The New Rival

13

Ally

I didn't know how long Chris would wait for me to get my things, so I didn't really look at what I was throwing into the suitcase.

What I pulled out was mostly thin black t-shirts and jeans, pretty much what I wear when I'm not at work.

Work. Max. Chris. Fuck.

I didn't understand why Chris did what he did... I know Max hitting me was wrong but it wasn't Chris's place to correct him like that. It would have cost me my job if Max wasn't so desperate for good staff.

Max is an idiot, and it wouldn't be the last time he pulled something like that, it certainly wasn't the first. I've grown so accustomed to it that it actually makes me better at my job. I don't miss days or take vacation or leave early. I'm the best he has. And because of it, I get rewarded with a higher paycheck and the pleasure of not being yelled at for every mistake. Then again, I don't make mistakes, not anymore.

Except now, right now. This is a mistake.

Once we got back to their house and I was sitting in the room they gave me, Chris left to talk to Scarlet and told me to find him when I was ready.

    I finished unpacking quickly but I was in no hurry to go back to him.

I changed and showered to stall time, putting on one of my black shirts and messy grey jeans on afterwards. The bathroom attached to the room was nice. It was big too, especially the shower that I could practically do back-bends in.

I could hear Chris's voice from down the hall the minute I stepped out from the room.

I followed it until I was at the open door what seemed to be a training room. The walls were covered in mirrors and the floors were that of a gym. The sides of the room were covered in equipment and there was an empty square of room in the middle where Scarlet and Teo were fighting.

I saw Chris sitting on the sidelines laughing at them and I sat beside him.

"Back for more questions?" He joked as he kept his eyes on the fight.

"What are they doing?" I whispered to him to not distract them, though it seemed he was already doing plenty of that.

"Training," he replied. "They do it practically every day."

It was obvious Teo was trying not to laugh every time Chris made a comedic remark. Scarlet, on the contrary, had the straightest of expressions I had seen on her thus far. Just from her form you could see how strong she was, the mussels in her arms. She must have been in her thirties or forties and yet her body was fitter than most girls my age could dream of.

Teo was strong too, enough so it was hard not to stare at him when he threw punches, each of which Scarlet dogged only to hit him back harder.

They weren't going easy on each other. If I didn't know them, I would think they were trying to kill each other right then and there.

"They do this every day?" I found myself asking Chris as we both watched Scarlet continue to come at Teo as he was clearly getting tired and worn out.

"Teo promised to finish school and stay out of the drug world and in return Scarlet agreed to train him every day."

    "He wanted this?" He was literally getting the shit kicked out of him by his aunt who was twenty years older than him.

    "I know right," he laughed, "hard to believe. But it definitely does make him better. Even I can't sneak up on him now with a good hit."

"Sounds... fun."