Chapter 5

Mel

Stupid shit. I hung up and threw the phone on the sofa next to me. Idiots. I got up and walked out to the kitchen. You would think they were rookies the way they did it. I took a cup from the cupboard and poured some leftover coffee into it.

I took a sip, then put the cup on the counter and walked to the bedroom. I’d got time to box before meeting up with the floral designers to discuss the opening evening of my next exhibition. Last steps and then, if the dumbass event manager didn’t blow it, it would all be ready to go in a few weeks. I packed my boxing gloves and training gear before heading back into the hallway. My eyes fell on the jumper hanging on the chair. Nina’s jumper… She’d forgotten it in the car when I drove her home last week. I should have already given it back, but there hadn’t been time. Kind of…

I left it there, took my bag and headed out. She was a strange girl… There hadn’t been much more talking that evening, and it hadn’t taken her long until she said she had to head home. I still hadn’t figured out how she knew about my earlier works enough to care about them. Stupid shit. Those paintings never sold, so what was the point of continuing? If the bastards wanted abstract painting, I’d give them abstract paintings. At least it paid for rent and the charities. Idiots.

I almost bumped into the neighbour as I stepped out of the door. He gave me a cheery ‘Hello’, and I murmured back a greeting before locking the door and heading down the stairs. At least the gym wasn’t far. One of the few good things about living around here, apart from being far away from the bastards. I turned left as I came out on the street and started walking.

I wondered what Nina was doing now. She’d said she worked as a graphic designer. They weren’t my kind of group, so I wouldn’t have known about her. Didn’t matter. At one point, I’d return her jumper, and that would be it.

The gym was almost empty as I stepped in, and I quickly got changed and headed out to the mats. I picked up a skipping rope from its place on the wall and began skipping.

“Hey, Mel. Long time no see!”

Tony. One of the few who wasn’t an idiot.

“Hey man, how’s it going?”

He walked over to me, slung his towel over his shoulder and leaned against the wall.

“Not bad. I think I’ll get into the boxing tournament next month. Just waiting for the final results to come in from the other clubs”

“Hey, not bad. Congrats”

He grinned.

“What about you? You’re not tempted to get back to fighting professionally?”

“Nah... My shoulder won’t survive that. Pro-boxing is gone”

He pushed himself off the wall.

“Shame. You could have gone really far”

He gave me a nod and headed to the changing rooms. I dropped the rope and took my gloves and stepped over to the punching bag. He was right, I had been on my way to going far. But it was gone now.

I spent the rest of the hour punching, and when I was done, I headed back to the lockers and showered. I wouldn’t meet the florist for several more hours. Should I head to the bar? No, not on a weekday.

I warmed a pizza as I came home and slumped down on the sofa. I glanced at Nina’s jumper. She should have come and picked it up, she shouldn’t have left me with it. I turned on the TV. Why had she even asked why I had stopped painting my landscapes? Who cares? It was long gone anyway, and nothing I could do about it. The bastards didn’t want them, so why should I continue?

I kept swapping between clips on YouTube, but in the end, I turned it off and got up. Stupid shit. Who was she to come and ask me such questions? Why did she care? Some things were better just left alone. Damn it. It was still several hours until I would meet the designers. Maybe someone would be down at the bar. I shouldn’t drink on a weekday, but damn, one beer wouldn’t hurt.