by Harley Reid
“I thought you'd be into all this super healthy stuff.” I watch him stuff slice after slice into his mouth. "You know, because of your training." How the heck does he eat like that, and still look like that!
“Training officially starts tomorrow so this weekend has been a bit of a blow-out, but my diet doesn’t get too strict until towards the end of camp. I'm just glad you're not one of those girls who like pineapple on their pizza.” He retorts, stuffing another slice of pizza in his mouth, we hear the front door open and seconds later, a little brunette runs in.
“Daddy!” She throws her arms around his neck, grinning from ear to ear.
“Well doesn't this look cosy.” Suddenly Sarah is behind me and I can feel her eyes boring into the back of my head. She doesn't seem pleased to see me.
“Ethan's just been going over my schedule with me, so I'm all ready for tomorrow.” She doesn't respond but I sense some hostility towards me, nothing like the welcoming woman I met when I arrived for the interview.
“Sarah, go wait in my study. I need to speak to you about the fight.” Sarah stomps away and Ethan pulls Madison into a huge hug before introducing us.
She eyes me curiously, before shrugging and walking away without saying a word.
“It's okay, she probably just needs some time to adjust to a new person being in the house.” Ethan reassures me but my heart is heavy and the fear of not being able to handle this hits me like a ton of bricks.
Excusing myself, I go back to my room to try call Lexi but there's no answer, so I decide to call my mum, hoping she'll give me one of those pep talks she used to give me as a child. It rings five times before she eventually picks up. “Mum.”
“Oh, hello darling. Is everything alright? Hang on a second dear.” She seems distracted and I can hear lots of commotion in the background. “Just the French tips this time Barbara.”
“I just needed to speak to someone. I've just met the girl, and she...” Tears well up in my eyes. “Mum, I'm not sure I can do this.”
“Look Amelia, you've caught me at a really awkward time. I'll call you back later, and we can have a chat. Okay?” My heart breaks as the phone goes dead. Why was I stupid enough to believe that this afternoon was a breakthrough?
Looks like I'm going to have to put my big girl pants on and handle this myself.
This afternoon has dragged. It didn't take long for me to make sure the house was in order and thanks to my hangover and knowing what hell is waiting for me tomorrow with my team, I opted not to train today, so for the past hour I've just been taking advantage of some alone time.
The calm before the storm, I guess.
As I lose myself in the silence a little longer, the sound of an engine shutting off followed by female voices pulls me from my thoughts. I glance toward the window and getting out of the passenger side of a little silver Audi, I see her. Dressed in pale skinny jeans with rips at the knees, an oversized cream jumper and a pair of light brown riding boots with her long, flowing blonde hair flipped over to one side so I can barely see her face, she looks like a different person. A world away from the timid little girl that I interviewed last Thursday. She's relaxed, laughing and joking with her sister — who I recognise her from Instagram — and I can't take my eyes off her.
Trying not to be rude, I walk towards the door to greet them. As I open the door, Mia turns and walks in my direction, introducing me casually to her sister and as soon as I speak, Lexi's eyes are on me.
I'm excited to see what she thinks of her room so without hesitation, I beckon them to follow me. Standing in the corridor outside her door, my heart is pounding.
What if she hates it?
What if she thinks I'm some creepy stalker?
Why the fuck do I care?
I decide to downplay my involvement in the setting up of her room and instead I give credit to the interior decorators that I didn't hire. As I open the door a wide smile beams across her face as she takes it all in. I know she's impressed and I'm actually quite proud of myself.
I contemplate offering to help with the boxes, but it doesn't look like she has much to unpack so instead I excuse myself and go back to my study. I could do with going over some old fight tapes before my early morning meeting with Jamison tomorrow anyway.
It's been a few minutes since I left the girls alone and got side-tracked by a couple of emails, then out of the corner of my eye, a petite figure appears in the doorway. Lexi invites herself in and for a moment I wonder if there is a problem.
“Hey Lexi, is everything okay?”
“Yeah. It's a nice place you've got here.” She chirps, taking a good look around as she slinks across the room towards me and sits of the desk, her skirt hitching up slightly to reveal even more of her long, slender legs. “So. You're a professional fighter, right?”
“For the past fifteen years.”
“And you're a single dad?”
“Last time I checked.” What the hell is this, the Spanish inquisition?
“Cool. Cool.” She smiles at me and I'm not sure if she's about to seduce me, or punch me, then her tone suddenly changes. “Here’s the thing. My family is the biggest shit show going but Mia is my everything. She's the sweetest, kindest person I know but it makes it easy for guys like you to take advantage of her but rest assured, if you ever hurt her. You won’t live to regret it. Understood?”
She reminds me a bit of Mia. They both look a lot alike. Her hair is a much brighter shade of blonde and falls in waves over her shoulders but the way they dress and the way they carry themselves is poles apart. She scares the crap out of me even though I can't help but admire the way she looks out for her sister.
“Yep.” I agree and within seconds, I'm left alone with my thoughts once again.
A short while after she leaves my study, her engine roars and she screeches up the driveway. I've just finished watching Lucas Stone's previous fight, making notes about the weaknesses I've spotted, like the specific combo he throws whenever he's planning to take his opponent to the ground and how he switches stance just before he throws a kick. Now I'm hungry.
I know Sarah is dropping Maddie off at seven, so I've got chance to order pizza and eat before they get here. I need to go over Mia's schedule for tomorrow too so might as well kill two birds with one stone.
Gently knocking on her door and popping my head round when she's tells me to come in, she agrees to join me and I'm so happy that when I suggested pepperoni pizza, she didn't say that she was vegan or something.
For the next hour we just sit, eat, and talk. She seems happy with the schedule and although she still seems a little nervous, the conversation is flowing well. Until Sarah arrives.
My girl runs in and gives me the biggest hug as I pull her close and kiss her head of dark brown curls. She obviously missed me as much as I missed her, but she's a little off with Mia and quickly retreats to her room. I guess she could be picking up on the tension and the daggers that Sarah has been throwing her since she arrived and saw us eating together.
“Sarah, go wait in my study. I need to speak to you about the fight.” I instruct, trying to gain some control over the situation.
Sarah stomps off, I need to speak to Maddie about Mia but that will have to wait.
I reassure Mia before she excuses herself and then go to find my sister.
“Do you have to be such a spoiled bitch?” I bark as I enter my study, slamming the door behind me. The sight of Sarah sitting at my desk with a smirk on her face makes my blood boil. “I know she’s not your first choice, but would it kill you to just be nice for once?”
“I just want what’s best for my niece and I don’t want you getting distracted by some naive young girl when you should be concentrating on your training.” She sits, arms crossed, staring at me completely unphased by my rage, as I take the seat opposite her. “Do you know how difficult it was for me to get you back in with a title fight? If you screw this up, we won’t get another shot.”
“For fuck sake Sa
rah. I'm one hundred percent committed to this fight. Trust me. Besides, I'm not interested in my daughter's nanny.” I'm down to a simmer now and trying to force a smile “She’ll be good for Maddie, just give her a chance.”
“Fine, but don’t come crying to me when it all blows up in your face.” Her expression softens for a moment as she accepts my words — sort of.
Sarah is stubborn and is very protective of me. I'm the same with Maddie so I get where she’s coming from but, does she honestly think that I’m stupid enough to hire someone I plan to get involved with?
I may have had a few brain cells knocked out of me over the years but I'm not that stupid.
She's cute, I'll admit it but that's as far as it goes. She's searching for her happy ever after and I'm not interested in any relationship, let alone with someone who works for me.
Nope, I'm staying well clear of that mess.
Seeming to have got the message, she calms, and the conversation turns to the upcoming fight, along with planning my crazy training and media schedule.
The fight is scheduled for the thirtieth of November, so I've got just under three months to prepare. Fight camp will consist of three low intensity stimulation days and two high intensity development days.
A typical day will start out with my usual morning run or swim, followed by an hour of circuit training or strength work in the early afternoon, and then two to three hours of technical sparring on an evening with training partners brought in with a style similar to my opponent.
The three workouts a day are the reason I had my training facility built on the property. I'd never spend any time at home otherwise.
My diet will follow the same plan I've used for the past ten years, it's proven and works for me so I've never felt the need to change it. I'll keep it fairly clean with lots of protein to help with recovery for the first eight weeks. That should get me fairly close to my official weight and the extra couple of pounds will be lost in the final couple of weeks - hopefully avoiding a brutal cut with steam rooms, ice baths and the possibility of kidney failure.
I love the adrenaline rush of getting inside that octagon, but the fight camp is definitely the worse part.
“Okay, so I’ve called Jamison and he’ll be taking over as your head coach and technical adviser because Javier is already booked.” Sarah rises from my chair and saunters over to the door.
Jamison is an old friend and has been part of my team for as long as I can remember. I trust him completely and as much as I'll miss Javi, I know he'll get me in great shape.
“He’ll sort out your sparring partners and your corner team, so you just need to focus on being in the best shape of your life. Lucas is not going to make this an easy win for you.”
“No problem.” I boast as she leaves.
I sit in contemplation for a moment, enjoying the relaxation before I try to convince Maddie to give Mia a chance. She'll be expecting me to get her ready for bed, so I'll speak to her before story time.
As I reach the mezzanine floor and approach Maddie’s room, I hear voices. Maddie is sniffling and it sounds like she is being comforted by Mia. Guess that conversation won’t be needed now after all.
I know I shouldn’t eavesdrop on their conversation, but curiosity gets the better of me as I stand just outside her cracked bedroom door.
“You know, having me here isn’t such a bad thing?” I hear Mia explain “It’ll be fun having another girl in the house. Do you like Disney? Because I have every single Disney film ever made so that’s lots of movie nights and Princesses and yummy hot chocolate.”
“Yeah, but you’re only here because he won’t have time to be my daddy anymore.” I can hear Madison choke back the tears and my heart aches. I’m about to rush in and let her know that I will always find time to spend with her because she’s my number one, but I’m stopped in my tracks as Mia begins to speak.
“I promise you that your daddy will always have time for you, and do you know why?”
There's a brief pause.
“It's because he loves you very much and he will do everything he can to make sure that he can spend time with you. I’m just here to keep you company when he’s training, that’s all.”
“But I don’t want a new mummy?” Maddie sobs and Mia takes a deep breath. It's not her place to have to explain. I need to do something.
“Okay, who’s ready for a bath and a story?” I call as I swing the door open and barge into the bedroom.
“I'm almost there. Two minutes and I'll be outside.”
I disconnect the call and round the corner, heading for my favourite bar.
This past week has been exhausting with a lot of trial and error to get my schedule planned out but by the time the weekend rolls around, I'm excited to get out and enjoy my first day off.
So far, my days have consisted of waking up at seven thirty, getting a quick twenty minutes of yoga in, followed by a shower. Once Madison is up, we have breakfast, I get her ready, walk her to school and then come back and potter around until it's time to collect her. Then I entertain her until bedtime.
Figuring things out with Madison has been the easy part, the main struggle has been getting used to the ridiculous safety procedures that Ethan insists on. It literally takes me about half an hour to lock up and open up in the morning thanks to all the locks and alarms. The man has serious paranoia.
Since that first night, I've hardly seen him. Training for a total of five hours each day keeps him in his training area for most of the day, and the rest of the time, I hide in my room.
Luckily for me, today is Saturday and Ethan is spending the day with Madison, so I am walking through town to meet Lexi and my best friend Cristian for drinks.
Cristian has been bugging me for details, and I told him I needed more time to settle in, but he's as stubborn as Lexi when he wants something.
As I enter the bar, I see them both laughing in our usual spot. A quiet little booth in the corner next to the open fireplace, with a great view of the bar, so they can ogle the guys that come in.
“Hey girl, about time you got here.” Cristian stands as I approach, throwing his arms around me and pulling me in for a hug.
I've known him as long as I can remember. Ever since school, where he took pity on the quiet little kid that was always getting bullied. For years, I thought it was because he had a crush on my sister who was in the year above us, but she is definitely not his type. He prefers big, burly men with scruffy facial hair. Bears, I think he calls them.
“Hi, sorry I'm late. That bus journey is a nightmare.” I sigh as I slide myself into the booth opposite two of the most beautiful people I know. Seriously, the two of them could be on the cover of vogue without looking the least bit out of place.
“You know, you really should get yourself car now that you live all the way out in the country and have a job.” Lexi teases as Cristian just nods his head.
“Well, what's the point of me learning to drive when my sister comes to visit at every opportunity?”
“Ooh, that's only, so she can get an eyeful of that hunk you're living with.” Cristian pokes Lexi in the arm playfully, and she pulls a face at him then childishly runs her hand through his hair, messing up the caramel brown quiff that he no doubt spent an hour perfecting before leaving his house.
God, they both look so amazing.
To an outsider, I must seem like a total intruder, but the truth is, as different as we are, they are there for me whenever I need them and are probably the best friends I've ever had. Which doesn't say much because I'm not the type of person who makes friends easily and a lot of the ones I had, I lost in the break-up.
“So, how's things going with the new job.” Cristian winks. I know he's looking for some juicy gossip about Ethan, but I've barely seen him. By the time I get up, sort Maddie out and get back from the school run, he's in the gym training, same once I've picked her up. Then when he reads her a bedtime story, I retreat to my room for the night.
Three
mojitos later, a familiar figure enters the bar making the hairs on my arms stand to attention. I slide down into my seat, trying to make myself as small as possible.
What the heck is he doing here? He knows this is our spot.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Cristian rolls his eyes and Lexi looks like she's preparing for battle.
“It's okay, I'm fine.” I lie. “It's fine.”
He's standing at the bar with a group of friends and luckily, he hasn't noticed me. It's been six weeks since I last saw him, and he hasn't changed a bit. Still as handsome as ever.
His almost black hair is slicked back off his angular face, and he's wearing a pair of chinos with a suit and tie. He must have come straight from work.
“I don't know what I ever saw in him.” I think I'm trying to convince myself more than anything because I know deep down that I'd take him back in a heartbeat if he asked. The pair look at each other a burst into a fit of laughter.
“The list!” They chant in unison.
Ever since I was young, I've had an idea of the kind of man I will end up with and when mum introduced Peter as a medical student working in her department, he ticked every one of my boxes. Kind, caring, generous, loyal with good career prospects and traditional values. Until he cheated on me that is!
“We're heading to Centre Stage after this, you coming?” Lexi changes the subject, sensing my discomfort when she catches me biting my fingernails.
“Got to be up early in the morning for nanny duty, so I think I'll just head back.”
“Oh, come on.” He whines, “Winnie's making a cameo tonight.”
As much as I love seeing him prancing around the stage as his alter ego Winnie Bagel, I need to get back. Taking care of a seven year is not something I want to do with a hangover.
“Maybe next time.” I glance towards the bar, checking that the coast is clear before continuing, “I've got another hour before the bus though so who's for another round?”