Velvet Crowbar

“You’re fucking kidding with me right? Like, this is some sort of joke, right? We’re supposed to be at the rehearsal dinner in a few hours and you waited until now. ” Emma remained expressionless as she watched Tommy cross his arms and run a hand through his hair.

The fighter let out a sigh dramatically and silently stared back at his fiancé, “I’ll be back in time for the wedding. I don’t see what the problem is.”

Emma brushed past Tommy angrily and stormed into their bedroom. She grabbed his travel bag from the closet and began throwing all his tournament stuff into it, not caring how messy and wrinkled it got. Tommy stood on the balcony by himself for a moment before following after her into their bedroom. Upon seeing his clothes in a heaping mess in his bag, Tommy swiftly grabbed Emma’s thin wrist causing her to yelp in pain and drop the t-shirt in her hand.

“Let go, Tommy.” She snarled through gritted teeth.

He shook his head and tightened his grip, “Not until you calm the fuck down.”

“Tommy you’re hurting me! Please, let go.” Her voice crackled slightly.

Letting go of her wrist, Tommy watched the empty hand drop back down to her side, “I’ve got to win this fight to qualify for Sparta. If I don’t quality for Sparta, we’ll be in debt forever and living with Pop. You want that or do you want to have a fucking two bedroom with a goddamn balcony?”

Emma took a step back, honestly afraid of Tommy. Chills ran down her spine as he zipped the bag and threw it over his shoulder, “I’m sorry.. I just-”

“Don’t say anything, alright? I’m going to go to Vegas, win this fight, and come back for the fucking wedding.” Tommy stomped out of the room and headed out the door grabbing the car keys on his way out.

The brunette rushed out to the hallway just in time to catch Tommy stepping into the elevator, “I love you.” She called out desperately.

Tommy grunted and pulled his hat a little lower over her face. More than anything, Tommy needed to get to Vegas and beat the shit out of a few people. With the wedding just two days away, the fighter needed to get away from it all. The anxiety and stress that was sitting in the air at the apartment was getting to be too much. All Tommy wanted was for the wedding to be over so he didn’t have to hear about it again. He knew agreeing to fight at the Vegas Expo would be a problem but he had gotten to the point where he couldn’t be in the apartment.

Emma closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before walking back into her bedroom to get dressed. As seven o’clock neared, the brunette picked up her cell phone and called for a cab to come pick her up. Sitting in the backseat of the yellow vehicle, the bride-to-be nervously played with the hem of her new blue dress. The deep velvet material felt soothing as her nerves ran on hyper speed.
She walked into the restaurant banquet hall alone and felt five sets of eyes staring intently at her. Already at the table were Tess and Brendan, Emma’s mother and her boyfriend, and Paddy. The old man’s face dropped when he realized exactly where his son was. By the looks of the way Brendan ran a hand over his face and muttered something to Tess, all the Conlon’s were in on the fight except the future bride.

“Honey, you look so nice. Where’s Tommy?” Emma rolled her eyes. Leave it to her mother to point out the painfully obvious.

Emma took her seat beside Paddy, “He uh, he actually has a fight tonight out in Vegas.” Sensing the tension between bride and mother, Paddy changed the subject as they waited for the rest of the wedding party to arrive.

After what seemed to be the most uncomfortable and awkward dinner, Emma and Tess were dropped off at the apartment. Brendan returned home to relieve their babysitter and take on full daddy duty. While Emma went to change out of her dress, Tess sat down and turned on the television instantly flipping to the UFC fights.

With his signature scowl and lack of walk out music, Tess watched her brother-in-law make his way to the the cage. The commentary while Tommy walked out was almost always the same with the exception for this particular fight were Bryan felt the need to take a few jabs at the fighters upcoming nuptials. Tess moved over to make room for Emma who had wiped off any signs of makeup. They watched in silence as Tommy pulled off his shirt and paced around in his corner.

Tommy stared at the fighter on the other side of the ring with a snarl on his lips. Mad Dog, the fucking punk just wouldn’t give up. What the war veteran wasn’t ready for was Mad Dog actually putting up a decent fight. He took a few to the face before the round timed out. He watched his opponent pop out his mouth piece.

“Hows that wife of yours?” The man with the mohawk sent Tommy a sly wink before popping in his mouth guard and acting out a few quick obscene gestures during the commercial break.

Tommy felt the fire rising in his stomach. As the second round began, Mad Dog didn’t stand a chance. Tommy came charging with fists flying at rapid speed- no one saw it coming.

Emma gasped as she watched Tommy pound his opponent to a pulp, near death. In typical Tommy fashion, the fighter did not wait for an official ruling. Mad Dog wasn’t getting up, everyone could see it. As the camera followed Tommy out of the cage, Emma grabbed her phone from her purse and sent her fiancé a quick text like she did after every fight since high school.

nice job, killer. i love you.

She and Tess stayed up a little longer, dancing around the apartment to whatever nostalgic music they could find and reminisced about their awkward teenage years. They exchanged silly stories and sob stories about what it was like dating a Conlon. Tess was able to offer the younger girl some advice about what it was like being married to a Conlon as well before they both fell asleep sprawled out on the cloud of a mattress.

The sun was shining bright over Pittsburgh the next morning when Emma woke up. After twelve long years, it as finally the first day of the rest of her life.