Gabriella got home and set her things down. She made her way next door to Ms. Rivera's home and knocked on the door. Ms. Rivera opened the door and looked concerned once she saw the cut on Gabriella's lip. "Where's Mateo?" She asked. Ms. Rivera continued to stare at her lip, "He's just in the living room...are you alright?" She asked. Gabriella touched her lip when she realized what Ms. Rivera was staring at.
"Oh, it's just a little cut. Nothing crazy." Gabriella brushed off. "These fights are too dangerous for you, Gabby." Ms. Rivera frowned. Gabriella stayed silent and looked off. "You have a 7-year-old son to think about." She said. "Yeah, a 7-year-old son I do this to provide for. As far as I see it, I'm still alive and well. Small bruises and cuts don't phase me." Gabriella argued.
"But what happens when it's not just bruises and cuts?" Ms. Rivera asked. Gabriella stayed silent. "What happens to him then? He needs you, Gabby. You know his dad barely ever takes care of him." Ms. Rivera said. "Mommy!" Mateo shouted and hugged her legs. She picked him up in her arms and hugged him. She was sore and in slight pain but she didn't want to let it show.
"Hi baby." She softly spoke and rocked him in her arms. He pulled back and stared at her face. He gently put his small hands on her cheeks and frowned when he noticed the cut, "What happened mommy? Does it hurt?" He asked. Ms. Rivera stood silent and stared at her. Gabriella softly smiled and shook her head. "Not at all baby. It's just a little scratch." She replied.
"Did they hurt you bad?" He asked. "You should see the other girl." She slightly smirked. "So you won?" He asked. "Of course I did." She replied. He smiled and hugged her. Ms. Rivera stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and look of disappointment in her eyes. "Thanks for watching him." Gabriella politely replied and walked back toward her home with her son in her arms.
None of the criticism was new to her. She's heard it all before. That she needs to be a 'proper' mother. That she should be more 'womanly' and stay home. That she should find a good man and settle down because her son 'needs a good male role model' in his life. She did more than any mother or man combined and it still wasn't enough for people. So every bit of frustration and anger she had against the world, she put in the ring.
She locked the door behind her and set Mateo down. "Go upstairs and get ready for bed. I'll be up in a minute." She said. He nodded and rushed upstairs. She waited until he was fully upstairs to walk off toward the kitchen. Her shoulders hurt and body was sore. She grabbed an ice pack from the fridge and iced her shoulder.
She leaned against the island counter and silently sobbed. She was so overwhelmed by the stress that she didn't know what else to do. Her son's father was a piece of crap who prioritized his own needs over his son. The fight to keep her title and earn money with every fight just to keep a roof over their heads was so much pressure. But keeping her son somewhat of a secret was another. She kept his presence low just to keep him away from the media and any other threats to his safety.
The less anyone knew about him the better. People were low enough to use her son as a weak point. They were also shitty enough to give her hell about 'not being a good enough mother' for doing work like this but they never shit on men as much for doing the same.
She made her way upstairs after getting a good cry out and easing her soreness. She checked on Mateo and saw him curled up under his sheets waiting for her. She entered the room and tucked him in properly. "Get rest." She softly spoke and kissed his head. He nodded and shut his eyes. She turned on his small night light and left the room.
--
Gabriella got ready for bed and eased into the comfort of her bed. All that she could think about was the meeting she had with Taylor and her team. All that replayed back were all the things her team members said about Taylor's previous fights. She sounded like a rough fighter.
She only grew more curious and grabbed her phone from the nightstand and googled her name. She looked up her records and saw she held the top position in their division. She was undefeated. She scoured Taylor's socials and looked at her all her photos and training videos. She looked very disciplined and well trained.
Gabriella found herself slightly obsessing over her. Intrigued but also intimidated. She came across a thread of Taylor's training photos and couldn't help but admire them. She was partly envious but partly fascinated. She admired her toned arms and figure in every passing photo until she couldn't stand to look at her photos any longer. She tossed her phone off to the side, covered her face with a pillow and groaned in frustration.
--
Gabriella barely got rest last night. She managed to find a sitter to watch Mateo this time and was on her way downtown for her meeting. She was nervous. She felt insane that she had gone on such a deep dive just to learn more about Taylor than she needed to. Now she was going to come face to face with her for the first time.
The top champion in her UFC division. One of the toughest women, who wanted nothing more than to beat her to a pulp like the rest of her competition. She parked and made her way into the lobby where Marcos and Danny were waiting for her. "It's about time you showed." Danny said. She checked her watch, "What are you talking about? I'm on time." She replied. "You should've been here early. This meeting is a big deal." Danny scolded and led them down a hall.
Marcos but a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't listen to him. You're fine. You don't wait for them, they wait for you." He said in reassurance. She softly laughed and followed him off into a meeting room. She grew nervous as soon as she saw the blonde woman from before. The one she had only clearly seen on a small screen.
They all shook hands and she came face to face with Taylor. Taylor gave her a small smirk and shook her hand. "Nice to finally meet you." She said. "Same to you." Gabriella nodded and sat down. "Thank you for coming today. It's great to have you all here and we can't wait to finally talk about this." Taylor's manager, Ian said.
"So what exactly are we here for?" Danny asked. "We have a proposition for a fight between your client and mine. We already know they're two of the biggest fighters in their division." Ian said. "Not only the biggest fighters but one of the best and undefeated." He added. "We're listening." Danny nodded.
Gabriella tried to stay focused on Ian but couldn't help but feel Taylor's strong intimidating stare locked on her. She glanced at her for a moment and back at Ian. "Now putting these two together in a fight would bring a lot of attention and money. So we want to offer you 4 million dollars for this fight." Ian said. "4 million?" Danny asked surprised.
"I keep hearing people talk about this Gabriella Marquez everywhere that her name just never leaves my space." Taylor said. Gabriella looked over at her. Taylor's blue eyes locked onto Gabriella and a small smirk grew on her lips, "They say you're better than me. So I'd like to find out."
Gabriella was intimidated but she wasn't going to let it show. As much as she wanted to look away she stayed firm and stared Taylor down. "They say you kill girls in the octagon." Gabriella replied. Taylor softly laughed, "I don't know about killing anyone. I'm not a murderer." She replied. "No, but you're capable of killing a fighter's career after one moment in the octagon with you. You don't show mercy to your opponents." Gabriella said.
"So you've researched me?" Taylor questioned. "I study what I need to about my opponents." Gabriella shrugged. "So you stalk me and don't invite me to dinner first?" Taylor teasingly asked. Gabriella rolled her eyes unamused. "Why would I ever do that?" She asked. "It's like the saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Taylor replied.
"We aren't friends, nor do I know you well enough to make you an enemy." Gabriella said. Taylor was slightly taken aback but intrigued. "So what do you say?" Ian asked. "4 million is a lot." Danny said. "No." Gabriella responded. Everyone in the room looked at her shocked. "What?!" Danny asked. She thought about what Ms. Rivera said and she thought of Mateo's face and his concern at seeing her with a cut on her lip. She couldn't take a risk with a fighter that dangerous.
"No?" Taylor questioned. Gabriella stared at her, "I said what I said." She replied. "Why don't you take some time and think about this Gabby." Danny said. "I don't need to think about it, the answer is no. You're nothing about anything but the cut of money you'll get from all of this, no." She glared and stood up. "I'm sorry, but the answer is no." Gabriella said to Taylor and her team and left the room.
Taylor watched her walk away while Ian and Danny argued. "You said she would be on board for this." Ian glared. "She never denies a fight." Danny replied. "Well she just did." Ian said. "I'll try to get through to her. Maybe she'll reconsider. I still think this is a good idea." Danny said. "Figure something out. Get out." Ian glared.