London born Gigi Lastra is struggling to make ends meet let alone make it big in the music business and make a name for herself. Working two jobs to keep her life afloat and provide for her family she's haunted by her past. That's until she meets t...
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"Jab... Jab... left hook..." Oliver shouts at me waving the red pads around.
Sweat is dripping off my exhausted body as I ram my fists into the pads over and over again. My breathing is quick and deep, gasping for gulps of air.
"Good job Gigi, you good for the ring?" Oliver asks, I nod in response still trying to catch my breath.
After last night I couldn't sleep, I spent the whole night wandering around my kitchen and writing pointless lyrics. Hassa records still wanted me, now I'm more conflicted than ever. I spent most of the night weighing out all the pros and cons and reading though the contracts over and over again. But that wasn't the only reason I was so restless, to be honest, I actually felt bad about what I said to Colton last night, sure he might have been an arsehole but I was really harsh to him, some of the stuff I said was really uncalled for. I just couldn't take being walked over again, every man that's ever been in my life has walked over me and treated me like I'm worthless. I didn't want to be that to Will nor Colton, I don't want to be seen as weak.
That's actually how I found Oliver. Oliver knew my ex as he used to box here too, once he found out about the... nature... of our...relationship he offered to train me and help me and ever since then I've been coming here most mornings or evenings to train.
Oliver owns this gym, he called it Olis, he's had it for a while and started it up mainly for the kids who lived in hackney on the estates, he was trying to lessen the crime and violence that goes down on the streets and help children in a similar position to mine, he wanted to give them a place to feel safe away from all the drugs and rough and make friends outside of the estates. It's a medium-sized, slightly run-down old storage warehouse that's been turned into a gym with state-of-the-art punching bags, hundreds of pairs of pads, dozens of skipping ropes and the communal ring right in the centre. The cinderblock walls are painted in shades of blue, grey and red with black boxer silhouettes on top of the colour. Bright lights hang from the ceiling which makes me feel more sleep-deprived than I should be in the mornings.
It is pretty early in the morning today so there's barely any other boxers around, maybe two at the back of the gym sparing with each other and another one skipping in the corner, but I have to come early so I can get to work on time.
I love boxing and fighting it really helps me clear my mind and it's been helpful in the past knowing how to throw a punch or two, especially when I work late. Oliver's great too, he knows when things are troubling me or when I've got something on my mind, he says my left hook becomes weaker when I'm upset or stressed like it did this morning. I told him about the situation with Hassa Records but conveniently left out the parts about Colton as I'm not sure how he'd react... he's like Bleu, a very overprotective brother, Oliver also told me I was stupid for not accepting the deal, in fact, he actually gave me extra sit-ups because he was annoyed I hadn't taken it yet.
I grab a quick drink of water from my bottle and pull my body through the ropes into the padded ring. Oliver and I take our starting positions but just as he's about to call the match the front door swings open. A man with his hood up walks into the gym with an air of confidence radiating off him and starts looking around the walls sceptically.
