Page 47 of Boxer Next Door

21

Kenji

I was at the studio, and it was getting late in the afternoon. I’d been staying over until the place closed because I had nothing better to do. I wanted to keep my mind off the thing with Lydia because it was stressing me out.

Would she choose me? Or the man she’d known far longer and had a child with?

There was no way to know. I thought my chances were good, but I couldn’t disagree if she didn’t pick me, either. I remembered how nice it was to have both my parents around, even in spite of the shit that kept coming between us. None of it meant I loved my parents any less.

How could I deny Bryson, a child with a so far unusual childhood, having both his parents around for him? I couldn’t imagine my parents separating.

I didn’t like Mike, but he’d done what he thought was best for his family. How he did it was infuriating, but my parents were no different, were they? Except for the few times they left to go exploring with no explanation.

“Boss?”

I looked up at the instructor I’d hired to help me out with the studio. He was standing just off to the side from where I’d been lost in thought, eyebrows arched in curiosity.

Shit. How long had I been frozen for? I was in the middle of the floor, surrounded by people either working out on the gym equipment or with gloves on, hitting the sandbags, or working in pairs.

“Do you need something?” I asked, scratching the back of my neck.

He still looked curious, but I knew he wasn’t going to say anything. He wasn’t the kind of guy to pry.

“I just wanted to let you know, that if it’s okay with you, I can lock up today? I’ll need to stay over later with a few clients for a class.”

I frowned. I didn’t remember booking anything like that. “Is the class yours or mine? I don’t remember it…”

He hesitated. “Technically, boss, it is supposed to be your class. But I thought I’d it take over, just this once. I’ve already talked to them about it, and they don’t mind.”

“If it’s my job, I’ll do it,” I said, frowning deeper. “Why don’t I remember setting the class up?”

He sighed. “No offense, boss, but you haven’t been yourself the past week.”

My eyes widened, though I wondered why I was even surprised. Even I knew I’d been way too distracted at work. He wasn’t an idiot who wouldn’t notice. He just wouldn’t ask me what the problem was.

“I can…” I started to say, only for my voice to trail off. I could… what?

My employee looked at me with sympathetic eyes. “Look, boss. I’m not going to ask you what’s wrong because that’s your business.” I laughed, internally, because I’d guessed that much right. He arched an eyebrow at me, probably wondering why I suddenly looked amused. “But anyway, I think you need to go home, and maybe spend the weekend thinking about this thing that has you so in a twist. It’s not my place to say, but…”

“But?” I prompted, curious now what he had to say.

“But it’s been going on for a while, and I don’t think that’s healthy. It’s gotten worse recently, and it’s probably time for you to put your foot down and take care of whatever it is.”

Ah. He was right. I’d been busy with work and ignoring Lydia before. He’d caught that. Then, he’d caught when it got worse when it wasn’t just me worrying about her possibly being a murderer, but worrying about her letting me go and going to another man. I could have acted all hurt, pretended like the situation was a lot like what happened with Ella. But the truth was, this was so different.

Lydia wasn’t just going to leave me for any other man. It was her ex-husband, the man that left her with their son to look for greener pastures. I couldn’t blame her if she wanted to end up with him.

But… did that mean I had to do nothing at all?

Shit. There goes a wasted week.

“You know what?” I told my employee, my face lighting up with my sudden epiphany. “You’re right. I think I’m going to be taking off early today. Can you hold the fort while I’m out?”

He grinned at me and gave me a mock salute. “Yes, sir.”

I threw him an answering grin, then went to my office, where I picked up my jacket, my keys, and locked up as I left in a hurry. I waved at a few people that called out to me on my way out and practically jumped into my truck.

“I’m a fucking idiot,” I growled to myself, as I drove at the highest speed I could, heading for home.