Wait For You

Chapter 4: Do We Have Deal, Gracelynn Monroe?

𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐲𝐧𝐧 𝐀𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐞 ( Continuing ) 

I slapped my hand over my mouth as I felt myself gasp, the noise causing her to turn around.

The youthfulness of her face told me we were close in age.

That only caused more questions to fill my head.

"I'm sorry." I took a few steps back, unsure what to say, or where to go. "I didn't realize anyone else was here."

"Oh no, you're fine." She waved me over. "Please come in."

"Are you sure?"

She smiled. "Yes, of course."

"Are you Adonis's roommate or something?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "I'm his cousin, my name is Jacqueline Balboa"

"Pleasure to meet you, it's safe to grab some coffee?"

She nodded. "I appreciate you asking."

She turned toward her books, and as I passed the counter on my way to the island, I asked, "What are you studying?"

"Law." She sighed. "One day, I'll be a lawyer at Artemis & Fuller firm. In the meantime"—she banged her fist against her notebook—"I'm in complete hell."

"I'm about to start college," I told her. "I'll soon be in hell, too, so I get it." I stood in front of the coffee machine, looking for a mug stand like Cassidy had in our apartment. There wasn't a cup in sight. "Mugs are where?"

She pointed at one of the cabinets. "And creamer is in the fridge. Sugar and sweetener in the pantry."

She studies me for a long moment, but she doesn't look overcome with morale like I'm personally, shamefully, feeling. She's merely assessing me with a half-smile in place, and she appears genuinely intent on what I'm saying. "You interned at a private school rehabbing their young athletes?"

"You looked me up?"

"I did," the two familiar voices of the men who brought me over say, and as they reenter the room, She carries a manila folder and passes it to me.

"So I'll just cut to it. We're leaving town in two days, and I'm afraid there's no time to do things differently, But based on your academic skills and grades last year at The Southern California Health Institute, you're a goddamn overachiever...and based on your chemistry with my cousin, Mr. Creed....well he wants to hire you."

I stare for a moment, dumbfounded, and frankly, confused as hell.

"What is it, exactly, that you think I do?" A frown settles on my face. "I'm not an escort."

She burst out laughing. "You're onto us, Miss Monroe. Yes, I admit when we're traveling, we find it convenient to keep one or several special friends of Mr. Creed to, shall we say, accommodate his needs either before or after a fight," She laughingly explains.

My left eyebrow shoots up. I'm perfectly aware of how these things work with athletes.

I used to compete and know that, either after sports or before them, sex is a natural and even healthy way of relieving stress and aiding performance. But the way these guys speak about Mr. Creed's "needs," so casually, feels suddenly so personal, that my cheeks burn from the embarrassment.

"Miss Monroe," a voice says, and I snap my head up to the two men in black standing between me and the ring. Both are tall and slim; one is blond and the other has curly brown hair. "I'm Tony Evers Jr, Mr. Creed's Trainer," Brown Curls says. "And that's Manny Ruiz. He's the coach's second." 

"A man like Adonis has very particular requirements as you might guess, Miss Monroe," Manny, the blond-haired man who looks like a surfer, continues. "But, he's been very specific in the fact that he's no longer interested in the friends we have secured for him during our trip. He wants to focus on what's important, and instead, he wants you to work for him."

My insides clench as I glance at Manny, then Duke, and, as He flips through the folders. "You interned at the Southern California Health Institute, in sports rehab for their middle graders, and we see you graduated only two weeks ago. We're prepared to hire your services which will cover the duration of the eight cities we have left to tour and Mr. Creed's continued conditioning for future competitions. We will be very generous with your salary. It's very prestigious to tend to such a followed athlete and should be impressive on any resume. It might even allow you to be a free agent if, in the future, you decide to leave," Duke says.