“Here they come,” Grace cheered.
“Ladies and gentlemen …” the announcer began over the loudspeaker, introducing the first fighter. His name was something Ramirez or whatever; I barely paid attention. He wasn’t who I came to see. When the second fighter was introduced, I sat up straighter in my chair.
I watched as Luke McConnell strolled out of the dark entranceway into the light that shone on the walkway down to the cage. His face was set in stone, as it always was, and he didn’t look around or wave like his opponent had. His entrance wasn’t extravagant but the audience cheered nonetheless.
“I don’t know why they’re cheering. I hear he’s washed up.”
I turned and gave the kid behind me who’d said that a hard glare before turning back around.
I pushed out any outside noise as the commentators again introduced the fighters by their stats. Next, the bell went off and the two fighters went at it.
“Oh!” Grace cheered when Luke landed a punch to his opponent’s ribs, almost sending him to his knees.
I remained silent as I took in the skill of each fighter. Luke had a lightness about the way he fought. It brought back memories and I lowered my gaze briefly. Only when I heard Grace beside me, did I lift my head again, seeing Luke against the cage, after having received a brutal punch to his left cheek. I grew pissed at the way the announcers kept replaying the hit over and over again, as the referee got in between the fighters, saying something that only they could hear.
The fight commenced, and I found myself feeling proud when Luke delivered a knee strike that sent Ramirez down. Luke landed on top of him and wailed on him, eventually getting him into an arm lock position that if pushed too far could’ve easily snapped Ramirez’s arm. That should’ve been the end of the fight. There shouldn’t have been a reason the fight kept going. But for some reason, Luke raised his head, looking around the audience.
His eyes scanned the front rows and that’s when they landed directly on me. He squinted as if trying to discern whether or not he was seeing a ghost. I felt it the moment he realized it wasn’t a ghost. His eyebrows shot up and the fight that should’ve been taking all of his attention was pushed to the background of thought. Unfortunately, his grip on Ramirez must’ve slackened considerably because a second later, Luke found himself flat on his back, as Ramirez worked, trying to put him into a chokehold with his legs.
“Oh no!” Grace screamed next to me, bringing me out of my trance. “What happened? He was about to win!”
“Five … four …. Three …”
Just as the audience began to count down along with the referee, Luke broke Ramirez’ hold, preventing his loss. But he never fully recovered the vigor he began the fight with. In the end, the fight went in Luke’s favor but it wasn’t one of his better matches. And he knew it.
A pissed off Luke snatched his arm from the ref’s hold as soon as he was declared the winner and stormed out of the cage, down the same walkway he entered on.
“Why is he so upset? He won, right?” Confused, Grace looked to me.
“He did but it wasn’t one of his better fights,” I tried to explain.
“Maybe he’s a perfectionist, like someone else I know.” Laughing, she nudged me with her elbow.
You have no idea.
“Well, I hope that doesn’t spill over into the surprise I have for you.”
I glanced behind me, her hand in mine as I led us out of the row toward the staircase. “How would it impact your surprise?”
She shook her head, and I sighed because she still wasn’t divulging her secret. I truly did not like surprises but the excitement on her face kept me from demanding she tell me.
“No, we’re not leaving yet,” she finally said when I started heading for the main exit.
I turned.
“We’re going this way. I got us VIP tickets to meet Luke McConnell backstage.” Her smile was brighter than the lights of the arena. I don’t think she even registered the dismay on my face as she grabbed my hand and led me toward the side door marked “VIP Access ONLY.”
“Hi,” she greeted the huge security guard who stood outside of the door.
Only his dark eyes moved as he looked down at us.
She handed him our tickets and he let us pass.
“Are you excited? You get to meet your favorite boxer.”
“He’s not a boxer.”
“Fighter, whatever. You know what I mean.”
