“Probably not.”
“That’s why.”
Jake stared toward the center mat.
A pair of soldiers had begun drilling footwork.
Neither was talking.
He watched them for several seconds.
“I hate that you’re right.”
Emma looked at him.
“You’ll survive.”
“That sounds familiar.”
“It should.”
Jake laughed quietly.
Then his expression became serious again.
“I meant the apology.”
“I know.”
“You still mad?”
Emma considered it.
“Yes.”
Jake nodded.
“Fair.”
“But less than before.”
“I’ll take that.”
She looked at him.
“Don’t.”
He frowned.
“Don’t what?”
“Treat forgiveness like a score.”
Jake looked down.
“Right.”
Emma continued.
“You embarrassed me because you wanted a reaction.”
He nodded.
“If I forgive you, it doesn’t become another thing you won.”
Jake absorbed that quietly.
“Understood.”
Emma watched him.
This time, she believed he did.
Across the gym, Briggs called out.
“Turner.”
Jake turned.
“What?”
Briggs pointed toward several displaced pads.
“You had enough energy to talk earlier.”
A few soldiers laughed.
Briggs continued.
“You have enough energy to stack those.”
Jake shook his head.
“There he is.”
He started toward the pads.
Then he looked back at Emma.
“You coming back tomorrow?”
“For what?”
“Training.”
Emma glanced at the mat.
“You asking or performing?”
Jake winced.
“That one’s going to follow me.”
“Probably.”
He smiled.
“I’m asking.”
Emma considered him.
“Maybe.”
“That’s not a no.”
“No.”
Jake nodded.
“I’ll take maybe.”
He walked away.
Emma watched him begin stacking the pads.
The young private joined him without being asked.
Another soldier helped.
Nobody made jokes about office assignments.
Briggs returned to Emma’s side.
“You going to tell him eventually?”
“Tell him what?”
“The whole history.”
Emma’s expression grew distant.
“No.”
Briggs nodded slowly.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
He studied her.
“Why?”
“Because today wasn’t about where I came from.”
Briggs waited.
Emma watched Jake lift another pad.
“It was about what he assumed before asking.”
Briggs nodded.
“That’s fair.”
“And if everybody needs my old record before they respect me, they learned the wrong lesson.”
Briggs looked at her.
“That sounds like something you’ve thought about before.”
Emma tightened the loose end of her wrist tape.
“I have.”
For several moments, neither spoke.
The gym returned to its normal rhythm.
Weights clanked.
Shoes squeaked.
A radio near the front desk played quietly.
Outside, North Carolina sunlight stretched across the parking lot.
Soldiers came and went through the double doors.
The afternoon continued.
Yet the earlier laughter had vanished completely.
Jake finished stacking the pads.
He looked toward Emma from across the room.
This time, he did not call attention to himself.
He simply nodded.
Emma returned the nod.
Nothing more was needed.
Briggs noticed.
“That’s probably the best you’re getting from him today.”
Emma looked at Jake.
“It’s enough for today.”
Briggs smiled.
“You really were nervous?”
Emma looked at him.
“You heard me tell the private.”
“I did.”
“You think I lied?”
“No.”
“Then why ask?”
Briggs shrugged.
“Curious what made you nervous.”
Emma looked around the gym.
“The crowd.”
“Not Turner?”
“No.”
“The size difference?”
“No.”
“The spar?”
“No.”
Briggs frowned.
“Then what?”
Emma pulled the tape loose from her wrist.
“Being misunderstood in public is harder than getting hit in training.”
Briggs’s expression softened.
Emma continued unwinding the tape.
“You can defend against something physical.”
She rolled the tape into a tight ball.
“Assumptions are different.”
Briggs looked toward Jake.
“Sometimes.”
Emma nodded.
“Sometimes people change them.”
Briggs glanced back at her.
“That sounds optimistic.”
“It’s cautious.”
“Meaning?”
She dropped the used tape into a trash bin.
“Jake apologized.”