Loving Him | ✔️

16 - The Cage

New update! Yay! I love your guys' comments so please comment! It's great hearing what you think.

Q: What's your favorite book? (I know it's so hard to choose because there are so many good ones!)
xo

|Chapter Sixteen|

     "How do you feel about Knox in the ring?"

"How did you and Mr. Taylor meet?"

"How long have you been dating Mr. Taylor?"

Reporters come at me from all sides as I walk into the arena building. Every since Knox made us public, the people have been swarming in order to get the full story. Kurt and Jack try to shield me as much as they can as Knox parts the sea of reporters and paparazzi from the front. As soon as we make it inside and take cover in the dressing room, everyone relaxes and takes a moment to breathe. I watch with furrowed brows as Knox gets an alert on his phone and leaves the room to respond to the message. Kurt and Jack watch him as well, but as soon as they notice me looking, they're quick to avert their attention elsewhere. This has been happening recently and I'm not sure what to account it to. A small part of me wonders if Knox isn't happy with me because we haven't you know...done anything. I shake it off and feel immediate guilt at the suspicions I have. I need to trust in my man.

     Knox walks back into the room and Kurt and Jack get to business. They make him change and run him through some drills like last time. In the midst of everything, I decide to take a little walk around the place. For this fight, we actually had to fly to Chicago. I normally would've driven, but with Knox's added privileges, we were able to fly first class. The only reason it was in New York last time was because the last winner came from America and even though he lived in Montana, he grew up in New York. Hosting it there was a tribute to his win.

     I wander around the halls of the back of the building where it's a bit quieter and low key. This is considered backstage so only people with certain clearance can come back here. I see a group of people milling about in another hallway and assume they must be supporters of Knox's opponent for today. I don't recognize any of them and judging by the glares on their faces, they don't recognize me either. I give them a quick wave and move on, not wanting to be under their harsh eyes any longer.

     "Kat? There you are, I've been looking for you. You shouldn't really be down this hallway since it's kinda reserved for the opponent and his coaching team," Kurt pulls me aside.

     "Oh, really? I didn't realize that. I don't know a lot of what's going on apparently," I mutter the last part.

     "What?" Kurt questions, catching the last bit of what I said.

     I panic, rapidly searching for a plausible excuse.

     "Hmm?" I ask, playing it off.

     He gives me a sideways glance, but drops it. I try not to let whatever's been going on bother me, but I can't just get it out of my head. I want to ask Knox or someone about what I'm being left in the dark for, but Knox needs to focus and I can talk to him when this competition is over and hopefully he's won.

     Kurt and I make our way back to the prep room where Knox takes a gulp of water and prepares to get into the arena. Kurt and Jack will be near the cage and I'll have a spot close to the fence where I have a decent view. Now I'm just a bit nervous about the stiffer competition and also all the women who know my face as the girlfriend of Knox Taylor. I'm sure plenty of people are more than just bummed that he's not an eligible bachelor anymore. I internally grin knowing he's mine. Or so I think.

     "Knox, how are you feeling?" Kurt asks.

     He gives a nod, telling Kurt all he needs. Someone steps in and gives Knox the ready signal just like last time. Knox fixes a little bit of his tape and Kurt ushers him out to the staging area. I take this as my time to leave and get situated in my seat and wait for Knox's arrival with the crowd. As soon as I take a seat, I'm bombarded by the questions the reporters have been asking lately.

"Are you really Knox Taylor's girlfriend?"

"How did you guys meet?"

One question, however, makes me recoil.

"Do you actually like Knox? You're probably just some gold digger."

I whip around, hoping to find the source of the voice, but it's lost in the crowd and questions of everyone else. The gold digger comment stings, but I try to brush it off. Maybe other people have been with Knox for the money, but I didn't even pursue him first for god's sake. People need to get their stories straight before accusing me of bad intentions.

The rest of the women's comments die down as an announcer says that Knox will be coming out and lists a bunch of his accomplishments.

"Hi, quick question-"

"I'm sorry, but I won't be answering anything," I say, cutting the person off before they can even finish their question just like Kurt taught.

With Knox and I public, Kurt said that I would be getting a lot of publicity. In order to dodge everyone and keep any of my quotes out of the media, I was not to answer any questions. All the reporters can get from Knox is pictures and nods. He never gets any bad publicity because they can never make him into a bad person or someone he isn't. Me, on the other hand, will probably be painted as some fake girlfriend. Women all over the country vie for Knox, and now that he's taken, I'll become an object of public scrutiny.

"I'm not some crazed woman or anything. I just wanted to know if being public with a famous man like Knox Taylor is worth it," the woman says.

Part of me feels like just ignoring her, but telling her how much I love Knox isn't going to get me bad publicity right? I can see the reporter tag hanging around her neck which makes me a little nervous, but I won't let myself be talked about as some whore who's only with Knox for his money.

"It's absolutely worth it. I hate the use of the words 'worth it' because it makes it sound like some chore and so much work to be the subject of all this. The way I see it, is that it's easier for people to believe I'm some fake who only wants Knox's money than to see that I love Knox and he's not going to be an eligible bachelor anymore. To be completely honest, I'm glad we're out there and we're public, but I'm also glad that we waited," I say.

"What makes you say it's good to wait? You have a name now across the country, but you could've had that earlier," the reporter says.

"I didn't mind waiting because I don't care if my name is known across the country. What I care about is Knox and if he wants us public, I'm okay with that. Publicity, reporters, paparazzi-none of that matters to me. Sure, it's a change from what my life has been like before, but I love him and that's what matters," I finish.

"Is the change really something you can ignore?" the reporter says.

"I'm not ignoring it; I'm embracing it because it's a part of Knox, and any part of him isn't something I'm going to ignore," I say and turn away, effectively ending the line of questioning.

I can hear her trying to ask something more, but I don't respond. As soon as Knox walks out, there's no chance to hear anything but cheering anyways. He makes his way to the center cage and sizes up his opponent. Kurt and Jack assured me this would be a fight Knox could win pretty easily, but every time he walks in there I get more than a little nervous.

The ref in the ring signals the go and the fight begins.
_______________________________
So Knox is making his way up in the ranks!

Vote, comment, and share!