Ava

"Oh hi, Ava!" 

I smiled at Kira. The sales department had been quiet ever since the departure of their head, and I felt I should address them. It wasn't their fault their boss was a scumbag. I had run into Kira a couple of times, though the sales dep occupied a floor I rarely stopped on.

"Gather up, people." I called out. It took them a minute to leave their desks, and stand in front of me. "Until a new head is appointed, you all will report directly to me. I want to know the progress on a weekly basis. I give you freedom to make your decisions, but I should be informed of anything new that goes on. Questions?"

"How long will it take for an official head to be appointed?" One asked.

"See, that depends on the person. If they're qualified enough, not more than a few days. But I can't guarantee anything. The board conducts the interviews of all heads. If there's any progress, I will inform you."

When no other questions were asked, I gave them a nod and turned around. My name was called from behind me and I whipped back again. Kira walked to me, pushing her hair back. "Did Fred really assault her?" She whispered.

"Your brother confirmed." I raised an eyebrow. "Are you doubt-"

"No, no! Of course not. It's just- I don't know. Fred was like an idol to me." She said.

"He was a misogynist, that's what he was. Did you really not get any other person to idolise?" I asked. I wasn't the person to judge anyone's role model. But Fred wasn't the person to be looked upon. I knew that before he was accused.

Kira looked down. "He helped me when I came here, a lot. I didn't know what to do and he guided me."

My eyebrows scrunched. Why did that sound so wrong. "Helped you?"

"Yeah like, showed me around and guided me about things. I can't believe he'd do something like that. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you taking out time to inform all of us about the status." She smiled.

I observed her closely, gauging her face. Then I smiled back. "Of course, it's my job."

Kira was hiding something and I was going to find out what it was. No one got away with secrets in my charge. Everyone seemed to be hiding something here. But they were all going to spill one by one. I would make sure of that.

My phone was ringing when I reached my office. My mood instantly brightened when I hit the answer button.

"Qué pasa, amor?" Elias murmured from the other side. He was breathing deeply and that told he was practising. "Extrañandome?

"I'm alright. I suspect there's another person whose mouth I need to open."

"Mhm, that sounded so not sexual." He chuckled at his own irony. "Stop by the gym today?"

"Someone misses me apparently." I teased.

"Always. You miss me all the time as well, I know." He breathed out. 

"Of course." I bit my lip to stop smiling. "I'll come by 6, okay?"

He hung up after asking me to take care. The smile was permanent on my face all throughout work. I even smiled at Robert when he came to drop some files. He looked surprised, but didn't comment. The extremely hot sex happened day before yesterday, when I came a total of seven times. Elias had a very important match day after tomorrow, so he had been busy with practice. I hadn't seen him all day yesterday, and he was right. I missed him.

I rushed things when it was 5:30, too eager to see him. Brenda bid me farewell and I waved her back hurriedly. I got stuck in traffic, and that reminded me just why I hated driving. When I parked my car outside the gym, it was 6:10. Strutting inside, I went to the changing rooms first, not seeing Elias anywhere. 

I went outside the gym, into the boxing room. Sure enough, Elias was in the ring, another man in front of him. His eyes snapped to the door when it opened, and his lips pulled up into a smile when he saw me. He whispered something to the other guy in his ear, whose eyes snapped to me as well, and nodded.

"Hey you." I raised an eyebrow when he grabbed a hand wrap, and walked to me.

"Hello, preciosa." He murmured, grabbing my jaw and kissing my lips. "You in the mood to box?"

"Of course, I always am." I said. He grinned, holding his hands up. I placed mine in his as he wrapped the cloth around around my knuckles. "You're up against him." He gestured behind, to the other guy.

He was observing me, and I raised an eyebrow at him. He smirked, looking away. The guy seemed to be the same age as Elias, green eyes and dark brown hair. The way he stood in the ring told me he was experienced. How much though, I didn't know.

"Don't go easy on her, Jamie." Elias said as I walked into the ring. "I don't want you making excuses when she kicks your ass." I grinned. I loved how he said that so easily.

"Will she?" Jamie raised an eyebrow. 

"I might, I had a very good teacher-" I said, circling him.

"Make me proud, amor." 

"-and I don't wish to disappoint him." I finished with a smile, then struck a punch across his stomach. He moved back swiftly, but couldn't stop my approaching fist, his face swinging to the side by my punch. Jamie clenched his jaw, unclenched it, tilting his neck to relax the stiff muscles.

"Who the fuck are you, by the way?" I asked, shifting my head when he made a move to hit me.

"Jamie Hutchens. I trained under him for a few weeks." He gestured to Elias, who was watching us intently. "Who are you?"

"Ava Thompson. He trained me for five months." I punched his stomach again. "I'd say it's nice to meet you, but I have more pressing issues right now."

He chuckled, dodging away my punch. Circling each other for another minute, he striked again. I shifted to the side, and that's when he swung his fist across my face. Fuck, that hurt like a bitch. I grabbed my jaw to check if it was still working. Jamie played me like a fool. He defended till I got tired, then he proceeded with offence.

I was on the ground within the next second, his fist aimed at my face again, but he didn't strike. Maybe he thought my face was too pretty to be bruised up. Whatever it was, he made a mistake. Because that moment I punched him across the stomach, making him hunch. Another to his shoulder when I got up, bringing my fist to his face, stopping just inches away.

"Alright, fine, that's enough." Elias called out from behind us. "No one won."

I whipped around. "What? Why?"

"Because even though you punched him five times, his two punches were stronger than yours."

"But-"

"You sucked, Jamie." Elias said bluntly. "Is that how you're gonna play at the championships? She may not have won but she definitely kicked your ass. And she's not even a professional."

Jamie looked down. He continued, "I made you fight her to make you understand where you stand. You're not going to last a single round with that performance. This is what happens when you skip practise. She didn't hit you that last time, that's what saved your fucking ass, or you would have lost. You wanna make boxing your career? Fucking act like it then."

I looked between the two of them in surprise. I'd thought Elias put me against him just for fun, and to check how I was doing. I hadn't known this was a self realisation session.

"Come back here only if you're serious." Elias said forcefully. "I give second chances, but another mistake and you're out."

Jamie nodded, still looking down. He bumped his fists against mine in a friendly gesture, but didn't look up. He gathered his things, then left without another word. Elias sighed when the doors closed, sitting down on a table.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked, walking to him.

"Yeah. I just hate it when people don't realise their potential." He said, shifting to the side as I sat beside him. He looked at me, "You okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

His gaze turned penetrating, his hand coming up and brushing my bottom lip. I'd thrown off the gloves and tape, but his knuckles were still covered by the hand wrap. His face was soft and open, but there was a hint of possessiveness in them. It had been a long while since I'd seen that possessiveness in his eyes. He seemed to control it around me, but I knew him well enough to know he was possessive over people he cared about, and I was one of them.

His brown orbs shone in the lights, his cheekbones prominent. I stared with parted lips, still not understanding how anyone could be so beautiful. That was what I'd thought the first time I'd seen him. Not hot, not sexy, not even handsome. Beautiful. That's what stood him out in front of all the guys I'd ever seen. That's what made him a part of my dreams all through college life. 

Elias was staring at me as if there was nothing else in this world. If it had been earlier, that would have overwhelmed me. But not now, not ever. He was turning me up into flames with his eyes, and suddenly the idea of being burnt by him excited me. 

"Be my girlfriend." He breathed out. I blinked once, twice. His face shifted closer, his fingers on my cheeks turning softer and all the more possessive. The roughness of the tape on his hand made me shiver in delight. His lips brushed against mine in the lightest of whispers. "Don't say no, Ava. Por favor."

"You didn't ask me." I said, my voice shaky. "That wasn't a question. There's no room to say no."

His fingers stopped, and he froze for a second. He moved his head back to look at my face. His face was a mask of apprehension and doubt. "You- what?"

I shifted my face closer to his, bringing my hand up to stroke his cheekbone. "I can't say no to that, Elias. I don't want to."

He pulled back again to look at my face. "You- you're serious? You're saying yes?"

I chuckled softly. "Yes, baby."

The happiness that flooded on his face after that made me wonder why I hadn't done this earlier, why I'd waited so long. I'd been so terrified of us hurting each other that I'd never paused for a moment to think about the fact that Elias would never, ever hurt me. And neither would I hurt him. We weren't capable of hurting each other.

His happiness was so infectious that I found myself smiling, laughing against his lips as we dropped down on the table. It had been so long since I'd been so carefree with him, so happy. It reminded me of old times. Times when it was just him and I. Times when home wasn't a place.

He was home. He'd always been. He'll always be.

-⍣-

Well, this technically had to happen later on in the story, but I just got impatient and felt it went with the flow. Did you expect it?

My throat's gotten worse and I swear I haven't drunk this much hot water in my entire life which I did in these 3 days. 

Also, please vote and comment if you like the story so far.