Danger Date
Getting to know people was always hard for Aiden. I don’t mean learning people's names or seeing them on a day-to-day basis, I mean really knowing them. And letting them know him. Despite outward appearances, Aiden was more of an introvert than many people realized. I know hard to believe. After all, this is the same guy who would do a “shoey” and then a “nudie run” around a park.
And if those words don’t mean much to you then I don’t blame you. This is Australian slang and I’m not even sure I know what it means.
But it was true Aiden didn’t let a lot of people in. He talked to everyone. He laughed with everyone. He joked with everyone but as far as letting people know who he was. The real him. Well, he could count those people on one hand. The reason was very simple. He was always unsure of himself. Unsure of the kind of man he wasn’t unsure of people would really like him if they knew him. So he put on the mask. The mask of a lovable goofball who is always cracking jokes and doing stupid things to get a rise out of people.
And for the most part, it worked.
Hayden would walk backstage and people would laugh. They would talk to him and smile. He became a very well-liked person and most people would say he was a valuable asset to a company. But deep inside he was scared. Scared that these people would get to know him and not like him. Scared that they would start to think that he was something he wasn’t. Or worse scared that they would find out he did have emotions and wasn’t just a goofball.
It was even worse when it came to dating. Well, Aiden was a good-looking man by most accounts, tall, well-built, Sandy blonde hair and a killer smile with dimples. Most women would love that combined with an Australian accent and the attitude that he had. But he wasn’t as outgoing as many people believed. In fact, he was scared around most women. He didn’t want to talk to them and make them think that he wasn’t interested. Or that he was. The opposite sex terrified him and that is something very sad when we all think about it.
Hell, even I think that’s sad and I just narrating this little bitch’s story.
But here he was, about to go on a date, another date, with a woman who really was something of a dream for him. Akari was like a Japanese princess. She was the daughter of what when he would consider the Emperor of wrestling in Japan. She was sweet, kind, beautiful, smart, funny, everything that he wanted.
But she was also forbidden fruit. A woman whose father could crush Aiden and his dreams and his career in the palm of his hand within seconds. That is something that would normally terrify Aiden, it would scare him away. But the connection they had was so strong and her story so sweet. Men never approached her, they were terrified too because of her father. And because of that she was lonely. They were both lonely.
And in each other, they found someone to laugh with, talk to, and enjoy spending time with. And how could that ever be wrong? But in the green scheme of things it was. Aiden was dating someone who was the daughter of the man who signed his paycheck, the man who could decide whether or not Aiden had a career in Japan or if he would be sent back home. And if rumors were to be believed, he could also decide whether or not Aiden lived or died.
He smiled awkwardly he moved his chopsticks around and told them getting noodles wrapped around them with a few pieces of pork before popping it into his mouth. Akari gave him an approving nod. ” You're getting better at that.
Aiden offered a small shrug and shook his head. ”Aye the amount of practice I’ve had to do is borderline insane.”
And he was right. Aiden had eaten every meal for the last two weeks which chopsticks. Even food that he didn’t need to. Just so he could practice for this date. The buffoon. ”I wouldn’t be offended if you ate with a fork…” She smiled, it was a kind smile that wasn’t filled with any type of condescending nature.
Aiden cleared his throat and shook his head. ”I know. Believe me, I do. I know that I can be myself around you. I haven’t questioned it. In fact, you’re probably the only person in this country who I can be myself around. I don’t get to know many people. It just doesn’t seem right. But with you it’s different.”
She blushed and looked down, twirling her noodles with one of the chopsticks. A small smile flashed on her pink sparkle-painted lips. ”I…feel the same way…” Aiden looked up, blinking a few times and tilting his head as Akari cleared her throat. ”I always have to act a certain way, be a certain way. Around my father, my mother, my friends. They all come from a world that is suffocating me….” She paused a moment and locked eyes with Aiden. The smile grew wider. ”With you I can breathe”
They both sat in silence. Feeling awkward about the conversation. Neither of them was particularly good at opening up and it showed. Surround them blissfully talked laughing in their own conversations and their own worlds. ”Well, that was heavy…”
”im sorry…”
”Nah don’t apologise love… he smiled, shooting her a happy-go-lucky grin. ”But I do have a question….” She looked up again, Aiden took a deep breath and sat back. He was dreading it but he has to ask. He had to know. ”Where is this goin'?”
Akari tilted her head and swallowed ”What do you mean?”
Aiden took a deep breath and leaned forward. His hands class went together as he balanced on his forearm and got close keeping his voice down. ”Look, I’m not the smartest guy around but I also ain’t dumb. What kind of future do we have if your father doesn’t know? Or approve?”
She bowed her head and pushed out a heavy breath. ”I’m not sure he would ever approve….to be honest I have been trying to not think about it…” Aidens demeanor changed. He sat back and looked down, avoiding eye contact as he went deep into thought. Akari realized it and moved her hand across the table, grabbing his. ”But I will fight for it….we will tell him…just…not now…” she smiled and Aiden was assured. It was a weight off his shoulders. But the weight of his shoulders couldn’t stop the dark cloud hanging over his head. He knew where this was going and it was not going to be good. But that’s a story for another time.
Blastin for a pastin
”Shit, was I drunk when I signed up for this? Because I don’t think I remember. I usually hate tournaments. You get a whole bunch of people together and expect them to go from match to match and it always ends up as a cluster. Of course, this tournament's even more of a cluster than normal. You take a man and a woman who have never met each other, or maybe they have an' just don’t like each other, and you place them together in a team, so they have to rely on each other. shit sounds like a chaotic idea to me. Truth Be Told kinda like it…..”
Aiden Reynolds, everyone’s favorite Aussie douchebag. Standing alone which for him is always an anomaly when it comes to cutting promos. See Aiden’s one of these people who likes to bounce ideas off of others. He likes to make sure everyone else sounds serious so he can say the most out-of-whack bullshit that will ever come out of someone’s mouth.
”Yeah it’s like…super cool…”
And just like that a wild Kallie appeared!!!. She used super cute and it was super effective. Aiden blinked a few times and shook his head
”So, last time everyone saw me I was taken on that sexy piece of man beef Ben Jordan. The cockney king. And he and I had a great old tussle. Honestly, I can’t remember much about that match except for his piercing blue eyes and chisel jewel line that would make most 1950s leading men green with envy…”
Kallie made a face and slowly looked at Aiden.
”Should I be worried?”
Aiden scoffs and dismissively eaves his hand
”Nah, ya know I don’t swing that way. I can just appreciate some of the most subtle differences in the human form compared to different men. And Ben Jordan is a man amongst men. But I’m proud of the fact that I was able to step in the ring with him and I was able to take it to him in many different ways. He’s a former world champion and being able to say that I’ve been in the ring with him and he held my own. He’s a massive step forward when it comes to this company and my stock in it. Most people don’t really know the name Aiden Reynolds aside from one or two people who might have done their research.”
“The truth is, I’m not stupid. And I know that there are a lot of people who don’t even rate me when it comes to this tournament. Many probably didn’t think I was going to do too well against Ben. And I’d like to think I proved some people wrong. Shit, you know that most people think of me as just some goofy guy who smiles and makes inappropriate jokes.”
”You don’t really do a lot to display those myths. Besides some of it is actually true Aiden.”
”Oi, whose side are you on?”
Before Kallie can answer Aiden narrows his eyes and folds his arms over his chest
”Oi yeah nah I get it. You’re trying to play mind games with me. You think it’ll be easier for you and…what’s his name….Arsehole…”
”Artie!”
”Whatever…”
Kallie rolls her eyes and Aiden smirks with a wink
”The fact remains that you think it will be easier if you put me off my game. But it’s not gonna work. This tournament has a massive prize at the end of it. The winning team gets to not only etch their names in the history of this company but they also get to receive championship matches. Do you know how cool it would be just to simply jump to the head of the line and get to face Finn? Think about it. But then again if you want, you would have to face Kayla.”
“This tournament not only allows people to have a future in this company but also honors people of the past. I’m ready to do everything I can to win it. And as it gets closer, I’ve been looking at my partner and I can honestly say that I’m glad I’ve been put with a woman like Melissa.”
“I mean if I had me choice I’d rather team with you Kallie…”
“But, that isn’t how this works but Melissa or “lady goth” Is a beast in that ring. Former internet champion, a woman who has beaten our current world bombshells champion, and someone who looks like she is ready to take Egons head off..”
[color=hotpink”Eiley”[/color]
”Bless you…”
”No…her name is Eiley..”
”Yeah nah….no one gives a shit….without Oiley she’s nothing..”
”Ollie!”
”Yeah…that’s what I said…”
Kallie throws her hands in the air, exhausted.
”Either way Melissa is going to take her head clean off. I have complete and utter confidence in my partner. Especially considering who she will be facing in the match. However, what I’m not sure of is Me getting in the ring with Mark Cross. See he is also a former ECW world champion. Admittedly he isn't as good as say, Ben Jordan but he was definitely up there. He did everything he could to make his career something. but one thing I don’t like about Mark is that he seems to pop up, once in a while mainly for the blush and the past he shoots his shot comes back joins up, and does everything he can try and clawback his former glory”
“Ya know what they call someone or something who randomly popped up at the most inopportune times? Herpes. Mark cross is like herpes.”
”OHMYGODAIDENYOUCAN’TSAYTHAT.”
Aiden smokes and shakes his head with a small shock. He can say that and he did say that. Callie hides her face as she chuckles trying not to laugh out loud.
”Look, I can respect Marky Mark’s accomplishments. I can sit here and know that he’s a tough bloke. I can also say that I understand being a former world champion gives you more leeway than most. The blast from the past is a strange concept because it encourages people who were in the company or from outside the company to come in and try and become world champion. And if I was Mark, I would want to try it as well. getting that form glory back. It’s one of those things that most dream about. If you have been a world champion and you take any time off, you are going to want to get it back.”
“But, what if Mark wins? Especially since he’s had success like it before. What if Mark Cross becomes the number-one contender for the championship? First thing he’s gonna have trouble beating Finn I know that for a fact but what if a miracle happens and Mark Cross becomes our world champion? What then? Are we going to have a world champion that actually turns up? Or is Mark going to take his ball and go home? That is what I worry about when it comes to this tournament. I don’t know what people's motivations are or what they plan to do.
“Will this be a new dawn for Mark Cross and his career in Sin City wrestling? Or is it going to be like his NFL career and fizzle out into nothing?”
“Cause me? I’m here for the long haul. I’m here to reignite my career after taking time off to be a Dad. I never left wrestling, I’m one of those people who likes to stick around in a company. Do everything I can before I leave. Hell, I stuck around in WW for a spell even after everyone told me that that company was a trash bag that was lit on fire thrown in the dumpster, and then dumped in a sewer. I still stayed.”
“Mark though? Mate, you are a great former well champion. You are someone who many could look up to because of your athletic acumen and the fact that you were a champion here. But aside from that what have you got going for you? You turn up every year for the blast from the past and hang around for a little while like a bad smell. While the rest of us work to make this company better and to keep making sure it rises to the heights that deserves to be sit back in your comfy little retirement chair and believe yourself to be untouchable. The problem with that mark is that the rest of us get pissed off over people like you.”
“Hell, I can respect someone coming into SCW from another company. A big name who is active everywhere else trying to come in to earn our world title. But a semi-retired opportunity chasing cuck? Nah mate…”
Aiden scoffs and shakes his head.
”I have held one world championship in my career. One. Numerous other smaller titles but that SCW world title would be the biggest prize. That is something I don’t have to tell you about. Do I mark? You are one of those names that has been able to hold that championship. Admittedly it wasn’t as long as some others. Admittedly you weren’t a particularly memorable champion. But you still got to hold it.”
“Your name is forever etched up there with men like Ben Jordan, Fenris, Alex Jones, Austin James Mercer, Jack Washington. And of course Finn Whelan. Your name is up there with them and you get to say that you held that championship. And you want it so bad that you are back here again to join the same tournament that you’ve been a part of before. The only problem mark, aside from the fact that your tag team partner is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine, is that you have to get in the ring with a new kind of star.”
“I’m in my physical prime. You look at the two of us and it’s quite clear that I’m the younger, faster, stronger, better wrestler. You’re out of practice and someone who only decides to come out of retirement when it suits him. I put in the work every single day.”
“And I have something even mortified for. I want to make sure that I can hold that championship and make sure my wife is proud of me, make sure my child grows up to know that his father was a world champion. I want that I need that, and I also want to get in the ring and test myself against Finn. so you’re the first hurdle. The first block in front of me. And if you think for one second that I’m gonna let some semi-retired old man coast on his name and get another shot of the championship that he doesn’t deserve? You’ve got another thing coming. you’re not a dragon you’re an earthworm and I’m about to stomp on you.”
