I actually shared at tonight’s AA meeting, and it got kind of emotional. I guess I am starting to feel a bit more comfortable around Laurel, so talking with the group was not as bad as I thought it would be. I had talked about Gabe; he has been on my mind a lot. Pretty much everyone in the group knows that I’m Jonathan Trial now, but everyone here seems pretty cool, so I don’t worry about it –I guess when you’re a former sports star, it’s kind of hard to remain anonymous. The meeting ends, and I wind up standing by the table of snacks talking with Bobby.

“So Gabe was your trainer’s assistant?” Bobby asks, “The one from the news stories, I guess.”

“Yeah, they did a whole memorial thing about him not too long ago on ESPN. He was well liked by a lot of boxers –not just me. Gabe would probably be pretty ashamed of me right now,” I say.

Bobby gives me a nudge, “why you say that?”

“I don’t know,” I gripe, “I guess because I completely ruined my career. Gabe’s entire life circled around my career. He was just as devoted as I was about making sure I was the best; I feel like I’m letting him down.”

“What’s holding you back?” Bobby asks.

“Well, I need a manager for one. And there’s no one dumb enough to take me –not with the way my rap sheet looks right now,” I say.

Bobby pauses, but then this excited smile appears on his face. “What if I could help with that?”

“With what?” I question.

“Cleaning up your record,” he says, “man, I was the former DA of this city. I know my way around the law book. We clean up your record –then you work on cleaning up that stank reputation of yours. I could even help with that by confronting the media about the way they portrayed you –you’re no damn sexist, man… I mean, you’re a pretty typical asshole guy, but you’re not a damn misogynist. A couple of threats about deprivation of character from a former DA just might do the trick at scaring them from reporting on that anymore. Then we find a low end manager for you to get your name back in the game. You have a gym to practice at, and I bet if you sweet talk a few of those ladies they might even let you train with them. Then, before you know it, you’ll be kicking Donte’s ass in the ring.”

“I don’t know, Bobby,” I say, although his offer is extremely tempting; there’s just no way I could afford to hire a lawyer right now to help.

Bobby stares at me, “Let me help, Jonathan. I’m offering to do this for you. No cost. Just one AA member to another.”

“You’re serious?” I question him and take a bite of one of the nasty sugar cookies that had been brought to the meeting today.

“I’m dead serious,” he says, “What do you say?”

Laurel, who had apparently been listening, mutters, “You should do it.”

I glance over my shoulder to see that she is picking herself out a soda from the cooler by the table of snacks. “You really think so?” I ask.

“Why not? What do you have to lose?” she says.

“Well then,” I turn to Bobby, “I guess it’s worth a shot.”

“Great!” Bobby looks positively thrilled. “I’ll get to work first thing next week, and we’ll see what I can do.”

After spending some more time talking to Bobby, I wind up walking out with Laurel. She tells me that she had jogged here, so her car is still at the gym. “You want me to give you a ride back to the gym?” I ask, “Its kind of late to be walking around by yourself.”

“Actually, my apartment is closer. I’d rather job to the gym in the morning anyways, do you mind giving me a lift there?” she asks.

“Sure,” we head over to the Volkswagen, and I climb over the passenger’s side seat to unlock the driver’s side door.

I can hear Bobby laughing as he gets into his car. “Hey, man, I got a mechanic buddy of mine,” he calls out, “I’m going to give him a call for you –he owe me a favor.”

Not sure what Bobby would possibly do to this giant birth-control-mobile within my budget, but I nod anyways, “Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Bobby.”

He heads out, and Laurel and I load up into my car and head towards her apartment. “Listen,” she says to me as we pull out of the parking lot, “I think I owe you an apology.”

I think there are a few things she could apologize for, so I don’t say much. “Oh?” I ask.

“The first day when you showed up at the gym, I was pretty harsh. I made a comment about your friend, Gabe…” she was quiet for a moment, “the media made it sound like you were drunk driving and pissed some guy off. I said you got him killed, and that’s not really what happened at all, is it?”

“I had been drinking,” I admit, “but I wasn’t drunk. I cut some guy off, and he lost his mind and chased us down. He ran us off the road, and then he shot Gabe. Whoever the bastard was… he was going to shoot me too, but then he heard the police sirens in the distance and scrammed. I guess, in a way, it was my fault because-”

“No,” she says, “no, it wasn’t, and it was wrong of me to suggest otherwise. I’m sorry, Jonathan.”

I glance over at her; she looks embarrassed. She’s let her hair down, and I can tell she’s had it pulled up in a ponytail all day; it’s curled awkwardly, but I kind of like it. I smile, “I should apologize too. I should have never ran my mouth up at the gym when you specifically asked me not too. I bet your friends gave you hell, didn’t they?”

Laurel laughs, “Are you kidding me? I almost banged the guy whose picture we have been using as a dart board. Yes, they gave me a hard time. Seriously, what were the chances you’d show up at my gym? There are probably hundreds of gyms in this city, but your old trainer just so happens to be old pals with Alex.”

“Yeah, about that, what’s the story there? Do you know?” I ask.

“No idea,” she says.

“God, you don’t think they were a thing, do you?” I ask.

Laurel cringes, “She’s, like, twenty years younger than him, Jonathan.”

I laugh, “You’re right. I don’t know…”

“Can we change the subject, please? Because now I have this creepy image of Alex and Damion in my head,” Laurel moans as though the thought physically pains her. “Tell me about Gabe,” she says.

I hesitate, but we still have a good distance to go, so I cave. I have plenty to say; he was a good kid, and he had been my best friend. I tell her about Gabe, Tyler, and Marty and all the hell the four of us used to get into. I talk mostly about Gabe, but she asks about Tyler after hearing the story about his sister the other night.

By the time we reach her apartment, I’m feeling a bit winded. IT was a pretty emotional topic for me, but I’m still smiling –which is good. It’s been a long time since Gabe’s name brought a smile to my face instead of making me feel guilty and full of turmoil. She thanks me for driving her home and then goes to get out of the car, but she pauses. “Um…” she looks embarrassed, “Jonathan, would you like to come up? I could throw on a pot of coffee…”

I stare at her for a minute. Is she inviting me up to her apartment? Really? I smile, “Sure,” I say, and we both pile out of the car. I feel my heart racing as she leads into her apartment building.