After showing up an hour later, Damon made it back to my apartment, somehow managing to hit every bump and pothole along the way. There was no way that I could hold off on the pain meds any longer.

My arm was burning and the pain had started to make me nauseous. About a half-hour later, my head was spinning and I needed to lay down. I was asleep by the time my head hit the pillow.

I was out cold when I was jolted awake by someone knocking on my door. I tried to ignore it but the knocking continued. I looked at my phone and saw that it was 2:00 in the afternoon.

I swear to God that if this is some crackhead banging on the wrong door, I’m going to hit them over the head with my cast.

I looked through the peephole, expecting to see one of the neighborhood thugs or a local crachkead on the other side. Instead, I saw that it was Shelly knocking on my door.

What is she doing here at this time in the afternoon?

* * *

My day had gone to shit much faster than even I had anticipated. I had only been at work for an hour before I was called into Angie’s office. I was starting to wonder if these little meetings were going to become a daily occurrence.

Apparently, she wasn’t satisfied with the way she had laid into me the day before and couldn’t wait to do it again. Before I knew it, I was on my way out the door and in my car long before my shift was scheduled to be over.

When I got home I was surprised to see that he was gone. No note, no phone call or text, nothing. I’m not even sure how he would have left, unless he called for a cab.

As I began straightening my apartment, I tried calling him but he didn’t pick up. While I was washing the dishes, I remembered that I had his promoters phone number. I gave him a call to see if he knew where Jason might be as I dried my hands on a dish towel.

“Is this Damon?” I asked.

“Yes it is, who is this?” he replied.

“Damon, this is Shelly. I just got home and noticed that Jason isn’t at my house anymore. He didn’t leave a note or anything. Have you heard from him today?”

“Yeah, I did. He called me this morning and had me come pick him up from your apartment. He wasn’t in the best of moods, though but I don’t blame him. He’s been through a lot lately.”

“Is he still with you now?”

“No, he had me drop him off at his place. As far as I know, that’s where you’ll find him.”

“Thanks Damon,” I grabbed my keys. “I appreciate it.”

I parked my car in his driveway and didn’t even think twice about the thugs standing in front of his apartment complex. I was more concerned about getting to Jason and making sure that he was okay. He’d been acting odd ever since he had the car accident.

Knowing that he was likely to be knocked out, I banged on his door. When I didn’t get an answer, I banged even harder. When I still didn’t get an answer, I banged as hard as I could.

“What?” Jason yelled as he yanked his door open. He was groggy and trying to figure out what was going on. “Damn girl, why are you banging on my door like you’re the cops or something? People don’t like that around here.”

I tried to be strong. He had plenty of his own issues to deal with and I was sure he didn’t want to be bothered with mine but I had to talk to someone.

“I tried calling you but didn’t get an answer. How come you left my apartment?” I asked as I stormed by him and into his apartment.

“I didn’t think it was right for you to be taking care of me. I’m a grown ass man and I should be able to take care of myself.”

“That’s fair enough,” I said, just barely keeping myself together.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at work?”

I lost it. All of my sadness. All of my anger. All of my emotions came pouring out of me.

“I got suspended from work today,” I said in my shaky voice as tears started streaming down my face.

“Why? What happened?”

“It was that bitch Candace. Her aunt is my boss so she ran right to her to tell her that I’m dating a resident’s family member. She ran and snitched on me like a third grader.”

“That’s messed up. So what happened?”

“Well, yesterday, my boss made me go into her office for a meeting where she grilled me and laid into me for like an hour. I denied everything because they don’t have any proof at all. She couldn’t do anything to me. Today, Angie called me into her office again. She told me that she didn’t think I took our talk yesterday seriously so she was sending me home to give me some time to think about it. It’s only for 48 hours but this is still bullshit.”

Jason took his good hand and started running it through my hair as I leaned into him, literally using his shoulder to cry on.

“It’s going to be okay. Everything is going to work out the way it’s supposed to,” he assured me as he stroked my hair.

“Do you really think so?”

“I know so. If things are going to work in my favor, they’re going to have to work in yours too.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, looking up at him

“I’m not really sure. It’s probably just the drugs making me talk shit. All I’m saying is that you’re going to be fine. You said yourself that it’s only for 48 hours. Use that time to recharge your batteries and get back in there. When you go back, though, act like it’s just another day and that none of that other shit happened. Let them know that shit don’t faze you even if, inside, it’s driving you crazy.”

Jason was right. It wasn’t the end of the world. If nothing else, I could use it as a mini-vacation. Hell, it would be nice not to have to look at Candace for a couple of days.

“So how are you feeling?” I asked him.

“Sore and exhausted,” he replied. “Damon canceled my next fight. There’s no way I’ll be ready to fight in time.”

“I’m sorry Jason. I know that you were looking forward to your big fight.”

“Oh, the big fight is still on. I’m not letting anyone take that fight from me. It’s my only shot at making it big. The president of Championship Cage Fighting is going to be in attendance. I have to make sure I make a great impression.”

“Jason, you can’t do that. You have no idea what kind of impact that can have on your arm injury. It’s not possible for it to be healed in time for the fight.”

Before I was able to get another word out, Jason bent in and started kissing me passionately. I’m not sure if that was his way of telling me to shut up, but if it was, it was fine by me.