Capítulo 34: Where Are The Girls?

"What is this room for?"

Lillian spoke up as soon as she stepped inside the room which was adjacent to Blake's office.

After their small conversation about Adam, Blake had offered her to show the training grounds. Lillian who was trying her best to settle in hurriedly, has willingly accepted it since Blake had clearly stated that there was no way that her training would start anytime soon.

"What do you think it is for?" Blake spoke up as he followed her inside.

A bunch of people, who were dressed in nothing but black trousers, were busy with their own activities. Seeing Blake walking inside with a guest, all of them stopped in their tracks. After facing towards the entrance of the room, they bowed in unison as they recognized his presence there.

Blake gave them a firm nod in return, sending them off back to their routine while he continued to stay a step behind Lillian.

"They sure respect you a lot." She commented under her breath after making sure that no one was looking in their direction any more.

"They have to." Blake stated as a matter of fact. No matter how much they hated him for his strictness about certain matters, they had to respect him. After all, it was him now who was responsible for making sure that their wallets weren't empty. The contract which each of them had willingly signed, stated all of this pretty clearly.

"But to me it looks like they willingly do it." She added only to see him shrug his shoulders in a nonchalant manner.

He could care less about what others think of him. What mattered to him actually was the organization, and the safety of its people. They were his responsibility, one which he willingly accepted.

"Who cares!" Blake muttered with another shrug. "Let's give you a proper tour of the place." He added, trying to make her pay more attention to the surroundings instead of him.

"That ring you see, is for sparing. But not everyone gets to get inside the ring." Blake continued, pointing his chin towards the center of the room where a large octagon ring could be seen. With its black supporting, net rims and outer platform, it stood firmly on the boarded floor.

A few of his men were leaning against the black steel net, watching three men exchanging blows inside the ring. None of them looked like they were enjoying it, but rather they had their eyes focused on the moves, studying each of the moves which were being exchanged between the three fighters.

"Aren't they taking it too seriously?" Lillian couldn't stop herself from asking him. The smell of blood mixed with their sweat was enough to make her cringe even though she couldn't properly see what was going inside the ring.

"And why do you make three people fight at the same time?" She added as she looked over her shoulder.

Hearing the confidence in her words, Blake chuckled lightly. "Why do you think that it's me who's behind this?"

"No sane person would bother sparring with two other men, especially if it's for practice's sake." She replied to him with a shrug as she looked back at him. He was still standing a step behind her which had her wonder if there was something wrong about walking with her. As he was the one who was showing her the place, he should be leading the way.

"Since you are the boss, I assume that it was your idea." She added to see him nod in response.

"Yes, but it was my father who came up with this. I actually made it harder for them." He corrected her.

"Harder? How? Can I see?" Just like a curious child who was visiting the amusement park for the first time, Lillian's eyes began to glow as she shifted her weight from one foot to another. Though she was no fan of the blood which was being spilled inside the ring, she was too eager to witness what Blake was talking about. But to her dismay, she was turned down.

"No!"

"But-" She tried to coerce him, but was interrupted right away.

"No buts. You aren't ready to see my way of training them." He refused to budge from his point. He had only made minor changes to the overall format, but it was still too gruesome for someone like her to witness it.

"Okay." She pursed her lips together after listening to what he had to say.

"Is there anything else which you need to ask?" He spoke up, trying to keep the conversation moving. There was really nothing much about the room. Except for the giant octagon ring in the center, there were a couple of punching bags lined by the corners of the room. They were there for his men to warm up before they could enter the ring.

"There is one thing which I would like to ask you." Lillian spoke up, looking back at him. When she saw him giving her a nod, she continued. "Why is it that only men are here? Where are the girls?" She had been wondering this for a while now, but didn't know how to put it up before him. She didn't want him to find her annoying.

"About that…" To tell the truth, Blake didn't know how to answer her. He stared back at her for a couple of seconds and scratched the back of his head meekly. It wasn't any less awkward for him. How was he supposed to explain to a young girl that there were no ladies here only because how distracting it would have been for either of the two parties.

Shirtless guys wearing nothing but trousers, and ladies in sports' bras and shorts couldn't be left in a room. Though his subordinates were too hard working when it came to their training and missions, they were still human beings with properly functioning bodies.

"Why are you so quiet?" Lillian couldn't help but interrupt his thinking when she saw him lost in another world.