I checked my phone obsessively. Luke said it would be close but I didn’t know how close. The fight was scheduled to start in less than an hour and we hadn’t even landed yet.

I had to be driving the poor woman who the M.M.A.C.S. sent to get me insane.

“Are we close yet?” I asked for the thousandth time.

“Almost, dear. The pilot is just waiting for clearance to land. He promised that the second a runway opens up he’ll get us on the ground.”

She was sweet. From the moment the car service picked me up she was helping me. She told me what to expect when we got to the arena, the fastest way to get through security to the locker rooms, and a host of other details.

I didn’t have time to do anything before I left. The freedom I felt was similar to what I had when we took the vacation. It was a sensation I didn’t plan on losing this time.

While I was waiting at the airport for the jet to finish refueling I decided to call the office. Christine tried to screen me out but I told her if she didn’t put me through to Jones I’d keep calling all day until I got him.

When he answered there was a lot of trepidation in his voice. He asked how I was doing.

I’d told him that wasn’t his concern anymore. I also told him HR could stop their stupid investigation because there was no way I was going back to work at that place even if they didn’t find me at fault. He was taken aback.

He started in with a bunch of lawyer-speak about how he didn’t want to lose me but because of the liability… and on and on.

I told him I didn’t care about that and then let him know what I thought of him for not seeing my side of the situation. Then I told him what a psychotic bitch his assistant was and how she made all of the employees miserable. He seemed genuinely surprised by that but I couldn’t be bothered to stick around for his response. I hung up on him mid-sentence. It was one of the more satisfying phone calls of my life.

I didn’t even dwell on it either. I had a better path in life now. My thoughts were focused on the here and now. And that meant that the future would take care of itself, whatever it may hold.

Today that meant going to Luke.

The plan was for me to get to the locker room so that I could see him before the fight. They had a VIP section in the front row where the friends and family of the fighters were allowed to sit. I would be allowed in there after seeing him.

“Okay, honey. The captain just told me we are cleared to land. It should only be a few more minutes now.”

“Oh thank you so much.”

I felt a little ashamed that I couldn’t remember her name.”

It was ten after eight now. I prayed I would make it in time.

During the flight I busied myself by reading articles about the fight. A lot of the publications picked Luke to win but most thought it would be a really close fight. It was more real to me now than it had been before.

I’d never been to any live sporting event, let alone a prize fight where the man I loved was one of the competitors. It’s funny, in all the time I’d spent with him I never thought about what it would be like when it came time for him to actually fight. He seemed indestructible to me. Now all I could think about was his humanity...

My stomach turned just thinking about him getting hit.

What if he got hurt?

What if he lost?

I was jostled in my seat as the jet touched down.

“And just like that, we’re here,” said the nameless woman with the soft eyes.

We taxied to a stop after a few minutes of maneuvering around the tarmac by the pilot.

It was eight-nineteen.

“Okay, Bria. The stairway is down. We can exit the jet.”

I took a deep breath and unfastened my seat belt.

Here we go.

There was a long black car waiting for me.

“This way, ma’am,” said an older gentleman in a blue suit. “I’ll be escorting you to the event.”

“Thank you. I think we’re running out of time.”

“I’ll tell the driver to step on it,” he said, with a wink.

Las Vegas Boulevard was packed. I don’t know why I would have expected anything different. I craned my neck to see around the front seat. The driver was doing his best but there wasn’t much room to get around anyone.

“Take a deep breath, young lady. We’ll get you there. If I know anything about Mr. Greer, he won’t let the show start until he’s damn well ready for it to start.”

“Thanks,” I said, meekly. It didn’t alleviate any of my concern.

I decided to call Kaitlyn to help with the anxiety.

She answered the phone in a huff.

“I can’t believe you bailed on me tonight. You were supposed to watch the fights with me, remember? And then you didn’t even answer when I tried texting you.”

“I’m really sorry, I was in the air. I couldn’t get any messages.”

“Wait, you were on a plane again? What is that, like the millionth time this month? Where are you headed to now?”

“I just landed in Vegas.”

“You’re going to see Luke! Did you talk to him?”

“We fixed things. Like you said.”

“I knew it! You should listen to me more often. So you called him?”

“Actually, he called me.”

“That’s even better.”

“But I just wanted to tell you where I was. I’m sorry I forgot to let you know earlier.”

“No, that’s totally fine. Wait… are you there with him now?”

“No. I’m trying to get there but the traffic on the strip is a total nightmare. I’m kind of using you as a diversion so I don’t go crazy with anxiety. I’m afraid I’m not going to make it before the fight. He said he really needed me to be there for him before he went out.”

“Hang in there, Bri. You’ll make it. You have fate on your side.”

“I hope so.”

The phone clicked, then beeped three times. The call dropped. Great.

It felt like an eternity before we finally pulled up in front of the venue.

“This is it,” said the man sitting next to me. “When we get out I’ll take you right to him. I may be old but I can move fast so stay close.”

My phone told me it was eight fifty-one. Nine minutes to get there.

The old guy wasn’t lying when he said he was fast. I never moved so quickly while wearing heels in my entire life. I held on to the tail of his jacket as we went.

The casino was filled with people. Everyone was dressed in their best dress or suit. There was a real sense of excitement in the air.

I could hear the occasional roar go up from inside the arena as we made our way around to the side entrance. The preliminary fights had long been underway. Only the main event was left.

“Right through here,” he directed.

We ducked down a hallway and went through a small kitchen. Before I knew it, we were in the bowels of the building.

“Almost there.”

This was a restricted area. There were people milling about but they all seemed to have jobs to do. I imagine it was a mixture of tv people and event staff.

“That’s it,” said the old man. “Go on in, darlin’.”

He pointed toward the first in a row of doors that went down a long hallway.

It was just after nine.

I walked up to the door, then looked back over my shoulder to confirm with him that I was at the right one. He was already gone.

I held my breath, turned the knob, and pushed.

Luke’s was the first face I saw. He was sitting on a training table while someone massaged his shoulders. He was looking me deep into my eyes before I even entered the room.

People were bustling about in every direction. It was a mad house.

“Everybody out!” His voice boomed across the room.

There confused glances all around.

“C’mon, I said everybody out. Now!”

“You heard him folks, he said everybody out,” yelled a younger guy who I recognized from the gym back home.

“But we’re almost ready to go out. They want us to start-”

Luke shot him a glare that stopped him dead in his tracks.

The music from the arena speakers beat in dull thuds against the locker room walls.

One by one members of Luke’s team filtered out. I stood patiently to the side as they passed. When the door closed after the last one I ran to him.

“You made it,” he said, throwing his big arms around me.

“It was close. I didn’t think it was going to happen for a second.”

He planted a strong kiss firmly on my mouth.

“I’m sorry all of this happened. I should have called you sooner.”

“No. I overreacted. Don’t think about that anymore. It’s in the past.”

Luke was wearing dark red shorts with white trim. There were sponsor’s patches adorning each leg. His shoulders were covered by a heavy hooded robe. It was satin like the ones Rocky wore in the movies.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

“Now I am.”

I climbed into his lap on top of the table.

“You can do this. Go win the fight. There’ll be all the time in the world for us after. I’ll be in the front row.”

“You better be.”

He picked me up and walked me to the door. I could hear his people nervously chatting on the other side. Someone called out.

“Luke, it’s time!”

He exhaled through his nose and set me down.

“When this is over, you’re all mine.”

“Be careful.”

I planted another quick kiss on the corner of his mouth and slipped out through the door without looking back. I didn’t want him to see how nervous I was.

The woman from the jet was waiting outside the locker room to lead the way. We got to our seats just as Luke started to make his way toward the cage. A heavy rock song played over the audio system. The place absolutely erupted when he appeared from behind the curtain.

There were so many people around him as he walked down the aisle. There were security guards and Luke’s trainers and members of the medical staff. It looked like a small army taking their warrior into battle.

He stopped just in front of the cage for his final preparations. One of the guys helped him pull the robe off of his shoulders and over his gloves. Another one rubbed him down with what looked like Vaseline; first on his brow, and then over his chest.

His cut musculature glistened under the spotlight. His hair was wet and slicked back from his warm-up.

The other fighter was on his way to the ring now, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Luke. He bounced around the inside of the cage on his toes while shadow boxing. It seemed as if he thought he was the only one in the entire building. He was in the zone.

His opponent was a monster of a man. He cut across my view of Luke as he entered the cage. I’d seen pictures of him online but they didn’t do justice to his true size. He stood a brutish six and a half feet tall. His frame carried the bulk that only dangerous amount of steroids could provide.

They looked like two completely different animals in that cage. Luke was calm and fluid while his opponent made hasty movements and was clearly nervous.

Every one of the thirty thousand plus in attendance was on their feet. The public address system crackled and the walls of the building seemed to tremble at the crowd’s response.

“Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaidies and gentlemen, welcome to our main event!” The announcer’s voice blasted out of the speakers. The fans hit another level of excitement which I didn’t even think possible.

“This is a scheduled five round fight for the M.M.A.C.S. light heavyweight championship of the world!”

The lights dimmed and a hush fell over the crowd.

“In the blue corner is the challenger. Weighing in at two hundred and five pounds, fighting out of the Greer Mixed Martial Arts Fight Club, he’s a two-time national kick boxing champion and a freestyle fighter, Luuuuuuuuuuuke Greeeeeeeer!”

The crowd responded with a chorus of baritone “Luuuuuuuuuuuke’s” back at the cage. The people were clearly in his corner.

He stayed light on his feet, bouncing from side-to-side. Every now and then he shake his head to each side and roll his shoulders. His tan body almost glowed beneath the fluorescent lighting. The determination and focus he maintained was hard for anyone to match.

“And fighting out of the red corner is our champion. Also weighing in at two hundred and five pounds, a mixed martial artist fighting out of the great city of Chicago, Illinois, he’s our reigning, defending, light heavyweight champion of the world… Eric “Super” Simmons!”

Simmons raised both hands in the air. The cacophony of boos from the crowd drowned out any applause he received.

The referee brought both fighters to the center of the cage to read the rules of the bout. And that was it. Without any further pomp or circumstance, they were each directed toward their corners and everyone else aside from the ref exited.

It was time.

Luke crouched down like a Lion preparing to take down its prey.

“Blue corner, are you ready?” shouted the referee.

“Red corner, are you ready?”

“Let’s fight!”

Luke sprung forward out of his stance, covering the distance between the two fighters in an incredibly short amount of time. Simmons squared up to him tentatively.

Luke let go with a barrage of strikes that sent his stunned opponent back against the cage. He landed a kick to the body and then a series of upper cuts.

The crowd reached a fever pitch as the action built.

Another right hand to the body and a left over the top had Simmons on wobbly legs. My heart was in my stomach. If this thing ended in the first round, I would be the happiest girl in the world.

But Simmons grabbed on to Luke, tying up his arms. They wrestled with each other against the cage and the crowd’s energy dropped a level as it was apparent that the champion had regained his bearings.

I was so close to the ringside commentators; I could hear what they were saying.

“Greer came out of the gate with a vengeance,” said one.

“Let’s hope he didn’t just blow out all of his energy trying to get an early stoppage,” said the other.

That didn’t scare me. I knew Luke had energy for days. Simmons landed a heavy right hand that sent Luke’s head snapping backward. I cringed.

The two fighters circled each other as the bell rang signifying the end of round one.

He came to the near corner and sat down on the stool. His trainers were telling him he was doing great… that it was close, but he won the first round.

The bell rang for the beginning of the second round. I couldn’t stand to watch anymore so I closed my eyes and listened to the commentary.

“Greer circles to his left. He’s doing a good job at keeping Simmons away from him with the jab.”

“Simmons shoots in to take him down. The fight moves to the mat.”

“Greer lands a big right hand. Simmons counters and sends the challenger reeling.”

The rise and fall of the crowd’s screams gave me enough insight into just how hard they were going at each other.

That’s how I followed those next three rounds. I hated to see him get hit.

By the time the fifth and final round started I had to force myself to watch. From what I could gather by listening to both the commentators and the guys in Luke’s corner, the fight was close. It was all going to come down to this.

Luke had a gash over his left eye that seeped blood. His body was red in some spots from the punishment. His opponent looked to be in far worse shape.

“Simmons lands a big left hand! Greer goes down to his backside to try to recover but the champ is all over him. This could be the end!”

Oh no!

“Simmons is throwing punches from the top. The ref might stop this fight!”

“Greer is swinging from his back. He’s trying everything he can to keep the champ off of him.”

C’mon Luke. Get up!

“Greer is able to tie up the champ’s arms and he’s leveraging himself back to his feet!”

Go.

“Both men are up now. The crowd is going wild. Luke Greer seems to have recovered but that exchange may have swayed the fight towards Simmons in the judges’ eyes.”

You can do this.

“The fighters separate and each takes a big deep breath. There’s less than a minute left to go in this fight!”

The crowd was back on their feet.

“Greer comes forward first. They trade punches but each man misses his mark. Time is ticking and if the challenger wants this fight he can’t allow it to go to the scorecards.”

“Simmons finds his mark with a kick to the front leg! Thirty seconds now!”

You have to go for it.

“Oh! Luke Greer connects to the chin. He follows up flurry to the body! The champ is having trouble getting his legs under him. There’s twenty seconds left. This is a fight for the ages!”

“Another right hand. Now a knee to the body! Simmons is down! Simmons is down! The referee is stopping the fight! Luke Greer is the new light heavyweight champion of the world!”

The ground shook beneath my feet from the roar that came from the crowd. Everyone in the building was jumping up and down and screaming their lungs out.

I opened my eyes to see Luke standing defiantly over his downed opponent. He raised his arms high above his head. When he turned, our eyes locked on one another’s.

“I love you,” he mouthed from within the midst of the chaos.

“I love you too.”