Chapter 23: Lexa

While Ash showers, I can't help but think about last night and how amazing it was. I really wasn't expecting it to go the way it did, but I am definitely glad it did. It's funny. I don't think I even care what label Ash wants to give what we have. I just want to be with her. I know she expects me to see other people, but I don't think that is what I want. Although, I'm afraid if I tell her that she won't let it happen again. I should probably talk to O. Maybe she can help me figure things out.

I text her: 'Hey, can you come over tonight and stay? I need to talk.'

Octavia: 'Sure, everything okay?'

Me: 'Yeah, just super confused.'

Octavia: 'Let me guess, Ash.'

Me: 'Is it that obvious?'

Octavia: 'Well, you were with her yesterday and are going shopping with her today….'

Me: 'Gotcha, see you in a bit? Hey, why don't you come on over? I have a meeting with an interior designer, and you should talk to her about your room.'

Octavia: 'Sure, be there in fifteen.'

I take a quick shower once Ash is finished, and then we head upstairs to meet Lauren and O. I let Reed know that Lauren will be aboard most of the day and she will need to talk to anyone who wants to make adjustments to their quarters. Once everyone arrives, we go out to the outdoor dining area and discuss everything. Petrona brings out mimosas for everyone and a tray of pastries. It is crazy how she does things without even being asked.

I tell Lauren that price isn't an issue and that I want everyone to be comfortable in their quarters. I inform her that an entire crew is about 50 and that there will be twelve living aboard full time. I want the twelve to have plenty of space in their quarters, and we just need to make sure there is enough room for the other 38 to sleep on the occasions they are required. There are also twelve hospitality crew aboard every weekend, so I would like for them to have their own rooms. As far as the other 26 crew members, they can bunk two to a room.

"Here are the blueprints of the yacht with all the rooms available for the crew. Given this and the information I just told you, you should see how much space you have to work with to give those living aboard more room. I would also like you to speak to each one of them and see what they need and want."

I look at O and say, "I know you haven't spent much time in your space, so while I show Lauren what I'm thinking about my quarters, why don't you go on down and think about what you want or need. Again, don't worry about price or space, if we need to, we can combine two of the suites to give you a bigger space. It just depends on what you want and how often you are going to be aboard. I know you were talking about buying your mom a new place, but I was actually hoping you might think about living here full time, but that is up to you."

She says, "Seriously? You wouldn't mind? I mean, I am going to get my mom a new place, but I would rather stay with you."

"Well, alright then. Go figure out what you need to live here full time."

O, gives me a big hug heading off to her room. I take Lauren and Ash down to my quarters. I look at Lauren and say, "As you can see, there are his and her dressing rooms along with a beauty room. I want to combine the two dressing rooms and make a cool kid's room with some sort of fun bunk bed or something. Ash, what is Asher into?"

She says, "I really haven't gotten to know him that well yet. I know his room at Callie's has a lot of comic book superheroes and stuff like that in it. Let me talk to him tomorrow, and I will call you, Lauren, and let you know what I find out."

"That's fine, Ash," Lauren replies. "Lexa, what else were you thinking?"

"Ash, do you want me to turn the beauty room into a bedroom for you when you and Asher stay over?"

She says, "I don't know. No, I can always roll a cot into Asher's room or sleep on the couch right outside his room. I don't need to take up your space with another room. I think it is awesome that you are making room for Asher."

Lauren looks at us funny and says, "Ash, I thought…never mind. It is none of my business."

Ash laughs, "It's okay, Lauren. No, we aren't technically together, it's rather complicated right now, but we are awfully close."

I can feel my cheeks turn red, "Ok, moving along, in that case, I would like the beauty room turned into a walk-in closet. I would like the room labeled 'His office' on the blueprints combined with 'His studio' into a workout room. I will need wrestling mats, heavy bags, etc. I want it to be set up for MMA workouts and sparing. Ash, can you think of anything else that needs to be added or changed?"

"Wait, I have an idea, but first, I need to talk to Morrigan and you, Ash. So, Lauren, I will show you down to Octavia's room while Ash and I talk to Morrigan. We will be back shortly."

Ash looks at me confused, "Lexa, what are you thinking?"

"Do we really need two helipads for only one helicopter?" Before she can answer, I call Reed. "Reed, do you have Morrigan's number? I need to ask her a couple of questions."

Reed gives me her number, and I call her. "Morrigan, this is Lexa. Is there any way you can meet us on the helipad at the front of the boat for a few minutes? I need to ask you a few questions about an idea that I have."

Morrigan replies, "Sure, I will be up there in a few minutes."

I look at Ash and say, follow me. Morrigan is already there when we arrive. "Morrigan, this is Ash. She is also a pilot."

Morrigan says, "I remember her from yesterday. Nice to meet you again, Ash. What do you normally fly?"

Ash says, "Well, nothing on a normal basis. I only pilot when there isn't anyone else available, but I can fly any small military craft."

Morrigan says, "So, you are military?"

"Navy Seal's, but lately, I have been involved in deep cover operations for the CIA."

Morrigan replies, "Oh, I served in the Irish Navy before I got this job. It isn't as hectic as your Navy; Ireland is smaller and tends to stay out of wars if possible. Um, Lexa, what did you want to ask me?"

"Well, I wanted to get your opinion on the helipads. Do we really need two if we only have one chopper, and if not, which one would you prefer to keep?"

Morrigan looks at Ash and me, "Well, I don't think two helipads are really needed, but what are you thinking?"

I sigh and start, "I was thinking of turning one of the helipads into a designated party/sparing area/recreational area. I thought that we could make a raisable platform the size of a UFC cage that would double as a stage for a band or a cage for sparing. When it was used for a band, the stage would raise up a couple of feet, but when it was used for a fight, instead of the platform rising, a cage would rise up around the area, creating a fighting/sparing area."

They look at each other before looking back at me. Ash replies, "That's actually an amazing idea if the engineering aspect of it is doable. It would be great to have a place to spar and train anytime you want, especially if you are going to continue to fight."

Morrigan looks at me, "What does she mean, continue to fight? Do you fight professionally or something?"

I laugh, "Not exactly. The previous owner of this yacht runs an unsanctioned fight club that holds fights on Saturday nights. It's an invite-only type of thing. So anyway, I fought in a tournament he had last Saturday. That's how I won this yacht, and I just enjoy fighting, so I will probably continue to do so."

Morrigan says, "In that case, we should talk more sometime. I enjoy a good fight myself. To answer your question about the helipads, though, I only need one. This one is bigger, but I can use the smaller one fine. If it were me, I would convert this one into whatever it is you have planned because of its size."

"Thanks, that's what I needed to know. Oh, one more thing before you go, are you available to fly us down to LA and back in a few weeks?"

Morrigan says, "Sure, just get me all the info by the day before so that I can file the flight plan."

Ash and I head down to O's room to find Lauren so that I can explain this last item, and then we can go shopping. Lauren is just finishing up with O when we get there, so we walk up to the helipad while explaining my idea. Lauren seems to think it shouldn't be a problem, so that is great.

I look over at Ash, "Can you text Raquel and find out what the plan is, so we can let Morrigan know?"

"Sure, I will do that right now, then let's head out shopping. I also need to text Callie to see if she will let Asher go too."

While Ash sends her text messages, I talk with Lauren and Octavia. Lauren will spend most of the day aboard the Untouchable, talking with the crew and drawing up plans. She says that she should have a pretty good idea about everything once she talks to everyone and will have a preliminary sketch for me tomorrow afternoon.

I ask O, "What do you have planned for today? Would you like to join us shopping?"

She gives me a weird look and says, "I thought you wanted to spend time alone with Ash?"

"Trust me, we spent a lot of time alone last night. Besides, I thought you may want to get some stuff for your new home, but if you would rather not, it's fine. You should know that I hate shopping so don't expect me to go with you later. One shopping trip is enough for me."

Ash walks up laughing, "Yeah, Octavia, Lexa really hates to shop. I have never seen someone so tough whine so much. It really is a funny thing to behold. Everyone should experience it at least once."

She looks at Ash, "Are you sure you don't mind if I tag along?"

Ash replies, "Not at all."

Ash's phone begins to ring. She looks at the caller ID and says, "It's Raquel."

I hear her say, "Seriously? She's around 140ish, yeah. Hold on, let me put you on speaker; she's standing right here."

Ash puts the phone on speaker, "Okay, Raquel, go ahead. Lexa is here with me."

Raquel says, "Hey Lexa, how have you been?"

I reply, "Good, how about you? What exactly is going on?"

Raquel laughs, "Well, as you know already, there is an event in LA in a few weeks, and I have tickets reserved for you and Ash, but I just found out that Kayla Holloway just had to drop out of her fight against Jewel Budd due to an injury in fight camp. Jewel is raising hell with Dana because this's the second fight in a row that her opponent has dropped out right before the fight. She has gone as far as saying that she will fight anyone on Saturday, but if Dana doesn't find someone for her to fight, she is going to cause major problems for him."

"Raquel, what does this have to do with me?"

"Lexa, ever since the video of Dubai went viral, Dana has been trying to get me to tell him who you are and how to contact you. He wants to get you on the next Ultimate Fighter series, but Ash told me that you weren't ready to decide on that, so I wouldn't tell him who you were. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, Dana has reached out to me wanting me to find out if you would be willing to step in and fight Jewel?"

O starts yelling, "Lexa, you have to do this. It is an amazing opportunity for you."

I say, "I don't know. I enjoy fighting, but I don't know if I want it to be a full-time job for me."

Raquel says, "Dana said for me to make this happen anyway that I could, so you have all the control here. If you want it to be a one-time fight, it's your call, but I'm sure if you do well and decide you would like to fight more, there will be opportunities for that too. Look, Dana is a good guy. He is willing to pay you $50,000 just for taking the fight. I've seen Jewel fight; she's good but seeing how you took out those guys in the bar, you won't have a problem holding your own."

Ash says, "How do you even know that Lexa is in fighting shape and ready to go?"

Raquel laughs, "Come on, Ash, please tell me that you aren't that naive. Do you really never look at social media? There are posts all over of Stryker fighting last weekend in the underground tournament. I've seen them, and so has Dana. We know she is ready to go as long as she can weigh in under 145 pounds and pass the physical."

I speak up, "Fine, I will do it as a favor to you, but I want to bring my own doctor, and I will need you to send some tapes for me to study on my opponent."

Raquel says, "Done! Anything else?"

"Is there any way to get at least three more ring-side tickets for the fights?"

She says, "It shouldn't be a problem. I will give Dana your number, so you should hear from him within the next hour to hash out all the details. I can't wait to see you fight."

"Hey, does this mean that you and Tecia will be flying back with us after the fights to celebrate? I have plenty of room for you to stay as long as you want."

Raquel says, "Definitely!"

Once we hang up, I look at Ash and O, "Well, that was unexpected. I guess I might need some new gear for sure now. I can't look like a chump, now, can I?"

They laugh at me before O says, "I guess we need to get you some personalized shirts, Stryker."

Ash looks at me with a raised eyebrow, "Stryker?"

"Yeah, it's what people started calling me at the underground fights. I guess it will work for this fight as well. What do you think?"

Ash says, "I kinda like the sound of it."

"Okay, let's get this shopping over with."