The Fight Club (8 page)

Julie

After the phone call, I couldn't stay in the orphanage anymore. I had to visit the cancer care center as soon as possible. I said goodbye to the kids and took a cab to the hospital. Every moment that passed by, I cried harder. My mom was my everything. I couldn't see her in pain. I would do anything to keep her in the care center. She had raised me in difficult circumstances, and now, I was failing to take care of her. My dad passed away when I was very small. Mom did a lot to raise me, and pay for my studies. I owed her my life, and I was failing her miserably.

The moment the cab stopped, I ran inside and bolted to her room. She looked worse than the last time I saw her, and that was just a week back.

"Julie. What are you doing here?" Her eyes widened, and she grabbed the corner of the bed, trying to sit.

I stopped her from doing that, because I could see how much energy she needed to do it, and it was a lot. "Please don't, Mom." I sat next to her, and held her hands. She was so thin. She looked nothing like the Mom I knew a couple of years back. Cancer had changed her completely.

Every time I saw her I cursed the disease. I remembered the day we found out. It was photographed in my memory.

A couple of years back, I got a call from the library she was working in. She’d fainted. Her coworkers had called 911, and they took her to the hospital. When I reached the hospital, doctor told me that my mother had a tumor in her brain, and it was too risky to operate. I fell on my knees and begged the doctor to do something, but he said there were few options. I took my mother to many other specialists, but no one advised surgery, and after three months of frustration, I ended up putting her here, in this cancer care facility. It was the best I could afford, but I didn't care for the money because I loved my mom more than anything in the world.

I wondered now if her illness drove me to propose Eddie earlier than I should have.

"I'm fine, Julie. I couldn’t be better. Yesterday a young man came to meet me and asked me if I needed anything. I said to him that I wanted to meet the Almighty.” She pointed her finger up.

"Why would you say such a thing, Mom? We
will
find a cure for you. Medical research has done a miraculous job in the past few years. It's just a matter of time. Someone will find the cure to cancer." A hole was forming inside of me. But I knew I couldn't cry in front of her, or else she would cry, too, and her health would take a toll.

"That man also said something like that. But my time is overdue, my little angel. I'm living only because you want me to. Otherwise, I would have happily died months ago." A lone teardrop came out of her eyes.

I wiped it with my hand and hugged her. "Don't worry, Mom. We will get through this together. I'm not letting you go anywhere. I'll work extra hard to make sure you get everything you want."

"And that's what I don't want to see, my little angel. You giving up your life for me."

"Mom, I want you to see your grandchildren and play with them. I won't let you go before that." It was getting hard to be strong. I wanted to enclose myself in a cube and cry until the world ended.

"Are you planning to marry Eddie?" Her eyes widened with hope.

"No. I'm not getting married. It’s too soon, Mom. It’ll have to wait." Bitter memories of my failed relationship passed through my mind. I wished I could’ve given better news to my mom.

"Where is that boy anyway? He hasn’t come to see me for a long time. Why?" she asked.

She didn't know about me and Eddie. And she didn't know about me moving to L.A. as well. I didn't want to shock her by telling her all my issues. I just wanted to see her happy, and nothing else.

"Mom, why don't we talk about the man you met yesterday? Was he a doctor? Was he hot?" I winked at her.

"He was definitely hot. Hotter than Eddie, I would say. But he wasn't a doctor. He didn't ask me anything about medicines or any symptoms. He sat here, looked out of the window, talked to me for a bit, and then walked out. He seemed like a nice guy. If you didn’t have a boyfriend, I would have happily introduced you to him." She smiled, but I could see some pain there, too.

"Wow. If he’s that hot, I might think about dumping Eddie." I giggled.

She laughed too, but then she coughed. The cancer was eating the organs in her body, and it was taking a toll on everything.

"I’m gonna go, Mom. I'm here for a couple of days, so I’ll see you tomorrow." I just wanted to get out of there and cry my eyes out.

"Take care sweetheart, and come early tomorrow. You might just see that guy."

I left. As soon I was away from my Mom's room, I started weeping.

"Hey, are you all right?" A hand touched my shoulder. I turned around, and saw it was a nurse.

"I'm fine. Just walked out of my Mom's room."

"I know it must be hard for you. But we are doing the best we can, and trust me, your mother is in good hands." She smiled at me.

I was about to say something back to her, but then I saw Noah walking out of another room.

"What is he doing here?" I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Are you talking about Noah Rich?" the nurse asked.

"Yes."

"He bought this care center last week. He’s visiting and asking about the welfare of every patient. I've never seen an owner do that before. He’s quite generous." She seemed highly impressed.

"Did he visit my Mom’s room yesterday? Mrs. McCord's room?"

"Yes, he did."

"Thanks for telling me,” I said, a little phased. Noah surprised me. Was he planning something weird? Or was he genuinely interested in welfare of these people? I figured I ought to find out, and ask my mother what he talked to her about.

Noah

"Good evening, sir.” My butler opened the car door for me. I stepped outside and threw the key to him. Before he got in, he stopped for a second, "Sir, I forgot to mention we have a guest."

"A guest? Why did you let him in?" This irked me. No one was supposed to know my home address and enter my house without my permission. No one invaded my privacy.

"She came with Mr. Rich," he answered politely.

"Uncle Sam brought a woman in the house?" That was something...unexpected. I had better check it out myself.

"Yes sir," he replied.

"Okay, fine. Just don't inform him I'm already here." I walked quickly towards the house. My curiosity was peaked already.

When I entered, I heard two familiar voices. One was Uncle Sam, and the other was Julie’s.

Am I hallucinating? She can't be here. Yet to my surprise, Julie was sitting on the couch, talking with Uncle Sam.

"Julie, you..."

"Noah! What are you doing here?" Her eyes grazed me up and down.

"It's my home. I should ask that same question to you."

"You two seem to know each other very well." Uncle Sam stared at us.

"I work at the club where Noah is a client," Julie replied, her eyes still focused on me.

"Didn't I tell you about the fight club, Uncle Sam?" I fixed my eyes on him. I was afraid that he would talk about Tonya by mistake. And Julie was the last person I would want to know about Tonya.

"I should probably go, Uncle Sam. Thanks for the tea." Julie smiled and stood up. Seeing her ready to leave broke a cord in my heart. What the fuck was happening to me? Why I was getting all hyped up about her? She was just a normal girl. But whenever I saw her, something happened inside me. I was a bee, and she was the sweetest flower in all the world. And it wasn't just her smile, I liked the way she dealt with me. Girl's don't fool around me for respect, they want my money or my body. But this girl, wanted respect and she fought for it.

"No no, I invited you to dinner. You should stay. Don't worry, Noah won’t mention this to your employer. Would you, Noah?" Uncle Sam was burning a hole in my body with his eyes now. He seemed to like her.

"Of course not, Julie. It's none of my business what you do outside of your working hours,” I stammered.

"Are you sure, Noah? I hope this isn’t too awkward for you," she replied.

"It’s fine. Yes, you should stay for dinner. I shall take leave from you."

"If you aren’t staying for dinner in your own home I would feel embarrassed," Julie added.

I looked at her. I wondered if she really meant that, after how I behaved with her. But her eyes sparkled with innocence. There was nothing dark within them.

"Okay, I'll join you for dinner,” I relented. “How do you know each other? Sam never talked about you before."

"It's a funny story, actually. And we met not only once, but twice in the last few days. Both the times this girl saved me from falling on my ass." Uncle Sam chuckled.

"Falling where?" After the incident with Tonya, I didn't visit Uncle Sam regularly, but he was my superhero from childhood and I couldn't loath him for his decision to support Tonya’s choice to leave. He was the only family I had left.

"I nearly crashed into a bush a few days back, when I was shopping, and she caught me mid-fall. When I visited the
Peter's Orphanage
today, one small kid smacked into me accidentally. I was about to take a tumble. But thanks to Julie, I’m okay.”

Uncle Sam smiled at her. I knew he regularly visited orphanages for charity purposes. But what was Julie doing there?

"I know, it sounds stupid. But she literally held me in her arms when I fell down," Uncle Sam replied in a shameful voice.

We all laughed and headed straight for the dining room. During dinner, we were smiling and laughing. I felt good because it was like having dinner with a real family. Julie added a nice touch to the dinner. When the dinner was over, she picked up the dishes.

"Leave them there. We have waiters for that,” Sam told her.

"You’re a sweet old man, but that doesn't mean I should accept every order from you," Julie teased.

"Uncle Sam, why don't you stay here tonight? It would be a nice change," I said, hoping for a yes.

He looked surprised at my offer. "Why not? I should get my medicines from my car.”

"Please, go ahead. And thanks for inviting me to dinner. I really enjoyed it," Julie added her smile beaming through her words.

"You are welcome anytime, child. I shall invite you again to my other house, as I have your number now." Sam smiled and went to go get his medication.

"Thanks a lot, Julie." I extended my hand to her.

She rolled her eyes at my hand for a moment, before accepting it. “My pleasure.”

"I'm sorry for my rude behavior." I was finally realizing that I was wrong about her from the start. I guess she was all right. But then she looked like Tonya, and how could she be normal after looking like Tonya. But somewhere deep inside my mind I knew she wasn't Tonya.

"Are
you sorry?" Her chin jutted up.

"Yes, I am." I put my other hand over our enclosed ones. I needed to let it go, and not see the shadow of Tonya in her.

"Well then, I’ll see you at the club tomorrow for practice." She flashed her teeth again, and I couldn't control myself. I went ahead and pressed my lips to hers. They were too tempting to let go.

At first she tried to push me back, but then she gave in. Her tongue rolled inside my mouth, like she was tasting me. I loved the nice touch she added to the kiss. My hands were resting on her back, pulling her closer. Her aroma was playing with my nostrils. She felt utterly refreshing, and nothing like Tonya.

Tonya.
My brain registered her name, and I realized what I was doing. I was fucking kissing a girl, and I never did that. I never kissed any other girl than Tonya. How could I kiss Julie?

I pushed her back. "I'm so sorry, Julie. I'm so sorry." I couldn't continue to look at her, because I was afraid that she would see my past in my eyes. I couldn't let that happen.

I didn't stop to check if she left or not. I went straight to my room. I needed alone time.

I laid down on my bed and pulled Tonya's picture out of a secret corner. It was the last picture I had of me with her. My fingers moved over her face. I witnessed her purple eyes, her perfectly tied pony tail. I hated her for doing this to me.

Where was she? I didn't know the answer, and I didn't want to. My life was perfect without her, but now, I kissed Julie. Was it because she looked like Tonya? She didn't smell like Tonya, nor had she felt like her. She had the same purple eyes, and tied her hair in a pony tail, but she was different. Julie had a tender heart. I could feel it from the way she believed in everyone. The only thing I hated was her giving attention to Tony.

Are you jealous, Noah?

No. I wasn't jealous. I was perfectly fine with my life. I had a company to look after, and I fucked a woman every Monday. But then I didn't fuck anyone this Monday, and for the first time, I wasn't depressed. And what about the kiss? Why did I kiss her? I had never kissed a woman I fucked. But then, I had no thought of fucking Julie when I kissed her. I just wanted to taste those lush lips, immerse myself in her scent. And I loved what I tasted in her.

"Are you asleep, Noah?" Uncle Sam knocked on my door.

"No, Uncle Sam. Come in." I sat on my bed. Uncle Sam came and sat beside me.

"When I saw her for the first time, I thought Tonya was back. And I stumbled, as I was sneaking up on her." He paused. "But then I saw the way she was teaching those kids. I found out she was nothing like Tonya."

"What are you getting at?" I couldn't guess his intentions. It was a long time since we had any real discussions about Tonya.

"Don't treat her like you would treat, Tonya. Julie’s a nice person. Treat her like one." He patted my shoulder and walked out of the room.

I nodded, whispering to myself. "I promise, Sam. I won't treat her like the way I’d treat Tonya. I know she is different."