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Chad was treated nicely in the infirmary, but he was capable of walking himself back to his room, and did so with ease. He strolled into the massive suite and started to remove what was left of his shredded suit. He hadn’t been there more than five minutes when there was a soft knock at the door. He slowly limped up to the door and opened it with caution, afraid it might be an angry woman that wanted to head butt him again. Thankfully, it was just Frankie Junior.

“Hey,” Chad said through the crack in the door. “What’s up?”

“Mom and Dad want something called quality time,” Frankie replied, “Do I even want to know what that means?”

“No, you don’t.” Chad confirmed, opening the door, “Come on in.”

“Holy crap,” Frankie said as he finally noticed what rough shape Chad and especially his suit were in. “What the fuck happened to you?”

“Hey, watch your language,” Chad replied, as he slowly removed what was left of his suit jacket. “Rachel finally provided the thumping that I’ve had coming to me all day. Dating these days is really rough, and dangerous.”

“So, what do we do now?” Frankie asked.

“Go down the hall,” Chad said, passing him a bucket. “Fill this full of ice and we can watch Deadpool again after we order ice cream from room service.”

“Yeah!” Frankie cheered as he grabbed the bucket and bolted from the room.

Once Frankie had left to get ice, Chad strolled into his bedroom and continued to change into something much, much more comfortable. When he was finished, he strolled back out with just a white t-shirt and blue joggers he got at the department store earlier in the day. He flopped into the couch and groaned in pain waiting for Frankie to return with his ice. When Frankie came back, Chad applied the ice to his head while he called for ice cream to go with the movie as promised. He didn’t eat much, but they had fun watching Deadpool again before calling it a night.

“Do not wake me,” He instructed, “I want to sleep in tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Frankie said with a nod, “Good night.”

“Night,” Chad said as he walked back to his bedroom and crashed on the massive bed. Curling up to a lot of pillows and making himself comfortable as he drifted off into a deep sleep. He had been up all day with zero naps, so his body was more than welcome to shut down and recharge. He completely zonked out for the night because his cell phone had been buzzing and ringing all morning, but nothing was loud enough to wake him up. When he finally woke up to realize he had missed several calls on his phone, he checked the numbers to see that not only had his firm called a few times, so did his media contacts and even Councilman Peters. Afraid that something might be hitting the fan for the mayor to be, Chad had decided to call him first and make sure his client was doing alright.

“Hello?” the other ended answered.

“Peters,” Chad said, as he recognized the voice, “Chad Barrington.”

“Mr. Barrington,” Peters replied, “Nice to hear from you. I only left four messages on your phone.”

“I was very tired,” Chad replied, “But I’m also on vacation, what the hell is going on over there?”

“There’s nothing going on here,” Peters corrected him, “I thought we had agreed that Councillor Douche Bag was to be under the radar while on vacation. Do you not remember that part of our last conversation?”

“Ah Crap,” Chad said, waiting for the hammer to fall.

“You’ve gone viral again,” Peters answered, “Listen to this headline in the local paper: Councillor Douche Bag pawns Raging Rachel in Paradise.”

Chad let out a loud groan that was hard for the other side to miss. “If it’s gone viral, that means I can’t deny it.”

“There’s video,” Peters continued, “It shows you dodging her punch. What the hell did you do? It looks like she’s trying to knock your head off.”

“It was a misunderstanding,” Chad replied.

“The video also showed you picking her up on your shoulders,” Peters continued, “And then body slamming her into the pool beside you. I cannot find the words to emphasize how popular this video has become. It’s gotten over ten million hits in less than twelve hours! This puts Councillor Douche Bag right back into the headlines, something I didn’t want since you’re still my attorney!”

“Sorry about that,” Chad said, “I’ve been trying hard to lay low.”

“Alright,” Peters sighed, trying to calm down, “Just tell me... please tell me that really wasn’t Rachel Jones.”

“I can’t,” Chad replied, “It was her.”

“Son of a bitch,” Peters cussed on the other side, “Do you have any idea how much heat I’m getting from the feminists? They’re angry because you’re my lawyer. In their eyes you bullied a woman while she was trying to enjoy her vacation!”

“I bullied her?” Chad repeated, “She’s a mixed martial arts champion! No one bullies her, she bullies everyone else!”

“I get it, she’s tough.” Peters conceded.

“You have no idea how true that is,” Chad said, pressing an ice pack to his arm.

“You have to make peace with this Rachel,” Peters suggested, “Bury the hatchet for my campaign.”

“Already ahead of you,” Chad said, “We went out for dinner last night.”

“Wait a second,” Peters interrupted, “You went on a date with Rachel Jones?”

“Yes,” Chad confirmed, “but when she sees that headline, I’m a dead man walking over here.”

“Just keep all future matches in private,” Peters added, “The last thing I need is feminists accusing you of being domestically abusive.”

“Please,” Chad denied, “She could steal my lunch money any day she wants. Trust me, I don’t want to tussle with her again.”

“Fair enough,” Peters said, “And try to stay low. No reporters and no questions about anything. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” Chad answered, stealing a line from the manager.

“Goodbye, douche bag.” The future mayor said before hanging up.

Chad didn’t give a shit, as he didn’t want to talk to Peter anymore either. Moments later Frankie came through the door like he owned the place. Chad was about to say something about knocking but noticed he had a fresh bucket of ice and decided to let it slide as he gave his young friend a very friendly smile.

“Thank you,” he said as the young man handed him the new bucket. “Do you have plans for today?”

“Yeah,” Frankie Junior replied, “Mom and Dad wanna take me to swim with the dolphins today.”

“That’s awesome,” Chad said, giving him the thumbs up. “You guys have fun.”

“You don’t want to come along?” Frankie asked.

“Tempting,” Chad said, pressing some of the ice to the side his head. “But this is going to be an R&R day for yours truly. I think this is something the Andersons will enjoy as a single family unit.”

“Okay,” Frankie said, “See you around man.”

“See ya later,” Chad said, watching the young man walk out of the suite. As much as he liked dolphins, Chad wasn’t lying to the young man. Chad was going to shelter himself in his presidential suite and rest and eat room service all day. There was a time to wander and a time to bunker in, and Chad was pretty certain this was no time to wander about. He filled the middle of a small hand towel with ice and pressed it up against his head, trying to relieve a possible concussion he got from his date the night before. She could have been in jail for breaking that other dude’s face if it wasn’t for his efforts, and yet Chad couldn’t help believing that he deserved it. Sitting there on the couch with his ice, he couldn’t help but think about what his therapist has said to him a few weeks ago. About pent up anger coming out as bitterness that only lashed out to those he didn’t mean to take things out on, or something like that. Rather the reflect on the lectures given to him by his court ordered shrink, Chad instead chose to close his eyes and try to relax. Try being the key word here, as there was a loud pounding on the door less than ten minutes after Frankie took off to hang with his parents. Chad was going to ignore it, but the person pounded the door again seconds later. Chad groaned his way off the couch and slowly limped over to the door and left the chain on as he opened the door a tiny crack. Leaving the chain was a smart move cause standing on the other side of the door was Rachel Jones, looking about as angry as she was when she handed Chad his ass in the limo.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Good morning sunshine,” Chad said to her, as he leaned up his foot against the door to use it as a door stop in case she tried to kick it in.

“Are you going to let me in?” Rachel asked.

“That depends,” Chad replied, “Are you going to attack me again?”

Rachel sighed. “No.”

“Are you sure?” Chad asked, “Cause I really like this room and don’t want it to get all messed up.”

“I promise,” Rachel swore, “No violence today.”

“Okay,” Chad said as he closed the door so he could remove the chain, then swinging the door open for her to enter.

“Wow,” Rachel said, looking at the Presidential suite, “Very impressive.”

“I got upgraded after a spider attacked me.” Chad informed her.

“That must have been a big spider,” Rachel said, trying not to laugh.

“Huge,” had confirmed. “They’re just protecting themselves from litigation.”

Rachel had something in her hands, and she calmly passed it to him. “Have you seen this?”

It was newspaper that Peters had warned him about. On this particular page, it showed a still picture of Chad tossing Rachel into the pool with the headline that Chad was sure was going to make the beautiful red head go nuclear.

“I heard about it,” Chad confessed, passing it back to her. “But this is the first time I’ve seen it.”

“Who told you about it?” Rachel asked.

“A client,” Chad answered, “He’s not happy about it, and pretty much ordered me to apologize to you.”

“Not a bad idea,” Rachel agreed, folding her arms. “What exactly are you going to apologize for?”

Chad paused for a moment, “I’m sorry for the incident on the beach, for tricking you into thinking someone else pinched your cute butt.”

Rachel nodded, “With a bee bee gun?”

“No,” Chad corrected, “More like a Nerf gun.”

“Okay,” Rachel said, still giving him a death glare. “Why did you do that?”

“Just for laughs,” Chad told her, “We thought you’d just slap him. I had no idea you’d beat him that badly. I shot you again so you wouldn’t do something you’d regret.”

“Thank you,” Rachel replied, “But that doesn’t excuse what you did to that man who took my misplaced wrath.”

“Already taken care of,” Chad said, “I paid his resort bill and even sent a masseuse to ease the pain of his injuries.”

“Like the resort, you’re protecting your legal hide.” Rachel guessed.

“Damn straight,” Chad confirmed, “But I stepped up for you. I could have just backed up and let the cops take you away. That would have made for a much different headline, don’t you think?”

Rachel was not sighing, “Yes, you did help take care of that. Yet that doesn’t change the fact that you’re the douche bag that started it!”

“That’s councillor douche bag to you,” Chad said, trying to be funny.

“Then there’s that,” Rachel said, as he reminded her. “Had no idea I was going out to dinner with the same guy who told a judge to go fuck herself right after he punched his own client.”

“Hey, if he can get over it,” Chad cited in his defence, “I’m sure you can too.”

“He’s still your client?” Rachel said, shocked. “How were you not fired?”

“Can’t tell you,” Chad refused, “It’s a secret.”

“Oh, is it now?” Rachel said, slightly amused. “Maybe I’ll beat it out of you.”

“While I’m sure you can,” Chad agreed as he backed up a few feet, “You did promise no violence today. I still need time to recover from my last round.”

“Oh, poor baby,” Rachel said, walking closer to examine the bruises she put on him in the car the night before. She even leaned over and kissed the bruise that was on the side of his head.

“I’m sorry you’re looking bad in the press,” Chad then said, “I’ve been trying to lay low since the incident in court, that’s why I got phone calls about this.”

“I’ve received a few too,” Rachel admitted, “Mostly from family so far, I haven’t heard back from the league or my agents.”

“Are you hungry?” Chad offered, “We could get some lunch?”

“That video was taken here,” Rachel reminded him, “If we get spotted together again by that person, it will be online by mid-afternoon.”

“Good point,” Chad said, thinking about it. “How about room service and Deadpool? I don’t want to go anywhere; this is going to be a day of recovery.”

Rachel smiled at the suggestion. “Sounds like a plan, especially if we’re going to watch it on that massive screen.”

Chad reached down and grabbed the room service menu, handing it to her. “Order anything you like. I’m going to get changed.”

“No need,” Rachel said, “Those joggers are so sexy...”

Chad could tell she was mocking him and could hear her laughing as he walked back into his room to replace the pre-mentioned joggers with blue jeans and his white t-shirt with the zombie shirt that Frankie had tossed into the cart for him. As he limped back out to the living room, Rachel was on the couch reading the menu.

She looked back at him as she noticed the limp, “What happened to your foot?”

“Spider bite,” Chad reminded her, “It was massive.”

“That’s right,” she said, looking back at the menu. “Is it alright if we have burgers and fries?”

“Sure,” Chad said as he sat down on the other side of the couch.

“Just no pictures,” she warned him, “My trainers would freak out if they saw me eating something like that.”

“Just don’t hit me and we have a deal,” Chad agreed, “But I’d prefer onion rings instead of fries.”

“What do you want to drink?” Rachel asked.

“Milkshakes,” Chad replied, “Seems fitting with that kind of meal.”

Rachel seemed excited as she dialed room service and ordered their lunch. While this was the same women that had pummelled him the night before, Chad still liked hanging out with her. She was lovely at dinner and as friendly once again. He was also aware that he had done enough that day to deserve his thrashing and was just lucky the damage wasn’t worse. After she got off the phone, Rachel looked over at Chad to see he was looking at her.

“What?” she asked.

“Just thinking about last night,” Chad replied, “You have no idea how much the limo service charged for damage.”

“I’m sorry,” Rachel apologized.

“No, you’re not,” Chad said, “because I totally deserved it.”

“You did,” Rachel concurred, “Totally but you took it well.”

“I did?” Chad said, gesturing to his bruises. “Have you seen my face? My arms?”

“Did you see the exhibition I had with Marshall Lewis?” Rachel asked, “He was a weight class higher than you, and I mopped the floors with him. That match lasted less than a minute, and we were tumbling in that limo for over five minutes straight.”

“Regardless, I’m not quitting my day job.” Chad declared, “I hope that is the last fight I get into for a very, very long time.”

“That was a nice kiss though.” Rachel then said.

“Yeah,” Chad reflected. “It was almost as nice as the brutal head butt that followed it.”

“I needed ice for that one too,” Rachel told him, touching her forehead. “You have a very thick skull, Mr. Barrington.”

“My mother used to say that every day,” Chad said, laughing at the thought. The moment was short lived as he winced in pain. Rolling with Rachel had also bruised ribs that made it sting whenever he chuckled.

“You used to fight,” Rachel noted, “You had to have some training to last that long in the limo.”

“Not mixed martial arts,” Chad corrected her, “But I did wrestle a fair bit in high school and university.”

“That explains the grappling.” Rachel said, laughing.

It took room service only about twenty minutes to deliver the food, and while Rachel stole an occasion onion ring Chad was more than willing to let it slide if that was the worst she was going to do to him. They ended up watching more than one movie after eating their lunch, and as the afternoon progressed Rachel crept closer to Chad’s side of the couch, to the point where they were cuddling together for most of the second of three films that afternoon. Despite the fear he had for his safety, that feeling slowly started to fade as they watched more movies. He couldn’t speak for Rachel, but it had been a very long time since he cuddled up with someone like that. He had an eerie feeling of comfort that Chad hadn’t experienced since he was married. They were in the middle of paradise but hanging out like a regular couple could at any hotel around the world, with room service and a few good movies. For some reason, Chad had preferred this than going out to the beach or even swimming with dolphins. The connection he was feeling was something that brought peace to him, and there was a part of him that didn’t want this afternoon to end. The other part of him was still in a great deal of pain and wanted to rest. This was why about halfway though watching a romantic comedy that Rachel had picked, Chad had fallen asleep. When Rachel realized he was out like a light, she turned off the movie and started to tidy up the room. She placed the dishes back on the cart room service brought and wheeled it outside the door for the staff to remove. She then placed a blanket on top Chad, trying to make him more comfortable as he slept. As she was doing that, there was a knock at the door. She strolled over to the door and opened it. She didn’t even use the chain as unlike Chad, she wasn’t afraid of what might be outside. What was standing outside the door was the young man who was at dinner with them the night before. Upon seeing who had answered the door, Frankie Junior took a fearful step back.

“Really?” Rachel said to him, grinning. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Oh,” Frankie said, as he tried to look behind her. “Where’s Chad?”

“He’s asleep,” Rachel answered.

“You didn’t knock him out again, did you?” Frankie asked, fearing the worst.

“No, I did not.” Rachel answered, “But you were his accomplice, so consider yourself lucky you’re being let off the hook.”

“I’m sorry.” Frankie apologized.

“That’s better,” Rachel said, looking down at him, “What have you got there?”

“A picture,” the young man answered, “I wanted to show Chad.”

“Let’s see it,” Rachel ordered, holding out her hand.

“Okay,” Frankie said, his hand trembling as he handed it over.

Rachel looked at the picture, which was of Frankie and the dolphin he had swum with earlier that day.

“Awwww,” Rachel said, “That is so cute.”

“Thank you,” Frankie replied.

“I’ll tell Chad you stopped by, but he needs his rest.” Rachel told him.

“Okay, thank you.” Frankie said, taking the photo back from her.

She watched as he walked back down the hallway towards the elevator. She smiled at the thought of what it might be like when the young boy informed his parents about her being in his room. She then closed the door and went back to tidying up while Chad was sleeping on the couch. She looked down at him as he rested, and while part of her wanted to break his nose, another part was starting to like him. His was annoying and in your face, but like an acquired taste she was starting to enjoy hanging out with the New York lawyer. It was at this point where Rachel came up with a great idea of something for her and sleeping beauty to do the next day. She took out her cell phone to put the plan into motion.