Old Neighborhood
"I think that's it." AJ said as they walked out of the fourth furniture place of the day. They had spent nearly six hours going from place to place.
"Yea." Punk said looking at his phone.
"You've been looking at that all day, something going on?" She asked.
"My opponent got hurt and dropped out of the fight." He told her.
"What?" She asked. "That sucks."
"It's fine I already have a replacement." He said as they stopped by a hot dog cart. "Hot dog?"
"Of course." She smirked.
She waited as Punk handed her off a hot dog and the paid man before asking more questions.
"Still tastes good." AJ grinned.
"I don't know how you can say that when all you put is ketchup on it." Punk mumbled as they walked around the City.
"Just try a bite." She said sticking her hot dog by his mouth.
"Ugh no." he said pushing it away.
"Ugh to the hot dog or ugh to sharing food with me?" she asked him.
"When it comes to your bodily fluids I digest a lot more than your saliva." He reminded her. "I won't touch a hot dog with ketchup."
"Your loss." She shrugged as they continued to walk. "So who are you going to fight?"
"Tommy Parker." he said and she nearly choked on her hot dog. "You ok?" He asked tapping her back.
"Phil did you ask for that fight?" She asked him.
"No Paul set it up." Punk shrugged. "I'm going to have to hit the gym tomorrow though. Fighting him is kind of like fighting myself. We trained together for years and know all of each others weak spots."
"This sounds really bad." AJ said to him. "Maybe you should postpone."
"Why?" he asked. "I've been dying to get my hands on him for a year now."
"You said he knows all of your moves." She argued.
"And I in return know his." Punk pointed out. "I think it's going to be big. Everyone is talking about it."
"I don't know about this." She said shaking her head.
"You don't think I could win?" he asked her.
"Of course I think you can win it's just so personal." She frowned.
"I haven't had a fight go longer than five minutes and next week won't be any different." Punk assured her. "I'm going to punch him in the face and not stop until the ref pulls me off of him."
Punk looked over and saw she still seemed worried and his slung his arm over her shoulder and kissed the side of her head.
"It's going to be fine." he promised.
"I don't want you to get hurt. As personal as it is for you it is for him too." AJ pointed out. "He's always be so jealous of you-"
"He should be." Punk smiled smugly. "Don't worry about me worry about him because he's going to be the one get carried out of the cage."
"Where are you going to train for the fight?" She asked him. "He'll probably be going back to the gym you both can't use the same place."
"Fuck him I was there first." Punk scoffed. "I don't even need to train. I've been waiting for this for a long time and I knew this day would come, I'm ready."
"Alright." She sighed then stopped walking as they passed the pet store. "Let me just run in and say hi to Celeste." She said discarding her hot dog in the trash.
"You barely ate that." He scolded but she was already in the shop.
"Celeste?" AJ yelled out loud. She hadn't spoken to her in a few weeks so seeing her was going to surprise.
"Can I help you?" a man around AJ's asked stepping out of the office.
"Oh sorry." She said looking around. "I thought Celeste was working."
"Celeste hasn't worked here in two months." The man told her.
"Is she ok?" AJ asked.
"She quit." The man shrugged and AJ noticed the place looked completely rearranged.
"Is Joe still around?" AJ asked him.
"He passed away." The man said.
"Oh god." AJ said feeling sick to her stomach. "I didn't even know he was sick."
"Heart attack, happened very sudden." the man said walking behind the counter and pulling out a binder. "Is there a reason you're asking so many intrusive questions?"
"I used to work here." AJ told him but he didn't seem to care.
"How wonderful." He remarked sarcastically. "Is there something you need to purchase?"
"I was actually hoping to get my job back do you know who the new owner is?" She asked him.
"That would be me." He said looking up from the binder.
"And you work out of the shop?" She asked surprised.
"I come by on Sundays at closing to do the paperwork since it hadn't been done correctly for the last three years. Did you use to do the paperwork on Sundays?" He asked a little annoyed.
"I did it every night and I did it right." AJ said defensively.
"Mr. Cortes I finished cleaning the back." A young man said and he nodded.
"You can go, lock the door on your way out." He said not even looking at him.
"A uniform?" AJ asked with a frown.
"Why are you still here?" The man asked going through paperwork.
"Why are you so rude?" AJ asked and he looked up at her. "You know you should be a little nicer to the people that work for you."
"And how many places have you owned?" The man asked amused.
"None I just know how I would like to be treated." She said to him.
"I don't really work with the help. Like I said I stop by to look at the paper until I get someone with more than half a brain to do this for me. There isn't a lot of help in this neighborhood." The Hispanic man told her.
"Maybe if you were nicer people would be more willing to work for you." AJ shot at him. "Respect is earned not demanded."
"Do you know who I am?" the man asked her.
"Not a clue." She said folding her arms.
"Luis Cortes." He told her.
"You have the same last name as Joe so you're a relative." She said to him.
"I'm his grandson but I also run an internet software company." He informed her. "I am worth billions and I'm wasting my valuable time here in this hellhole that was run so poorly trying to revamp it. It amazes me how easy it is for me run an entire corporation but can't find good help in this dive."
"Why don't you just close it?" AJ asked him.
"I loved my grandfather dearly and he loved this place. When I was a kid I used to come here after school everyday." He told her. "It's a piece of him that I won't let die. How do you think he kept it open all this time with the amount of money he made? I've been paying to keep this place breathing but now it's time to actually make money off of it."
"Maybe you like coming here and doing the simple things like paperwork." AJ said to him and he narrowed his eyes. "Just to be close to him again. I used to go down to the diner my mom worked in every Thursday night for two years after she died."
"That's not it." He assured her.
"You can have anyone here but here you are." She said to him. "I'd say it's sweet if you weren't such a jerk."
"A jerk?" he asked amused. "A stranger has never called me that."
"Maybe not to your face." she said with a sarcastic smile. "But for what it's worth I am really sorry about your grandfather. He was always very sweet to me and cared a lot about the animals. I hope you while you're 'revamping' you remember that's what it was always about." she began to walk to the door but his voice stopped her.
"Ms. Mendez." he said and she turned to look at him. "If you want your job back it's yours."
"How did you know my name?" she asked him.
"There's been two people who have worked the last two years and you are not Celeste." Luis said to her.
"Are you going to be rude to me?" She asked him.
"I'll try not to be. Are you going to call me names?" he asked back.
"I'll try not to." She answered back and he laughed a bit.
"When can you start back?" he asked her.
"I'm moving back here from Vegas in two weeks. But I can come in a few nights this week to familiarize myself in the meantime." She said to him. "Is that ok?"
"I suppose so." he said closing the binder.
"Hey, you ready?" Punk asked walking inside.
"He didn't lock the door." Luis mumbled as Punk stepped inside and Punk looked over to him.
"Excuse me?" Punk asked the man annoyed.
"Phil this is Luis Cortes." AJ introduced. "He's Joe's grandson and the new owner of the shop."
"A little over dressed aren't you?" Punk asked the man dressed in a crisp suit.
"I'll see you shortly Miss. Mendez." He said to her. "Lock the door on your way out." He ordered stiffly looking back down at the books.
"He seems like a dick." Punk said as they stepped outside.
"He is." AJ said to him.
"And that's who you want to work for?" Punk asked her.
"He just misses his grandfather, I get that." She said to him. "He won't be working out of there for long."
"I imagine he won't. I know who he is." Punk said to her. "I didn't know Joe's grandkid was a billionaire."
"Me either." AJ shrugged. "But hey, I got my job back." she cheered.
"That's great." He said to her. "And I have a gym to work out in. I just spoke to Dean and I get dibs over Tommy."
"It's going to be like the old days." AJ teased. "Me at the pet shop and you at the gym."
"That's kind of cute actually." He smirked. "I can stop by with your morning coffee."
"We're just missing Larry." She frowned.
"He'll be back here with us in a few weeks." He reminded her. "Until then I plan on enjoying us in the bed alone."
"He's going to love our new bed." AJ grinned.
"No." Punk said and she pouted. "No AJ he can't sleep in our new bed. He pisses and vomits in our bed at it is. New house rule, he's not allowed in our room."
"That's so cruel." She scolded.
"This house is going to be huge for him no reason for him to come into our room." Punk said to her.
"He'll get lonely." She frowned.
"He'll get over it." He scoffed.
"We'll see about that." AJ said under her breath.
"I mean it AJ." He warned as she walked ahead of him. "Babe!" he called after. "I don't want him in the bed!" but she just laughed.
The next night Punk was training and AJ had contacted Celeste and invited her over to the hotel for dinner.
"This hotel room was amazing." Celeste said putting her bag down at the kitchen table. "Started from the bottom now you're here." she teased.
"Wait until you see the house he got." AJ said to her. "It's tremendous."
"So you're moving in together." Celeste noted looking at the room service menu.
"We've been living together for more than half a year." AJ reminded her.
"Vegas was temporary." Celeste pointed out. "Chicago is permanent and it's a real home."
"I know it feels amazing." She said to her.
"So when are you getting married?" Celeste asked and AJ began to cough. "Hasn't been bought up?"
"It has in the sense that he doesn't want to get married." AJ said to her. "We went to a wedding a few weeks back for one of his teammates and the entire time all he did was bash the idea of marriage. He said it was stupid among other things."
"Are you ok with that?" Celeste asked her.
"I don't really have a choice." AJ shrugged.
"Sure you do. We all have choices AJ." Celeste said to her. "You've always wanted a family of your own and if he won't give that to you someone else will."
"I have a family." She said to her.
"You want children." Celeste reminded her. "Where does he stand on that?"
"The same place he stands with marriage." AJ said to her. "I have my own family with Phil. Phil and Larry are all I need."
"If you say so." Celeste muttered.
"So what happened at the pet shop? Why did you quit? And why didn't you tell me Joe died?" She asked her.
"I didn't want you to fly down." Celeste said to her. "I know you would have but it all happened so fast and it was during Punk's second fight."
"I would have came back." She said to her.
"And I quit because Luis is a dickhead." Celeste said to her. "He wanted me to wear a uniform and was so rude."
"I got my job back." She told her.
"Why?" Celeste asked. "That guy is a monster."
"I think he just misses Joe." AJ said to her.
"You don't have to work." Celeste pointed out.
"Yea I do. It's bad enough Phil pays the bills but I want to contribute a little." She said to her. "I like the store and Luis won't even be there for long."
"It's your sanity." Celeste mocked. "So I heard Punk is fighting Tommy." she grinned.
"Ugh." AJ groaned. "Don't remind me."
"I've been waiting to see Punk knock him out." Celeste said eagerly.
"I'm so worried. It just feels too personal and if Phil gets hurt I'll blame myself." She said to her.
"I'm sure Punk will kick his ass. He's been waiting for a year now." Celeste pointed out. "How's your dad?"
"He didn't show up for dinner. Sent me a text he had last minute plans two hours into waiting for him at the restaurant." she told her. "I ate alone. It was so pathetic."
"I'm sorry." Celeste frowned.
"It's alright. I'll be back for good now so he can't avoid me forever." AJ said to her. "Alright let's order."
At around one the hotel room door opened and Punk slowly made his way in and dropped his bag by the door. His body was wrecked from practice and he headed into the bathroom closing the door only halfway and putting the water on as hot as it could be without burning him. He slowly peeled off his clothes as he tried to keep his painful groans to himself to not wake AJ. He opened the shower door and just let the water hit him. His eyes were shut tight as the hot water his his bruises and sore muscles.
"Phil?" AJ asked opening the door.
"I didn't mean to wake you, go back to sleep." he said looking over to her.
"Are you ok?" She asked concerned and he put on a fake smile.
"Yea." he said holding onto the wall because clearly his back was killing him. "Just got back to sleep." he said again not wanting her to see him in such agony.
AJ kept the door open and removed her clothes and stepped into the shower behind him.
"AJ-" he started.
"Shh." She whispered and began to rub his back for him. "Is that ok?"
"Yea." He had to admit. "A little higher."
AJ raised raised her hands higher and massaged all the knots in his back. Punk's eyes shut as he let her work his back for him. After fifteen minutes she grabbed a loofa and his body wash and began to clean him off. He turned to face her and looked down at her.
"Thank you." he whispered and she just gave him a smile.
"Does it hurt anywhere else other than your back?" She asked washing over his chest for him.
"No." he said to her. "You and the hot water is making it feel a lot better."
"You can't overwork like this." She reminded him. "You'll never make it to the fight if you keep this up."
"I have to beat him." Punk said to her. "It's not about being on a pay-per-view or my win streak- I just have to."
"You need to clear your head." She encouraged. "You can't walk into a fight thinking this way."
"It's not just about you." he said to her. "This is my pride. He's gotten good."
"He's not as good as you or this wouldn't be his first UFC fight." she reminded him. "You're amazing at what you do but you can't be off focus."
"I know." he agreed.
"Dry yourself off and I'll heat up your back pad for you." She said rinsing the soap off of him and stepping out of the shower to dry off herself.
"I mean it when I say it you know." He said sticking his out the shower door.
"Say what?" She asked wrapping a towel around her body.
"I can't do this without you." He said seriously. "I love you and when I win it's going to be for you."
"I love you too." she smiled.