The Boxer: A Stepbrother Romance

by Dark, Roma

  “Hey, happy Thanksgiving yesterday. I need you to come pick me up. I’ve gotta open the store. That damn critic is coming today of all days.” Emery said, speaking into Shane’s voice mail as her anxiety started to rise.

  She took a hot shower and got herself ready for Theo McDowell, trying to remain calm like she had been told. She breathed deeply as she got dressed, looking at herself in the mirror and getting herself psyched for the coming critique. As she walked out of her bathroom she heard her cell phone ringing and quickly picked it up. It was Shane calling her back.

  “Hey, I’m not at work but I can run and pick you up to take you to work.” Shane said as soon as Emery answered her phone.

  “Thanks. I’m already ready so as soon as you head out I’ll walk down to the parking lot.” Emery said, wondering how his girlfriend felt about him heading out, “I don’t want you to come get me though if you’re with Lia’s parents.”

  “I’m not, and I’m not with Lia either.” Shane said, revealing they had broken up, “She dumped me for some rich ass douchebag.”

  “Aww, I’m so sorry.” She said, feeling saddened by the news. She knew how much Lia had meant to him, she could see it in his eyes when they spoke and he talked about her, “How are you holding up?”

  “I’m good. I’m back to just gamin’ on my free time and driving people around. It’s fun. No big deal to me really.” Shane said, making Emery think otherwise. He was hiding his real feelings. He was upset but didn’t know how to or possibly didn’t want to express those feelings, “She got kind of annoying after a little while. I mean, I know everyone finds flaws in their special someone but like… I don’t think they should just irritate you in general.”

  “No, that sounds like you’re kinda realizing you don’t really even like her.” Emery said, realizing that they probably hooked up very similar to what her and Chance did. “What’d you guys have a one-night stand or something?”

  “Yeah, I know, it’s never a good idea to hook up off a one-night stand. I should have seen it coming, I know.” Shane said as they drove down the road and pulled up to Emery’s restaurant, “Here we are. Don’t worry about this one either. I’ll give you a ride for free anytime.”

  “Thanks Shane.” Emery said, grateful for good lifelong friends. "I'd hug you but it's hard to do so with you strapped in with a seat belt."

  Emery unlocked the door and felt her heart start to pound, wondering what time Theo would be showing up at her restaurant. She walked in and quickly got the stoves running, hoping her cooks would show up as soon as possible. She sighed and wondered if Chance had gotten their annulment papers as she looked at the clock. Only three in the afternoon. She started cooking up the fanciest meals she could possibly think up all on her own. As more cooks showed up she immediately put them to work cooking their best dish. Once her entire crew of cooks showed up and got to work she felt empowered. She looked up and watched as her cooks prepared their own specialties and smelled all of the delicious scents in the air. The scents filling the small space were mouthwatering.

  Finally, Emery saw what looked to be Theo McDowell getting out from a car in the parking lot. Her gut tightened and her heart started to race but she took a deep breath and breathed it out slowly. She focused on staying calm despite the knot in her belly making her nauseous from sheer nervousness. Emery continued to keep herself as calm as possible as Theo walked in the door and was greeted by her greeter.

  “Ugh… She better not screw it up right away…” Emery thought to herself but calmed herself down by thinking about how her greeter Lucy pulled in the business, not drove it away, “Nah, she’s got this.”

  Emery watched as Lucy turned with her usual ear-to-ear smile as she led Theo to his reserved seat. He was getting their best seat, of course and Emery wondered just what he would want. She imagined that he would order the craziest dish to prepare but when her waiter came back he had a somewhat stunned look on his face.

  “He says he wants some tomato soup.” The waiter said as he looked back out at Theo, “I… I don’t get it. Why tomato soup?”

  “Maybe it’s what he prefers to eat for an appetizer.” Emery said, trying to convince herself just as much as her waiter. He really didn’t need to know since he wasn’t a cook, but Emery had always hated being left out of things so she did her best to include everyone, “Larry, I need you to make your tomato soup. I never thought it would come in handy, to be honest, but Theo wants tomato soup. You’re up.”

  “Now’s my chance!” Larry said sarcastically with a fist pump, making Emery giggle.

  Chapter Seven

  She was glad to have Larry around making everyone laugh and keeping the spirit of the restaurant chipper. It helped a lot to counteract the strangeness of Theo McDowell’s requests. First it was simply tomato soup and then all he wanted was a medium to well-done steak and eggs with a glass of beer to go with it. He didn’t say a thing the entire time he ate besides ordering what he wanted and just sat there watching television. After his steak and eggs he ordered a banana split so Emery fixed it up herself, being something her mother had taught her to make years before and was one of her favorite things to make just to reminisce about just that. Finally, after eating a whole three course meal Theo McDowell stood up and walked up to Emery with a straight face. Her heart started racing, wondering if he was displeased or trying to hide his true emotions.

  “Miss Stevens, in a world focused almost solely on making the most exquisite dishes it seems that the most simple of dishes escapes even the best of chefs at times. The tomato soup that I was given?” Theo McDowell said, right in front of the undercooks as he looked around at them. Emery had told them all to never look away as he looked around and explained that he was testing them but Larry looked down just in the slightest, “It came from you, eh?”

  “Y… yes sir.” Larry stammered with nervousness. Emery swallowed hard as she clinched her teeth, unable to believe that Theo seemed to have just said Larry’s tomato soup wasn’t good, she knew it was delicious.

  “That was the best tasting tomato soup I’ve ever had. I love the simplicity yet how it makes you want more. Could I get a serving to go please?” Theo asked, relieving a tremendous weight off of Larry and Emery. Larry audibly sighed. Theo chuckled and cleared his throat before he looked back at Emery but his smile was gone, “However, there is room for improvement with your undercooks in other areas, but I’m sure you’re aware of that. I do hear that you just recently took over this establishment so I didn’t quite expect full-fledged, near chef level undercooks. You’ve done excellent, all of you.”

  “Thank you sir.” Emery said, before she looked over at her crew.

  “Thank you sir.” They replied in unison.

  “You all have a great night.” Theo said as he was handed another batch of Larry’s tomato soup in a take-out bowl.

  Emery’s face lit up with a huge grin and butterflies fluttered all over in her belly, no longer being knotted up at all. She smiled and looked around at her fellow employees and didn’t know how to thank them all. She knew they still had areas to work on and improve but she wasn’t really sure which; he hadn’t specified.

  “Thank you all, you all did so amazing.” Emery said with that uncontrollably wide grin still on her face before she drifted off in thought, “This is so great… I think this is my big break.”

  Emery grinned and waited for the report to come as she fixed herself some lunch. She made herself some scrambled eggs with chopped sausage in it. Emery poured herself a glass of orange juice and heard the front door open. She didn’t think much of it, people had come in and gone the whole time Theo was there.

  “Uh, Miss Stevens, there’s a man here to see you.” Lucy said, poking her head in the kitchen and looking right at Emery.

  “What are you doing here?” Emery whispered as she walked out to find Chance standing in the lobby, “I said call me not follow me to work.”

  “I can’t get a signature over the phone.” Chance repli
ed, half-smiling at her with his eyes but he kept his face straight.

  “Come with me back to my office.” Emery said, looking over at Lucy with a look that told her not to say a word to anybody. The two were pretty good friends but she wasn’t sure if she would trust Lucy with such information.

  “Nice office.” Chance said sarcastically as they walked into her decorated, cramped office that was about a tenth of the size of the kitchen let alone the entire café, “Why do you have such a small office?”

  “We need the space for ovens and stuff like that.” Emery replied, “I’m the only one in here so I really don’t need all that much room.”

  “So I got the annulment papers.” Chance said, pulling out a bunch of folded up papers from his inner pocket on his jacket. He unfolded them and sat them on Emery’s small desk before he turned them around and pushed them across the table to her, “Once we get this signed it’s just a waiting game.”

  “It’s been a waiting game for me.” Emery said, quickly picking up the nearest pen and signing her name on the papers, “I don’t want you to think that it’s because of you though…”

  “I know.” He replied softly before doing his best to hide a sigh, “I feel the same way.”

  “I can’t believe my luck. The first time I let myself have a one-night stand…” Emery said quietly, shaking her head to the sides with a smile on her face. She was half smiling because she was enjoying spending time with Chance but still knew the severity of having a marriage annulled, even a marriage that was a mistake, “This is the last thing I need.”

  “I’ve been there. My fiancé and I were having issues and things were building up to a head when I found out we got married. It was the last thing I needed too, but for different reasons.” Chance said with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair while Emery put the papers in an envelope to send them out, “Whew… I’m glad that’s over.”

  “If I would have thought my Sonic Screwdriver would have led to such dysfunction I never would have used it. It was irresponsible.” Emery joked, her way of dealing with the stressful somewhat awkward situation.

  “Yeah, the Doctor would be ashamed.” Chance said, sending a flash of Emery’s dream of having tea time with the Doctor shooting through her mind. She suddenly realized that he had been looking at her like he was ashamed, “I’m just kidding Emery, damn.”

  “Ha, it wasn’t you. I was just thinking was all.” Emery said, trying not to have to explain her dream to him. Emery looked over at Chance, peering at his full lips. She was then thinking about those lips on hers, on her body, on...

  “Ah, well, I should be gettin’ goin’ anyway.” Chance said, looking up at the clock, “I had a fight a few hours ago. My manager postponed it until seven, but if I’m not there for that one I forfeit and that shit ain’t happening! Haha!”

  “Men.” Emery said jokingly, knowing how he felt had to be similar to how she felt when she needed to get all the way back to Atlanta from Chicago to open her café. Chance got up and stood there for a moment and Emery fought her urges to give him a kiss before he left but she knew she couldn’t, he was her step brother. And all the want of him in the world can't change that sad fact, she thought.

  “Ya know… it’s pretty bad when ya can’t even kiss your wife goodbye.” Chance joked with a smile but Emery knew he was being serious. She laughed and smiled, wishing she had said something like it to him but she would rather that he thought she didn’t like him like that, “I guess I’ll see you at Christmas.”

  “Yeah, see ya then.” Emery said with a nod of her head, trying to force herself to stop having feelings for him but just couldn’t. She sighed after Chance walked off, and let herself drift off in thought, “Why do I have such shitty luck? I mean, of all people I met my step brother… That’s just not fair fate… that’s just not fair.”

  Emery sighed, wishing that she could just change the fact that he was her step brother without her dad and Beverly splitting up, she was such a sweet woman. There was no wonder in Emery’s mind why Beverly had raised such a fantastic son. She almost wanted to go to the bar and meet some guy just to get her mind off of Chance but knew that wouldn’t be fair to the other guy. He might end up feeling the same way as Chance and she really didn’t want to be with anyone. Besides, she thought, I can't focus on the job and a man right now and the job is most important. Strangely enough, she felt like she would make the time if she could be with Chance.

  A week later Chance was training in Chicago for his upcoming fight. As he trained he took his anger about the situation with Emery out on the training dummy. He hit it with a powerful right hook and knocked the entire thing over. He gritted his teeth, envisioning that the training dummy was a real combatant and jumped on it, pounding it in its head over and over with his fists and elbows.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa! Damn Chance, what’s gotten into you lately?” Chance's trainer Melvin asked. He’d been Chance’s trainer for years and was like a second father figure to him, “What’s gotten into you lately? First you left that hot broad and now you’re so angry you can hardly control yourself. What’s going on?”

  “Just pissed I lost that fight in Tennessee. I won’t be living that down any time soon.” Chance said, standing the training dummy back up before he knocked it flying back with a spin kick, “Thinking about changing up my sport too. I could wreck guys with my feet. Could totally do MMA if I set my mind to it, Melvin.”

  “You say that but are you thinking about the fact that they can use their feet too?” Melvin asked, pulling up a stool before he sat down and started coughing a bit.

  “Yeah, I know that.” Chance said as Melvin continued to cough, “Are you alright, old man?”

  “Yeah… yeah, I’m alright kiddo.” Melvin said, looking back at the floor as he covered his mouth and coughed some more, “Ah… you’ve gotta work on that anger kid or use it as fuel but you can’t let it destroy you.”

  “What’s destroying you?” Chance asked, looking at Melvin’s hand quickly before he wiped it away, “That’s blood!”

  “Chance,” Melvin said with a sigh as he looked off and breathed in deeply, “I have cancer. Docs tell me I don't have too long, but I don't want you treating me different or you telling the other guys about it. This stays between you and me, you hear?”

  Chance gritted his teeth as he sat the test dummy back up, this time against the wall and began pummeling it, hitting it as hard and as fast as he could. He let out a low yell that grew into a loud one as he let his rage loose on the test dummy. Chance didn’t stop screaming or swinging his fists until he felt Melvin grab his shoulder.

  “Son, son, son you’ve gotta calm down.” Melvin said in a soothing voice, instantly making Chance’s adrenaline fade but as it went his sadness became overpowering and he began to cry, “Chance, it’s going to be alright, okay? I’m sick, I’m old. This was bound to happen, sonny. I’ll be in a better place, I’ll be with my wife and daughter again and none of us will be in pain. I want you to be happy, not sad. Be happy that you knew me, not sad that I’m gone.”

  How the Hell am I supposed to concentrate now? Chance asked himself out loud, pacing back and forth as his anxiety started to rise. He didn’t know what he was going to do after Melvin passed away and wasn’t sure if he would even want to box anymore.

  “You’re going to focus, that’s how. You’re going to use everything I taught you because if you don’t it’ll be for nothing.” Melvin said, inspiring Chance to keep boxing, “And you can use that anger you feel as your fuel. That’s what my key was when I was in my prime; I got myself so pissed off before every fight that I tore into my opponents like they called my mother a bad name, even if they were nice guys out of the ring. Out of the ring doesn’t matter when you’re inside the ring and even when you’re fighting a friend, that relationship you have with them doesn’t matter when you’re in the ring and if you can understand and apply all that I know you’ll be a champion one day.”

  “Thanks Melvin.” Chance s
aid with a smile before hugging Melvin; he almost asked Melvin how long he had but he wasn’t sure he wanted to know, “I love you, old man.”

  “I love you too sonny.” Melvin replied, “Now go get washed up you smell somethin’ fierce. I’ll be waiting out here like always.”

  “Yeah, I’m definitely giving you a lift home from now on old man.” Chance said, looking over sternly at Melvin, “I don’t want you going into a coughing fit on the road and crashing. Not gonna let it happen and I’m not taking no for an answer. I’ll be back.”

  “Ha! I’ll see ya in a few sonny.” Melvin replied with a smile on his face before he walked over, grabbed a newspaper off the stand and sat on the waiting bench like he always did.

  As Chance took a shower he thought about Vegas and how great of a night he had had with Emery. He hadn’t had that much fun with anyone since he was in his teenage years and was with a girl he thought he’d be with forever, until she cheated on him and he caught her. He hadn’t really been the same since then and never really let any girl get close to him. He would get into relationships with them and try but he couldn’t get himself to care. Now he was having problems not caring.