Forever Love
(Fighter Club 1)
Marie Dominique
Forever Love (Fighter Club 1)
Marie Dominique
Copyright 2013 by Marie Dominique
DEDICATION
To my husband and our two beautiful children.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 Pg 8
Chapter 2 Pg 12
Chapter 3 Pg 16
Chapter 4 Pg 19
Chapter 5 Pg 23
Chapter 6 Pg 25
Chapter 7 Pg 30
Chapter 8 Pg 37
Chapter 9 Pg 40
Chapter 10 Pg 45
Chapter 11 Pg 49
Chapter 12 Pg 50
Chapter 13 Pg 53
Chapter 14 Pg 59
Chapter 15 Pg 65
Chapter 16 Pg 72
Chapter 17 Pg 77
Chapter 18 Pg 84
Chapter 19 Pg 88
Chapter 20 Pg 92
Chapter 21 Pg 98
Chapter 22 Pg 105
Chapter 23 Pg 111
Chapter 24 Pg 113
Chapter 25 Pg 117
Chapter 26 Pg 122
Epilogue Pg 133
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my husband, children and the rest of my family for their support.
To my mum for proofreading.
To my friend for proofreading and editing the book for me.
To D.L Kelly, Author of “My French Vanilla” for her advice about self-publishing.
Thank you for buying my book, I hope you really enjoy it :-)
1
“Monday 9th January 2012, a new year, a new start and all that” Alexia said to herself as she sat in her nearly empty kitchen drinking her coffee. Whilst she looked around the open plan kitchen-front room she sighed. She had lived here for nine years and it was full of a lot of fun memories, of the twins growing up, her mum, the parties they’d had, the laughs and the cries, with all the different situations and yet when she looked in the middle of the front room area where all of their things were packed (apart from the last minute bits that could fit in the boot of her car) she felt sad at how few boxes there were. She had really struggled the last nine years as not only had her and her mum moved to London, she was left to bring up the twins on her own when their father, her ex boyfriend decided he wanted nothing to do with them. Then to add to it, three years after they moved here her mum had fallen ill and passed away two years later.
Alexia loved her mum but knew she was a woman not to be messed with. She had taken Alexia away from her dad when she was three and even though they still lived in Manchester, she was not allowed to see him as things had gotten very messy between them throughout the divorce. So her mum had taken a court order against him saying he couldn’t have anything to do with her until Alexia wanted. However Alexia had grown up believing it was he who wanted nothing to do with her. A year after her mum had died Alexia finally had the courage to sort through her mothers personal things and it was only then she had come across the details of her father, Tony. She was really shocked to say the least but decided to take the bull by the horns and contact him by letter, to her surprise, he responded quickly with a phone call in which they spoke for two and a half hours. They stayed in daily contact from then on. Bringing her thoughts back to the present day, four years after her mum had died she was moving back to Manchester to be with her dad, friends and family. “A new year, a new start” she tried to convince herself. She washed her cup up and put it in the box to go in her car and went upstairs to wake her son and daughter who were sleeping in her bed due to their beds being already to load onto the van.
‘Good morning sleepy heads, time to get up, it’s moving day,’ she said excitedly. The twins opened their eyes and giggled as they jumped out of bed.
‘YYYYEEEAAAHHHH,’ they shouted and Ben ran into the bedroom and came out less than two minutes later all washed and dressed with Amber following behind.
‘WOW, if I knew that moving would get you two up, washed and dressed in less than five minutes with no arguing then we’d move everyday!’ they giggled at their mum but the peace didn’t last for long as the removal men banged on the door. Ben and Amber ran down the stairs arguing about who was going to answer the door, but when they got there they suddenly stopped and looked up realising their mum had already got the door.
‘How’d you do that? We left the bedroom before you,’ Ben exclaimed.
‘Do you have super powers? You always seem to get where we want to be before us,’ Amber said.
Alexia looked at them, ‘It’s all part of being a mummy, you gain a lot of skills you didn’t know you needed, like growing an extra pair of eyes in your bottom. Now be helpful and help load some of these boxes into the car please.’
The twins laughed between them about her “eyes in your bottom” comment and then ran off to help. Three hours later the van was full and was just leaving. The car was loaded and the twins were sorting out the music, snacks and DVD’s for the journey to their new home. So Alexia took advantage of the empty, quiet space to walk round one last time to make sure nothing was left and all the windows were closed and locked. A few tears ran down her face. She wiped her tears away and locked the door for one last time before getting into her BMW and driving away. When they arrived her dad Tony was already at the house and was helping unload the van that had got there about ten minutes before she had.
When he saw them pull up he smiled as they got out of the car. ‘About time you got here girl! Get that kettle out of the car, get in the kitchen and get it on. I’m parched and so are these two men!’ He said playfully, nodding to the two removal men, who didn't look like they were about to turn down a brew.
‘Hello to you too dad.’ She smiled as she opened the boot of her car so she could take her boxes out. The kids practically jumped out of the car and ran into the house at full steam not caring about what was round them, with a quick “hello grandad” as they went by to explore their new bedrooms.
‘Erm excuse me you two, I know you’re excited but can you come help with your things then you can be making your rooms how you want them,’ Alexia shouted as she came in the front door with the box that had the cups, kettle, tea, coffee, sugar, milk and biscuits in.
‘OK mum,’ they replied giggling and came running back downstairs.
With everyone helping they had the van and car unloaded within two hours and then Alexia, Tony and the twins spent another four hours getting the basics unpacked and sorted, they even had time to put up some photos. Ben and Amber had asked Tony to put up the only photo they had of their dad in their bedrooms. Tony found it hard to say no to them so followed them upstairs with his hammer and hooks in hand. Ben stood by the bed pointing to where he wanted it and as Tony took it off him he looked at it and froze, he slowly looked at Ben and back at the photo and his heart went into his throat.
‘Are you ok Grandad?’ asked Ben.
Tony looked at the man on the photo for a few more seconds before answering Ben. ‘Yes, I’m fine,’ he cleared his throat, ‘I just have never seen your dad before and can’t believe how much you look like him,’ He smiled at Ben and carried on putting up the photo.
2
Tony Clay was five foot eleven, aged 50 with short grey hair and blue eyes and he was of an average build. He was by no means a ‘weasel’ but not a big 'muscle man' either. He was very well known in his town as he used to be the owner of a very successful electronics company which made him his fortune (a lot of it in fact) and he and his ex wife would flash their cash at every opportunity. They had it all, sports cars, fancy holidays, big houses...life was good. They knew how to throw the most amazing partie
s and were the friendliest people you could ever meet. If you were ever in trouble, they’d go out of their way to help. That was until his ex wife left him twenty six years ago and took everything including their 3 year old daughter and all their savings. After a very expensive divorce she won just about it all, leaving Tony with not a lot to his name. He then had to work his backside off with three jobs to try to build back up what she took but was never able to regain that kind of lifestyle. All he cared about was getting a roof over his head and a steady comfortable income so he could fight for his daughter but by the time he was able to do that, three years had passed and he had no contact details for her and no idea how to find them.
Twenty years after his ex wife had taken Alexia, he came home one evening and checked the mail as he always did but this time he saw a handwritten letter from London. He didn’t recognise the handwriting but he wasn’t expecting it to the biggest shock of his life. He literally fell into the chair behind him and was flabbergasted. He read the letter once and then again, to double check he wasn't seeing things. It was from his daughter Alexia who was 23 at the time.
Dear Dad,
I'm not sure where to start or what to say. So I’ll start with a simple how are you?
I know you must be in shock to be reading a letter from me after all this time but I am writing to you as mum died a year ago and whilst sorting through her stuff I found an address and details for you. I can't remember a lot about you to be honest but I do remember you reading me my bedtime stories.... The Care Bears and My Little Pony. In fact, if I remember rightly, you knew them word for word the same as I did.
I would love to see and meet up with you again and have you back in my life. I now have two children. Yep you read that right.....two children, Twins! They are called Amber and Benjamin. I would love for them to grow up knowing their granddad. Please call me or text me on the number below if you would like to meet.
Your daughter,
Alexia
‘Wow.’ He sat and thought about the last time he saw his little girl with her bright blue eyes and long brown hair in pigtails. It was the worse day of his life and he had to watch her as she was screaming 'Daddy' and holding her arms out for him as his bitch of an ex wife drove off with her. With tears running down his face he contemplated ringing her. What if he was a disappointment? What if she decided better of it and changed her mind? He’d lose her all over again. There was so much to take in, his grandchildren, his ex dead. But he had to do it. He had to hear, see, be near his daughter. She was still his little blue eyed girl, so he nervously picked up the phone.
Ever since that day Tony and Alexia had been in touch and spoke everyday weather it be by a phone call or text, having her back in his life was the best thing a dad could ask for and his grandchildren were just the icing on the cake. He was so pleased that Alexia and the children were moving back to Manchester to be close to him but buried in the back of his mind was the worry that she might discover what he had been hiding. Tony had gotten himself into financial straits as the garage he worked at went through a dry spell, and was in threat of losing his house. He went in search of help and ended up in the office of JT, one of the most feared men in Manchester. Not only for being a loan shark but because he was a notorious cage fighter.
Tony stood in Alexia’s kitchen and helped her dish up their tea.
‘I can’t believe it’s going to be the twins ninth birthday in March.’
‘I know, my babies are growing up so fast it’s scary.’ Alexia said sadly.
‘Did you manage to get everything sorted for it?’ Tony asked as he looked back down at the food he was dishing out.
‘Yep, it’s all sorted,’ she smiled knowingly at him. ‘I’m so excited, I’m surprised I’ve kept it to myself.’
Alexia had spoken to her previous boss whom she had become good friends with and he had given her the use of his box at Manchester United. She had invited some of her friends and family along with their children for a little party and to watch the match.
‘Cool, should be a great day,’ He smiled back at her.
3
The next morning Alexia was woken by a banging on her door and the loud mouth of her good friend Tracy Shaw.
‘AAAAALLLLEEEXXXIIIAAAAAAAA,’ Tracy screamed in a very high pitch that surely to god only a dog could hear, but Tracy didn’t care. She was bubbly, full of life and an all round caring and loving person who got on with everyone. She was the life and soul of the party who liked to make her presence known and would talk to anyone. At five foot nine, a size ten and curves in all the right places she really didn’t need to have a big mouth because people noticed her wherever she went.
Alexia ran downstairs and opened the door. ‘Hey Tracy, how you doing?’ she said pulling her into a hug. As they squeezed the life out of each other Alexia looked up to the sight Sarah Woods running towards them with her daughter Ellie. As Sarah approached them she threw her arms around both of them. ‘Group hug,’ she shouted at them. Ellie ran straight passed in search of the twins. Sarah was the 'funny one' out of the group. Funny in every sense of the word. Alexia and Tracy often wondered if the girl had a brain or any common sense at all, but that just made them love her more.
Sarah held out some flowers and a card for Alexia. ‘Welcome to your new house.’
‘Thanks.’ She smiled as she took the gifts from her. ‘Do you two want to come in a look around?’
‘Well.....erm no.....we thought we’d come here to sit on the drive and admire the outside of it....what kind of silly question was that? Do we want to come in a see it, get out the way and let us in.’ Sarah said and laughed as she walked in.
As they entered the house they walked in to a long hallway with the stairs in front of them and to the right there was a door into the front room. They poked their heads through to have a quick look at the basic square room with a lovely ornate fireplace as the main feature. At the end of the hallway was a door to the kitchen. They walked into the open plan kitchen-dining room and to the left was a door to the utility room. Alexia then took them upstairs and as they reached the top, the hallway was an ‘n’ shape. Directly in front of them was the study, to the right was Amber’s room and right again was Alexia’s master bedroom followed by Ben’s room, the family bathroom and the spare bedroom. The whole house had magnolia walls with either oak wood flooring or cream carpets and Alexia had bought all her furniture from Oakland and had covered one wall in every room (except Ben’s) in a nice contemporary floral wallpaper to create a homely feel.
‘Wow, it’s beautiful Alexia.’ Sarah said and Tracy agreed. They went back downstairs to the kitchen and Alexia put the kettle on.
‘So what's the plan for today?’ Tracy asked whilst taking a drink of her tea.
‘Well I need to go food shopping, go and get Amber and Ben’s new school uniform, then we have an appointment with the estate agent to look at some dance studios.’
Alexia had wanted to own her own dance company since she finished her dance studies in high school but life had taken her down a different road. Now she was back in Manchester with her dad and friends not only did she have the support but Tracy and Sarah were going to work for her. ‘The kids don’t want to go so Dad said he would have them and Ellie at his house.’
‘Fab,’ Sarah said. “Do you want to go out tonight? The club that was under threat of closing has been taken over by some cage fighter or something and some of the girls said it’s lovely now.”
“Yeah why not, I’ll tell dad he’s having the kids tonight as well.” Alexia said. Tracy jumped excitedly about their day as they got ready.
4
Later that evening Tony had agreed to have the children so the girls could have a night out so they went back to Alexia’s to get ready. Alexia wore a Lipsy cocktail dress which had a black and cream pattern on the top part and was plain cream on the bottom, giving the effect of it being a top and skirt, cream shoes and a black leather jacket. Sarah wore a black bodysuit with a see thro
ugh piece that goes down the middle of her chest, leather pants, black ankle boot and a black leather jacket and Tracy wore high waisted jeans with flowing top that crossed at the back and black platform shoes.
‘I was thinking last night when was the last time you two went out? It must be a good few years,’ Tracy asked.
‘Mine was before the twins,’ Alexia looked at Sarah for her response
‘Yeah mine was before Ellie,’ she said.
‘OMG!! The last time you two went out was nine years ago? Really? No that can’t be right,’ she said looking confused at them.
‘It’s true,’ Alexia said with Sarah nodding in agreement.
‘Hell girls! Well a lot has changed since then,’ Tracy replied.
*********
As they walked into the nightclub, Sarah and Alexia were shocked at some of the sights. They walked passed a group of girls wearing a strapless mini dress that just covered their boobs and bottom. ‘Hey!’ Sarah shouted. ‘They forgot to get dressed!’
‘I was just thinking the same thing,’ Alexia said. ‘I think we’re far too old to be here.’
Tracy laughed at them. ‘You two are really showing your age, chill out and enjoy it, live your life.’
They walked over to the bar and sat down on the stools and waited for the bartender to come over, there were only six of them working and they were run off their feet. After nearly twenty minutes of waiting one of the guys came over.
‘Hi, I’m so sorry you’ve had quite a wait, what can I get you?’
Forever Love (Fghter Club 1) Page 1