The Fight for Love (Contemporary Romance) (8 page)

Dalton awoke with a start. For a second he thought he was in his bed back in his apartment. But then he sensed Lucie’s presence across the other side of the bed and his thoughts sharpened to remind him of what had happened earlier. Dalton could hear her soft, dreamy breaths as she slept soundly beside him.

In the darkness of her bedroom Dalton stealthily crept from the bed taking care not to wake her. He had no idea what time it was. Fumbling around he found his jeans and hastily shrugged them on. He tensed as the keys in his pocket jangled noisily. But Lucie did not stir.

Dressed, Dalton headed for the door. His eyes had not adjusted to the darkness but he could make out Lucie nestled in the bed, tucked up beneath the sheets. Before leaving he stepped back towards the bed, leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead. She made a contented moan but did not wake. He lingered beside her for a moment, considering waking her. But she was so peaceful as she slept, he didn’t want to shatter her tranquility. Quietly, Dalton stepped back from the bed and opened the bedroom door. He let himself out of the apartment and called a cab as he hurried down the stairwell towards the foyer of the building.

“Where to?” the lady on the other end of the line asked. Dalton could go back to his apartment, shower and grab a protein shake. Or he could get a jump-start on his day of training. He’d successfully shaken off the remnants of sleep and was feeling energized and ready to face the day.

“Platinum Gym on South,” Dalton stated.

“Okay, one of our drivers will be with you in fifteen minutes.”

Dalton walked out of Lucie’s apartment building and let the cool early morning air envelop him. The world was still eerily quiet at such a small hour. Cars remained parked along the curb illuminated by the streetlamps above. Stars still glittered in the night sky but soon they’d be replaced by the grey light of dawn.

Dalton checked the time on his cell phone. It was three in the morning. Somewhere in the city people were stumbling home after an excessive night on the town, elsewhere others were reluctantly waking up to commence a day of shift work. The gym he frequented was open twenty-four hours a day. It had to be since Olympic athletes trained there along with famous professionals like himself. Everyone who went there was so driven that working out at three in the morning was perfectly acceptable behavior. Dalton bounced on the spot to keep warm while he waited on his cab. He couldn’t wait to work off his excess energy in the gym, no matter how much or little he slept, his body was always pulsating with energy. Just thinking about training had his body already tingling with anticipation for it.

A yellow cab arrived, snaking up the road like a bee headed for a hive. Dalton jumped inside, grateful for the warmth within, and then he glided off into the night.

***

Lucie rolled onto her back and slowly opened her eyes. Grey light filtered in beneath the closed curtains in her bedroom. The alarm beside her had yet to go off which meant that it was still early, maybe half past five or so in the morning. Wiping a hand across her eyes Lucie slowly woke up. As she did she remembered the events of the previous night and her lips pulled into a satisfied smile. The date with Dalton and then their time in her apartment afterwards had been perfect.

Buoyed by her blissful feelings Lucie turned onto her side expecting to find Dalton sleeping beside her. But the other half of her bed was empty. The sheets looked crumpled and slept in, but no sign of Dalton. Lucie sat up and ran her hands through her disheveled hair as she glanced anxiously around the room, searching for a sign of him. The scent of his cologne still clung to the sheets around her, teasing her into believing he was still there.

“Dalton?” she tentatively called out his name. Perhaps he was just in the bathroom? Carefully Lucie stepped out of bed and wrapped herself up in a nearby bathrobe. Her apartment felt unpleasantly cold after the snuggled warmth of being in bed.

Lucie opened her bedroom door and peered out into her small apartment which was bathed in darkness. For a moment she just listened, expecting to hear the rush of running water coming from the bathroom but there was only silence. The kettle wasn’t boiling, bacon wasn’t sizzling. Dalton hadn’t left her bed to prepare breakfast or take a shower. So where was he? Flicking on the lights Lucie bathed her apartment in bright, artificial light. With the shadows banished it became starkly obvious that Dalton was most definitely gone.

Just to be sure Lucie threw open the door to the bathroom and checked every inch of the apartment but he wasn’t there. As the reality settled in, Lucie felt a lump rise in her throat as her eyes started to feel raw. He’d left in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye. He’d slunk away in the darkness as if their night together had filled him with shame. Lucie felt hurt and worse than that, used. She’d been foolish enough to believe everything Dalton had said – to have fallen for the flowers and the fancy date. But what sort of guy runs out on the woman he’s slept with while she’s still sleeping?

Hurt grew to fury. Lucie began angrily banging cupboards as she made herself her morning cup of coffee. She imagined Dalton creeping out of her apartment like a thief. The more she thought about it the angrier she became. It made no sense to her for him to even do that. Had he not enjoyed their night together? It certainly seemed like he had.

After consuming two cups of coffee Lucie climbed into the shower. She needed to wash away the scent of Dalton which continued to cling to her skin. Needed to wash away all her anger and hurt. It felt cathartic to furiously scrub down her skin and wash her hair and then watch the bubbles disappear down the drain in a little whirlpool.

But as Lucie sat drying her hair in her bedroom the hurt feelings returned with renewed vengeance. Dalton hadn’t even left a note. When Lucie checked her phone and saw that she had no new messages she felt utterly deflated. Dalton had treated her like she meant nothing to him. Lucie held back tears as she continued to dry her hair and get ready for work.

***

“My man!” Lee came over to where Dalton was lifting weights and playfully slapped him on the back. “This is what I like to see! Up and at it fresh and early!”

As Dalton lowered his weights he remembered with a sense of guilt that he’d been supposed to meet Lee at his apartment that morning to discuss his imminent new sponsorship deal.

“Ah, Lee, sorry man. I totally forgot about our meeting,” Dalton quickly apologized.

“Not a problem,” Lee shrugged dismissively. “You’re focused on getting ready for your next fight. I get that. I admire that.”

Lee spoke with such enthusiasm it was difficult not to get sucked into his excitement.

“Anyway, this new deal,” Lee sat down on a nearby bench and glanced expectantly at Dalton. It was now half past eight in the morning and the gym was relatively busy but still not packed. Its exclusivity meant that it was never really busy.

“It’s going to bring in some big bucks,” Lee announced excitedly.

“Sounds good.”

“You’re going to be the face of the brand. So there will be photo shoots, making some sort of television advertisement. I need to iron out the finer details.”

“Okay,” Dalton was nodding and trying to remain engaged. Even Lee’s enthusiasm wasn’t enough to make Dalton interested in the business side of things. All he cared about was fighting, everything was else was great but not what he was interested in.

“Fans will love that you’ve been here since four in the morning,” Lee grinned. “You should totally Tweet about it.”

Lee was always urging Dalton to participate more on social media. Apparently it was a really useful tool for developing his brand and connecting with fans.

“Sure,” Dalton pulled his cell phone from his pocket and obligingly sent out a Tweet about his early morning session at the gym.

Been up and at it @ Platinum since 4am #playhardworkharder @Dalton_H

Then he shoved the phone back into his pocket.

“Nice,” Lee commented as he nodded and read the Tweet on his own phone. “People really respond well to this sort of thing. Try and Tweet at least three times a day if you can.”

Dalton reluctantly agreed, unsure what else he really had to say to fill up the timeline on his Twitter. Other than working out he was rarely up to much. He didn’t want to become boring by always posting the same updates.

Lee seemed to sense this.

“People just want a glimpse at you,” he insisted brightly. “The real you. Don’t overthink it, just be real.”

Lucie was about to get into her car when despite her better judgment she decided to check Dalton’s Twitter page. She’d still received no message from him so she had no idea where he was or why he’d snuck out on her that morning.

A Tweet had been posted just a few minutes earlier and as Lucie read it she felt her blood start to boil.

“At the gym?” she uttered in disgust. “Since four in the morning!”

She climbed into her car and angrily slammed the door behind her. So Dalton had skipped out on her to go and train at the gym? It felt like the poorest of excuses. And one that he could have texted her about. She shouldn’t have to read about why her bed was empty that morning via social media.

As Lucie drove into the city her anger grew. Did Dalton care so little about her that he felt he didn’t owe her an explanation for leaving under the cover of darkness? Or did he think that a Tweet to all his followers was a sufficient way of informing Lucie of his whereabouts? Was this how he treated all the women he shared a bed with? Because Lucie wasn’t having it. The flowers and the date suggested that Dalton knew how to treat a woman, that he could be respectful.

Lucie had never before had a guy just run out on her without so much as a goodbye. Back in college when things were more liberal people might leave while the other was sleeping to attend a class or something but they were always gracious enough to at least leave a note. No one had ever actually done a total disappearing act on her before.

Pushing her hair out of her eyes Lucie concentrated on the road as she merged onto the freeway, turning her car stereo up loud to try and drown out all her anxious thoughts. She clutched the steering wheel tightly so that her knuckles whitened. She kept thinking about the stupid Tweet Dalton had sent. Did he even care how much his absence that morning had hurt her? Or did he just care about himself and his precious training session? Did fighting really mean that much to him?

Lucie fought back tears as she approached the iconic skyline of the city. Buildings loomed up on the horizon like frozen giants reaching up towards the clouds. Normally Lucie took in the view, admired it for a moment, but not that morning. She merged into a different lane which would enable her to exit sooner than usual. Because she was no longer driving straight into work. She needed to make one quick stop first. Drumming her hands upon the wheel Lucie wondered what on earth she was even going to say to Dalton but she knew that she needed to say something. There was no way she was going to let him get away with treating her as badly as he had done. Work could wait. She’d tell them she was chasing an important lead which wasn’t a complete lie. Only the story she was chasing was her own. She’d been foolish enough to give her heart to Dalton and now she was intent on getting it back.

***

Dalton sat and flexed his muscles as Lee walked away. Their meeting was concluded and he could get back to focusing on his workout. But his phone kept incessantly vibrating in his pocket, demanding his attention. With a sigh Dalton retrieved it. There was a new message from Lucie.

I’m outside on the parking lot of the gym. Can you please spare 5 mins to come see me?

His heart rate instantly quickened. Why was Lucie outside on the parking lot? Why did she want to see him so soon after their night together? Dalton ran a hand across his head and starting to run possible theories in his mind over what Lucie might want. None of them were good. He’d been here before. When women were mad at him they wanted to talk. Dalton had never made a very good boyfriend. He was a great fighter but when it came to matters of the heart he was truly lacking. He hadn’t grown up with loving parents to show him the model of an ideal relationship. Most women he met were only interested in his money and status.

Relationships had evolved into something shallow and recreational for Dalton. He didn’t spare the time to take them seriously. But Lucie was different. She made him question everything, even the importance he placed upon fighting. So why now did she insist on seeing him? Had he failed to live up to whatever expectations she had in her mind for him?

“Where are you going?” Steve asked gruffly as Dalton stood up and began to walk towards the main area of the gym.

Steve himself had only just arrived, but judging by his tone he was already in a sour mood. Dalton quickly wracked his brains for a reason and recalled with a groan that Steve’s favorite baseball team had lost the previous night which meant that Steve would be in a terrible mood for the better part of three days.

“I’m just going outside for some fresh air,” Dalton insisted breezily.

“Outside?” Steve’s eyebrows shot up with interest. “Does this have anything to do with the pretty skirt lingering in the parking lot?”

Dalton swallowed nervously and shook his head. “No.”

“Please,” Steve scoffed and waved a dismissive hand towards Dalton. “She’s got lovesick written all over her pretty little face. What did you do to her to have her show up here?”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Well, you must have for her to trek on over here,” Steve argued. “Get rid of her. This is what I’m talking about, Dalton. You can’t have spurned lovers showing up here and interfering with your training.”

“I just need ten minutes.”

“You’ve got five.”

Dalton jogged out through the gym towards the main reception. He wished that Lucie hadn’t shown up, that whatever
she’d needed to say to him could have been said over the phone. Because now Steve was mad at him, which meant that Lee would be soon as the two men were always united when it came to managing Dalton’s career.