Deadly Discern - Book Three ✔️

Chapter Twelve - Onwards -

Billy, one of the burly, bearded staff members greets me at reception.

"Hey man, how you doing?" He says, reaching his arm across the counter to shake my hand.

I grip his hand firmly, shake it once and then let it go, "Hey, yeah good, you?"

"Same here bud. Who's this pretty lady? It can't be Danica, you haven't been doing her justice if it is." He grins at me jokingly.

I laugh, "The one and only. Thought we'd hit up a session together for a change, you mind?"

Billy shakes his head, "Nah, go right on in. You know you're more than welcome here. And you too." He says, looking at Danica teasingly.

Danica doesn't say anything, she just smiles wryly back at him, he smiles in return as we walk past and find some space to work. There is a decent sized open area over by the far wall of the gym and I lead Danica over to it, planning things once more in my head.

"Okay," I say turning to face her, "We will begin with basic self defence, then we will move onto some simple disarming moves and see where we're at after that, we might not even get to disarming today, we will play it by ear, alright?"

"I might just surprise you. I surprised Justine." She says, pride filling her voice.

I frown back at her, "What did you do with Justine?"

Danica shrugs, "A little kickboxing. Nothing serious."

I let out a breath, "You need to inform me of these things. What exactly did you do? Details."

We stand across from each other, I watch as a slight change skims her facial features, her eyes flash once, and she purses her lips almost imperceptibly as she tries to shield something from me.

I fold my arms across my chest, and this action seems to awaken something real and serious in her, I witness the second her shield drops back down and my stiffened shoulders relax a little in the same second.

"It started out harmless enough, Justine saw that I was having a rough time and only wanted to try and distract me, there really wasn't anything sinister about it."

Though her words say one thing, I need to know the entirety of what went on to be sure it truly was innocent and that nothing untoward might've unnerved Justine. So I wait for more, my silence pushes Danica as I expect it to.

"We grappled a bit, I only dodged her a few times and struck back when she struck out first, for the most part it was just some really good ducking and weaving, I don't believe she would have read into it. Sure, she was impressed with my reactions and my natural movements, but she didn't say anything that made me think she thought more of it. I wasn't worried at the end of it. I just asked if we could go somewhere else and we did, we went to a bar instead and played some pool. She didn't say another word about any of it. We spoke about work and that was pretty much it."

The relaxed nature of her voice gives me enough to believe what she says it the truth, that she truly thinks that Justine thought nothing of it and the fact that I wasn't there to see what they did, I could only take her words for what they were. If I read more into it then it may just screw with me even further and that wasn't the best idea right now. But I could always invite Patrick out one night and see if he said anything about it, that would give me some peace of mind.

With that idea settled in my head, I take Danica's speech and accept it for the mean time, I knew I could do no more for now, it was ultimately smarter that I get onto the point of our being here instead.

"Alright. I believe you. Back to why we're here. I want you to plant your feet and bring your arms up to protect yourself."

Without another word, Danica does as I've asked, spreading her feet more evenly and raises her arms in front of her but not quite high enough to protect her face from being struck if she were to face an opponent.

Striding purposefully towards her, I grasp her forearms gently and lift her arms a bit higher.
"You must remember to protect your face too, that is one of the first places that someone will aim at, that and your torso. Keep those two in mind at all times."

As I back away, I check her stance again and other than the initial placement of her hands, she seems to have a good idea of where her feet should be and she has a strong form from the looks of it. I nod once and then begin to move closer to her, ready to fake a strike.

Inching closer, I watch as she studies my movements, acutely aware of where my hands are and her sight never strays from them. I'm happy to see that she knows that much.

As I get within a few feet of her, I quickly throw a jab at her torso, she leaps back in an instant, out of my reach.

"Okay good, but I want you to protect yourself, not jump out of the way, I need you to block my strikes, not dodge."

A look of pure concentration crosses her features as she nods at me, ready for the next part. A calmness fills me as we continue, with me knowing that she isn't fighting me anymore on things, I realise that I can't wholeheartedly accept that she is going to always agree so easily because it's not been easy at all trying to work with her.

The next time I strike out at her, she knocks my hand away with ease, her reflexes perfectly intact and the block was well executed. I'm impressed with this but I don't say a word about it. I need to see more before I gather any further ideas. Though I'm thoroughly intrigued.

I press on, striking out continuously, increasing my speed and faking strikes to confuse Danica, but she is onto me. Every single time. I'd like to say that I'm getting a better feel for what has been occurred with Danica now, but I'm not. There's nothing straight forward about it. She has the reflexes and the speed, but not the skills per se. There is much she needs to learn and I do plan to teach her a few things, not just defending herself properly, that is just the stepping stone to the end game.

But what exactly is my end game?
Where does all of this lead?
Is there a solution to any of this?
Can we create a life worth being proud of now that Danica has this need to kill?

The questions I have for myself keep on piling up, getting more complicated with each day. But I'm not giving in. I've never been one to give up on something difficult. And I definitely am not giving up on Danica, regardless of how much she has pissed me off lately.

Sure, our relationship is shaky right now, but that means little to me when I know that she wants us to keep fighting to stay together too.

That's all that matters at the end of the day.

She needs me and I need her.

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How did we like seeing this little bit of hands on between our two favourite people?

I enjoyed seeing Danica put in an effort to prove to Alex that she is willing to change for him, for them. She is finally listening, phew.

They still have a long way to go in terms of their relationship though. Danica screwed up big time and she needs to show him how sorry she truly is.

Hope you enjoyed this,
See you all again soon!
Shantelle 👊🏻