Chapter 57: Suspicion
Colorado was beautiful. I don’t think I’m surprising anyone when I say that. I’ve already gone through how this is now my home and how much I love it. But when you love something you want to share it with the people who you love.
So, when everything was moved in and situated in a way that I found acceptable, I brought my younger sister in to see it. Tasmin was excited. She hadn’t been to Colorado in years. So when she arrived and entered the home that Finn and I had chosen she had a large smile on her face and looked relaxed.
Kallie who was just as excited to see my sister as she ever has been to see me stood next to me. A huge smile on her face and as Tasmin walked in, she stepped forward wrapping her arms around her and giving her a giant hug. When they were done, I stepped forward giving my sister a less enthusiastic but still warm embrace. I smiled, beaming with pride at the awestruck look on her face as she made her way through the main foyer of my home and into the living room.
”This is gorgeous Kay” I gave a small note of appreciation before leading them over to the two couches in the center of the room where facing each other with a glass table sitting between them. I sat down looking over at the large window that looked over at the snow-capped mountains in the distance I took a deep breath and closed my eyes before smiling and opening them, turning and looking at my sister and Kallie who were sitting over the other side next to each other.
Tasmin smiled and tilted her head ”Thank you. While Finn didn’t let me do everything that I wanted, he listened a lot more and seemed more open to what I wanted to do since this is “our” home”
Kallie bounced up and down happily, a huge grin on her face. I chuckled, it was always amusing seeing her so happy and enjoying herself. She was the opposite of Me. Constantly happy and looking at the best things in life. ”I’m like, so glad you are enjoying and loving Colorado. And I get to be home and now I get to be home with my family.”
Kallie was so sweet. I couldn’t help but laugh, I took a deep breath and sat back on the couch my mind drifting off to the problems from last week. Coming in and knowing that Aaron had been here. The anger that I felt in the frustration that oiled up with me. It was a mistake, my sister was always able to read Me and now she was narrowing her eyes trying to figure out what was going on. ”So, penny for your thoughts” And there it was
I raised my eyebrow and tilted my head trying to look as nonchalant as possible. [color=violet”]”I’m just enjoying myself and relaxing. And thinking about all of the different things I still have to do to our home.”[/color] I could see from the look on her face that Tasmin wasn’t buying it
She took a deep breath and leaned forward. Her green emerald eyes that mirrored mine studied Me. And I knew she was looking right into my soul to try and figure out what I was thinking about. ”Come on. I’m not stupid. I can tell something is on your mind.”
I rolled my eyes and groaned. But deep down I knew there was no point in denying it or trying to deflect it.”Aaron was here…” Kallie’s ears pricked up, she blinked a few times and swallowed hard. I knew this was going to be a hard conversation for her. After all, Aaron was her wrestling mentor.
Tasmin on the other hand disliked Aaron. Obviously not as much as I did. ”Why?”
”Fucked if I know. She talked to Finn” I growled under my breath. My nostrils flared as I closed my eyes trying to calm myself down.
”And…. do you worry about her and Finn?”
I had to blink a few times. It was strange that she would ask me that but my first instinct was to laugh. I chuckled and shook my head before taking a deep breath and resetting myself. ”Oh god no. I trust Finn completely. I know how he feels about her, and if it wasn’t for a little thing called laws he would have done something that many others would conceive to be regrettable. At best.”
Kallie, who had been awkwardly silent for the better part of the last three minutes shuffled next to Tasmim on the couch. She cleared her throat and piped up. ”It-it was probably something business related. Maybe she was out here trying to get the paperwork sorted for the Colorado Wolfslair that Finn is going to be running?”
Oh Kallie ever the optimist
I sneered and shook my head. ”No, that definitely is not it. I could tell that Finn was annoyed at whatever happened.”
Tasmin raised an eyebrow ”And, what did Finn say happened?”
”He said she was just here trying to stir the pot. Just talking shit and trying to get in his head like she always does. And that fact alone pisses me off.”
”She can be an acquired taste” Kallie piped up again, adding in her opinion
I shook my head, folding my arms over my chest trying to keep myself calm but failing and losing that fight ”She's a raging cunt” Kallie’s eyes widened and she put her hands over her ears. She really was using the earmuffs on me. I turned back to Tasmin and sighed ”I want her out of mine and Finn‘s life.” Tasmin just nodded at me and looked over at Kallie
Tasmin was a little more mindful of her feelings toward Aaron than I was. I understood their relationship as student and mentor but at the same time, I couldn’t understand how she was oblivious to the kind of rancid human being that Aaron was. ”You know how these things go. You are going to want to try and fix this so you are going to go after her, Finn is going to tell you to let him handle it and you are inevitably going to ignore him and in the end, he’s going to come up with a plan to get rid of her and get her out of your lives and you are going to screw it up by not simply waiting”
I narrowed my eyes. Staring across the table at my sister with my nostrils flaring even more. How dare she. How dare she so accurately describe things that have happened in the past and apply them to the future like it’s some sort of pattern and basis for things that happen in my relationship in life. ”I don’t think I like your tone or accusation. Or how accurate it is.” Tasmin simply laughed and shrugged. I remained annoyed. But after a few moments, I took a deep breath and nodded in understanding. Not so much to her but to myself. ”So what the hell do I do Tas?”
”Nothing”
I blinked a few times ”What do you mean?”
Tasmin leaned closer shaking her head ”Don’t do anything. This shit will work itself out….you trust Finn, he loves you, you love him…for fucks sake Kayla…be happy…” She chuckled and got to her feet dragging Kallie with her. I sat back and shook my head. Maybe she was right. But, could I listen? Fuck knows.
A challenge
”Legends always fall…”
Kayla took a slow, deep breath, leaning back wearing a pair of leather pants, a red crop top, and a leather jacket over the top. A bottle of wine sitting in front of her as she wrapped her fingers together and clasped her hands.
”It’s hard, isn’t it? Watching as legends that you admired in the past become nothing? I warned everyone what was going to happen when Mercedes got in the ring with Me. I warned everyone that she couldn’t hang with me. And the sad part is it didn’t even have to happen that way. I didn’t ask for a match with Mercedes, I didn’t ask to get a ring with her and embarrass her the way I did. It’s not the kind of thing that I would do. There seems to be this misunderstanding about me like I’m some kind of bully.”
“And why? Because I tell the truth? Because I want a challenge and I’m not afraid to tell people when they shouldn’t be in the ring with Me? Because Mercedes Vargas should never have been in the ring with Me. As good as she used to be, she’s not that woman anymore. She is not the champion she once was. And some people are smart enough to realize that which is why they decide to stay out of the ring and stay out of this company. Amber Ryan and Micah are smart enough to know that they shouldn’t come back like this. They shouldn’t turn into someone like Mercedes Vargas who is limping along.”
“And I don’t regret saying stuff like this. And I never have.”
“But, all I have ever wanted is to face the best. See, I can’t be the best if I don’t routinely face the best. Complacency leads to degradation. If I face the drugs of this division and steamroll them my skills degrade and I don’t stay at the top of my game and I don’t stay as the best of the best. Iron sharpens iron and steel sharpens steel. You put the best that you have in the ring with Me and you are going to get the best out of me and facing someone like Mercedes Varga who is well past her prime is not going to scratch that itch that I have for real competition.”
Kayla stays leaning back before taking a deep breath.
”And why wouldn’t I have that itch for real competition? I have now surpassed Alicia Lukas for the second-longest single rain as the Bombshells champion. Over 280 days. I have done that while being the longest-reigning woman in the mixed tag team division, losing those mixed tag team championships, regaining those mixed tag team championships, and still defending the Bombshells championship. I collect records and championships and you people act like I’m some kind of loudmouth bully who has absolutely no right to call myself the best.”
“All I ever wanted was a challenge. To face the best. And that’s why I asked for a rematch against Andrew. You can’t sit there and say that I don’t go after the best of the best. I faced the challenges that this company throws at Me, that’s true, but I also like to look at people who have earned the right to face me and Andrea earned the right to face me.”
“She is one of the best you can ever see in this company and this business.”
“And when I look at all of the names in this company and all of my potential challenges, her name popped out at Me for one simple reason. Our last match. At high stakes, Andrea Hernandez pushed me further than anyone in this company has. I don’t say that lightly. In fact when you sit back and you look at everything I’ve said against everyone else you need to realize the gravity of the situation when I give someone that kind of respect. she pushed me further than anyone has in this company and she deserves a rematch.”
Kayla takes a deep breath and leans forward pouring herself a glass of wine before swirling it in the glass giving it a sniff and a slow sip. The long black hair flows down her shoulders and her back as her nose ring tends to shine from the light above.
” Now, there is another reason why I have decided to call out. Andrea Hernandez. While I will gladly tell you all about the more honourable reasons why there is also another reason. I’ve heard the whispers. I’ve heard everyone saying that Andrew Hernandez came so close to beating me that there is doubt that I am the best of the best. I’ve heard people saying that if Andrea had another shot she would be able to take the SCW World Bombshells championship away from me. And that kind of disservice to my legacy and dissonance when it comes to my championship is something that I simply cannot abide.”
“So, what is someone like myself to do? Someone like Me who is very arrogant and self-righteous and usually gets talked about in a negative sense because of my ego? Well, it’s simple, call you out and prove all of those people wrong. And that’s the other side of it. Not only do I want to give you a championship rematch because I need to prove to everyone how good I am but I also need to do it to shut everyone up.”
“To destroy their narrative”
“And to do that I’m going to bring you to that ring and do everything I can to beat you. Just like I did at high stakes. And to your credit Andrea you haven’t come out and played the victim, you haven’t cried about your loss, you got right back on that horse and you destroyed Prudence Steele. And admittedly that isn’t really something that you should be proud of considering everyone destroys that bitch. But you still went out there and you did the best you could given the circumstances. And I’m not going to stand here and degrade you as a human being when I’ve been in the ring with you and I know what you’re capable of.”
Kayla takes another sip of her wine and takes a deep breath again to keep her composure.
”However, you also know what I’m capable of. You felt it. You might think you were the best on that night but the result begs to differ. I retained the championship and I walked out as the SCW bombshell’s World Champion. And since then I have done everything I can to keep proving to everyone that I am the best. Every challenge that they put in front of me I’ve conquered. I am again one-half of the mixed tag team champions and I’m still the world bombshell champion. What have you done? You wallowed in your own self-pity before finally stepping up and destroying prudent steel that’s true. You didn’t let the lost Me get you down but you also didn’t take it with both hands and use it as fuel to come back at Me.”
“It took me wanting to face you to get you to this point. You didn’t come back after Me you didn’t come to that realization yourself. You waited for me to do it. And that is the key difference between people like you and people like Me Andrea. You have all the tools to be a dominant world champion that could be looked at as the best but you don’t have the ability in your mind to step forward and step up and do everything in your power to prove it to anyone.”
“You’re a follower”
“Not a leader.”
“Not like me. And I’m sure some people will disagree with that. They will look at my own self-assessment as a leader and they will roll their eyes and just call me a bully or someone who is arrogant and self-righteous. And both can be true. They are not mutually exclusive. I can be a bully, if I see someone who thinks that they should be on my level and they clearly are not. I’m not going to sit there and act like they are. I’m not going to pat them on the shoulder and give them a participation trophy. I expect people to earn what they are given and most simply do not but you Andrea, have earned everything that you are given including this rematch. You earned at the moment that you had the balls to step within the room with me and push me to my limits”
Caleb pushes to her feet holding the wine glass in her hand as she takes another sip and moves around the hotel room in Nevada.
”But, while you are an excellent challenger for this championship and you would also put a very respectable attempt at being a champion forward the truth is that you are not the kind of leader this division needs. You are not the kind of woman who will drive everything forward like I will. I cause people to step up and be better than they otherwise would be. And that is what I also want from people who step up to challenge me and while you make me better, while you push me to my limits, you are still not good enough to be known as a champion”
“But I am…”
“And the question needs to be asked, what more can I accomplish? Everything that I have done up to this point more than qualifies Me to end up in the SCW Hall of Fame. Some might think that is arrogant but you look back at what I’ve been able to accomplish and you tell me where I’m telling lies. You tell me where I’m wrong. I’m a three-time Internet champion a two-time mixed tag team champion as well as holding those tag team championships longer than anyone else, I am a bombshell world champion who has been able to hold the belt for almost 300 days. I have beaten some of the best this company has ever had so you tell me where I’m wrong.”
“I am more than worthy of being in that Hall of Fame. So, what more is there for me to do? Well, I’m still not the best of the best. Amber Ryan has more days in a single run than I do. She has more defenses than I do, and I still haven’t held this championship longer than anyone else. I still haven’t beaten everyone in this company worth beating. So when people think I’m going to get complacent, I just step back and ask them….”
“Am I a legend?”
“The answer is simple. No. No, I'm not. I am a champion and I am someone who people should look up to and want to beat but I am not a legend. And my goal is simple. I want to own everything. I want to own every single record this company has I want to get inducted into the Hall of Fame and then before I end up like Mercedes Vargas and so many others I am going to retire on top. I am going to walk away into the sunset with the man that I love and I am going to have a family and I am going to live out my life without the need to come back to prove myself to some bullshit ideal. Because I am going to be the best. And you Andrea are the person who needs to try and stop me. Inception is more than just an opportunity for you. It is a moment for you. A moment for you to prove that you are just as good as Me or better. A moment to prove that my win against Stuart high stakes was not the watershed moment of your career”
“And I pray for you. I pray that you are going to give me the challenge that I need and that I want. Because if you don’t? Then you are just going to be like everyone else is. A disappointment.”
.
Chapter 58:Sneaking away
I knew he was going to be angry.
Or at least annoyed
I closed the door behind me softly so I wouldn’t wake anyone in the house. Moving down the street I pulled out my phone and looked at the GPS. I was still unfamiliar with the streets of Colorado. Unfamiliar with where everything was. It was a learning curve, I had lived in New York for so long that I had memorized all the shortcuts and streets and ways to get from a to be in the fastest time possible. But, he was different.
I was wrapped in a black leather jacket with a thicker one over the top and black jeans. It was still the middle of winter and it was freezing. The warm hat over my head held my hair over my ears and down my cheeks. But with every breath, I could feel the cold air entering my lungs.
I moved fast my eyes starting from side to side as I stopped and waved my arm seeing the Uber driving down the street. I slid in not saying anything instead just giving a nod and showing him the address. I wanted to have his little human interaction as possible. The car took off moving down the street before slowly coming to a stop outside a large hotel. I stepped out looking up at it as my heart started to beat hard in and out of my chest.
I could feel eyes on Me.
I looked over my shoulder, they were there. The Romani presence wasn’t as thick as it was in New York but it was there. I knew it was there. From the moment we moved here. But I chose to live in happy ignorant bliss because there was still no way they could get to us while we were living here.
Finn knew it too. He wasn’t silly enough to think that we were going to get away scot-free without them keeping tabs on us. We may not be a threat anymore. We may not be people who they needed to go after, but we were still being watched. Studied. And that was fine.
But this was still nerve-wracking. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath walking up to the hotel pulling the glass door open and stepping in. I looked at the man at the front desk but knew exactly where I was going freezing past him towards the elevators, I pressed the button and waited. The two Romani from over the road had walked in and sat down. I rolled my eyes and shook my head before hearing the familiar ding sound signifying. The door was opening. I stepped in going all the way up to the 12th floor. My mind was racing as the elevator took me up there.
What was I going to do? What was I going to say? But I couldn’t show my trepidation or my anxious undertones. I had to keep everything centered and show no fear and no emotion. I had to be cold. Cold as ice and hard is steel.
I stepped out of the elevator moving down the hallway and turning before standing out the front of the door. Room 1215. I slid and reached up knocking hard and waiting. It was late, but I also knew that this would be a conversation that they would want to have. I knocked again. This time I heard footsteps moving behind the door. The door unlocked and it opened.
”What the fuck are you doing here?”
”Do you really need to ask me that Aaron?”
The tension in the air was palpable. She was staring at me with those bitchy intense eyes. And I was trying to meet her intensity as well. The two of us staring at each other on either side of the door frame like two dogs who have been pacing back and forth on either side of a fence for a long time. She took a deep breath stepped back and moved her arms signaling me to walk in. I stepped through the door into the room, looking over at a chair as I took my jacket off turned, and sat down. She moved around and sat on the opposite side of the table. ”So, what do you wanna talk about?”
I laughed. I couldn’t help myself. She knew damn well while I was here and and also knew what I wanted to talk about yet she was still going to sit here and play the clueless idiot. It was a power play. A mind game. And that is one thing that I always hated about her. She honestly thought that she was better at mind games than me. But this isn’t my first rodeo, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to play the manipulation game. And I’ve been on both sides of that fence. And this bitch is going to learn. ”I want to know why you are still fucking with my boyfriend.” I locked eyes with her, there was no point in pussyfooting around this. I was short and to the point.
Erin slowly smiled, her nails tapping against the table as she tilted her head and looked me up and down. ”You know why. Caillen should be with Me. I think that’s pretty clear.”
”To who?” I couldn’t help it interrupt her right away. That was bullshit and she knew it was bullshit. At least, I hope she did. But some people just believe their own crap. ”You and Finn were together, and it didn’t work, and now he wants nothing to do with you but you keep pushing over and over again. And you might not believe this but it does affect him. In a very negative way. You are hurting him.”
”Good. It’s making him see that I’m the one he should be with or not you. You’re the one who’s being chased by these gypsies, The Armani are after you they didn’t want to go after Finn and they didn’t want to go after Dickie, they were going after you. They have just become collateral damage.”
I swallowed and took a deep breath. My hands slowly bawled into fists as I stared across the table at her. She wasn’t wrong, in fact, she was right. And that pissed me off more than I could ever say. But I had no idea where I should go from this. Part of Me wanted to reach across the table, grab her by her shirt, and punch her in the face as hard as I could. But instead, I sat there shaking my head slowly and tried to calm myself down. Something that Aaron noticed. She studied Me, tilted her head, and knew that she was getting under my skin. This was dangerous.
”So, when you think about it, who is really hurting him? Who is hurting his family? Because of you, there is now a war going on between the life Finn wanted to get away from and the one that you got away from. But everyone else is caught in the crossfire. All because of you. Because of your decisions, because of your past, and you’ve dragged him into it. Congratulations. And the worst part is, you have no idea that eventually he’s going to get bored and he’s going to walk away from you. Because you do not challenge him the same way that I do.”
”I’d also never break his heart like you did.” I hissed the words and slowly smiled. She might have got an under my skin but I also knew how to get onto hers. And now that she had said her piece, it was my turn. ”I love him. And I show him I love him by being with him. Just him. There’s always been this weird thing about me because I’ve always shown a lot of myself, but when it comes down to it, I haven’t been with many people. And when I’m in a relationship, I’m all in. I’ve never cheated on anyone. And I damn sure not gonna cheat on the love of my fucking life”
I spat out the words, my nostrils flared and I felt myself stand up. Aaron looked up at me standing up to meet Me. The two of us stared across the table at one another like two gunfighters in the old West waiting for the other one to blink or move. Then, Aaron slowly smiled and chuckled under her breath. ”I’m sure you really believe that. But he’s the problem, I believe he should be mine. So what are we going to do about this Kayla? Because I’m not backing down, and neither are you.”
I ground my teeth together, moving from the side of the table I got inches in front of Aaron‘s face. The two of us locked eyes as I couldn’t help myself. I had to assert my dominance. ”I’m going to make this very clear. I want you to get on a plane and go back to New York. Go work at Wolfslair New York and help the next generation or do whatever it is that you tell yourself you are good at in life. Stay away from me, stay away from Finn, and let us sort our own lives out. You don’t want to go to war with me Aaron, I have stayed away from you and I have not gone after you because Finn has asked me not to. But there comes a time where that entire situation goes out the door…. this is your last warning.”
I turned from her, moving toward the door. If I was there any longer I was going to knock her out. But at the same time, I knew she was going to have the last word. She can’t help herself. ”You can threaten me all you want, I’m not going anywhere Kayla. I’m not going anywhere.”
Evolution
”294 days, that’s how long it’s been since I beat Juliana DiMaria. That’s how long it’s been since I took the Sin City wrestling world bombshells championship from her. You don’t fall into a championship rain that long by accident. Yet for some reason, I don’t get looked at in the same respect as others have.”
“I don’t get talked about in the same way as the other top names of this division. And why? Why is that? Could it be because unlike all of them, I don’t kiss everyone else’s asses? Because I don’t Smile for the camera? Is it because I’m hated? Because you can hate someone while still having respect for what they’ve accomplished. And that’s all I’ve ever wanted, respect for what I’ve accomplished.”
“294 days… some of the best this company has the offer is tried to take this championship away from Me and they have failed. Including Andrea Hernandez.”
“But it doesn’t and there. I have 37 wins in this company. 37 wins out of 43 matches. That kind of record doesn’t just fall out of the sky. There is a handful of people who have been able to beat me. A handful of people who have been able to get the better of me. Everyone else has fallen before Me. Everyone else has ended up losing. And it’s not because I’ve cheated them out of wins, it’s not because I’ve run my mouth and tried to do underhanded tactics. It’s because I’m better than them. It’s because I have been better than them and better than everyone else in this division since I stepped foot in this company”
Kayla laughed to herself, shaking her head with her long black hair tied back away from her face. Her hands slide down into the front pockets of her tight-fitting black jeans. A black leather jacket over the top of her Kayla Richards dream killer T-shirt.
”And that has been a sticking point for so many women in this company. Including you, Andrea. You even said it. Going up against me and losing to Me means nothing to you. And the loss itself should in a way mean nothing to you. But not the way you’re thinking. You see you’re just going to stand there and say that it means nothing whilst still being pissed off over it because you haven’t learned a goddamn thing. And for someone who is so preoccupied with learning and evolving that is one of the most stupid things I’ve ever heard a woman say in front of the camera. And that disappoints me because I thought you were smarter than that.”
“A loss against Me should matter. It should mean something. A loss against anyone means something. You should have gone home and dissected it and learned and come back stronger..”
“On a personal level, on a business level, these things should mean something to you.”
“High stakes was a great night for women’s wrestling. You and I did everything we could to each other. You did everything you could to beat Me and I applaud you for it. I told you then that I was looking forward to facing you because I knew that you weren’t going to hold back. I knew that you were the type of woman who was going to test me and push me and do everything that you could to walk away with my championship and I wasn’t disappointed. when that night ended, I thought I’d found someone that could rival me for years.”
She nodded slowly, folding her arms over her chest before continuing.
”But, now I’m sitting here and listening to you. Talk about a new mindset. Completely throwing yourself under the bus from our first match like you had made a mistake. Did you watch that match? Did you see how close you came to beating me? And you think you need to change everything about yourself and start talking shit about the “old Andrea”? Like somehow you’ve had this amazing three-month metamorphosis into someone new and someone completely different?”
“No, that isn’t how personal development works. While I’m not against anyone growing and I’m not against anyone becoming a better version of themselves the truth is that you seem to have gone completely in the opposite direction.”
“Where is the Andrea Hernandez who wanted to prove that she was the better woman by simply being a better wrestler? Where is the Andrea Hernandez who wanted to have another shot at glory because she realizes the way that she went about things last time was wrong? Because every single time I hear you speak you are talking about the old you, you are talking about how you’ve changed. But constant change means that you’re nobody. It means that you have no discernible personality traits and that everyone sits here just wondering who the hell you are.”
“People know who I am. People know what I’m about. I still learn and grow but I don’t stand here and talk about the old Me like some kind of fucking self-help guru who sat under the giant tooth learning tree of Anthony Robbins”
“New mindset new you? How about just the number one contender who could push me to my fucking limits? How about that?”
She can’t help it laugh again, the whole situation being a giant joke to her. And a frustrating one of that. Her green eyes burn with anger and frustration as she continues.
”Right now, that’s what I want. That’s what I need. I need you to pull your head out of your arse and start talking like our first match actually meant something. That you learned something. That’s the entire reason why I wanted to defend the championship against you a second time. If you look at my history, if you look at everyone who I faced more than once if I’ve beaten them, they find it very hard to come back and beat me again. And if they’ve beaten me? I come back and destroy them.”
“I’m a nightmare for everyone on this roster. But I thought if anyone had a shot of being able to beat me with a second opportunity it was going to be you. Everyone else has failed but you could’ve been the one to change that. I wanted you to come at me with everything that you are, and instead of getting The Andrea Hernandez who almost beat me the first time I get this sniffling little rodent talking about new mindsets and throwing herself under the bus. What the hell is this bullshit?”
“Grow up…”
“Seriously pull your big girl pants up get in the ring and try and take that championship off of Me.”
“Like a real champion. And since we are on the path of talking about real champions and different mindsets, let me make something very clear. The fact that you think I’m gonna come into this match and do the same thing as I did last time shows how little you know about Me. Every single time I face someone, every single time I’ve had to get into the ring with a person more than once they have had to see a different side of me simply for the fact that I don’t want to be predictable. And I am nothing if not unpredictable. And part of me thought you knew that, part of me thought you would see that but again I find myself in this strange position where you have let me down. And that breaks my heart Andrea because I thought you were different.”
Caleb picks up the bombshell championship throwing it over her shoulder and hugging it to her chest, her thumb curling around the main plate and tapping on her nameplate on the front.
”That disappoints me on a personal level. I’ve been talking you up like you’ve been my greatest challenge and when push came to shove, you repay me by sounding like an absolute twat. There is a small part of me though that believes this is all some kind of grand mind game on your part. That your talk of mindset and changing and evolution and the argument of the old you is nothing but a smoke screen to make me believe that you’re going to come in underprepared and not taking me as seriously as you should.”
“So, as much as I am sitting here scratching my head while looking at your stupidity I’m also going to go into the match with the same violent nature as I’ve always had. I’m going to be getting into that ring to do the same thing that I have always done. Use every single one of the tools that I have to beat you and walk out with that championship. To walk out and be able to call myself one of the greatest champions this company has ever seen and to surpass 300 days and start looking toward the one unattainable goal that everyone else seemed to think was out of reach”
“Amber Ryan’s record”
“But to get within striking distance of that record I have to beat you, Andrea. So, some might think I’m looking past you to that, and some might think that I’m not taking you as seriously as I should. Which is a little ironic when you think about it. But I’m going to do everything I can to rip your throat out and walk away as champion. You can do everything in your power to try and stop Me and who knows? Maybe you’ll be good enough to beat me this time, maybe you’ll be the one to walk out of champion and I’ll simply be staring up at the lights wondering where I went wrong. And then I’ll be the one who has to get up and chase you and try and take that championship back.”
“But if I’m right, and I can beat you, then you will be one of the final hurdles toward my goal and you’ll also be one of the largest scalps that I’ve been able to collect for a second time. I know you have it in you to be able to beat me, I’m not going to question that, some other women in this company I can look at and just shrug because I know that I will beat them. Women like Bea Barnhart, Mercedes Vargas, Prudence Pierce, or whatever she wants to call herself, all of those names are just nothing to me. But you, you are a real challenge and you are someone whose name I would be proud to have on my list more than once. So an exception I’m going to do everything I can to beat you and I expect you to do the same. And I also expect you to stop playing these stupid fucking games and stand up and be a real fucking woman.”