Deserve [H.S.]

Chapter 38

SECRETS

"Holy shit. He really fucking agreed?" Ray asked, hardly believing the words that Noah had just told him over the phone.

Though Noah had about a three-hour car journey back home from seeing Harry, she decided to simply stew in her thoughts the entire drive instead of calling Ray to tell him the news. She wanted to wait until she got back to her apartment to give him a call.

During her drive, she had mixed emotions. She was so happy that Harry had agreed to be a part of the plan, therefore meaning they were one step closer to freeing him from the shackles of Anthony and the world of boxing. To Noah, Harry's future was beginning to look brighter already. On the other hand, however, she felt a little hollow at the fact that Harry didn't want them to be together. She knew that he basically said it was only temporary, but she still felt like shit.

The tearful, love-filled reunion Noah had imagined was just that: an imagination. In fact, she suddenly noticed that they never even said they loved each other during her entire visit.

Although four months was a decent amount of time, Noah knew that she still loved Harry. How could she not? She never got closure because they ended on such an uncertain note, so how could she not still be in love with him? The question was whether he was still in love with her.

Nevertheless, Noah tried to push that to the back of her mind because that was not the most important thing at that moment. The most important thing was following through with the plan, which was why she was talking to Ray now that she was home.

"Yeah, he did. I'm just as shocked as you, to be honest," Noah replied, opening up her fridge to find something to drink.

"I'm surprised he hasn't called to yell expletives at me yet. What did you have to do to get him to agree?" Ray wondered, knowing just how stubborn Harry was.

"Nothing, really. Just talked to him and gave him a big speech as usual."

Ray hummed in contemplation and said, "damn. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised, though. That man has missed you way too much, I'm not surprised that he'll do anything to be back with you."

Noah wanted to laugh and say yeah right but she didn't want to get into it at that moment, so she just decided to move the conversation along.

"So, what's our first step, then?"

"Good question. I'll talk to my guy and see what information he's gotten recently then let you know."

There was one guy who worked at the ring that Ray trusted wholeheartedly, knowing that he wanted to leave the corrupt, toxic environment as well. That guy was closer to Anthony than Ray, having more access to the higher-up things that Anthony engaged in.

It hadn't escaped Ray and Noah's minds that the action of taking Anthony and the entire ring down would result in a lot of people losing their jobs and possibly being caught in the crossfire, but they also firmly believed that they all deserved better. This would be a fresh start for them: a chance to start anew.

"Okay, sounds good. Thanks again, Ray. I really appreciate your help with all of this," Noah said, leaning back against her kitchen counter as she took a sip of her drink.

"Of course, tiny. Harry means a lot to me and it's about time Anthony's actions catch up to him. Plus, I could really use a new career, anyway. The wife would be happy about that, too."

The pair soon ended the call, with them both saying their goodbyes and promising to speak again soon when Ray got more information.

After they hung up, Noah stood in her kitchen and once again felt all of her different thoughts crawling towards the front of her brain, fighting to get to the very first spot in order to be the most prominent thing on her mind.