The punching bag seems to be taunting me, pulling my anger from me as I hit it as hard as I can. The muscles in my bicep ache and legs burn. The World Championship is almost here and I still don't feel ready as much as everyone tells me I am.
"Harry."
"Not now Rick." I breathe, punching the bag quickly.
"Harry, it's Faye."
I stop to look at him, a look of worry litters his face. His frown is deep and I feel my chest ache.
"What happened?"
~••~
It's been three days since I last seen her.
When I found out about her mother, I didn't know what to do. I called but I knew she wouldn't answer. I went to her place and knocked on her door, still knowing she wouldn't come to it. The second day, I went to the gym only to have her on my mind the whole day. I called but still no answer. I even went to the agency and spoke to her boss. He told me she wasn't working and that I should give her time. The third day, today, she remains in my thoughts. I sat in the lobby of her apartment building for two hours, the front desk clerk eyeing me. I was going to say something but decided it was best to just ignore it before I entered the elevator and up to her floor.
I knock twice, calling her name. After five minutes, I back up against the wall before the door and sit until it begins to get dark out. I'm slowly drifting to sleep but I try my best to stay awake just in case she decides to answer. Rick has called multiple times, telling me she needs her space. But she's all alone. I can't imagine what she's feeling but I know for sure she'll need someone at some point and I want to be here when she does. She's lost both of her parents and she admired them so much. It hurts to know that she's at her worst right now.
She really could've left me out in this hallway that night I came here drunk but she didn't. She cares. I really don't know what it is about her that makes me feel the way I do and I believe what makes it even more intriguing is the fact that I'm not supposed to have these feelings for her.
My eyes fly open when I hear a sliding sound on the other side of her door. She's here. She's alive.
I scoot and press my ear against the door but hear nothing, although I know she's there.
"Faye." I finally speak. "I'm sorry." I pause, she's probably heard it so many times. But I feel I still need to say it to reassure her. "I'm so sorry."
She remains quiet but I know she's there. I almost jump when I hear the click of the door and look up to see it open slowly, revealing a broken Faye. Her cheeks are puffy and stained with tears, her eyes red. The first thing I think is how strange it is to think that this is Faye. The Faye I'm used to is always smiling and laughing. This Faye is completely torn apart, bruised and broken.
There aren't any words to speak so I just scoot myself inside her apartment and grab her, holding her as she cries against my chest. My eyes burn from the urge to cry but I hold the rare tears back. I need to stay strong for her, so that she can have something to fall on.
~••~
I feel the warmth of the sun on my face as I slowly pull away from my slumber. The sun is beginning to peek through the buildings of the city. I momentarily forget where I am before I remember coming to see Faye. I turn my head, my eyes landing on her brown ones. She looks as if she were awake for awhile.
"I'm sorry I fell asleep." I speak quietly. She doesn't say anything and her eyes aren't on me anymore. "How are you feeling?" I ask stupidly.
She shrugs.
"Have you eaten anything? I can grab breakfast for you." I remove myself from her bed as she sits up. I stop, as if I'm waiting for her to do something else. I watch as she stands from the bed and heads towards the bathroom.
"I'm not hungry." She says quietly before shutting the bathroom door.
I find myself waiting, looking around the room. There isn't much to look at; it's as if she's too clean, like she doesn't live here at all. Few pictures litter her nightstands. There's one of an older man with his arm wrapped around her shoulder, her father, and they're both smiling.
The bathroom door swings open before she exits, sitting on the bed again. She stares at her hands, her fingers picking at the skin around her nails. I really do hate seeing her like this. I approach her and kneel down, looking at her face.
"You can talk to me, Faye." I say softly. A frown begins to form and I feel that urge to wipe it away. She continues to pick at her fingers. I place my hand over hers and she stops. "It's not going to help keeping your feelings bottled up."
"I don't want to talk." She whispers as if she's lost her voice.
"Then what do you want?"
She picks her head up but to look at the wall behind me. Her eyes are glossed over with fresh tears and she gulps, trying to keep herself from shedding them. "I want everything to go back to the way it was." She says. "I want to be happy again." Her voice breaks and I gulp, the burn in my eyes returning.
"I know." I whisper. "And I'm sorry that this has happened but I promise you, one day you'll be happy. Because that's what she'd want."
She looks to me again, a tear falling down her cheek. I catch it, wiping it away. "I promise, Faye." I say and she begins to nod.
~••~
I've had five missed calls from Rick and a few from Mum. I message them to let them know I'm okay and that I'm with Faye as I carry the bag of bagels and coffee into the elevator.
It dings, the doors sliding open before I exit and walk towards Faye's apartment. I place the bag between my teeth as I open the door. Faye's head pops up, her cell to her ear as I shut the door behind me. She looks as if she's just left the shower, her hair wet and a fresh pair of jeans and a t-shirt lay on her body.
"Yeah I'm okay." She says into the phone. "I have to go, we'll talk soon." She says before she hangs up. I set the bag down onto the counter as she approaches.
"I brought a few bagels." I sigh. "I didn't know which you'd like so I just got the ones that looked good." I shrug, handing her her coffee.
"I said I wasn't hungry." She mumbles, taking a seat on a stool.
"You have to eat." I tell her, pulling a cinnamon sugar bagel from the bag and looking around the kitchen for a toaster. I find it and cut the bagel in half, pushing it into the toaster. "So would you like cinnamon, blueberry, plain, everything...?"
She eyes me and takes a deep breath. "Blueberry." She says and I smirk at her, taking the bagel from the bag and splitting it before popping it into the toaster beside mine.
Minutes later, they come up and I apply the cream cheese, sliding hers over to her as I take the stool beside her. I take a bite of mine as I watch her eye the blueberry bagel before her.
"Thank you." She speaks, turning to look at me. "For everything."
I smile at her. "Of course."
~••~
After trying to convince her to go outside, I give up and let her remain on the sofa to watch another rerun of Friends. I take a couple calls from Timothy and he tells me of another event coming up for a charity fight. After the call ends, I join Faye to watch the show. I never really watched much of these types of shows. Whenever I watched tv, it was always boxing I would change the channel to.
"I think I'm going to move into the house." Faye speaks after a few minutes. I look to her, her eyes still on the screen.
"Yeah?" I ask and she nods.
"I don't want to sell it." She says.
"I think that's a great idea." I tell her and she looks to me, a small smile making its way in. I smile back before she looks back to the tv.
~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~
