by Chase, PJ
"Jimmy, I have to talk to you," Colin said.
"Colin, I'm glad you're here. You won't believe what just happened," Jimmy replied, in his office.
"Actually, there's something I want to tell you first," Colin said.
But Jimmy was too focused on his own train of thought to keep his news bottled up.
"You got an offer to fight Roderick Jameson," Jimmy blurted out.
Colin stopped dead in his tracks. He couldn't believe it.
"The Roderick Jameson?" Colin asked.
"As far as I know, there's only one," Jimmy said.
Roderick Jameson wasn't just any fighter. He was the champ. The top dog. With an undefeated and unblemished 20-0 record. Roderick was a one round wonder. The kind of fighter that made his bones knocking out his opponents in the frame round. His fights were quick but brutal.
"Wait a minute. I thought Roderick was fighting Brock Thompson next," Colin said.
"He was. But it looks like Brock is going to be seeing some jail time in the near future," Jimmy revealed.
Colin looked confused. "What?"
Jimmy looked shocked that Colin didn't know what he was talking about.
"Don't you ever read the news?" Jimmy asked.
"I've tried not to lately," Colin admitted. After his defeat, Colin had stayed as far away from the news as he possibly could.
"Brock got arrested for beating his girlfriend. He's not going to be fighting Roderick anytime soon," Jimmy continued.
Holy shit. That was a game changer. And not just because Brock would be behind bars. But also because it gave Colin a chance to redeem himself. To get the title shot he'd always been looking for. The shot that never seemed like it would come. That appeared to be permanently out of his reach after getting beat by Trent.
The offer seemed too good to be true. And judging by Jimmy's lukewarm delivery, there had to be a catch. But what?
"So Roderick wants to fight me instead?" Colin asked, cautiously optimistic.
"Don't get too excited. It's not the compliment you think it is," Jimmy said.
Colin wasn't following. "What am I missing?"
"There's a reason Roderick picked you. He wants to stay loose while Brock is in jail. He wants to stay ready--in fighting shape. But he's not looking for a big time showdown. He's looking for an easy win. A patsy. Someone he knows he can crush without too much effort," Jimmy explained.
Colin lost all his enthusiasm all of a sudden. "So that's why he picked me?"
Jimmy reluctantly nodded. "After what Trent did to you, Roderick figures you're a walk over."
Colin was so mad he could punch a hole in the wall. But instead he just gritted his teeth and groaned.
"I'm sorry kid," Jimmy said.
"I'm guessing you don't want me to take the fight, huh?" Colin asked.
"Well, there's something else you should know," Jimmy revealed.
"What's that?" Colin asked.
"Roderick's team is making it hard for you to say no," Jimmy said.
Colin was confused. "What are you talking about?"
"Roderick's promoter said there's a million dollar payday for you if you take the fight," Jimmy remarked.
Colin couldn't believe it. That was a hell of a lot of money. The kind of money it was nearly impossible to turn down. Especially for just one fight. That kind of payday could ensure that Colin would never have to worry about money in his retirement from MMA. At the same time, it was blood money in the most literal sense. All of Roderick's wins were by knockout. He'd sent more than a few fighters to the hospital. And Colin would have had a hard enough time keeping up with Roderick in his prime. But now that Colin was no longer at the top of his game, things could get out of hand in a hurry.
"This is unbelievable," Colin said.
"I know. That's an insane amount of money," Jimmy replied.
"I meant the timing of everything. I've always wanted a title shot. And now I finally get one because the fighting community thinks I'm all washed up. It's the worst kind of irony," Colin explained.
"Does that mean you're not going to take the fight?" Jimmy asked.
"No, I'm definitely taking the fight," Colin said.
"I don't blame you for taking the money," Jimmy remarked.
But Jimmy had it wrong.
Where Jimmy saw only an inevitable bloodbath, Colin saw an opportunity. Sure it had come late and under the least ideal circumstances possible, but it was still a once in a lifetime opportunity. And Colin couldn't pass that up. Not after he'd dreamed about it for so long.
"This is about more than just the money," Colin said. "This is my last chance at winning a title, and I'm not turning that down."
Jimmy was far more leery.
"Are you sure about this?" Jimmy asked.
Colin nodded. "Roderick may not see me as competition, but anything can happen once we get in the cage."
Chapter Six
Julie
After their piss poor experience at the club, Julie and her sister Melissa weren't interested in a repeat performance. But at the same time Julie and Melissa weren't going to meet any men by staying in at night. Finding the right guy was a numbers game. They just had to keep putting themselves out there and hope they'd eventually run into the right guy. But even hope had its limitations.
Julie and Melissa went out to a bar, hoping for better luck than they'd found at the club. It became clear though that the dating scene had seen better days. While Melissa and Julie were tied up in their relationships, it seemed that the pool of eligible bachelors had dwindled. That left quite the slim pickings.
The bar seemed to be filled with the same kinds of guys that were at the club. The wrong kind of guys. It turned out there was a lot more of them than Julie ever could have imagined.
So given their situation, the sisters did the only thing they could think of--they tried to laugh off their romantic misfortune.
"Damn, there aren't enough cosmos in this bar to get me to go home with any of these guys," Julie joked.
"Oh come on. What about that guy over there?" Melissa asked.
"Are you kidding? He looks like the kind of guy that refers to himself in the third person," Julie said.
"Alright, well how about that guy?" Melissa wondered, pointing out another man at the bar.
"You mean the guy that looks like he's the leader of a motorcycle gang?" Julie asked.
"Hey, I thought you liked bad boys," Melissa said.
"A bad boy is one thing. A future convict is another," Julie replied.
"Alright, one more for you," Melissa said, nudging to another guy at the bar.
"You mean the Wall Street raider over there? Never date a man that cares more about money than he does about you," Julie replied.
"Look at you being all picky here," Melissa said.
"Hey, you're welcome to take a crack at them if you want," Julie insisted.
"I was just joking. I don't want that kind of trouble in my life," Melissa said.
"Is there a chance we're being too picky?" Julie asked.
"We're talking about men that we're going to spend the rest of our lives with. I think we have a right to be picky," Melissa insisted.
"You're right," Julie said.
"Still, this doesn't bode well for our future, does it?" Melissa asked.
"You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'd actually take mom up on her offer to play matchmaker," Julie admitted.
"I hate to say it, but we both missed the boat on that one," Melissa replied.
"What are you talking about?" Julie asked.
"I already asked mom. Neither her nor her book club had any blind date suggestions for either of us," Melissa explained.
Julie never thought she'd hear those words. For years, their mom seemed all too eager to play Cupid. Ironically, just when Julie was ready to take her mom up on the offer, there was no one to match her with. Still, Julie didn't want to believe that was the truth.
"You have to be kidding me,"
Julie said.
"I wish I was," Melissa replied.
Julie's face then went as white as blizzard. "Yikes. This is worse than I thought."
It was the kind of night Julie wished she could forget. But Julie's memory seemed to have gone into overdrive at the worst possible time.
Chapter Seven
Colin
"So, what have you got for me?" Colin asked, entering Jimmy's office at the gym.
Jimmy was a master at breaking down tape. He went through all of Colin's opponents previous fights, analyzing every punch until he found a weakness to exploit. And somehow Jimmy was always able to find a weakness. It was uncanny how he did it. So after Jimmy spent the night breaking down tape on Roderick Jameson's previous fights, Colin was interested to see what flaws if any Jimmy was able to find.
Jimmy sat back in his chair and let out a big sigh. "This guy is just a fucking monster. He eats up stand up fighters. Boxers, kick boxers, jiu jitsu fighters--it doesn't matter the discipline."
"Jimmy, you're not making me feel good about taking this fight," Colin replied.
But Jimmy wasn't done bearing bad news. "And the worst part is, he comes out firing right out of the gate. He goes after the quick knockout. He doesn't even let you set up your game plan, no less execute it."
Colin tensed up as his face went white. "Should I not have taken this fight?"
"I've never seen anything like this guy. He's a killer," Jimmy admitted.
"Oh come on Jimmy. You can always find a weakness. Please tell me you were able to find a weakness," Colin said.
Jimmy shook his head side to side. "I watched every one of his pro fights and didn't see a flaw."
Colin was starting to really sweat now. "Are you serious? So basically you're saying I'm screwed then."
"No. You're not totally screwed," Jimmy insisted.
Colin was confused. "What are you not telling me?"
"After going through all of Roderick's pro fights, I dug deeper and found a tape of one of his amateur fights. That's when things really got interesting," Jimmy said.
Colin got some life back in his answers. "What did you find?"
"Why don't you just see it for yourself?" Jimmy suggested.
Jimmy then popped in an old tape and Colin watched intrigued as the action unfolded on the television. And what Colin saw was absolutely amazing. Roderick Jameson was actually down on the mat. In his pro career, Roderick barely ever seemed to even take a punch, no less get taken down to the mat. But there it was, right in front of Colin's eyes.
Even more amazing was how Roderick got to the mat. On the tape, Roderick was squaring off against a Greco-Roman style wrestler. And against all odds, Roderick's opponent was able to tackle Roderick to the mat. Once there, Roderick's opponent tried to put Roderick into a choke hold. But Roderick was able to slip out of the hold. From there, Roderick got back to his feet and pummeled his opponent. But for one brief moment while Roderick was on the ground, he seemed to be in deep trouble.
***
"So what do you think?" Jimmy asked, turning off the tape.
"Don't get me wrong, the footage is amazing, but I can't do that," Colin insisted.
"Why not?" Jimmy wondered.
"Because I'm a stand up fighter," Colin said.
"Not anymore you're not," Jimmy replied.
Colin was confused. "What are you talking about?"
"From now on, you're a Greco-Roman wrestler," Jimmy said.
Colin looked at Jimmy like he'd completely lost his mind.
"Jimmy, that's insane. You're asking me to learn a whole new fighting style?" Colin replied.
"No. I'm asking you to do what's necessary if you want to have any chance of beating Roderick," Jimmy said.
Jimmy was not the joking type, and as Colin looked into Jimmy's eyes, he could tell Jimmy was being dead serious. And when Jimmy meant business like that, he was usually right. But that didn't mean Colin had to like what Jimmy had to say. After all, Colin had spent his whole life as a stand up fighter. That's what he knew best. Learning a whole new discipline would be grueling.
"Isn't there any other way?" Colin asked.
"Colin, you can't beat this guy standing up. You can't even beat Trent standing up anymore," Jimmy replied.
"Don't hold anything back," Colin replied, annoyed.
"It's just the truth. And Roderick knows that. He's seen tape of all your fights. That's why he chose you. Because he's beaten twenty other fighters just like you. But this--what's on that tape, he'll never see coming. He'll never expect this--not from you. And the element of surprise is the best thing you have going for you right now," Jimmy explained.
Colin hated to admit it, but Jimmy was right. There was no way Colin could overpower Roderick, and Colin had personally watched Roderick send three stand up fighters to the hospital. It was clear Colin had to try something different, and Jimmy's plan was just crazy enough to work.
"Alright," Colin said.
***
With the fight plan nailed down, there was still something else Colin had to clear up in his life. He had to get his heart straight. Not only was he tired of being hung up on his ex, but after running into Samantha, it was clear she wasn't just over him, but that she never thought about him. There was no reason for Colin to waste anymore time lingering on how things used to be with Samantha. It was over. And the sooner Colin moved on, the better.
Then again, that was easier said than done. He'd been trying to get over Samantha. And judging by the dreams that wouldn't go away and how Trent had kicked his ass in the ring, Colin's efforts clearly weren't working. But maybe running into Samantha was just the wake up call he needed to really get his ass in gear. And for better or worse, it was time for Colin to try to get back out on the dating scene.
***
"Good morning Colin. You holding up alright?" Sarah Jones asked, gardening in her front yard as Colin moved to his car in the driveway.
Sarah asked Colin the same question every day. He could tell that she was waiting for the day that the answer would change. That some time in the near future, Colin would be able to relay some good news, instead of the same partly cloudy forecast he always delivered.
Sarah meant well though. And besides, Sarah wasn't just any old next door neighbor. She was Colin's godmother. She'd been good friends with Colin's parents. She knew Colin since the day he was born. And it pained Sarah to see Colin in rough shape.
When Colin first lost his parents, he moved to another suburb to his grandparents house. But when Colin got his first big fight paycheck, he bought back his childhood home. He thought it would give him a connection back to his parents. He thought maybe it would remind him of the better times of his childhood. And moving back meant that Sarah would be his neighbor again.
Colin both loved and hated being around Sarah. Talking to Sarah brought up visions of his parents, which brought a smile to his face. But at the same time, if Colin thought about his parents too long, he'd linger on how much he missed them. He'd start to obsess over losing them. So it was both bitter and sweet to be around Sarah. But that dynamic was everywhere in Colin's life. He knew his parents were gone, but he couldn't help but want them back. He knew it did no good to fixate on what he'd lost, but he also couldn't ignore the void in his life. He had a tortured soul, and probably always would. But it was good to have a support system like Sarah.
"I'm the same as usual," Colin replied.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Sarah said. "If there's anything I can do, just let me know," Sarah said.
"You know, my mother's sixtieth birthday is coming up. Or, what would have been her sixtieth birthday," Colin replied.
Sarah sighed. "Wow, that's amazing. It's incredible to think she'd be sixty. Then again, it's incredible to think she's been gone so long."
"Yeah," Colin said, choking up.
Colin and Sarah then both got silent.
"Should I bake a cake?" Sarah suggested, breaking the silence. "I could pull out my old photo alb
ums and we could reminisce about the good times."
"I'm not sure that I could handle that. Besides, I can't have cake. I'm training for another fight," Colin explained.
"Another one? Well be careful. You have to take care of yourself," Sarah insisted.
It was funny. To the rest of the world, Colin was a bulky hulk of a man. A tough as nails MMA fighter. But to Sarah, he would always be that scared and emotionally scarred little kid that lost his parents and needed coddling.
"Sarah, I've been doing this for ten years. I'll be just fine," Colin said.
"How's your love life lately?" Sarah asked.
Sarah had a way of cutting through any attempt at subtlety. She'd always been blunt. And this time was no different. Colin's mother had been a lot like that too.
"Same as last week when you asked me," Colin said.
"So lousy then," Sarah replied.
"That's one way of putting it," Colin said.
"Is there any other way of putting it? Look, you should really just find a nice girl and settle down. Get out of this fighting business," Sarah insisted.
"You make it sound much easier than it is," Colin said.
"Let my tai chi group get on it. We'll find you a woman in no time," Sarah replied.
"Please don't," Colin said.
"Alright. Well I'm here if you need me," Sarah replied.
Colin looked into Sarah's eyes and knew she was just trying to help. And he was happy that she was.
"Thanks," Colin said.
***
"I never thought I'd get into an argument over toilet paper," Patrick Miller admitted.
If Jimmy was the stern disciplinarian at the training gym, Patrick was his lighthearted counterpart. Patrick was Colin's sparring partner. But he was also Colin's best friend.
Patrick was actually the one that gave Colin the idea to get into MMA fighting in the first place. It had been Patrick's dream to be a pro MMA fighter. But despite his heart and will, the talent just wasn't there. His career was a non starter. He could never do better than the amateur ranks. Patrick made a great sparring partner though. And Colin was happy to have him around.