18 The Winner
Amy and Henry took their respective starting points, about one meter away from the floor center.
Rei stood in between them and stated, "The rule is simple, whoever takes down the other on the floor for 5 seconds shall win.
And on Rei's cue, their fight begins.
Henry stood on his square stance confidently, ready to attack and take down Amy, and end the fight. On the opposite point, Amy stood in a sideway stance and was currently showing an intense earnestness on her face.
"Come at me baby," Henry challenged cockily and he gestured his hand inviting Amy to move closer to him in a mocking way.
"Ha! You're the one who said you will defeat me easily so why are you hesitating now?" Amy replied with a smug look, trying to provoke Henry to initiate the attack while maintaining her defensive stance.
Henry sneered as he sprinted towards her and gave out a cross punch to test the waters without aiming for her face. He thought it would be fun to show her that he was serious about fighting without hurting her, even though he knew that she would never win against him.
With his right arm stretched towards Amy, she grabbed his arm with both hands. She inserted her right hand under Henry's armpit while the other was near his elbow. She then spins around on her right foot with her back against Henry, which breaks Henry's balance in an instant.
Henry's eyes widened with Amy's action. It was so fast that he didn't have time to react to what she did.
Amy lowers her right shoulder and throws Henry over her back, down to the floor. With her one-arm shoulder throw, Henry landed on his side and she took this opportunity to twist Henry's arm towards his back. Pushing him to lie on his stomach facing the floor.
She pins him down by straddling him, sitting on his back. She placed her left knee on his left tricep and her other hand on the back of his neck.
Henry was mortified; he did not expect Amy to carry out such a move. His arm was in pain, Amy twisted it so hard that he did not dare to move to avoid grunting in front of everyone.
Everyone's jaw dropped at the sight in front of them. They had seen Henry fight with their early morning sparring but the view of Henry being pinned down on the floor by Amy left them dumbstruck.
Amy glanced at the now-stunned Rei also known as their referee. She shook her head seeing that Rei was still processing what happened to his boss.
"Now is the time for you to count Rei!" Amy spat out impatiently.
Rei immediately counted after being called out. And after five seconds Rei declared Amy the winner. She then releases him while grinning and Henry remains on the floor now lying on his back.
Mitch jumped off her seat and walked towards Amy to congratulate her by giving her a high-five.
"I knew you'd win boss! I bet on you while these three bets on Mr. Welsh," she blithely uttered.
"You should've told me, so I made a bet on myself and earn too!" Amy and Mitch laughed in unison while the rest was still speechless.
Rei approached Henry as he sat with his arms on his bent knees looking at Amy.
"Boss, are you ok? That was a hard drop; I thought you broke your neck!" Rei asked.
"Tsk… get lost… This is not in your report," Henry got up and moved towards Amy.
It was only Amy's family and very close friends like Mary, who knew about her fighting skills. She learned different kinds of martial arts when she was young together with Ash and her brother.
They took private lessons in their old residence, and that's why Rei was not able to get any information about it. Her parents wanted her to be able to defend herself in case she needed it.
"Where did you learn that?" Henry asked as he gulped from his water bottle.
"From here and there," she responded vaguely.
"So, you're not gonna tell me huh?" he asked.
Amy can see the displeasure on Henry's face. From the look of how things went, it looks like Rei missed this information about her during his background investigation.
"I'll tell you someday, but before anything else, don't forget about my reward," Amy thought that this was the best way to ask Henry without getting too embarrassed to ask for it.
She knows what Henry wanted from his contracted girlfriends, especially when he already voiced out what reward he wanted.
She wanted the same thing, however; she also wanted other things from him not only for herself but also for her book.
Henry wiped his sweaty temple and felt doubtful about Amy's intention because of the way she was smugly looking at him.
"Tell me, what you want me to do; I'm your slave today," whatever her wish is, he is willing to do it if it means a step closer to Amy's heart.
"Let's have a date!" Amy said with an innocent smile.
Henry stared at her blankly, while the rest were dumbfounded. They thought that her request was so simple when this was her chance to take advantage of Henry.
"Are you sure that's the only thing you want?" Prior to her request, Henry already tried to guess what her demands could be, it never crossed his mind that it would be as easy and simple as this.
"Mmm…" Amy nodded, she blushed as she started to feel abashed with the reason behind her request, but she would never ever tell him that he was her guinea pig for her to better write a romance novel.
"Uhm… you see… I am writing this novel… and I just need to go to places so I can describe them better in my book."
Amy could see lines starting to form on Henry's forehead so she added. "I thought it would be good to spend time with you while visiting those places. You will be away for two weeks so it will be a while before we can be together again," she bowed her head as she murmured.
Henry raised his eyebrow with a frown. 'Does this mean she likes me?' He thought inwardly.
"Okay, tell me where you want to go," Henry said.
"I have not thought of the exact location but I have an idea of what kind of places we should visit," Amy explained.
Henry reached for Amy's hand and said, "Hmm… tell me what kind of place and I'll arrange it."
Amy nodded, "Great! I can't wait for our date.
Let's have breakfast so we can start with it."
Amy was ecstatic, she remembered that Henry told her that he doesn't date, he only bed his previous girlfriends. But here she is, about to go on a date with him.
After breakfast, Amy told Henry to dress casually since she wanted to visit a flower park first. Amy hasn't taken her stuff from Uncle Robert's house and the clothes in her closet now were all bought by Henry.
'Why are all these dresses? He didn't buy any shorts or pants, doesn't he know that girls can wear pants too?' She sighed as she searched for a comfortable dress that fit the occasion.
She found an olive green overlap dress with short sleeves and the skirt is just above her knees. That was the least extravagant among all the dresses there. She partnered it with beige flats.
It didn't take her long to finish and looked for Henry right away. She found him outside leaning against the passenger door of his car. He was wearing a dark grey shirt with sleeves rolled up till above his elbow, partnered with black denim jeans and black sneakers.
She can't help but stare at his toned body as the shirt fits him perfectly. In the past, while trying to research how to properly write a romance book, she read some adult books but it didn't really rouse her mind until now.
Every time she sifts him, the more she understands the salacious scenes in those books. Never in her life that she look and think this way towards other men, only with Henry.
Henry sensed that someone was looking at him and looked in Amy's direction.
He caught her ogling him when she unconsciously halted just right outside the main door to stare at him.
"Baby, I'd rather have you undress me with your hands and not with your eyes," he remarked with a grin.
Amy rolled her eyes and moved closer to Henry. With Henry still not moving away from the passenger's door, she halted her steps, standing in front of him.
"Aren't you going to move or do you want me to drive?" She crossed her arms staring at the unmoving man in front of her.
Henry pinched her right cheek and smirked, "My angel is so impatient, so cute." He then moved his right hand which he kept on his back all this time.
He handed three white roses with long stems to Amy while looking at her face waiting for her reaction.
But instead of looking at the rose, she looks at his hand which has cuts and scratches. She grabbed his hand which was still holding the roses and examined it.
"Did you pick this yourself?" She looked up at him with a frown and he blushed which Amy did not notice.
Henry's heart skipped a bit when Amy suddenly pulled his hand to check it. No one ever cared about him like that ever since his mother died. Perhaps it's because he didn't show this side of himself to other people, especially his previously contracted women.
"Yes, there are some in the garden. It's no big deal, it's just scratched, it didn't even bleed," he pulled his hand a little and brought up the rose to refocus Amy's attention on the flowers instead of his hand.
"Take this, if you don't like it, you can throw it away," he looked away as she took the rose.
Amy chuckled on seeing how red Henry's ears were and was trying to hide his coyness. She tiptoed and kissed Henry which only reached the side of his jaw. His eyes widened, not expecting her to kiss him on her own.
"Thank you… I like it," she smiled genuinely when he looked at her.
"Gods… why did you have to do that?" He said.
"What do y…" Her words were swallowed into his mouth as he gave her a deep sultry kiss.
Henry pulled her closer, his hands on her back and at the back of her neck. She returned his kiss with the same intensity. Their tongues rubbed against each other.
Amy placed her hand on his chest to slowly push him away to break their kiss. "You still owe me a date, we might end up in your bedroom if this will continue."
He laughed then stepped back to open the passenger's door, "After you love."
