Chapter 4 - Maya Came Back Before I Wanted Her To
Maya walked into the gym the next morning wearing sunglasses indoors.
I nearly lost my mind.
She had a small bandage near her eyebrow and moved carefully.
Nothing dramatic.
Enough.
I met her halfway across the lobby.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting my bag.”
“I can get your bag.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you here?”
She took off the sunglasses.
“Because if you walk in and carry everything out for me, Vince gets to tell himself this became a father problem.”
I glanced toward the mat.
Keller was there.
So was Cody.
Noah sat on a bench wrapping his hands and not training.
Several other fighters watched us.
“Maya.”
“Dad.”
“You were discharged twelve hours ago.”
“I’m not sparring.”
“You shouldn't even be—”
She raised a finger.
“Finish that sentence and I'm leaving before I get my stuff just to annoy you.”
I closed my mouth.
She walked toward the locker area.
I followed at a distance.
Keller intercepted her.
“You shouldn't be here.”
Maya almost smiled.
“Interesting.”
“I mean medically.”
“Then yesterday would've been a great time to care.”
Cody looked away.
Keller lowered his voice.
“You know this has gotten out of control.”
“No. Yesterday got out of control.”
“You brought Marcus Hale into my gym.”
Maya stared at him.
“I didn't.”
He looked at me.
“Then why is he here?”
She answered:
“Because the hospital called my emergency contact.”
That hit me harder than I expected.
After hiding sixteen months of training from me, she still put my name on the private medical form.
Keller looked irritated.
“You told us your father wasn't involved.”
“He wasn't.”
“She used Brooks here,” I said.
Keller glanced at me.
“I know.”
Maya frowned.
“No, you didn't. Not at first.”
I looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
Keller stepped in.
“Enough.”
Maya ignored him.
“Vince found out six months ago.”
“How?”
“He Googled my emergency contact.”
Keller said:
“You were entering competitions. I needed to know who I was responsible for.”
“You weren't responsible for my father.”
“I recognized the name.”
I looked at him.
“You knew who I was.”
“By reputation.”
Yesterday he'd acted as if Noah's recognition surprised him.
Perhaps it had.
Knowing a name was not knowing a face.
Still.
Maya looked at him.
“And after that, every argument became about who my father was.”
Keller scoffed.
“That is ridiculous.”
“You asked whether quitting ran in the family.”
My jaw tightened.
Keller looked at me.
“I didn't know anything about you personally.”
Maya laughed.
“You knew enough to use him when you wanted me angry.”
There was the missing piece.
Keller hadn't only told Cody Maya insulted him.
He had also spent months telling Maya she trained cautiously because her father had taught her to fear injury.
He was pushing both egos.
Cody came closer.
“What did he tell you about me?”
Maya looked at him.
“That you thought women at the gym were tourists.”
Cody frowned.
“I've never said that.”
Noah laughed bitterly from the bench.
“Not in those words.”
Cody glared at him.
Noah shrugged.
“Don't make me rescue your personality too.”
Maya continued toward the locker room.
Keller followed.
“You still owe the gym thirty days.”
She stopped.
“For membership?”
“Management.”
“I didn't renew.”
“Your previous agreement has a notice period.”
Maya turned.
“I gave notice.”
“After Dana approached you.”
“Yes.”
“That's what I'm saying.”
“No. You're saying my career belongs to you because someone else noticed me.”
Keller's face reddened.
I wanted to intervene.
Maya looked at me before I could.
Don't.
I stayed where I was.
She walked into the locker area.
Cody came beside me.
Quietly:
“She really didn't tell you she fought?”
“No.”
He looked surprised.
“You guys close?”
“I thought so.”
That answer bothered me all day.
Then the front door opened.
A woman in a navy blazer entered carrying nothing but her phone and a visitor credential.
Maya came back out with her duffel.
She saw the woman.
Stopped.
“Dana?”
Dana Ruiz looked at Keller.
“I've been trying to reach you since yesterday.”
Keller's face changed.
Dana looked at Maya.
“You were supposed to meet me here at eleven yesterday.”
Maya nodded.
“Vince told me you moved it.”
Dana looked back at Keller.
“I never moved anything.”
May you like
Then she said the sentence that turned every fighter in the room toward him.
“Vince told me you canceled.”
