A Boxer Billionaire’s Chosen Lover

Missing in action

‘Where the hell is Leo? For crying out loud, we came to Lion for a purpose. Where is Leo when he is needed?’ Coach Ruger asked angrily. His colleagues all exchanged worried looks among themselves. Leo had swayed into those moods of his where he wasn’t taking any instruction from anyone. Love had taken over him, he was doing only what he liked, and nothing else. A nervous coach Ruger held on dearly to a stick of cigarette. When he was nervous, he could smoke a whole packet.

An energy drink company had slid into the hotel where the championship contenders were putting up. They were a big deal, one that Coach Ruger had been looking forward to doing business with. Seeing their presence in the hotel as an opportunity to clamp in on them, Coach Ruger had quickly secured a spot for Leo as a contractor for the brand.

‘To be honest, we came looking for the defending champion in the first place, we are happy to discover that he already looks forward to working with us.’ The representative from the company said to Coach Ruger. The coach knew that Leo was no here around the hotel premises, but what he didn’t know was that Leo would not answer his phone calls as well. A frustrated Coach Ruger had the veins in his forehead popping out in frustration after trying to reach Leo several times via phone call, and he was not picking up.

‘I’m sure he’s probably on his way back, that’s why he isn’t picking up.’ A member of the team on Leo's side told the coach. Coach Ruger scoffed. He knew Leo better than that. It was either he was deliberately ignoring the calls, or he was not with his phone, and from coach Rugers envisaging, it was the latter. Leo was not with his phone, if not he would have seen the text messages if he didn't just want to pick up. Having paced the room until he could not think of anything else to do, Coach Ruger decided to take a walk.

‘I’d be back in a bit, I have to go outside and clear my head’ he told his colleagues and stepped out of the room before they could give him any reply.

‘We are expecting Leo anytime soon, right?’ The brand interested in Leo asked the coach when they saw him step out into the hotel lobby.

‘Of course, he will be down with us soon’ Coach Ruger replied with a plastic and rehearsed smile on his face. If Leo was not available, there were a thousand and one other options for the energy drink brand to choose from, and the coach knew that for a fact. But these were the big guys, it was already absurd that Leo was not their brand ambassador after years of pulling the heavyweight championship title, and it had always been because of the same reason. Leo was unavailable. But there ought to be no excuse now, so the coach was angry. He walked away from the hotel in dismay, wondering where the hell Leo went and where he kept his phone.

‘Is that girl already allowing him to sleep with her barely twelve hours after meeting him?’ Coach Ruger asked himself while he took a stroll towards the very Lake that Leo and Marilyn were at. He opted to call Leo one more time, feeling in his pocket to grab his phone and call him, but the phone was not there. He had left it in the hotel when he got frustrated and tossed it on the bed on one occasion when he called Leo and he didn’t pick up.

‘Maybe it’s even better that I forgot the damn phone’ Coach Ruger consoled himself because if he had called Leo again, and he still wasn’t picking up, he damn near would have lost his mind.

Getting close to the lake, Coach Ruger hoped his eyes were not deceiving him, he was seeing someone with the same physique as Leo. The man could not wait to be close enough to whoever this person was. The closer the coach got to the lake, the more he had reason to believe that it was Leo.

‘Leo!’ Coach Ruger yelled at the top of his voice when he confirmed that it was his boxer friend that was at the lake with a dainty female. Leo frowned and turned towards the direction he heard his name from, of course, the voice was familiar.

‘Who is that?’ Marilyn asked.

‘It’s my manager’ Leo lied, walking slowly away from the lake while he still had his hand over Marilyn’s shoulder. He signaled coach Ruger that he was fine and that the coach should let him be, but coach Ruger signaled back at him that there was a pressing issue.

‘If you don’t show up here right away I will burst your damn bubble’ coach Ruger murmured.

‘Come on let’s hurry up, I think I have an important meeting with clients I have been trying to get a hold of’ Leo said, pulling Marilyn gently behind him.

‘I’d drop you off at your house and then go for my meeting’ Leo told her. Marilyn rolled her eyes secretly. She would have said yes if he decided to make her wait for him in his hotel room, but she would come off as desperate so she refrained from the action. Leo got in the car and put his hat back on.

‘Twenty-seven damn missed calls’ he yelped when he looked at his phone that he had left in the car. ‘For crying out loud’ he muttered.

‘Big meeting I suppose’ Marilyn commented. They drove past Leo’s coach, and to Marilyn’s surprise, Leo acted as if he didn’t know him, and the coach didn’t seem bothered. How absurd. Marilyn thought, peeping at Coach Ruger via the rearview mirror, looking for an answer to the weird communication Leo had with the man.