Desperate Measures

Chapter 2

I welcomed the burn that I felt all over my body as I flew from defensive positions to offensive positions. I dropped down onto the floor and struck like a viper. I wrapped myself around my opponent's leg and brought him down hard onto the mat. I wasted no time, I flipped both of us so that I was sitting on the back of his thigh and I pulled up fast and strong. I heard him yell out and felt the tap on my hip that had let me know that I made this black belt proud. I released him and slipped off of him with the grace of a ballerina... or a trained killer, you take your pick. I went to check the time and get a drink of water. shit. I broke out into a sprint as I ran out of the studio and through the street. I was a half hour late for my shooting appointment and Lorenzo hates it when I'm late.
Ten minutes later, I open the door to the gun store/range, and even though I'm probably about to get a lecture about being punctual, I can't help but smile when I see my best friend standing at the desk. Lorenzo sees me and screeches, he runs up to me and engulfs me in a massive bear hug. Okay, not what I was expecting but I'll take it. He wastes no time and rushes me into the range and says, "Okay so I know that you say that you hate birthday presents, but you finally turned eighteen so I got you a little something and I know for a fact that you'll like them." He pulled out two relatively large boxes from behind his back and one of the boxes was significantly larger than the other one. I felt my heart warm and I approached him and kissed him on the cheek and said, "Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me."
I opened the smaller box and saw another box and opened that one as well. I gasped and smiled from ear to ear when I saw what was in the box. I was looking into a box will a gorgeous pistol in it and tears pricked at my eyes as I went to hug Lorenzo. He let out a deep throaty laugh and said, "If you're loving me right now then I can't even imagine how much you're gonna love me when you open up the other box." I let out a soft chuckle and said, "Sorry Enzo but I don't think anything can be better than this." He gave me a look that let me know that I was about to be proven incredibly wrong. He stuck the bigger box in my face and I snatch it out of his hands and pulled at the ribbon on top. I pulled the top off of the gift box to reveal the long black case inside. My breath caught in my throat as I realized what this was. There's no way.
I clicked open the case and screamed as I saw the absolutely beautiful sniper rifle glinting in the dim light of the range. It was a full rifle set, I've wanted one since I was 11. I collected myself and a devilish grin slipped onto my face as I picked up the, loaded it, and said, "Why don't we see just how well this baby fits in." Enzo was grinning like the Cheshire cat as he set up the range and as I walked across every window, I relished in the boom that followed every shot that I made. He went to go check the shots and his jaw dropped, just like it does every time. He knocked himself out of the trance that he was in and said, "I will never get over how much of a perfect shot you are." He waved around all of the shot pages and I wasn't surprised at all of the straight bullseyes that I saw. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly the pistol ran.