Chapter 5: Dodged a bullet.
Humphrey's POV:
I saw Kate look between Mr. O'Malley and myself as he waved his hand at my apology with a grunt.
"Don't worry about it, no one was badly hurt. Except perhaps Max's ego." He said gruffly, "Speaking of whom he clearly needs a lesson in professionalism." He finished, turning to head towards the locker rooms. After two paces he stopped however and turned back to me, his eyes flicking up and down, giving me a once over.
"Let me ask you something though." He said suddenly.
"Of course Mr. O'Malley, what is it." I relied as I looked up from undoing my wrist wraps, curious as to what he wanted to know.
"You've clearly already had some training, are you a professional boxer?" He asked, his expression and tone serious. I chuckled a little at the suggestion as I finished removing the wraps, placing them on the bench and picking up my shirt.
"No, not at all. A friend just taught me the basics a few years ago. Having fought for my life before, doing so for money doesn't really agree with me." I admitted as I slid my shirt back on and began to button it up. O'Malley merely grunted in response and continued over to the locker room. 'A little rude but I guess he's just like that.' I thought to myself, turning to Kate and her father who was looking me.
"Hello Humphrey, my name is Winston. I'm Kate's father." He said to which I smiled, holding out my hand to shake. For some reason he looked a little surprised at the offered handshake but accepted it nonetheless.
"It's a pleasure to meet you sir."
Winston's POV:
Winston looked down at the hand he was offered with some surprise, he couldn't remember the last time someone had acted thus upon first meeting him. After a moment he accepted the handshake, noting the firm but not excessive grip of the young man before him. As they shook hands Winston studied the boy, who appeared to be around Kate's age but was as tall at least as Winston himself, at least six foot. He couldn't help but smile a little at the boy's refreshing attitude but his expression became serious as he released his hand, getting down to business.
"So, Humphrey, Kate has told me what happened, both earlier outside the convenience store and just now." Humphrey's only reply was to tilt his head to the side, his quizzical expression asking the unspoken question for him; 'What do you mean?'.
Winston chuckled a little, placing a hand on Humphrey's shoulder and gripping it a bit. "What I'm saying, Humphrey, is thank you. You saved my daughter from those scumbags earlier. I'm sure what they had planned doesn't bare repeating here." As he spoke Winston noticed Kate to his side was very pointedly ignoring the conversation and looking away at the others in the gym. He didn't blame her, to be honest he was surprised that she had handled it all so well. He'd done his best to shelter Kate and her sister from the life he led so he thought she'd have been distraught from it all.
"And now you stood up for her just before, against an opponent who had every advantage over you." Winston continued, returning his attention to Humphrey. "So thank you Humphrey, I am in your debt." He finished, sincere in his gratitude.
Humphrey's POV:
I was a bit surprised at how serious Kate's father was as he thanked me, I hadn't really done all that much. Kate had taken care of the fools in the alley earlier by herself, all I did was distract them a little. 'You'd think that I'd taken a bullet or pulled her from a burning car or something, the way he's thanking me.' I thought to myself. I smiled and laughed lightly as he finished speaking, scratching the back of my head as I replied.
"Please think nothing of it. I just did what anyone would've done." I said. I thought he would've let it go at that but he surprised me, tightening his grip on my shoulder some.
"Not in this town." He said, looking as serious as ever as he released his grip, turning towards Kate and placing a hand affectionately on the top of her head.
"Anyhow it's time for us to go. I meant what I said though Humphrey." He continued, giving me a meaningful glance. "I'll be out in the car Kat, don't be long." He added quietly, turning and heading towards the door. Kate and I watched him go for a moment before turning back to each other, standing awkwardly in silence for a moment. 'What do I say? It feels like I've known her a lot longer than two hours.' I thought to myself, stumped for how to fill the silence.
"Well..." Kate suddenly spoke, pausing for a moment as I returned from my desperate internal search for appropriate words. "Thanks for everything you did today." She said finally, meeting my gaze for a moment before looking away. I thought I saw a little colour in her cheeks but decided it could've easily been my imagination. 'She's normally pretty confident, must not be used to situations like this.' I thought to myself, 'Not that I can blame her, given what happened.'
Kate's POV:
Kate could feel some heat in her cheeks and knew she must've been blushing as she looked away. She honestly had no idea what to say to a boy who'd saved her, stood up for her and fought someone for her, despite having met only a hour or so beforehand. Not to mention she'd likely never see him again.
"Well Kate, you're welcome. I don't think I did all that much but..." He said after a moment. Kate turned back to see him grinning at her and couldn't help but smile herself a little.
"All the same, thanks. Well, it was nice to meet you Humphrey." Kate grinned herself as she spoke, once again noting that his attitude seemed to be infectious as she turned and headed for the door. She had only made it two steps before she heard him chuckle and turned back to see him lowering his head and flourishing his arms in a completely over-the-top yet impressive bow.
"Milady please, the pleasure was all mine." He said, looking up after a second. She couldn't help but let out a giggle at the exaggerated display before turning and heading for the door, turning and waving quickly as she opened and walked through the door.
"Not all of it." She muttered quietly to herself as she ran over and got into the back of the car with her father.
Humphrey's POV:
I looked up from my bow to see Kate giggle a bit which made me grin as I straightened up, my grin widening as she waved from the doorway before disappearing. After a moment the grin faded as I thought about what to do now, it was getting dark and I hadn't organised a place to stay yet. I shivered a little and rubbed my arms, suddenly realising how cold it was. All of a sudden a thought hit me; my jacket! Kate still had it. 'Crap, that's my favourite.' I thought to myself as I ran over to the doorway, yanking it open and stepping outside to the deserted street. I looked around for a moment but it was pointless, Kate and her father were long gone. I let out a sigh and shrugged, turning around to head back inside and get the address so I could call a cab. 'Not like I could've just taken it back. She had nothing else to wear.' I thought to myself as I headed back in.
A hotel somewhere in the centre of Jasper, later that evening.
I let out a huge sigh as I flopped down on the enormous bed in my hotel room, exhausted from my first day back in Jasper. To say it'd been eventful would be the understatement of the week; an emotional roller coaster would've been closer to the truth. To recap I'd discovered that my last remaining family relation had passed away, was surprised to learn I actually had some inheritance, seen a girl my age KO three gangsters and sparred with a professional boxer. I let out another sigh and looked around the room I'd landed for the night. It was pretty nice, huge double bed, big TV, nice bathroom, balcony and a decent view of Jasper City and the river that meandered through the middle of it. 'What was that river called again?' I thought to myself for a moment before shrugging it off and starting to get ready for bed. This was the only available room in town on short notice and was more expensive than I'd normally go for. 'Lucky I had some money left over.' Was my final thought before I fell into a deep sleep.
A/N: Hey guys, we've reached the end of the first day and it was a big one. What do you think so far?