The Fight for Love (Contemporary Romance) (9 page)

***

Lucie paced anxiously beside her car. She was beginning to think that it had been a bad idea to come over to the gym. She’d been whipped up by angry thoughts and hadn’t been thinking clearly. Now she was stood shivering in the cool morning air when she should be at work, logging into her computer and checking her emails.

It had been ten minutes since she’d messaged Dalton. She was starting to fear that he wasn’t going to show, that he was going to ignore her. She was about to climb back into her car when she spotted him jogging out onto the parking lot wearing only shorts and a T-shirt. He looked amazing and Lucie had to remind herself that she was mad at him.

“Hey,” he came over to her car and ceased jogging. “What’s up?”

Lucie’s eyes widened. How could he possibly be so clueless? Surely he at least had an inclination why she was upset?

“What’s up?” Lucie repeated, her anger rising. “Do you even have any idea why I’m here, Dalton?”

“You said you wanted to see me.”

“What do you think I want to see you about?”

“I don’t know,” Dalton shrugged.

“Really?” Lucie angrily thrust her hands upon her hips. “You really have no idea, Dalton? None at all?”

“Lucie,” he glanced back towards the gym, a modern building with glass walls and chrome fittings which sparkled even when there was no sunlight. “I don’t have time for games,” he sighed.

“Good, because neither do I!” Lucie shrieked, getting more and more wound up. “What happened to you this morning?”

Dalton blinked at her. “This morning?”

“Yes!” Lucie insisted fervently. “I woke up and you…you were gone! You’d just slunk out of my apartment during the night like some sort of…thief! And what’s worse was that you hadn’t left me a note or anything. I was just left to wonder where the hell you were. And then,” Lucie pulled her cell phone from her pocket and angrily shook it in Dalton’s direction.

“And then I read on Twitter that you’ve been at the gym since four in the morning! So you left my bed to go and work out! Don’t you think you could have told me, or left me a note! Just…something!”

“Lucie,” Dalton pressed a hand to his temple, looking annoyed. “I couldn’t sleep so I woke up and figured I’d make the most of my time and go and work out. What would you rather I’d done? Lie beside you watching you sleep?”

“No!” Lucie cried. “But you could have told me where you’d gone! Do you know how much it sucks to wake up and find that the guy you’ve just had sex with has crept out and left you while you were sleeping?”

“I didn’t intentionally hurt you,” Dalton told her. “I just left early to train.”

“Dalton,” Lucie had to work hard to hold back her tears. What was hurting her now was that Dalton didn’t even seem to regret what he’d done. If anything he was defending his actions because in his mind he’d done nothing wrong.

“I train every day,” Dalton shrugged at her. “It’s no big deal.”

“Yes, but how you treat me is a big deal. I don’t mind you training, Dalton. I get that fighting is important to you. But…” Lucie pushed a hand through her golden hair and gazed despondently at the ground.

“But?”

“But things shouldn’t already be this hard between us,” Lucie declared quietly. “Perhaps you were right all along. You’ve only got room in your life for one relationship and that’s with your career.”

“Lucie, I –”

The doors to the gym were flung open and a hard-faced man came out, glaring over at them.

“Dalton!” he barked. “I said five minutes!”

“Yeah, Steve, I’ll be right there,” Dalton briefly acknowledged the man before looking back at Lucie.

“No, now!” Steve ordered. “We’ve not got time to waste today.”

Lucie saw how conflicted Dalton was. He wanted to stay and talk to her but he also needed to go back inside.

“Go,” she urged, making his mind up for him.

“I can stay,” Dalton told her softly.

“No,” Lucie shook her head, looking beyond him at Steve who was impatiently waiting by the main doors. “You can’t. So just go.”

“Lucie –”

“Go.”

She watched Dalton jog back towards the glass building and then wilted against her car. She realized that whatever they had was well and truly over. She refused to keep coming second to his career, to his crazy timetable. If he couldn’t even make the time to leave her a note or a message then how could she ever expect to have a proper relationship with him?

Taking a deep breath Lucie climbed back into her car. For a few moments she just sat with her hands on the steering wheel. She had been so certain that the real Dalton was kind, loving and thoughtful. And maybe he had been once but over the years his fighting persona had taken over. Turning on the engine Lucie pulled out of her parking space and headed towards the offices for The Standard.

“What was that all about?” Steve demanded as Dalton pushed past him.

“Let’s just focus on training, okay? Apparently we don’t have time for anything else.”

“Hey!” Steve stormed after him. “What’s with the attitude?”

“You tell me!” Dalton cried fiercely, spinning around to face his trainer. “I’ve been here killing it since four in the morning! Yet that still isn’t good enough! It still can’t afford me ten minutes to talk to someone! When is it ever going to be enough, Steve? When do I get to have some sort of a life?”

Steve’s expression softened. “You really feel like that?” he asked sadly. “Like you don’t get to have a life?”

“Sometimes, yeah,” Dalton admitted, surprisingly himself with his honesty. “I mean all I do is train and compete, it’s like the rest of my life is put on hold. I’ve lost touch with friends, haven’t had a serious relationship in years. I worry that I’m missing out on stuff, Steve.”

Steve placed a hand on the younger man’s shoulder and guided him over to a bench. “Maybe your head just isn’t in the game like it used to be,” Steve considered.

“Or maybe I just want more,” Dalton countered.

“Like the girl outside?”

“Maybe. But it seems that I can’t be a good boyfriend to her and also a good fighter.”

“Because that’s what I told you,” Steve leaned back and sighed deeply.

“Yeah! You told me that I couldn’t have both. That I had to sacrifice something in order to stay on top.”

“Few men do manage to have both,” Steve declared thoughtfully. “But some do. It’s just…it’s a risk, Dalton. And once you fall in love it’s not a switch you can turn on and off. Once a woman is in your heart she’s there to stay. So what happens when you let her in, fall for her and then your career suffers? You wouldn’t then give her up just to be a champion again. I’ve seen it happen time and again to many great fighters. Even to myself.”

“So it’s a risk,” Dalton shrugged. “But surely it’s one worth taking?”

“You think she’s worth taking a chance on?” Steve asked seriously. “Like you say, it’s a risk. Maybe you end up with everything like you want, maybe you lose it all.”

“She’s worth the risk,” Dalton realized. In his heart he knew that being on top would feel empty without having Lucie by his side to enjoy it all with him. For so long he’d been searching for meaning in his life, striving to feel complete. He’d thought fighting had been the answer for him but now he knew it was Lucie. He loved her. His body ached with the feeling of it. He’d loved her from the moment he risked his own safety to protect her. He hadn’t been thinking about his upcoming fight then. All he’d cared about was saving her. He’d taken risks for Lucie before he’d even known her.

“You should shoot for the stars, Dalton.” Steve fondly patted the younger man on his broad, powerful back. “If you want to have this girl and your career, then go for it. I was wrong to ever try and hold you back. I guess I’m just too protective sometimes. You’re like a son to me, Dalton. I only ever want you to be happy.”

Dalton embraced Steve. He gripped him tightly as the weight of a hundred unspoken words passed between them.

“She came here to tell you off, didn’t she?” Steve asked as they pulled apart, his eyes watery.

“She did,” Dalton laughed.

“She sounds like a real pistol.”

“She is,” Dalton agreed, nodding.

“The best ones always are,” Steve smiled fondly, thinking of his own wife.

“So what do I do? How do I win her back?” Dalton thought of how he’d left things with Lucie, how mad she must still be with him.

“Show her how serious you are,” Steve advised. “Be vulnerable with her.”

“I’m a fighter,” Dalton quipped, “I’m not very good at being vulnerable.”

“Well, you’re going to have to learn to be,” Steve urged. “Especially if you want to win her back.”

Lucie listened to the rain as it beat down against her apartment window. The gloom outside reflected the pain in her own heart. In her hand she held her cell phone where despite knowing better she was checking Dalton’s Twitter page. It seemed that no matter how cruel he was to her, how much he pushed her away, she couldn’t stop thinking about him and she hated herself for that.

Her work day had gone by in a blur which she was grateful for. She was so busy catching up on emails and chasing leads that she didn’t have time to dwell on thoughts of Dalton. But then in her apartment late at night, as everything slowed down, he re-entered her thoughts as though he’d never left. She still burned from their encounter that morning. He’d just let her go.

Placing a hand upon her chest Lucie suppressed a sob. Outside a flash of lightning streaked across the sky, briefly bathing her apartment in an eerie blue glow. Seconds later an ominous rumble of thunder shuddered through the heavens.

“Looks like quite the storm,” Lucie muttered to herself. Growing up she used to fear storms – the way the dark clouds would roll in out of nowhere, covering up the sun and darkening the earth. But now she quite enjoyed storms because they reminded her of the time when she lived on a farm back home. She’d remember how her father would hold her close on their threadbare sofa and tell her not to be scared as Lucie covered her ears with her hands. The thunder would roar so loud that it sounded like a dinosaur trying to break into their home.

“It’s alright, Lucie,” her father would promise gently. “The storm will soon pass.”

And he was right, they always did.

Another flash of lightning, even brighter than the last one. Rain clawed angrily at her window, lashing against it with fierce intensity. Lucie shivered and reached for the blanket which was draped over the back of her sofa. She drew it around herself and nestled into it. She wished that there was someone with her to see out the storm, someone to promise her that it would soon pass but she was completely alone.

***

Dalton stood at the windows of his apartment watching the heavy rain drench the city below. Occasionally lightning lit up the sky. He watched the growing storm with interest. He’d always been fascinated by the weather, by its raw power.

He was done with training for the day though he remained in jogging bottoms and a T-shirt. Normally by now he’d have showered and changed into a trendier outfit, he’d probably be preparing for a big night out on the town. But the last thing Dalton felt like doing was partying. Raising a mug of warm tea to his lips, he waited for the inevitable roll of thunder to tumble across the rooftops of the city. He kept thinking about what Steve had told him, about how he’d have to be vulnerable to win Lucie back. But he had no idea how to do that.

A brilliant burst of lightning lit up the entire sky. Dalton took a tentative step back from his windows. The storm was so fierce, it was shaking the entire city. By the time the thunder rumbled Dalton had formulated a plan, though it was a flimsy one. He was already pulling on his coat and heading for the door to his apartment. He didn’t know how he’d be vulnerable with Lucie, he just knew that he had to get to her. He didn’t want to waste another moment being apart from her. He’d been waiting for inspiration to strike but since it never came he knew he needed to just follow his instincts.

Stepping out of the elevator he dashed across the pristine reception lobby where well-dressed ladies were carefully shaking off the rain from their designer umbrellas. Dalton ignored them all as he jogged out towards the main doors and ran out into the storm.