JEN'S DINER

The next day, Gilmore and I are sitting in a booth table across from each other with our ice cream sundaes.

"Aiden's MMA fighting?" Gilmore said to me, surprised. "Why?"

"He told me that he was venting out his frustration." I said to Gilmore. "The thing is, the crowd was betting money on which fighter wound win the match."

"And who's the MMA thing?" Gilmore asked me.

"Quintora Kean." I told her.

Which shocks Gilmore. "Quintora Kean as an in the small red chocolate shop?"

"Yeah, but I have an unsettling vibe about her. She's been hosting MMA fights for a while now and Aiden's stuck in it." I said to Gilmore.

"Does Aiden wants the cash?" Gilmore asked me.

"Nope. He told me that he MMA fights just to fight. But I'm still worried about him. Aiden may in trouble." I said to Gilmore.

"You think Quintora is using Aiden?" Gilmore asked me.

"Yeah." I replied to her. "She tried to hand him $900 dollar cash after his MMA fight, which he lost, but he didn't want it and she gave him a red chocolate bar instead."

"What of the MMA fights? Is it fake or real?" Gilmore asked me.

"The MMA fights are real. Quintora Kean hosts her MMA fights at the Blue Waves Swimming Center." I tell her.

"The Blue Waves Swimming Center. No one barely goes there." Gilmore said to me.

"Exactly." I said to her. "And I think that Kean and Q chocolate bars and candy business isn't just her shop, it's also her base of operations."

"If what you're saying is true about Quintora Kean's MMA fights, and she's using Aiden to make money off of him, then, Aiden's in trouble, Andy." Gilmore said to me.

Gilmore and I exchange worried looks at each other.

*~*~*

ANDERSON HOME

That afternoon, In the living room, Aiden and I are at the kitchen countertop.

"Aiden, you're in trouble with Quintora Kean." I tell him.

"Angie? I thought we were done with this conversation?" Aiden said to me.

"Aiden, listen to me, Quintora Kean is using you as her MMA fighter to make money of you." I tell him.

Aiden folds his arms gently leaning against the kitchen counter. "Andy?"

"Why do you think that she tried to hand you $900 dollar cash to you after you lost your match? Or she wanted you to let you know when you wanted to fight again at the Blue Waves Swimming Center? She wants to hook you into it, so, you can keep coming back to her, Aiden. Quintora is using you to get cash off of you." I tell him.

Aiden processes what I told him and he becomes worried. "So, I'm not really MMA fighting?"

"No, you're not." I replied to him, folding my arms. "And I have a hunch that the opponents that you MMA fight with are Quintora's henchmen."

"Quintora Kean also mentioned that she has an old friend." Aiden said.

"It must be Quinton Kiermont." I said to him. "He and Quintora must be working together."

"Or an passionate affair, which doesn't make sense because Quinton isn't married anymore and Amy Tooney psychotically committed suicide on herself." Aiden said.

"Quinton and Amy loved each other, psychopathic twisted." I said to him. "But anyhoo, Aidy, you need to somehow forfeit out of Quintora's MMA matches or something."

"Ang, you and I don't know what Quintora Kean is capable of or what she's capable of doing." Aiden said, slowly walks up to the kitchen countertop and gently leans on it. "I have to keep doing this MMA thing and if Quintora finds out about what you know about her, she's gonna come after you, and I don't want you in trouble."

"Aiden?" I said.

"I know the risk I'm taking, Andy. And if Quintora finds out that I know about her mischievous intentions of her MMA, I'm screwed." Aiden said.

"No one knows about Quintora's MMA, just you." I said to Aiden.

"And I have to keep it." Aiden said to me, worriedly. "I'm sorry, Angie, but I'm stuck in it."

"Okay." I said to him. "Do you want me to be there at the Blue Waves Swimming Center this evening?"

"With what you know about Quintora Kean and her MMA fights, not really no." Aiden said to me. And small smiles. "But I know how stubborn you are."

"Yeah, I am." I said.

*~*~*

BLUE WAVES SWIMMING
CENTER

That evening, a crowd is sitting around on the poolside, cheering on the MMA fighters.

Down in the empty pool, a shirtless Aiden, wearing a pair of boxer fingerless gloves and a pair of navy blue sweatpants, has a few bruises on his face from fighting his opponent named Miguel, who's also shirtless, wearing a pair of dark gray knee length sweatpants.

Aiden and Miguel are both barefoot as well.

I open the door and slowly walks inside, wearing my 'Darcy Lynn' outfit disguise.

As the crowd cheers on Aiden and Miguel, I slowly walks up to the poolside and crouches down.

Aiden glances up at me and averts his attention back on Miguel as they MMA fight.

Miguel puts Aiden in a stranglehold as Aiden tries to get out of it. Aiden steps on Miguel's foot and elbows him in his face, knocking Miguel out onto the pool floor.

"Your winner . . . Aiden Anderson!" Quintora Kean in a handheld microphone.

The crowd cheers and applauds.

Panting to himself, Aiden and Quintora exchange looks at each other. She nods at him. And he nods at her.

*~*~*

In the changing room, Aiden is sitting on the bench, pulls off his boxer fingerless gloves and looks at his bruised knuckles. He flexes both of his fingers and thumbs with a wince.

The changing room door opens and closes.

"Aiden?" I said to him.

Aiden looks at me with a small smile. "Angie? I saw you."

"You glanced up at me." I said, pulls off my sunglasses and slowly walks up to him and sits down beside him on the bench. "I'm gonna get you out of this, Aidy, I don't know how, but I will."

Aiden small smiles at me. "I don't need a knight in shiny armor, Andy. But I love you anyway."

Aiden and I exchange small smiles at each other. The changing room door opens. I gets up and walks behind a locker.

Quintora Kean slowly walks inside, closes the door behind her and looks at Aiden. "You've done well, Aiden. I know you don't want the cash, but you received $900."

"Why the MMA?" Aiden asked her. "What do you get out of it?"

"It's fun." Quintora Kean said, and walks away, walking out of the changing room.

I slowly walks out from the behind the locker. Aiden and I exchange worried looks at each other.

"You're right about Quintora Kean. She's mischievous." Aiden said to me.

"Like I said, I had an unsettling vibe about her." I said to him.

*~*~*

JEN'S DINER

That night, after changing out of my "Darcy Lynn" outfit, Aiden and I are sitting at the diner counter with our yogurt parfaits with our spoons.

"What happened to your knuckles, Aiden?" Cassidy asked him, concerned.

"I've been sparring with a punching bag at the Sotheby's Lounge Center." Aiden falsely lied.

"Oh, okay." Cassidy said, and walks away. And looks at me. "Hey, Angie." She greeted me.

"Hey, Cassidy." I greeted back at her.

Aiden looks at me, and eats a small spoonful of his yogurt parfait. "Why would Quintora want the money from her MMA fights?"

"Don't know." I replied. "But whatever it is, it's not good."

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