Always For You (Books 1-3) (21 page)

“Thank you dear boy. He really will
be missed, a strong supporter of ours over the years he was. I do
hope you're going to continue where he left off?”

Ah, so this is what he was getting at.
“Of course I will, I've always believed in your foundation Mr
Swanson.”

“Excellent, thank you.”

And with that, he left, leaving Chase
to turn back to me at the table, sitting there quietly with my glass
of champagne. I turned to the conversation to my left as he
reappeared, pretending not to have overheard him and George speaking.
There was no reason behind it, I simply didn't want to bring up the
topic again with him. We hadn't spoken about it ourselves in a while,
and I didn't ever want to again.

We sat there for a little while,
talking with others around us as Chase eased himself back into the
festive spirit. He still didn't drink, he hadn't done so throughout
all of this. Despite all the stress he was going through, despite
having to deal with it all, he never once turned back to the alcohol
to see him through.

I'd asked him about that, and he'd told
me it was me, that my support was all he needed. It was like how he
helped me overcome my own problems earlier in the year. Now I was
there for him, only he had no idea of the part I played in it all. It
only served to intensity my guilt.

“I want to ask you something,” he
said to me as the people at our table began to disperse, venturing
over to the exits as the night started winding down.

“I wondered if maybe you'd like to
move in with me?” The words came at me like a bolt from the blue,
they were so unexpected.

“I've been thinking about it for a
few weeks now,” he continued, taking my hand, “and I think it's a
good idea. I love you Grace and I want to move past everything that
you've been through, that I've been through, and build our lives
together. What do you think.”

What did I think? I didn't know what to
think. Did I love him? Yes. Did I see a future with him? Marriage,
kids, all of that? Yes. But at the same time, parallel to all of
that, I saw our past in his eyes. How could I live with him, build a
life with him, knowing what I'd done. I had reconciled myself with it
to an extent, but it was always there, nagging at me.

“Grace, please say yes,” he said as
he watched my mind work towards a solution. “You make my life
complete. Take a leap of faith here, it's all I want.”

I looked into his beautiful blue eyes
and saw a longing in them. I couldn't say no, not after everything. I
didn't want to say no, I wanted to be with him. “OK,” I said,
nodding, a smile gradually appearing around my face. “Let's do it.”

His face beamed, the happiest I'd ever
seen him. He grabbed a bottle of champagne from a cooler on the table
and poured two glasses. “I think, on this occasion,” he said,
“I'll have just a little drink.” He took a sip and then leaned in
to kiss me, his lips wet with the lingering taste of the champagne,
his mouth struggling to contain his smile.

Was I making the right choice? I guess
only time would tell.

December 24
^th
2013

Cain

I looked over at my opponent. Fuck he
was different to what I was used to. It wasn't his size, it was the
way he moved, the way he was bouncing around the ring, confident, his
hands jabbing quickly. He looked like a professional fighter, ripped
and mean, with this look in his eye, a look that said 'you're mine'.

And that's what was most unusual about
him, the fact that the only part of his face that I could see were
his eyes. He wore a mask, like a Mexican wrestler, obscuring his
face, hiding his identity. I thought it was pretty weird, but then
again not everyone down there wanted people to know who they were.

I'd had a couple of fights recently,
but this was the big one. Big bank. “Win,” I was told, “and
you'll have a very merry Christmas.” I didn't give a shit about
Christmas, I just needed the money.

The last two fights had been easy,
surprisingly so. I guess they weren't gonna chuck a new guy like me
into the ring with one of the proper fighters until they'd seen what
I could do. I'd cleaned up easily, a couple of regular guys looking
for a bit of extra wedge to give their families a nicer Christmas.
Unfortunately they had to go away with the smaller cut.

This fight though, this was different.
Rex, that was the guys name, the guy I was about to fight. At least,
that's what he called himself. He'd been fighting here for 6 months,
hadn't lost yet. There were more people watching, more people
betting. I'd get some cash if I lost, but if I won? Well, I wouldn't
have to worry about cash for a little while at least.

I heard a bell go and Rex came straight
at me, ducking and diving his head like a pro boxer. I had no formal
training at all, I was just a street fighter, picking things up as I
went along. This guy looked like the real deal: the way he moved,
what he was wearing, the fact that he had a couple of fucking coaches
in his corner.
What do you think this is mate, Rocky?

“Come on Cain, fuck him up.” That's
all I could hear from my side of the ring, wise words from Brad who'd
introduced me to this place. I'd thanked him at first, but now I was
starting to regret setting foot down here tonight. And neither of us
had even thrown a punch yet.

Come on Cain, focus. You're quick, like
a cat, you can take this guy. My
inner dialogue had a positivity that I was having trouble agreeing
with.

He jabbed, his first coming straight
for my nose, but I ducked away to the left, swinging at him with a
left hook as he bounced back like a gazelle. He stepped in, kicking
low at my shins, trying to put me to the floor, trying to make me
lose my balance. He wasn't like the other people I'd fought. They'd
just charge in like a damn elephant. This guy was clever, wily,
trying to catch me out.

We
circled in the ring for a while to growing jeers from the crowd.
They'd come to see a fight, not a game of cat and mouse. 'Fucking
get him. Do something you pussies. This ain't ballet.' I
was happy at least that their insults were directed at both of us.

As if on cue, Rex suddenly came at me
with a flurry of fists, unleashing a furious barrage of punches at my
midsection. He winded me, sending me flying back into the cage as he
closed in, his fists now flying at my face. I held my forearms up to
protect myself as he bent down and grabbed at my legs, upending me
and crashing me down onto the canvas.

I scrunched my body
up as much as I could, protecting my most vulnerable areas as he
climbed on top of me, his fists cascading down all over my body. I
twisted and writhed, unable to break free as he turned his attention
to my leg, grabbing it and turning me onto my front. He started
turning at the knee, threatening to pop the cap out of its socket. I
managed to catch him with my other leg in the face, sending him
crashing back down onto the canvas.

He
fought with more control than I was used to, using proper jujitsu
methods that I was only marginally familiar with . He'd have had my
fucking leg off if I hadn't caught him in the face there. Gotta
be more careful, or this will be my last ever fight.

There
were no bells going, no rounds where we'd retreat to our corners to
take a rest and get a quick pep talk from our coaches. Fat lot
of good that would do with only Brad in my corner anyway. No,
this was fight until someone got knocked out or someone gave in.
That's it. Fight to the finish.

My knee was aching slightly as he
rounded on me once more, sensing my weakness for UFC style holds on
the floor. He was right, I wanted to keep this fight on our feet and
upright. That's where I'd have my best chance.

He swooped on me again, feigning to go
high and then grabbing at my legs and trying to get me back down onto
the mat. I saw it coming, stepping backwards and catching him with a
furious right hook that sent him straight to the deck.

It was
a punch that would have taken out anyone else I'd faced, but not him.
He rolled as I went for him to finish the job, getting back to his
feet in a flash before I could reach him. What the fuck was
this guys jaw made of, steel? I
launched at him again but it was no good, he was ready for it,
catching me with a sharp uppercut to the jaw.

My brain rattled like a baby's toy
inside my skull, my eyes bobbing about in their sockets. I felt a
wave of dizziness go over me as white spots starting dancing in front
of my eyes, obscuring my vision. I could hear Brad over the roar of
the crowd: “cover up, cover up,” as Rex's fists came flying at my
face. One cracked me on the side of the jaw and I crumbled to the
deck.

The world was beginning to blur as I
felt a weight come down on me, Rex kneeling over me, his fists coming
relentless at me. I warily lifted my forearms up to protect myself
but it was no use, he was through my defences. My head was being
rocked this way and that as I lay there, losing my vision, the fight
already gone. He was vicious, unrelenting, his fists insatiable.

Then, suddenly, his weight was dragged
from me as several murky figures pulled him away, his arms still
thrashing, and everything faded to black.

What a way to spend Christmas Eve.

December
25
^th
2013

Grace

If someone were to ask me what I did
last Christmas, I honestly wouldn't have been able to tell them. At
that time I was constantly getting drunk, and on the verge of a
proper breakdown. It was a spiral to hell that led me, eventually,
into the arms of Chase. For that I was at least thankful.

We'd decided to leave the move until
after Christmas. He'd asked me only a few days ago at the ball
whether I wanted to move in, and I'd said yes. I had my reservations,
but I knew that I loved him, and I knew that things would turn out OK
in the end. I guess his optimism was contagious. It was certainly
good to see it back.

Christmas Day was actually surprisingly
awkward at first, not least because it involved the meeting of two
families. Dad was intent on making it a good year, and so he and
Penny decided that it would be best if we all spent the day together.

So,
that would be me, Chase, Ellen, dad, Penny, Emily, and her new
boyfriend, Scott. Chase told me he'd have to leave early on boxing
day to go and spend the day with his family, but committed himself to
mine for the 25
^th
.
Emily's boyfriend, Scott, was in the same situation.

It was odd meeting Emily for the first
time. I'd met Penny before, and she was lovely, but meeting Emily
after I'd found out that she had been seeing Cain was strange. For a
start, she really didn't seem to be the sort of girl he'd go for. He
was so tough, the sort of guy that girls generally wouldn't want to
take to meet their parents, unless they wanted to piss them off, that
is. She was pretty much the opposite of him: prim, proper, and really
quite cute. She had shoulder length blonde hair and wore a cute pink
dress: light pink, more like salmon really, not over the top girly
pink.

She was sweet and had an innocence
about her, but it was subtle enough so that it didn't get on my
nerves. I'd known a couple of girls in the past who were just too
much. You know, the sweeter than sugar, butter wouldn't melt types,
all giggles and puppydog eyes. No, Emily wasn't like that at all, and
after talking to her for a little while, I began to see why Cain, or
anyone, would have liked her. She just seemed to be that perfect
girlfriend type.

I wasn't quite so sure about Scott. He
was a clear jock, the type of guy who'd been the star football player
in high school but then came to college where he was thrown into a
much bigger pond. He seemed to exaggerate everything, like he was
inflating his own self worth. I'd imagine that Penny, being a
therapist, would have a few things to say about why he did it. From
my point of view he was a bit self conscious, and was trying to make
up for a short fall by overdoing things a bit. Frankly, it just
annoyed me.

It wasn't until a little bit later in
the day, when I found myself alone with Emily in the kitchen, that
she mentioned Cain.

“I don't suppose you've heard from
Cain at all have you?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

“I haven't, no, not for a while now.
You were going out with him for a while, weren't you?” I asked, as
if I wasn't sure.

She nodded, her big blue eyes looking
down, a little sullen. “We went out for a while, yeah. I really
liked him.” She looked around to make sure that Scott wasn't there.
“Do you have any idea where he went, why he went?” She had a
worried look on her face.

“No, but he'll be OK Emily,” I
said, touching her on the arm. “He's such a tough guy, I think he
just went away to get his head together.”

Emily nodded lightly, a concerned frown
still etched on her face. “Maybe. I just don't know why he'd
disappear like that. I thought we were getting along really well. He
must have known I'd be worried. Why wouldn't he let me know, let
anyone know?”

“Do
you know Brad?” she continued before I could answer. “They worked
together at Foz.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I've met him.”

“Do you think he knows?”

“Yeah
I reckon he will. You say they worked together at Foz?”

“Yeah,” she said, “didn't you
know?”

I shook my head. “I don't really know
anything about Cain in reality. You'll know him a lot better than any
of us. Ellen hasn't even met him yet.”

“Well,
yeah he worked at Foz with
Brad. I went down there a few times to try to find him but Brad said
he didn't know where he was. Said he'd just left town, didn't tell me
anything else.”