What are your intentions with my daughter?

Luciana

Ruby arrived in the common room just as the clock struck noon. She was in the same outfit she’d worn before, but had gone all red this time. Her dress, her silk gloves, her lipstick, all of it. Al was not with her this time, and she was clearly quite happy about that fact. None of the contestants shared her enthusiasm. Although Luciana was marginally more excited than the rest, as she had the opportunity to get out of the hotel for a few hours.

“Ladies, have we made our selections for today?” She asked. No one moved. But Ruby noticed the sealed envelope bearing her team’s name resting on the breakfast bar. She snapped her gloved fingers and it flew through the air to her hand. Ruby traced her index finger along the edge and it split open as if cut by a letter opener, causing the first card to pop free of the envelope.

“Luciana! You’re up first, then.” Ruby looked over Luciana, who had changed back into her casual gym wear and out of the dress she’d worn to the challenge reveal. Back to sneakers - this time vintage red and white hightops, black joggers, and a baggie and well-loved grey hoodie which did nothing for her new curves. “Is that what you’re going to wear?”

“That dress only fits this body, and as soon as we go back into the world it’ll be daylight again.” Luciana shrugged. “And I want to be comfortable. Isn’t that what all the magazines and shit say about dating? ‘Just be yourself.’”

“This isn’t your typical date, Luciana. It’s a competition to please Michael. And the audience.”

“You said he was into me the way I was before. Even he said it. So why should I change? Maybe you guys don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“And the audience?”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“It’s your decision.“ Ruby smiled and held out her hand, but Luciana declined to take it. Ruby retracted it, miffed at Luciana’s rebuff.

“So now what?”

“Michael will meet you at the base of the elevator. Head outside the exterior doors if you choose to take him to the real world. Use this,” Ruby produced a cell phone from her cleavage, which Luciana took warily. “Use this to summon the limo. Inside it is an intercom, state where you want to go and it will take you there. The bar inside is free for your use during the drive. The phone will chime when it is time for the next girl to take over. Make sure to get yourself back into the limo before the time expires completely. If you try to abandon the game, it will be treated as a forfeit. You got all that?”

“Yeah, I get it.”

“You can call me if you get confused.” Ruby said, gesturing again to the phone. Luciana slipped it into her hoodie. Ruby checked her watch. “Your time started a few minutes ago, better get moving.”

---

Michael was waiting awkwardly when Luciana arrived, having changed into jeans and a polo shirt. Luciana approached him, and he clearly had a moment of indecision about how to greet her - handshake? Hug? Luciana took pity on him and offered him a fist bump, and he looked relieved that the choice was made for him.

“I wasn’t sure where you wanted to go, so I dressed casual. You seem kinda casual.” He stumbled a bit. “I mean, no offense.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Now it was Luciana’s turn to be awkward. “Being one hundred with you, I’m not really sure where to go either.”

“Well, this is a date, so maybe just take me where you’d take a normal date. I’m pretty low maintenance.”

“That’s just it…” Luciana’s cheeks flushed. She ducked her head because she couldn’t keep eye contact with him. She’d left her hair down and shyly tucked it behind her ear. “I haven’t been on one in a long time. You’ve gotta remember I didn’t look like this before we got here.”

“I’m sorry that all this is happening to you, but I like both versions. If that helps.” Strangely, it did a little. “Well, what do you do for fun?”

“Not much, I spent all my days at the gym or at home recovering. I was pretty boring, not gonna lie.”

Michael perked up. “I’ve never been to a pro fighter’s gym, why don’t we go there? You could show me something?”

“Why not?” Luciana felt more confident now that she’d be heading to her home turf. Yeah, this isn’t so bad.

Outside, she called the limo and the two of them looked to the distant horizon.

“We should see it coming for miles,” Michael said. But somehow it materialized only about 200 yards up the road, perfectly in their field of view, as if it had been there the whole time. It slid to a stop in front of them and the door popped open. The windows for the driver were tinted so heavily they couldn’t tell whether or not there was anyone in there. Neither answer would have surprised them.

The two climbed in and sat on opposite sides. Luciana found the small intercom and held down the talk button.

“Let’s go to my gym.” She said. Wait, that was stupid, how are they gonna know where it is? I didn’t even tell them the name. She thought. But the limo was already rolling.

---

Miami Gardens

The Warrior’s Code sat on a nondescript corner of a neighborhood where you wouldn’t stop unless you got a flat tire. Even then, you might get out and push. Since it was early afternoon in the real world, the darkness of the Hotel’s world was washed out in South Florida sunshine. Luciana closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and clenched her fists as her body again went through the change. Her soft curves receded and her hard muscles returned.

“Does it hurt every time?” Michael asked softly.

“It doesn’t really hurt. I can deal with hurt. It’s just fucking weird, like everything is moving and shifting under your skin.”

“Like a baby kicking or something?”

“Well, I’ve never felt that. But yeah, kinda like a baby kicking the inside of you. All over.”

“Sheesh. Is there anything I can do?” Luciana shook her head. After a few sessions of this, it was getting easier to tolerate and she was getting savvier about having the proper clothes on when it did. No need to rip through a shirt like the Hulk. A few deep breaths and she was settled into her new body. Which was her old body. She opened them slowly and saw Michael’s look of concern, so she patted him on the knee.

Luciana felt briefly embarrassed to be arriving in a limo, and a few of the passersby stared as they climbed out. They probably think we’re developers or some shit. The exterior of the gym was in worse shape than she remembered. She could have sworn the exterior stucco had been cleaned within the last few months, and the sign replaced, but it looked as if none of that had happened.

“This is where the magic happens, huh?” Michael asked, then covered his face when he realized how idiotic that sounded. Luciana laughed.

“I suppose you could say that. Dad bought this place from the old owner when I was little. Keeps turning down offers for it too, I’m not sure if he knows what else to do.”

“Feels trapped, huh?” Michael opined. “I can relate.”

“Half that. Half is just living in his memories. Come on, I’ll introduce you to the guys.”

Michael was suddenly unsure of his plan, but Luciana was already holding the door for him to enter. Inside were all the familiar sights, sounds, and smells that Luciana had been missing since she was taken for the show. Edgar’s hip hop blared through the sound system, as it always did. He made sure to be there as soon as the doors opened, and he’d post up right next to the controls for his workout. The standing rule was to knock him down in a spar if you wanted to change the music, but as he was the gym’s leading heavyweight, few of the others tried and fewer still succeeded. Of course, to even approach him would be to risk getting hit by the curtains of sweat flying off in all directions as he jumped rope with his shirt off. He smells like he bathes in garlic, I’d rather deal with his music than try to get that smell out of my clothes.

A glance at Michael and she couldn’t tell which of his senses was being assaulted the hardest.

“You get used to it.” Luciana yelled to be heard over the bass.

“How?!” Michael asked back. The two of them stood out like a sore thumb in the crowded gym, Luciana for being the only woman and Michael for being the only white guy. It was the former that drew attention though.

“Hey hey!” Tony, a musclebound Dominican and one of the oldheads of the gym, was the first to notice her from his position on the heavy bag. “Tuck your dicks in boys, we got a lady present!” Edgar noticed the yelling and shut off the music, so the remaining fighters looked up to see what was happening.

“You never did that shit before, Tony. Why are you playin the gentleman now?” Luciana taunted back.

“Ah! She knows my name!” Of course I know his name, we’ve been training together for six years. Luciana thought, but no recognition crossed his face. Oh… Right. Sarah mentioned this. They forget. Only your closest remember you.

“Of course she does, Tony! Half the chicks in Miami swiped left on you already!” A voice called from the back.

“The other half smashed their phones so they didn’t match by accident!” Edgar joined in, dogpiling on him. The usual ballbreaking. Nothing ever changes. Undeterred, Tony pulled off his gloves and approached Luciana. He, and indeed everyone, completely ignored Michael.

“What brings you in here, mi amor?” He took Luciana’s hand and gave it a kiss before she yanked it away. “If you are looking for personal instruction, I offer it both during…and after business hours.” Finally, his eyes flitted to Michael. It was a challenging look, one that Michael was not eager to return. “This your dad?” Tony asked.

“No, but he is.” Luciana nodded to Roberto, who had emerged from the back office, but hadn’t noticed the two in the entryway. Though was he headed that way, berating his stable of fighters as he went. Michael at 6’ was half a head taller than Roberto. Even Luciana was taller than Roberto. But Roberto was built like a war horse and looked as though he could have made weight and fought tomorrow if need be. And he seemed to grow in stature when he moved through his gym, his space.

“Why don’t I hear you apes working out here? Ain’t nobody get stronger standin’ around! Especially you Edgar, you don’t get through your 20 rounds jump roping and I’m having the announcers call you El Gordo.” Edgar protested but the laughter of the rest of the crew put him back in line. “Tony, get off of her before I-” Roberto stopped dead as Tony stepped back and revealed Luciana.

Whatever reaction Luciana expected -a hug, gratitude- it wasn’t what she got.

“Luciana, in my office.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. Really? I disappear right in front of him and this shit is what I get? But she obeyed anyway. He pointed to Michael, recognizing that he must be with her. “You too.” Michael followed like a chastened boy on his way to the Principal’s office.

The office overlooked the gym floor, and Roberto shut the door and closed the blinds once the three of them were inside. Of course you gotta shut them out. The rest of them out there gossip worse than their own abuelas. Luciana noted that none of the posters from her own fights hung in his office any more. Like I never existed.

Roberto pulled a piece of paper from his desk drawer and tossed it down in front of them. “After you disappeared, I found this letter. What in the hell is this about?”

Michael picked it up and glanced at it. “Yeah, I can explain that.”

“I don’t want you to explain it, I don’t know who the hell you are. I want her to explain it. What did you sign up for?”

“I didn’t sign up for anything, Papi. This show just picked me.”

“This is Michael Clark, right? Did he pick you?” Roberto waved an accusatory finger at Michael.

“Kind of. They took a bunch of women, his stepkid, his co-worker, his wife-”

“Two wives, actually.” Michael tried to push his way back into the conversation, before Luciana’s phrasing got him in trouble. “I know about that letter because I got one myself. They took my first wife back in 2006. Let me guess, no one else remembers Luciana?”

Roberto shook his head. “My guys outside never woulda pulled that stunt with her if they did.”

“It’s tough, I know-”

“I don’t need your sympathy.” Roberto still refused to give him an inch. “This letter says you’re gonna be her fucking Master? If you’re gonna be ‘the guy’ then let her go.”

“I don’t know how, I don’t think it works that way.”

“So. find. out.”

He’s not going to let this go. He can’t, it’s not in his nature.

“Papi, he’s telling the truth. It’s really not his fault.” Luciana stepped closer and gently pulled Roberto’s chin to break his staredown. “It’s a fucked up situation all around.”

Roberto went quiet for a minute. Finally he gestured for Michael to leave them alone. Michael gave her a worried look, conveying with his eyes the concern that there were a dozen guys between him and the exit. Luciana smiled, trying to comfort him. They’re just kittens. Really.

“How did you know him?” Roberto asked after Michael left, the edge in his voice softening to defeat. It was an unfamiliar sound for him, one Luciana hadn’t heard for years.

“I didn’t. I guess he bet on me in the fight against the Viper.”

“And that’s it? That’s the whole connection that got you pulled into this?”

“Apparently so.” She took his hand across the desk. “I talked to one of the other girls there. She called her girlfriend, and she said that girl only half-remembered her. You too?”

Roberto nodded. He interlaced his fingers and lightly bounced his fists off his forehead, like he was struggling to call something to mind. “It makes me feel crazy. Like I took too many shots to the head. Who just imagines a whole daughter and a whole other life? I’m glad to see you, mija, because I was starting to doubt you even existed.”

“I do.” She squeezed his wrist. “I always will.”

“It’s fading, though. The last few days I made sure to drive by your apartment, just in case. But this morning I made it all the way here before I remembered to check. Who was that girl you fought in Nashville? The one with the blue trunks? I couldn’t even remember her name today, and that was your biggest win.”

“I never saw you so happy.” Luciana remembered him hoisting her on his shoulders for the roar (well, dull roar) of the few hundred people in attendance. But the way he beamed that night, you’d have thought she won gold.

“Yeah, I think I was happier than even you that night.” Roberto conceded. His voice dropped even softer. “I was hoping it would help. Training you. You were so broken up after mama left.”

“So you brought me here? Because of mama?”

“Where else was I supposed to take you? This is all I know how to do. You were getting in fights, skipping school… I’m not the guy to help with your math homework. This is me.” He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. “I couldn’t lose you too.”

“You worked me like a dog, papi.” Luciana felt her anger rising. This is not how I wanted this to go. She thought, but her emotions were running away with her. “I couldn’t do anything! I couldn’t take a date, a vacation, or even eat bad food without catching shit from you! I’m a grown-ass woman now.”

“That is the fighter’s life, mija.” His own voice was rising, matching her intensity.

“How do you know I wanted that?”

“How was I supposed to know you didn’t? You said it yourself, you’re ‘a grown-ass woman now.’ I did what I did to get you ready for battle. To win the damned belt.”

“Like you couldn’t.” She saw that wounded him. So just as she would in the ring, she pounced on weakness. “That’s why you always downtalked me, just when I was close. You couldn’t stand it. You couldn’t stand that I’d be better.” Luciana smacked the desk for emphasis, but Roberto didn’t flinch. Not from the physical blow anyway. But after a moment it was obvious that her words had struck home.

“No” was all he said. But Luciana could see the conflict in his face, and she waited. When he spoke again, it was so soft that she had to lean in. “I said it and I meant it, I couldn’t lose you. Once you hit it big, really big, then… you’d get offers. Bigger gyms, bigger fights. And that means you’d be too big for this old place. This old man.”

“You know I wouldn’t-” He held up his hand to stop her, his confession was not complete.

“But you’re right. Deep down, I couldn’t stand that you’d be better. And I didn’t even realize it until I lost you.” He picked up the letter and stared at it, as if willing the words to change. “Everything I did, I did to keep you. But I lost you anyway.” Fate can be cruel sometimes.

He leaned back in his chair, and suddenly Luciana saw the advancing years on his face and in his weary muscles. When he was out there training his men, to her he barely felt older than she was. But without Luciana around, apparently life had taken a 2x4 to Roberto. She’d been harboring a well of anger towards him for so long, but it all seemed so pointless now. He was just a scared and lonely old man.

She stepped around the desk and gave him a hug, and the damndest thing happened. Roberto del Rio, one of the orneriest hijos de puta in all Florida, teared up.

“I haven’t seen you cry… ever.” Luciana said.

“You haven’t seen me cry. Didn’t you notice how I left the room every time ‘Llorando’ played on the stereo?” He wiped his cheeks and laughed softly. Haven’t seen too much laughter either. Luciana thought. “Can’t let those apes out there see this.”

“Awww Papi, give them a chance. Maybe they’ll surprise you.” Luciana smiled as she broke the hug.

“They do surprise me! Every day a new excuse to be lazy. How do they keep coming up with ones I’ve never heard? You never did.”

“I wasn’t creative enough!” Luciana laughed and pulled him right back in.

“Maybe not, but you’re as bullheaded as your mama ever was. You’re sure there’s no way out of this show?”

“Like Michael said, one of the others was on before. She said they tried everything. No go.”

His shoulders slumped for a second, but then he looked thoughtful. He tapped the letter resting on his desk. “Tell me about this wish.”

“I don’t really know much about it, Papi. They haven’t explained it, but it’s supposed to be really powerful.”

“Powerful enough to make you champion?”

“Powerful enough to make even you champion!” Luciana teased, and he jokingly pushed her away.

His voice was soft again. “I know this life isn’t what you wanted, but… this competition is your chance to get what you do want.”

“I’ve hardly had time to think about that.”

“Well, start. I’m not going to be able to help you, this is a fight you’ve got to win on your own.” Roberto gestured to the door. “And what about him?”

“He seems nice enough. A little bit over his head though.” I can’t blame him. At least he’s not ugly.

The general cacophony of the gym was just background noise to those two, but it sounded like there was a genuine commotion brewing outside. “He might be in over his head right now, mija. You think we should go save him?”

“Just this once.” They popped open the door to find that all the gymgoers were crowded around the sides of the cage in the corner, hooting and cheering for something the pair couldn’t see. He would not be dumb enough to try sparring. But I guess I don’t know how dumb he could really be. The del Rios pushed their way through the crowd and through the door to find Michael… doing pushups? With Edgar?

“Get ‘im, gringo!” Tony laughed from his perch atop the cage wall.

“Tony, you got $50 on Edgar!”

“Yeah, but my heart’s with the white boy!”

Sweat was dripping from both of their faces as they pushed through rep after rep. Charlie, the gym’s resident jiu-jitsu instructor, counted them off for both men, making sure to drop any that didn’t meet his exacting standards.

Their arms started to shake as they reached the limits of their endurance. But amazingly to everyone in the room, Michael included, Edgar’s arms gave out first and he dropped to the canvas. The guys went wild at this upset, jumping the fence into the ring en masse and dragging Michael to his feet, so they could each slap him on the back and muss his hair.

“I always believed in you, gringo!” Tony laughed as he passed off his $50 loss.

Roberto smirked at Luciana. “Well at least you know he can keep up with you.”

“This don’t prove that, all he did was keep up with Edgar!” She laughed. “Woah-” Luciana was startled as Tony shoved Michael into her arms.

“I guess this is the man for you after all, mi amor.” He teased again, making sure not to catch Roberto’s eye. “But I’m sure you’ll miss me.” Tony and the others headed off to continue taunting Edgar, leaving the three alone.

“Let’s go outside.” Roberto said, thumbing towards the door. Michael was hesitant to follow, but Luciana mouthed ‘We’re good.’

Out front, away from the pounding music and the smell of sweat, Michael and Roberto shared a look that Luciana couldn’t place. Weirdly like… acceptance? Roberto extended his hand and Michael shook it, but unsurely. “My daughter seems to think you’re not a complete idiot, and you just outworked my toughest guy in there.”

“Well, he’d been training for a good while before we started…” Michael said, but Roberto chuckled.

“Don’t be modest. If you’re going to be with my daughter, you can’t be scared. Not even for a moment, or she’ll walk all over you.”

“Papi!” She complained. Roberto raised his eyebrows and cocked his head, as if to suggest this proved his point.

“I was hoping I’d have the chance to walk her down the aisle, but I’ll have to settle for having walked her to the ring. You’ll take care of her now.” It wasn’t a question, or a request. It was a statement, backed by an implicit threat. Not even losing his memory would stop Roberto from finding Michael if he didn’t.

Roberto and Luciana shared a deep hug, one last time. And then he wordlessly took Luciana’s hand and put it in Michael’s, before heading back into the gym. He didn’t look back. He couldn’t look back.

“Are you ok?” Michael asked.

“No.” Luciana wasn’t much of a crier either, she took after her dad that way. And if she was going to start, it wasn’t going to be out here in front of Michael and half her old neighborhood. She briefly wished she had her nighttime body to drive her nails into her palm. Instead she bit her lip, using the physical pain to wash out the emotional pain. Just enough, until the feeling passed. “Come on,” she said, pulling out the Harem Hotel phone, “I know a place.”

---

A short, silent cab ride later and the pair sat in the sand of the beach, watching the sail boats come and go from the marina. Michael squeezed her hand supportively, but otherwise recognized that there was nothing for him to say. He waited patiently, until she was ready.

“I liked to come out here, when I was training.” She said. “Just jog over and sit right here, when I needed a break from the bullshit.” Michael nodded. Even though she paused, he said nothing. “I always used to tell him I was running the whole time. Thought he believed me, too.”

“You think he knew?”

“Thinking back on it, maybe he did.” Maybe he knew I needed it. Maybe he knew a lot more than he let on.

“It’s like that as a father. You push your girl to be her best and sometimes she pushes back. You won’t last long in this job unless you figure out when you should let her.”

“Yeah. Well, I’m not sure he always knew. Sometimes, he just couldn’t get out of his own way. Or mine. Just push push push towards his dream.”

“Why did you come here? What was your dream?” Michael asked.

“Dad asked me that too. I don’t really know.” She thought for a second. “I liked the boats. I guess I wanted to sail. Maybe back home, see Mom again.”

“Why not fly there?”

“I hate planes.”

“An athlete’s a rough career choice for someone who hates flying.”

“Madden did it for his whole career.” Michael nodded, unable to argue with that logic. “Besides, I never really wanted to be champ. Too much pressure. And nobody goes out on top. You keep going until you lose.”

Michael pondered that. “I wish I’d have known that about you before I bet half the mortgage on your moneyline.” Luciana whipped her head around, but he had an ear-to-ear grin. Her mood lightened considerably. But there was no way she could let a comment like that pass unchallenged.

“Oh no! Hell no! If I got pulled into your life and found out you’d bet on some skinny bitch over me? I’d bury you right here!” She playfully swatted a handful of sand in his face. He sputtered and spit out the grains that made it into his mouth.

“Woah! You can’t treat me like that. I’m… the reigning push-up champion at your gym.”

“Were you about to call yourself my Master?” She laughed uproariously.

“Not just yet, I’m still trying on the title.” Sarcasm dripped from every syllable.

“That’s it, I am burying your ass.” She grabbed two handfuls of sand and lunged towards him, cackling as she jammed handful after handful into his shirt. Michael play-wrestled, but despite his teasing he was clearly no match for her.

“Uncle! Uncle!” He laughed, belatedly making sure to cover his mouth so she didn’t fill it with sand.

“Who?” Luciana looked around to see if someone was approaching.

“It means I give up.”

“Damn right you tapped out.” She took the last handful and rubbed it into his hair.

“Twice in three damned days…” He muttered as he began ineffectually shaking the sand from his clothes. The phone in Luciana’s pocket started beeping, indicating that her time was nearly up. She wasn’t sure how long it would take to arrive, so she pushed the button for the limo to come pick them up.

“Michael…” She said, taking his hand again. “This show is awful. Just impossibly awful.” He nodded in agreement. “But… you’ve been real cool about it. I know that you’re the star of the show and everything, but I just wanted to say thanks.” He looked like he wanted to respond, but she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

+1 Love Peck

The limo paid no attention to the traffic rules. It pulled right out onto the sand and came to a stop right in front of them. Michael climbed in first, but Luciana didn’t immediately follow. She took an extra second for a deep inhale of the salty sea air and one last look at a catamaran well on its way to the horizon before joining him.