Felix

Chapter 3 - Part 1

Felix

They finally broke from the spontaneous photo shoot. Hector had happened to come around to ask Abel something, and having all three there in one place had almost caused a frenzy with the fans asking them to pose together. Nellie had already told the crowd they'd be taking a ten-minute break and be back, but she'd disappeared during the frenzy of cameras flashing.

"The kids from the high school paper are asking if they can do a quick interview," Hector said, leaning into Felix.

"Right now?" Felix asked.

Abel shook his head. "He can't now. Nellie's setting up a meeting with him and Ella."

"Ella?" Hector asked, confused. "For what?"

"Because I've never met her. She's the one who got the self-defense thing going, right?"

Hector's brows shot up. "You haven't met her yet?"

"Nope."

"Dude, she's been doing this for like almost two years now. Where've you been?"

Felix laughed. "I haven't been away that long, ass. It's just that every time I've come down she hasn't been here." He turned to Abel. "Nellie said something about her wanting to start a breast-cancer awareness thing. Like a run we'd do annually or something. I think that's cool. We should've had something like that going on a long time ago."

"We do all kinds of stuff outside the gym for it," Abel reminded him. "But I agree this would be directly associated with 5th Street and something that could get bigger every year. Could be a real good thing. And you know Nellie. She's already all over it."

Hector laughed. "Yeah, I heard her talking about a carnival with a mini concert and contacting some celebrities to do appearances. She's nuts!"

Abel gave him a look and Felix had to laugh. Hector then turned to Felix. "I'm surprised this chick hasn't made more of an effort to meet you yet. Two years. Damn."

"Ella doesn't seem that type," Abel said, frowning. "She's a real nice girl. It doesn't surprise me meeting Felix hasn't been high on her list of priorities."

Felix smirked, wanting nothing more than to piss off his already irritable-looking friend. He knew these kinds of events running too long made Abel grumpier than a toddler in need of a nap.

"So is she cute?"

As expected, Abel's face soured immediately. "Don't start with that shit. This is business and—"

"I'm just asking a question." Felix laughed, holding his hands up in front of him. "Geez! Kill me!"

"I will if you come in here messing with the trainers and staff."

One glance at Hector and Felix had his answer. He was shaking his head.

"Not a looker, huh?"

Abel turned to Hector with that ever-present scowl. "She's not ugly."

"I didn't say she was ugly," Hector said. "But she's way too humble-looking for this guy's taste."

"What are you talking about?" Felix laughed. "I grew up in East L.A."

"Let me put to you this way," Hector explained. "She's no Athena or runway model like you're used to now. She's not ugly but just . . . kind of . . ."—Hector glanced around—"on the plain side. She's a typical Hispanic girl, no different from anything you see around here on any given day."

Felix glanced around, remembering he'd seen a face or two just tonight he might consider his type.

"Well, none of that matters anyway, all right?" Abel's tone warned. "She's a hard worker, and Nellie said she has a lot of passion. She's exactly the kind of person we want involved with the gym. Don't go fucking things up by messing with her."