Match Made In Hell

It was late summer, the warm breeze rustled through the leaves in the trees almost as if they were singing. Sweat was beaded across a woman's face as she thoughtfully sketched the skyline along a river bank. The afternoon was the perfect time for her to sketch, just after work but not before the darkness hit. With one hand drawing and the other hand shielding her eyes from the brightness.

The orange light hit the water in just a way that made it glisten serenely. Ducks swam across the river calling out to each other and she could hear people playing in the water a little way away from her. It was the perfect afternoon to be out. People were out having picnics and the squeals of delight could be heard from afar. It was a sight to see a woman in her mid twenties sitting on the river bank alone. Her sketch pad propped up on her knees, a pencil behind her ear as her shoulder length red hair blew in the wind. She didn't usually keep it down but the fresh breeze felt too good.

She pursed her lips and rubbed her forehead. The drawing was pretty, the black and grey buildings stood tall just like they did across the river. She even managed to sketch a small duck. But something was missing, something that made this picture interesting. She couldn't place her finger on it but she was sure there was something.

But perhaps that was just her artistic self being overly critical.

Just then someone plopped down beside her, she let out a surprised squeal but when she turned there was only a friendly a face. The sun rays shone across his face accentuating his features.

He had a slender yet muscular frame, big green eyes and a tousle of dirty blond hair that looked more like a mop than actual hair. Angled lines made up his entire face. His jaw slightly crooked one way and his nose the other. Although he was still very handsome.

"Can I help you Sean?" she asked teasing him.

He glanced at her, "I missed you Alessia." Alessia rolled her eyes and went back to looking at her drawing. She could feel his eyes on her. " You said you would be home an hour ago, it's almost time for the big match."

She groaned and looked at Sean. Her stable boyfriend of almost 6 years. He was a boxer, and it was a brutal sport, not something she often liked to watch but he loved having her support there. Having an attractive woman on the side-lines cheering for you always helped. Although he was not a professional boxer he made a decent amount of cash doing it as a side gig. It was enough to help them comfortably stay on top of the bills. Between Alessia just graduating art school and Sean's amateur boxing career they struggled immensely to stay afloat.

"Just don't spit the blood on me this time please," she said gently poking him with the end of her pencil.

He laughed. "I make absolutely no such promises. But my manager said that there's a big client coming tonight. Someone who is willing to make a big wager on this fight. We aren't sure what side he's picking yet but isn't that amazing?"

She nodded, having a big client come to the ring would potentially boost his career...his career that wasn't really going anywhere thus far. It could be the big boost he needed to make it to the pros. Dusting herself off she packed up her supplies in her little satchel and they began walking to where he had parked the car to come find her. She had lost track of time, it was almost 7pm and he had to be in the ring by 8 30.

Sean got in the car before Alessia and started up the engine. He was never the type to open doors for her. Although it upset her sometimes she was used to how things were between them. She was comfortable, they had a routine, their own love language and she felt like it was easy. Easy and simple.

They sat in silence together in the car on the way to the boxing ring. Alessia hated the fights. She hates seeing Sean get hurt in them but there was nothing she could do. This was his life's dream, his life's goal to become a pro boxer. All she could do was support him, but her stomach churned.

She didn't want to potentially lose the love of her life just because he wanted to win. Winning was a lot of things, but it was not worth his life. She looked out the window and saw the tall city buildings, the river stretched the length of the city but there were many bridges built in order to be able to build along it. Finally the car came to a stop and Alessia took one last look at her boyfriend before the fight.

"Wish me luck babe," he said as he leant across to kiss her. She kissed him gently, her hand coming up to cradle his face.

"I love you," she said before he was whisked away to go prepare before the fight.

The fight was about to begin, the crowd was cheering loudly. Alessia felt uncomfortable as she was seated in the front row. Her heart pounded fast as she looked at the ring with apprehension. Just then someone sat next to her, he was rather breathless. Fairly cute, short brown hair, short matching stubble adorned his chin and upper lip. His hair was messy and his face had small beads of sweat across it. He was dressed in a smart combination of dark grey pants and a dark blue coat. He had a black tie that was loosened around his neck. With black shoes, a white shirt and a white handkerchief in his pocket. He unbuttoned his jacket and leaned back in his chair he glanced over at Alessia and smiled. Alessia realised she had been staring at him, she felt herself blush.

"Do I know you?" He asked.

She shook her head. "No, I...I'm sorry," she stammered. Turning her head as her cheeks reddened in colour. She could smell him, he smelled like sweat and vanilla. Just as she was calming down she noticed the wad of cash in his hands. He beckoned over the betting agent and handed over the cash. It was a lot of cash, ordinary people didn't just keep that much on themselves. He had to be either rich or very stupid, considering where they were she figured he was both.

"Ten thousand on the challenger," he said smugly. The agent took the money from him and gave him a ticket number. I had never paid much attention to the betting habits of the patrons who attended the games before. He turned to Alessia, "So who are you supporting?"

"My boyfriend," she said quickly. Just then Sean came out into the ring and there was a loud cheer. He blew a kiss to Alessia and grinned. "That's him."

He laughed. "I'm sorry to say you wont get any for at least two weeks after this fight." Puzzled Alessia was about to ask what he meant before he spoke again. "My guy is going to take his hard work away tonight."

"That's presumptuous of you," Alessia said under her breath. The guy smiled and looked at her in a way she had not seen before. Almost like he was trying to study her.

"Presumptuous or not," he began. He leant closer and Alessia felt goose bumps appear on her skin. He whispered, "I know that my guy is better."

Alessia turned to face him and scoffed, "And I know my boyfriend, he's a fighter he wont give up his hard work without the fight of his life. Who are you anyways? Why are you putting so much money on this fight?"

"Me?" he asked amused. "I'm a nobody."

"I doubt that," Alessia muttered under her breath.

And with that he retreated back over to his side and grinned knowing that he had tormented her enough. She stuck to her side and as the challenger came out a smaller yet fiercer cheer erupted from the crowd. He was smaller than Sean, but he looked strong. Alessia didn't doubt that this guy would give it his all. She didn't know much about boxing but what she did know was that there was a lot of punching and dodging involved. So she wated intently as Sean jabbed towards his opponent and evaded hits, he got a few good solid hits in. But unfortunately that was not enough for what would come next.

All of a sudden a rain of hits fired upon Sean. Left hook, right jab, right hook, left jab. Jab, jab, hook swing. And within a matter of minutes Sean had been knocked on his ass. He had gone into the fight cocky and it showed.

Alessia's phone rang, at first she declined the call but it called again. She looked at the screen and saw who was calling her. Her best friend Lacey. She answered, "Hey Lace, I can't really hear you I'm at Sean's match."

"I need to tell you something urgently." Lacey said across the line. Her voice was panicky.

"Can it wait until after the match?" Alessia asked impatiently. "Sean will get mad if he sees me on my phone."

The mysterious stranger next to her eyed her curiously. Why would he get mad at her? Its obvious by how squeamish she was that she didn't enjoy coming to these things. And besides she seemed like a good girl, the type of girl who would only answer if something was wrong. Alessia shot the strange man a look as if to say 'back off.'

"No it can't wait."

Lacey and Alessia had been best friends since primary school. They had met on the first day of year 3 and were closer than most siblings. Since neither of them had siblings they couldn't confirm that but other people had siblings and that was what they decided. They were closer than siblings.

Alessia sighed, "I can't hear you properly give me a minute." She squeezed past the stranger and walked quickly up the aisle and outside of the building. She looked behind her as she left the building to see if Sean noticed, he didn't. He was always so focused on the fights, even at home all he did was talk about fights. It was a little chilly as the wind carried the coolness of the water across the city but she just rubbed her arm and continued with her phone call. "What's happened now Lacey?"

The city was still as busy as ever. Cars whizzing past, and there were lights as far as the eye could see. Alessia didn't remember the last time she could see the stars. They lived in the poorer part of the city, where smog covered the skies most of the time. That's why Alessia liked going down to the river bank, it was a bit clearer out that way. She had always envied those rich people who got to live in the amazing sky rises and the big houses on the other side of the city. Though she knew that they had a good deal of contribution to the pollution of the city too. Still...from there she would be able to see the stars.

Her friend was notorious for getting into trouble, especially with men. Men seemed to be her biggest vice and quite often she would attract some oddballs and weirdos. But no one particularly harmful. There was silence on the other end of the call for what seemed like an eternity. She could hear cheering inside and the sound of clapping and hooting. The match must have been over fairly quickly.

"I'm pregnant," Lacey said eventually. "I am pregnant and it's Sean's."