Page 18 of Boxer Next Door

It was total luck that I even found this town. The house was listed, and in the same area I found a large, free open space that would just be perfect to open up a boxing studio. Everything had been pretty much set after that.

A lot of my old friends thought it was a waste, but that was probably why they were my ‘old’ friends. They saw waste, while I saw nothing wrong with spending money to invest in the one thing that I enjoyed, something I’d learned to do well from a young age.

I got into boxing pretty young. At first, it was because of all the bullying I got in school. I never actually fought back, but I grew to love the sport. At one point, I’d thought I could make it to the big leagues, but it never happened. Still, I believed the progress I’d made was alright for me. I could have gone further if only I hadn't gotten a shoulder injury, and because of that, major competitions were out of the question for me.

That, and it was dangerous in a lot of ways. Who wanted to get punched in the face? I wasn’t good enough to stop it from happening all the time, and sooner or later, my brains would have been scrambled. Now, I could make something out of everything I’d learned growing up.

“Sir?”

I looked up at the call. It was the telephone people. One of them had stayed behind to talk to me, and I could see the other two walking out, one of them carrying their equipment. I stood up, brushing my hands on my thighs.

“Are you all done, now?”

He nodded. “Everything is done just as you wanted, but if you have any trouble, feel free to call back. We’ll fix whatever it is, free of charge.”

“Thank you,” I said, holding my hand out for a shake.

He smiled, accepting the handshake. With a last nod, he was turning around and walking away. I waited until they’d closed the door behind them, before going to inspect their work. It took me ten minutes before I was satisfied with everything.

“Damn, I better hurry up soon. My studio…”

I was growing excited, the more I thought about it. Pretty soon I would be open for business, and I couldn’t wait to start.

My plans for starting up a boxing studio were pretty simple. It wasn’t just for the income, though there was that. But I knew how much learning to box had helped me growing up, and if I could use it to help some kids outside of school, then I wanted to try. There might be adults that wanted to learn, that wanted the training and didn’t know where to get it. There was a gym in town, and they had most of the equipment I did, but boxing wasn’t their focus, or I would have been more cautious setting up shop so close to them. Whatever there was for me to do, I planned to do it.

Then I snorted to myself.

I have a different problem facing me right now, though. Lydia… I had to keep her in my mind. The sultry, sexy woman from before…

Crap.

Focus on your work, Kenji!

I cringed as I called myself my full name. If I had my way, no one around here would ever find out about it, and I wouldn’t have to hear anyone call me that, by accident or just to taunt me.

But Lydia most of all. Being around her was too dangerous. I wanted to curse when I remembered the rain on Sunday meant I hadn't fixed up her fence yet, and I still had to go over to finish it.

I rubbed a hand down my face. The more I was around Lydia, the more I thought about her, the more I wanted more, and that would be bad. Just thinking about it gave me the chills.

After Ella, I wanted to give women a wide berth for a while. When I decided I was over her, and I started looking for a partner again, I wanted to consider who it would be carefully. Just picking whoever looked good and caught my interest had gotten me into trouble before.

The worst part was that Ella and I had become serious before I discovered her true colors. It was good I didn’t have to go through an ugly divorce just to get away from her.

Lucky for me, she was never all that reliable.

I’d waited at the church with our friends and family, waiting for a bride that never showed up, for a wedding that didn’t take place, then or ever after. I didn’t find out until later that she’d gotten drunk the evening before and fallen asleep at a hotel with one of the groomsmen.

I grimaced, the thoughts coming back to me and giving me a bad taste in my mouth. She’d ruined relationships for me, and I wasn’t willing to forgive her for it so easily. Not that she tried too hard to get my forgiveness, anyway.

But I knew better, and I wasn’t going to let myself fall so easily again. I wasn’t ready for it. Not at all.

9

Kenji

There wasn’t that much left for me to do at the studio that day, but I decided to stay a bit longer. I tried, once again, to reach my parents, but they were still unreachable. So I decided to leave it for a couple of weeks first. They might even try to contact me themselves if they still remembered I existed.

I spent the rest of my time going around the place, re-inspecting the equipment, but doing more than just looking this time. I tried out just about everything that I’d bought, making sure it was all working. I did whatever I could find to do to pass the time and the workout helped me with some physical frustration, too. But only a little.