The Boxer and I

Nine

Previous chapter was a letter to Jake, explaining what happened to Flo two years ago. 

Please read the authors note at the end of the chapter, happy reading!

Part 1

So, it isn't much, but it's enough for me.

I smile as I look around my new apartment. Well, it's a studio apartment, so nothing special. The bedroom and kitchen are essentially the same room and the bathroom is not too bad either. This place is small, but it's mine.

Although I've been here for a week, I've only just finished unpacking everything. Some days I don't want to get out of bed, and the only thing that drags me out is the fact that I don't have that much money and I need to work in order to keep this place. That reminds me, I need to go looking for a new job. No way am I going to keep working at bloody Bella Italia's with snobby customers and a pervert for a colleague. Unfortunately, once school starts in a week, I'm not going to be able to work as much.

A knock at the door distracts me from my thoughts and I push myself off of my bed to look through the peephole and see who it is. Smiling, I open the door.

"You shouldn't have," I gleam at Aiden, holding chinese takeaway in his hands.

"Yeah you don't mean that," He pushes his way past me and to the kitchen, placing the food on the counter.

I laugh, "I know, I'm hungry as hell."

"Well, luckily I've got you two meals, one for now and one for later." He says while quickly unwrapping our food and getting plates out of the cupboards for us to eat from.

After shutting the door, I make my way towards him, watching as he fills the plates up with egg-fried rice, prawn chow mein noodles and vegetable curry.

"Aiden?" I say, waiting for his response.

He looks at me without moving his head, concentrating on the food.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," I smile. "For everything, thank you."

He stops what he's doing and turns to me, a warm look in his eyes. I really do appreciate all that he's done for me, from helping me move my stuff and settling into this new apartment, to buying me food and keeping me company. He doesn't know what's gone on, and he doesn't pry, but he's been such a good friend to have around this past month.

"You don't need to thank me, Florence." His smile widens.

I roll my eyes. "Eugh, don't call me Florence, how many times!" I cross my arms over my chest, pouting.

"Oh you don't want me to call you Florence oh, didums," He says in a baby voice, making me smile.

"Shush, loser!"

"Come on let's eat, the food's getting cold," He hurries with the rest of the loading until our plates are practically overflowing.

Grabbing some glasses and orange juice, we sit down on the floor since I haven't managed to buy a dining table yet, and dig into our food. We're pretty silent, just munching away, but I can't help but think of a bunch of questions to ask him.

"Aiden?" I call his name again.

He finishes his mouth-full before answering, "Florence?"

I smile at my name, before asking the question. "How's Georgia?"

He picks at a few pieces of egg from the rice as he thinks of a reply. "She's okay, last year was hard for her."

"If you don't mind me asking, how come?"