Chapter 10; The beginning of an End
The next day was a huge flurry of activity. Jack woke up from her sleep to find Harold next to her instead of Riddick.
"I've gotta be the luckiest person in the world, two of the greatest men sleep me" she said out loud.
"Don't forget it either" Harold said without opening his eyes.
"Get up you lazy bum we've got shit loads of work to get done" she said shaking him.
"I say we ditch this wedding idea and live in sin" he said grabbing her.
"We've already done that for over a year now, it's time you made me an honest woman" she said.
"Is that possible?" he asked then dodged the punch he knew was coming.
-----
Riddick and Cara walked through the mall hand in hand. "I think we should go home and try that on" he said gesturing towards her bag.
"Shut up" she said fishing through her purse for some gum.
Riddick slid his arm which was resting around her shoulders, down her chest and then into her purse and pulled out a stick of gum. He unwrapped it with one hand and held it up to her mouth. She took it and nipped his finger tip softly.
"Stop it" he moaned.
"Maybe we should go home" she said.
"Nope, I've decided you've gotta learn how to control your urges and resist me" he told her.
"Resist you!" she spat out.
"Yep, I know it's hard what with me being as hot as I am but really Cara we can't just up and leave everytime the mood hits you. Now just try hard and I think you can keep from mauling in public" he said smugly.
"You son of a bitch" she hissed.
"Don't you be talking bout my mamma like that" he said trying hard to keep from laughing.
"I swear when God was pouring your brains in with a teaspoon someone must have shook his arm" she muttered walking off.
"A teaspoon?" Riddick asked walking up behind her.
She glared at him "A teaspoon that was only half filled to begin with" she told him.
"My my how your temper flares, along with your nostrils when you're miffed about being put in your place" he said.
She slapped him and walked off. "I love it when you're rough" he said keeping up with her.
"And I love it when you're quiet, Oh wait you've never been quiet what am I talking about" she said hotly.
"Do you have any idea what is does to me when I watch you walk when you're mad" he whispered in her ear.
"No I don't" she spat at him.
"It sets me on fire, you're feet seem to rip up the floor as you grind into it and your muscles are tense from anger and you can almost feel the electricity rushing through your veins" he whispered to her.
"Well I'm happy to know it'll be setting you on fire all day long since I plan to stay pissed that long....if not longer" she added looking at him.
"Ooh a boxing match" she said rushing over to the ticket window.
Riddick grinned, he loved how one second she was threatening and promising hatred and the next she was a giddy child rushing off to see about something new that had caught her eye. He walked over to her.
"Look Riddick, it's a womens boxing match and it's tonight. He says he's still got some good seats, can we go?"
He looked at her and raised an eyebrow, "I thought you hated me" he said.
"Oh I'll hate you tomorrow, I want to go to this" she said.
He narrowed his eyes, "I'm going to have to teach you a lesson about not changing your mind every two seconds" he told her.
"Oh you lug you know you love every second of it, it keeps you anticipating. Now I want to go to this. Are you going to go with me or do I need to steal some pretty boy from around here to escort me?" she asked sweetly.
"Not unless you want to be responsible for me killing him" Riddick said.
"If you did that it'd be your fault, now answer me. Are you going with me or do I need to..." she stopped short and notice a guy with blonde hair smiling at her.
"Well never mind, I think I've found my date" she said.
Riddick's eyes quickly noticed the boy who was mooning over Cara. He stepped up the the ticket booth "We'll take two seats" Riddick spoke. Cara grinned and wrapped her arm around Riddicks waist. As they walked off she chuckled quietly to herself.
"What?" Riddick asked.
"Nothing" she told him.
"What are you laughing about?" he asked again.
"You talk about me needing to learn how to control myself, all I had to do was bat my eyelashes at some man in the mall and sparks shoot from your eyes" she said.
"Boy" he muttered under his breath.
"What?" she questioned.
"That wasn't a man you were batting your eyelashes at, it was a boy" Riddick said.
"Ah I see, never was into babies" she said and he looked down at her.
"Because what I've seen so far tells me that you guys just keep getting better at it with age" she told him and he grinned.
"We better go get the things Jack asked us to pick up for her and then maybe we'll have time for playing before the match tonight" Riddick said.
"Don't count on it, she going to make you go get fitted for your tux" Cara said.
He groaned. "I told her what size to get" he said.
"Ya well they don't exactly keep clothing in stock for people of your stature dear, you've gotta go in so they can quickly get the seams taken in", he glanced at her, "and let out in the places they need to be" she finished almost laughing.
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Sam watched on in horror. She'd heard someone laughing and then when she walked out of the store she'd seen Seth smiling at someone and looked over and saw a brown haired girl that looked familiar.
"Oh God" she whispered to herself realizing who it was, and then she looked over in shock and saw the broad back of someone she could never forget standing next to a ticket window. Her heart lurched into her throat when Riddick took the girls arm and grinned at her. He leaned over kissing her temple as they walked out the exit of the mall.
"Cute couple, the girls quite a looker" Seth said to Sam.
"She's a baby" Sam said with anger rising in her voice.
"I know she's small, but it seems she can take the big guy pretty well" Seth said reasoning it out.
"You idiot she's only 16 or 17" Sam spat at him.
"Hey calm down. ....Wait how the hell would you know how old she is, how the hell would you know her at all?" Seth asked.
"An old friend" Sam said between gritted teeth.
"Old friend or old enemy?"
"I don't know anymore" Sam said.
"It's got something to do with him doesn't it?"
"Him?"
"Yes. Him Sam, what's the story behind him because I know there's one"
"Ya know I've thought of my name" Sam said changing the subject.
"What?" Seth asked confused at first.
"My show name that I'll use now that I'm fighting in the ring big time not just at the gym, the very thing you've been bitching at me to decide on" she said.
"Oh ya what is it?" he asked.
"Irish" she answered simply.
"Irish eh? It fits you, red hair green eyes. Did you come up with it on your own?" he asked.
"Nope it's something someone called me a long time ago" she said.
"Who was that?" he asked curiously.
"Just someone I use to know" she said walking off.
-----
"Who's fighting, I mean I know we won't know them but what's the names" Riddick asked Cara as they took their seats. It'd been a hectic day, they'd left the mall and picked up the things Jack had asked for.
Then Riddick spent three hours standing in the front of some store being poked in various places with needles while some tailor kept muttering "...never seen anyone with such bulk, didn't know I'd need to alter a tux this much", while Cara tried to suppress her laughter.
"I feel like I'm on display" Riddick had complained at one point. A few giggly teenage girls had gathered in front of the store and were all but out right gaping at him.
Cara laughed, "You love every minute of it and you know it" She told him.
"No I don't, I have a grand daughter close to their age and I don't even want to think about her standing in front of some store window staring and drooling over some strange man dressed like a penguin." At that the tailor laughed and poked Riddick's inner thigh on accident.
"Watch that man, I've only got one of those if you damage it I can't get a new one" Riddick mumbled and Cara turned bright pink, but it was nothing compared to the crimson color the back of the tailors neck became.
They'd gotten home just in enough time to help Harold calm Jack down and get her to unlock the door to the bathroom where she'd locked herself an hour before declaring she wasn't coming out, ever!
"Jack it isn't that bad" Riddick said.
"Whatever, it isn't your damn wedding cake that looks like the garbage threw up on it!" she wailed back at him.
"Jack, they said they'd fix it and get it over to the church tomorrow afternoon before the wedding. Now come on out you've gotta go with Harry to pick up Brianna and Dillion" he told her.
"Why can't you go?" she whined through the door.
"Because I gave in to Cara and have agreed to take her to a woman's boxing match going on tonight" he said.
In a flash Jack was out of the bathroom "What?? What boxing match, I can't believe you're thinking of going to a boxing match the night before my wedding!" she screamed.
"Well I don't want to sit here and watch the males strippers I'm sure you're friends have hired for the bachlorette party! I'm hoping they'll be gone by the time I drop Cara back off for it" he said.
"You're not going to some stupid boxing match and that's final!" she yelled.
"Jack you've lost your mind! Now go and I'll see you in the morning" he said shoving her out the door where Harry was already waiting with a cab.
"God I can't believe she's so freaked over this" Riddick said to Cara.
But finally they'd left and gotten the the Arena with some time to spare. "Cara who's fighting" Riddick asked again.
"I'm not deaf you idiot I heard you the first time" she told him.
"Then why haven't you answered me?"
"I'm still looking" she said scanning the paper flier they'd been giving coming in the door.
"Lets see, ... there's a lady calling herself Death's Shadow, she's 35, single, has been training since she was 15 and won two past competition and the second one has been training since she was 17, competed some as a young girl in college competitions but nothing major, she's 37 and... Hey wow! She's originally from Milo 2, wonder if we know her?" Cara said.
Riddick stomach tensed "What was her name Cara?" he asked.
"Oh it says TBA which means To Be Announced, poor thing probably was so nervous about her first big competition couldn't pick one" Cara said.
"Either that or she thought they were senseless" he mumbled.
-----
"I thought it was a senseless thing coming up with a stage name. Jesus I'm sorry it took me so damn long but I've got it now" Sam told the administrator.
"It's ok Ms. Jones I was just a little miffed about having to put TBA down next to your stats" he said.
"Well I'm Irish now, so you can tell the announcer to call me that" she told him.
"OK, and the fight starts in 15 minutes" he told her.
-----
Riddick could feel tension building inside him and he didn't know why. Cara slid her hand into his and he squeezed it. She could feel something was wrong, suddenly something in the air made it hard to breathe. She searched her mind for signs she might have been mentioning before. She looked to Riddick and mouthed "Jack" but he shook his head no. Suddenly she felt his entire body go stiff and she braced herself for what he was seeing, she turned her head slowly and just as her eyes took in what he saw the announcer spoke.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Tonight's fight is about to commence! In the right corner we've got Death's Shadow and now in the left we've got Irish" and the crowd cheered.
Riddick blood turned to ice and his eyes glared with fire. Cara went still, she knew this day would come now She only wondered how it would end!