Axel:A Bad Boy Romance(10)

He stayed for another hour and then bowed out. It was loud and the music  was giving him a headache. He normally had a good time even when he  wasn't drinking, but the last week of training must have really gotten  to him. Once he was out of the bar and in the street he found that he  didn't want to go home yet. Instead, he put his hands in his pockets and  headed north on Main Street.



The little town was quiet. The traffic lights blinked yellow and there  were no cars in sight. The bar he had been at was really the only one  open. He walked up a block and then crossed the street. He pushed back  the hood on his sweater as he stared up at the Hawks Mansion. It was  imposing and dark, like a creature from another age that had survived to  modern times. It was too big. It imposed on the buildings around it.  The house had always creeped him out, but now there was something inside  waiting for him, maybe. He had no idea if the woman on the street was  Marie the girl who lived at the museum, but it was his only lead.         

     



 





Chapter Ten



It was strange how quickly Marie settled into her new routine. It was  easy for her to close her eyes and pretend she had always been here. Her  past life didn't exist and she wasn't running from anything. This was  her home. Cate ran a little ahead and Marie made herself let go of her  daughter's hand. It still hurt, but it was getting easier and she knew  it was important to give her daughter room to grow.



Like an expert after all of three days, Cate raced into the daycare  center ahead of Marie and carefully took her shoes off and put them and  her snack in a little cubby stenciled with her name. Marie smiled at the  daycare worker and gave one last look at Cate before walking back out.  She was fitting right in. Already she had a little crowd of friends  happy to see her. Marie had been worried about Cate. What if she had  trouble fitting in or trouble making friends in a new town? They had  been isolated back in Arizona and she hadn't spent much time with  children her own age. But now Cate was doing a better job adjusting than  Marie was.



Not needing to be back at work for a few hours, Marie stood in front of  the daycare deciding what to do. She was wearing a pair of yoga pants  and a tank top. She had passed the gym the other day and she thought she  might check it out again. She felt a little nervous, but she did her  best to ignore her roiling stomach as she walked down Main Street. As  she came upon the building she saw the people working out inside, so  confident and coordinated, and she lost her nerve and with her head down  she kept walking.



She wished she had a friend to join the gym with. That was what she  needed, someone else with her who also had no idea what she was doing.  They could learn together. The sad fact was Ingrid was her only friend  and she wasn't really interested in speed walking with Ingrid. She  wanted to get stronger and tougher. She didn't want to learn how to run  or walk really fast; she wanted to learn how to throw a punch and  deliver a kick. She made a fist and frowned at it. It looked way too  small to actually hurt someone.



In high school, before she had gotten pregnant with Cate, she had been a  cheerleader. She had always like learning the routines and the lifts.  She liked the workouts they had before practice. She remembered the  feeling of her heart pounding as she ran, the adrenaline pumping through  her veins. She had to quit senior year when Austin got jealous. He was  convinced she was spending time with the football players instead of the  other girls on her squad. She tried to explain to him that they almost  never saw the players, but he refused to listen.



Why did she quit? Why did she let him boss her around like that? In the  later years it had been because she was afraid of him. But back in high  school, why hadn't she stood up for herself? But all she could remember  of that time was loving him unconditionally and unreasonably. She was  blind to his temper and his cruelty. She was lost in being in love and  after enough time she simply thought that was what love looked like.



So what did it really look like? What was her life now without Austin?  Who was she? What did she want? She didn't even know anymore. She had  spent so much time trying to make someone else happy and she had  received nothing but hatred back. So what was she supposed to do? How  was she supposed to finally be herself if she didn't know who that  person was?



She wanted to go to the gym. She just wanted to check it out; that was  all. But she was letting fear stop her. She was letting Austin and his  cruelty stop her from trying something new. She couldn't let that  happen. With a deep breath, Marie turned around and walked back to the  gym. She squared her shoulders and kept her eyes straight ahead.



What was there to be afraid of? It was just a gym. Certainly nothing bad  would happen. The worst thing would be that she didn't like it and then  she would never have to come back. It was a no lose scenario. She was  back at the front door of the gym and without a second thought she  pushed it open and took a step inside.



It was bright and smelled clean and airy. The sound of machines  squeaking and people talking could be heard along with the radio, which  was currently planning the new Rihanna song. It looked like a friendly  enough place. She turned to the desk, but no one was there.  Disappointed, Marie stood with her arms crossed and waited for someone  to come back.



She waited for a few minutes, but no one came. Not a good sign, she  thought to herself as she walked farther into the gym. She passed a set  of machines where she saw a beautiful woman who was wearing quite a bit  of makeup. The woman was leaning on a complicated looking machine, but  not using it. She put her left hip out and made a duck face at her own  reflection tilting her head down and pushing her breasts forward. Taking  a strand of hair, she twirled it around her finger and snapped about a  dozen pictures on her phone in rapid success.         

     



 



Then her eyes made contact with Marie's in the mirror and Marie realized  she had just been caught staring. The other woman glared at Marie from  her mirror. Blushing, Marie looked away and walked to the next room,  which was filled with treadmills. She could feel her face growing red  and she kept it facing the floor and so she didn't see him until she had  practically run into him.



"Sorry," Marie sputtered as she backed away from the man. He was tall  with tattoo-covered muscles and a steely gaze. He had short dark light  and blue eyes with pale skin. Marie looked away. She didn't know what  else to say; the man wasn't saying anything. He was just standing there  and staring at her.



"Do you belong to this gym?"



"No," Marie said. Her stomach was in knots, but she didn't know why. She  wasn't doing anything wrong. She had nothing to apologize for. She  stood up straighter and adjusted her shirt and spoke directly to the man  hoping he couldn't hear the fear in her voice. "I was waiting at the  desk, but no one showed up, so I thought I would just take a look  around."



"You interested in joining the gym?"



"Do you offer self-defense classes?" She had seen the sign for boxing and MMA fighting classes on a sign outside.



The man scoffed and looked down at her, "We teach mixed martial arts.  It's not a self-defense class. It's a tough program and not one for  amateurs."



She wanted to cry. She knew it was stupid, but she couldn't help it. She  had come in here hoping something good would happen. She should have  known that her good luck streak was going to come to a screeching halt.  Now, instead of feeling like she was walking on cloud nine, Marie was  holding back tears at the gym. It wasn't exactly what she had hoped for.  Austin had been right. The gym was a stupid waste of money. She didn't  belong in one any way.



"Okay then," Marie said. "Thanks a lot," she turned around and walked  past the treadmills wiping an errant tear away from her eye. The overly  made up woman from before brushed past her giving her a dirty look as  she did so. Of course Marie had made a new enemy. Now this was  officially a disaster. "No," Marie said, stopping herself. This wasn't  how this was going to go down. She had done nothing wrong. He had been  wrong. "Do you work here?" Marie said turning around quickly, but to her  surprise the man was right behind her as if he had been following her.



"Kind of," he replied with a smirk.



"Well, you're not very good at it," Marie said pulling her courage from  some hidden depth inside herself. "I was a potential customer and you  were just very rude to me. Now not only are you not going to get my  business, but I'm also not going to recommend you to anyone I know. So,  really, you lose out in this scenario."



"I actually own the gym," he said with a sort of shrug.



"Of course you do," Marie said after taking a deep breath. "That is just perfect," she shook her head and turned to walk away.