Caged Heart
Authors: S. C. Edward
"Hold on a sec....its meathead number four!" Selene said handing Tony his cell phone.
Tony rolled his eyes and took the phone from her hand.
"Yea, hello? What's up man? Yea... she called you meathead number four." he laughed. "Yea, Dave and the crew've been blowin' up my cell all day. Alright man, see you in an hour then."
He hung up and stared at his cousin reading on the couch. He waited for her to look up at him.
"What?" she asked, seeing him in the corner of her eye.
"Can you please be nice?"
"Or else what? Meathead number one, two, three and four will beat me up? I was only playing, relax!"
"Yea well Dorian's on his way here. He'll be here in an hour, so don't do that thing that you always do." he said, frowning.
"What thing?" she asked, giving him her pretty and innocent smile.
"You know what I mean. You always try to make them feel like they're dumb."
"No I do not!" she said defensively. "Just because I try to have an intelligent conversation with them when they come here doesn't mean I'm trying to make them look stupid. Is it so bad to talk about things other than UFC and weight training? Geez! If they're all getting offended, then I'll just shut up!"
"Chill out 'Lene! I'm just sayin' Dorian's coming over for dinner. Just try not to kill him with your intelligence aight?"
"Ugh! Since I'm cooking everything ON MY OWN..." she emphasized. "... I should be allowed to talk... but whatever. Have it your way. I'll just sit there like a good little girl while the beefcakes talk about man-stuff."
He walked away, shaking his head and not caring to take the argument any further. The two were roommates and Selene constantly found herself being surrounded by his crew. Tony was a UFC fighter, and a very good one at that. He was becoming a rising star in the cage or the "Octagon" as they called it and his work was always spilling into Selene's personal space. She didn't mind meeting his friends or team though.
Her life was lonely since she was single and she secretly welcomed the presence of other men to their apartment. The only problem was that the guys Tony brought over usually went for the skinny model type. Selene had more meat on her bones than they cared for. Even though she was a little overweight, she still had killer curves, a nice butt and a lovely pair of 40DD breasts. She also had the prettiest almond shaped eyes and beautiful mahogany skin. Unfortunately, that never impressed "Chocolate" Tony's friends. That's what the fan girls called him.
Tony was a very handsome man. He was a heavy weight fighter at 6ft tall and 235 lbs. and he had all the women begging for his attention. For most men, this probably would have been a huge distraction but he never wavered from his dedication to fighting. He worked very hard to get where he was and he wasn't going to let anyone or anything stop him. Selene admired this about him, even though she never said so out loud. Tony spent most of his early career fighting smaller bouts and it didn't take long for him to grab the attention of the UFC Organization.
For a year he fought in the Octagon and won 3 out of 4 fights; an impressive feat for someone with lesser experience. As a student of multiple disciplines, he spent most days of the week training and sparring. This left him with not much time to take care of his meals and other necessary daily activities. Selene recognized this and took it upon herself to do his laundry on some days, the grocery shopping and making dinner. The two were very close and had gotten along the most, out of all their other cousins. She didn't mind doing all these chores; she was rooting for him and wanted him to succeed.
Tonight Selene was to meet Dorian Jaidon for the first time. She heard about him through Tony but had never met him. He and Tony fought 10 months prior and even though Dorian dominated and won the fight, there were no hard feelings. The two had become great friends and began sparring together ever since. Tony invited him over for the weekend to watch a game and Selene, not having any plans as usual, planned to observe them. The deal was that Tony would pay for all the groceries for the next two weeks, if she cooked for the weekend. She thought it was a pretty good deal considering how much she usually did for free and agreed.
Selene was a great cook and Tony probably wanted to impress Dorian. They were having steaks for dinner tonight, with rice pilaf and asparagus. She even made Tony's favorite Berry Cheesecake for desert. Maybe she would get some slack if she were to open her mouth tonight.
***
Selene decided to wash her hair before dinner. She planned to have a drink, eat and then go to bed right away. She didn’t have the patience for another one of Tony's late night hangouts. Dorian was about to arrive and Tony was accusing her of hogging the shower again. She was too annoyed to fight back and cut her lovely hot shower short. She towel dried her damp, curly hair and got into a comfortable t-shirt and pajama shorts. Selene knew that she would probably have to get the door since Tony was still showering, and planted herself back on the couch, with her book in hand.
It didn't take long for the doorbell to ring and she dreaded the fact that she might have to entertain this man alone.
"Lene can you get the door?" Tony shouted from his room.
"Yea, yea, yea." she muttered under her breath.
Selene knew he would probably be very handsome, like all the men who came before him. She was right. Dorian was very close to Tony in form; the only difference being he was white and had a faux hawk hairstyle, when Tony was dark-skinned and bald. He had gorgeous green eyes and two piercings on his left ear. On his forehead was a tiny cut which was almost hidden by his jet black hair. He had probably just left training.
"Hi!"
He had a tiny mouth and when he smiled she noticed a dimple in the right corner of his mouth. He was absolutely gorgeous but she was prepared for that same let down. He wouldn't say anything interesting and even if he did, she would never have a chance with him. Still, she would be polite for Tony's sake.
"Hello."
"I'm Dorian... uh is Tony here?
"Yeah he's in the shower, come in." she said with a tiny smile.
"Thank you." and he trudged in with a black gym bag.
"I think he's getting dressed... you can put your bag in here." she said, leading him to their small guest room, located next to hers. "Can I get you something to drink?"
"Water, please."
"Alright, I'll be right back."
She turned away and headed for the kitchen, only to bump into Tony in the hallway.
"You being nice?"
"Nope! I called him a meathead to his face and told him he needs to read more." she muttered under her breath as she walked past, without giving him a second look.
It was about time for that drink. She couldn't take anymore annoyances. Selene poured herself a glass of wine and got Dorian a tall glass of iced water. She could hear them talking from the kitchen about the day's regimen. She sighed deeply and really took in the fact that he would be there for the next two days.
"It would be best to avoid them." she thought.
She was getting tired of the same old routine. It's not that she hated to hear about their training. Selene was getting into fitness herself. She just wanted to not deal with Tony's mouth tonight, but the chances of that would be slim. She took a large gulp of wine and proceeded back to the living room
"Hey, dinner's ready if you guys wanna eat." she said, handing Dorian the glass.
“Awww man, I’m starving!" Dorian grinned. “It smells good from here too.”
"Yea man, we have our own personal chef tonight. She’ll be serving us and everything." Tony said winking at Selene, as she shot him an angry look.
"In your dreams!" she said, turning away from them and heading for the dinner table.
The men followed her and sat down. She had her glass of wine handy and took another sip. She just wanted to eat and get out of there. Selene took into account what Tony said and he was probably right. Maybe when she spoke, there really was an air of superiority that drove men away from her. She made up her mind to not say very much to Dorian.
"Would you like some wine Dorian?"
"Sure, thank you!" he said, and took his first bite of the steak.
"I'd like some too waitress!" Tony smirked.
She wanted to slap him upside his head but she let it go and served them. He would not have her acting un-ladylike tonight.
Selene sat down and began to eat quietly, not taking any interest in what they were talking about. Their conversations had to do with the usual: anticipation of their big upcoming fights, new coaches and of course, Tony's new chick for the week. Dorian looked like he was enjoying the dinner and she smiled to herself as she took a quick glance at him. He looked back at her and shot her a quick smile as Tony went on and on.
"You're a really good cook." he said, interrupting Tony. "You need to give this guy some lessons."
She smiled in response and waited for Tony's comeback... she knew he wouldn't keep his mouth shut.
"The only thing I need lessons for is kickin' some ass!" he said as-a-matter-of-factly.
"We know meathead!" she said, almost catching her tongue.
She didn't want Dorian to be reminded of what she had called him earlier.
"Oh yea, I'm meathead number 4 right?" he laughed, and gave her a gorgeous smile.
She didn't know what to do except laugh out of embarrassment.
"Selene over here thinks we're all idiots and don't read." Tony said with his mouth full.
"I never said that stupid! Keep talking and you're gonna choke on your food!"
"I read." Dorian said. "I saw you were reading "Just After Sunset" out there. I like Stephen King too."
"Well, I stand corrected. There are only three meatheads now!" she smiled and Dorian laughed in response.
The two went on with their usual conversation while they ate and Selene excused herself from the table. She’d had a smaller portion and was going to skip desert. The wine had gotten to her head and she wanted to lie down. She said goodnight and made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Dorian had a good view of the hallway from the table and his eyes were stuck on her as she walked away.
***
Selene felt a little light headed. Perhaps she’d had too much to drink. She remembered her book in the living room and wanted to get it. She walked down the hallway and past the guest room. The door was slightly ajar and she took a little peek, but Dorian wasn't there. She could hear the shower running and assumed that's where he was since she could hear Tony in his room, on his cell phone.
"He's probably sweet talking some poor girl." she thought.
Selene went into the dark living room and tried to feel around the couch for the book. She couldn't find it but she searched some more in the dark, not wanting to hurt her eyes with the bright lights. It was nowhere to be found, so she just gave up and planned to find it in the morning. She couldn't see much as she made her way back through the hallway and her breasts suddenly squashed into something hard.
"Aaaah!" she gasped softly and grabbed her chest.
The fabric of her shirt now clung to her body, soaked from bumping into Dorian's wet torso.
"Oh I'm sorry. Are you alright?"
"Umm yea... I'm okay."