M: How’s your second ‘wife?’ Can she make you as happy as I can? ;) I’m not jealous. I get you more than she does.
Enough.
Molly closed the screen and just as she was about to place the phone back on the table, Scott burst through the door.
“I forgot my—”
Scott saw that his cellphone was being held hostage.
“Cellphone? Or should I call it your ‘sex phone’ instead?”
Scott hurriedly took off his shoes and ran over to Molly’s side.
“It’s not what it looks like. I swear. I can explain, Molly.”
He grabbed the phone from Molly’s hand and saw that she had been reading his and Maxine’s smutty messages. He put the phone into his back pocket and grabbed her shoulders.
“Please let me explain. She’s just a friend. That’s just the way we talk to each other. It means nothing.”
You don’t even talk to me like that, Scott.
“You don’t have to explain anything. I’m not stupid, Scott. I just want you to be honest with me and tell me straight up that you’ve been seeing her behind my back. Please. Just give me that.”
Any speculation that Molly had of Scott being a well-crafted liar crumbled before her eyes.
“I… I never had sex with her.”
Molly laughed at Scott’s unconvincing confession.
“Do you mean like, you never had sex with her in the bathroom? Or you never had sex with her in our bed? C’mon Scott, I know you two banged. Just get it over with already.”
Scott became angry at Molly’s teasing. He stormed out of the room, only to return a minute later still visibly fuming.
“How can you be laughing right now, Molly?”
Molly stood in the hallway, blocking Scott from pacing back and forth another time.
“Because I think you’re a terrible liar. You pulled the wool over my eyes with Maxine, sure. But you’re not very good at answering direct questions when you’re under pressure. Listen, it’s okay, Scott. I haven’t exactly been into this either. We both know it’s been over for a while now, but neither of us wanted to be the one to end it.”
Scott put his back against the wall and slid down to a squat.
“I’m sorry, Molly. I’m not meant to be in such a serious relationship yet. I know I chose to get into this, but I think I’m looking for something else right now.”
Without saying anything else, Molly knelt down and kissed Scott on the forehead.
So am I.
Gathering her sweater and keys, Molly walked to the front door.
“By the way, I’m not your wife. I never asked you to marry me, I just wanted us to be more secure. The way a new family should start out. Take care, Scott.”
Molly closed the door behind her, knowing exactly where she was going next.
Chapter 68
The gym smelled worse than Molly had imagined. In the past, Xander had described it as something akin to a hockey bag, but this was far more horrid.
Men wearing shiny, metallic shorts were dripping sweat onto every surface, and grunting loudly as they collided shin against shin, and fists against bags.
Molly was the only female there, standing awkwardly in the doorway clutching her purse and scanning the room for a familiar face.
Xander had a beard last time I saw him. Jesus, everyone in here has one. How am I supposed to find him?
The only clean-shaven person in the whole gym was someone Molly instantly recognized as Johnny. Molly kicked off her sandals and made her way through the people skipping rope and stretching in the cramped, mirrored section of the room.
Johnny was sitting on a bench, heaving from his last round. Molly had no choice but to sneak up on him from behind. She tapped on his shoulder and he swung around, fists up.
“Johnny? Sorry for startling you, I came here to talk to Xander. Is he here?”
Johnny put his fists down and looked nervously around the room.
“Oh, sorry, Molly. It’s habit here at the gym to keep your guard up, because the boys can get rowdy, y’know? Xander’s here, but he’s really busy right now. Training for a fight.”
Molly peered over a large group of guys getting ready to spar.
I’m never going to find him myself.
“Okay, can you tell him to call me when he gets a chance? It’s really important.”
Johnny nodded, “I’ll pass along the message.”
With butterflies in her stomach, Molly glided past the fighters and slipped on her shoes. Surveying the gym once more, Molly smiled.
I’ll see you soon, Xander.
Chapter 69
“It’s so easy, Xander. You just get a drug test done and then everyone will shut up.”
Rumors had been flying around the local stadium and gym that since being back from his hiatus, Xander was winning fights as a result of steroid use. Johnny had been trying to convince him for the last week to get a test done, but so far nothing had swayed Xander.
“Why should I even care what they think? They’re a bunch of dicks, all fighting for the same lime-light. What they’re saying doesn’t bother me in the slightest.”
Xander would never let Johnny know, but he was actually upset by the rumors. He’d been training anywhere from four to six hours a day, and the fact that people were calling his fights illegitimate made him want to give up on several occasions.
“Because it’s not just other fighters that are thinkin’ this shit. It’s the event organizers too, and the reps. They’re all worried about dippin’ their paws into something toxic. If you do the test, then they’ll know for sure that you’re negative and will have no reason not to sign you up.”
It had been months since he had even thought of injecting. The shame he felt once he stopped had been enough to deter him from ever seeking it out again—even when he was tired and beaten down.
“Fine. I’ll do it. A urine test will do the trick, yeah?”
Xander jokingly went to pull down his pants, stopping just below the waist. Johnny shielded his eyes.
“C’mon dude. We’ll get a professional to do it so that no one can say anything about us tampering with the test.”
Chapter 70
Xander and Johnny drove to the nearest walk-in clinic. The receptionist had surely heard of Xander and his fighting reputation, raising an eyebrow distrustfully at him when she wrote down the referral.
A half an hour passed and Xander had already seen the doctor and was now sitting in the waiting room, reading a magazine.
“So, there’s really no chance of you testing positive, right?” Johnny asked, still uncertain whether Xander would have told him the truth or not.
“Xander, if you’ll follow me, I’ve got your test results,” the doctor interrupted, summoning him into his office.
“I guess you’re about to find out,” Xander taunted, throwing his magazine onto Johnny’s lap.
The doctor closed the door behind Xander and took a seat at his desk.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re doing this test so you can continue fighting?”
Xander nodded his head.
“Yeah. I want to be able to prove to everyone that I’m clean. No one will touch me if they think I’m using.”
“Well, you’re clean alright. No marijuana, alcohol, steroids, nothing. I’ll give you these papers as evidence, and you can flash them to anyone who asks.”
He pulled them from his clipboard and folded them into an envelope.
“Thanks, Doc. Feels good to know I’m doin’ this the right way.”
Xander shook the doctor’s hand and left the office, meeting Johnny outside in the parking lot where he was nervously pacing back and forth.
“So? What’s the deal? You good?”
Without saying anything, Xander shook his head and handed Johnny the test papers.
“Oh no, seriously dude? I thought you said—”
Johnny opened the envelope and began reading the results.
His f
ace went from ghost white to a tomato red, as he realized he’d just been played.
“You bastard. I thought you tested positive! I was about to throw you into traffic!”
Xander couldn’t help but laugh.
“I would pay money to see that look on your face again, Johnny. Okay, so what do we do with this now?”
Johnny folded the envelope into his back pocket.
“I’ve got a few ideas. Let me handle it.”
Chapter 71
The walls were painted red and blue, and plaques from champion fighters were hung around the changing room.
“They wanted to give this place a bit of a facelift. After I went big, they decided the stadium needed to live up to the expectations.”
Xander entered the same room he had been in a thousand times before. He had just won his fifth fight in a month, and word had gotten to Tommy over in L.A. of Xander’s success. Tommy followed him closely into the room, just in case Xander changed his mind at the last second and decided to shut him out.
“I appreciate you wanting to see me, Xander.”
Tommy put his hand out to offer Xander a seat on the bench first. Declining, Xander stood against the wall by the showers instead.
“I didn’t want to see you, Tommy. Johnny talked me into it, saying you had something important you wanted to tell me.”
An apology maybe? Like, sorry Xander, for ousting you and getting filthy rich off your talent without having an ounce of loyalty.
“He’s right, it is of the highest importance. Johnny sent me a message a few days ago detailing your recent… news.”
Really Johnny? You sent Tommy the test results? What were you thinking?
“You got some balls talkin’ about me with my best friend, Tommy. Just for my own entertainment though, what’d you two have to say?”
Xander threw his sweaty towel on the bench, causing it to land partially on Tommy’s lap.
“He mentioned that you tested clean. I commend you, Xander, for doing that. It’s a noble thing, fightin’ clean. Not many folks are keen on having hulks fighting for them. Been too many accidents, as I’m sure you know.”
Xander was running out of patience with Tommy and his circular speech.
“Just say what you mean, Tommy. What are you lookin’ for here?”
Johnny opened his leather briefcase and pulled out a double-sided contract, with Xander’s name printed in bold letters at the top.
“I’d like to represent you again. As your manager. For old times’ sake, ya know? You don’t gotta say yes or no now, just think on it. Before the whole incident happened, we were makin’ big strides in the world, Xander. You and I, we had our ups and downs—but the ups, oh the ups. We were on top of the world and I haven’t found a fighter like you since, Beast. Here.”
Tommy handed the contract over to Xander.
Xander looked it up and down, glancing over the typical contract jargon before resting on the final offer.
10% of every fight? That’s less than he was asking before. Maybe something really has changed in him.
“I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you, Tommy. But you’re right, we’ve got history. I’ll take a look at this tonight and give you an answer by tomorrow afternoon. Final offer.”
Tommy was elated.
“That’s better than I hoped for, Xander. I’ll be at the gym tomorrow, swing by with your answer when you get the chance.”
Xander showed Tommy to the door, closing it quickly behind him.
Bold move, Johnny. Bold move.
Chapter 72
Noon came and went, and Xander still hadn’t made up his mind about Tommy and his offer.
He spent most of the morning making a list of pros and cons, so far with the cons list far outnumbering the pros. Making it only as far as the gym parking lot, Xander was still sitting in his car reading over what he had come up with so far.
On the cons side, Xander listed everything that went wrong in L.A., plus anything that had occurred between them earlier on in his career. Those things were minuscule in comparison, but still irritated him about Tommy’s management.
On the pros side, Xander had only two things listed—someone to get me more fights, and someone to get me more money from fights.
Both of these outweighed the negative possibilities in Xander’s mind, so long as Tommy didn’t plan on screwing him over again.
That was mostly my fault though. Tommy didn’t force me to take steroids or to get black out drunk—that was all me. Maybe I’ve been too hard on him.
Xander crumpled up the paper and tossed it behind him onto the back seat.
All of the fights I’ve been getting have been amateur at best and pay next to nothing. I could use him.
Walking into the gym, Xander saw that Tommy was sitting in his office wearing a three-piece suit and crocodile skin shoes.
“Lookin’ rather fancy there, Tommy. What’s the occasion?”
Tommy took his feet down from his desk and sat up.
“You tell me, Xander. What’s the verdict? Have you decided?”
Tommy straightened his tie and suit jacket.
Xander took the contract forms out of his gym bag and set them before Tommy. Out of the corner of Xander’s eye he saw Johnny racing by the office window and soon after, a rapid knocking on the door.
“Open up, T! I gotta talk to Xander.”
Johnny kept knocking until he heard someone moving toward the door.
“What is it? We’re in the middle of something here, John.”
Tommy stood in the doorway, blocking Johnny from entering.
Shouldering his way in, Johnny grabbed Xander by the shirt and yanked him out of the office.
Johnny led him out of the gym. They stopped when they reached the alleyway, where Johnny figured they would have some privacy.
“I know that last time you were involved with Molly, you ditched her because you were afraid of messing up your fighting career. Things have changed though. She’s carrying your child now, and we both agree that’s more important than signing on with Tommy, right?”
Do you even need to ask that question, Johnny?
Xander nodded.
“Well then, don’t do this Xan. I know, I was the one to tell Tommy about you testing clean, but if you sign that contract you’re making a huge mistake and I can’t let you do that. Molly came to the gym the other day looking for you. I wanted to find out what was going on before I told you about it, so I asked Elodie why Molly would have just shown up out of the blue like that. El told me that Molly and that doctor guy, Scott, broke up last week. She’s single now, and it seems like she really wants to talk to you.”
Don’t go getting your hopes up, it may be nothing. But then, why bother coming to the gym? Why would she want to talk to me?
“Do you think she would want to talk to me about getting back together maybe? Well, not back together but… you know… together-together?”
Johnny shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know, to be honest. She didn’t really have a sense of urgency when she came in. She actually kind of looked relaxed. I think it might be a good sign, Xander. But I can tell you one thing, if you sign on with Tommy, he won’t let you be with anyone, especially not someone who has a baby.”
Let me? He can’t tell me what to do—not now anyway.
“It’s my baby. Not just anyone’s. And it’s Molly. If I choose fighting over her again, I won’t forgive myself for missing out on my one chance to have a real family. I know what I have to do.”
Xander jogged back into the gym, only slowing down when he reached Tommy’s door.
Inside, Tommy was filing his nails, and had poured himself a scotch.
It’s the scotch he keeps in his cupboard. The one he only drinks when he feels the need to celebrate. Oh man, he’s not gonna like this.
The door had been left open, and when Tommy noticed that Xander wasn’t looking overly enthused, he slammed his drink onto the desk.
/> “God damn, Xander, what did Johnny tell you? That I’m a slime ball and you shouldn’t sign on with me? What is it this time?”
Xander knew to tread carefully when Tommy was upset. He had been known to have a sharp tongue, and was unbothered by using it to bring others down.
“I can’t do it, T. And before you ask, no, it’s nothing personal. My decision has nothing to do with what happened before. I’ve taken responsibility for my actions then, and I want to take responsibility for my actions now. I have a child, Tommy. And the mother of this child is the very woman I said no to already on account of fighting under your rules. I can’t let her slip away again.”
Tommy threw the contract papers violently across the room. He turned his seat to face the back wall, and Xander could tell from his silence that he was trying to calm himself down before doing or saying anything further.
“Tommy, if it’s worth anything, I’m sorry. I truly am. It took you a lot of guts to show up at the stadium that night and ask me to fight for you again. I respect that.”
An eerily becalmed Tommy turned around from the wall and got out of his seat. Walking around the desk to Xander’s side, he pointed his finger to his chest and looked at Xander with the utmost contempt.
“You respect me? I don’t need your respect. You’re a low life scum who’s no better than the gum on the bottom of my shoe. I only needed you to fight for me because after the shit you pulled in L.A., no one worth a dime will touch me with a ten-foot pole. If no one will work for me, then who do you think is going to represent you?”
Xander stood up and cleared his throat.
“Me, Tommy. I’m going to represent myself. I’ll have more time for the baby and Molly, and less time to deal with this kind of bureaucratic shit. You’re a little man, Tommy. You always have been. Just a scared, little boy who needs other people to fight his fights. You’ve never faced a demon in your life that you could handle on your own. I hope you grow up someday, but I doubt you will. See ya around, Tommy.”
Lieutenant Commander Stud Page 41