“Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are when you are concentrating on a drawing?”
I looked up at him again and smiled. “Well, you're the only one who has ever seen me this way, aside from class, of course. But I think everyone is paying attention to their own thing instead of looking at my obvious beauty,” I said sarcastically as I laughed.
“Well, you are.”
“Thank you.”
When I finished the outline, I gave him a break to stretch his legs. Instead of grabbing wine like we did last time, I replenished his coffee mug, and mine as well. The warm coffee soothed me, and tasted just like caramel. He took the coffee mug from me and stepped around to look at the drawing. There wasn't much to see at that point, aside from the idea behind the drawing. He seemed to appreciate it all the same.
“It starts out so simply, doesn't it?”
“Yup, but doesn't everything?”
He set his mug on the coffee table, and took a quick bathroom break before we continued. When he returned, he picked up his mug again and took a long swallow. He then set it down and returned to his position.
The rest of the drawing went well, and although there were more angles to master, I did so without any hiccups. I drew in the last stroke of the picture and announced that we were finished for the evening. He slipped back into his shirt and went in search of his socks. He found them one at a time, and came to take a look at the drawing.
“It's definitely my favorite so far.”
“Yeah? Why's that?” I asked him.
“It seems so casual. You definitely caught my relaxed state. I like it; you are so good at this.”
I smiled as I looked down at the drawing. He was right; I had been able to catch his state of relaxation. “Thanks, Jet.”
He bent down and kissed me on the cheek. It was soft and subtle, and didn't go any further.
“Thanks for the coffee. I'll talk to you later, okay?”
I nodded, and watched him as he walked out the door.
Chapter Six
Jet
Fight night had arrived once again for me, and I was pretty jacked up to get back into the cage. I wanted to go to war once again, and take down my opponent. It was the conference semifinals, and the school was having a press conference beforehand. It was moments like this which provided a window into the life that I could one day have in the MMA world. All the fighters that were taking part in the conference lined up at a table, answering questions from the press.
One reporter called out, “Jet, what form of attack do you plan on going with tonight?”
“Well, everyone knows that I'm a natural striker. Although I feel like I have a solid ground game, I like punching people in the face. It makes me happy.”
There was laughter around the room. The other fighters began answering si
milar questions. Before long, the press conference was over, and we were packing up to get ready for the fights.
We had to prepare. We were meeting up at another school for the night, so we had a lot of gear to pack, and Coach wanted us to head out earlier to get our team set up at the school.
I made sure to have my fight outfit ready to go, and I packed all the essential fighting pieces that I would need. I met up with Coach in our locker room, and he patted my shoulder. “So, champ, are you ready for another big fight?”
“Yeah, I can't wait.”
“Conference semifinals are a big deal. You win this and you are going to the finals. That will be the start of a great career for you.”
“I'm on it, Coach. I got this?don't worry about me. I'm going to get there, believe me. It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do.”
“That's my boy!” He pounded me on the back. We laughed as we continued to pack up the gear. We left soon after, piled into the school van, and headed to the school.
We were finally situated in our own locker area, getting ready for the fight. I had taken a peek outside a few times, and the gymnasium was jam-packed full of people. It just made the excitement that much better. I could not wait to get out there. Unfortunately, I had to wait for everyone else to fight. I was the main card and would fight last. I had my hands taped, and at that point I was helping the rest of the fighters warm up and prepare for their fights. One by one, they went out, and came back to victory. We had a strong team that year, and everyone was at the top of his game.