Then his face changed.
“No way.”
Claire smiled.
“Hi, Mike.”
Mike stood so quickly that his chair rolled backward.
“You're kidding me.”
“Usually not.”
He walked around the desk and hugged her.
Several people looked over.
Derek noticed.
Mike stepped back and stared at her.
“What are you doing in Colorado?”
“Work.”
“For how long?”
“Three weeks.”
“You didn't call.”
“I’m standing here now.”
“That is not the same thing.”
Claire smiled.
Mike's expression softened.
Then he noticed something in the way she stood.
“You training?”
“Maybe stretching.”
“That isn't training.”
“It is at thirty-five.”
“You're thirty-five, not eighty.”
“My hip disagrees.”
Mike laughed.
But underneath the laughter was something else.
Concern.
Memory.
Claire noticed.
“I’m fine,” she said.
Mike nodded slowly.
“You still moving okay?”
“Well enough.”
Derek had been watching from across the gym.
Eventually he walked over.
“Friend of yours?”
Mike turned.
“Yes.”
He introduced them.
“Claire Bennett. Derek Sloan.”
Derek extended his hand.
“Nice to meet you.”
Claire shook it.
“Likewise.”
Derek waited.
He expected Mike to explain who she was.
Mike didn't.
That bothered him.
“So,” Derek said, “you train?”
“Used to.”
“What?”
“A little of everything.”
“How long?”
“Long enough.”
Derek smiled.
“What belt?”
Claire shrugged.
“Depends on the art.”
“I’m a jiu-jitsu black belt.”
“I heard.”
“You grapple?”
“Sometimes.”
“Gi?”
“Not lately.”
“No-gi?”
Claire looked toward the mats.
“Not lately either.”
Derek laughed.
Mike immediately understood what was happening.
Claire didn't care about impressing Derek.
Derek couldn't understand that.
Mike said, “Derek, go finish warming up.”
Derek looked at him.
“What?”
“Competition class starts in twenty.”
Derek glanced at Claire.
“Just talking.”
“I know.”
There was enough firmness in Mike's voice that Derek finally walked away.
Claire watched him.
Then looked back at Mike.
“He always like that?”
Mike sighed.
“He's talented.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Mike rubbed the back of his neck.
“More lately.”
“You letting him?”
Mike's face tightened.
“I manage it.”
Claire looked toward the mat.
A seventeen-year-old blue belt named Eli Ramirez was drilling takedowns.
Derek walked past and lightly slapped Eli on the back of the head.
Not hard.
Just enough to make Brandon laugh.
Eli forced a smile.
Claire looked back at Mike.
“You manage it?”
Mike exhaled.
“Don't start.”
“I just got here.”
“Exactly.”
Claire smiled faintly.
Then she disappeared into the locker room.
Five minutes later, she returned wearing black training leggings and a faded navy T-shirt.
She found an empty corner of the mat.
Then she began stretching.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Her movements weren't athletic-looking.
Her right side appeared stiff.
Derek noticed.
He whispered to Brandon:
“Mike's friend is definitely retired from something.”
Brandon laughed.
“Retired yoga?”
Claire heard them.
She gave no reaction.
That bothered Derek more than if she had argued.
He didn't know it yet, but he had just made the first mistake of the night.
The Challenge
At seven o'clock, competition class began.
The room changed immediately.
Conversation became quieter.
The music was lowered.
Students moved onto the mats.
Mike gathered everyone in the center.
“Five-minute rounds tonight. Technical pace. Work your positions. Nobody needs to prove anything.”
Derek nodded along.
He had heard the speech dozens of times.
He rarely followed it.
Claire had planned to stay near the wall.
Instead, a twenty-two-year-old woman named Sophie Tran approached her.
“Do you mind drilling with me?”
Claire smiled.
“Sure.”
“My partner didn't show.”
“No problem.”
They began with simple grip fighting.
Claire allowed Sophie to work.
When Sophie made a mistake, Claire quietly corrected her.
“Your foot is too far outside.”
Sophie adjusted.
“Better.”
They repeated the sequence.
Again.
Again.
Claire never rushed.
She didn't dominate.
She didn't show off.
She simply taught.
Derek noticed.
After several minutes, he walked closer.
He watched Sophie complete a takedown.
Then another.
Derek looked amused.
“You're giving her those.”
Claire looked up.
“She’s drilling.”
“She’s supposed to have realistic resistance.”
Sophie immediately became uncomfortable.
Claire remained calm.
“She’s learning the sequence.”
Derek smiled.
“She won't learn if you let her win.”
Claire stood.
“I don't think anyone said she was winning.”
A couple of people nearby laughed.
Derek's smile disappeared for a second.
Brandon raised his phone.
Derek looked at him.
Then back at Claire.
“Want me to show her?”
Sophie said quickly, “I'm good.”
Derek ignored her.
He stepped onto the mat.
“Come on. Thirty seconds.”
Claire shook her head.
“No thanks.”
“It's just movement.”
“I'm working with Sophie.”
“I'll go light.”
“No.”
That one word stopped him.
Derek wasn't used to hearing it without fear behind it.
Claire hadn't raised her voice.
She hadn't challenged him.
She hadn't even looked nervous.
She had simply said no.