Song: Hound Dog (Elvis Presley)
RORY'S POV
"Ray's Gym?"
"Ya Raymond didn't really have any other ideas."
"Hey, that's fine. It's homey, humble."
We were currently standing outside the only martial arts gym in Forks with hopes of getting me a job or membership at least and I had to say the place actually wasn't in terrible condition. For the budget they were on they had, all the necessity. Unfortunately, that usually wasn't enough to keep business booming.
Walking In, I noticed that the space was pretty big. The building itself was actually a stand-alone warehouse-type building that had been refitted to work as a gym. The cement floors had been replaced with the usual rubber flooring where needed. And the walls had an additional installation layer as well as a paint job to clean up the look. There was a half decent ring and a few punching bags as well as some weights and the other basics but there wasn't anything besides that
"Ah Charlie, how you been." I looked over to see My uncle shaking the hand of some other guy. He was an older-looking Jamaican man and had to be at least 6,3 ft, with big arms and a bit of a belly but otherwise, he looked like a well-built man. His hat had the gym's logo on it as it sat comfortably covering most of his head. His well-groomed beard framed his face nicely and there was this undeniable glimmer of kindness in his eyes. He really seemed like a nice man but there was something familiar about him.
"And this must be the one and only Rory Rebel." I was snapped out of my thoughts when I saw his hand extended to me. as I shook it my eyes trailed up to his own and that's when I remembered.
"Raymond Smith," I mumbled in slight surprise.
"Smart girl knows the Retired generation." He laughed as I chuckled with him.
"Well, That and my dad never shut up about how he was close friends with you, a kick boxing legend. He even had a framed photo of you two together." I responded getting a grin from the older man.
"Well, I'm happy to know the old man remembered me till the end." He said before giving me his condolences which I accepted before following him to his office.
***
"So Charlie has explained your situation and I've seen all your fights. I definitely agree with his suggestion to keep at it but this gym is far from the top in anything really." Raymond admitted as he looked between the two of us in his office.
"Believe it or not, but despite my upbringing, I'm thankful for anything I can get my hands on and I'm not even really in this for the money. That being said if I work here I can advertise for the gym with students at my school. It's a chain reaction really. On top of that, I have an adorable niece who can't help but brag about her Aunt being pro-MMA. So we spread the news, get a few flyers out there and maybe start off with a class. I could start teaching here since martial arts classes don't require any special equipment besides what you already have." I suggested.
Raymond looked at me quizzically before connecting the dots. "With a decent class we have more revenue and from there I can upgrade the equipment. that way more people come for things besides classes. It's genius but only and If your willing to teach. That way we have a name to advertise the class with." He looked at me for approval
"I came here for a job, so the real question is am I hired?"
We looked at each other for a few tense seconds before a grin broke the tension and he raised his hand for me to shake. "Welcome to the team, Coach Rebel."
***
Over the next few days, flyers popped up all over town, info sheets were sent home with people from school, and I was moving from person to person spreading the word. It was actually pretty fun to advertise for the place but that was only really done during school hours. After schools let out I would pick up Maxi and come back to the gym where we began hanging up posters. Autographed photos the two of us had in our collections, and other things just for some redecoration. We also moved around some of the equipement for better movement and I prepared The class set up.
Eventually a week had passed and it was finally time for our first class.
I was thankful to see people actually show up before the class began because I didn't really want to deal with the embarrassment of an empty class. But as me and Ray shared a glance, we knew this was a good sign.
"Um excuse me?" I looked up to see a relatively tall guy staring down at me. He had darker skin than most in Forks so I had to assume he was from the Reserve. His short hair left a lot of his handsome face visible and to top it all off, this guy was ripped.
"Bro. you do realize this is a beginners class right?" I joked as he let out a snort.
"To be fair whos gonna pass up a chance to participate in a class taught by their favorite MMA fighter."
oh this guy was good. He knew how to hit a sweet spot just right.
"Touche." I squinted my eyes at him before chuckling in defeat. "What can I do for you?"
"Well i was actually wondering how many classes you plan to do, I'm sort of a representative for a group of people who might wanna do this class and Emily told me you were the one to ask about what you'll be going over and safety and stuff."
"Oh, you know Emily?" I asked with excitement. I hadn't seen her in a while but i'd been meaning to.
"Ya, I'm Jared." The man I now knew as Jared shot me a bright smile which I returned in full.
"Well than Jared I'm Rory but today I'm coach Rebel so ask away."
"Ok, well honestly my only question is if this class will be training in a specific martial art or not?" Jared explained looking back down at my smaller frame.
"Alright well, for now it's just basic moves used in any martial art but we'll probably Switch more into MMA once we start seeing progress or once we start getting some more staff. Anyway, I'd love to answer any other questions but class is about to start so how about you listen in and If you have any questions by the end of the class we can talk, would that be ok?" I asked as I saw Ray start talking to the people attending.
"of course, thanks coach." With that he jogged back to the group leaving me to my own devices. I hopped onto the ring in front of the group of about 20 people and began the class.
"Alright everybody! My name Is Rory Rebel for those of you that don't know, I am a pro MMA fighter currently on a temporary leave and today marks the first eve Mixed Martial Arts Class of Rays Gym!"
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GIRLS BREATHE FIRE - Paul Lahote
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