Bare Knuckled

Chapter Three- Fringe Contender

There was one man in Zane’s life that had led him to harbor such a great amount of anger in his two decades of life. This man happened to swindle his sweet and kind mother into marriage, resulting in a child that Zane felt he had to protect as his own. It had been this set of circumstances that had led him to have a face in mind when allowing all of his aggression to flow from his fists and onto the punching bag in front of him. The words this man spoke, the way he treated his mother, and the pure evil that rested behind his steely gaze had allowed Zane to have enough of a fuse that had been lit for the past few decades. With each blow to the fabric before him, he could imagine his step father’s head before him, envisioning all the times he had gotten into his face, and each time he had refrained from doing anything but clenching his jaw and turning to walk away. Suddenly, a gentle pull upon his ears had forced Zane to turn and see Candace standing beside him, an apologetic look on her face. 

“Sorry…” Her sweet cadence of a voice spoke to Zane as he cast a kind smile in her direction, but upon seeing Butch in the nearby background glaring to him upon seeing this smirk, had it drop and his focus drew on her purpose for standing present. However, even with this intimidating gaze from her husband, Zane was still blown away by her presence itself. It wasn’t just a physical attraction, but the way she made up herself was not exactly a turn-off for him either. She played the part of a business man’s wife, dressed to social perfection without a hair out of place and her makeup applied perfectly-as if done so by a team of professionals. “Butch wanted me to take you to the apartment he has for you...as well as give you these…” She commented while handing an envelope into Zane’s possession. A single two worded phrase was written upon the front in Butch’s handwriting as he disregarded the phrase, finding it of less importance than what was inside. Meanwhile, Candace took a moment, as if embarrassed at the words, “Fringe Contender, Zane” written before them both. Unbeknownst to Zane, this phrase meant a fighter who is about to break into a higher ranking, but isn’t much of a threat to the other fighters. In a way, he was already pitting against his own fighter, a notion missed by the boxer himself. 

“You have one silver credit card and one gold, the gold is for physical expenses like clothes, workout equipment, and medications-and the silver is for food. I really doubt you will reach the limit, so don’t even worry about one.” Candace spoke to break the silence between them as he then pulled a set of keys from a keyring. “And these are the keys to your apartment.” She spoke with excitement. “Are you ready to see it?” She questioned with the strong desire to leave the arena, perhaps to have an excuse to be alone with him, or an excuse to be away from her husband. Either way, she led the way from the arena, ignoring the eyes of her husband glaring at them while they left. 

Candace and Zane moved to a black car waiting for them in the parking lot, leaving them with an awkward silence in the few minute drive it had taken to arrive at the apartment complex. When the car came to a stop, Candace paused for a moment before questioning the chauffeur. 

“There has to be a mistake-” She spoke before the chauffeur confessed that this was the address given to him by “Mister Butch”. However, to Zane, the building was nice enough upon the outside. Ivy grew upright, just missing the windows of fellow tenants, while a well manicured lawn welcomed them as they made their way to the front. “I am going to talk to the apartment manager about this...and then we are going back to Butch…” She spoke with deep dedication as Zane followed behind her. Holding each door open for her, she was taken back by a chivalrous act-one she had only witnessed in movies or read in books. A slight smile crept upon her face as they moved up a flight of stairs to his apartment. 

The apartment itself had been a cozy one bedroom with everything less than a meter apart. The kitchen, the bedroom, and the living room were all one room, separated by a single half-wall that doubled usage as a counter. The bathroom had been the only door aside from the entrance, and small details of the apartment showed neglect in care. These included small spots where paint had been chipped or simply not applied to begin with, rust had begun to take place upon metal components of the location such as door hinges, and the intercom that gave a sense of security had been obviously broken. 

“Absolutely not!” Candace spoke as she went to turn on her heels and give her husband as well as the apartment manager a piece of her mind. However, Zane quickly ceased her from exiting the apartment. 

“Please...it’s perfect.”

“Perfect?!” She looked at him as if he had gone completely insane. “The outlets show signs of being burned out, there isn’t a single working light bulb in this place, it hasn’t been cared for or used properly in months...and I would guarantee that you have an abhorrent and unknown species of arachnid or mold living somewhere here.”

“It’s actually...a lot nicer than my old place…” He confessed, revealing his genuine lifestyle to her. Although she saw the place as a dump, Zane saw it as the first steps to his new life. In truth, his previous apartment had been a mini fridge and a cot, so this had been a massive step up. 

“I have seen Butch give fighters with far less finese apartments with ocean views and hot tubs! You deserve better than this...surely there has to be a better apartment in this place-” As she went to leave, Zane gently took hold of her wrist once more, this time making her eyes rise up to him and linger for a moment. 

“Thank you, but...I’m very thankful to you both...this is more than I could have ever imagined forty eight hours ago...please, I don’t want to do anything to lose this…” He spoke this while her eyes then fell to his lips. Without another word having been spoken, her own lips came slightly agape as she could imagine the feeling of his kiss full on her mouth. But within a matter of seconds of feeling this moment become something more than platonic, Zane pulled back and moved towards the interior of the apartment. 

“I almost forgot…” Candace spoke while placing a check from her back pocket into the air for him to take. For a second, their fingers brushed, leaving an awkward moment of s****l tension to be made known between them both before causing Zane to drop the check directly onto the ground. Both moving to retrieve it, Zane cleared his throat before breaking the romantic moment once again, recalling the threat brought forth by Butch to stay away from her-but she was making this difficult. The number upon the once empty box on the upper right corner of the document made him nearly choke on the air he was attempting to take in while being in her presence. 

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing a number like that.” He spoke to himself before she extended a smile in his direction. 

“I think Butch is kind of paying you out of ‘thanks’...and I wish I could too…” She confessed as their eyes locked. 

“It isn’t necessary, truly...you both have changed my life.” A silence fell between them for a second before she looked to the ground before nervously fidgeting with her fingers set in front of her, picking at the edges of her French tips before looking back to him. “Just promise me something, Zane?”

His eyes met with hers, intrigued and taken by surprise by what she would speak next. 

“Promise me you won’t become an arrogant jerk like most of them?” A smile came across his face as he nodded, giving her a verbal promise as she then quickly moved to him before placing a kiss soft on his cheek. Zane was left with a goofball smile upon his face while he was left making himself feel at home in his new home.