Oak Tree

Chapter 61 - Oak Tree

Mike guided Mia out of the office with one arm steady around her shoulders. By the time they crossed the gym floor, most of the fighters had already left. A few of the remaining boxers glanced in their direction, but no one said a word.

When Mike told Vanessa that training was finished for the day, she simply nodded, accepting the answer without questions. He didn’t stop to explain anything else. He walked Mia straight to her car, opened the passenger door, and waited until she was settled before closing it carefully behind her.

The drive to his dorm took barely ten minutes, most of it passing in silence. Streetlights swept across the windshield in slow yellow bands while Mia sat with her hands folded tightly in her lap, her face turned toward the dark window. Mike kept one hand on the wheel and rested the other on the console between them, close enough for her to reach if she wanted to. She didn’t move toward him until he finally parked beneath the old oak tree outside the dorm building. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Mike got out, walked around the car, and opened her door, holding out his hand. Mia took it without hesitation, though her fingers were still cold.

They climbed the two flights of stairs in silence, their footsteps echoing softly through the quiet building. At the door, Mike unlocked it, guided Mia inside, and locked it behind them. His room was small but orderly, carrying the faint scent of clean laundry and the coffee he had abandoned that morning. A narrow bed rested against the far wall beneath a wide window, while a desk held his laptop and a stack of training notebooks. The room was dim except for the small lamp on the nightstand, which cast a warm pool of light across the space.

Mike switched on the lamp and turned toward her. His expression was calm, but there was nothing casual about his voice when he spoke. “Tell me everything,” he said. “From the start. No more holding back.”

Mia stood near the desk with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. For several seconds, she said nothing, simply breathing as though she were gathering the courage to finally let everything out. Then, slowly, the words began to come, quiet and steady at first.

“Danny is the same man from before. The one who used to wait outside my old gym and follow me to the bus stop. The one who grabbed my wrist that night and told me I belonged to him.” She swallowed, her eyes fixed on the floor. “I thought he was gone as I changed cities, numbers. I thought it was all over.” Her voice trembled, but she forced herself to continue. “Then those three men who kept asking me for favors at the calisthenics gym, last month they must have found him. Or maybe he found them. I don’t know which. All I know is that three at beach, he was waiting for me near the pier. He stepped out from behind the ice-cream stand and smiled at me."

Mike’s hands slowly curled into fists at his sides, but he remained silent. He knew she needed to finish this in her own words, so he kept his anger buried and let her continue.

“He told me to follow him. He said that if I refused, he would hurt you. He said he knew where you trained, where you lived, even what times you walked alone. He said one phone call was all it would take for something bad to happen to you.” Mia’s voice grew quieter as she remembered. “So I went with him.”

She paused, her eyes shining again, but this time she managed to hold the tears back. “He made me put the vibrator in the morning and set the timer himself. He said it would keep me obedient during training and that he would know if I turned it off early. Then he told me that if I said anything to anyone, he would come for you first.”

Mike felt anger rise hot and sharp in his chest, but she had done all of this to protect him. She had carried that fear and shame through an entire training session because she believed it was the only way to keep anyone from coming after him. The thought made something twist painfully inside him.

He wanted to pull her close and never let her go, yet another part of him wanted to find Danny and make sure the man could never hurt her again.

He watched Mia’s shoulders begin to shake as the careful control she had maintained since the office finally gave way. A soft sob escaped her, and she pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes as though she could somehow hold the tears back. Mike felt her pain almost as sharply as his own. For one wild moment, he wanted to walk out the door, drive straight to the beach, and find Danny before the man had another chance to come near her. But then he looked at Mia standing in the middle of his room, tears slipping between her fingers, and knew he couldn’t leave her alone. Not now.

He crossed the room and gently took her by the upper arms, guiding her toward the bed. She didn’t resist. He helped her sit on the edge of the mattress, then crouched down and untied her shoes one at a time, setting them neatly aside before standing again.

For a moment, he simply held her face between his hands, searching her eyes. Then he leaned down and pressed a slow, reassuring kiss to her forehead before giving her lips a softer one.

When he pulled back, Mike reached for the folded blanket at the foot of the bed and shook it open before settling it carefully around her shoulders. He began easing her back against the pillow, but Mia’s hand suddenly reached for him and caught the front of his shirt. Her fingers twisted into the fabric and refused to let go.

“Stay,” she whispered. “Please.”

Mike nodded without hesitation. He kicked off his shoes and switched off the lamp, leaving only the faint glow of the street filtering through the window. Then he lay down beside her, facing her as the mattress dipped beneath his weight. He kept a careful space between them at first, giving her room to decide what she needed, but Mia slowly moved closer until her forehead rested against his collarbone. Mike slipped one arm beneath her neck and wrapped the other around her back, drawing the blanket over them both.

Her breathing remained uneven for a long while, and every few minutes a small tremor passed through her. Mike continued stroking her hair in the same slow, steady rhythm he had used in the office, never rushing her and never asking anything of her.

Gradually, he felt her body grow heavier against him as the tension began to leave her shoulders. Her fingers loosened their grip on his shirt, but her hand remained resting over his heart. Eventually, her breathing deepened and settled into the quiet, steady rhythm of sleep.

Mike stayed awake for a long time after that, watching the gentle rise and fall of her back beneath the blanket. The anger was still there, cold and relentless behind his eyes, but he kept his body completely relaxed so he wouldn’t disturb her.

Outside, the branches of the old oak shifted in the light wind, and every so often a car passed along the street below, its headlights briefly washing across the ceiling. Eventually, Mike closed his eyes and let his breathing fall into the same rhythm as hers until sleep finally claimed him too.

He woke some time later to the pale gray light of early morning. Mia was still asleep against him, her face peaceful in a way he hadn’t seen since they left the gym. Mike carefully eased his arm free and sat up, taking care not to disturb the mattress. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, the cool floor pressing beneath his bare feet as he crossed the room toward the window. He pushed the curtain aside just enough to look outside.

The street below was quiet. A delivery truck idled at the far corner while a woman in a dark jacket walked a small dog along the opposite sidewalk. Mike’s gaze moved across the familiar morning scene until something caught his attention and made him stop.

Claire stood beneath the oak tree.

She was wearing the same black hoodie she always favored on cool mornings, her arms folded tightly across her chest as she stared toward the dorm building. She hadn’t noticed him yet. Her weight shifted from one foot to the other, as though she were still deciding whether to come closer or turn around and leave.

Behind him, Mia made a soft sound in her sleep and turned her face deeper into the pillow. He glanced back to make sure she was still asleep before returning his attention to the window. Claire lifted her chin at that exact moment, her eyes settling directly on the glass as though she had somehow sensed him watching.

For several long seconds, neither of them moved. The morning light slowly strengthened around them, and somewhere above, a bird called from the oak branches. Mike kept his expression unreadable and remained perfectly still, waiting to see what Claire would do next.

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