6

Rose
One morning, I walked out of the studio and took the stairs down to the boxing ring.
The boxing ring was vast with space, waiting to be filled with an audience and spectators. It was voluminous and in the middle, a square boxing ring was placed as the centre of attention.
It was just an average boxing ring but that morning, a different man was there, hitting the bag.
I watched as he used all of his strength to throw whatever anger he had built up in him onto the bag, his punches echoing through the entire room.
The connection between the boxing gloves and punching bag was powerful, every punch filled with force and mightiness.
I walked closer, watching as he grunted a few times as he smashed his fists against the bag.
"Morning, Gage," I greeted kindly with a slightly raised tone so he could hear me, coming closer to the ring as he stopped, straightening his posture so his muscular back stretched out a little, catching my eyes.
He turned, facing me, his face sweaty and flustered. His large hand wiped it in one slid as he replied in surprise, "morning, Rose. Good sleep?"
"Yeah," I responded honestly with a genuine smile. "How about yours?"
"Good, thanks," he answered, his eyes scanning my body quickly before meeting mine once more. "So what brings you down here?"
"Well," I began, my arms resting on the ropes of the ring. "I'm bored and the guys are playing Fortnite again. I saw you down here and I was actually wondering. . ." I hesitated a little which intrigued him, his eyes twinkling. He raised his perfect eyebrow and gave me an encouraging smile.
"Iwaswonderingifyoucouldteachmehowtobox."
He looked at me, puzzled. "Sorry?"
I gave him a pleading look. "I was wondering if you would teach me how to box."
"Me," he repeated slowly, his eyes expanding a little as they stared at me. "Me teach you how to box?"
I nodded, giving him a hopeful smile. "Yeah."
"Nope."
I groaned, holding onto the ropes and leaning in a little as I gave him a wishful look. "Aw, please, Gage!" I begged, desperately wanting this. "I really need to exercise and I'm bored and it looks so fun!"
"Rose," he began, his tone already giving me bad news. "I can't."
"But why?" I beseeched, pleadingly looking at him. "Cause I'm a girl?"
"No! Definitely not!" Gage defended, his hands out in surrender. "It's not that. I'm a shitty teacher and I'm not really into that kind of learning stuff. Plus, you don't need to box. There are other ways to exercise, Rose. There's a gym through there," he explained in a weary tone as he pointed to the gym.
I groaned once more, shaking my head. "No, I really want to box, Gage!" I implored, my voice filled with desperation as I looked at him appealingly. He grumbled a little, giving me a discouraging look.
"Why don't you ask Cris?" He offered, his eyes lighting up a little at the idea. "He's a boxer and he's the perfect teacher for you!"
"Gage, can you just do it, please?" I asked again, giving him my best, persuasive look. "I'll do anything!"
"Anything?" He repeated, his eyes intently looking at me with a small grin. "Are you sure about that, Rose?"
"Yes," I carelessly confirmed, continuing to give him a pleading look. He hesitated before groaning and rolling his stormy eyes. "Okay, Okay! I'll do it."
I squealed, bringing him closer so I could hug him. His sweaty, well built body pressed against mine as we hugged and he chuckled, hugging me back.
"Okay, well, come over the ropes so we can start."
"Let's start with footwork," Gage started, taking off the gloves and tossing them to the side. He went over the ropes and took some spare ones, going under the ropes again to come to me.
"Stand on your toes and keep your feet shoulder width apart." I did as he said, smiling and beginning to get excited.
"Damn, there's a lot to boxing," Gage realised, thinking to himself for a small moment.
"It's okay," I replied, "just show me how to punch the bag correctly and we can built from there."
"Okay, so, let's just stretch to warm up."
I groaned, "Can we please start?"
Gage chuckled, "it's nice to see you all ecstatic but you've got to prevent hurting yourself. I don't want you to pull a muscle or something."
I sighed and looked at him.
We started by doing some arm stretches such as; shoulder stretches, seated trapezius stretches, triceps stretches and lower back stretches that helped relax my body. That was for ten to fifteen minutes and it was not as bad as I thought it would be.
Gage then gave me the boxing gloves and I slipped them on, letting him tighten them a little around my wrists.
"So, the punching bag," he began, looking over at it. "I want you to start striking slow, don't go straight into it. Just little punches."
"Make sure the knuckles of your index finger and middle fingers are hitting the bag first so you don't hurt yourself," Gage explained, his eyes filled with concern as he looked at me.
"Stop doing that," I gently said, gazing at him with a small smile. "What?" He innocently asked as I rolled my eyes.
"Looking at me as if I'm a China doll, about to break," I said, smiling. "I'm fine, Gage."
He softly chuckled, his eyes locking with mine and my breath hitched a little, notching how beautiful and mesmerising his grey eyes were. I found myself getting lost into them. I forced myself to look away, licking my lips as I faced the bag.
I gave the bag one punch, realising how strong and heavy it was. I bit my lip, giving it another gentle punch, beginning to get into it. "Focus on your balance; keep your posture straight and don't throw yourself at the bag," Gage said, watching me and walking around the punching bag and I, his eyes intent and serious.