Chapter 13

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Look Away

"She was brave and strong and broken all at once." – Anna Funder

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh my God, Chase!" I gasped.

"Good." From the corner of my eye, I saw him nod approvingly. "One more."

"No fucking way." I gritted, falling back against the floor – closing my eyes and refusing to move. Chase had taken the meaning of getting me into shape, to a whole new level. I was sore in places I didn't know possible, and I'm pretty sure I was walking around with a limp that made me look ridiculous.

"Oh come on." I heard him laugh from above me. I didn't need to open my eyes to know he was smirking down at me and trying to stifle his amusement. "I know you're tougher than that."

"I'm not." I deadpanned, keeping my eyes closed. My heart was beating uncontrollably against my ribcage, and my chest was heaving as if I were on the verge of a heart attack. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Chase was trying to kill me. He's had me doing sprints on the treadmill for half an hour, followed by a series of sit-ups, pushups and squats for the past week.

If his secret plan was to get me to quit, he was on the verge of winning. I'm not sure how much more my body could take before I just collapsed.

"Get up." I heard him say, annoyance seeping through his voice.

"I don't want to." I whined, finally cracking one eye open. Chase was standing above me with his arms crossed over his chest – his usual intimidating stance.

"Lexie." He glared down at me.

"Chase." I blinked up at him, raising my arms above my head and stretching.

"Get up." He extended his hand out, expectantly waiting for me to take it.

"Were you not taught how to say please?" I retorted, batting his hand away as I pushed myself up off the floor.

"Lexie," Chase inched closer towards me, smiling sweetly. "Please just fucking listen for once in your life."

That's certainly one way of saying please, I snorted. I was just about to open my mouth and reply when someone called out his name.

"Chase!"

Both of us turned our heads in the direction of the voice, and I had to blink twice. It wasn't just anyone who had called his name. A curvy blonde was casually leaning against the wall by the doorway, twirling a strand of hair between her fingertips as she waved at Chase.

Could this be any more cliché right now, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. She was wearing a pair of tight fitted jeans with a yellow crop top that showed off her toned abs, and her hair fell down in messy waves. Her lips were stained with a dark red lipstick and everything about her just screamed I'm here to get fucked.

"One of your admirers?" I cocked an eyebrow, shifting my gaze back towards Chase.

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "We'll finish this later." He said, bending down to pick up his keys and water bottle off the floor before making his way towards the blonde.

"Asshole." I grumbled under my breath as I watched him place his hand on the small of her back and lead her out of the training room.

.........

After Chase's sudden disappearance, I had no choice but to get back to work. It was the end of the month, which meant I had to put in the supply orders for the following month. I had been putting it off because looking at the tiny numbers on the computer screen gave me a headache, but I couldn't put it off any longer. That, and I was secretly hoping Scarlett would volunteer to help since she was working a shift today.

"You look awful." Scarlett declared when I walked back into the reception area.

"Thanks." I pinned her with a glare, reaching for a bottle of water. "I feel like it too."

"Chase is really putting you to work, huh?" She laughed, shaking her head.

"More like trying to kill me." I grumbled, unscrewing the cap and lifting the water bottle to my lips. Water had never tasted so fucking good, I thought after chugging the entire thing. "He's had me running sprints and doing push-ups all fucking week."

"He takes his training very seriously." She flashed me a sympathetic smile. "Pretty sure he learned that from Darius."

"How long have they known each other?"

"For years." She replied as I leaned back against the cold edge of the reception desk. Scarlett was occupying the only available seat, and my legs were killing me. "Chase's dad used to train Darius before he went pro."

"Hmm." I nodded, processing the new information. I didn't get to ask any more questions because Scarlett had gotten into a fight with the computer.

"Son of a bitch!" She cursed under her breath, a frustrated groan escaping her lips. I watched amused while a very pissed off Scarlett slammed the mouse against the desk, as if that was going to the computer to work any faster.

"I don't think breaking the mouse is going to get it to work any faster." I laughed.

Scarlett turned to glare at me, her eyes narrowed in slits. "Can you go get Chase to come fix this shit before I throw it across the room?"

My eyebrows shot up in surprise and I tried to stifle my laughter. "I doubt throwing it across the room is going to solve the problem."

"Lexie."

"Can't you just go?" I pouted, hoping she would take pity on me. "My legs feel like they're about to fall off."

"But Chase likes you so much better." She smirked, pointing towards his office upstairs. "You're his Poptart."

"No he doesn't." I scoffed, rolling my eyes. 

"Please!" She shifted her gaze between me and the frozen computer screen. "He'll yell at me if I go up there. Plus, I'll help you put in the supply orders for next month if he comes down to fix the computer."

"You're so annoying." I sighed, rolling my eyes once again as I pushed myself off the edge of the desk and grudgingly began climbing the stairs.

"You love me!" Scarlett shouted, her laughter echoing over the soft music playing through the speakers.

After what felt like a hundred stairs later, I finally reached the second floor landing. Pressing down on the door handle, I pushed Chase's office door open. "Chase, can you come f –"

"Oh God that feels so good, baby."

"Fuck, Melissa."

I stood in the doorway frozen, my eyes locked in on the scene in front of me.

Oh my fucking God.

I blinked – once, twice.

The same blonde girl from earlier was sprawled out naked on Chase's desk with him towering over her. Her hands were tangled in his hair, pulling and tugging at the dark brown strands as he dug his fingers into her hips.

A pang of unfamiliar emotion formed in the pit of my stomach as my eyes continued to remain locked on the scene in front of me.

Then, Chase's dark green eyes found mine and his lips curled up into a smirk. I swallowed hard, his eyes not leaving mine as he pulled out and thrust back into her, causing her to moan even louder. He bit his lip as he wrapped his hand in her thick blonde hair, pulling it roughly and causing her back to arch as he continued to slam into her relentlessly.

Despite the rough and animalistic nature of what was currently unfolding in front of me, the look on blondie's face told me it was more than pleasing.

"Oh God – Chase... yes." She continued to moan, arching her back further and letting her head drop back. It was then that the she finally noticed me standing there like a complete fucking idiot. "Get the fuck out!" She screamed, breaking me out of my trance.

"I'm so sorry!" I gasped, my hand flying to cover my eyes.

"Are you stupid?" The girl continued to scream as I scrambled backwards trying not to trip over my own two feet on my way out. "Get the fuck out!"

"Melissa –" Was the last thing I heard as I slammed the door shut behind me.

"What the actual fuck." I whispered to myself, leaning against the banister, far far away from Chase's office. That was about the last thing I was expecting to see when I came up here.

Shaking all thoughts of what I just witnessed out of my head, I made my way down the stairs completely ignoring the unfamiliar feeling in the pit of my stomach and my accelerated heartbeat.

"Are you okay?" Scarlett asked me when she saw me. "Where's Chase?"

"He's a little preoccupied at the moment." I quickly dismissed, busying myself with stacking up some of the loose pamphlets scattered around.

"With what?" She asked incredulously, her brows furrowed together in confusion. "He needs to upgrade to a better comput –"

"Scarlett!" I sighed in exasperation, pinning her with a glare.

"Okay –" She quickly held her hands up in surrender. "Fine!"

.................

I didn't see Chase for the rest of the day, and I was hoping to keep it that way after what I witnessed earlier.

I can't believe I just stood there and watched them... do that. What the fuck was wrong with me, I mentally groaned as I rubbed my tired face.

Just forty-three more minutes, I sighed, glancing at the clock again.

Not long after I came back downstairs, the girl Chase had been preoccupied with quickly stormed past Scarlett and I. On her way out, however, she made sure to stop by the reception desk to glare daggers at me and call me a bitch, and I can't say I didn't get some sort of weird satisfaction out of smiling and waving at her on her way out.

Chase on the other hand, I didn't see for the rest of the day. Not that I was eager to lay eyes on him any time soon after that.

I was five minutes away from freedom when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

Please don't let it be him, I silently prayed. Please don't let it b –

"Lexie." I heard his voice before I saw him.

"Yeah?" I quickly replied, my voice coming out higher than usual.

"You ready?" I refused to look at him as I occupied myself with dusting the already clean surface on the desk.

"For what?" I asked confused while still avoiding his gaze. I heard him make a tsk sound, amused. When he didn't say anything else, I cautiously lifted my eyes to meet him. He was staring at me, scanning my face in that intimidating manner he always did.

"What," Chase's lips curved upwards in a smirk when he finally spoke. "You've never see anyone fucking before?"

Of course he wasn't just going to forget about it, I groaned, averting my gaze again.

As a matter of fact, I had never seen anyone... doing that.

Hell, I had never done that.

"I – I..." I was at a loss for words. This was not a conversation I wanted to be having with Chase right now. Or ever for that matter.

"Let's go." Chase rolled his eyes, beginning to walk towards the training room. I gaped at him, still standing firmly in place. When he saw I wasn't following behind him, he stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder. "We're gonna finish your lesson for today."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I continued to gape at him, my voice laced with disbelief.

"Do you want to learn to fight, or not?" He challenged, cocking an eyebrow in my direction.

"I –" I opened my mouth to speak again, but quickly shut it again. Instead, I said, "Don't you need to cover the front desk? My shift's is over."

"I'll send Darius to sit behind the desk." He shrugged nonchalantly, continuing into the training room. "You coming?"

"Ugh!" I groaned as I watched him disappear. Shoving my purse back under the desk, I walked in the direction Chase had gone in, but as my eyes scanned the rows of treadmills and other various workout equipment, he was nowhere to be seen.

Where the fuck did he go?

"Looks like you're finally gonna get to put on some gloves." Darius nodded towards the back of the room where the lights were on in the private ring as he casually walked past me.

I'll believe it when I see it, I grumbled.

"You ready?" Chase asked as I cautiously crossed the room and approached him. He then handed me two red gloves, much smaller than the ones he usually wore. "Put these on."

"There's six punches you need to know." He said, lifting the ropes and stepping into the ring. I quickly nodded, following after him and waiting for him to continue.

"Jab."

"Cross."

"Lead hook."

"Rear hook."

"Lead uppercut."

"And finally – the rear uppercut."

He then proceeded to demonstrate each one, my eyes glued to his every movement. "We'll start you off with the jab. It's the most basic out of the six."

Again, I nodded.

"Get into position." Chase eyed me expectantly, and all I could do was stare back into his piercing green eyes.

"Position?" I blinked stupidly, feeling my cheeks heat up.

"Fighting stance." He rolled his eyes, demonstrating. I tried to mimic his position as best as I could, but I must not have come even close because before I knew it, Chase had stepped around me and I could feel his body heat radiating against my back.

"Legs shoulder-width apart." He muttered, using his knee to kick my legs apart. "Tilt your head forward and make sure to tuck your chin." I felt my breathing begin to speed up as his hand came into contact with my bare skin, adjusting my elbows. "And this elbow is pressed against your chest and stomach, while the other protects your ribs."

All I could do was nod and focus on my rapidly accelerating breathing as I tried to retain as much of what Chase was saying. When he finally stepped back and came back into my peripheral vision, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Now aim your arm straight out." Chase said, his eyes glued to mine as I did what he said.

"Okay." His lips pursed together in a thin line as he nodded slowly, trying to suppress his amusement. "Let's try it again. This time, not so quick. Aim slower until you get the hang of it. And make sure to always guard your face when you retract your hand."

Chase had me repeating the same movement over and over again until I felt like my arm was going to fall off. However, as much as I wanted to ask him if I could stop, I wasn't a quitter. And despite the pain shooting through my arm, it felt oddly satisfying to be getting the hang of this.

I knew I was nowhere near being able to properly defend myself, but I was one step closer than I was six months ago.

"Okay you can stop now." Chase's deep voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Thank fucking god," I said, letting my arms finally relax. He had a rather interesting approach to teaching, and I don't think I've ever seen him as attentive to anything before as to when I was practicing the move he had shown me.

"Thanks." I mumbled, easily taking the gloves off and accepting the water bottle from him.

"You're not as bad as I thought you'd be." His eyes sparkled with amusement as he continued to scan my face.

"When will you just admit I'm awesome?" I cocked a challenging eyebrow, screwing the cap back on the water bottle before placing it on the ground.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here." He snorted, as I lifted the black hoodie I had been wearing over my head.

When I turned back around, Chase was eyeing me strangely and the playful expression from earlier was gone. "What?" I asked.

"What's this?" His brows furrowed together as he slowly closed the distance between the two of us and walked behind me.

"What..." I breathed out, confused.

"This." He gently lifted his hand up to my right shoulder and my heart stopped. I felt his fingertips lightly trace the horizontal jagged scar that had taken permanent residence against my otherwise smooth skin, and I couldn't help but shudder.

I vividly remember the night I got that scar. It was the first of many that came later.

I turned the key, jerking the door open. As I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, I noticed almost all of the lights were off in the apartment.

That's strange, I thought. Ben doesn't usually go to bed this early.

"You're home."

I nearly jumped out of my skin when Ben's voice echoed throughout the silent apartment. I lifted my head to see him sitting at the dining room table, a half empty bottle of whiskey and an empty glass in front of him.

"Yeah." I smiled, trying to calm my racing heart. Walking towards him, an uneasy feeling crawled up my skin. "Yasmine and I stayed until the library closed."

"Yasmine." He nodded apprehensively as I bent down and pecked his cheek. Immediately, the strong smell of whiskey hit my nostrils and I tried not to react. "Was it just you and Yasmine?"

"Yeah." I tried to shake the strange feeling and the third degree from Ben as I opened the fridge door and reached inside for the ingredients to make a sandwich. "Do you want one?" I asked, twisting my head to look at him.

Silence.

What the fuck crawled up his ass, I thought as I opened the cabinet next to the fridge and reached for the bread. Then, I heard the scraping of the chair against the hardwood floor.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Ben screamed, his face mere inches away from mine.

"Ben, what the fuck?" I gasped, dropping the jar of mayo from my hands. It landed on the floor with a loud thud, the white contents spilling on the kitchen tiles.

"Do not talk to me like that!" He kicked the jar on the floor and he reached out, gripping my forearms.

"Ben, stop it." I protested, his grip only tightening against me. "You're hurting me."

His lips curled upwards into a sadistic smile as he slowly began to laugh. "Oh Alexandra." He tsked, his right hand reaching up to cup my cheek and I couldn't help but grimace.

"I left work early today, thinking I would surprise my girlfriend with flowers and dinner." Ben nodded towards the dining room table where a dozen red roses sat in a vase in the middle of the table. "Imagine my surprise when I came home and you weren't here."

"I was studying!" I tried to reason with him, but it was useless. Sure – he'd been jealous before, but never like this. And he'd never so much as raised his voice at me before, let alone put his hands on me.

"Stop lying!" He screamed, finally stepping back from me. I let out a sigh of relief as he retreated back towards the dining room, but that was short lived when he picked up the flower vase and started walking back towards me.

My eyes darted between him and the front door, but it was useless. There's no way I could slip past him. 

"Ben... what are you doing?" My voice quivered as my gaze fixated on the vase in his hand.

"Aren't they beautiful?"

"Ben..."

"Aren't they beautiful, Alexandra?" He screamed, and I barely had time to duck before the vase shattered loudly above my head.

Tears had started falling down my cheeks as I tried to crawl through the broken glass, desperate to get away from him.

All I had to do was slip past him and get to the front door. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ben's strong arms once again wrapped around my forearms as he pulled me against him.

"Let go of me!" I screamed, trashing in his grasp. But the more I struggled, the stronger his hold on me tightened.

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