Confrontation
”I fuckin told you to be careful bruv…now look what you have done..”
Steve was pissed off. The calmer half of the team, Aidens confidant, the first guy who talked to him when he arrived in Japan. They had been through alot together. But right now, none of that seemed to matter. Steve was pacing back and forth, his gear bag sitting on the floor of the lockeroom. Aiden was sitting on the bench, his elbows resting on his knees with his head resting on his hands in an upright position.
Steve looks down at Aiden and shook his head, clearly frustrated and angry. He turned and folded his arms before looking over at both their gear bags. ”When you shit where you eat, bad shit is bound to happen mate.” His british accent made everything sound more classy than it really was, times like this when Steve was trying to be serious Aiden would usually laugh. But this was no laughing matter.
They had turned up to the arena. Gear with them, a notification email from a few days before telling them they were booked for the show. That they had earned themselves a semi main spot against one of the best teams in the company. Winners would go on to get a tag team title shot at the next special events show. This was a big deal. This was what they had worked for. The two foreign stars who had steadily gotten the conservative Japanese crowds to become fans.
However, when they arrived, when they went to the administration office and position, their names had been erased from the card. Told they were no longer booked for the show. And after retreating to the lockeroom, it had become clear why. Steve was annoyed with Aiden. Clearly blaming him for what had happened. ”So what are we gonna do? Huh? This is our lives, our careers…”
Aiden took a deep breath and finally spoke up. ”We don’t know if that’s the reason mate. And even if it is, I ain’t backing off from Akari, she’s a grown woman and I like her.”
Steve shook his head and stood back. ”Yeah, I get that. But it’s not just YOUR career on the line here Aiden. It’s mine too. And you don’t seem to care about that.”
Aiden took a deep breath and stayed silent. It hit him, Steve was right, it was messing with him too. The door cracked open and a man in a black suit entered, he had shoulder length black hair, the front of it was slicked back over the top, he folded his arms and spoke in broken english but still well enough for Aiden to understand. ”Boss wants to see you….” Aiden stood up[, he and Steve headed toward the door. The well dressed man put his hand up in front of Steve. ”Not you…just him…”
Seteve looked over at Aiden, Aiden shrugged and gave his partner a pat on the shoulder. ”I’ll take care of it mate…”
The two men walked out and into the hallway, going through the winding backstage area. Passed officials and other wrestlers. Passed press and production crew. They went to the back of the arena to large silver double doors. Aiden had a chill run down his spine. What was in this room? Was it really Akaris father? Or was it a group of Yakuza ready to…eliminate the problem. He took a deep breath and the yakuza in front of him opened the door. Aiden nodded and stepped in. Taking a relieving breath as he entered.
The room was a standard office. The largest room in the arena, set up in a makeshift way with removable desks, chairs and a few briefcases sitting next to the legs of the desk. And sitting behind the desk, was an older man, his hair with a few grey flecks in it, dressed in a tailored grey suit with a dark blue tie. His glasses sat at the end of his nose as he looked at a few pieces of paper flicking through them. Aiden stayed silent, his hands behind his back.
The seconds seemed to drag by, a minute felt like an hour. But after a few minutes the older man put down the papera and looked up. His eyes were piercing and serious. Aiden had only met him once before. When he first started and signed his contract. Hahashi Kiriyu was a man with a reputation, he was strong, mentally and for a man of his age, physically. He sat back and purced his lips together before finally breaking the silence. ”I am going to speak in English, I understand you can understand Japanese but speaking it is difficult. Correct?” Aiden gave a small nod. Hahashi stood up. ”How long have you been contracted to my company?”
Aiden swallowed hard and breathed deep. ”8 months, 11 days and about 4 hours.”
Hahashi laughed and shook his head. ”You have worked hard to win over our fans. You and your partner have been getting popular, selling merchandise. I’m rather impressed with it.”
”Well, people I talked to said if you can turn the crowd here, if you can do it here…you can do it anywhere, sir.”
He chuckled and gave a small nod before folding his arms. ”Mr Reynolds. I had a plan when you were being brought in here. I was going to offer to pay out your contract, The next year and three months, as well as any perceived bonus payments and merchandise based on averages.” He pauses and moves around AIden who stays silent and still. ”I was going to offer this to get you to leave. It would have been alot of money to simply never come back to Japan…” Aiden still stayed silent. Hahashi shook his head and sighed heavily. ”But, I know that won’t work with you will it? Paying you to go away?.”
Aiden shook his head, answering with two words. ”No sir.”
Hahashi nodded in agreement before clearing his throat. ”So, instead what I will offer you is more simple than that…” He paused for a moment. Aiden didn’t flinch. ”Opportunity” He moved around Aiden with a deep breadth, trying to gauge the reaction. Or lack there of. ”Preferential booking and chances. Opportunities in my company to become a huge star and succeed. And in return….uou stop seeing my daughter.”
”No….” without missing a beat or thinking. Aiden blurted out his answer. Hahashi was caught of guard. Not knowing how to respond. Aiden swallowed hard and shook his head. ”With all due respect sir….none of this is your decision. Akari and I are adults. In charge of our own lives. And what kind of value would I be placing on myself or your daughter if I accepted this?”
Aidens words hung in the air. Hahashi took a deep breath and moved back behind his desk, placing his palms flat. ”I respect that answer. And under normal circumstances, another place or time….or another business….I would shake your hand and walk away. But this is not something I will let happen….so, take some time to think about my offer….you have a week…”
There was no point in arguing. Aiden knew that. He gave a small nod and turned, moving out of the makeshift office and out the door. The yakuza who led him there leaned against the wall next to the door with a smirk. ”You have balls….no brains…but balls…” He scoffed and moved passed Aiden. The Australian star swallowed hard and shook his head. A nagging feeling of dread hanging over him.
Failure
”Well, that sucked”
Aiden Reynolds, his head resting in his hands as he stares ahead. Normally flanked by a friend or member of his family. This time though, Aiden was alone. His usual joking demeanor changed into a serious one.
”failing is never easy. The truth is, I could sit here and tell you all about how losing and failing is a learning experience. That in losing a huge opportunity like this I learned something about myself and I can use that lesson as a way to push myself forward and get better. But really? Right now I just feel like shit. I had the biggest opportunity of my young career in this company, I could have teamed with Melissa and we could’ve gone onto win the blast from the past. Something that no one at Wollfslair has never done before.”
“Alex tried and Alex failed. Alicia has tried and failed. I had an opportunity to go forward and do this and skyrocket myself above everyone else and get a championship match. And the first hurdle I came across I spilled over it and fell on the ground. Failing is everyone else ran past me. it’s a feeling that I can’t describe. But it’s one that I shouldn’t have to. Unless you are incredibly lucky in this world you’ve tasted failure. You know that the world doesn’t end because of your failure. But you also know that for a little while, it stings.”
“And what stings the most is who I lost to. Mark Cross. Do you know what it’s like losing to someone who is so incredibly stupid? Well, at least I think he’s stupid. He might also be the smartest human being I’ve ever met in my life. He said could have quite sleep in there to put Me off my game. Saying that Alex Jones, a man who runs the gym that I am a part of, a man that many would say is a mentor to Me, Mark Cross singled him out and decided to talk shit. Saying that Alex played hot potato with championships.”
“Despite the fact that all of Alex‘s championship reigns except for one were longer than Mark cross’ world title reign.”
“So, either Mark Cross is an idiot who doesn’t know how time works, or he is a genius who knew what to say to put me off my game. The only problem is if he really is that stupid then I lost to someone who has absolutely no brains in his head whatsoever. and did teach me a lesson. It taught me that when you’re cutting a promo it doesn’t matter what you say. You can come up with intelligent arguments as to why you are better than your opponent and why you’re going to win but it means nothing when you can just bring out some made up bullshit that comes off the top of your head just because you feel like it.”
I can laugh to himself, looking up and across the room. He gets to his feet and runs her hands through his short Sandy blonde hair before cracking his neck and continuing.
”Still, not as stupid as what Eiley said. Saying that I was a fin wannabe. Because I’m clearly a self hating Goth and narcissist with too many tattoos and not enough brains. And by the way I say that in full knowledge that I not only live in the guys house but I’m also good friends with him. And his younger brother also happens to be my heterosexual life mate. Don’t worry, Kallie knows.”
“The fact remains that Melissa and I lost those two morons. Instead of going onto the next round of the blast from the past, I’ve been thrown a bone and given a singles match this week. A match with nothing at stake. And I don’t want to disrespect the city wrestling management crew all the people who decide who faces who but this match with all due respect is complete bullshit.”
“Instead of a second match in this tournament, I am now facing a guy who much like myself failed. That feels great. Facing someone else who is a complete failure. Thanks guys you couldn’t have given me someone who actually has a name in this company you had to give me someone who literally turned up just to be in the tournament.”
“Lyle Kasey Junior. Or LJ Kasey for short, although that doesn’t really make any sense does it? His name is Lyle Kasey Junior but instead it’s L J. Kasey. So is it Lyle Junior Kasey? That’s really confusing mate. You need to get your name sorted out and your messaging. Because I watched what you had to say last week and you could’ve had Jayden Harris by the balls but instead you went and ramble on about stupid bullshit no one cares about and also made yourself look like a freaking hypocrite”
Aidan scoff and shakes his head, folding his arms over his chest
”So, you are seriously going to stand there and go on at Harris because of who his family members are? He can’t help you. His father is any more than you can help her. Your brother is. And trust me on this Lyle no one‘s gonna give a shit about you unless you have a family contact like your older brother Miles. That might seem harsh but it’s true. You can’t sit there and talk shit about one dudes family while having the only reason that you are even here for your own.”
“You really put your foot in it. Because now when someone looks at you all they’re gonna see is the silly little twit who instead of focusing on who he is and why he is one of the best in the world, or rather wants to be, would rather focus on peoples family. when the only reason anyone knows his name or who he is is because of his family.”
“And I’ll be completely honest. I like your brother. He’s a good guy, he is a pretty brilliant wrestler and he knows what he’s doing in that ring and any time I’ve spent hanging out with Miles he’s been nothing but nice to me. We’ve had arguments about the Australian cricket team against the cricket team, we have talked about whether or not room temperature beer is better than an ice cold beer. By the way he’s wrong it’s an ice cold cold beer and if he brings it up to me again, I’m going to have his beer lukewarm by taking a piss in it…”
“But l, just because I like your brother doesn’t mean that I have to like you. In fact your attitude has already pissed me off. I join this company and saw the blast from the past tournament is way that I could kind of skip the line. But you’re another one of these people who join because of the tournament. So what if you had gotten a good partner and flute away all the way through to win? someone like you would never have been able to beat Finn. You go up against Finn and you get crushed. And then that would be the waste of a tournament. The waste of a win the waste of a title shot in short everything you would’ve done in this company would’ve been a waste.”
Aiden shakes his head and throws his hands in the air.
”I dunno mate. Maybe I’m being too hard on you. In fact I might be standing here and talking shit and looking like a right prick. It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. But with all due respect to you, a win over you gets me nothing. I just lost the biggest opportunity of my career to this point. And now here I am facing you. And for what? I bet you and I get nothing out of it. It doesn’t help me climb the ladder, it doesn’t help me get to worry I need to be. All it means is that I’ve beaten you. And this company at this point even with your last name? You don’t mean shit.”
“You might be talented, you might be a future world champion here. You might be the next big thing on the horizon that is going to take this company by storm. You might be. But right now, at this moment, you are a kid with a zero and one record in this company who went on the biggest stage of his career. At this point decided to prove yourself as a huge hypocrite and talk about Jayden Harris like he didn’t matter all because he had a daddy who is famous. kind of like your brother is famous”
“Now, you and I are going to get in that ring. We could steal the show. If you are half the athlete that your brother is, you might just put up a good enough fight that people watch this match and be absolutely blown away with the two guys in it. You might be a damn good dance partner. But that isn’t gonna mean anything when the dust settles.”
“This is a lose lose situation. If I win, I have just beaten a kid who means nothing in this company. If I lose I’ve just lost to a kid who failed in his one and only match in this company. So what does this get me? well, I have to look on the positives mate. Because honestly? It’s in my nature to be eternal fucking optimist. So this is going to be a chance for me to release a little pressure. To go out there and beat you down and to show the world what I can do. The beating that you’re about to take? I hope you don’t take it personally. Because this isn’t personal. I don’t know you Lyle. I don’t hate you, I have no real feelings towards you. You are just an opponent front of me. And it’s my job to get you out of the way….”
