by Day, Laura
He dropped to the springy mat and rolled his eyes at Hayden. “What?” he demanded.
“Office,” Hayden said through clenched teeth. He slammed the door once they were inside and Axel sat down on the couch with Haden behind the desk. “So why don’t you tell me what happened?”
“She came into the gym. She was hot, she had spirit, she signed up for the MMA training program and I trained her a couple times and then we hooked up.
“I was only gone for five days.” Hayden yelled. “In five days you managed to do all of that. Do you need a babysitter or something?” Axel rolled his eyes, but said nothing. “Why were you training her?”
Axel shrugged and searched for and answer before finally shrugging and admitting, “She was hot.”
“Come on, man! This is a big deal. This is the biggest fight of your career coming up and you’re messing up over a girl? Did you see yourself yesterday? You were a damn mess. You looked like a weak fool, not a champion.”
“I know, but it’s fine and it’s in the past. I’m good now.”
“Your body’s here, but your head and your heart are somewhere else. It’s not just about the body. It’s not just lifting weights. This isn’t a bodybuilding competition we’re prepping for. This is a fight. A knock down, drag-out fight and you’re thinking about something else?”
“Look it’s fine. It was just a fling and it’s over. It’s not a relationship and she doesn’t think it is either. She’s over there not worried about me. So I’m not worried about her.”
Hayden cursed and hit the wall with his open palm. “It’s not just you, you know? I’m in this with you, Axel. I gave up everything to come and coach you and run this gym. You owe me the courtesy of giving it your all. I give it my all!”
“I know, but like I said: I’m good now.”
“We should kick her out of the gym. We can give her a full refund for the program and send her on her way.”
“No!” Axel said loudly; he recovered and lowered her voice. “She needs this program and she’s good at it. Don’t kick her out of here because of me.” Marie was a girl on the run. Axel couldn’t kick her out of the program. What if the thing she was running from caught up with her and she wasn’t prepared? The thought made him sick to his stomach.
“It’s your gym and your career on the line. Hard choices need to happen,” Hayden said.
“No, it’s more complicated than that. She’s running from something,” he explained everything he knew about Marie’s situation while Hayden listened, a frown deepening on his face.
“So, not only have you let a girl in your head, but it’s a girl on the run? What if she has a jealous boyfriend looking for her? You’ll be the other guy she was with. He might come gunning for you.”
“I’m not worried about getting into a fight,” Axel said with a scoff.
“It could be worse. He could be a lunatic with a gun. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into now of all times.”
“You’re overreacting,” Axel said, keeping his voice even. “This isn’t some nuclear event. Everything is going to be fine. I’m going to train and I’m going to win. I’m not worried about Marie and neither should you be.”
He stood up and headed to the door, opening and closing it behind him. Without even looking back to Marie’s workout, he went to the stairs, setting up the treadmill and jogging until his heart pounded. He felt like a stranger to himself. He had never felt like this with anyone before. Marie was beautiful and smart and strong and he could have real feelings for her. He wanted to spend time with her and see her. Even if it was just at the gym. He had to find a way where that would be enough for him. He could look but not touch.
While she was at the gym, he could still keep an eye on her. He wouldn’t have to worry that whoever she was running from had shown up. If she came in with a black eye or a bruised cheek, he would track the guy down himself and repay him. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts as he ran. Usually exercise cleared his mind, but now it was racing.
He couldn’t have both. He couldn’t be a fighter and have a girl. It was tearing him in half. He wasn’t a guy who did something halfway. Whether it was love or war, he was all in. So now he was choosing war. He wasn’t a lover; he was a fighter. He wasn’t built to be with one person. He had too much passion, too much power. He needed to give himself over to the fight.
He increased the incline on the machine and felt the muscles in his legs burn. It was working. The treadmill, the bag, he could get his focus back. He would know Marie was around and that would be enough. He had the memories of their one time together and could see him through the fight. The smell of her neck, the feel of her around him, he would never forget that. His troubles were falling away from him, but they were being replaced by something else. Marie appeared in front of him. Her clothes falling off, her mouth slightly open. She was giving him a coy smile. He increased the speed on the treadmill knowing he could never get to her.
Chapter Nineteen
“What about this one?” the shopkeeper asked as she laid out a lovely dress made from purple silk and pristine white lace. The top of the dress was cinched and it followed the lines of a corset Marie would need to wear underneath. The dress was low cut with white lace at the trim of the breast line. It had three-quarter length sleeves with lace at the ends. The skirt flared out at the waist falling gracefully to a layered hem.
“It’s lovely,” Marie said with a sigh. She was adult who was about to get paid for playing dress up. She took a quick second to marvel at her new life before running her fingers over the delicate material. Was she really going to wear this in front of other people? It was almost too much. It was so shiny and the lace was so delicate; it was like nothing she owned or had ever worn before.
“Well, it fits your measurements, and we are happy to loan it to you.”
They were at a fabric store and costume maker’s shop on Main Street. Marie had made an arrangement with the shop so she could borrow a costume for free in return for some free advertising for them at the benefit. But now that she was actually looking at the dress Marie felt a little self-conscious. It was so sumptuous and elegant; she was worried she didn’t deserve to wear it. The horrible phrase “lipstick on a pig” kept popping up in her head, though she was doing her best to ignore it.
Looking around the shop Marie felt like a little child in her mother’s closet. There were flapper costumes, beautiful modern ball gowns, hats, scarves, and intricate jewelry arranged elegantly around the store. It was the perfect playroom for the kid or adult who liked playing dress up. To her left, Ingrid was standing with her hands raised getting her measurements taken. She was paying to have a custom dress made. Marie didn’t have the same resources, but she was more than thrilled with her purple dress. The costumer went into the back to pull a corset for Marie and while she waited she turned to look at a sliver romance era dress, running her hands over the fur trim.
“It’s a lovely dress,” she heard a male voice say next to her. Marie turned to see a tall, handsome man in a black suit with a briefcase in one hand standing not too far from her. “Hard to think of an occasion to wear it, though,” he continued with a smile.
Marie smiled back and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Maybe I could just wear it around the house. It could be my version of a bathrobe. It would make everything elegant, at least.”
“Yeah, but imagine actually moving around in it. That thing must weigh twenty pounds.”
“It would be quite the workout,” she said with a secret smile.
“Hi,” he held his free hand out and she took it as he continued, “I’m Thomas. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before.”
“I’m Marie and, um, no. I’m kind of new in town. I just moved here.”
“Do you come to costume shops a lot, Marie?” His smile extended all the way to his dark eyes. He looked nice and normal. Not a MMA fighter, but a guy who wore a suit and tie and lived a quiet life.
> “I actually work at the Hawks’ Mansion. We’re getting some outfits for the upcoming benefit.”
“Now you’re making me regret not buying tickets,” he said. “Ingrid sent out the emails two weeks ago and I didn’t take her up on them. Maybe it’s not too late.”
“Actually, it is,” Marie said. “We sold out of tickets yesterday!”
“You’re breaking my heart,” he said putting his hand on his chest and feigning pain. “Had I known the new beautiful woman in town would be there in costume I would have been the first one in line.”
Marie physically couldn’t stop smiling. She knew she was blushing and she felt a little tongue-tied. She had never been flirted with like this before. She had never actually flirted. It was fun. She should do it more often. “So, why are you in a costume shop on a Thursday morning? Big theater production coming up?”
“I’m actually the accountant for the shop. I just came to get some documents,” he said with a shrug. “So, new girl, how do you like our little hamlet?”
“It’s really lovely,” Marie answered honestly. “I don’t think I ever want to leave.”
“I like that attitude,” he said. He had a well-defined, clean-shaven jaw. His eyes were a deep dark brown, his hair black and it swooping over to the left. She had the sudden urge to run her hands through his silky hair, but she held herself back. “I like this town, too. Maybe one night we could go out and I could show you around. You could see all three of the hot spots.”
“Oh,” Marie said surprised, a blush creeping up her chest. Was this happening? Was she being asked out? Could she really go from Austin to Axel to this guy in less than a month? She looked at Thomas’s smiling face and asked herself, why not? “That would be really nice.”
“So, can I have your number? If you give it to me I promise to text you an appropriate amount.”
She read out the digits and watched as he entered them into his phone. She was smiling from ear to ear. And every now and again he would glance up at her and she could see a smile on his face, as well.
“I will text you, Maria DeSantos,” he said.
“I look forward to it,” she replied. With a mysterious smile he turned and walked out the door. The bells still chiming after he had left. A date! Just like that. Was that how this worked, or was she making the same mistake again? She had rushed into things with Axel, but she would take her time with Thomas. She would go on a date. He would pick her up. They would eat a meal and have some drinks and she would come home alone. With maybe a kiss at the end of the night, but nothing more.
Back in the dressing room Marie wrapped the corset around her as best she could. “I’m ready,” she called out. The costumer came back and the stern-faced woman began to pull on the threads of the corset. Marie held to a door jam on as the laces became tighter and tighter. The woman stopped just short of too tight. Marie could breath and move around and even sit comfortably. She couldn't run or lift anything, but hopefully she wouldn’t need to.
Marie lifted her arms and the woman slipped the dress onto her. Marie’s arms moved easily through the silk sleeves and the dress settled on her hips and chest as if it were custom made for her. She turned to look at her reflection in the mirror and, for a moment, she didn’t recognize herself.
The purple dress brought out her dark hair and tan features. The white lace made her eyes pop. The dress rustled as she moved and she appeared to float over the ground, not just walk over it. She spun around and the dress floated out and then sank around her.
“We’ll pin your hair up,” the woman said, pulling back Marie’s hair. “And we have a green necklace that will match perfectly. You’re going to look ravishing.”
Ravishing, that word had never been used in reference to her before. She was sure of it. But she had to admit she looked good. The training had toned her arms and legs and her skin was dewy and soft. She didn’t feel nervous or uncomfortable in the dress. She wore it with swagger.
“Well, well, well,” Ingrid said as they left the shop a few minutes later back in their normal clothes. “Look at the smile on your face. I saw you talking to Thomas Middlemarch. You know he didn’t buy a ticket to the fundraiser, right?”
Marie ignored the hint of disappointment in Ingrid’s voice. “We were just talking,” she said with a shrug. “He seemed nice. He asked me out on a date.” Her smile grew bigger. It was almost hurting her face. A new job, a date, and she was done crying over Axel Connelly. She actually smirked at the memory of him giving her to another trainer. Not even a phone call or a text as a courtesy to let her know. She was a little surprised the MMA fighter had turned into a coward.
She didn’t care. She liked Lori. The other girl was fun and didn’t push her as hard as Axel had. She had even seen him at the gym and she hadn’t responded to him in any way. She treated him like the stranger he was. The wind kicked up, sending her hair flying behind her and Marie breathed the fresh, wet air of the Pennsylvania town. So different from the arid temperate back in Phoenix.
In her pocket she felt her phone buzz and when she pulled it up she saw that it was Thomas texting her to see when she was free. Her smiled got even bigger.
Take that, Axel, she thought. She wasn’t going to cry or think about him at all. She might occasionally think back on the things he had done to her, the way he had made goose bumps erupt on her flesh, the way she had literally ached for him, but she was able to remember it without feeling any shame or embarrassment or regret. It was a step she had taken, one of many to come. It wasn’t easy leaving her entire life behind and starting new, but she was doing it. She was stumbling forward and that was some progress, at least.
Chapter Twenty
The cars were gone. A repair shop had taken them the other day. Axel had managed to get seven hundred dollars for the both of them. He shook his head at the thought. Those cars had been sitting out here for years and, together, they were worth less than a thousand dollars. Why had his father even bothered with them?
His mother hadn’t been happy about it, but she didn’t have any real objections. No one was going to fix up the cars. They were nothing more than a nuisance and an eyesore. But still, her expression had been sad as the cars were towed away. “They were your fathers,” she said simply. As if that were supposed to mean something to him. He didn’t miss his father. Not even once had he ever missed that miserable old man. But his mother still did for some reason. “He could be sweet sometimes.” That was her only explanation.
The garage was almost empty now. There were a few tools here and there that Axel had thought were worth preserving, but everything else had been hauled away. The room was bigger than he thought and he was already renovating it in his mind. He would need to patch the roof and the walls and the floor, put pegboards on the walls, build some shelves. It would be good honest work.
Plus, it gave him plenty of time to be alone. He wasn’t in the mood to be with other people. Everyone around him was annoying him and he didn’t know why. He needed some time to work and clear his thoughts. He got a ladder and some spare shingles and made his way to the roof of the garage. With a staple gun in one hand, he began to tear out and then replace old and broken shingles.
Marie DeSantos, no matter what he did his thoughts kept coming back to her. Whether he was working out or working on the garage, he was always thinking about her, even when he wasn’t aware he was doing it. Why? What was so great about that girl? Other than her work ethic, her body, her personality, her smile. Everything about her was great and she most likely never wanted to speak to him again. He had hooked up with her and then ditched her. He was every clichéd jerk that had ever broken a nice girl’s heart.
“Looks like more woolgathering up there than work,” his mother’s voice carried up to him as he sat on the roof. He looked down at her realizing she was right. He had been sitting up on the roof and staring into space. “Why don’t you come down? I’ve made you some lunch.”
Axel nodded and started down the ladder. Onc
e inside he washed his hands and got some of the construction dust off his shirt. He sat down at the table where his mother put a plate of her homemade meat loaf in front of him. “I know you’re training, but you can have some of your mother’s meatloaf, right?”
“Always,” he said as he began to dig in.
“What were you thinking about up there on the roof?”
Axel swallowed and said, “nothing,” but the word caught in his throat and it came out in a long stutter.
His mother raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing for a moment, letting him eat in peace.
“Something has been different with you these last few days,” she said after a while.
“Nothing’s different,” Axel said, but he found he couldn’t look his mother in the eye.
“You’re over here almost every day. You’re staring off into space. You always seem to be thinking about something else. I can see it in your eyes.”
