The Deal

Chapter 8 - Part One - Much Ado about Nothing

{I only lie when I love you, I only crawl when I hit the ground.

I Only Lie When I Love You - Royal Blood}

Chapter 8 - Part One - Much Ado about Nothing

"You don't belong here," Chris stated plainly, folding his muscled arms across his broad chest.

"You don't think I already knew that?" I replied, shrugging my shoulders in desperation. "But I'm here now Chris, and whether you like it or not I'm here to stay."

"That's not what I'm worried about," he murmured, glancing meaningfully down the hall in the direction of the arena. My eyes narrowed in question.

"What are you talking about?"

"Look around you, kid," he said, gesturing around himself at the cramped interior of his dressing room. I eyed the various weights scattered carelessly across the floor, along with the bulging gym bags stacked in the corner and the thick boxing bag hanging in the centre of the room.

"This job is a last resort for people who have nowhere else to go. The men you see here may look intimidating, but in reality they're just trying to make a living. Either that or they're sick bastards who enjoy beating guys to a pulp for entertainment."

"I can't seem to wrap my mind around this," I said, shaking my head in frustration as I tried to clear my thoughts. "Why are you telling me this? Who are you trying to protect me from?"

Wordlessly, Chris once again indicated towards the open door, just as the victory bell sounded and hundreds of fans began to cheer.

"You know those guys I was telling you about before, the ones who enjoy hitting people for kicks?" he asked slowly, unfolding his arms and moving across the room to stand in front of me. I nodded mutely. "Well, your precious Damon's one them."

       *                                                *                                                *

"Is there something you're not telling me?" I asked sceptically, watching with a bemused smile on my face as my mother lugged an extra-large bag of Purina One dog food into the kitchen. "I never knew you had a taste for dog biscuits."

"Shut up," mum wheezed, using the last of her energy to haul the bag up off the floor and slam it down on the kitchen bench.

"Well done," I applauded, walking over to the fridge and fishing out two bottles of water. Handing one to my mother, I cracked open the lid of my own and lifted it to my lips. "But seriously, what's with the dog food?"

"Oh, nothing," mum said breezily, waving a dismissive hand in the air as she too sipped at her water. "We're looking after Janice's dog for a couple of days, that's all."

"A couple of days?" I asked, looking from my mum to the giant bag of dog food disbelievingly. "And you expect it to eat all of that before it leaves?"

"Oh, I guarantee you there will be nothing left."

Startled, I whipped round to face the owner of the voice, only to mentally cringe when I found it.

"Janice," I acknowledged, offering the stout woman a polite smile before inching my way behind the counter. I'd learned from past experience when dealing with Janice that it's best to try and avoid any means of physical contact, unless your one wish in this world is to choke to death on her chemically enhanced perfume or be awarded a permanently scarring glimpse down the front of her gaping blouse.

But luckily for me, she was too busy fiddling around in her handbag to bother saying hello properly.  

"Oh, Anna darling, hi," she said vaguely, to distracted by her fervent search through her handbag to offer me a proper greeting. Not that I was complaining.

"Ah, here we are!" she cried triumphantly, producing a small folded sheet of paper from her coat pocket.  She then proceeded to thrust said piece of paper into my mother's outstretched hand, before snatching her furry bonnet off the coat stand and heading purposefully in the direction of the front door.

"Hate to love you and leave you ladies, but I have a plane to catch! Ciao!"

And with that she was gone; the only sound to be heard was that of the front door slamming shut behind her. A beat of silence went by before mum cleared her throat.

"Well," she said, seeming a little taken aback by her friends' sudden departure. "I guess it's time for you to meet Bacon."

               *                                         *                                       *

"You got a dog?" Charlie asked me, his jaw slack and his eyes alight with interest as we pushed our way towards the school gates.

"Temporarily," I replied, grinning. We dropped our bags and slumped against the brick wall that runs along the edge of the school grounds, watching as other students poured through the gates and began flooding the already crowded car park.

"Is your dad picking you up?" I asked, shielding my eyes against the sun as I began scanning the sea of cars for a familiar blue Holden.

"No, I'm getting a lift from Lucy's mum," he said, the tone of his voice turning husky as he wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Just then, Lucy's car pulled up before us and the passenger window rolled down to reveal Lucy's mum leaning across the console, a friendly smile on her face as she beckoned for Charlie to get in.

"You have a sick mind, G-man!" I laughed, shoving his shoulder gently as I murmured, "Be careful she doesn't hear you, or Miranda might think you're serious."

Charlie pulled a face before returning the grin and hefting his bag over his shoulder. He studied me for a moment, his brow furrowed in concentration before blinding me with one of his special smiles.

"Hey, why don't you come with me to Lucy's?" he asked excitedly; his eyes bright with enthusiasm as he began jumping up and down like an overenthusiastic puppy. "We're going to hang out at her place for a while before heading down to the movie theatre in Mornington. What do you say, Anna, care to join us?"

I played with the zip on my bag distractedly, avoiding Charlie's gaze so as not to see the hurt look on his face when I tell him I can't make it.

"Look, I'm sorry Charlie, really I am, but I already have plans tonight."

Charlie's shoulders deflated as a look of understanding crossed his face.

"Oh," he said dejectedly. "Are you doing something with Warren?"

"Ah, no, not Warren. I just have something else planned, something personal."

A strange look flickered behind Charlie's eyes, and I watched as his face twisted into a never before seen scowl.

"When are you going to start making time for your real friends, Anna, and stop fobbing us of every time we try to make plans with you?"

"What?"  I questioned dazedly, totally dumbfounded by Charlie's sudden mood swing.

"You heard me." he replied. A silence settled between the two of us, before Charlie scoffed and turned on his heel to get into the car. "Take some time to think about what I said, Anna. Let me know when you're done analysing it and you're ready to apologise."

And then without another glance, he got into the car and speed out of the parking lot.