Superman

Chapter 13

He sizes up Marshall and then gestures for the two of us to come inside. Marshall releases my hand completely and sits in one of the chairs before a small desk that's swamped with papers. I sit in the adjacent chair while the man flops down into the desk chair, lifting his feet onto the table. I examine the wall behind him. There are old newspaper clippings hanging everywhere. Headlines that read "Rule Cox takes down Erik Trip" and "Cox puts Kahn in hospital".

"Long time no see Slim." He says to Marshall. "This her?" He points at me.

Marshall nods. The man looks at me and cocks his head to one side.

"She's pretty like you said." He states, rocking his chair back and forth. "But what is she doing here?"

I can't believe these two. They're talking about me like I'm not even here. I don't even know this mans name and Marshall's hardly given me any answers.

"She got curious." Marshall explains. "I just don't want one of the guys slipping up."

"Understandable." He laughs. "That'd be very unfortunate...for them."

The man turns to me, his green eyes are flawless. They're not as pretty as Marshall's but they're up there.

"You a fan of Rule Cox?" I gesture to the news articles.

He smiles. "Sweetheart I am Rule Cox. Ex-fighter and owner of this boxing club."

"Oh." I say nervously. "I'm Rachel."

Rule laughs. "Oh yes I know who you are." He brings his feet down and leans forward across his desk. "Every one of our fighters knows about you."

His smile is from ear to ear. He glances at Marshall who is staring at the two of us. He's calm around Rule, unlike how he is with other guys. He trusts him. An awkward silence fills the room. The only noise comes from the raging crowd on the other side of the door.

"So how do you know him?" I ask Rule about Marshall.

Rule laughs again. It's distinct and deep. "Oh you haven't told her." He nods at Marshall who lets his eyes fall to the floor.

Rule stands from his chair and walks to a file cabinet behind us. He pulls out a thick black folder and hands it to me. Hesitantly, I open it up. Inside there are pictures of Marshall. He's in the boxing ring with another fighter. The referee stands between them, holding each of their gloves, he's about to announce the winner. I flip to the next page and see another photo. Marshall's right arm is extended, delivering a right hook to his opponents jaw. I examine his body, while his opponent looks bruised and bloody, Marshall looks almost unharmed. He just looks sweaty. I look up from the folder and see that Marshall's still looking at the floor. I flip one more page and there's a headline that reads "Mathers vs. Cox". Sure enough, below is a photo of the two of them in the ring bumping gloves before the fight.

"You're a boxer." I say under my breath to Marshall.

"One of the best actually." Rule interjects. "He's never lost."

"Is that true?" I look at him.

Marshall nods, still looking down. Rule drags his chair over and sits beside me. He puts on a pair of eye glasses and points to the news article about their fight.

"Your boyfriend put me on my ass in the first 45 seconds of the fight." He explains. "He's a brilliant fighter. That's when I knew I had to sign him to my gym."

"I hope you don't mind me asking this, but is this the illegal fights that are on TV?" I look into Rule's eyes.

"No love they're not."