CHAPTER 24
Shay and Kelly were inseparable at the party; they just couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Shay thought about calling his Mom, but realized it would be 4 o’clock in the morning over in England so decided to call her tomorrow. They partied all night with their friends, it felt like Shay had already won the World title, but Shay knew he still had a big hurdle to get over in beating Gary Britain.
The party didn’t end until the early hours of the morning and Kelly and Shay retired to Shay’s bedroom to sleep in the same bed as a couple for the very first time. When Shay woke up the next day he opened his swollen eyes and saw Kelly lying next to him, he smiled and stroked her face softly with his hand.
Kelly opened her eyes, smiled and said “Good morning”. Shay replied “Good morning to you gorgeous are you o.k?” Kelly slowly put her hand on his face and softly stroked it and said “I’m great Shay, but look at your face, how are you feeling today?” Shay smiled and replied “I feel great”, but as he tried to sit up he got a shooting pain down the one side of his body.
He let out an agonizing grown, Kelly could see he was in pain and told him that she was going to take him to hospital to get him checked out. Kelly got Dexter’s driver to take them to the Lenox Hill Hospital just a couple of blocks away from them, they gave Shay a thorough examination and concluded that Shay had 4 badly bruised ribs on his left hand side and was told he should rest for at least a month before any physical exercise. This really was the best news possible, Shay might be in pain, but at least nothing was broken and a month’s lay off from the gym was well in order after the war Shay had just injured.
The doctor also reopened Shay’s stitches above his eye and resealed it in a way that it would heal better with less scaring. When they got back to the apartment Dexter had arrived with the pay per view figures and they were good, over 4 and a half million people tuned in to watch the show.
Shay asked Dexter “So how much have I come away with then?” Dexter started to waffle on about show costs and advertising costs, Kelly stopped him and said “Just tell us how much Shay made”. Dexter replied “Well with the 300 grand we reckon you have made a cool 3 million pounds Son now that is a big step up from your last fight”.
Shay was stunned and just looked at Kelly and said “This is all down to you Kell, thank you”.
Kelly smiled and Shay kissed her. Kelly then said with a big smile on his face “And don’t forget my 20 percent”. Shay laughed and replied “Kelly your worth every penny” he paused for a second trying to take it all in and then said “Fuck me I’m a millionaire”. He then went and called his Mom to tell her the news and make sure she was alright; his Mom told him how proud she was of him and how proud his Dad would have been of him. Shay told his Mom that he would be back in England tomorrow and couldn’t wait to see her. Kelly told Shay to sit down as the doctor had told him to rest and not to make any sudden movements; Dexter told Shay that after the British government had taken their share of 40 percent tax he would be left with 1.2 million with 360 thousand of that going to Kelly. Shay begrudgingly nodded his head as he knew that the government would have to take their pound of flesh. Kelly booked her, Shay and Kenny first class tickets back to England for the next day. Shay was still in a lot of pain with the bruised ribs so Kelly got him into bed early and just lay with him all night. When they got up the next day, Shay got up and made Kelly breakfast in bed, she asked him how he was feeling. He replied with a smile on his face “I feel great Kell, my ribs still hurt a bit, but the pain killers are really working a treat”.
Kelly smiled and asked him what he wanted to do before they headed back to England later that day? Shay replied “Anything you like gorgeous, it’s all about you today”. Kelly gave him a smoldering look and a very sexy smile and said “Well if you’re feeling o.k. why don’t you come back to bed for a while”.
Shay’s eyes widened and he got back into bed and slid his hands across Kelly’s sexy body.
Kelly then said “Yeah, let’s get some rest because you’ll need all your strength to carry all the shopping I got planed before we go back”. Shay stopped for a second and looked at Kelly disappointed and said “Oh I thought you meant something else”.
Kelly cracked up laughing as she saw Shay’s disappointed face, she smiled and said, “But first Shay” and gave him a really sexy kiss. Shay took that as his cue and started to maneuver his way in to position to make love to her.
They went shopping later in the day and as money was no object to them they went on a massive spending spree buying thousands of pounds of designer clothes. Shay said his goodbye’s to Paddy thanking him for everything he had done, Paddy told him to rest up and he would see him in a month’s time in England to start his training for his title fight.
Kenny, Shay and Kelly flew back to England later that day; they landed in England early in the morning and went back to their homes to sleep off the long flight. When Kelly and Shay got up later that day they went over to Shay’s Moms to see her and to tell her about the news of them now being together. While they all sat in his Moms house, Shay said to his Mom “I’m thinking of buying a new house Mom, something bigger”. Shay’s Mom looked at him inquisitively and said “But why son? You got a nice 3 bedroom house, why do you need something bigger?” Shay smiled and replied “Well Mom, me and Kelly have been talking and I know this place is starting to get a bit too much for you and we were thinking that you could live with us at the new house”.
Shay’s Mom looked at him and then at Kelly who nodded and smiled at her, his Mom replied “Son this is mine and your Dad’s house, I couldn’t leave this place, it’s my home”. Shay shook his head and said “I understand what you are saying, but you can’t live here on your own anymore. Newtown aint the same no more, I want my Mom to live with me in a nice new house in a nice area and I know Dad would have wanted the same thing, he always went on about getting you out of the area”.
His Mom thought for a while and then said “I couldn’t move, I couldn’t bare thinking of someone else living in this house”. Shay smiled and replied “Mom you don’t have to sell the place, you can keep it, I just want my Mom safe in a nice area living with me”. His Mom sat there thinking and then said “I don’t know son, I just don’t know”.
Shay nodded his head and said to his Mom “O.k. Mom, it’s up to you, but can you do something for me?” His Mom replied “Yes son what do you want me to do?” Shay replied “Kelly is going to look at some houses and I’d like you to go with her so you can help her choose a good one”.
His Mom smiled and said “O.k. son I can do that, but it doesn’t mean I’m moving”. Shay smiled and said “I know Mom, but it will be a big help to me and Kelly”.
His Mom agreed and Kelly told her she would be around tomorrow to take her to look at some houses in Harborne. When they left his Mom’s house, Shay and Kelly went to their restaurant Marc De Paul’s to have something to eat and check the place was running smoothly. As soon as Shay walked in there was a buzz in the air, all the people in the restaurant who were dinning stopped eating and started to applaud him. Shay smiled and acknowledged the applause; he signed autographs and had pictures taken with the people eating at the restaurant. They went and sat down at a table and ordered there meal, Kelly started talking to Shay about the Britain fight, she told him that she was going to call Goldsten tomorrow and sort out a meeting for when Dexter came back from New York.
Kelly then said “I need to find out where and when they want to hold the fight and about how much money you will get, from what I have seen in the papers he is even more popular than he ever was and the British fans love him. I think we are going to be hard pushed to make the same amount of money as we did last time”.
Shay smiled at Kelly and replied “Kell, I’m not bothered about the money; all I’m concerned about is winning the titles”. Kelly nodded her head and said “Well I’ll make sure you get the best deal I can get for you”.
Shay smiled and replied “I know you will gorgeous”. He then gave Kelly a loving kiss.
After dinner and talking to Mark to make sure the restaurant was alright, they spent the rest of the night smooching and cuddling on the sofa at home. The next day Kelly called Goldsten and arranged a meeting with him for the next day in London, she called Dexter to let him know and he told her he would fly in to London and meet her there. Kelly went house hunting with Shay’s Mom for the rest of the day. Shay gave Sparky a call and asked him if he wanted to meet up. Sparky told him he would be in his local in Kingstanding if he fancied coming up. Shay told him he would be up there later and called Kelly and asked her to meet him up there after dropping his Mom off. When Shay got up to Sparky’s local, he saw him sitting there with his wife, as he walked across the pub towards them a lot of the drinkers recognized him and congratulated him on his great victory. Sparky had already got him a drink in, Shay sat down and they talked about the Tarnna fight and the fourth coming Britain fight. Kelly came in soon after and Shay went up to the bar to get a round of drinks in, when he got to the bar the landlord served him and with a big smile on his face said “I hope you’re not going to cause any trouble in here tonight”. Shay smile at him and replied “Well with that idiot Chav in prison there aint no one in here I want to start on”. The landlord laughed and replied “He’s not in prison, he got out a few months ago, but don’t worry he’s barred”. Shay laughed and said to the landlord “Why do I have to be worried? But I didn’t think he would be out so soon”.
When he got back to the table he asked Sparky “Did you know Chav was out of prison?” Sparky nodded his head and replied “Yeah mate, but you should see him, prison fucked him right up, he’s not the big man anymore. He’s more interested in where he is getting his next fix from; he’s a proper bag head”.
Shay smiled and replied “Well it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person, all the people he must have got hooked on drugs, he deserves to be a druggy himself”. Shay then changed the subject and asked Kelly how the house hunting had gone? Kelly told him that they had looked at a few houses and her and his Mom had fell in love with this 5 bed roomed house.
She told him “It’s got a massive garden and every bed room has its own on suite shower”. Shay asked her if it was in there price range? Kelly replied “Yeah it is and I think if we make an offer we could get it a bit cheaper and I think your Mom would defiantly move in with us”.
Shay smiled and replied “Well put a bid in for it, if you and my Mom love it, I know I will”. Kelly smiled and said “O.k. as long as your sure, I’ll call them tomorrow before I go to London”.
They stayed in the pub for a few hours and then headed home. Kelly met Dexter at Goldsten’s offices, they went in and the secretary led them straight into his office. Frank was sitting behind his desk with that same old smug grin on his face; he welcomed them and asked them to take a seat. He then started to tell them about the show, he said “We are having the show at Wembley Stadium; I plan it to be the biggest boxing event Britain has ever seen. The tickets will only be sold through Golsten’s ticket offices and people who are members of the Gary Britain fan club get priority, the rest of the tickets will then be offered to the general public”.
Dexter looked at Frank shocked at what he was saying and replied “You can’t do that with the tickets, Frank come on you got to be fair”. Frank smiled and said “No Dexter I don’t have to be fair, Gary is the Champion, I get to say how everything goes”.
Kelly then interrupted and said “So what about if I tell Shay not to fight, your show won’t happen then”. Frank looked a Kelly in disgust at having to deal with a women boxing manager and replied “O.k. pull Shay out of the fight, it’s not the end of the world, all I’ll do is get one of the lower ranked fighter to fight for the title and then I will make dame sure Shay never gets another title shot”.
Dexter and Kelly knew Frank was holding all the cards and they knew that if they wanted the fight to go ahead they had to agree to his demands. They reluctantly agreed to Goldstens demands.
Kelly then asked “So how much are you thinking of paying Shay for the fight?” Frank replied “We will give him 500 grand for the fight; we think that’s more than fair”.
Kelly smiled and said “That sounds fine, but we want 10 percent of the pay per view as well”. Frank laughed and replied “Not a chance sweetheart Shay gets 500 grand and that’s it, there are no negations, it’s a Goldsten promotion, so all pay per view rights are mine”.
Kelly argued with Frank for hours about Shay’s purse money, but Goldsten wasn’t going to move on the paper view. Kelly did get Goldsten to considerably increase Shay’s purse money to and even 1 million pounds as she broke down to Frank just how much money he would make off this mega fight.
Frank told them to bring Shay down to London next week for the press conference to announce the show and where it would be held. When Kelly got back to Birmingham and told Shay where the fight was being held.
He smiled and said “Fuck me, that’s great Kell, just think, we could fill the whole place with green, white and gold, the Irish invasion of Wembley stadium”.
Kelly looked down at the floor and replied “I don’t think that will happen”, she continued by telling him about how the tickets would be allocated and that there was nothing she could do about it. Shay looked disappointed, but just shrugged his shoulders and said “Well I’ll just have to beat him in front of his own fans”.
Kelly then told him how much he was getting for the fight and how hard she had to negotiate to get that, Shay didn’t seemed to be worried about how much he was getting paid, he just wanted to fight for the World titles.
Shay and Kelly spent some quality time together over the next week; Dexter had organized a party in Shay’s honor at The Squared Circle to celebrate his great victory over Tarnna. The party was filled with Shay’s supporters; The Square Circle was decked out in Shamrocks and Irish flags.
Shay’s Mom was there and told Shay that his Dad would have loved this party and would be so proud of him; Shay gave his Mom a hug and told her he loved her. Shay and Kelly enjoyed a really nice night mingling with all his fans and having a lot of pictures taken.