On the Ropes (Down for the Count) (30 page)

“A champion shows who he is by what he does when he’s tested. When a person gets up and says, ‘I can still do it,’ he’s a champion.”

—Evander Holyfield

Blaine greets us at the door as we walk into TKO. “How are your hands? Did you go to the hospital? What did they say?” he’s spewing out questions too quickly to answer, even if I wanted to, which I don’t.

“Nah, we got a little sidetracked,” Frankie answers for me. “Blaine, meet Gabriel’s little brother, Jason.”

Blaine sizes Jase up, “I didn’t know you have a brother.”

“I’m the black sheep of the family,” Jase responds sarcastically.

Trying to make light of the situation, I interject, “Please, if anyone is the black sheep of our family, it’s Papi.”

“So…” Blaine claps his hands together, “what do you want to discuss first?”

“That’s totally up to you, it’s your meeting,” Frankie gives Blaine the reins.

“Let’s go into my office then,” he starts walking. “I’ve got tons of great ideas!” he’s absolutely beaming with happiness.

Frankie and I start to follow him. I turn back to make sure Jase is following, but he’s just standing there. “Jase? Come on, we’re going into his office.”

“I’ll just wait here. This is business stuff; I don’t belong in there.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I walk towards him, nudging him along. “Of course you belong in there.”

He finally starts moving, and we walk into Blaine’s office. It’s nothing like Frankie’s little hole in the wall. Blaine has a huge desk, with a top of the line computer, and the largest monitor I’ve ever seen. There are two large bookcases with all sorts of sports and fitness books lining the shelves. On the wall right behind Blaine’s chair is a large framed degree; nothing like bragging about some fancy piece of paper.

Blaine sits down and motions us to the other seats in the room. “Okay, first order of business, we need to get your hands checked out. How are you going to start training for your next fight with broken knuckles?”

“My next fight?” I look at him, confused; then my head swivels to look at Frankie. “I just fought two nights ago.”

“Saint, relax. It won’t be for at least six months. I was talking to some people at the fight on Saturday to network a bit. I met a promoter there who represents Marcus ‘
The Maniac
’ Johnson. Have you heard of him?”

“Nah,” I look over at Frankie, “you, Frankie?”

Frankie has the same perplexed look on his face as I do. “Yeah, I’ve heard of him. But, I’m not sure Gabriel’s gonna be ready to fight in six months. His body needs time to regroup from this last fight, not to mention his hands.”

“For the last time, my hands are fine,” I growl in frustration. I look down at them and notice that the bleeding has finally stopped, but the bandages need to be changed.

“So, is ‘
The Maniac
’ a big deal?” Jase asks.

“Yes, he’s an up-and-coming fighter,” Blaine’s excited.

“He’s from the Midwest, isn’t he?” Frankie asks.

“Yes, Nebraska.”

I’m studying Frankie’s face, wondering what’s going on in that head of his. “I’ll have to look at his stats before we make any decisions,” Frankie looks over at Blaine. “We are
not
going to wear him out or overtrain him.”

“Of course, Frankie. I just thought he eventually wanted a title shot.”

“He’ll get a title shot,” Frankie counters harshly, “and we can do it without burning him out.”

“I get it Frankie, I only want what’s best for him too,” Blaine’s tone has gone from cocky to deflated in a matter of seconds.

“Okay, onto the next point,” Frankie dismisses.

“Yes, I was thinking of setting up a photo shoot as soon as possible for the print ads I mentioned before. I wanted to check both of your schedules to find out when you’re free.”

“Any evening is fine with me,” I reply.

“Yeah, that’s something you and Gabriel can work out. I certainly don’t need to see him getting his hair and makeup done,” Frankie laughs.

“Okay, I’ll contact my photographer and see when he’s available. I’d also like to ask you one more thing, Saint.”

“Shoot.”

“Would you be interested in teaching a women’s kickboxing class a couple of nights a week and Saturday mornings? The instructor I had lined up fell through.”

“It depends on what time. I have the after school program until six, Monday through Friday.”

“I was thinking around six-thirty or seven. It would only be an hour class.”

“Just think of all the hot pieces of ass that are gonna to take your class, Gabe!” Jase chimes in.

Frankie snickers and shakes his head at Jase’s comment. “He’s definitely your brother.”

“So, what do you say?” Blaine asks eagerly.

“Sure, why not.”

He nearly jumps out of his seat with excitement. “Awesome! I’ll start telling everyone about it.”

Just then, we hear a light knock on the door. “Come in,” Blaine calls out.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you’re in a meeting.” It’s Salem, looking beautiful as usual. She’s wearing a white blouse, black skirt, and black high heels. Her hair is pulled back, and she has light makeup around her eyes, which makes them stand out that much more. It only takes her a second to realize who’s in Blaine’s office, and when she does, her expression turns to panic. She startles, then turns to leave.

“You don’t have to leave, sweetheart. We’re just finishing up and I have great news!” he’s smiling from ear to ear. “Saint’s going to take Michael’s place as the kickboxing instructor.”

“Oh…” she glances at me and I can see the confusion in her face. She obviously knew we’d see each other again, but maybe just not this soon.

“Isn’t that great?” Blaine coaxes.

“Yes, it’s great,” she doesn’t sound very convincing as she plasters a fake smile on her face. “When are you going to start teaching?” she inquires curiously.

“I’m not sure yet. We haven’t ironed out all the details. Are you planning on taking my class?” I give her a little smile.

Suddenly, Jase clues in. “Oh, hey! You’re the girl…” I elbow him in the ribs, shooting him a “shut the fuck up” look. When he catches on, his eyes skip from Blaine to Salem, then he quietly sits back in his chair without another word.

“Do we still have dinner plans tonight?” Salem asks Blaine.

“Oh shoot, I completely forgot. I have another meeting after this.”

“Okay,” the sadness in her voice is apparent.

My heart breaks for her as the disappointment flashes across her face. I wonder if he actually has a meeting or if he’s going to be “meeting” with Sydney.

“We can have a late dinner, but I probably won’t be done until close to ten o’clock.”

“Don’t worry about it. I have a lot of reading to do for my class tomorrow, anyway. Call me later.”

Blaine jumps up from his seat. “Let me walk you to your car,” he puts his hand on her lower back as they walk out of his office.

“Holy shit! You didn’t tell me that the girl you’re in love with is Blaine’s girl,” Jase blurts out.

I close my eyes and shake my head at his words. I can’t believe he just said that out loud.

“Gabriel, what the hell have you done?”

“I haven’t done a thing, Frankie, I swear to God. And for Christ’s sake, I’m not in love with her,” my eyes dart over to Jase with a look of death.

“Coulda fooled me,” he shrugs.

“This conversation is not over. Do you understand me, Gabriel?” Frankie’s fuming.

“Thanks a lot,” I mouth to Jase.

He gives me a sympathetic look. “Sorry,” he mouths back.

“Sorry about that, guys,” Blaine reenters the room. “I had to extinguish a small fire with my girl. Where did we leave off?” The air in the room is now full of tension. Frankie’s pissed at me, and I’m annoyed at Jase for opening his big fucking mouth. “Whoa… what happened while I was gone?”

“Nothin’, just a small misunderstanding,” I speak up. “We’ll handle it.”

“Nothing I did?” Blaine looks concerned.

“No, nothing you did at all,” Frankie glances in my direction.

“Alright, I have to head out to my next meeting. Saint, I’ll be in touch in the next few days regarding the photo shoot and when you want to start up the classes.”

“Sounds good, just let me know,” I rise to my feet to leave.

“Frankie, Saint, it was great to see you again. And Jase, it was a pleasure to meet you.”

“Yeah, same here,” Jase shakes Blaine’s hand.

Frankie’s mumbling to himself the entire way out to the car. “I’m really sorry about what happened in there,” Jase says remorsefully.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll deal with Frankie like I always do.”

“He seems pretty pissed off.”

“He’s always pissed off,” I laugh.

Jase opens the car door for me and slides into the back seat. I take a seat next to Frankie in the front and look at him, “Just fuckin’ spit it out.”

“For Christ’s sake, Gabriel, you’re fucking his girlfriend?! You have legions of women who throw themselves at you and you have to go after
her
of all broads?”

I can’t help but smile; his reaction is classic. “Frankie, I’m not fucking her.”

“You look me square in the face and tell me you didn’t have sex with her.”

I stare him dead in the eyes, “I didn’t have sex with her.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I can’t win with you!” I throw my hands into the air. “You want me to tell you the truth and when I do, you still don’t fuckin’ believe me!”

“You better start explaining to me how your brother,” he points at Jase, “knows Blaine’s girlfriend!”

I explain all the events that occurred, from after the fight, straight through until I showed up at the gym and the cops were waiting for me. Of course, I omitted a few parts of the story so he wouldn’t get even more pissed.

“That’s the entire story. You happy now?” my eyes scan his face trying to read if he believes me or not.

“So, you’re telling me that she slept at your apartment, in your bed, and you didn’t sleep with her?” his voice is full of doubt.

“Yes,” I laugh, “that’s exactly what I’m telling you. You can even ask Jase,” I motion with my head to Jase, who’s back there minding his own business. “Did you hear any screaming or moaning coming from my room last night?”

“What? Why do you gotta involve me in this?”

“Because you’re the reason he knows in the first place.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know you didn’t want Frankie to know?” Jase sounds exasperated. “And no, I didn’t hear any moaning or screaming coming from your room.”

“Thank you!” I yell.

The rest of our ride back to my apartment is in silence. Once Frankie pulls up in front of my building, he throws the car into park. “Don’t worry about coming in before school tomorrow, Gabriel. You guys have a big day ahead of you,” Frankie glances at Jase.

“Are you sure? Jase can come in with me.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he turns to Jase. “Are you all set for tomorrow? You know where you’re going for this appointment at the clinic?”

“Yes, I know where it is, and I can show Gabe how to get there.”

Addressing me, he then offers, “You can borrow my car if you need to.”

“Nah, we’ll take my bike.”

“How are you gonna drive it?” he looks down at my hands.

“I’ll manage, they’re feeling a little better.”

“If you say so, kid.”

“Goodnight, Frankie,” I exhale heavily, rolling my eyes at him. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Come on, little bro,” I put him into a headlock as he tries getting out of the car.

I jump at the sound of someone pounding on my door. The first thought that runs through my mind is that it’s the police bringing Jase home. I run into the hallway and Jase meets me there. “Oh, thank God you’re still here,” Jase looks all out of sorts. “Go back to bed, I’ll handle it.”

“Are you crazy? You don’t know who’s on the other side.” Jase must be thinking back to when we were kids, and there were people constantly coming and going. We never knew when one of them would bring trouble.

“Who the hell do you think is going to show up?” I laugh.

“You never know.”

Whoever is out there is still pounding. “Alright! I’m coming,” I holler as I reach for the handle.

I open the door to find Salem standing there. Her eyes are red from crying; her face is tear-streaked, and her body is trembling.

“Salem?”

She throws herself into my arms. “I caught him,” she sobs.

“What?”

“Blaine. I caught him… with another woman… she was giving him…” she starts to gag and runs into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Opening the door about six inches, I peer through and see her leaning over the toilet dry heaving. I push the door open the rest of the way. “Salem,” I say quietly, “what happened?”

Looking up from the toilet, she wipes her mouth, “I knew he was fucking cheating. I just knew it.” She begins to cough, turning her face down into the toilet bowl.

I kneel down next to her and rub her back gently. “Get it all out.”

She tries to push me away, “Gabriel, please. I don’t want you to see me like this.”