Sharkbait

I was frustrated by things, and I took it out on the woman I challenged at the dojo. I dominated her, moving up five places in the rankings after submitting her in less than thirty seconds. I could see a few of the people near my rank suddenly reconsider their ideas about taking me on.

Everyone was treating me differently now that I was rich. People who never paid attention to me wanted to get closer, while others I counted as friends suddenly didn’t know how to interact anymore. A few of the more aggressive males asked me out, and I turned them down politely. “Stuck-up bitch is too good for us now,” one said as he left. I just rolled my eyes; I didn’t have time for his crap anyway.

Amy was the lucky one. She had a great guy who was devoted to her.

I couldn’t even enjoy the dating game because I couldn’t get too close to anyone. I wondered what James was doing now. I still liked him, and he was into me before I was a rich girl. I’d never know for sure with anyone else if that was why they wanted to be close to me. I decided I’d sent him a text, asking if he’d gotten his motorcycle back yet and if he wanted to get together sometime. At least I would as soon as I had my phone again. Hammer had them all placed in racks as we walked in today.

I tried linking Amy, but she was too far away. I ended up sitting by myself in the chairs along the side of the dojo, watching the higher-ranked fighters in their matches. Two men and one woman in my class were professional Mixed Martial Arts fighters, working their way up the ranks, and they were damn good. You didn’t advance far without being at least functional in jiu-jitsu, so they trained part of the day with Hammer.

When the class was over, Hammer made a few announcements then dismissed us. Lauren, who was the female MMA fighter, waved me over. “I’ve been watching you,” she said. “You have a lot of talent, Vicki, and I can’t believe how quickly you’ve learned this. Do you know other disciplines?”

“I’ve taken judo and karate since I was six, and started Krav Maga at twelve,” I said.

“I bet you’d be fun to fight MMA style.”

“I really can’t,” I said. “I’m under contract to a modeling agency. Getting my nose busted or breaking something would cost me a lot of money.”

“Maybe someday I’ll have your problems,” she said. “I’m fighting in Vegas on the thirtieth in the UFC Fight Night 287. I’d love to see you in my corner for it; I think we’d both get a lot of publicity out of it.”

“I’ll have to check my schedule,” I said. “I’m sure my publicist would love to see me there with some arm candy.”

She laughed at that and gave me her number. “Let me know, and I’ll hook you up with the guy who can get you front row seats.”

“I’ll let you know by Monday,” I told her. I wanted to go, and I thought about who I’d take; Amy and the twins wouldn’t leave on a Friday, so I’d have to travel with security. Hammer and Susan? Would I ask James, or have my publicist and Mercedes arrange a date? Las Vegas had tons of celebrities, and their security could help cover me while I was there. I hadn’t been there since I was eight and we visited the Seaquest aquarium there. It wasn’t the biggest, with only blacktip, smoothhound, and nurse sharks, but the buffets were fantastic.

Maybe I could work out an appearance there on Thursday night or Friday? I’d have to talk to Mercedes about it after I checked the schedule on my phone. While I was at it, I’d speak to Mercedes about security. I didn’t want to travel commercial anymore unless it was international; if it cost more to charter a jet, I’d pay it. It worked better with my security that way, and I’d become spoiled.

I walked over to the rack that he’d installed by the entrance, retrieving my phone from the slot. I went back to the chair, checking messages while the facility emptied out. “Get changed, we’ll go grab lunch,” Hammer told me.

I took my bag back to the locker room and changed into jean shorts, Bodyglove tank top, and a thin Bodyglove print top. He was waiting at the door when I returned. “Why the phone rack,” I asked him.

“Go on Youtube and search for yourself and fights,” he said as we walked to his car. There was a cameraman taking videos as we left; I was sure the headlines would have me in a torrid affair with my instructor, who was more than twice my age, by tonight’s gossip shows. I smiled and posed briefly, trying to make the best of it.

Hammer opened my door, and I slid in; I had the search results before he pulled out. I expected the takedown on the beach and in the crew’s mess to make the list, but I didn’t expect the other five. All were taken in the dojo during challenge fights, by someone who hid their phone to tape it. “Someone violated the rules that said the phones stay off in class,” he said. “Just like a teacher, I have to collect them now.”

I watched the videos as he drove us to the sushi restaurant he’d picked out. The matches weren’t anything special, but the comments were off the hook. Everything from “I’d marry her in a heartbeat” to “that b**** needs me to teach her some respect.” They were getting lots of views; my celebrity wasn’t falling off. “It doesn’t seem that bad,” I said.

“It’s against the rules. Just because you’re famous doesn’t mean you and the others in the videos don’t deserve privacy,” he said. “If things get worse, we may have to move you and the other girls to private lessons. Keep that in mind when you’re looking for a new place.”

“I’ve got options now, and so does Amy,” I said. “We’re going to go through them when the twins get home from school. I still can’t believe we’re getting booted from our condo.”

We parked and walked into the restaurant; Hammer was a regular, and the owner welcomed us. “Someplace private,” I said when I saw the cellphones coming out. He led us to a table in the back, and Hammer spoke to the waitress in her native language. “I didn’t know you spoke Japanese.”

“Two years stationed there, and I took advantage of it,” he said. “I took the liberty of ordering for us, a sampler of their sushi styles.”

The food was tasted great and was nutritious, as Hammer reminded me. I decided to change the subject. “How are things going with you and Susan?”

“Fine, not that it is any of your business.”

“She’s a smitten kitten,” I said with a giggle. “Amy and I want Susan to be happy, and you make her happy. You two are perfect for each other.”

“I’m worried we’re moving too fast. We’ve known each other for a few months, and she’s already living with me.”

“It’s the match that is important, not the time. My Dad knew my Mom was the one for him before she’d even talked to him. My Uncle was engaged to my Aunt within a week, and both of them were widowed. Love happens in its own time.” He didn’t say much more as we finished up, and he had classes to teach when we got back to the dojo.

I used his office to catch up on messages and phone calls. I sent the text to James, but he didn’t respond right away. I checked my schedule; I didn’t have an event until Saturday night in Tampa Bay so it could work. I texted the details to my publicist and to Mercedes. I could arrange for an aquarium talk on Friday during the day for my charity if Seaquest agreed.

My accountant updated me that he had one maybe and two no’s thus far, with two more owners not responding yet. I started looking at sports cars, then realized what a safety issue that was. I started looking at armored SUVs instead. Leo was going to insist on full-time security and other measures due to my new wealth. You couldn’t be too careful about kidnappings this close to the border.

I was choking on the prices when Susan linked me that they were pulling in soon. I waved at Hammer as I walked behind his class and out the door, jumping into the back seat of the SUV. “What did the Doc say?”

“It’s a miracle!” Amy just laughed; she was so happy. “They have no idea what changed, and I don’t care. We did a lot of testing, though. I’ve got about 18% of my field of vision back now to where I can see clearly. I might get more with time, or I might not see any change at all.”

“Are you still legally blind? Can you drive?”

“Yes, and no. Since I have less than 20% field of vision, I can’t drive, and I still meet the blindness definition. Unless I’m looking directly at something, it’s still a blur. I can keep my dog and my cane,” she said sadly.

“At least you have cool dogs.” I reached forward and held her hand. “But now you can read and write and see things when we dive, right?”

“Little areas at a time, but yes. I can use my phone and read parts of a computer screen.” She asked about my day, and I told them about my conversation with Hammer. “Do you think your pep talk worked,” Amy asked.

“I have no idea,” I replied.

“He’ll come around. They always do,” Susan said with a grin.

We were heading over the Coronado Bay Bridge as a destroyer headed out for sea under us. “Amy, you have money, and your vision is back. You and Kai can do anything you want. Do you still want to live with the twins and me?”

“Of course!” She looked at me like I was an idiot. “We need each other, and the girls are sweet. I don’t want to change anything! I’ll save our money, at least until Kai and I can settle down somewhere.” I let out the breath I’d been holding. Everything else in my life had changed so much that I needed my friends and family to stay with me. “I want to be close to Mom and Luke, too, but not TOO close.”

I laughed. “I know what you mean.”

“We should wait until the kids are back home before we discuss your next place,” Susan said.

She was right; we didn’t need to repeat everything. I liked my idea, but I wanted to hear what ideas the others had.

I went back to looking up boats on my phone, this time looking at dive boats. If we ended up in a house, we were still getting a boat!