The Last Round (9 page)

“I painted,” he adds, deadpan.

I have to laugh at that one. Oh, Al, still the grumpy old bastard I remember him to be. “I didn’t even notice.” I mock.

“Why fix somethin’ that ain’t broken?” He adjusts in his chair; it makes a squeaking noise from the rusted metal legs.

“Touché,” I add.

Al eyes me down suspiciously. “Does your aunt know you’re in town?”

“No. I came straight to you first.”

“What do you want, Julian?” He rushes, his tone showing no patience at this point.

I slide to the edge of my seat, my features transforming. I need to show him I’m serious. “I want you to train me again. Like the old days.”

His laugh ping-pongs around the room, ringing in my ears. “Are you kidding me? No.”

Brows scrunching, I straighten my shoulders. “Why not? I’ll pay triple the amount.”

Al’s eyes ignite, offended by the offer. “It’s not about the money and you know it.”

“Then what? Is it pride? What do I have to do? Apologize? I have in the past and you didn’t care. You disowned me, threw me out of your life and said we were no longer family. Remember?” I remind him.

“Eh!” He tosses a hand in the air, his head turns to the side, almost embarrassed. “Why don’t you go to that trainer you left me for? What’s his name . . . Roger?” He speaks with his hands as if waiving Roger off.

“God, Al, you know I only did what was best for me at the time. You were sick; I needed someone to push me. Someone who I could count on. I know it wasn’t your fault, but for crying out loud, you can’t resent me for trying to better my career. I was twenty-five, young, and money hungry. I needed to stay in the game.”

“And now?” he asks, his eyes focusing on mine.

“And now, I need
you.
I need to continue to
stay
in the game. I need to focus. I need familiarity. I need
this
. . .” I wave both my hands around, indicating the entire gym, the entire lifestyle. “I need to remember why I wanted this career to begin with, because I’m losing everything and without the love of boxing and my wife, what’s the point?”

His eyes soften. “You did that to yourself. You had the right team building you up and cheering you on, but you decided to go down the wrong path.”

“I know!” It’s true, it’s all true and I can’t fight him or anyone on it. I chose to go down an uglier path and in the process I lost my uncle, my family and maybe now my wife.

“Listen, Julian.” He scrubs a hand over his face, defeated. “I can go on and on about what you’ve done wrong. I can spiel all the bullshit that the media has already portrayed of you, but I know you and deep down I know you are still the same boy I helped my wife’s sister raise.” He pauses, my chest seizing at the mention of my mom. “So, okay, I’ll give you another chance, but!” He raises a finger as soon as my face goes from stern to a relaxing grin. “If you screw up once, and I
mean
once, Julian, I’m done. No if, ands, or buts. If I find you drinking, on drugs, you partying up at all hours of the night while I’m training you, then we are done.”

“Okay.”

“And if I tell you to be here at a certain time. You be here.”

“Okay.”

“And you will need to move back to Philly for the time being for the next six months for training until the fight.”

I hesitate. “Okay,” I finally say.

He stands up and extends his hand. “It’s a deal.”

I stand, accepting his hand in mine.

“Do you mind if I show that kid, Slick, a few moves?”

He eyes me down, then waves a hand. “Go ‘head.”

I turn to walk away.

“Julian.”

“Yeah?” I look over my shoulder.

“Be here at six in the morning. We’ll start tomorrow.”

My lips slowly stretch into a smirk I don’t show him as I walk out the door. “No prob, coach.”

Now if tonight’s date with Natalia can go as smoothly as this, I think everything will be back on track.
Shit
, I hope everything gets back on track.

It’s easy to lose yourself along the way. The money and fame plays a major part of it, but if I can examine my life at this very moment through a microscope, I’m sure I’d be ashamed of the person I’ve become. Hell, I know I disappointed Natalia, but I do wonder what my mom would think at this very moment if she was still alive. She would definitely be saddened, but without judgment, she’d guide me in the right direction.

I don’t know how I allowed myself to get this far, maybe deep down I wanted to fail. Most of my life all I did was climb, and at some point I just got tired. It may sound stupid, and others may look at me like I have two heads and argue, “I would never screw up if I had it all.” But those who say that, never had it all, and they also don’t realize it’s easier to screw it up when you do. The funny thing is that no one ever warned me that once I was at the top to prepare for the fall, because there is a huge possibility that I will, and I did.

This is it. I have this one shot to make things better. Prove myself to Natalia that I can still be the man she fell in love with years ago. I can be him again, for her. Whatever inner demons I’m fighting within me, I can push them aside, and be a better man.

My sweaty palms clamp along the steering wheel. I stay rooted in the driver’s seat. I have been sitting here for the past ten minutes, contemplating on the past few years and how far we’ve come. I think of all the scenarios tonight can bring and I want nothing more than for one of those scenarios to go down. The one where she forgives me and gives me another chance.

Fuck it
. I exit the crappy car and walk down the pathway of Natalia’s mother’s house. I had asked her to meet me here. I want things to be just as it was. I planned this entire night to be the exact replica of our very first date. It was years ago and although I remember it very clearly, I hope I don’t miss anything. Obviously, I’m improvising.

My stomach dips, just like it did twelve years ago as I knock on the door. I know her father is not going to open it like he did before, but I must admit I’m a bit shocked to see her as she swings the door open.

As always, she’s beautiful. Natalia takes me in and gives me a small grin as she steps out and shuts the door behind her. She dressed casual in fitted jeans, a v-neck olive long sleeve T-shirt and brown boots. Her hair is down in waves. She knows how much I love the way she wears her hair that way, and I can’t help but smirk at the thought that she did her hair this way just for me.

“I’m starving,” Natalia says. “We better go somewhere good.” She stabs playfully at my chest.

Oh, I definitely have a good place.

I flash my knowing smirk as we head toward the street. “Do you have a rental?” she asks, looking around at all the cars parked along the street.

“Yep,” I say as I walk toward the 1988 red, scraped up Chevy and open the passenger door for her.

She stops mid-stride, a grin playing at her lips. She’s trying so hard not to smile, but it fails. “What? Where? How did you?” She stumbles over her words. Shaking her head, she gets herself together. “Is this the same car?” she asks, eyes wide with amazement as she enters.

“No, I found it online. It looks just like it, doesn’t it?” She nods, her smile brightening as she takes in the interior. Her eyes trace back to me. “This is so awesome. We had some good times in this car.”

Score. I close the door and lightly jog around to the driver’s side. Sliding into the seat, I buckle my seat belt, start the ignition, and then turn my head to face her.

“So, where to?” she asks, nonchalant. Natalia seems to be in a good mood. I hope she stays this way for the rest of the night.

“It’s a surprise.” I tease.

She lets out a small giggle. “Okay, okay. Take me away.”

My chest constricts and the love I have for her strengthens. I don’t know if she remembers, but that’s exactly what she said to me on our first date. Those exact words.

I pull out of the parking spot and start driving. To keep her distracted, before she realizes where I’m taking her, I ask, “How was your first day filming?”

I quickly glance at her and catch her brows pull in together, lost in thought. She hesitates before she blurts out, “It was amazing!” She sighs, her skull pressing against the headrest. “I mean it was everything and more. I love all of the cast. I was able to meet all of them, and the director was just as amazing and so inspiring.”

I admire how her face lights up as she speaks about something she’s so passionate about. I focus on the road. “Which scene did you film today?”

She straightens, eager to tell me. I feel pride as she continues. “Today was a very emotional scene. So emotional Liam and I had a few people on set cry! Can you believe it?” She shakes her head.

“Yeah, I can. You’re an amazing actress. This is it, Natalia, this will finally be your big break. The whole world will finally witness what I’ve known all along.” I look over to show her how truly proud I am of her, but her smile falters. Confusion seeps through me as I watch her. She lowers her head.
What are you thinking?
I want to ask so badly, but I don’t want to ruin the moment. I’ve only been with her for five minutes and already things are going south.

“Thanks,” she mutters.

“What was this famous scene that made everyone cry?” I ask, trying to take her mind off of whatever negative thoughts she may be having.

It works; she perks up a bit again. “Well, you know how everything is never filmed in order. It was a scene closer to the end of the movie. Where Jenna, my character, finally admits to herself the feelings she has for Logan, Liam’s character. Jenna struggles with schizoaffective disorder, and they had built this friendship that turned into something more, but Jenna has always pushed Logan away. She’s afraid once Logan discovers the disorder she has, he’ll look at her differently, or he’ll judge her, and she’s afraid of the rejection.” I nod, truly intrigued. “It’s the tree scene. Logan confesses his feelings for Jenna. She admits she’ll tell him everything she’s been keeping from him. And then we filmed the scene where Jenna runs back home in sobbing tears after finally telling him, he doesn’t react the way she expected and she feels rejected, hurt by the one man she’s finally opened her heart to after so long.”

“Wow, that seems emotionally draining. Are you exhausted?” I say, pulling into the plaza where our first destination is.

“Yeah, kind of, but I’m kind of on cloud 9, you know? I’ve filmed commercials and small soap operas, but to finally be on the big screen? Can you imagine?” She squeals. I seriously have not seen her this happy in so long.

I grin as I pull into the drive-thru of the Taco Bell.

“Julian, why are we in Taco Bell’s drive-thru?” Natalia looks at me, her confused eyes widen and lips brighten when she finally realizes what I’m doing. “Are you replaying our first date?”

I shrug. “Maybe.”

“Oh my God! You are, aren’t you? What’s next, Bensalem High football field?” She bursts out laughing. When she notices I’m serious, her laughter dies. She takes me in, staring at me for a long time, and it makes me wonder if I did okay, if I did right by her, but from the looks of it, I can’t tell if I did or not, because she’s just staring at me, her features expressionless.

The car in front of us pulls to the next window and it’s our turn to order. I shake my head. “I know, this is stupid, right? We can go somewhere else.”

Her hand grabs mine as I reach for the gear shifter. “No, it’s not stupid. I want to do everything you have planned for tonight. Okay?”

“Okay.” I pull up. “You want your usual?”

Natalia smiles, she always has a way of brightening up a room with just her smirk and her laugh. Hell, no one can argue against me on this. No matter how angry or upset or a douche a person can be, if they heard Natalia’s laugh, they can’t help but laugh too—it’s that contagious.

We pull up into the parking lot by Bensalem High School’s football field. We grab our two Taco Bell bags filled with food and our sodas, and exit the car.

“It looks exactly the same! I haven’t been here in freaking years!” she says, excitement taking over as we walk toward the locked, gated fence. “Okay, Julian, I know twelve years ago we climbed this bad boy, but there is no way my ass is getting over this fence, with these shoes?” She lifts her boot in the air to show the length of her heel.

“No worries. This time I came prepared,” I say, gripping the lock and pulling it open. “Wha-la, magic.”

Natalia lets out an extended gasp, “Did you just pick that lock?” She looks around, making sure no one saw us. “What if we get caught?”

I burst out in a laugh; she raises an agitated brow. “Relax!” I laugh again at her wary features. “I called Coach Carter, he still works here and I asked him for a favor. He left it unlocked for me; I promised him I’ll lock up once we’re finished.”

“Coach Carter?” Her face relaxes. “Wow, I can’t believe he’s still here.” Natalia steps forward and onto the field. We head toward the bleachers and walk all the way to the top, taking a seat on the very last bench. I settle beside her, dig through our bags and we begin eating.

“Oh God, I forgot how much I missed carbs.” Natalia hums as she takes a big bite of her soft taco. “Seriously, this is the Devil’s food.” Her eyes cross, moaning as she takes another bite.