Chicago Nights

Chapter 5

The next morning was no walk in the park. My training began at exactly 5:30am, which to me, was rather early, considering my previous housing. Once I was up and refreshed, I went into the closet to find something suitable to wear for my first day of training. All that I seemed to find in my closet was either evening wear or a pair of black high-waist pants with a matching sleeveless shirt. I assumed that would become my training gear, so I slipped it on with the only pair of shoes that were not heeled, combat boots. Once I made sure that I looked somewhat presentable, I proceeded down to the dining hall where all the men from the mob were seated. I hesitated on entering, for I did not want to be harassed for my attire.

"Good morning Ms. Heavenly," I jumped at the sound of whoever's voice had addressed me. I turned around to see none other than Robert and James standing behind me,

"You scared me." I said as I ran my hand through my ponytail.

"My apologies ma'am. Are you alright? Breakfast is to be ending soon and you know that Mr. Jackson wants you at your strongest for training." I nodded my head, but yet I was too afraid to enter.

"I just don't want to go in there with all of the men in there." Robert peeked through the glass before facing me once more,

"Would it help if I asked all of them to leave?" I shook my head at his kind suggestion,

"As much of a relief as that would be, they are all eating and chatting happily. I don't want to ruin their morning." Robert nodded at my statement.

"Would you rather have James and I escort you in to make sure that no one bothers you?" I looked up at him and smiled widely.

"You two won't mind?" They each shook their heads before Robert began to speak,

"Not in the least!"

"Michael, won't get upset with you two, will he?" Robert nudged me slightly,

"Are you kidding? He was the one who asked us to be by your side, no matter what." I instantly felt calmer, knowing that they would be with me through it all. I inhaled deeply through my nose before opening the door to the cafeteria. Instantly, the room grew quite as I entered, other than the low whispers and cat calls that I was receiving, all of which made me regret wearing what I wore.

"All of you, as you were!" Robert yelled as I made a beeline for the buffet.

"Gosh, I hate this. I have always hated being the center of attention." I complained to Robert as I began to fix my breakfast plate.

"Well, when it comes to being the only female, there are some disadvantages." Robert said as they followed me to an empty table,

"I guess. I'm just not really used to all of this yet. I am so used to blending in with everyone that attention really became the least of my worries." I began to eat my meal quickly, for I only had five minutes to get to the training room. I had no idea as to who my trainer is, but I was not about to be late on my first day.

"You wanna slow down?" Robert said as he laughed at my eating habits.

"I just don't want to be late. I know that I'm the only girl, but I don't want to let that be a gateway for me to get away with things. I want to make a good first impression by proving myself as an equal member, not because of my gender." Robert nodded,

"That's understandable." I looked at the clock on the wall and I noticed that I only had two minutes left until I needed to be there. Luckily, I was already finished.

"Let's go!" I said as I bolted for the door, leaving Robert and James trailing behind me. If it weren't for those two, I am pretty sure that I would have gotten lost. By the time that I had reached the training room, it was two minutes past my training time and my heart began to sink.

"Sir, I am so sorry that I am la-" My voice stopped when I saw the one person that I had not expected to see,

"I told you that this was not over." Peter said as he made his way towards me, his t-shirt showing off the toned muscles on his body,

"I guess so. Did you know about this last night?" He shrugged his shoulders, a smug look plastered across his face,

"Perhaps." I rolled my eyes at his comment before he pulled me over to get me set up for my training,

"What's on the agenda for today?" I asked as he began to tear tape off of his roll before wrapping it around my knuckles,

"Well, since you're so curious, we are going to be spending most of today working on punching. You'll have an hour grace period between your first session and your second session. Of course, you'll have me for your first session, but you'll have our other trainer for your second session." Instantly, my heart fell after his words,

"So, I won't have you to myself all day?"

"Don't worry, you'll be seeing a lot more of me than you think." He said with a wink,

"Well, good. Now, let's get to it!" I said with enthusiasm.

...

"Come on, Heavenly, you can punch harder than that!" Peter shouted. I had been working with him for going on four hours and I was almost regretting it,

"You know, for rookies, you're rather hard core," I said in between punches,

"Well how else are you supposed to learn?" I took one last good punch at the bag before stopping to take a deep breath, "Let's take a break." Peter walked me over to get a few sips of water before I took my gloves off. Underneath the leather gloves and the tape, I could see little blisters and cuts beginning to form.

"Don't worry about those, over time your skin will toughen up and you'll be able to punch without getting blisters." I glanced at him with a sympathetic look,

"Thanks for the tip." I said as he laughed briskly,

"This stuff takes time, it's not going to come naturally."

"I know, but I just feel like I expected more from myself than this," I ran a palm over my sweat covered forehead,

"Trust me, it took me, at least, a couple of weeks to get all of this stuff down. I know you'll get it, you've got major potential." I nudged him slightly before strapping my gloves back on,

"Thanks, Peter. I'm ready if you are." He jumped up at my words before we returned to the punching bag. As I returned, I couldn't help but notice something, or someone out of the corner of my eye. I glanced in that direction, only to find Michael watching me with deep intent. I proceeded to keep punching, but I couldn't help but glance back at Michael every now and then.

...

(Michael's POV)

All night I couldn't help but think about Heaven and Peter last night at the club. I specifically told everyone to not try anything, but does he ever listen? No. On my way to check on the rookies, I saw Heaven working on her training with...him. I don't understand why I thought that it would be a good idea to pair them up together. I knew that it was wrong of me to watch her, but watching her train just sparked up something inside of me. All of a sudden, I watched as she acknowledged my presence. Her sparkling eyes met with mine and it felt as if someone had shoved me in a hot air balloon and sent me up into the sky. No, Michael. She is a rookie that is here to help you defeat The Bloods. This is wrong. I shook my head as I continued to watch,

"She is doing very good boss." I heard Robert say from beside me. Of course she is, look at her,

"Is that so?" I said nonchalantly.

"I mean she is doing better than most of the rookies that we have ever had. Peter has been doing very well with her," My insides boiled at his name. He was trying to take away the one thing that I want,

"Shut up!"

"Sir?" Robert said to me.

"Nothing. Just make sure that she gets to her next session on time, I don't want to be kept waiting." I turned on my foot and began to head back to my room to prepare for Heavenly's training session with me. Oh, Heavenly.