Sparring Partners [18+]

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Your Hair Is Fucking Pink

Christmas was finally here, well, December at least. Today was the first of the month and the themed, white chocolate mocha I'd bought this morning on my way to work, and the Christmas music that had been blasting in the café, had certainly tried its hardest to put me in the seasonal mood. Alas, not even the slightest twinge of excitement had bubbled up inside of me.

I was too tired. I could admit that. I could admit my new schedule was quickly draining me of all my energy as every day passed. It certainly hadn't helped that last week Alec and I had stayed awake until 3 in the morning watching horror films and dying our hair. I'd only managed 2 hours of sleep that night before I had to be up for work. That was my own stupid mistake, and I knew now that in the future I had to go straight to bed after work if I didn't want to feel like absolute shit in the morning.

The doors to the gym swung open and a loud group of women ambled into the reception area in an excited burst of noise and laughter. I flinched at the sudden volume, fingers tapping heavily against the desk as I shot them all a tight smile while they passed by. I was in a foul mood this morning; every noise was too loud, every smell too strong, every taste too pungent. I was sick of everything and wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and sleep for the next twenty-four hours.

A few called out a bright 'morning', which I reciprocated weakly, counting down the seconds until they had passed and the reception area would be silent again.

Just as the last woman had disappeared behind the second set of doors leading to the gym floor, Lynch pushed through the front doors, three brightly coloured smoothies in hand. He rounded the reception desk, and when I simply stared at him blankly, he gestured for me to stand up with a nod of his chin. "Break time. Off you go."

"Oh right," I mumbled. I hadn't realised the time.

"Here." He held out a purple smoothie towards me, and again, I stared at him blankly. Was that for me? Lynch shot me a peculiar look. "Take it then."

Hesitantly, my fingers wrapped around the icy plastic up, wet with condensation.

"I didn't know what flavour you would want, and you didn't answer my messages, so I asked Grim and he just said something fruity and with too much sugar." Lynch held an identical drink to mine, taking a long sip as he squinted at the class calendar he'd pulled up on the computer screen. The third drink, which he'd dumped on the table, was bright green. Markus' for sure.

Lynch saw me looking at the green smoothie and a smile lit up his face. After a moment of silence between us, the smile stretched into a smug, cheek splitting grin. "Grin owes me a tenner. He thought for sure you'd shit on his drink choice as soon as you saw it."

I nodded, a faint smile tugging at the corner of my mouth. "He does have weird taste. I'll go for my break then. Be back in half an hour."

I'd only made it three steps away before Lynch called after me. "You've forgotten your phone."

"Right. Yeah. Thanks."

Silence was apparently something I didn't deserve today. I was alone in the staff room for barely a breath when Markus marched through the door mere seconds later, as if he'd been hiding somewhere, waiting to corner me.

I jumped, a hand flying to my chest. "Fucking hell," I breathed, feeling my heart pounding beneath my palm. "A little warning."

"How long is this going to go on for?" Markus asked sternly, not acknowledging how he'd startled me, arms crossed against his chest as a displeased expression marred his face.

"What are you talking about?" I froze under his scrutiny, a heat quickly searing at my cheeks. My stomach plummeted at his tone of voice, not registering his words fully. This was not a tone I was used to from him. It wasn't the faux annoyance we playfully teased one another with, and this wasn't just Markus being his usual grumpy self. He seemed genuinely irritated with me, and I had no fucking clue what I had done wrong.