Fighting talk // n.h.

1. Equalibria

Work. That's all I ever seemed to do. My life seemed to be an infinite cycle of studying then working. Don't get me wrong, I knew what I was getting myself into when I applied to Kings College in London. It's one of the most prestigious Universities in the world, ranking in the best top 20 internationally. I knew full well that a good school came with an immense amount of hard work. Just to have a chance at being considered for a place I had pick studying over any kind of social life. Even after my hard work payed off and I landed myself a spot on my dream course, I had to work ten times harder to keep my place. Physiotherapy is no where near as competitive as other courses. I'd hate to begin to imagine the stress and hard work a course like midwifery entailed.
Staring at my half finished essay that lay on my dressing table was enough to motivate me to get dressed and get out of this room as soon as possible. The burden of finishing it was growing greater each day but that task seemed almost impossible with a job like mine. I had been working at Zeus Fitness as a physiotherapist for over a year now. Helping to take care of each boxer's physical health to ensure that their bodies are in the best possible condition for each fight. My boss didn't mind that I hadn't yet got my degree, I was one of the best in the field so it was hard to say no. Finding the balance between work and education was difficult but I managed to find equilibria. Besides, I've always lived with the ethic 'work hard and good things shall follow'.
I threw on a some old black leggings and a grey hoodie, with ZEUS FITNESS printed across the chest in block letters, over my plain t-shirt before heading to the bathroom. October mornings in London were far from glamorous. The dark wooden flooring in my apartment meant that my feet were jabbed with icy needles with each step I took. Resulting in my toes retreating to being curled up whilst I brushed my teeth and fixed my auburn hair into a pony tail. After putting on my running trainers and grabbing my work bag, I descended down the many flights of stairs in order to reach the ground floor. The block of flats I lived in was nothing special. The exterior was grafted from bleak grey bricks dotted with lines of square windows. The interior was just as dull. The once white walls were now a washed out grey and the stairs that led to the apartments held a pungent aroma of what has been concluded to be urine.
Stepping out of the exit, I was forced to tug the fabric of my hoodie closer to me as the frosty wind nipped at my exposed skin. October meant the beginning of the woolly jumpers and oversized parker coats. The streets of London were alive like always, even at six in the morning. My favourite aspect of the city was that every street contained people from all over the world. I walked past all types of people every morning on my way to the gym. Some smiled, some totally ignored my presence. The diversity here was truly amazing.
Before I knew it, I found myself in front of the gym. The building was neither grand nor small. A double door was framed with large, frosted glass in place of what used to be the old, front wall. The car park was found out front which contained three cars that belonged to the staff as there was another hour before the place actually opened. I weaved my way through the car park and pushed my way into the gym. Immediately, I was met with a voice far too chirpy for this time in the morning.
"Morning Zara," the voice belonged to Becky. Our 20 year old personal trainer for all the 'non-fighters' as she called them. Becky had a preppy personality to match her pretty face and bleached blonde hair. However, I found from personal experience that the girl likes the male attention a bit too much. Next to her stood our receptionist Danny. I tall, slim girl who was too nice for her own good.
"Morning," I mumbled, far too tired to reply with the same enthusiast.
"Coffee not kicked in yet?" She giggled. I didn't have it in my to respond so I quickly flashed the two of them a (fake) smile and continued my way to the staff room.
The lay out of Zeus Fitness was fairly straight forward. The ground floor contained the reception which sported a trophy cabinet, a staff room and a large, standard gym area; available to the general public which is where Becky spends her time. Then as you go up a flight of stairs and it takes you to where the real fighters are found. The top floor was smaller than the one bellow but Rob, the owner and manager, found a way to squeeze everything in. The outskirts of the rooms are peppered with punch bags, weights and focus pads. In the bottom right corner was where my office was located. A fairly small room but it had everything I needed including a white patients bed; an old oak desk with a padded seat either side of it; a sleek black laptop and a book shelf with all the medical books I need. I also managed to get a small area outside my office recently done up. It had floor mats and numerous different pieces of equipment I could use when doing therapy. Right in the middle of the room was the boxing ring. A white surface surrounded by blood red ropes. It's appearance alone was intimidating.
I entered the staff room with the little energy I had and went straight to the kettle to make myself some coffee. After stirring my drink of survival, I took a seat next to Luke-another personal trainer. He was 20, making him a year younger than me and he was so adorable! His fluffy blonde hair was flat on his forehead and he had a lip ring that he would fiddle with every now and then. Sat opposite him was Louis, my only colleague on the top floor. He was in charge of training all of our boxers. Louis had a talent for weening out the best of the best from the hopefuls that just aren't cut out. Both Luke and Louis were teasing our new receptionist Brad, a sweet young boy who joined us a few months back. He tried his hardest but he was clearly the runt of our staff body and the runt always gets picked on.
Luke abruptly turned to me as I drank the last drop of my coffee.
"So, are you ready for the newbie?" He questioned before taking his lip ring between his teeth.
"Newbie?" I asked, unclear of what he meant. "You mean we hired another staff member? We only took on Brad a few months ago,"
Before Luke had the chance to reply, Becky burst into the room.
"Oh my god, is it true that there's a new hunk joining the top floor?" She exclaimed whilst twirling her hair. I looked at Luke with a confused expression as if to silently question if this is what he meant in our conversation.
"Yeah it's true Becky. So keep your distance, don't want you to scare the poor boy off," Louis replied, not even looking her.
"Do you know anything about him? Medical history?" I questioned Louis in an irritable tone. If I was to look after him, I needed to know as much as possible. I knew Rob had been busy lately but it did hurt that I was left out of the loop when I should be one of the first people to know. I'm going to be looking after the guy, I have that right at least!
"I know nothing about him, sorry love. Just that he's coming in today."
A silence fell over the staff room as everyone subconsciously imagined what the mystery man will be like. I really hope that he's easy to work with and the least problematic person out there. If not then it's just more work and more stress. I could mentally see the balanced equilibria inclining towards work.

First chapter is up! Few notes for this chapter: The picture attached is of kings college London and the Luke in this book is indeed Luke Hemmings! Don't forget to vote, love you all :)