Electric.
It's in the look that she can give you.It's in the phrases that she can say to you.It's in the touch of her fingertips as they dance along your skin.It's everywhere all you have to do is look.That overwhelming feeling and the excitement that it can bring. Something that he hadn't felt a long time. Long before Lisa passed, long before they had two children and settle down into their blissful married life. The electricity and excitement,the feeling that so many others take for granted.But,feeling it now in this situation left him more confused than anything else.Was it appropriate? Not just for him but also for her. Everything that they had both been through especially over the last couple of months together and separately, it changed everything.
It was one moment, one small moment in time. Their eyes met and their skin touched. And that was it. There was nothing else there, there were no words said and no meaning behind them. Just a look and a split second touch. The years of equity in their friendship and relationship didn't come into play when it came to this. He had never thought of her that way, she had always been just a member of the gym and someone who he worked with. A friend, perhaps even closer to a sister. But since that moment things had been awkward, but not in a bad way. He would go to the gym, he would workout, and he could feel it. The gaze from across the other side of the gym and her eyes trained on him .He would look over and find her staring at him, bright blue eyes behind a veil of blonde hair.
It would not be a problem if he didn't care.
But their in was the problem. He did care. He cared about her and he cared about her feelings .He knew the pain that she felt all too well. Both of them losing someone that they cared about, both of them feeling that pain. The only difference was that Austin's pain was caused by the man who Alicia loved, and her pain was caused by Austin. It was a web that he didn't want to get into,two separate losses that didn't need to happen, two lives that were forever changed by one man's man's greed and fear of owning up to his own mistakes. But now he found himself in an impossible situation. Does he hide this? Hide from the pain that he caused as well as the future he could have? Or should he tell her?Tell her everything that happened and let her own conscience guide her.
Austin swallowedand shook his head,he looked away and pulled the towel over his head wiping away the sweat.After a few moments he looked to the side to find Alex standing with his arms folded looking over at Alicia and then to Austin with a shake of his head.Alex had always been amazing at reading people, seeing their talent, seeing if they had a lack of confidence and what they could be within.Annoyingly he was an excellent judge of character and also someone who could see through bullshit.Austin shook his head knowing that Alex had seen something and was ready for the barrage of questions that he may not have answers for. Alex coughed shaking his head as he moved closer to Austin.
“So…you two talked I take it?” Subtle as always.
”We..comiserated.
Alex scoffed and shook his head. ”That’s what they call it these days?” Alex thought he was being funny.Austin rolled his eyes and folded the towel sitting it on the edge of the bench.He tried to play it off as if it was nothing, a small chuckle underneath his breath,a dismissive wave of his hand, butAlex could see right through it. ”You know…there’s nothing wrong with finding happiness despite tragedy…” Austin knew what Alex was trying to do,and in a way he was right. There would be nothing wrong with two people who found themselves alone after knowing that they lost those dearest to them finding solace in each other.
Under normal circumstances. But this, this wasn’t normal. ”Things are…complicated. So, I’m going to have to pass.” He still tried to play it off,laughing to himself as he turned away.But Alex clearly had other ideas grabbing Austin by the arm and stopping him in his tracks.
”Don’t be stubborn…” Alex turned serious,the look in his eyes changed from playful ribbing too serious end concerned. Full of feeling and empathy, Austin looked at Alex and then down to Alex's hand, wrapped around his arm, that slowly loosened and pulled back.”I get it. I do. There will be looks and whispers. But…if you two can find happiness and…peace…then why hold back?”
Peace. That one word that seemed to impact Austin more than anything else. Could he really find peace? Every single part of his life had some kind of pain and sadness. From growing up with a mother who abused alcohol to forget her past, being taken away by her father that he never knew, going to a boarding school where everyone looked at him like he was poor trash. Losing his mother after making peace with her, losing his stepmother and his father,and then losing Lisa and feeling like he was losing his grip on reality. All of this had led him to this moment,and a nagging feeling that maybe Alex was right. ”I don’t even know if it was anything. We talked, we connected. She touched my hand. It was nothing..”
He tried to pour water on this fire,but it was too late.Alex rolled his eyes and stepped back looking over his shoulder at Alicia before looking back at Austin. ”Yeah, nothing. That’s why you two keep staring at each other and stealing glances like teenagers in heat…” He stepped forward. ”Maybe talk to her?..see where this shit lands?” Alex tapped Austin on the shoulder and turned to walk away.
Austin took in a sharp breath and shook his head before looking away, but he could feel it again, Alicia 's eyes on him.It wasn't as simple as Alex made it out to be. If it was, just two people who had experienced loss in their lives getting together and trying to find some form of happiness in the World of darkness that they were left in, it would be that simple.But if this was going to start it would need to start with the truth, it would need to start on a fresh slate with no deception, laws, or secrets. He swallowed and ground his teeth together before muttering to himself. ”Fuck.”
He turned and walked toward Alicia,she turned her head to the side as her sister pointed out Austin,she gave a small nod to her sister and walked across the gym to meet Austin before stepping to the side away from everyone.Austin swallowed and went to talk but before he could say anything Alicia interrupted him putting her hands up. ”Look, before you say anything I…we need to talk in private.” She took a deep breath,visibly nervous.Which was strange for Alicia, someone who was normally so confident, or at least wore the mask of someone who was confident.This was different,she was nervous, anxious, vulnerable. ”I don’t know what..this is…or what it could be…but I feel like there’s things you should know…and things I need to get off my chest.”
She paused, she looked down away from him.Austin stayed silent for a moment, looking around before reaching downend lightly brushing his fingertips against her hand to signal for her to look up. He felt it again that warm rush of calm,that feeling of content happiness.She looked up and he gave her a small nod and a smile. ”This weekend…i’ll make you dinner…we can talk..”
She smiled, a warm smile as all of the anxiety seemed to rush away from her.She gave him her nod back as Austin took a step and turned with a smile.Now he could feel more eyes on him,not just Alisha 's but the entire gym. He shook his head looking over at Alex as he moved past him.Before Alex could say something Austin put a finger up and shook his head moving toward the locker room. He was done for the day,but now he had to figure out how to tell Alicia the truth.And just what that would mean for not just their relationship but also Wolfslair.
Teamwork.
”Well,it seems that you are all stuck with me.I told you all that if I failed to beat bill,that I had no business being in Sin City wrestling. Or even the wrestling business anymore.A man like Bill Barnhart shouldn't even be in the ring with me. It was something that I said, I said it to the camera, I said it to the fans, I said it to bill's face. And I will say it again. Bill Barnhart does not belong in the same ring as Austin James Mercer. He isn't on my level and never has been,I am a former world champion, I have beaten the best that this company has to offer and despite the fact that I seemed to have been on a bit of a unimpressive and uninspired run, I am still one of the most dangerous human beings that has ever stepped foot in a professional wrestling ring let alone this company.”
Austin shook his head, his large hands clasped together in front of him as his elbows balanced on his knees as he leaned forward.His wavy brown hair slicked back as a few strands flowed down the right side of his face coming to rest at his eye line.
”I recognise that I still have a lot of work to do to claw my way back to where I need to be,I am under no illusions that I'm not the man that I was even a year ago.I get that, I get that the professional wrestling business seems to move on a lot faster than you would like it to.Names come and go and they raise up to the top of the card and become world champions only to fizzle out and burst into flames. Hell we saw it this past year when Matt Knox came into this company. He became the world champion only to lose and disappear just as fast as he burst onto the scene.Very few people in this company have had the longevity that I have.”
“No matter what happens, I love this company and will stay here and do everything in my power to claw my way back to where I belong.No matter how many new faces come into this company and get pushed in front of me I will still do everything I can to destroy them. People like Mac Bane, Ken davison, Finn Whelan, Michael Harris and Calvin Harris might be able to get those spots that I once held near and dear to my heart but let's see how long they stay. Mac, Finn and Ken have already fallen by the wayside, Michael Harris was once a huge star here only to leave and only just claw his way back and bring his older brother with him who managed to eclipse him.But let's see how Calvin Harrisphase with the next couple of months shall we? Will he stay and become a staple of this company or will he end up fading away and burning to ashes like so many others?”
“Beating Bill was just the beginning of my rise back up.”
“Beating a man, and I use that term very loosely,like that is not a giant flashing neon sign saying that I am back to where I need to be,it is not the proof that you all want to see regarding the career, Life and Times of Austin James Mercer.It doesn't mean that I'm a world beater, it doesn't mean that I should receive a world championship match, it doesn't mean that I should be handed any other type of championship match. All it means is that I am not completely irrelevant. It means that I am not the pushover that many people thought I was.It means that when you get in the ring with Austin James Mercer, you better be ready for a fight.”
Austin couldn't help but laugh to himself,there was a certain confidence in his words,but behind it all there was still self doubt.Bill was not a challenge. At least he shouldn't have been.Bill was a gatekeeper, a midcard talent, someone who very few people respected or cared about.But Austin still took too long to get the win over him, he still was not the dominant force he should have been and that was slowly eating away at him from the inside out, he was just doing everything right now in front of the camera to hide that from every single one of you.
”However,I find myself in a much more familiar setting.For the first time in a long time I will walk down to that ring,I will look to the side and standing on the apron will be someone that I trust.Trust, something that I don't do a lot of.In fact I can count the number of people that I trust on one hand. But Tempest is one of them.She is one of my best friends on this planet, my tag team partner, and someone who I have a great deal of love and respect for.And I have to wonder if Samantha Marlowe truly realizes what she's getting herself into with this mixed tag team match.Sure, she and Ben can probably sit and dream of being the mixed tag team champions but to get to that point Sam has to get in the ring with Tempest.”
“Now, I'm not gonna sit here and say that Sam isn't a great professional wrestler, because she certainly is.”
“But,Sam is someone who has been a fading light in this company and the business for a very long time. And Tempest is someone who, and I think she would agree with me when I say this, hasn't lived up to her potential.Tempest is a Wrecking Ball,a beast of a woman who has a natural strength that very few people possess as well as an almost ungodly athletic ability. She is strong,emotionally, physically and spiritually.And if you getinto the trenches,in a war of attrition,there is no one on this planet that would be better to have standing by your side than a woman like Tempest.That is what you have to deal with Sam. You have to deal with a woman like that.And your bond and friendship with Ben Jordan might be strong and you might be happy that you get to team with him but it is going to be short lived.”
“I am going to stand on the ring apron and smile as I watch Tempest rip you apart limb from limb and destroy you,and perhaps if we are all lucky she will send you into retirement where you have belonged for a very long time yet you just refuse to accept.”
His upper lip curls into a snarl as he pushes to his feet and starts to pace back and forth.Austin is starting to feel it now, the confidence in what he in Tempest can accomplish.The confidence in what he can accomplish.
”But of course I would be remiss if I did not focus my attention on the half of the team that is going to be my problem come climax control.A former world champion just like me, a man who so many people respect, a man who i respect. Ben jordan.You, like me, are a man who does not need an overly long introduction,or to even be in everybody's face every week.It's sad, I see our current world champion throwing his face all over the show because he wants people to remember him,but men like you and me and Fenris? We don't need to resort to such tactics, we simply need to just be ourselves.That is all you have ever had to do Ben, just be yourself.”
“And I understand that you and Sam teaming up is something that you have both waited to do for a while.And I'm glad for you, I'm glad that you are going for the mixed tag team championships because having names like Ben Jordan and Sam Marlowe in this tournament makes it just that little bit more prestigious. Those tag team championships have been disrespected for a very long time and I speak on that as a former champion,Tempest and I held those championships in high regard and we did everything we possibly could to make them mean something.I know that you and Sam would do the same thing despite the fact that Sam really shouldn't even be in a professional wrestling ring anymore.”
“In fact,Sam should pack it up and go home. She should retire and live the high life away from all of this madness. Just like your wife.”
“See, that is something that I respect about Evie. She knew when she couldn't hack it anymore and decided to stay home. She knew she didn't have it in her to claw her way back to the top likeI'm trying to do or that Tempest is trying to do.You see Samdoesn't have that self realization in herself to know that it's time to quit. And you? You still have the talent to be a force in this company. In fact I could see a Ben Jordan world championship opportunity in the future, hell you and I could headline any super card for a world championship and it would be one of the biggest matches that this company could ever have.”
“Got right now? All I want to do is team with my best friend again and go after those tag team championships that we should have never have lossed. We will bring respect and honor to those mixed tag team titles and we will pick up exactly where we left off. You and Sam? You are just the first hurdle.And Tempest and I?We never fall at the first hurdle.”]/color]
