The Subtle Art of Love and War

Chapter 16: Massage

"If you need my help with anything at all, I'm a call away, alright?" Travis says, placing his hand over mine and I smile warmly at him.

"Thank you, Trav."

We move on to lighter topics about our friends. He asks me news about Katherine and what she's been up to in the US and I tell him she'll be visiting me here so we end up agreeing to have one of our infamous house parties.

"Oh my god, remember that time I got drunk for the first time?" I giggle.

"You threw up all over Katherine's Manolos. Damn was she mad about that," Travis laughs.

"I had to by her a new pair and then some," I cackle, my eyes watering from too much laughter.

"We are definitely doing shots at this party when Katherine gets here. Maybe we should invite some of our friends over? I'm sure they can squeeze in a day or two to fly their asses here."

"What about Lou?" I finally ask, the feeling of wanting to know about his dating status has been gnawing at me since yesterday.

"She's kind of busy," he shrugs. My heart sinks at the fact that he is still dating her. I mean, yeah, we agreed to be friends but he's my first love. I can't help but feel a little hopeful at the idea of us rekindling our past romance.

No, Jo. Don't make this weird. Travis is just a friend.

"That's a shame," I cast my eyes to my plate.

We continue to talk for another hour, almost emptying the bottle of wine. Travis pays for dinner and walks me to my building but bids me goodnight just outside the lobby after taking a call from Lou.

"I'll call you when Kath gets here," I promise him and he nods before heading off the other way we came.

*****

The rest of the week goes by in a blur. Hero barely comes by the office, spending the majority of his days meeting clients and associates and investors. He hasn't called or requested for my assistance and I can't decide whether I should be happy about it or not. Obviously, he's still mad at me which I still don't understand. Was that one argument enough for him to ignore me?

I just feel like I haven't done anything about my plan. I haven't had any luck getting any useful information or clues about Hero's dirty deeds.

What is the fucking point of all this shit I'm putting myself through if I can't even get any proof?

By the weekend, I am almost tempted to just raise my flag and head back to Perth until I get a call from Cindy.

"Jo, there's something you should know," she immediately says after I answer her call. My curiosity is suddenly piqued at the seriousness of her tone. "Apparently, Felix Kent owns a chain of nightclubs and bars all throughout Europe and there's been rumors going around that the clubs and bars are just a front for what really goes down in the basement spaces."

"What do you mean Cindy?"

"Underground fight club, Jo," Cindy says straight up.

"What?! Are you serious?" I exclaim. I picture Felix at his penthouse during that dreadful night and how he was so friendly and nice. I would never be able to connect him to this kind of violent... sport? Is it even a sport when two people try to kill each other using their fists?

"Very. It's all rumors though so I can't assure you the credibility of this information."

"Wait, so it's like people bet on who wins the fight, right?" I ask in uncertainty. I've only heard and read about these types of fight clubs.