Blue // Daniel Seavey

Chapter 20

Tori

Tying my brown hair into a loose high ponytail, I take a look at myself in the mirror, in an attempt to empower myself. I'm ready, I say. I'm ready to kick some ass. Daniel's ass to be specific. I grab the black zip up hoodie from my bed and quickly throw it on to hide my sports bra; I love modesty.

I arrive at the location Daniel texted me. It looks like... a private gym or something. Cautiously entering, I step through to find the whole place is empty. There's a fighting ring in the centre of the room, many different types of equipment on the walls, punching bags hanging from the ceiling. It looks good.

It's then that I suddenly spot a figure in the corner of the room, an unmistakable figure, forcefully hitting a punching bag in the corner of the room. Slowly approaching him, I watch him intently, studying every little fine, sharp move - that boy knows what he's doing. As I come closer, I see his hair is drenched in sweat, his cheeks are slightly flushed, his black vest is sticking to his body. And it's only then that I realise how large and toned his biceps are.

Suddenly, he stops, his head slowly turning to face me, then his body following after. He takes small strides as he approaches me, before stopping about a metre away from me, his eyes looking directly into mine.

"You're seven minutes late." he bluntly states.

"I've been watching you for the past four so practically, I'm only three minutes late."

"You've been watching me?" he asks as an eyebrows raises.

I reluctantly nod, expecting him to say some arrogant comment along the lines of 'I'm just that good looking'.

"Good." He praises. "Observing is a good way to learn."

"Thank you...?"

"You don't need to thank me whenever I praise you." he says as he grabs a nearby towel, dabbing the sweat off his neck. "Hopefully, I will be giving you praise frequently so at least now you know you don't need to thank me each time for it. But if otherwise, if you don't commonly receive praise, but criticism instead, then I'll push you hard until that's the case. Got it?"

Wow. I've never seen him this serious before.

I nod.

"I need clear answers when I ask you a question. You need to get used to this. Got it?"

"Yes." I answer sternly. "Mr Seavey," I then mutter under my breath with an eye roll as he turns away.

"Tori." He says sharply, startling me because I didn't think he'd have heard me. "Do you take this seriously? Are you here to learn or to fuck about? Because I didn't take you for one of the ones who like to fuck about."

"I'm here to learn." I reply more professionally this time.

"Good." He nods. "We're getting straight into it so prepare yourself. Would you say you're physically fit? Do you have good endurance?"

Yes, definitely. I spend all my physical exercise on the couch, being a complete potato.

"No. I have to admit, I get tired easily--"

"Okay, I've heard enough. That's going to have to change because if you're constantly needing to take a breather, we're going to waste a lot of time."

"Don't we have as much time as we need? I'm in no rush--"

"Tori, it's taken me about ten years to learn everything I know. And I'm trying to fit that into a few months for you. So does it sound reasonable that we don't waste time?"