I Should Have Stayed

Chapter 13

***
"So... you won the first match."

I spit the blood from out of my mouth. It dripped down my chin and my whole body was aching. "Go fuck yourself."

"Wow, you really need to stop cussing. I can't stand hearing those words coming out of your mouth." He laughed at me.

"You know..." I watched him walk behind me out of my line of sight. "It's not called the Fighting Ring for nothing. You fight for your food. You fight for your right to survive. So here. Eat up." He threw a plate of potatoes at me. They landed on the floor.

"I'm not eating that." I firmly stated.

"Then fine. No food for you. But you're still going back into the Ring." His hands wrapped around mine and untied them from behind my back. My wrists were turning black with the bruises. "I placed some bets on you so you better fight well." He grabbed me and dragged me out of the room and down a long hallway to a set of double doors. I already knew what was on the other side.

"Wait..." I coughed out.

"What is it little baby bird?"

I winced at the nickname. "Can I ask for a request?"

"Sure. Since you won the last round."

"... What's your name?"

He laughed at me and my slumped figure. "Tanner. Tanner Lane." He blew his hot breath on me with each word. "Enjoy the Ring."

The doors opened and I was met by a million lights and cheers. Round two. Fight.

***

When I woke up I was alone in the room. The sheets were cold which told me that Lindsey had been gone a while. I got up and looked to my left to see the two briefcases from the earlier deals. The more I looked at them the brighter my idea got.

I jumped into the shower and then ran downstairs and saw Lindsey sitting on the couch with the computer in her lap. She stared at the screen with a focused expression on her face. I went over and wrapped my arms around her. She seemed startled before relaxing a bit.

"Hey. I have an idea for the use of that money upstairs."

"And what is that?" She asked. Those cute brown eyes looked up at me with curiosity. I smiled.

"We should go back to the mansion on vacation for a few days. We'll get to spend some time together in our own house."

I watched her think about it for a second before she nodded and went back to work on the computer. I went to the kitchen and got myself some late breakfast. A bowl of cereal.

"And when do you plan on us leaving?"

I pursed my lips. "Tonight." I walked into the living room and sat down beside her.

"How long will we stay?"

"A few days. Long enough for us to get away from the outside world. Where I can have you all to myself." I winked at her before taking another bite of cereal. She snorted.

"Alright. But only a few days. I don't want Blank showing up in the middle of our honeymoon."

"Honeymoon? Ha! You wish it was our honeymoon. You'll just have to wait a little longer. Besides, this won't even be able to top our honeymoon."

She glanced at me and laughed. "Alright. Whatever you say."

I finished eating and then watched as Lindsey ordered two plane tickets to Maine. We could have taken the private jet, but she had already ordered the tickets, and I was pretty sure she didn't even know about it. I had a nice beach house in Maine on top of a cliff. It was beautiful.

The Atlantic Ocean in all its glory spread out before us. The blues of the sky and water, and the green of the trees by the shore. It made me smile just thinking about sitting on the beach below the mansion taking it all in like I did once before several months ago.

I called my parents and told them we were leaving for a couple days and that we'd be back. My mom paused on the other end and then finally spoke and told me to be careful and to come home soon. I told her that I promised I would.

As we were packing our things I got a phone call from Ava. Thankfully I had put her number in my phone a long time ago.

"Hey." I answered. "What's up?"

"I heard you were leaving today."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. News spread like wildfire around here. Soon the whole town would know that I would be gone for a few days.

"Yeah. I am." I said with a slight anger.

There was a pause. "I'm coming over."

"What? No! We're packing."

"Too bad. See you in five." The phone hung up and I was left staring at the home screen on my phone. Really? I thought to myself sarcastically.

Exactly five minutes later Ava showed up and rang the doorbell. Lindsey got it as I was in the middle of packing what little amount of items I had with me. I heard footsteps making their way to the room and they both stepped in. My eyes found Ava as she stepped in and I saw that she was holding her car keys.

She saw me staring and held them up. "Lindsey said I could drive you guys to the airport."

I looked at Lindsey and she shrugged at me before I picked up a little bag of my belongings and we all went downstairs and left the house. On the way to the airport someone finally decided to speak and break the ice.

"So where are you guys going?" Ava asked.

"Back to the mansion in Maine." I replied.

"Sounds fun... What's the next thing on the list of things to do?"

I frowned not realizing what she asked until it hit me. "Oh. Don't worry about it. I've got the next thing covered."

She gave me a funny look before focusing back onto the road. "I'm apart of this now. You know that, right?"

"No, you're only apart of half of it. The other half I want you to stay out of. It's dangerous and stupid."

"So you can do dangerous and stupid things and I can't?"

I gave her a glare. "No, because I'm used to living like this and so is Lindsey. I've basically been trained to deal with dangerous and illegal things. You haven't. You're just a teacher."

"But you could use my skills. I can analyze a situation and could even help you get out of one. What do you think I've been doing this whole time? I've been analyzing you."

"That sounds creepy. It's almost as bad as saying, 'I've been watching you!'" Lindsey butted in.

"Lindsey." I said, looking at her deeply. "No jokes right now."

Ava looked at me again, but this time was completely different. She gave me a look only Lindsey would use. A look that made me stop talking and start listening. Those brown eyes spoke a million words and not a single sound came out of her mouth. Suddenly, I knew that she was right.

Everything was moving so fast. My life, my work, these stupid and immature conversations, the list just goes on. I needed to stop and listen to her. I was really never able to analyze a situation and here Ava was with just that ability. I would have to use it.

"Okay." I said, throwing everyone off guard. "But right now is just not the right time to tell you what's going on. Later. Okay?"

We pulled in front of the airport and stopped. I looked at Ava again and she was already looking at me. Her eyes were almost the same as Lindsey's and suddenly I knew why I was starting to like Ava. "Okay." She said. Her eyes scanned me up and down before she said goodbye and we got out of the car. She pulled away without a wave and we were left standing by the entrance with two little bags and too many words we could never say.