Knuckle Up

Jared Dobre

The sun was still yet to rise when I tumbled out of the bed and stumbled into the kitchen. I turned on my small and old, retro radio skipping the morning chatter of traffic news and switched to upbeat music to get this morning started. I moved my hips to the tunes playing while I fixed breakfast and packed lunch. When the chorus hit, I grabbed whatever I could find and used it as a microphone. I started singing along to the chorus, impersonating the singer and dancing as if I owned the stage when my phone interrupted my concert-for-none.

I wasn’t surprised when I saw Jared’s name flashing across my phone. I turned down the volume before sliding my finger across the screen to answer the call. “Morning, boss, I am just on my way to the office,”

Jared and I have a comfortable but serious work relationship. We get along pretty great and even though sometimes his fiery temper fires up but other than that he is a pretty good boss to work for.

“Morning, Sabrina. Sorry to bother you this early but BJ is moving the meeting to his office. Can you pick up Clay’s contract from my office and meet me at my place?” Jared’s deep, velvet voice trickled through my phone and over my shoulders.

“Yeah, sure. No problem,” I hung up the phone and gathered my things. I gave myself a once over in the mirror making sure I looked decent before joining the town of Gresham which was already crammed with people rushing to get to work on time.

I took the early morning bus to the office and was there before anyone else. I could have probably bought myself a car a long time ago but I picked walking over driving any day. I hurried into the office building and got the files for the meeting from Jared’s office and was in the middle of ordering an uber when the company’s security called me over.

“Morning, Sabrina,” The Security guard, Ulrich Florrick greeted me and escorted me over to a car. “Mr Dobre ordered you a ride,” He opened the passenger door.

That was considered of Jared but it’s not a surprise actually. Jared is one of the humblest people I’ve ever come across.

“How’re the kids?” He has been taking care of his kids since his wife fell ill years ago and passed away. Jared took care of all his expenses and is still helping out on a month-to-month basis.

A sad smile appeared on the corner of his lips. Everyone around the office knows and understands his struggles. “Their good, thanks for asking,”

I shot him a grin over my shoulder before slipping into the back of the uber. The driver drove me across town and dropped me off at Jared’s house. I was no stranger to his luxurious home. I spent quite some time picking him up for when we had a flight to catch for work.

I thanked the uber driver and gave him a tip before I made my way inside as I had the key. I was greeted by his Dobber man, Lana. “Hey, girl!” I exclaimed with excitement and gave her a few kisses and pats on the head before informing Jared of my arrival.

He was still upstairs getting dressed and offered me to help myself to coffee and fresh pastries. I stared at the big and unique spiral staircase running up to the second floor. I don’t know why I was still so curious to know what the second floor looks like.

Maybe I was a bit curious to know what his room looks like. It took him a few years to get this house and he made some renovations of his own. Jared is a sophisticated and sharp dresser. I feel like a slob when it comes to Jared’s tidy home.

I placed the files down on the dining table and stepped inside the kitchen to find that he went out of his way to get a chai latte refill for his coffee machine.

He doesn’t drink tea or coffee. He drinks most of the time freshly made juices or protein shakes. He loves having a good coffee from time to time but not every day. Unlike me who basically survives on caffeine.

I grabbed a pastry from the takeaway box and took a generous bite while I waited for the machine to turn the chai powder into a hot drink.

For the last five years, I have been working at Jared Dobre’s MMA recruiting company as his personal assistant and it has been quite an adventure to watch nameless fighters turn into popular names.

Jared’s recruiting company created an innovative and interactive platform in partnership with UFC to help give fighters a direct avenue of exposure to UFC officials. Jared helps manage profiles consisting of fight history, videos, photos, metrics and bio.

He is also one of the most successful MMA recruiting offices in Oregon and he got a few famous names signed. His goal is to sign fighters from Oregon as the state of California produces the most UFC fighters and his mission is to discover new up-and-coming talent and targets both pro and amateur fighters.

“Thank you for coming out early,” I gazed over my shoulder when I heard Jared’s voice. My mouth watered at the sight of him. The jacket suit he was wearing, hugged and moulded his broad shoulders and brought out his eyes. A deep, hazel brown shade filled with warmth and humbleness. They were always unguarded and honest.

I concealed a grin when I realized he struggled with his tie and finally gave up.

“No, worries,” I put the Danish down and wiped my hands from the oil to help him out since it has become my second job to take care of him.

“What would I do without you?” He asked gazing down at me making it already hard as it is to control my emotions around him. It was crazy to acknowledge the fact that I was crushing on my boss but who can blame me when he is this attractive? A nice, honest guy who cares a lot about a person’s needs.

“Probably go tie-less,” I joked taking a step back to give him some space to check my work.

He chuckled and ran his hand over the neatly folded tie. “Maybe I should think about getting clip-on's?” It does sound like a good plan but that just means there wouldn’t be an excuse to touch him.

“As if you will go for them,” I grabbed my latte as an excuse to keep my hands busy.

“True,” He nodded and then flipped the file open where Clay’s contract was sealed inside.

“I want you to join the meeting,” He clarified.

I nodded. Being his personal assistant for the last five years was a great learning experience. Schools or higher education couldn’t teach me the things Jared has taught me.

“Do you believe that Clay is ready?” I asked Jared watching him go through the contract.

Clay is probably one of the youngest fighters he has signed in a very long time and he has given Jared quite the work to get him signed with UFC. Clay Agos was still young blood and he isn’t the first fighter that gets second doubts about his reputation. Many years ago, a new fighter arise with the same ambition and for five years he carried the undefeated champion belt. The fighter even retired as an undisputed champion and is still seen as one of the very best in history. A lot of new fighters try to get to that level of success with Jared at their side. He makes them come true.

“He has got ambition and he has been competing since he was five,” Jared said turning his head.

I watched his forehead crease and I was confused at first until I realized he was staring at my hands. My knuckles were slightly scraped from last night’s fight. It took more than a few punches to bring down my opponent but I made sure to take the win.

“What happened?” He asked and I knew it was going to be quite a mission to lie to him about the scars. He, himself used to be an MMA fighter before his injury took him out.

“I joined a kickboxing class since I got curious about all these fighters and what they see in throwing punches at each other,” I lied through my teeth.

I have been an underground fighter for the last five years. Only my coach and I knew of my late-night activities. I could hide most of my bruises underneath my work clothes but was unable to do so when it came to my knuckles.

“I still have to work in my gloves according to the coach,” I clarified and hoped that he believed me.

I watched him stare at my hands for a little while longer but he let it go when his phone rang. I let out a sigh of relief and made a note to myself to get new gloves.

Jared believes that I am just an ordinary girl from Oregon who wears skirts and heels. Flip through piles of paperwork because I love it but I am only doing it for a cover and because he teaches me a lot about what I can expect when I decide to become a fighter. I am also covering my father’s debt he continues on making. Even though I want nothing to do with him and he is a complete jerk.

“Sabrina,” He called softly. “We are heading out,”

I nodded and grabbed the pastries. I patted Lana’s head and followed Jared out to his car.

“Thanks for the Uber,” I thanked him and grabbed my wallet to pay him back but he held up his hand.

“Have I ever asked you to pay back anything? And let’s face it, you are here because I need you,” Jared acknowledged.

“Either way, I would have been at the office,” I know he meant well and I accepted his humbleness by putting away my money.

“Do you still have a bus ticket? These past few months it feels like you are jogging to work,” He joked and pulled the passenger open for me.

“It’s a force of habit to walk everywhere,” I returned the teasing gesture with a smile.

“Yeah, more like a healthy habit. Maybe I should consider walking myself,” Jared said with a serious thinking face.

I chuckled and shook my head from amusement. “You will be late every morning and I will be forced to make sure you’ve got an extra suit at work,”

He chuckled and shot me a playful grin before shutting the door and walking around.

It was hard to believe that he was single and that he stopped making time for relationships. He has spent more time with me than any of his past lovers. We travel and work together. We’ve spent nights on plane rides, in hotel rooms and in his car from travelling around the world for his fighters.

His girlfriends never truly approved of me and many had their suspicion that we were sleeping together just because we didn’t have barriers.

I might have fantasized about Jared touching me in intimate places and having him hungrily devour my lips but I’ve never crossed the line between work and my personal life.

His ex-girlfriend made it obvious that she hates me and with every travel, she would call every five minutes to make sure we are not doing anything inappropriate. She would show up at his office out of the blue and send me miles away to get her the perfect hot drink.

Jared never knew about it because I didn’t feel like becoming a whiny personal assistant who had insecure problems and had to run to her manager every time his girlfriends would look at her funny.