Last Chance To Fight (15 page)

When I got into the car, I noticed that I had yet another missed call from Jake, and I was starting to feel bad. That made three calls and I still hadn’t gotten back to him. I figured he probably just wanted to congratulate me for winning the tournament final, and then talk some shit about how he was going to cream me in the championship. He didn’t leave any messages either, but I knew I should call him back anyway. I told myself I’d do it as soon as I dropped Jane back off at her mom’s place later that day.

I brought Jane to the gym, where she was enrolled in an MMA class for toddlers. She went almost every week, and I absolutely loved going there with her. It wasn’t that long ago that Jane had learned to walk, and now she was learning how to kick and punch already too. She was a natural, and I was so proud of her. 

All the kids lined up and practiced their high kicks. It was a pretty adorable sight to see, because half of them would fall on their butts with every kick. Then the teacher would come around and help them work on their balance. Jane would fall down now and again just like the rest of them, but she took it in stride. She’d get right back up, no tears, and start kicking again with more fierce determination than some professionals I knew. Every once in a while she’d look over at me to see if I was watching, and smile and wave. Then she’d go right back to what she was doing, listening to every word the teacher said and trying her hardest. I didn’t know if she’d grow up to be an MMA fighter like her dad, but whatever she did, she’d sure be good at it.

Today, as I watched her, I couldn’t help but think about Anna. I wished she were there with us, a part of the family. It seemed mean to Jackie to even think about it, but I wished that Anna and Jane and I could all be a family together. And, maybe we could, in our own way. After all, there were lots of different kinds of families out there. Mine, for example, was pretty much just me and my mom. My dad was more like a sperm donor than a dad really. But me and my mom? We were all the family either one of us needed.

Now that I knew Anna couldn’t have kids, my doubts only increased. It was horrible what she went through, and I wished to God I could make it better for her. But I couldn’t. And I knew it would hurt her that I’d already started a family with someone else. I could imagine how I would feel if it were the other way around. I would feel lousy. I couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be if I knew that I would never be able to have what they had, a child, that I made out of my own flesh and blood.

I mean, I knew that I would be so incredibly happy to adopt kids with Anna, and that I had it in me to love those kids the same way that I loved Jane. There was no doubt in mind about that. But I worried about Anna. Would she be able to trust me? Would she believe that I didn’t love my own, biological daughter, more than my adopted children? Again, I thought that if the roles were reversed, I would have a hard time believing that.

But the thing was, everything with Anna was magical. It would be magical to have a baby with her, but it would be magical to adopt one too. That baby would look into Anna’s eyes and couldn’t help but fall in love with her, the same way I did. And I would love that baby for being part of Anna and part of me, together, the same way I would if we had made it ourselves.

As I watched Jane kicking and laughing that day at the gym, I knew that that was true. I only hoped I could convince Anna that it was the truth, and that she would forgive me for not telling her about Jane sooner.

A
fter Jane’s MMA lesson was over, I helped her change back into her regular clothes and then drove her back to Jackie’s place. I kissed her goodbye, trying not to show her how sad I was that I had to leave her. I didn’t want her to have to think about things like that, ever, if I could help it. I wanted her to be the happiest, most carefree kid in the world. I waved goodbye to Jackie and got back in my car.

I was hoping to go back to L.A. that night to see Anna again, even though we hadn’t quite made plans yet. I didn’t know if she felt the same way, but I pretty much wanted to see her every night. I decided I would go back to my place first, because I needed to get a few things anyway. Then I could call her and see if she was free.

When I pulled into my driveway, however, I was in for a surprise. There, sitting on my front steps, was my best friend and also my number one rival, Jake Gorman. I saw the expression on his face, and started to get a little worried. He did not look happy. I waved at him, pulled the car in the garage, and got out to go see what was the matter.

“Hey, man,” I said, extending my hand for a shake with my old pal. I hoped nothing was too wrong, because it was always great to see him. “What’s up? What brings you here?”

“Hey, Hunter,” Jake said, not even attempting to smile. “Could I come in for a minute? There’s something pretty important I have to talk to you about.”

“Sure,” I said, still hoping this would be a not too unpleasant visit. “I hope you aren’t going to ask me not to kick your ass next month. Because I’m afraid that’s not going to happen.”

“No, man,” he said, and then waited for me to open the door and let him inside. When he didn’t say anything at all, that’s when I started to get really worried. Usually Jake was always up for some playful shit talking. Whatever it was, it must have been pretty bad.

“Sorry,” I said, unlocking the door. “Come on in. You want a beer?”

“Yeah,” he said. “A beer would probably be a good idea. As a matter of fact, maybe you should have one too.”

“I guess I could have one,” I said. “I think I might drive back to L.A. in a bit, so I can’t go too crazy.”

“All right,” Jake said as we walked into my house. “We’ll just have one, then.”

He sat down on the couch and folded his hands, waiting for me to come back. He didn’t pick up the remote to turn on the TV. He didn’t flip through the martial arts and fitness magazines I had lying on the table. He just sat there and waited, with his hands folded in his lap like a little old lady at church. This definitely had to be bad news.

I came back into the living room with two beers in hand. I handed him one, and sat down on the loveseat across from where he was sitting.

“So, what’s up?” I asked.

“Well, I’m not really sure how to start,” he said. “First of all, Trina and I broke up.”

“Oh,” I said. “I’m really sorry. That’s shitty, dude.”

“No,” he said. “You don’t understand. It’s a good thing that Trina and I broke up, because she is a seriously creepy, lying psychopath.”

“Oh wow,” I said, sitting back in my seat. “I was not expecting that.”

“Neither was I,” Jake said. “But she definitely is.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Jake shook his head in seeming disbelief. “I’m sorry I ever got you mixed up with her,” he said.

“Jake, tell me what you’re talking about,” I told him. I didn’t like where this was going.

“All right,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Trina is not who we thought she was. You ever been to her apartment?”

“No,” I said. “We always had our meetings out somewhere, or sometimes she came over here.”

“Yeah,” Jake said. “I was almost never there myself. She always wanted to go to my place. But I was there one day, and happened to start looking through some of her family photographs.”

“Yeah? And?”

“And, I recognized Nathaniel,” he said. “Not just in one picture. But in a lot of pictures.”

“What?” I said, not believing my ears. “Nathaniel, you mean the guy who hates my guts more than anyone in the world?
That
Nathaniel?”

“Yeah,” Jake said. “That guy. Nathaniel Johnson, not a very uncommon last name. But in this case, he happens to be Trina Johnson’s brother.”

“Holy shit,” I said, sitting back against the cushions, trying to take this all in. “This whole time, she’s been my agent and hasn’t said a thing.”

“There’s a reason for that,” Jake said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, obviously, I thought the whole thing was pretty suspicious,” Jake told me. “So I asked her about it. And when she tried to evade my questions, I kept asking. And eventually, I forced her to tell me everything.”

“Tell you what?” I asked quietly, my blood starting to run cold. I had a feeling I knew where this was going all of a sudden.

“Nathaniel put her up to all of it,” Jake said. “All to get back at you.”

“Oh my God,” I said. “Jesus. Seriously?”

“Yeah, man,” Jake said. “Seriously.”

“So she’s the one who found that tape,” I said, in utter disbelief. “She must have been snooping around here when I wasn’t paying attention.”

“What tape?”

“A tape me and Jackie made, and—” I stopped, realizing something else. “She knows about Jane.”

“I know,” Jake said. “Once I got her to tell me that much, she told me everything else. She says she’s going to find Anna and tell her about Jane, tonight.”

“What?!” I yelled, jumping up. “And you waited this long to get to that part?”

“Sorry,” Jake said. “I just feel so bad for introducing her to you and everything—”

“Oh, come on,” I said. “Of course I don’t blame you for that.”

“Thanks, man,” Jake said, looking relieved. “I was worried.”

“I just can’t believe he’d go to all this trouble,” I said, “just to get back at me. Does he really hate me that much?”

“I guess so,” Jake said. “He really flipped his shit when he failed that drug test. He blamed you for everything.”

“I mean, what about you and Trina though?” I asked. “She didn’t get into a relationship with you just so Nathaniel could get back at me, did she?”

“I don’t know,” Jake said. “I guess she did it because it was easier to get close to you if you already trusted her because of me.”

“Wow,” I said. “I’m sorry, man. That is terrible.”

“Honestly, I think she did it because she enjoys fucking with people. You should have seen the way she reacted when I found out. Just this cool, calculating smile. No remorse at all,” Jake said. “I think I’ll be steering clear of the ladies for a while.”

“She’s sick, man, but don’t swear off all women. There are some great ones out there,” I told him. “But now, I’ve got to go. I’ve got to get to Anna before Trina does, or this is not going to go well.”

“Why haven’t you told her about Jane?” Jake asked.

“It’s complicated,” I said. “But if Trina gets to her and tells her first, it’s going to be a lot worse than complicated.”

“Definitely,” Jake said. “So go. Sorry I took so long.”

I looked at the time. It was already three-thirty. It would take me at least two hours to get to L.A., and that was only if traffic was decent. I didn’t know what Trina had planned, but I wanted to get there by the time Anna got out of work. Hopefully that would be early enough to get there first.

“I’ll see you later, Jake,” I said, walking out the door. “I’m going to take the bike. I think it’ll be faster. Especially if there’s traffic.”

“Good idea,” Jake said. “Be safe, OK?”

“Sure thing,” I said.

I didn’t waste any more time, but hopped on my motorcycle and sped off towards L.A. Traffic wasn’t too terrible, but it wasn’t great either. At times, I was stopped on the highway. I’d look at my phone, checking the time, as it inched closer and closer to when Anna would be getting out of work.

By the time I entered the city limits, it was already quarter to six. Anna would have already gotten out of work and headed home. I was feeling pretty desperate at that point, but I thought there was the possibility that Trina hadn’t gotten there yet. I turned towards Anna’s apartment, hoping to catch her there. Hoping that I’d be in time to save our relationship.

A
fter getting everything off my chest, and having such an intimate evening with Hunter, it wasn’t a surprise that I had a really great day at work. I felt like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders that I was carrying for years. The fear that I’d made a mistake by leaving without telling Hunter why, and that he wouldn’t be able to forgive me for it, was completely gone. Not only that, but gone too was the fear that even if he forgave me, he ultimately wouldn’t want to settle down with someone who couldn’t have children, as much as he might love me.

But everything turned out all right. I supposed Hunter could have been lying to me, or denying his true feelings, when he said that it didn’t matter if I couldn’t have kids. But I didn’t think he was. I trusted him completely, and trusted that together we were going to make a wonderful life and a wonderful family for ourselves.

When I got out of work I was really looking forward to my first evening free from the weight of all that terrible guilt and fear. I wasn’t sure if Hunter was going to come back from San Diego, but I hoped that we could spend another night together. Even though we had just seen each other the night before, I pretty much always wanted to spend time with him.

I got home and went upstairs to my bedroom, and changed into my running clothes. It was funny, I thought, because they really weren’t all that different from my work clothes. I smiled as I strapped on my sneakers, thinking about how great my life was right now. I was, for the first time in a really long time, truly happy.

But just as I was about to leave, all of that changed, and it began with a knock at the door. At that point Nate and all his baloney were so far from my mind that I didn’t even stop to think that something as simple as a knock on the door might actually be something much more sinister.

I swung the door open with a smile, and was pretty shocked to see that it was Trina, Hunter’s agent, who was standing there. I wasn’t sure how she knew where I lived, but didn’t think too much of it. Probably Hunter had to tell her when he stayed there or something, so she would know where to find him. Or maybe he asked her to stop by for some reason, like he left something there that he needed.

“Hey, Trina,” I said. “What’s up? Come on in.”

“Don’t mind if I do,” she said, in a way that struck me as a little odd, and stepped into my apartment. She walked straight into the living room and sat right down on the couch, without bothering to wait for me to invite her. I couldn’t help but get the impression that she knew the layout of my apartment pretty well, for never having been here before. “I like what you’ve done with the place,” she said.