The paparazzi crowd me as I leave the car in front of the gym. It's all rushing back to me, the fame I gained in the last few months. Rick and some of the guys in the gym help me inside, locking the door behind us.
"Maybe you should start training privately." Rick suggests as we head towards the workout equipment.
"How are you feeling?" Julio asks.
"Better." I nod. "I just want to get back to work for the next big thing."
"Speaking of," Rick says from behind the front counter. "Have you ever heard of the 'Round The World Fight?"
"No, what is it?"
"It's a fighting event. There's a challenge in different countries and cities around the world. It's one of the most fought at events in the entire world." Julio explains.
"When is it?"
"You want to do it?" Rick asks, approaching us again.
I shrug. I know it isn't the best idea right now but I can't just pass it up. After the championship, I felt like I was losing myself as a fighter, like I wasn't who I wanted to be. I want to be that man in the ring, winning every fight and conquering. This event is my next big thing.
"What do you think Faye will say?" Rick asks next, quieter this time. I look to him, the thought of telling this to Faye and seeing the expression of hurt and worry. "I don't think you should go, Harry. Especially everything that's been going on-"
"I'm considering it for that reason," I tell him. "I think I need this."
"It is a great opportunity," Julio cuts in. "Your name will grow and be known all over the world."
"When?"
"In June," Rick says. "The first plane leaves in the middle of June."
"That's in a few weeks." I say mostly to myself.
"Don't jump into the decision, Harry," Rick placed his hand on my shoulder. "Take some time to think about and talk to Faye."
I nod as I try to listen to what my gut is telling me but I can't seem to concentrate on it.
"Let's start training again." Julio pats my back.
~••~
My thoughts hover over the fighting event all day. If there's one person I'd need advice from right now, it's David. I honestly don't know what he'd tell me. I have my new driver take me to the grand house of which my mother occupies now.
David's will has said to give everything to her and I. Mum couldn't sleep in the house for a few days without him there. She holds me longer than usual after I've entered the house, kissing my cheek multiple times, the way she used to when I was a boy.
"Would you like tea?" She asks and I nod as I take my seat at the counter island. It feels odd being here without the nurses and him.
"Have you thought about selling it?" I ask her. "The house?"
She shrugs, pouring the hot water into a glass. "When I first met your father, when he was just the man I fell in love with, we used to talk about living in houses like this." She smiles as she takes a seat beside me, reaching for sugar and milk. "We used to laugh as we spoke of the things we knew we would struggle to obtain. It was something way out of reach at the time."
