Pain behind those eyes.
He had to see her, he had to make sure she was alright. Austin moved down the hallways of the small apartment complex in New York that his sister now called home. His heart in his stomach as he felt guilty for the last few months. He had been so wrapped up in his own life and feelings he had ignored his sister. She had faded away into the background. Her texts had devolved into one word and in some cases one letter responses. This was the first week he realised what he had done and what she had been doing. Pulling herself away, recoiling from the rest of the family. The real worry had come from Lisa.
‘
Austins wife had been growing closer to Amy, she would come over with Austins nephew, he would play with his cousins and Amy would talk to Lisa about her life. But lately, those visits had become less frequent, less happy and now, non existent.
It came to a head this morning, Lisa shoving Austin out the door to go see her after texts and calls had gone unanswered.
He had thought Lisa was over-reacting. That maybe Amy was just busy. But as he made the trip to see her, walking through the lobby of her apartment complex and taking the elevator up, he started to think about the last few months. That lack of time and care he’d provided for his family. Wasting it all on his own self loathing and downward spiral. He got closer to her door, his stomach in knots. He had a bad feeling about all of this, reaching out to knock on her door.
Knock knock
There was movement and shuffling behind the door. It moved over to the right coming closer. But no answer. Austin shook his head and reached out again, his time placing his hand on the door and speaking, quietly. ”Amy?. Are you there?” Still silence as the shuffling moved. A few moments passed and Austin stayed, he didn’t speak, he didn’t knock, he just stayed and waited. He heard more movement, the chain rattled and dropped, a deadbolt was pulled back.
And the door creaked open just enough for Amy to look out. ”Hey, sorry Aus I’m not feeling very well. And the kid is asleep.”
Austin smiled warmly and folded his arms over his chest taking a half step back as to not crowd her. ”It’s fine, I just wanted to check up on you. I know I’ve been busy and distant lately…” He trailed off and looked down as Amy gave a small nod after swallowing nervously. ”How are you doing? Hows Dane? You need anything?” She shook her head and stayed silent. ”C’mon...you can tell me.”
Amy stepped back pulling the door open, she stepped to the side and Austin came in. Her apartment was a mess. Not how she usually had it. Takeout boxes, empty water bottles and milk bottles littered around the kitchen and onto the table. And sure enough Dane was asleep on the couch. Austin smiled when he saw his nephew. Amy closed the door and moved around Austin going into the small kitchen. Her hair was tied back but not as bright and vibrant as normal. She folded her arms over her chest and just starred at her brother with a small smile, but it was forced. And Austin could tell. ”You want a drink Aus?”
He shook his head and sighed before moving around to face her. ”What's wrong? I can tell something happened.” She closed her eyes and swallowed, her mind was working and ticking over. Her hands moved down to the kitchen bench and stayed flat as she took a drawn out breath and seemed to zone out. ”Amy?”
She snapped out of it her hand moved over to a pile of papers grabbing a letter moving it over to Austin. ”Dane’s grandparents. They want visitation. They don’t care about my ex, but they want to see him. If I say no, they will take me to court.” She trailed off and finally started to show more emotion, her eyes welling up with tears. ”What do I do?...I don’t want to get caught up in a legal battle Aus...but can I trust them?”
Austin looked over the document, he smiled at Amy and reached his hand out grabbing it. ”Send a message back, tell them you want to meet them, introduce Dane to them...bring them to my home for a meal...I’ll even cook.”
Her face lit up, she smiled and looked over at her son before looking back to her brother. ”Really?”
He nodded squeezing her hand more. ”You could have come to me with this, I’m sorry I’ve been so into my own shit. I’m here for you, I always have been….” Amy moved around the bench and grabbed her brother giving him a hug. Austin squeezed her back, feeling better about himself and his family. There was work to do, repairing bridges and making sure everything was dealt with correctly. And this was a start.
The adventures of Billy big tits
”A royal jester match…”
Austin scoffed, he was clearly annoyed with the situation. His hands clasping together as he stepped forward and smirked.
”Vinnie thinks he’s funny. Forcing me to dress in a Jester costume in a match. And putting me against Buill, again. Oh Vinnie. You are supposed to be Bills friend but what have you done? Why would you sign off on this? You are putting your friend in danger, you fool. Your sense of humor and stupidity knows no bounds and the fact I lost that King for a day match to you angers me. You are that one person in this company that seems to have my number. Everyone else falls to me or has fallen to me in big matches. Even Fenris, but you? You just have this horseshoe jammed right up your ass and it seems to allow you to beat me time and time again.”
“But how have you chosen to use your powers huh?. You did the same thing Alicia did and gave yourself a title match, but instead of rewarding your friends, you’ve punished the. You put Bill against me and you have a battle royal where the winning woman gets ten thousand dollars. Yet didn’t allow Bea to participate. Wow, what a guy. Alicia gave Miles an internet title shot and myself a mixed tag title shot, that is how you treat your friends, that is how you use your powers in this, not matches like this one…”
“A jester match….”
“What a joke. In this day and age where we want the product and company to be taken seriously, this idiot books this. And a week after I had already humiliated Bill and taken something that meant so much to him.”
Austin starts a slow clap of sarcasm and shakes his head.
”How did it feel Bill? How did it feel watching Tempest and myself hold the mixed tag team championships up over our heads? You and your wife, laying there as the failures I said you were. And losing team based titles in a match against a team who had never teamed before. That has to sting. Tempest and I had not talked or really known each other till this match. We had passed each other backstage, seen each other at promotional events or catering. But we had never stepped foot in a ring together...until Climax Control 301. And now? Well now SCW is asking...who the fuck can stop us?”
“We are the dominant champions this division needs right now, to make these titles mean something again. To make the division relevant again.”
“We hold the power now, and the thing is, I saw this coming. I said it was coming. And that has always been the difference between us, Bill. You talk in bullshit, I talk in facts. I told you that you and your wife were physically inferior, I told you that Tempest and I were the better wrestlers whether it be in singles or tag. And you just couldn’t wrap your mind around it. Because you’re an idiot….”
“A complete and utter moronic idiot.”
“And that might seem like a childish insult but it’s true. You are a grown ass man who stands there and pulls his beard, says outlandish things that make zero sense and lets his wife run her filthy racist mouth all over the world. There comes a time, when you start to spout your idiocy from the rooftops that, well, if you keep failing to back it up no one cares about you or takes you seriously.”
He points his finger and shakes his head before grabbing his mixed tag title putting it over his shoulder.
”Like when we faced last week, what did you do Bill? I already told you what I did, I told the truth, I backed up my predictions with facts and logic. Two things you seem to lack along with a basic understanding of how the queen and king for a day concepts work and a diet plan that keeps you in “ring shape” instead of “looking like I’m smuggling an exercise ball under my top” shape.”. But, back to my point. What did you do Bill? Did you take Tempst and I seriously as contenders? Or did you go and run your mouth?”
“Cause I know what it looked like Bill.”
“You had a chance to take us seriously. To look at two of the biggest and strongest wrestlers on both the mens and womens rosters and prepare accordingly for a fight. But, instead what did we get? Bullshit tortoise and hare analogies, a story about a friend of yous in high school and your wife trying to call you her superman. Superman. That’s funny. Superman never loses Bill, and in your mind, I can see how that would make sense, but you take L’s like Wolfslair collects championships.”
“But what can you do Bill? What can you say? You failed to keep the titles, your analogies and stories fell flat and now Vinnie, a guy who is supposed to be your “amigo” put you in a one on one match with me, where I’m already annoyed I have to face you, again, in a match type that is designed to make us both look like fools….”
“Literal fools…”
“How do you think I feel about that Bill? And more importantly, has it sunk in that I am a different Austin James Mercer from the one that beat you the first time all those months ago? I have beaten you every single time we have had the displeasure of being in a match together yet all I hear from you is overconfident stupidity and a failure to acknowledge me as your superior and someone who is better than you in every single way.”
He growls the words, his eyes light up and burn with fire and anger.
”I’m a better wrestler than you, a better champion than you, a better husband than you, and I am a better father to my children than you are to that fat hairy dog you drag around to different events. I’m an Alpha male, you look like you don’t even know what that means. I should be calling out teams to defend these titles against or going to war with Fenris again, not being stuck in a match where I have to wear a jester costume and fight an overweight, arrogant loser who is so wrapped up in a world of his own creation he should be in comic books….”
“And that Bill...is the only way you would ever be a superman….”
