoil the men's night out. Besides you guys seemed to have a good time. I might've ruined it."

  "I doubt that, nothing special happened.” he said taking a slow sip and licking his lips.

  Selene wanted to reach out and touch his wet lips. They looked so soft and inviting; begging to be kissed. Her thoughts remained on doing just that as she bit into the cold strawberry.