Lawyers
His patience was slowly wearing thin. After being on time for their appointment, in fact, Austin and Amy had been there 20 minutes early just to make sure they could get in and see him, but after an hour and a half, there was still no meeting to be had. For someone like Austin who always made sure he was on time and ready for anything, this seems like an insult. Something that got under his skin and made his blood boil. Amy was nervous, her feet crossed under herself as she sat on the chair. Her legs nervously twitching as her toes tapped against the ground. Her hands were fumbling and twitching as she tried to calm them down by class in her hands together and sitting up straight. It didn’t seem to work Austin's eyes slowly sliding across the room to look at his sister.
He took a deep breath in, reaching over the space between them, his large hand completely engulfing both of hers as he held them, his thumb rubbing the back of one of her hands as she started to calm down, she smiled and gave a note to her younger brother. He was her rock, he had been since he got her out of that hospital, aside from a brief period where Amy had to go and rediscover herself and have some time alone they had been inseparable. But, even with all that it happened between them Amy still didn’t want to rely on anyone.
It was hard, coming from a place in your mind where people were constantly telling you you’re crazy and a danger to everyone and anyone, only to have a family member pull you up and take care of you, nurse you back to a positive mental state and then try and make sure you are set on the straight and narrow in life. Amy loved Austin, Austin loved Amy. And now with everything that has gone on they realize they needed each other more than ever. Austin‘s wife Lisa also loved Amy, not having much family of her own, it was a chance for her to have a sister. Someone to talk to and bond with, Lisa had her back just like Austin dead. But here they were having two completely different reactions to being disrespected.
The sad part is, they needed him. They needed a good lawyer to take on the parents of Amy's ex-boyfriend, forcing their way into Amy’s life, forcing their way into Austin‘s nephew's life. And thinking that they can dictate when and where they see him. Amy was hurt and upset, Austin was furious. But he needed to keep a clear head, he needed to make sure he stayed calm and was able to present what he needed in an honest and open manner. But that was going to be exceedingly difficult when the lawyer hadn’t even bothered to be on time.
“Maybe he had a family emergency?” Amy offered up an excuse, trying to keep her demeanor and voice nice and calm. Austin shook his head as Amy let out a low-sounding sigh. She was trying to be positive, trying to hope and pray that he had just been called away by something more important than his job. Austin swallowed moving his eyes around the office, all across the bookshelves, the walls covered with diplomas and pictures, the various paintings that he had obviously purchased with a great deal of money. However, what really caught his eye was the desk. It was a deep mahogany, a solid piece of hardwood that reflected the light above. It reminded him of his father‘s desk, one that he would often look at when he went into the office.
He took a deep breath closing his eyes, hearing the door click behind him. He turned his head as the lawyer walked into the room. He was wearing a black three-piece suit, a red tie, his hair cut in one of the most preppy ways possible.
“My apologies I got caught up at a corporate lunch. Now, what can I do for you Mr Minton?” Austin sneered
“Mercer…”
The lawyer raised an eyebrow, looking down at the file sitting in front of him before giving Austin and Amy a nod and a move of his hand. “Of course, my name is Don Nichols. I’m a senior partner here and as much as I’d like to help you this case is not something I would normally do.” He arrogantly smiled, folding the file closed and throwing it down on his desk. He pushed out a deep breath and shook his head looking at them both.
Austin could feel the judgment, both he and Amy were dressed comfortably, converse shoes, jeans, T-shirts. Austin with a leather jacket over the top. His hair was tied back in a bun with his trademark beard.
Don into least his fingers leaning back in his swiveling leather chair, tilting to the side and kicking his legs out looking straight across the desk at them both. “I can give you a phone number, one where they would be more your speed and who will also be in your price ra-“
That was it, Austin’s hand slammed against the edge of the mahogany desk, Don looked up startled as Austin shook his head slowly, his deep voice moving out. “Are you kidding me? First you don’t turn up on time, then you come in and say not only that you can’t help us but that you would be out of my price range anyway? You’re even got my name wrong.” He growled, he sneezed, his eyes narrowed as he slowly stood up. Don seeing the sheer size of Austin intimidated him, his hand drifting over towards the telephone with the emergency red button on the bottom to call for help. “Did the name Mercer not ring a bell? My father‘s name was Christian.”
Don swallowed hard, his eyes widened. It hit him who he had just insulted. Amy looked down, her heart sank to the pit of her stomach as she watched her brother get angry. The truth is, they needed a lawyer. A good one. While Austin had inherited a lot of money from their father and was making a very good living she did not have anything. And her ex-boyfriend's parents were people of means. They had money, they had influence. Austin turned and looked down at his sister he reached down putting his hand on her shoulder before turning back to Don.
“Price range? I don’t think you can put a price on family. My sister needs my help, my nephew needs my help, you are one of the best lawyers around, you came highly recommended, but you weren’t the only name on the list recommended to me.” Austin moved the chair from behind him, Amy got to her feet, Austin put his arm around her shoulder, and moved to leave her out the door. He heard the wheels on the leather chair rolled backward, he felt Don get to his feet. And then he heard his voice with a lot of the bass taken out of it call out across the office
“Mr Mercer. Ms Mercer…..” Austin stopped, he pivoted off his heels turning himself and Amy back to him. Don’t put his head down looking very meek and accommodating. “I apologise, please, let ne see if I can help you” Austin looked down at Amy she gave him a nod, Austin looked at Don giving him the same small move with his head moving towards the desk again, Don looked at his phone pressing the intercom button. “Gianna cancel my 3 o’clock drinks….I’m busy with a client.”
A returning legend
”Well what a sad state of affairs this is. The entire company actually…”
Austin shook his head, his long brown hair was wet and flowed down his shoulders and back, slicked across the top of his head as he folded his arms over his chest.
”You’ve got a world champion able to call his own shots and decide who he is going to face. Instead of management doing their jobs and looking at contenders to face him and making the choice.Or, making sure you have matches set up to select them for you. But apparently, that is too hard, and apparently, we’re now in the business of people who already have championships facing the champion and forcing titles to be vacated. Because that sure as shit makes sense and makes your company’s championships look freakin great. But, Alex deserves the opportunity he has. At first, I was annoyed. See Alex was happy defending that roulette title he had and he was selected by Mac, meanwhile I’m right here….”
“Then it hit me, like a ton of bricks falling from the sky. Why would he pick me? I’m just the tag team guy now. Right? And hey, don’t get me wrong, I am proud of what I have done and I love teaming with Tempest and watching her absolutely wreck every female she gets in the ring with. But we are barely booked, barely promoted and I have spent more time sitting at home than I care to admit or deal with.”
“But, that’s why. It seems like I’m not worthy of a shot like that.”
“So instead, I should be happy being in the mixed tag division, I mean after all, if I did get a shot, if I did beat Mac, and trust me on this, I would have, then the Mixed tag titles would have to be vacated or another partner found for Tempest and 1. I don’t want to do that to her and 2. I don’t like the idea of vacating titles to appease someone’s ego. Since we can’t hold more than one title at a time in this company it’s hard to have anyone excited for it. And I would be more excited if we actually had contenders. If the mixed tag division had a clear line of contendership. But we don’t have that. Instead we have a situation where anyone can walk up and come for the titles, therefor devaluing them…”
He pauses and shakes his head, reaching over to grab his title belt, throwing it over his shoulder.
”Look at what Tempest and I have done. We beat two people who are jokes in this company and then defended them against Miles Kasey and Seleana Zdunich. The sad fact is that Tempest and I won them in our first match as a team because there was no one else and as much as we have wanted to make this division better it seems like the titles will forever be contended by two people who have nothing better to do. Or people who are just hungry for gold and who will do anything to get it. Like Crystal Hilton, or Rose, or Zdunich. The truth is no one ever knows what to call you. You change your name as often as you do your personality.”
“You are one of the biggest problems in this damn company Crystina. For whatever reason Alex likes you, maybe it’s nostalgia from working in other companies, maybe he’s just to nice to tell you he doesn’t really like you and you’re not really friends, but as far as a person? As a human being? A mother, a wife, a family member or a productive member of society? Honey, you couldn’t get a star on yelp.”
“But, it will be really entertaining watching what Tempest does to you. See you might be fast and cunning, you might be a damn veteran with world title reigns to your name, but Tempest is a monster.”
“She is a powerful beast of a human being who will snatch you out of the air and rip your damn arms off if she has to. And I’ll stand on the apron and just laugh and smile. Cause it honestly couldn’t happen to a nicer goddamn person…..that was sarcasm, incase you couldn’t tell. But, you did pick a great tag team partner, I’ll give you that. Little miss Crystalina has some brains when it comes to who the fuck she should hitch her wagon to and ride the coattails of. Which shouldn’t surprise anyone, Seleana has been keeping you relevant for years…”
He laughs to himself, putting his championship down.
”J2H, a man who is, for whatever reason, deciding to team with Crystal, instead of bringing his wife back. But, he’s a legend. The longest reigning SCW world champion, the man who was ruling this place before Wolfslair was a concept. And I mean, not just in SCW as a group, I mean before Alex conceived the gym itself. That’s how long ago it was that J2H was destroying anyone and everyone in SCW on his path to greatness..”
“Now, I know so many of you are probably expecting me to talk about how, in his absence, myself and my stable mates have ruled SCW with an iron fist, or maybe talk about him not being the guy he once was and all that jazz…”
“But, I’m not stupid…”
“J2H is thje type of person who can walk into any arena SCW is in and make the crowd go insane, he can get the type of visceral reactions usually reserved for royalty. Because, well in the realm of Sin City Wrestling he is. He is a man and a name respected by all and I too respect his accomplishments, accolades and his records.”
“But that doesn’t mean I wont break him in half…”
A booming laugh comes from Austin, he smirks and runs his hands through his hair keeping it slicked back.
”J2H is a name and scalp. He’s someone that a win over, no matter the match type or stipulation, is meaningful. It could be in a singles match, one on one, or...a streetfight tag team match where he’s being handicapped by his sneaky bitch of a partner. But, that’s where we are at Violent conduct, and the name of the show says it all. A streetfight is volent, it’s dirty, it’s four people who will have to do whatever it takes to win...and trust me on this...I will do whatever it takes to keep these titles….and so will tempest…”