Rage

A clang wakes me, instantly my senses are attacked by the delicious aroma of vanilla. I stretch my arms above my head hitting a soft body, I tilt my head back and see Jade's fat cat on the arm rest. The cat nudges my out reached hand, asking for a rub, I oblige. "Are you a good kitty?" she meows at me in response, "You sure are a fat kitty."

"Never call a female fat." Jade appears around the corner pointing a spatula at me, wearing those damn glasses, and her hair piled on top of her head. She looks so beautiful.

"Noted." I smile at her, "Morning."

"How'd you sleep?"

"Your couch is definitely better than Vance's futon."

"Speaking of, when do you get to move into your house?"

"Closing is this Thursday!"

"Shut up! That is so exciting!" She moves back into the kitchen, and I twist to sit upright.

"Yeah." I agree but it doesn't come out as enthusiastic as one should who just bought a home. Don't get me wrong, I am excited but living alone isn't something I'm looking forward to. Maybe I should get a cat. I move into the kitchen and sit at her small table. "Coffee?" she asks, "The waffles are almost ready."

"Yeah, thanks." She pours me a cup, "I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything." She fleets away.

"I do. Thank you doesn't seem adequate enough."

She waves me off and returns with waffles with strawberries on top of whip cream. "Sorry you like strawberries right? I have blueberries if you prefer those."

"This is perfect."

She joins me and we eat in bliss. "Do you work tonight?" I ask her.

"Yep!"

"You work every Saturday?"

"Pretty much." She shrugs.

"That's gotta suck for your personal life no?"

"I make time if needed, perks of being the owner's niece. But Drew's pretty good at letting people off when they need."

I'm about to respond when I hear my phone going off in the living room. "It's probably V." I get up and grab my phone off Jade's coffee table, noticing it's an unknown number. "Hello?" I answer.

"Don't hang up."

I sigh, Fuck. "What do you want?"

"We need to talk."

"No, we really don't. I told you-"

"I know, I'm not signing the papers until we talk."

I want nothing more to be rid of her, I see movement to my right and look over at Jade. "Vic are you done?"

"YOU'RE WITH ANOTHER WOMAN?" Melissa screeches through the line, so loud Jade obviously heard it by the way her eyes have widened. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry." She whispers, and I wave her off. She has nothing to apologize for. She leaves the room and returns into her kitchen.

"That's really not your business."

"We're still legally married."

"Yeah, not by choice."

"I'll drag this out." She threatens.

"You already have."

"It was a mistake, Victor. You've made tons of them by now." She's pissing me off, the fucking audacity.

"Yeah, marrying you was by far the biggest one I've ever made." A gasp comes through the line, I've had enough of this. Without another word, I end the call. My mind's in a whirlwind, it's just been torn to shreds. I remain in Jade's living room trying to collect myself and suppress the anger that's engulfed every inch of me. The last few weeks, which I hadn't noticed until this moment, the anger has surprisingly seem to dissipate. Right now though, I want to punch something or more specifically someone, the best thing for me to do is leave. "Jade, I'm going to go." I yell out, while collecting my things from her coffee table.

"Nope." She returns and suddenly appears from the kitchen but continues to walk on pass me into her room.

"Uh, I'm not really in the mood for company." I shout.

"Tough shit." she responds, her voice muffled slightly, "Get your shoes on, I'm taking you somewhere."

"Seriously Jade, I need to leave."

She reappears dressed, sans glasses. "And seriously, thought shit. I am not letting you wallow over that wench. Last night was the first time I saw you happy in weeks. She is not ruining that, she already ruined breakfast!" she marches right by me, again, grabbing her keys and purse from the little entry table before opening her door. I'm speechless, watching her this whole time. When I haven't moved, she glances at me, "Let's go!"

That puts me in motion, grabbing my dress shirt from the back of her couch and slipping on my shoes. I'm still in some of my work attire from yesterday, except my button up. I look ridiculous in my dress pants and white Hanes shirt. We slip into her car, and it's not until we're on the road when I finally ask where she's taking me.

"Some place awesome." Is all she says and turns up the music, cutting off anymore questioning. Alright then. My mind replays her little speech, it was touching and hot. I also feel bad that Melissa did manage to ruin breakfast, she's ruined so much more, but those waffles were delicious. Jade maneuvers the car onto the highway heading East. Rock music continues to blast through her speakers, and she's just singing away to the songs while I'm over here on edge. Where the hell is she taking me, my gaze returns to Jade, taking in her attire. Black tank, ripped jeans, and boots. Basic, so nowhere fancy. Hiking maybe? But she didn't grab any supplies or water for a hike. Obviously not breakfast, or lunch considering we just finished eating. I have no idea, I'm at complete loss.

Jades arm shoots out to her dash, turning the music down to speaking level, "I can hear you thinking, relax!" she turns the music back up before I can respond, again. I'm antsy, my mind won't settle because I have no clue. Shortly after, she takes an exit off the highway, and I take in the area. I've been out this way, but not here exactly, she continues and enters an industrial park. This is bizarre, she turns down another street where commercial storefronts are tucked away, yet obviously popular by their full parking lots. At the end is a massive plain white brick building, which Jade turns into and parks on the side. While the front is plain white, the side is covered in graffiti. Not graffiti you'd find on bridges or train cars, this is art. A massive bull takes up the whole side, the amazing detail in his horns, the smoke puffing from his nose, right down to the ring in it's nose. It's menacing.

"What is this place?"

She's smiling wide, showcasing her excitement. "Let's go find out!" she quickly leaves the car, leaving me fumbling after her. We round the building and walk inside. The front entry is massive, tall ceiling, black tile, and full of...broken appliances. What the hell? I am so confused. "Hey guys!" the sound of a feminine voice greets us and pulls my attention away from all of the junk. A charcoal gray granite desk, which doesn't seem to belong here, sits just in front of a dark blue partial wall with openings on either side. Another awesome portrait of a bull hangs on the wall, the red popping from the picture. "Welcome to Rage. What can I do for you guys?" the girl asks, her hair is a vibrant pink. What did she just say Rage? There's some yelling coming from somewhere in the building and a loud crash. Holy hell. I look at Jade, who throws me a wink.

"Hey girl, we have an appointment with Mike." We do? Since when? Who the fuck is Mike? What the fuck is going on?

"Oh okay, let me go get him." She wonders off through the opening on the right and disappears from sight. Another loud scream comes from the back, followed by what sounds like glass breaking. The girl returns, and following her is Mike, the bartender.

"Hey Jade." He greets her and then sees me standing next to her, "Victor, hey man!" he reaches out a hand for me to shake. "You here for some release?" he asks us.

"Yeah, we need a half hour, maybe an hour." Jade informs him.

"Okay, come on back." He waves us to follow him.

"This isn't some sex dungeon dominatrix club right?"

Jade laughs loudly, "No, but almost as good." I know my face is showing my confusion, and fear. She swats at my shoulder and moves forward. We follow Mike to the right into a small room, there's a table against one wall, suits hanging on another with cubbies holding helmets and goggles, then a wall of long hammers. Mike moves towards the suits, pulling down two and handing them to us. "Go ahead and put those on." He instructs as he pulls a suit down for himself and starts to put it on. When we're all finished, he guides us to the tables where there are clipboards with papers, "I just need to both to read over and sign the waivers."

It's to the point, but my eyes definitely pick up the "Not held liable if injured." Which seems to be the most appointed thing throughout this waiver. Jade signs away, and I'm still questioning what the hell is going on and why would I be injured. She nudges my shoulder and nods at my hand holding the pen. Why do I feel like I'm signing my life away.

Mike then fits us for helmets and goggles, "Keep these on at all times within the facility." He pulls off two hammers, one slightly bigger than the other. He turns to Jade, "Can you handle this sweet cheeks?"

"Oh you know I can." She fires back with that sass. I glance between the two of them, what the hell kind of talk is this. Sweet cheeks? Mike hands her the smaller hammer, and she places it on her shoulder like she's done this a hundred times. He moves to me, "Alright Victor, hold it with two hands or feel free to place it on your shoulder like Jade." I do as he says, "Alright perfect, let's go Rage!"

Mike leads us through the building towards the back, the music growing louder, but you can still hear grunts and things breaking. We reach a door, with an exit sign above, and he turns to face us, "I'm gonna take you guys out back." He uses his back to open the door, revealing a large fenced in area full of cars, large TVs, refrigerators, and other larger items. Mike leads us to a car, stopping a good eight feet away from it.

"Okay, who wants to go first?" he asks looking between the two of us. Jade looks to me, "Get it out." She points to the busted up car.

"Get what out?" I ask confused.

"All that rage you're feeling." She moves forward to the hood of the car and suddenly screams so loud it scares me, hefting the hammer up and slamming it down. The sound of metal on metal is loud, and it left quite a dent. She continues, hitting the car until she's heaving, breathless. She drops the hammer to pavement, where Mike hurries to grab it, and returns to stand next to me. Her face is red, and slightly sweaty. It's a few seconds until she gets her breathing under control, "Get it out stud." It comes out quiet, only for me to hear.

I move forward, towards the side of the car, and I stand there. "Think of all that anger she makes you feel, that phone call this morning, and just put all of that into your hit." Jade speaks loudly. So I do, I allow all those feelings I felt after our phone conversation to surface. The pain I once felt when thinking of her is duller than it has been in weeks, but the anger. The anger takes control and before I know it, I slam the hammer into the car with all my strength. I hit it so hard, it almost busts right through. That felt incredible! I move towards the back panel and slam the hammer into it. "WOO!" I can hear Jade, "Again!" she encourages. I do it again, and again until I'm completely taken over by emotions. The rage and hate I feel for this woman who I thought was my everything. I continue to whack any surface that I haven't hit. The windows bust out, throwing glass outward. My eyes are beginning to blur, why is my vision blurry. I hit it again, a roar rips from the pit of my stomach retching out my mouth. I feel the burn in my arms, my continuous swings making them feel like jelly until I can't lift them anymore. The hammer falls to the ground with a clang. My chest is heaving with my pants, I take in the damage I did, and it feels similar to how my heart feels. It hurts so badly, that I grab my chest, a sob bubbles up. Two arms engulf me in a hug, a hug I so desperately didn't know I needed as I feel like I'm falling apart. Fuck this hurts. This hurts so badly. I want to leave and I try to move away but she doesn't let, she hangs onto me like I'm her lifeline but really she's mine. She squeezes me to her and I have no idea how long we stand like that, her hands moving up and down my back in comfort.

"Thank you." I whisper in her hair, my breaths more even. "I think I needed that." I glance up and notice that we are alone. Mike has left us, and for that I'm grateful.

"Yeah, I think you needed that too Stud." The branded nickname makes me smile. Jade pulls away to look at me, and I can't help but feel somewhat embarrassed about my breakdown. My hands wipe at my face quickly, removing evidence of my leakage. "Man there must be some cats around here, I'm allergic. We better get outta here." I pick up the hammer laying at my feet.

She purses her lips together. "Riiigghhttt."

Please let me know what you think.  It went from fun to intense pretty quickly, and that just formed itself. I don't write this story, they do. I really hope you enjoyed it. I hope it was real and I hope you felt it.

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