Chapter 3: Another Day
I woke up to the sun shining brightly into my room. Yawning, I sat up and smiled.
"I hope today is the day that I find Eddy." I managed to say as I slipped out of bed. I wore my favorite silk nightgown and my fuzzy pink slippers. As Eddy would say, 'How Chrisy of you.' Being 'Chrisy' basically refers to my childhood. If I acted a certain way, then people would call me Chrisy to call me immature. Oh well! A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.
After showering and brushing my teeth, I put on a casual outfit for the day. I wore a black t-shirt that ended just under my ribcage with my favorite pin striped black pants. After putting on a fashionable black belt, I walked towards the door as I tied my long brown hair into a low ponytail.
As soon as I walked out of my room, I turned around and locked the door. Suddenly, I felt like somebody was behind me. Instead of attacking like I normally would, I turned around to see who it was. I was met face to face (or chest) with the fighter named Craig Marduk. Quickly, I looked up and into his eyes. Inside, I felt a bit nervous as to what he wanted, so I hid it with my trademark 'Glamour Smile'.
"Why hello there, Mr. Marduk. What can I do for you today?" I said. He just smirked at me and smiled.
"Well, for starters, GOOD MORNING, HONEY!" He replied. I frowned as I looked up at him.
Now, now Mr. Marduk, is that how you should really greet a lady?" I said in a mocking tone.
"Well…I don't really…KNOW how to be proper…I just came over to say that I like you and I wish you luck in the tournament."
I smiled and said, "Why thank you! How about a little good luck kiss?" I said.
"OHHHH yeah, that's what I'M talkin' about!" He replied to me. Bending down to my face, I put my finger on his lips and smiled.
"No, no, no Mr. Marduk. That is not the proper way to treat a lady. A gentleman should always receive a kiss on the CHEEK when he meets a lady." I said. He smiled and turned his face to the side.
"Oh how silly of me…wait one second!" I said as I rummaged through the pocket of my pants. Pulling out my favorite red lip-stick, I put it on.
"Now, I can properly kiss you." I said as I took hold of his head and planted a soft, yet firm kiss to his cheek. Pulling away, he smiled as he felt the scarlet kiss on his face. He turned a shade of red that practically matched the lipstick.
"You have a good day now!" I said as I walked away.
"B-Bye Miss Monteiro!" Marduk called to me. I turned around and winked, blowing a kiss in his direction saying, "Please. Call me Christie."
"Okay Christie!" he said as he watched me leave in the elevator. As the doors were closing, I posed for him, making him feel reassured. As soon as the doors closed, I sighed with relief.
'That was too scary!' I thought to myself as I made my way down to the first floor. First I had to eat something. I was really hungry.
Minutes later…
I walked away with my tray of food and looked for someone to sit with. I saw Xiaoyu and Miharu sitting in the corner again, trading jokes with one another. I smiled as I waved to them, coming their way. As soon as I sat down, I once again greeted the two and began to eat my whole wheat bagel. Xiaoyu joked around and after I finished eating, they put my hair up in pig tails.
I felt so childish wearing my hair that way, but it felt good to let my inner child loose. Suddenly, I looked to my right and saw a masked man sitting all alone in another corner. I immediately stopped laughing and turned to Xiaoyu and Miharu.
"Who's that man over there you guys?" I asked in genuine concern.
"Oh him? That's King. He's so nice, but he seems really sad this year. He won't really talk to me." Said Xiaoyu. I stood up and smiled, knowing what my next task would be. I turned to Xiaoyu and Miharu and waved goodbye as I went to throw out my trash.
After I did that, I came over to the man named King. Once I stood in front of him, he looked up at me and made eye contact. I was surprised because for once, I had met a man who wasn't interested in staring at my breasts.
"Hello. Do you mind if I sit with you?" I asked kindly. He looked down at the table slowly and just shrugged. Pulling up a chair, I sat down next to him. He looked at me and slowly forced back a smile.
'What's so funny?' I thought to myself. Just then I heard Xiaoyu and Miharu calling my name. I looked past King and saw the two of them motioning to their hair. Oh…no…I was still sporting the childish pigtails.
Quickly, I pulled the bands out of my hair and looked down, letting my hair fall past my shoulders. I blushed and looked back up at him, and it seemed that he knew what I was embarrassed about.
"Don't worry. You didn't look at that bad." King said. I laughed along with him as I saw Xiaoyu and Miharu give me a thumbs up. A few moments of silence passed between us before I decided to speak.
"So…my name's Christie. Christie Monteiro. What's yours?" I asked, even though I knew who he was.
Slowly, and as if he was unsure about it, he offered me his hand saying, "It's King." I took his hand and was surprised at his grip. I could tell right off the bat that he was strong both physically and mentally.
"What brings you to his tournament?" he asked. I put a finger on my lip as I leaned forward, beginning to get sad.
"I'm looking for a friend. His name is Eddy Gordo…have you seen him?" I must have sounded desperate. King looked away and shook his head. I looked down and collected my thoughts.
"So…why are you here?" I asked him. He looked up at the ceiling as he put his hands behind his head.
"It doesn't really matter." He said. I looked down and kept my mouth shut. Apparently, this was a man of privacy. That was probably due to bad experiences in his life.
"Would you like to talk about it?" I asked in a desperate attempt to lighten his mood. He just shook his head and looked away.
"There's nothing to talk about." He replied.
"Well…if you ever want to talk…I'll be here." I said with a smile on my face. I would have tried to flirt with him, but he didn't seem like the flirtatious type. He was a true gentleman.
Ah! A smile! I got him to smile at me and I began to feel proud of myself. Suddenly, the bulletin board lit up. Up came the fighters' names and who they would be fighting. I looked over to see that my first fight was against someone named Steve Fox. King's name appeared and he was going to fight against someone named Julia Chang.
"Huh…" I said to myself as I saw my name.
"Yeah I know." King replied. Suddenly, he rose to his feet and began to walk away, but not before putting a warm hand on my shoulder.
"Thanks." He said.
"For what?" I replied.
"You know…for reaching out to me." He said with a smile. I smiled back to him and waved goodbye as he walked away.
What a nice man. Well my fight is in two days. Guess I've got some training to do.
