Guarded Heart (Dubicki's) (2 page)

Chapter 2

“Jesse, you’ve got to work on your ground techniques. You
know Velasquez is not good at packing punches like you, so he’s going to focus
on getting you with joint locks or chokeholds.”

Pablo Cruz had been Jesse’s new trainer for the last few
months. There had been competition among a few mixed martial arts, or MMA,
fighters to acquire Pablo, and Jesse was lucky to have won Pablo to his
fighting staff. Pablo was a taller version of Jesse with a darker complexion.
He had coarse, dark, wavy hair and eyes as dark as his hair, but as far as body
type, he and Jesse were well-matched. That’s one of the reasons Jesse liked
him.

Pablo used to train a famous Brazilian fighter. Although
Pablo was from Florida originally, he had moved to Brazil for five years to
train Matheus Rocha. Rocha was a middleweight Brazilian champ consistently over
the last few years. Rocha eventually decided to take on a different coach,
which brought Pablo back to the States. His experience with Rocha ultimately
advanced his career to one of the top MMA coaches in the United States. Brazil
was a highly successful country in the world of MMA fighting, and acquiring the
skill-set that Pablo had teaching one of the most powerful Brazilian fighters
of the recent past was a coup.

“Yeah, I know what I’m up against. I have him in size, but
he can get me with his floor skills if I let him,” Jesse said.

“That’s why I have added a vigorous jiu-jitsu routine to
your schedule three days a week now.”

Jesse groaned but knew it was for the best. He loved the
challenge and had to stay diligent because he had a fight in a just over a
month. His opponent, Damon Velasquez, was a fighter from California. Jesse had
worked with him when they were much younger. Damon had come to Minnesota for a
year when they were both 17. He’d been a good fighter then, and Jesse was sure
that his skills had only grown. They’d been watching endless tapes of Damon’s
recent fights since they’d learned he was Jesse’s next opponent. Jesse wanted
to beat him to a pulp. For a brief time, they’d been friends, but that all
changed when Jesse had lost badly to Damon two years ago. He’d been waiting for
his shot at vengeance, and now he was about to have it.

Jesse’s brow creased with concern as he wondered if Damon
would bring his sister, Janelle. Janelle had been one of the random hook-ups in
his past that he’d like to forget. She was as relentless as her brother in a
female form. After their hook-up, which Jesse went into believing that it was
casual, he learned quickly that Janelle didn’t mean what she said. He wasn’t
sure if she was crazy or just had a thing for him. When he thought of Janelle,
he knew she was suspiciously close to being certifiably crazy. After they’d
slept together, she’d done everything short of boiling a rabbit on his stove to
convince him they had to be together. It took Jesse a while to get her away
from him. He did not want his focus diverted from his true opponent, Damon
Velasquez.

After his long jiu-jitsu training session that afternoon, he
showered and tried to let the stress of the day go. There’d be plenty of time
for more training and more stress tomorrow.

Chapter 3

Jesse was glad it was the end of a long day. He’d worked
hard training all day and he loved it, but, damn, he was exhausted. He walked
the few blocks home on the beautiful summer night and just took in the fact
that not only did the cool breeze feel nice, but that he could also go home,
eat, and relax for the night.

He had an apartment above his family’s bar, Dubicki’s.
Dubicki’s was a two-story, red, brick building in northeast Minneapolis. The
main floor was the restaurant and bar, and the top floor was a small apartment.
His father had used it as a bachelor pad before he’d married Jesse’s mom. After
they were married, his dad had always rented it to family or someone he knew.
He never had to advertise. It was the ideal bachelor pad. When Jesse was old
enough, he took over the residency. It was a spacious enough apartment for two
guys who weren’t home a lot and didn’t mind the noise downstairs when they
were. That’s why Jesse shared the space with his buddy Carson.

Carson had a dream job to most guys. He designed video games
for a living. He spent a lot of time at the office but could work from home
when needed. Jesse usually got to try the games before he launched them when
there was time, and it was awesome. His latest video game was set 3,000 years
in the future and had some awesome features.

As Jesse walked in the door, Carson was at the refrigerator
popping the top off a beer bottle.

“Hey, buddy, you want one?”

“I’d love one, but I shouldn’t. I’ve got practice tomorrow
and have to hit it hard. A beer or two wouldn’t do me any good in the morning,”
Jesse said, walking into the living room.

For being an apartment above a bar, it had a spacious airy
feel. A big picture window sat at the front of the living room, which was
directly over the front door of the bar. There was some mismatched furniture
which the two of them had compiled from their families and neighborhood garage
sales. The couch was reminiscent of days gone by that were probably best
forgotten. It was grey with various patchwork squares on it. Kelsey had teased
them that it was terrible and to return it to the garage sale from which they
found it, but they were proud of the find and kept it. It was the right price,
and, as far as they were concerned, it added character to the home of two
bachelors. It was perfect for them.

“Got it, dude, but you knew I’d ask.” Carson sighed as he
followed Jesse and sat down on the couch.

Carson loved beer. To him, it was one of the coolest things
about living upstairs from a bar. Since the bar had been Jesse’s family’s
business all his life, Jesse couldn’t argue that. His family had this bar for
as long as he could remember and then some; some of his best memories as a
little boy had to do with the establishment that he was now living upstairs
from. His parents had lived there for a short time when they were first
married, before they had a family. It contented him knowing so much of his
family history was within the confines of that building.

“So, when’s your next night when you can go out and don’t
have to get up the next day?” Carson asked him.

“You mean, when do I have a day off?” Jesse said as he
playfully tossed a bottle cap at Carson’s head.

“Oww!” Carson rubbed his head where the bottle cap had hit.
“Answer the question!”

“I have Saturday off, so I could probably come out and meet
you guys Friday. What’s up?”

“Well, Nate, Luke, and I were all talking about going out
Friday night. We’re going to hit some clubs and see if we can pick up some
women. It wouldn’t hurt to have your pretty face around, Dubicki.”

Jesse was not the tallest man, but what he didn’t have in
height he made up for in muscle, which translated to width. He was built like a
wrestler because that’s pretty much what he was. He had dark brown hair shaved
close to his head except on the top; he always put enough product in it to make
it look a bit stylish on top. He might be in the ring a lot of the time, but he
still wanted to look as nice as he could, all things considered. He’d been
blessed in inheriting the dark, olive skin tone of his half-Greek mother. That
meant he didn’t have to go get spray tans like a lot of the other fighters he
loved to tease endlessly about their girly tans. His brown eyes had an almond
shape to them, and his face was framed with a square jaw. Once, his nose had
been perfect. That was a long time ago. He knew now when he saw a fighter with
a perfect nose in the ring that he was a rookie. Or a pussy.

“If Pablo is cool with it, then I will go out with you guys.
Why not?”

“Yeah, how long has it been since you had some pussy?”
Carson said with a chuckle in his tone.

Jesse just shook his head at him in mock disgust. The only
serious girlfriend Jesse had ever had was his high school sweetheart, Haley.
They’d been together for nearly four years when her family moved out of state
right after high school graduation, taking Haley with them. They’d been so in love,
and the move devastated him. What hurt the most was that when they left Haley
was legally an adult and could have stayed. He begged her to stay, and one day
she was just gone. She didn’t even say goodbye. It had taken him a long time to
get over it, and since then he rarely returned the interest that women seemed
to express for him. Both of his parents were gone, and he’d had enough loss.

Now, with the intensity of his training schedule, he really
didn’t have room in his life for a woman. He was still human and missed a
woman’s touch. Sometimes he missed the companionship of a woman, and, of
course, the sex didn’t hurt either. He’d had some women that were interested in
him; that went with the territory of being a fighter. He just hadn’t found
anyone yet that was worth thinking about getting involved again. The other
fighters liked their groupies; Jesse thought most of them were skanky. The
women that approached him seemed so shallow. It made him doubt any good women
were left out there. He wanted someone real, a girl that had depth to her or
maybe even a shred of mystery. So many women now were way too transparent. He
was all for confident, independent women. He just thought some of them talked
too much from the get-go, and he believed that some things should be left to
the imagination. The last girl he’d talked with when he was at Dubicki’s
unloaded all of her problems on him, including her last visit to her
gynecologist. No, thank you. Women like that made him appreciate the fact that
he was single.

Jesse’s life in and out of gyms and the fighting ring kept
him busy enough that he luckily didn’t have too much time to think about a
relationship. That didn’t stop his buddies from giving him grief about it,
though. When they were in between girlfriends, they had no problems with casual
hook-ups. It’s not that he’d never tried that. There had been a time or two
when he’d hooked up. That’s how he came to the conclusion that such behavior
was not for him. Someday he’d like to settle down. He just wondered if he ever
would find someone he’d want to settle down with.

His stomach started to feel hollow. Just like good
bachelors, they had no real food in the house.

“Want to order a pizza?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah, great idea,” Carson said sarcastically. “I was just
thinking I was so hungry I could chew my arm off.”

Jesse laughed, “Okay, smartass.”

When the pizza arrived, they sat down and plotted the plan
for Friday night. Jesse gave in and had one beer and mindlessly let himself relax
for the rest of the night.

Chapter 4

Carissa tried to negotiate with the tension in her
mid-section. She was nervous. She hadn’t been out in a long time. She’d only
worked a partial day which had provided the afternoon for her to go last-minute
shopping for the perfect outfit.

She’d hit the mall running and found herself a nice outfit
at a store that had provided her a girly, but not too girly, outfit to wear
that night. She savored her new clothes. It was a rare indulgence she figured
was well-deserved. She bought most of her things at thrift shops to save money.
She had promised herself she’d always have a savings account that would ensure
she’d never have to feel desperate again, and shopping for bargains helped her
do that.

She got dressed and looked at her appearance in her full-length
mirror behind her bedroom door. She was petite at barely five feet tall with a
waif-like figure to match her small frame. Her skinny features and healthy bust
line were courtesy of her mother, the model. The only thing Carissa didn’t seem
to get was the height that went with it. When she was young, a few of the kids
used to say she looked like a fairy and laughed, but it didn’t bother her too
much. She’d been called far worse at home.

Carissa admired her profile in her new skinny jeans. She’d
always wanted a pair, and she liked the dark-wash indigo jeans that cost a
little more than she had planned but were a great splurge if she did say so
herself. She had on a purple top made from a fabric just light enough for
summer and a new pair of heels. It was summer and most people wore sandals, but
unless it was a casual pair of flip flops, she hated showing her feet. Being
the daughter of a model meant she’d been wearing heels since she was young (her
mom may not have been present, but that didn’t stop her from trying on all of
the model heels and clothes that little Carissa had been able to get on while
her mother was passed out in the next room). She had on a pair of five-inch
platform heels. They had the prettiest mesh scallop around the edge, and she
loved them. She never understood why other women complained about heels. She
loved them and would live in them if her job at the nursing home would
accommodate it. She liked feeling taller and liked feeling pretty. Somehow
heels made her feel pretty. Sadly, she didn’t get much of a chance to wear her
beloved heels, so she was glad to have the opportunity to get out there and
wear some that night.

She tucked her clutch purse under her arm, applied one last
gloss over her lips with her lipstick, and was on her way over to Dana’s.
Hopefully they’d’ have a fun night.

An hour later, they were making their way down one of the
streets in northeast Minneapolis that had bars interspersed with residential
houses for blocks. It was off the main road and almost seemed charming. You
could walk down tree-lined streets and just happen into a pub for a quick lunch
and a pint. It was something that used to be a well-kept secret of the locals
but by then was well-known enough to have people drive in just to pub hop on
the weekends. They preferred this to the busy clubs of the inner city because
it was a bit more authentic than the clubs in the city that were primarily meat
markets. These bars had as many locals from the neighborhood as people of all
ages that were just here for a few hours.

Carissa and Dana opened the door to Maisie’s, one of the
popular restaurant bars and spotted the others at a table. They slid into a
booth with two of Dana’s other friends that were already there. They greeted
Melissa and Carrie and all made small talk before they ordered roast beef
sandwiches (this place had some of the best in town) and drinks. There was a
trendy band playing that night, which meant that there was a younger crowd.
Usually when they went out now, it involved live music in some way. If there
was a hot guitar player for Dana to flirt with, Dana was happy. She was hell
bent on having another fling with a musician, even if he wasn’t a guitar
player.

Dana and Carissa had so many things in common, yet they were
so different. They both had difficult childhoods which connected them and gave
them a shared cynicism toward the human race. That said, Dana was the one that
still would put herself out there from time to time in the name of fun or just
trying something different. One time, Dana had thought it would be fun to go
skydiving. Dana had tried in earnest to convince Carissa to go, but no amount
of threatening, bribing, or convincing could get Carissa to willingly jump out
of a plane. She’d fought hard enough for her life without wanting to
deliberately endanger it.

It took about five minutes for Dana to excuse herself and
wander over to the room where the band was setting up.
Figures.

“So, Carissa, how are things at the hospice?” asked Carrie
in a rather smarmy fashion. Carrie was one of Dana’s childhood friends; they’d
known each other since kindergarten. Carrie had always been one of the mean
girls. In high school, she’d gone on to become homecoming queen.
Isn’t that
what most mean girls did?

“It’s going well. I’m glad to be of help to people and that
helps me actually enjoy my days caring for people who are dying.”

“That’s really great. How long has it been since you’ve been
on a date?”

Carrie’s friend, Melissa, looked down and bit her lip in
mild embarrassment. Carrie just looked at Melissa indignantly. “What’s your
problem? Can’t I ask her a question?”

“Well, I guess I just don’t really have time to date. It’s
not that I haven’t thought about it,” Carissa said, starting to wonder if this
was really a good idea. She had forgotten how much she hated Carrie. One would
have thought she’d matured since high school. Apparently not.

“Maybe we should work on seeing if we could at least get a
guy to ask you to dance tonight,” said Carrie.

“Yeah, maybe.”

What a bitch.
Carissa felt the heat creep up her neck
as her face flushed in embarrassment. Sometimes she just wanted to smack Carrie.
This might be a long night.

***

Jesse’s friends Carson, Luke, and Nate had agreed to go
ahead to the bar without him. Jesse was having a long day of practice and didn’t
want to hold up the guys from going out. He was going to meet them later at
Dubicki’s. Not a bad plan since that required not having to worry about a sober
cab.

Jesse had been having difficulty getting down some of his
new training techniques. He found some of the movement sequences and strategies
he was being taught felt more to him like ballet than fighting. The only
complaining he did about it was internal, though. He was training hard to meet
what had been his ultimate goal for the last two years: defeating Velasquez.
That meant doing what he was told and learning how to perfect the movements.
His drive to win meant more than anything else in the long run. The movements
that felt like ballet to him probably felt awkward because he was just such a big
guy. They were meant to even the playing field with opponents with different
strategies and overall build than he had.

He felt bad after he’d promised the guys that he would be
there that evening, but they understood why he was so dedicated to his fighting
and agreed that they’d meet him later. He’d be happy to blow off some steam
when his training was over.

Two hours and many groans of frustration later, he was done.
It was nearly 10 p.m. by the time he got cleaned up and got out of the gym.
Thank goodness the long day of training was over. He’d see his friends, have
some laughs, and hopefully see some of his family, too, while he was at it. He
may have lived over the bar his family owned, but he was at the gym so much he
had little time to stop in and chat with them.

***

Carissa groaned. If one more jackass of a guy approached her
with a bad pick-up line or offered her a shot again, she’d scream. It was nice
to be noticed but annoying when it turned out to just be a bunch of
Neanderthals that wanted to get laid. She knew better than to try to pick guys
up at a bar, but that didn’t mean that they would stop trying.

Carrie and Melissa had been chatting up two guys in the
corner that said they were stockbrokers. It had quickly gotten uncomfortable
when they’d approached a little while before, and Carissa had left when she
felt that she was the third wheel. She was happy to be alone since Dana was
already sitting on the lap of the band’s guitar player. They’d been playing for
two hours, and Dana was progressively getting more drunk and touchy-feely with
him.

Carrie and Melissa walked by with their two apparent
hook-ups for the evening and announced that they were going down the street to
Dubicki’s. Carissa nodded her acknowledgement. Despite the annoyance of strange
men approaching her, she wasn’t quite ready to go home yet. She made her way
over to Dana and asked her to if she wanted to go together to Dubicki’s. When
Dana protested so she could sit there and watch the guitar player and play
touchy-feely with him in between sets, Carissa pulled the “you begged me to
come out with you” card, which worked in her favor. The guitar player agreed
that he’d meet Dana down at Dubicki’s after the band’s last set.

When Carissa stepped outside, she realized it was a nice night.
She turned her head up to the sky and admired the stars and the moon. She
thought of the beauty of the sky at night. Dusk and the evening settling in had
always been her favorite time of day. She had always thought it had been
because she’d been born at night. So many people thought bad things happened at
night, but not Carissa. She thought it was a beautiful, magical time.

She was glad they were going to stay out. Dana came out of
Maisie’s and joined arms with her. Together they skipped up the street like
they were kids until Carissa almost lost her footing in her high heels.

“I have to admit, Carissa, I did not want to pull myself
away from Kyle, but I’m proud that you want to stay out and have a good time.
Lucky for me, Kyle didn’t seem to mind, so let’s go have some fun.”

“Is Kyle the guitar player of the evening?”

“Yes, I really like him,” Dana smiled, hope in her eyes.

Carissa knew someone at work who played out in a well-known
local band. The girl loved to tell stories of her band moments. After she had
told Carissa about an experience of dating a musician and showing up to his gig
to surprise him only to find he had another date, she’d learned that male
musicians seemed to think they had a proprietary right to date several women at
one time. Carissa hoped Kyle wasn’t one of them but didn’t want to say anything
to bring Dana’s high to an end right then. They were having too much fun.

They continued their walk to Dubicki’s with Dana gushing
about her new romantic possibilities with Kyle. They both arrived at the bar a
few blocks later. Perhaps it was due to Dana’s happiness, but Carissa had a
renewed sense of optimism and wondered what magic the night might bring.