As much as he didn’t want to be restricted by the cast, Jason reluctantly allowed the doctor to put one on him. He was more worried about how long the cast was going to prevent him from training than he was about the injury itself.
Instead of a night out drinking and partying at the bars, he had to settle for a night at my place with pain medication and Pepsi. That was fine with me though because I had to be up early the next morning for work. When we were out after a win, I was lucky to get two hours of sleep.
§
I didn’t want to go into work. The only thing I wanted to do was stay home and make sure Jason was okay. Despite the pills that the doctor had prescribed for him, he was still in a lot of pain. Of course, it didn’t help matters that he hated taking any kind of pain medication so he waited until his discomfort was almost unbearable before he took any.
Although I had to leave him, I was in a great mood as I walked into work. I should have known that it wasn’t going to last. It never lasts when I walk into that place. I could have found out that I had a million dollars waiting for me at the end of my shift and the people around me would still find a way to suck the joy out of me.
Of course, the first person I came across was Candace, who had a look on her face that just screamed that she knew something that I didn’t.
“What?” I asked, not wanting to put up with whatever shit she wanted me to deal with.
“I was just wondering how your boyfriend did last night?”
“Are we really doing this again? I told you I don’t have a boyfriend.”
“Oh, right. My mistake. I was just wondering how his arm was holding up.”
How in the hell did she know about his arm?
“Were you at the fights?” I asked.
“No, but I did hear you talking about how he was going to fight with a bum arm.”
“Okay? So what are you saying?”
“Did his opponent seem to know that his arm was hurt when nobody else did? Don’t you think that’s kind of weird?” she asked as she leaned in real close to me. “What I’m saying is don’t fuck with me.”
I knew exactly what she meant. How she managed to find out who Jason was fighting and how to get in contact with him was beyond me. The fact that she would put Jason’s health and well-being at risk just to be a bitch to me is what pissed me off the most. I’d had it with her. She wasn’t worth wasting another breath on. In order to avoid the urge to slap her, I calmly turned and walked away.
My blood was boiling as I made my way into Maggie’s office. She wasn’t in yet so I decided to have a seat and wait for her. I didn’t want to be anywhere near Candace so the nurse’s station, where she was no doubt sitting on her ass and playing on Facebook, was the last place I wanted to be.
The great thing about Maggie was that she was going to be retiring in just under three weeks so she literally did not give a fuck about what she said or did in regards to the little sorority club that was Angie and Candace. Instead, I wanted to pick Maggie’s brain. She had the wisdom and expertise that I needed to get Candace once and for all.
“Well good morning,” she said, surprised to see me in her office before her.
“Good morning,” I replied. “I couldn’t stand to be out there with the devil girl for even one minute this morning.”
“Oh boy, what happened now?”
“I’m going to guess the nosy little bitch heard you and I talking about my boyfriend’s arm being hurt so she got in touch with his opponent somehow to tell him about it. Now Jason is sitting around my apartment with his arm in a cast they knew to target it. He was lucky he didn’t need surgery.”
“Wow, what a bitch,” she said, making me laugh because she never cusses. “It’s amusing that you mentioned her this morning. Do you remember when I said to her that I had caught some errors in her charts?”
“Yeah, I vaguely remember that.”
“That was only a half truth. When I caught wind that she was out to take over my job after I leave, I started following her around without her knowing. She’s been messing up a lot more than even I realized. I’ve been watching her and documenting everything she’s messed up for a while now.”
“Wow, when did you even find the time to do that? You really didn’t have to do all that for my benefit.”
“Oh honey, it’s not just for your benefit. I didn’t tell you this because I didn’t want you to feel nervous around me or anything but Angie actually came to me a couple of months ago and asked me to monitor the two of you so I could give her my recommendation for who should take my place when I’m gone. I know you’re the perfect candidate but I wanted to have enough information to prove to her that Candace would not be a good fit in this office.”
“That’s smart. When do you have to give her your recommendation?”
“I actually have a meeting with her at 3:00 this afternoon.”
“Damn, I better get to work then before you tell her I’m not doing my job,” I said with a wink.
“You know you don’t have to worry about that.”
§
I was just about to go to lunch when two men in suits entered the building. I’d never seen them before and I was pretty sure they weren’t there to visit anyone. A few seconds later, two police officers entered as well. Something was up and there was no way I was going to leave my desk without finding out what it was.
The four men huddled for a moment before turning and making their way towards my station.
“Ma’am, we’re looking for Candace Jackson. Is she here today?”
Holy shit. What in the world is going on?
“Yes, she should be in the cafeteria. Her lunch break started about twenty minutes ago.”
“Thank you, can you take us there.”
“Okay, but can you tell me who you are?”
“I’m sorry. My name is Steve Clark and this is Randy Wells. We are with the Detroit Department of Social Services. The officers behind us are here to assist us. We need to discuss something with Miss Jackson.”
“Sure, follow me.”
I made my way out from behind my desk and led them down the hall to the lunchroom. As we walked, Angie spotted us from inside her office and came running out.
“Shelly, what’s going on?”
“I have no clue. “They’re here looking for Candace.”
“Candace? Why?”
“I have no idea. They just asked me to take them to her.”
Angie followed us down the hall. Candace saw me the second I walked into the cafeteria and gave me the same smug look she had given me earlier. Her look changed drastically when she saw me pointing her out to the men behind me.
“Candace Jackson?”
“Yes, who are you?”
“My name’s Steve Clark and I’m with the Detroit Department of Social Services. I’m going to need you to follow me please.”
“What’s this about?” Angie asked as she stepped in between the agent and Candace.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Angie Jackson. Candace is my niece but I’m also her boss.”
“Great, we’ll need to speak with you too. Is there someplace private we can go?”
“Sure, we can use my office.”
Candace threw her trash away and followed them into Angie’s office. I wished I could follow them. I would have paid to be a fly on that wall. Since I couldn’t listen in, I ran to Maggie’s office to see if she knew anything. She had no idea what could be going on but whatever it was, we both agreed that it couldn’t bode well for Candace.
We both went out to the nurse’s station so we could be there whenever the little meeting was over. The group was in Angie’s office for nearly an hour before the door opened and Candace was led outside by the two police officers. At first, I thought she was being arrested for something but I noticed that she wasn’t in handcuffs.
“Maggie, I need to talk to you privately,” Angie said as she approached the desk. Her head was down and her shoulders were sl
umped. I’d never seen her look so bad.
Maggie and Angie went into Maggie’s office and closed the door. I felt like I was being left out of all the juicy gossip that day. It was fine, though. I knew Maggie would fill me in as soon as she had a chance.
They were only in Maggie’s office for about five minutes before Angie grabbed her keys and made her way out to the parking lot.
“What in the world is going on?” I asked her, dying to know what was happening around me.
“Well, it doesn’t look like I’m going to have to have that 3:00 meeting with Angie after all.”
“Why? Tell me!” I said, jokingly insinuating that I was dying to know.
“Apparently the family of a few residents placed called to Social Services on behalf of their family members.”
“Okay? But why?”
“It turns out our model employee there has a bit of a drug problem. On days when it’s her responsibility to administer medication, there have been quite a few residents who never got them.”
“Do they think she’s taking them?”
“It looks that way. They just took her to run an immediate drug test.”
“That’s crazy. You know, I saw her in the medicine room not long ago. I was going to prepare the meds for the day and she was walking out just as I was walking in. She said she’d left something in the room from the day before but she seemed really nervous that I saw her. I wonder if she was in there stealing drugs?”
“I don’t know but I think I need to have an inventory done.”
“I think that would be a good idea.”
We waited around to see if Angie and Candace would be back that day. Later that afternoon, Angie came in by herself and, again, needed to have a private meeting with Maggie. An official report showed that Candace tested positive for three of the drugs that the residents had not received. She didn’t want to but Angie had no choice but to let her go.
Looking back, it may have made me seem like a huge bitch but I was ecstatic when I heard the news, especially after what the bitch had pulled with my boyfriend. It was nice to finally see karma give someone what was coming to them. At the same time, I was sad that the residents hadn’t come to me. They could have confided in me at any time and I would have had the situation looked into for them.
As soon as I was alone, I called Jason to tell him the good news. I also told him about her calling his opponent about his arm, which made the firing even better. Angie ended up leaving for the day, presumably to go be with Candace, so Maggie and I had a personal celebration in her office.
Jason
My arm was fucking broken thanks to the little bitch that worked with Shelly. It didn’t matter what lengths Damon and I went to so that we could keep the injury under wraps, it still got back to my opponent. I was surprised his team didn’t bitch out of the fight by alerting the athletic commission. Of course, it was more of a bitch thing to use my injury to get an advantage over me. It was the only way he had a chance against me and he knew it. My injured arm wasn’t such a big deal while I was choking the consciousness out of him with my legs. I had a feeling that he and I would be standing across the cage from one another again. Next time, I’d make sure I knocked him out with my fists.
As pissed off as I was to learn that my arm was fucked because of someone else being shady, that didn’t change the outcome of the fight. I came out on top and that was all that mattered to me. I was still a little irritated that I gave that skank an autograph. Maybe she could go on the net and get a couple bucks for it. She’d need all the cash she could get since she got her ass canned from her job. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.
When Shelly walked in the door, I could see the happiness radiating out of her. Not only did she no longer have to deal with the girl at work, but she was also guaranteed to get the promotion that she’d worked so hard for.
“I think we should go out to celebrate your promotion,” I told her.
“You sure you’re up for that?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m just talking about dinner or something. Not like I can drink on the pills the doctor gave me anyway. I’m pretty sure they’re tranquilizers. Besides, I never got a chance to celebrate my victory. We can at least celebrate yours.
“Okay, but you’ve got to let me take a shower first.”
“That’s fine, you want me to get in with you?” I asked playfully.
“You know you can’t get in there with that cast right now.”
“So what I’m hearing is that you’ll be giving me a sponge bath later?”
“We’ll see. I’ll get ready as fast as I can.”
While I was waiting for her, Damon called my cell phone. I figured he was just calling to check on me so I let it go to voice mail. He would usually text me if I didn’t answer so I was surprised when my phone started to ring again. I decided that I’d call him after Shelly and I had a chance to go out. Just as I was about to set my phone back onto the table, the text message alert went off.
Hey fucker, quit ignoring my calls. I wanted to let you know that the big wigs from CCF weren’t able to make it to your fight. I’ve got a connection in their office so I sent a DVD in for them to look at. Hopefully, some good will come from that. I was very impressed with the heart you showed and think they will be as well.
I was a bit pissed that I hadn’t fought in front of any of the people who could make my career but I thought it was cool of Damon to send in footage for me. I had serious doubts that it would get in front of anyone who mattered, though. I suspected it would be like musicians who send in demo reels that nobody was expecting. It would make it as far as the mail room before being tossed in the trash.
When we were out having our celebratory dinner, I told her about the text message.
“That’s great news. As soon as they see how you fought back, there’s no doubt they’ll be impressed.”
“Yeah, maybe. Of course, that’s if anyone even sees it.”
“Damon said he knew someone working over there right?”
“He did, but Damon also talks a lot of shit.”
“I don’t know. I have a good feeling about it. I think they’ll see it and be impressed.”
“I hope you’re right. It would be amazing if they’d consider bringing me in. Hell, I’ll fight in the preliminaries for a while if that’s what it takes to get noticed. I just want to get in there and make a name for myself. I’ll do whatever it takes to get out of the shithole apartment that I live in and make enough money to get a new place for me and my brother….and you.”
Shelly paused mid-bite and looked up at me as if trying to figure out whether or not she heard me correctly.
“Shelly, I know that I’m an asshole. It’s who I am and it’s probably who I’ll always be. At the same time, you seem to be able to bring out another side of me that I didn’t know existed. I feel like I try to be a better person whenever I’m with you. I know I don’t have a lot of money. I’m not sure if I ever will. There is no way I can give you the world as far as my bank account goes but what I can give you is my heart,” I told her as I slid out of my chair and got down on one knee. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you and hope you want to share your life with me. Will you marry me?”
Her eyes filled with tears as I showed her the straw wrapper that I folded to make a makeshift ring.
“Yes,” she responded, barely able to get the word out.
I slid the wrapper onto her finger and whispered into her ear.
“I promise you that by the time we get married, I’ll replace that wrapper with a ring that’s as beautiful as you are.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a kiss. With tears streaming from her eyes, she couldn’t talk, even though she wanted to. Instead, she sat back, looked at me and smiled.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Shelly
Jason might not have been able to drink but I didn’t let that stop me when the waiter noticed I was being proposed to and brought out a compl
imentary bottle of champagne. I’m not a big drinker but I managed to finish the bottle by myself. I put the blame on my nerves. After being proposed to, I couldn’t get my hands to stop shaking. The champagne helped keep me calm.
I couldn’t wait to get into work the next morning. I know I didn’t have an actual ring to show off but I had one hell of a story to share. I poked my head into Maggie’s office but she hadn’t made it in yet. While I waited for her, I filled my time gloating to all the CNA’s.
The Silencer: A Bad Boy MMA Romance Page 11