Bare Knuckled

Chapter Seven- The Brawler VS The Contender

Approaching the square canvas outlined in rope had forced Zane to grow anxious. The failure of his last time present played on repeat in his mind, but so had the careful touch of a forbidden woman. He recalled his confession to her and how she left him to stew in said admission with the excuse of retrieving more medical supplies and never returning. He could not deny how this had stung but it also reminded himself, constantly, that she was not available. Their relationship had reminded him of window shopping; being able to look but not touch-being able to get so close, to visualize the merchandise upon himself...but unable to reach through the glass. 

"How is my prime fighter?!" Butch asked as Zane was torn from his fantasy with Candace. Zane's eyes rose to his boss but only for a moment as he saw the beautiful woman upon his arm that was not his wife. Instead, this woman was the polar opposite including her personality. Where Candy was welcoming and kind, she was stuck up and stiff.  But the nauseating fact was not their physical and characteristic contrast, but that of the shameless nature of Butch bringing a date when his wife was on the grounds. This detail enraged Zane as he now held a new motive for relinquishing his anger. 

"Ready for redemption." Zane answered, biting his lip against Butch's extramarital affair. 

"I love your spirit...He is gonna be a real entertainer…" he spoke the second half of his sentence to his date before then leaving the main lobby and Zane without a second thought. 

Moving to the locker room to prepare for his second chance, Zane stood in surprise as Candace was awaiting him. Unable to speak first due to the awkward abandonment of their last encounter, he just stood in awe of her perfect appearance and waited for her to speak first. Thankfully, he would not have to wait in silence for long. 

"I am so sorry about before…." The words came out dripping with obvious guilt as he was curious to know as to what was more important than returning to their shared moment. But he then recalled where he sat on the social totem pole of their relationship. Because of this, his expression was indifferent to her, only adding to her own anxiety on how she felt for him. "I didn't come back-"

"You didn't have to." He spoke the truth they both knew, doing so with words less painful than the weight they harbored when being spoken. 

"But I said I would and I like to stick to my word."

"Mrs-" Zane attempted to keep their relationship professional, but the thought of being property to her husband irritating Candace had forced her to remind him of her government name. "Candace…" he corrected himself before continuing after her interruption. "I appreciate your pity, but I don't need it." her eyes narrowed to him deeply. 

"I don't pity you...I believe in you…" this acknowledgement made them both freeze in place. "I have seen what you can do, Zane-" a smirk lifted on the corners of his lips but not from the term of endearment she was preparing to speak, but for the way she spoke his name that caused a flicker of electricity to source through his entire body. "And I am thankful that you have it because then we never would have met." His eyes widened in arousal to this comment as he fought the urge to take his hand to her cheek in a caress as she stood so close. "And you are the only thing that gives me hope that maybe humanity isn't as bad as it seems…" a little defeated that her analysis of him was not romantic, he was thankful she thought of him at all. "So don't make me feel like an i***t for putting my faith in you." She smiled widely before handing him the tape for his hands and leaving him to think on her words. 

The fight went by in a blur for Zane as he sat on the edge of the canvas following the night's conclusion. Yet, the crowd could recall the reverberation of every one of his opponent's fists hitting hard against his body, but also the clout behind his own punches. The stinging sweat in his gaze remained on him now, although quite faded, as well as the pain from using his knuckles to fight with little to no protection. With his new wounds having continued healing with the use of butterfly bandages and triple antibiotic gel, Zane had only recalled one detail of the moment in its entirety; the climax. 

With both challengers having grown exhausted from an exhilarating performance of mutual interest to win, Zane had been knocked to the ground in what was expected to be the winning blow. However, as if rising like a phoenix from the ashes, he rose from the ground in a perfectly controlled punch that would force his opponent to lose consciousness and allow him tonight's victory. But as he looked to the crowd, he hadn't been wowed by their applause, but instead, the look of those he knew. His poor excuse for a father figure had looked to him with disbelief while his half sibling cheered in approval. Tariq had made the crowd well aware of his succor towards Zane with his fist pumps and loud cheering. But it was the look upon Candace's perfect expression that made him uncertain as she looked to him with a mix of pride and worry. The sense of worry in her eyes having derived from her fear of him changing from the well-mannered and selfless man she knew him to be. 

"I am not letting the victor of the circuit's most talked about fight spend the night of said victory moping!" Tariq spoke as Zane rose from his level position and back to a vertical stance. "Can't say I'm surprised you won though...you HAVE been watching me." He teased as Zane nodded in genuine agreement. If not for Tariq he would never have been able to save Candy that night and for that, he was grateful. 

"No man, that was all you." Tariq spoke in approval before wrapping his arm over Zane's shoulders. Tariq was always that voice of encouragement to Zane, the closest thing he had to family that he did not feel responsible for. Because of this, he agreed to break his usual introverted ways and accompany him to a night of celebrating. He owed Tariq so much but was too full of pride to show it in a way of normalcy-so much as a simple thank you, and instead did so by acting as his hype-man as well as his wingman; at least up until Tariq got married.

And so, both men exited the arena and entered a luxurious BMW owned by Tariq. While listening to the local radio station that played Eminem's latest hit in a censored exhibition, they made their way downtown. The usual mundane appearance of downtown Camden was more lively on this night due to the victory of their town's local hero. Applause seemed to accompany them both as well as female attention-but as always, Zane never noticed the women nor thought he deserved the applause. 

"Two whiskeys." Tariq ordered. "And send a drink to her…from him." He continued as he motioned to a cute little brunette at the end of the bar. The woman seemed the epitome of a female Zane as she was unaware of her attractiveness but also comfortable in her state of self pity. 

"Or are you still hung up on Butch's wife?" Tariq asked as Zane looked to him as of he could murder him. "If you aren't going to confess your nearly half a decade long love for her then there is no reason you can't share a drink with the lovely brunette over there." He hated how Tariq pushed him...but also admired how fearless he was to do the things that terrified Zane. 

"I guess there is no harm in saying hello…" Zane spoke as he moved beside the woman who smiled widely when seeing him. This night quickly became a blur much like his fight, but for a different reason; alcohol. Whiskies turned to shots that eventually turned into a bout of meaningless s*x that was intended to be a one night stand, as was expected by meeting someone in a bar and making a relationship based off of flirtation and liquor. And the morning after existed as hell for Zane as he awoke with a jackhammer headache and a naked woman beside him, unable to believe he would take a woman to bed without genuine feeling.

Running his hands through his hair, Zane thought of the fractured memories from the night before and felt guilt for giving the woman beside him any type of impression. He knew he allowed himself to get sucked into the sordid side of his local fame by the evidence beside him, and thus breaking his morale. But he also knew that a romance between him and Candace would be impossible...and so the reason for guilt was rather redundant. 

"Knock knock!" Candace's voice echoed outside Zane's apartment as he jumped up quickly, trying to fix his hair and erase any evidence of another woman having been present on him or in view of when the door would open. He moved rapidly to the door and opened it with a nervous smile as she greeted him with a hug that allowed her to push her way into the apartment and see the woman in his bed. 

"I am so sorry!" She spoke after the initial shock left her expression. "I just wanted to bring coffee and congratulate you...but it seems you already had someone do that-" her feeling of envy was not lost on him as he went to reach for her but found her to jump back. 

"I had too much to drink-" he attempted to explain to her, but she interrupted him immediately. 

"You don't owe me any explanation…" she spoke with a forced smile and every ounce of strength used to keep from tears forming in her eyes. But her sadness was not from anger, but from the fact that the woman in his bed could be present without worry of being scrutinized or discovered. She envied her as she knew Zane's touch in the most intimate way, in a way she knew she could never. This realization along with Zane accusing alcohol had been too much for her to bear. "I'll see you later...and congrats again." She spoke through a smile that held deep pain behind it, one she perfected in her marriage to Butch. 

Even though he called out after her, Candace raced down the hall of the apartment complex until she was out of sight. While Zane rested his head against the door in defeat, Candace had slid into the back of her chauffeured car and hid her tears behind a compact mirror that also reminded her of her latest bruise from her husband. A bruise that she had to be touched up from her emotions getting the best of her and wiping off her concealer that kept this secret hidden.

This moment had reminded them both of their impossible desire for the other. Perhaps they had been able to skirt around the idea of a salacious affair-but this brought them both back to reality. A reality neither wished to know without the other…