Phenomenal

23 ~ I'll Fight

"Oh my god, it's a girl! Day has brought a girl!"

That was the first thing Clarissa heard as she stepped into the gym located in the East End the next day, followed by the smack as Damien slapped a hand to his face and groaned.

The guy that had spoken was stood by a set of mirrors, a skipping rope in his hand and his shout attracted the attention of the other men in the large room, until a man - presumably the coach - snarled to get their attention.

"The lady isn't a damn side-show! Stop gawking! Damien! You're late! Go get ready and warm up!"

Damien scrambled, heading for the changing rooms as the coach marched around the ring towards Clarissa. He was a huge black man, his Afro hair tied at the back of his head, a streak of grey at the temple and he loomed well over a foot over her. She stared up at him as he approached and then he held out a hand.

"Apologises for the gawkers," he said as Clarissa took his hand, "Tony Marks, I own this gym."

"Oh, hello, I'm-"

"I'm going to bet you're Clarissa."

Clarissa automatically winced with a smile. "Did you hear that from Damien? I hope anything he told you wasn't all bad."

Tony laughed slightly and shook his head. "On the contrary, he all but sings your praises."

"Shut up, Coach! I didn't bring her here for chatting," Damien snapped as he marched past, now in shorts and vest top, yanking on fingerless gloves.

"Oh, so you're just going to make her sit and stare at you?" Tony asked, "I'm sorry, Clarissa, I didn't think he'd be such a boring host."

Clarissa laughed. "It's ok, I kind of forced him to let me come. His own fault for mentioning it."

"My fault entirely," Damien muttered as he joined the guy by the mirror, clapping hands with him before sitting on the floor and starting to stretch.

"Are you interested in boxing?" Tony asked as he pulled a foldout chair over and opened it, setting it behind Clarissa.

"I actually don't really know much about it," Clarissa said as she sat down, "I only took an interest when I found out he was a boxer."

"Ah," Tony said with a laugh, "We should get you in the ring today then and you can see what it's like. If Damien's done anything to annoy you recently, you can hit him for it."

"Why are you promoting my abuse?" Damien asked from where he sat spread-eagled on the floor, his arms folded on the ground in front of him.

"Why not, lately you let every man you get in the ring with hit you, you think this will be worse somehow?" Tony asked and there was a hissed intake of breath around the gym, people wincing at the stab. Damien's eyes darkened and he looked down; gesturing to the guy he was with as he bent down and pushed on his back, flattening him to the floor.

Clarissa looked back to Tony, quickly moving the conversation on. "Thanks but I'm hardly dressed for the gym," she said, gesturing to the yellow sundress she was in, having spent most of the day at the library.

"Well, just a bit of fun," Tony said, smiling. "You mind if I step away for a moment, I spy some dodgy footwork over there I want to correct."

"Oh, don't mind me, pretend I'm not here," Clarissa said with a laugh, pulling out a notebook and holding it up, "I have plenty to entertain me."

As the coach walked away to one of the men, Clarissa opened her notebook, setting it on her knee and carrying on with what she'd been doing the rest of the day, glancing up every now and then to see what was happening around her.