Chapter 67: Trauma

Sometimes you have no one to blame but yourself. You can get yourself in such a state, in such a mood that it brings everything and everyone around you down. And sometimes, it can be because of others and their attitudes towards you. Something that they have said to trigger something: a memory, a moment, some past trauma that is buried deep down inside. But you can’t always blame others. You can’t always look at someone and know that they are the reason for your anxiety, your depression, and your otherwise terrible mood.

No, sometimes all of that shit is squarely on your own shoulders. Bringing something up, talking about it, feeling those walls slipping down, but coming right back up again as your entire body starts to shake and you withdraw within yourself. Even with those around you, with those closest to you. Members of your family and people that you love. They don’t always understand. And sometimes, withdrawing from them is the first step toward healing. Other times, withdrawing from them just hurts you and hurts them even more. The trick is knowing which is which.

I’m not sure I’m at that point yet where I can identify which way I’ve gone and which way I should go.

My sister gave me a great piece of advice.

But I ignored it.

She told me I should talk to the man I love. To tell Finn exactly how I felt and what I wanted. And the truth is? I should. I should walk over to him right now, give him a kiss and then tell him that I want to be a mother. I should have the confidence that he will look past everything he’s gone through in his life and want the same things that I do. But that’s what scares me. I don’t know what will happen.

What happens if I walk over to him? Kiss him, tell him I want to be a mother and he rejects it? What if everything he went through with his bitch ex-wife completely ruins everything that I want to have in our future?

I don’t know if I would be able to handle that. Emotionally, physically, I just don’t know if I would be able to go on and be in a functional relationship ever again. This truly is my last shot. Because I don’t want to have children with anyone but him. I don’t want to live with anyone else but him. I want to grow old with this motherfucker. And I just need to tell him that.

But, I’m so scared that looking at him across the room right now and thinking about being that honest and open with him is breaking me from the inside out. Normally, he would see what was going on with me. But luckily, or unluckily, depending on how you look at it, he is so driven to get back into the ring and so focused on his recovery that I no longer have to worry about him seeing through the facade that I put in front of my face.

The mask that hides my true emotions.

Something that Finn would usually take off, something that he would see right through.

Right now, he was sitting at the kitchen bench, looking through his laptop at different treatment options. His arm was still bound close to himself in a brace, the sling forgotten two weeks prior. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, my hands gripping the side of the couch as I went to stand up. But something stopped me. I remember the last time I went to talk to someone who I was in a relationship with about this. And to say it didn’t go well is an understatement.

It was years ago. Well before I even met Finn. I was in a relationship with a man named Matt Shields. Some may have heard of him, others maybe not. In certain circles of this business he is still looked at as a dominating world champion and an excellent professional wrestler. But, to me he was a self-centred abusive piece of shit. Matt and I met and had a shared love of beating people down verbally and physically. He claimed me as his “queen”.

And, as a couple we were almost unstoppable. Together, we ruled the company we were in with an iron fist. Both of us becoming world champion, sharing the tag team championships, destroying everyone in our path. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? But the difference between Matt and Finn is night and day. Finn, despite his prickly attitude, treats me with dignity and respect and love. He treats me like an equal and someone who matters to him. Matt didn’t. He treated me like an object, like I was to be owned and possessed. And it came through in a certain conversation that we had toward the end of our relationship. One where I revealed my wants and needs.

lHey, got a minute?” I smiled, entering his home office. Matt sat behind a large, mahogany desk. Different championship belts hung high over his head behind him. Different magazine covers from Japan littered the area. He slowly smiled, his long hair done and dreadlocks tied back away from his face.

”Yeah…two seconds…” he stretched and grabbed a bottle of water, standing up as he moved around the desk. He took a sip and then reached out wrapping his arm around my hip and pulling me toward him. It wasn’t kind or gentle, his grasp was forceful and domineering. His hand gripped the other side of my thigh as his forearm dug into my lower back, jerking me forward against him. I stumbled and fell. My teeth were grinding together, but in that moment I allowed him to assert his control and dominant over me. ”Mmm, you are wearing too many clothes, woman.”

I ground my teeth together again, pushing the urge to slap him across the face deep down. I knew what I was getting into when Matt and I met and when we got into a relationship. But at the time, I thought he and I were a perfect match. How wrong I was. “We can talk about my abundance of clothing in a moment. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about, something important. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about, and it’s something I feel that you and I need to discuss before we really get into what our relationship is going to be.”

Matt released his grip and stood back. His eyebrows followed and I knew that look. He hated to have deep and meaningful conversations instead preferring to simply go to the bedroom. That is how we sold most of our fights. Verbally, we would eviscerate each other and then physically we would destroy each other in the bedroom. But when all was said and done it would be buried and we would be happy. “Sounds serious.” he chuckled, under his breath and moved to the table, leaning back against it and folding his arms over his chest. Puffing his chest out as a way to show his masculinity and dominance. “Well? What is it?”

His tone was dismissive and almost jovial. Like he wasn’t going to take anything I said seriously. I remember my fists closing as I felt my nails dig into my palm. “We’ve been together a few years now. And I’d like to think that you and I have crossed that bridge in our relationship where it’s clear that we want to be together forever.” He nodded, a sign for me to continue. Without him adding anything to the conversation. ”So…we’ve never talked about children. I need to be very clear on this that I do want to be a mother someday.”

I thought I was prepared for anything that Matt would say or do. But I wasn’t. I wasn’t prepared at all. He laughed. Laughed. He made a joke out of something that was supposed to be sincere and from the heart. I don’t even remember what my face would’ve looked like. I don’t know if I was showing how upset I was or if I was just blank and emotionless. But as his laughs subsided, and he put his hand up as he calmed himself down enough to speak, what he would say woud scare me forever in a way that I didn’t think possible.

”You? A mother? Kayla, you are many things, a great professional wrestler, a smoking hot woman, a great girlfriend, a future wife and maybe even my queen. But a mother? A mother is not one of them.”

My heart sank into the pit of my stomach and I felt my entire body start to shut down, I held it together and stared ahead as Matt moved past me. He chuckled, repeating what he said on his breath as he moved past me. I held back the tears that day, I held back the screams and the angle. I held back the anxiety and the scars. But, while I held them back, the scars were still there. They were just deep. Because that’s where I was cut, deep.

”Hey, you hungry?”

”Hmm?”

I snapped out of my memory, right back to the present. I looked up, Finn tilted his head, reaching out with his good arm to help me up. ”Chipotle? Chinese? Eat in or go out?”

I smiled, because I knew he was genuinely asking me my opinion. He wasn’t just giving me some vague choices with a decision already made in his head. I bit my lip, taking his hand and standing up before stepping forward and wrapping my arms around his neck before kissing him softly. He smiled as I pulled back, slightly surprised by my sudden show of affection and love. ”Chinese…and delivered…. I don’t feel like sharing you with anyone tonight.”

He smiled and gave a small nod, pulling out his phone as we started to discuss what we wanted to eat. In my heart, I know I could tell him what I was thinking and feeling. But there was still a small part of me that was scared to death. I can stand here and I can tell you all how unbelievably strong I am. How I’m a former world champion and how I’ve beaten everyone in front of me, as well as living through some horrible abuses from my own father all the way through my other relationships. But when it comes to something this important…

I’m still just a scared little girl.



G.F.Y.

”Seems like I can work with anyone as long as they have the same goal that I do. Funny, isn’t it? That’s exactly what I said was going to happen. I told the entire world that Frankie and I were going to be able to coexist. And we did. In fact she did an excellent job. as I was pinning one of the idiots, she took out the other one to stop the match from being saved.”

Kayla smiles slowly and shakes her head. Her long black hair tied back away from her face as she flippantly threw her left hand out.

”Seleana and Diamond are not on my level or Frankie’s. I don’t know exactly how good Frankie is yet ,but I will definitely say that those two on any day can’t stand up to her. So the two of us as a team, despite the fact we have trust issues and don’t know each other very well, were never in danger of losing that match as long as we both were working towards the same goal. Victory. Complete and utter domination. When the match was over and the bell rang, she and I went face-to-face and I expected that to happen. But, she seems smarter than the average bear.”

“She didn’t start a fight that I would have to finish. She let it go, backed off and the two of us went our separate ways. At least that’s how it will be until we meet in the ring at Summer Xxxtreme”

“Then all bets are off.”

“Seleana and Diamond couldn’t be more opposite. You see, Diamond still has a chance to make a name for herself in this company and this business. She has a chance to shrug off any negative vibes that she’s gotten from her first few weeks here. I know that first impressions are important, but what is more important is how you pick yourself up when you have a failure. And trust me on this, while I haven’t had many failures in my career, every single time I have lost a big match. I’ve dusted myself off, I’ve stood up, and I’ve come back better than ever”

“And I understand what most of you were thinking, why am I giving a pep talk to someone who I just stepped on a few weeks ago?”

Kayla shrugs and continues.

”Never let it be said that I can’t be altruistic. But that is only one side of the coin. Diamond being a new name here has a chance of redemption. Someone that has next to no chance at that is her tag team partner. Seleana Zdunich.”

“A woman who has all of the attributes of a company's dream. They could put her out the front as the face of the company and everyone would be in absolute rapture and awe at how amazing she is as a human being.”

“I mean, when Seleana isn’t getting cucked by Crystal, she is being a loving sister, an animal lover who is saving our furry friends lives, and very rarely says a horrible word about any of her coworkers. But with that being said, she is also one of the most unbelievably lazy human beings I’ve ever seen. She never lives up to her potential, she had one moment in the sun over five years ago and since then she has been limping along destroying her own reputation in the process. Sounds a little bit familiar.”

“Doesn’t it, Mercedes?”

Kayla laughs to herself again and shakes her head even more. Imagining the clarity of the situation that she currently finds herself in. She steps forward and picks up the Bombshell’s Championship, putting it on the table and leaning in close.

”Before I get to you let me just say that the rumours of Andrea Hernandez packing her shit and leaving just makes me smile. Because she has proved me right. And at this point, I need to start printing T-shirts that are simply black with white text saying: ‘Kayla was right’. Because it happens a lot. In fact, a scary amount. I keep telling you all when I get beaten by someone that I’m going to come back and destroy them, I keep telling you that there are certain people in this company who aren’t good enough to be a champion and will never be a champion. And behold, many of them have left or are finding themselves a nice full corner of this company to live in around the Roulette and Internet Championships.”

“I told you all that I broke her. I tried to give Andrea the benefit of the doubt and I tried so hard to believe that she was going to rise back up and come after me and not let the fact that I made her entire reign and her entire existence as a laughing stock stop her from coming back stronger.”

“But from what I hear, since she doesn’t talk to me and instead prefers to talk to other people, she’s lost her entire personality and all of her motivation.”

“That’s hilarious.”

“But, what does all this have to do with my opponent? Mercedes Vargas? Well, quite a bit actually. You see, I have asked Mercedes time and time again over the last couple of years – every single time I’ve had to face her – to quit. I have asked her to simply walk away because she hasn’t been living up to her reputation and has very slowly been destroying that same reputation and her legacy. She was a once great champion who would destroy anyone who she had to face. A woman who has gone through amazing and game changing rivalries with the likes of Crystal whateverthefuckhernameis, and Roxi Johnson and even my very own older sister, Amber Richards.”

“I wanted her to walk away. I begged her to walk away.”

She takes a deep breath and holds it before releasing it in a moment of contemplation.

”But, she didn’t listen to me. And the truth is that maybe for the first time ever, I was wrong. You say I have told people like Andrea that they need to keep going when clearly she shouldn’t. And at the same time, I’ve told people like Seleana and yourself to quit. And while I was right about Seleana, I was clearly wrong about you. See, you’ve never beaten me, Mercedes. But the last few months, you also haven’t given up. I’ve thrown jokes at you, talking about your age and your motivation and how you constantly let people down. Yet the last month or so, maybe even two months, you’ve had this different look in your eye.”

“This spark. A spark of motivation. And in that time you have gone from being a laughing stock who is destroying her own legacy to adding to that same legacy. And you’ve done it by becoming the Internet Champion and beating Bella Madison for it. And I have to applaud you for that. No bullshit, no punchline, congratulations. I mean that. You didn’t quit no matter how much I told you to. No matter how many times I beat you, you would just keep coming back and coming back and finally you are a champion again.”

“And hey, I have a soft spot in my heart for that championship.”

“I held that championship three times”

“I made that championship a relevant prize so women like you would want it. And now, it’s your turn to do something with it. And maybe you will. Or maybe you won’t. But I was getting bored with facing you time and time again, because it was the same song and dance. You would try and guess that I’d call you old and you would be right but I do it in such a way that was so entertaining the people would laugh and then the match would happen the bell would ring and I would destroy you and slam you into the mat and leave you as nothing but a overly make-upped wrinkly stain on the canvas.”

She tries hard to hold back laughter a small smirk escaping her lips as she quickly composes herself and continues

”And I’m sure you are going to be full of confidence after you were able to keep that championship. And you want the same thing that I do as we head into the next supercard. That cruise ship is coming, Mercedes. We are going to be on it and you are going to be defending that Internet Championship, just like I will be defending my SCW World Bombshell Championship. And here’s the thing. I’m proud of you. Again, this is just me being sincere and shooting from the hip and not being the bitch that everyone makes me out to me. I am legitimately proud of you.”

“Some might talk a lot of shit and say that it is a step down for you. The Internet Championship being less important than the World Bombshells Championship and to a degree that is true. You see, you holding that Internet Championship means you are a champion. A champion. But the World Bombshell Championship, as you well know, makes you THE champion.”

“And we find ourselves in a conundrum. We are facing each other, champion against champion. And if you lose to me, you can still walk into your match at Summer Xxxtreme with your head held high. After all, you got beaten by a dominant champion who is still the best of the best. It won’t really affect you. You’ll still have momentum going into your match and you will still be able to beat anyone they throw out you. but that isn’t the same for me, Mercedes.”

“No matter how much I’m personally enjoying this Renaissance that you find yourself in, I can’t allow you to get a win over me. I am facing the blast from the past winner. I am facing Frankie fucking Holliday. And this woman is a bigger threat to the division of my championship than anyone else who has come before. Because people like you, and Andrea, and everyone else that this company has put in front of me I’ve been able to do research on and study and no. but Frankie Holliday is a different beast.”

“So I need everything.”

Kayla‘s jaw clenches as her teeth grind together, her hands fall up into fists as she tries to keep her anxiety in check and make sure that no one can see it, but her mask slips, she’s scared. Frightened of what he’s going to happen when she faces Frankie. But as quickly as the moment of vulnerability bubbles to the surface, it disappears and the green emerald eyes of Kayla Richards snap forward and she continues her thought process.

”As good as you have been the last few months, and as great as you see yourself to be and as great as you were once years ago, I still can’t let you get a win over me. Not now. I can’t let my motivation get interrupted. I have to keep going and get as much as I can and unfortunately, that means I have to beat you down like I’ve always done whenever you and I have gotten into the ring. But, in the past when I have been getting ready to face you, I’ve become bored with it. And truth be told, I haven’t given you my best.”

“And I know how that sounds. Believe me I do. But it’s true. I have never given you my best Mercedes because I’ve never taken you seriously as a challenge. There’s going to be a lot of people rolling their eyes at that statement. But you are one of those people that I would only rise to a muted level to beat you. Not to my best. But congratulations are in order for the second time. I congratulated you for winning the Internet Championship and now I’m going to congratulate you again. Because you finally got to that point where you are getting my best.”

“Because you deserve my best.”

“But, this is something that you are going to live to regret. Because Andrea Hernandez, a woman who beat me, who pinned me to the mat. Something you have never done. A woman who was the SCW Bombshells champion, something you haven’t done in years, she had my best. She got my best, she realised that at my best she couldn’t beat me and it broke her. I just hope you’re a stronger woman. And it’s not going to break you. But I guess we’ll see. Good luck, Mercedes.”

Chapter 65: Lie of Omission

I rushed home after the confrontation at the gym. I didn’t let Jason know that it rattled me. But in hindsight, it would be hard for anyone to believe that it didn’t. I held my gym bag as I stepped inside my home. My sanctuary. A place that I felt safe not only because it was my home but also because Finn was there. I felt protected when I was around him. It was something that I’ve never felt before. I never needed to feel before.

For years, I had been so independent in everything. No matter who I was in a relationship with, my own protection was on me. In this business, you will always have people coming for you. But not even the ones that you are facing in the ring. Sometimes people come for you, and they are simply fans. But it’s always been on me. Always been my responsibility to protect myself and those around me. I’ve never had to rely on anyone else. And because of that, I’ve always felt like I had everything in control.

But this entire thing, when it came to the Romani, everything from my past that had become such a burden weighing down on my shoulders, I was not in control. I didn’t know where they were or when they were watching me. The only time I knew that they were there was because they wanted me to know. They wanted me to see them. They wanted me to be scared.

So I needed Finn. I needed his reassuring words, I needed to know he was going to protect me. To love me. That’s something that not many people see in our relationship because we aren’t so public about it. Other couples in this business like people to know that they are together, but they are loving, that they are Affectionate. That isn’t something that Finn and I have ever subscribed to. We aren’t like Carter and Miles, we aren’t like Kris Ryan’s and Mikah.

At least, not in public.

But in private, that is a completely different matter. I stood in My Home, staring across the living room at him. He was sitting on the couch, flicking through a paper with a coffee in front of him. And instantly, I felt protected. Not that he was going to get up and run across the room and fight off hundreds of people who were trying to get to me. But he was there. Ever present. Everyone else that I had ever been with was a question mark when it came to whether they were going to protect me or feel the need to. Finn knew he didn’t need to, but was always ready to.

I felt loved.

I felt cared for.

It was a feeling that I’d never known that I needed. And truth be told, I never had before. But with him it was different. With him, I wanted to know that he was going to protect me. But it was an unspoken bond. I loved him. Unconditionally. It didn’t matter what Finn did or what he said. I loved him with all my heart. And a slow smile came across my face as I looked at him. I couldn’t help myself. Other relationships that I had been in had never been like this. But with him it was different. Whenever he touched me, whenever his hand moved across my wrist or his fingertips danced along my back, I felt complete.

As sappy as this sounds, I never knew what true love was until I met Finn Whelan.

And that’s what was making this so hard. As I stared at him, as he looked up from his paper and tilted his head, knowing that there was something wrong, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what had happened. Not because I was scared of the repercussions, not because I was scared that he couldn’t handle it. But he had been through so much. He lost his championship to a man whom he had always despised yet somehow grown to trust. He lost it because of a woman who had ripped his heart from his chest and made him look like a fool.

Neil, I was about to tell him that a problem we had run from had caught up to us. That my ex-boyfriend, who was leading a crew of men who were trying to destroy everything that Finn and his brother stood for, had found us and had always known where we were. The pile of bullshit that Finn had in front of him was about to multiply exponentially. And it was going to be because of me. So you can imagine my trepidation in telling him. It wasn’t me being dishonest. I wanted to protect him.

I wanted to protect Finn just like he had protected me.

Not that my protection had ever done much. His arm was still in a shoulder brace, he was still without a world championship, and he still had to watch as his ex-wife walked away having one up on him with Alex. But I could still tell that he knew something was up. As much as I tried to hide it, he knew me so well that a simple glance could tell him more than my words ever could. He put the paper down, pushing up off the couch and stepping toward me with his arm hugged against his stomach. His shoulder is still in the brace.

I tried to hide all the fear that was starting to well up inside me and simply tilted my head and smiled. I stepped toward him and reached out my fingertips, touching his face as I kissed him. Trying to distract him from what he thought he saw. If there was one thing I knew how to do, it was to use my sexuality to distract someone. And as much as I knew Finn wanted me, as much as I knew he found me attractive, he isn’t an idiot.

I pulled back, Finn slowly smiled and shook his head before opening his mouth and asking me the one question. I really didn’t want to answer. ”What happened?”

”Nothing”

I shook my head and smiled, putting on my best mask. I knew it wasn’t gonna stop him from asking more questions, but it was the best I could do. I stepped closer and put my head on his good shoulder, wrapping an arm around him and just taking a deep breath. ”Are you sure? You just seem a little off.” his arm instinctively wrapped around my hip. His good arm, of course. The other one was still tucked between us.

I simply nodded slowly as my head leaned against his chest. I let out a deep breath and melted into his arms. ”I just needed this. I don’t know, maybe I’m feeling a little insecure. It doesn’t happen often, so don’t get used to it. But right now I just want you to hold me.”

I wasn’t wrong. I’ve never been someone who falls into the realm of being insecure. In fact of something that I actively avoid because it is simply not me. I’m a confident human being. Anyone who has known me for longer than about two minutes can see, hear,  and feel that. But occasionally, insecurity does creep in. My moment with Jase had made me insecure. But that wasn’t the reason why I wanted to hold Me. I just needed him. I needed to hear his heartbeat and feel his arm around me. ”Well, I’m not going to say no. You know I love you, Kayla.” Those words made me smile. Whenever he said it, I smiled. And he knew that.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening them and looking up at him from my position nuzzled against his chest ”I know. And I love you. We don’t say it very often, but I know it. Just like you know how I feel about you. This is just one of those moments, Finn.”

”Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”

He was giving me another chance to tell him. Another chance to open up. I wanted to tell him. I wanted to tell him everything. About being scared, about Jase cornering me and trying to make me believe I wasn’t the person that I really was. But I also knew that it would be a bad time. He had just lost the championship, he was in pain, part of his career had been taken away from him, as well as everything else that had happened. I couldn’t tell him. I didn’t want to tell him. Because, as I said, it was my turn to do right by him.

It was my turn to protect him.

Identity Crisis

After cutting a promo in the middle of Paris last week, Kayla is now sitting in a more traditional setting. Her long hair flows down a black leather jacket as she sighs heavily, ready to begin.

”What do you want this division to be? Do you want this to be a division full of people who are whining and crying? A division of people who don’t know how to get what they want? That is the kind of thing you’ll be getting if you sit back and let mediocrity become great. When it comes to holding this championship, mediocrity should never be the starting point. And it never has been with me. It has never been with Andrea. But the division under me, with me as its champion, you will have every single woman on this roster aiming at my back. Every single one of them is going to be coming for me, regardless of who they are and what they are about. I don’t really have any friends in this company anymore. Everyone should be coming for me, and everyone should hate me.”

“Same with Andrea. After all, she and I are two peas in a pod. We both talk about rivalries, and we both talk about where this division is going, but only one of us has the power to change anything. As good as Andrea believes herself to be and as much as she has become someone who can at least get to the same level as me, her ceiling is a lot shorter than mine. I can take this division to heights that he has never achieved. I can make this division mean something again. I started doing it before when I was champion. And in losing to Andrea, I heard all the gaps and I heard everyone be shocked. Andrea needs to realise that. Her win over me, while it was something that I could see coming, was something that no one else could.”

“I was the only one who believed in her enough that I knew she could beat me. The fans didn’t believe it, and everyone else in this company didn’t believe it. And when she walked out as the champion, there was an audible gasp in the crowd and silence. Silence from everyone on social media and silence of the crowd.”

“That is the worst thing anyone can hear. And that’s what Andrea heard. So, if I sit back and let her become the future of the division, then what does that mean for this division? This division is the strongest one. It has a champion at the front, who is the strongest. And that would be me. I am someone who can be instantly recognisable. I can go on Twitter....or rather X... and I can destroy people verbally, or I can go in the ring and do it for SCW. I’m a fucking star and Andrea just isn’t on that kind of level. When it comes to what she can do in the ring, I’m not gonna lie and say that she’s hopeless because she simply isn’t. She is good enough to step up to me in the ring, and she is good enough to be the champion as far as physical attributes go. But as a professional wrestler this woman doesn’t even know who the fuck she is.”

Kayla scoffs and shakes her head before continuing.

”You know, you and I have blown a lot of smoke up each other‘s arses Andrea. Talking about how good we both are in the ring and how we love to fight each other, and how equal we are. But the more I think about it the more I realise that you don’t even know what the fuck you’re doing. When you should be focusing on me, when you should be thinking about what you can say about Me and how you’re going to promote this match and get all the eyes of the wrestling world on what you and I are about to do to each other you go on Twitter and decide to talk about Crystal instead of Me. and while I thought it was hilarious that you said Crystal was like the Antonio Brown of professional wrestling, I still question why you’re focusing on someone that is irrelevant to this.”

“But, then again, you don’t seem to know where you’re going or what you’re doing. Every single time we hear you open your mouth, every single time you are getting ready to cut a promo on an opponent or talk about a match, you talk about how you have learned who you are. Constantly. How often can somebody learn who she is, and how often can you draw back on the wisdom of your father to win a match? Same shit different day. Time and time again, this is all you do, Andrea. You come out you talk about your father, you talk about learning more about who you are and then you try and justify that to get fake sympathy and fake bullshit because you don’t know who you are and you are constantly wearing a mask to cover it up.”

“You’d think after world championship wins and being in this business for so long that you would know who you are by now. Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. Or maybe you’re nobody.”

“Who knows? All I know is that you keep on playing the victim. You keep on whining and crying and talking about how people don’t understand you and how you’re learning more about yourself, and the person you were isn’t who you are now. You need to play the victim, Andrea. You need to act like you are the one who is being wrong because if you aren’t, then who are you? Who are you? If you face someone who is better than you, that is your default go-to mindset.”

Kayla shakes her head and throws her arms across her body, folding them over themselves. A look of anger in her bright green eyes as she steps forward.

”A weak mindset and one that is beneath you. But it also seems to be the one that you automatically go to every single time. I told you over and over again that when I lose, I come back better. I have never changed who I am. I’m a bitch. I know I am. I have the entire wrestling world hating me and wanting me to lose, yet somehow and someway. I seem to be more honest and genuine than you are. Because I tell the world what I'm prepared to do. You seem to be more than happy telling everyone these long winded bullshit stories about your father and how you’ve changed and how you want to grow as a human being. When in reality you don’t know how to grow because you don’t know who you are.”

“It’s pathetic.”

“You are pathetic. And I expected better.”

“I have proven time and time again that I will come back better than I was before. All you have been able to prove is that you have no idea who you are. No idea what you want to do. You are a fake, vapid human being, and you are just as bad as all those other women whom you claim to want to be better than. All those women who talk shit about you and hold you down are exactly exactly like you. But you can’t see it. You can’t see who you are, you can’t see your shortcomings, and you refuse to acknowledge them and try and overcome them. You are just as bad as everyone else. In fact….”

“You are just as bad as Crystal…”

“You have a chance to rise above that, but I have no faith that you’ll be able to. I went back and I re-watched every single one of your promos for the last six months, and it’s the same thing time and time again. And the worst part is that after I beat you the first time, you had a chance to grow, and you failed. You were able to beat me, and you didn’t even use that as an excuse to get better. You just shrugged it off like a win over Me didn’t mean anything, and you went right into the elimination chamber. A match that you could have won by showing how great you are, but in the end, you lost and you decided to play the victim. You wind and complained about it.”

Kayla throws her arms in the air and shakes her head before pacing back and forth.

”I want everyone to sit back and think about that reaction. Your reaction to being put in the elimination chamber and losing was to wind and cry about it. To talk about how beating Me was such horrible timing because you had to defend that championship against so many others. But you’re forgetting something. I didn’t have to be in that match, Andrea. I didn’t.”

“I could have waited. I could have waited and watched whoever was going to come out of that match as the champion. Whether it was you or whether it was one of the other women, I could have simply waited. You, on the other hand, are complaining about having to defend the championship in that match and completely disregarding my win. That is a huge difference between us. You complain about these opportunities and these big matches and having to defend a championship against more than one person.”

“I owned it.”

“I needed and wanted that match. I wanted to go in as champion and defend the title in the elimination chamber of Instead, I chose to enter as a challenger because I had no choice. And that’s just it, sometimes as a champion, you need to do things that you don’t choose to do. I run toward them gladly. I will defend the championship against anyone, any time, any place in any kind of match, and I will do it with a certain amount of confidence that no one else has. You won’t. You’ll just bitch and moan and complain and going these long rambling diatribes about shit that nobody cares about while trying to play the victim and act like you are no longer the woman that you used to be.”

“All the while having no idea who you actually are.”

“So, I am going to step into the ring it into the void and I’m going to keep this championship. I’m going to make sure that you are unable to grab it and you are unable to drag it down to the mediocrity that you have surrounded yourself with because you don’t have the balls to be the champion that we all know you could have been. We have had a great rivalry. That’s true, Andrea. But as we get to the end of it, as I start to get that little bit ahead of you and I start to win other matches that you simply didn’t want to be in then our rivalry goes from something beautiful to something disappointing. and that’s just it, I’m disappointed in you Andrea. I expected more than you whining and crying behind the scenes and then throwing a tantrum on TV. I expected a real challenge.”

“I expected… an equal. And I didn’t get it.”

Chapter 63: Sacrifice

I was furious.

That may have been an understatement. Furious is too light of a word for how I feel right now. Completely and utterly enraged might be a better description. For the last few days, I had been stomping around the house. A simple act like making a coffee becomes an exercise in futile anger. Stirring the milk into my coffee the spoon made a loud clinking noise before I tossed it into the kitchen sink with a force that could be described as violent.

And it shouldn’t be this way. I shouldn’t be stomping around My Home in such a state. I know it, Finn knows it in fact everyone else who has come to visit knows it. But I simply can’t help myself. No matter how happy I am about my own success I find myself at the precipice of falling into a psychotic rage. I want to tear them both apart. I want to walk into the SCW locker room with a steel chair in my hand and start swinging. I want to scream in anger in their faces and tell them exactly why this is happening to them.

But I can’t.

Right now, I am standing in my home in Colorado. The home that Finn and I bought together. A symbol of just how far our relationship has come. Everyone has to remember that this shouldn’t have happened. A person like myself and a person like Finn forgetting everything that has happened to us in our past and coming together in a relationship is not something that happens every day. In fact, I would refer to it as a miracle. The kind of miracle that some people write about in those religious books that they put so much belief in.

That isn’t really my thing but to each their own

But I can’t deny that this is a miracle. Everything that Finn went through with that wretched bitch Erin, everything that I have been through with my daddy issues mixed with all of the stupid relationships that I had been in as well as my own psychosis when it came to feelings of any kind of romantic nature Fin and I being together, being happy and taking a step as big as owning a home together is not something that happens every day and it is something that should be studied and celebrated. I know this, Finn knows this. But right now it doesn’t mean that much to me.

While I’ve been able to step forward and become a champion again and raise my hand high fin lost his title. He lost his championship to someone who lied to his face and took advantage of him. He lost his championship because of his ex-wife and her manipulative bullshit ways. But, I seem to be the only one who was angry about it. I took a sip of my coffee and looked over at Finn who was sitting back and flicking through a book. I shook my head and paced back and forth.

Finn looked up and raised an eyebrow before shaking his head and slowly closing the book. ”You’re going to wear out a track in the floor” I stopped and tilted my head staring at him. Finn nodded slowly and put his book on the coffee table before sitting back. ”Alright, we’ve been home a few days, we have some time off and get to enjoy ourselves. But you’ve been miserable.”

I took a deep breath trying to keep it all in. ”I’m not miserable” I huffed and folded my arms over my chest ”I’m angry. I can’t believe you were robbed like that. And what’s worse is you seem to be okay with it.”

”Kayla”

I continued, Finn, sitting there and staring at me. ”Why aren’t you furious? Why aren’t you angry? Why aren’t you on the phone right now demanding a rematch and getting ready to kick the shit out of Alex and take back your championship? Why aren’t you letting me go after Aaron?”

”Because it doesn’t matter right now” I stopped and looked over at him. I was confused. How could it not matter? Why would it not matter? He cleared his throat and got to his feet stepping toward me. ”You did something that many thought was impossible. And you went out there and did it after seeing what happened to me. I don’t want to think about that right now and instead, I want to celebrate you. Celebrate your success.”

I shook my head and cleared my throat before stepping toward him. I took a deep breath and looked up before shooting a small smile at him. ”You make it impossible for me to stay angry you know that? You lost something special. I’m proud of what I did but at the same time I’m furious about what happened to you.”

Finn shook his head, his hand found my chin, and lightly lifted my head so I was looking straight out of him. He smiled lightly and leaned down before kissing my forehead. ”You can be angry or annoyed about what happens to me later. But for now can we please celebrate what you accomplished? You’re the champion again. Just like I knew you would be. I’m proud of you. I hope you know that.”

I closed my eyes taking in a deep breath. As I exhaled all of that anger and frustration left my body. My shoulders dropped and I relaxed. Something that Finn noticed. ”I guess I need to take my own advice. I keep saying that taking a loss is a learning experience and that you can always come back stronger. I expect that from myself, why wouldn’t I expect the same thing from the man I love?” 

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me, I relaxed and stood there in his embrace. He was right. Getting angry about what happened to him was going to diminish what I accomplished. And that would be just another victory for Alex and Aaron. Another win for them over us. I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let them think that they were able to get under our skin to the point where I couldn’t enjoy something that I was able to pull off.

This relationship was a miracle.

My miracle. I don’t know what I would do without him. I don’t know what I would be able to accomplish without him. But I knew what I’d been able to accomplish with him in my life. And now it is time to continue my work. It was not over. Just like I knew it was not over for Finn. God help everyone when he gets back. Because he’s going to be even better. Just like Me.

Blind leading the blind

There was a sharp inhale. Kayla Richards the new SCW world bombshells champion is sitting in her hotel room in Oslo Norway. She smiles slowly until her head looks over at a cup full of an amber liquid. She picks it up and gives it a sip before taking a deep breath and continuing.

”Strange isn’t it? Time after time and week after week I keep telling you people what is going to happen. I have always been honest. You can laugh all you want and you can think that I’m not but the truth is that every single time I open my mouth, I’m telling you the truth. Now, truth is a loaded word. Because one person‘s truth is another person’s lie. One person’s truth is another person‘s nightmare. Now, what is my truth? My truth is the collective nightmare of every single woman in that locker room. My truth is making every single one of them look substandard and worthless.”

She laughs and takes another sip of the liquid before putting it down. She then grabs a bottle, pulling it sideways and we see for the first time the label. Mjøderiet mead. The best in Norway. After all, Kayla is nothing if not a classy bitch….

”Think back. Think back to before the elimination chamber. What did I tell everyone? I told each and every woman in that match that I was going to be coming back better than I was before. But Andrea beating Me had made it harder for them. And it was true. You look back over my history, not just in this company but my history in general and you will see a distinct and clear pattern of brilliance. I am an excellent professional wrestler. Regardless of what you think about me personally you have to admit I am one of the best to put on a pair of boots and get into a professional wrestling ring whether that ring has four sides or six sides, whether or not it is a regular match or if it is in a giant steel cage.”

“I am one of the best to ever do this. And I told them all, I told them that I was going to get into that ring and I was going to leave us the champion. I told them that Andrea beating me meant I was going to come back stronger because that is what I have done every single time. I lost the Internet championship three times. And twice I got it back because I wanted to and I beat the people who beat me for it. There was one exception, and it was because I was ready to move on.”

“It’s because I set my sights on the world bombshells championship. And along the way, I won the world mixed tag team championships with Finn. We stood above everyone and set records, and we lost them. We lost them to the team of Eddie and Victoria Lions only to grab them right back in short fashion. And this company has struggled to find anyone willing to face us because every single one of you are cowards.”

“That is why that division is failing. Because there are no teams that have the balls to come up and face us.”

Kayla grows, clearly angry about the situation. She takes another sip of the Me. If she’s going to get drunk, this could get interesting.

”But, now what? Now that I have regained what is mine and I am back on top of the mountain where does this championship and Its champion go from here? My first run I beat almost everybody, I even beat Andrea one-on-one. She ended my rain and then I got the championship back in a match that featured almost all of the top contenders for this title. So, if I’ve just beaten everyone where do we go from here?”

“I could just wait for the blast from the past winner to reveal themselves. But that’s never been my style. And I will be getting back in the ring against Harper Mason this week but the more I think about facing her the more my stomach starts to churn and the more I want to throw up. Not because I’m scared or intimidated by Harper Mason but because I don’t like facing people who are not on my level or can’t ever reach my level. And trust me, Harper, despite what you believe you aren’t on that level and you never will be with the attitude that you currently have.”

“The same night that I was able to regain the top prize in women’s wrestling you lost to Bella Madison. And hey I’m not gonna stand here and say that Bella Madison is a bad champion and that you should be ashamed of yourself but you still lost in an Internet championship match. The title that I made famous that I hold three times you can’t even get your hands on and now you want to talk some shit while coming into a match with me?”

“Honey, I don’t know who you pissed off to get put in this match with me but you better find out their name and you better go apologise to them real fucking quick”

“And it’s also really cute that you’ve sat there and had this little talk with Victoria Lions on climax control. And I would take whatever that bitch says with a grain of salt. While she is the queen of the roulette division and she did win the queen for a day her other claim to fame is being able to wrestle the mixed tag team championships away from Me for a month before Finn and I snatched them back. Every single time Victoria has gotten the ring with Me I have beaten her and I have embarrassed her just like I did with you.”

Kayla rolls her eyes and folds her arms over her chest before sitting back and kicking her legs up on the chair that is next to her.

”I have had almost 50 matches in this company. 47 to be exact. And out of those 47 matches 40 of them I’ve won. You were one of those wins. And well I have watched my career from mountain top to mountain top. You have done nothing. You’ve lost a Bella Madison a few times, you’ve challenged some of the best that this company has to offer and you failed every single time. And now you get to face me again. Congratulations. You get to be in a non-title match against me. And if you should somehow win, if you should somehow shock the world and beat me then I dare say you have earned the right to face Me for the title.”

“But then what? Look back into your grand scheme and your grand plan Harper. What then? You somehow fluke went over me and then you get an opportunity for the bombshells championship. With my track record and my history, I come back stronger than ever and I beat you again. And your track record and your history says that the second you get an opportunity to make something of yourself, you will fail. You will choke.”

“That right there is the difference between people like me and people like you”

“I get an opportunity and I take it with both hands and do everything I can to make it count. I step above everyone and I take everything that I’m offered. I have already had a Hall of Fame-worthy career. Three-time Internet champion two two-time mixed tag team champion record mixed tag team championship rain and now a two-time bombshell champion with over 300 days combined. Tell me Harper, what makes you believe that you should even be allowed to step in the ring with Me? What makes you believe that you can beat me? What makes you believe that if you do beat me this is going to do anything but make your career even sad when you get another shot at Me and you inevitably choke and fail.”

“No, I have to save you from yourself. And I have to make sure this company knows that they made a mistake putting you against me. Then, if your little mentor who has been whispering in your ear wants to try and face Me? I will bury Victoria Lyons right next to you. This is your final warning, don’t fuck with me, Harper. You will regret it.”

Chapter 61: Evil

I’m not a good person.

Shocking I know. But it’s the truth. A truth that I have come to terms with over the years. A truth that in part I disagreed with and lied to myself about constantly. I blamed others. At first, it was my father. I blamed him for everything wrong in my life. I blamed him for being an emotionally and physically abusive drunk. I blamed him for pushing my older brother away to the point where he abandoned us. Then I blamed him for abandoning us with his death.

Even though it was the best thing for myself, my sisters, and our mother. But, I still blamed him. I blamed my mother, for her weakness in being unable to walk away from the abusive relationship that defined her and our family. I even blamed my siblings. My older brother for not being strong enough to save us. My older sister for not shielding me completely from the beating and who our father was. I even blamed Tasmin. Sweet innocent little Tasmin.

And her crime?

She was born, and our father abandoned us.

She never felt his wrath.

That’s right. I blamed her for being too young to remember him, I blamed her for being too young to be beaten. I blamed everyone for my actions and attitude. Hell, I even blamed those who met me well after I had become an adult. Angel Blake, a man who trained me. Jace Pleasant an ex who destroyed me. Even Matt Shields and Billy Danielson, two men who, in their way loved me. But I blamed them for never truly understanding me. Never “getting” me and who I am.

Something that I never blamed Finn for. And how could I? Out of everyone I have been with, everyone who I have had in my life he is the only person to really love me. Love who I am and not in spite of it. That’s why I can’t, and won’t lose him. That’s why I acted the way I did and that’s why I am the way I am…..

I remember the first time when the idea of loss hit me. And it had nothing to do with a loving relationship. No, I remember what it was like to lose someone who should have loved me unconditionally. Someone who was supposed to protect me and nurture me. But he failed. The look on my sister's face said it all. And I knew how serious it was. It was just after Amber and I had escaped. Just after Renee Pleasant, Amber's husband, had been murdered and we had been set free in the confusion. It was a time when Amber and I were rebuilding our lives after the bullshit we had been through. But she had called us all together.

And by “us” I mean myself and Tasmin. Our brother Jaxon was not invited and our mother was unable to properly convey the news.  ”Do you have any clue why we’re here?” Tasmin was young, only 15 years old. Her long blonde hair flowed down her shoulders as she folded her arms over her chest. ”Mum was upset. That’s all I know, then Amber told me to text you…” I stayed silent, simply offering a shrug. I didn’t care. I was just there because Tasmin was the one who had asked.

I wouldn’t have gone if I knew it came from Amber by way of our mother.

The door opened and Amber stepped in, her hair was tied back, and her face was pale, well, paler than usual. Tasmin knew something was up right away, as did I. But the difference between us was that I simply did not care. As I had said before. That was what separated me from them. Amber shook her head and took a deep breath finally speaking. ”I…I have some bad news…” She paused and swallowed before taking a deep breath and looking at Tasmin and then at me. ”Mum just got word….they found Dad’s body….”

Tasmin took a shocked breath in, Amber nodded slowly and her bottom lip quivered. I stayed silent, still trying and straining to care. ”Where?...”

”Near a bridge in West Yorkshire…”

Tasmin was trying to process. A few tears streamed down her cheeks as a single one rolled down Ambers. We were thousands of miles away. Our mother, all of us had moved from England, and he was back there. Dead near a bridge in some backwater part of West Yorkshire. My mood, my entire being, didn’t change. Something that both of them noticed. ”It’s ok….let it out..” Tasmin lightly touched my arm. She was being sweet, trying to get me to open up. To care, to weep.

Amber knew better.

She understood why I hadn’t changed, why the look on my face had remained one of cold indifference. ”Let what out?....” I said coldly before taking a deep breath ”So they found his body…what? Do they want us to pay to have him buried? Just tell them to shove him back in whatever ditch they found him in and cover him up…”

I could have been a little more tactful I suppose.

Maybe I could have shown some empathy.

”That….that’s our father…” Tasmin whimpered, and at the time I thought it was weak, pathetic, and even, slightly amusing. But looking back now, she was in real pain. She didn’t know what he was, who he was. But Amber did. Amber knew what he was she she still wept. I lost a little respect for her that day.

”Father?” I raised my eyebrows, I stepped forward and shook my head looking down at Tasmin and reaching out before stroking her golden hair. ”Fathers are supposed to love and care for their family. To protect them, to teach them, and give them a life to be proud of. He wasn’t a father…he was an evil piece of trash.”

”Kayla enough!”

Amber stepped between us shaking her head as Tasmin moved away. She was upset, I knew it and I could feel it. And at the time I felt bad, but the other feelings I had didn’t allow me to act on my instincts to apologize. No, instead I was being defiant. ”Enough of what? Telling the truth? Come on Amber….you know what he was like, you know who he was and what he did to us, to Jaxon, to Mum!”

”Yes and I can still be sad he’s gone….he was still family. If he had never existed then there wouldn’t be you, or me, or Tasmin. That is what Mum is sad about, the father of her children is gone. That is what I’m sad about, what Tasmin is. Can’t you understand that?”

I couldn’t.

I couldn’t feel it, understand it, or care about it. I left them. I walked away and left my sisters to weep for our dead abusive father. A move that in the eyes of many would make me a monster. A horrible person. But, they still forgave me. They forgave me because they gave me the understanding I could never give them. They understand who I am. But they still know I’m a bad person.

But not to him.

Not to Finn.

”I’m going to fucking kill her…” I growled and paced back and forth. I had been home for one day. One day following what happened at climax control. While reminiscing about the issues I had with my sisters and our dead father I couldn’t help but be reminded of what it was like to be so angry, you are blinded to someone else’s pain.

I was pacing back and forth. I knew that Finn was in the next room, he was seething and angry but tried to keep a brave face. But I didn’t realize that the time was the feelings of someone who I viewed as my best friend. Kallie Reznik. She sat silently on the couch looking at me as I paced back and forth. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ”I know you’re angry…”

”Angry? Kallie, you have seen me angry once or twice, right now I’m fucking furious. I’m going to break that little bitch in half. I’m sorry I know she’s your mentor but I’m going to destroy her.”

Kallie nodded looking up at me, she seemed to understand but at the same time, there was this looking in her eyes. She was pleading with Me to calm down. ”I….I understand…but please calm down…”

I growled, my nostrils flared and I snapped my head sideways to look at her ”Calm down? After what she did you are seriously telling me to calm down? I understand you have a personal connection with her. But if you’re going to stand here and defend what she did, if you are going to try and calm me down to save her some kind of righteous beating then you are definitely barking up the wrong tree.”

Kallie swallowed hard and then found her voice, she spoke up to me, raising her voice in a way that I’ve never heard before while also standing up and coming face-to-face with me. ”No, that isn’t it!” The volume of her voice made me stop, my eyes widened in surprise as she continued. ”She’s beating you! And you’re letting her! She caused you to argue with Finn, she’s caused you to take your eye off the ball when it comes to getting back your championship. She’s winning, she’s winning a new can’t even see it. So please calm down.”

She was right. I had let Aaron asphyxia get in my head. I let her take my mind off the one thing that mattered to me outside of my relationship with Finn. The SCW World Bombshells championship. I closed my eyes taking a deep breath before opening them and nodding. I stepped forward hugging Kallie before uttering two words that I very rarely say.

”Thank you….”

5 Blind Mice.

”Did you all see it?”

Kayla Richards chuckles, her bright green eyes shining as she opens them at her head. A simple question, but a question that is waiting for a rhetorical answer from no one.

”Did you see Bea Barnhart beat my ass up and down the ring like she said she has or would? Did you? The answer is no you did. You say, before that delusional bitch got in the room with Me she decided to cut up her and talk about how she has beaten me all over the ring over and over again. But every time I’ve got in the ring with her, I’m the one who’s walked away the winner. She was trying to get involved in a match between her husband and my boyfriend. Her husband, who accused Finn of cheating while trying to use his wife to cheat himself.”

“I wish that I could say this is a rare occurrence when it comes to the women and men of this company. I wish I could turn around and tell you all that this kind of delusion only belongs to people like Bill and Bea. But I can’t. I can’t because delusion is right in this company. The delusion that in any way, shape, or form, the older champions of this company have anything on someone like me.”

“Look, I recognize that I’m not the champion right now. I recognize that I lost the championship to Andrea Hernandez at inception. But you will have to recognize all the things I have accomplished. In the last four years, what have I done? I have beaten every single great wrestler that you have put in front of me. I have destroyed all of your heroes and sent them packing. Every single one of them who has come after me I’ve buried in the fucking ground.”

“I have been the internet champion three times. Mixed tag team champion twice. And world bombshell champion.”

“Five championship reigns. Five mountains that I have climbed. And along the way I have faced and beaten women who are in your Hall of Fame. And yes, I’m fully aware of how arrogant I can be. But isn’t earned arrogance better than disgusting delusion? I have heard time and time again that I’m not as good as I believe myself to be but I haven’t seen one person prove it. And trust me on this, Andrea Hernandez hasn’t proven it. She’s proved that she can beat me, but she hasn’t proved that she can keep me down.”

Kayla chuckles and shakes her head before folding her arms over her chest. Her green eyes are still blazing with fire behind them as her upper lip curls into an arrogant smirk.

” Now, before I start to talk about the elimination chamber I need to make something perfectly clear. I’m sure many of you have noticed that I am a little bit obsessed with Aaron asphyxia. And I think you all know why. She has done everything she can to get into my personal life. She has done everything she can to try and ruin my relationship with Finn. She has done everything to try and get into my head and cost me everything. But I’m not gonna let her. I’m not gonna let her bullshit shenanigans stop me from getting my championship back. So, I invite every single one of you bitches to invoke her name to try and piss me off. Because all it’s going to do is make you all get a beating of a lifetime.”

“Cause, as I said, I’m not trapped in that cage with all of you. You are all trapped in there with Me. And I’m sure that sounds downright amusing to someone like Necra Octavian Kane. A woman who is looked at as a legend in this company. For reasons that I honestly don’t understand. You’ve never been the world bombshell champion, your whole thing is that you were here earlier. That you compete with some of the greats. The same grades They can’t even lace my fucking boots. And yet here you are Arriving like some kind of conquering hero when you’re just stinking up the place. Like a corpse left in a bathtub in a dilapidated building.”

“You see what I did there?”

“I mean shit Necra, we look back at your career and what do we fight? A couple of rains with the roulette championship. Congratulations, you held the championship that I have not held. Mainly because unlike you, I have respect for myself. You’ve been a three-time bombshell roulette champion. Both losing too and winning the title from Mercedes Vargas.”

“Damn that’s impressive”

“No not winning the roulette title three times, losing to Mercedes Vargas, and somehow thinking that you are relevant or managing to get yourself called a legend.”

“But hey, welcome back. After all, since you’ve been back, you’ve managed to be able to earn your way into this match. And you have a shot at becoming the Bombshells champion and doing something that you were never able to do in your own short run. The only problem is, you’re living in my world. My time. And there were so many others who were dominating the division while you were here that you simply couldn’t beat, now you are in my world. And I’m going to take great pleasure in not allowing some faded relic who has no idea what she’s doing in a modern wrestling company to touch that title..”

Kayla chuckles to herself and shrugs before continuing.

”Oh wait, speaking of has been a who should never have returned. Hi Candy, I didn’t see you there. Mainly because I don’t care about you. Much like the rest of the wrestling world. You, much like everyone else who keeps on coming back like a bad stink, are not worth my time. But since you are in this match and you are standing in my way, let me enlighten you on a few things. Your particular brand of stupidity is not welcome here. In this company, it is all about one thing, who can be the biggest and the best. And you? You can’t be either.”

“You have decided to come back and bring your stupid little dog and your stupid little glitter and your stupid little attitude and somehow fluke your way into this match. But while you’ve been gone, I’ve been on top of the food chain. I’ve been on top of the mountain and I have done things that you have never been able to. The truth is that people like you shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be in my ring and you shouldn’t be anywhere near my championship. But here you are. In my face in my business.”

“So, welcome back.”

“And much like Necra, you need to be prepared for what is about to happen. Something that I haven’t explained yet, when I get beaten I come back better than I did before. Every single time I have been beaten for a championship I have come right back and beaten them for it and taken it back. The Internet championship, the mixed tag team championships. The SCW bombshell championship is going to be no different. But you are in my way candy just like the other old bitch who shouldn’t be here.”

Kayla growls, her teeth grinding as she takes a deep breath

”And we go from two has-beens who should have never come back, to one that seems to wear out her welcome and just not accept it. Mercedes Vargas. The legend that doesn’t know when to simply die. I thought I told you I wasn’t going to put up with your bullshit anymore. Mercedes, you had a chance to shut me up. You’ve had many chances to shut me up. You’ve had opportunity after opportunity to prove that you’re better than me and that everything I have ever said to you or about your bullshit.”

“And I could just keep following down the same road. I could stand here and talk about how you are old and how your glory days are now behind you. You will make up some bullshit about how that’s all you ever hear from people despite the fact that the reason why you hear it is because it’s true. You’ll keep on making excuses and you will keep on turning back up time and time again to fail. You will fail and you will tell each and every person who is watching you that you just simply don’t care. Because you can still be relevant and you can still be the best.”

“The problem is, you can’t. And you proved it. You proved it when you had a chance to team with Cassie Wolfe and take on myself and Andrea Hernandez. I said that you two didn’t have a chance to beat us, that Andrea and I were going to stop all over you. And Cassie did her best to try and fight that but you didn’t. You turned up, you weren’t interested, and at the end of the day you lost. You lost because you only care about the big matches. And that is the saddest part of all. Instead of going on about your age and that you should retire, I’m simply gonna point out to the people sitting at home and to you that wants you don’t care about every single match then the fire is gone and if the fire is gone Then you don’t love this anymore”

“Not like I do…. not like Andrea does, hell not even like Cassie does. You’ve run out of passion. And I’m not going to let someone who doesn’t have passion for the business touch that championship.”

She paced back and forth, Kayla was fired up and she was going to let everyone know it.

”Now, Cassie Wolfe. I could stand here and I could talk shit about you. I could. But I want you to know something kid, you have done something that very few people have been able to do. Earned my respect. Much like Andrea has. But Andrea did it by beating Me. And don’t worry, Andrea I’ll get to you. You did it by turning up Cassie. Even when you knew that you were teaming up with someone who didn’t give a shit you still did everything you could to try and beat me and Andrea. You put your body on the line and you granted and you struggled and you scratched and you clawed. You did everything that you could.”

“And fighting a losing battle deserves respect. No matter how much I don’t like you, no matter how much I think that you are just some stupid kid who is trying to grab a dream that she isn’t good enough to get, I’m always going to respect anyone who gets in the ring and gives 100%. That’s what this business deserves. And while you might not get it yet, while you might not realize that the way to live your dream is to do everything you can to win, no matter how underhanded, you have the heart right. You do everything that you can to try and win except crossing moral boundaries and one day you’re going to have to.”

“You didn’t lose to me and Andrea because you weren’t good enough”

“You lost to myself and Andrea because you weren’t willing to pull the trigger and go that extra mile. That’s what separates people like you from people like myself and Andrea. Cassie one day you are going to have to open your eyes and realize that the way to get what you want is to be like myself and Andrea, to not care, and to do everything that you can win. To cross those moral boundaries and those grey lines. But it won’t be in this. It won’t be in the elimination chamber. Because you don’t have what it takes to step over that line.”

Caleb blinks a few times. She seems to have some kind of crisis of conscience before taking a deep breath and continuing.

”And then there was one. The current raining and defending bombshell’s champion. The woman who beat me and took that championship. What can I say about you that I haven’t already said Andrea? You did everything that you could to beat Me and you were able to. No one else has been able to. Not like you did. There are so many others in this company who have tried and failed, there are a few who have been able to beat me, but haven’t been able to do it in the way that you did.”

“You took me to the limit and then pushed me past it. I looked at you and in my heart and mind, I knew I could beat you. But at the last moment, something changed. You had this look in your eye that I’ve never seen before and then I realized you had that extra gear. That extra moment inside yourself that was going to allow you to beat Me. and I applaud you for it.”

“The thing is, and this is something that I’ve already pointed out many times, when I lose I come back better. When I lose, I do anything I can to get back what I lost. And in this case, it was agreed to be in the elimination chamber. See, I could’ve sat back and waited. I could’ve sat back and I could’ve waited for you or someone else to win that championship and then I would’ve cashed in my rematch.”

“Something that I definitely earned after almost 300 days as a champion”

“But, I didn’t. And do you know why I didn’t? Simple Andrea, I wanted to prove a point. You are going to get into that cage as the champion. You’re going to defend your title in that cage. So if I want to prove that I’m better than you, if I want to prove that your win against Me was not the B and end all of our disagreement, then I have to do this. I have to get in the cage and I have to go through everyone else until you are the last one left. And then I have to beat you and take back my championship. I have to do it not just for myself, not just for Finn, but for this business….”

“I will be the bombshells champion again. And every single one of you has to try and stop me. Part of me feels bad for you. Part of me regrets what I’m going to have to do to get that title back. But that other part of me, that sick twisted part of me, is going to enjoy it….love it….and destroy you all…”

Chapter 59: Focused Anger

”That classless, ratchet ass, boy-chested cunt!”

I was furious. In fact, that is probably a severe underestimation of my feelings toward the subject. Since Aaron had come back into our lives, I had been annoyed. Twitching and trying to push down that annoyance and act normal was becoming a daily struggle. But this? This was a step over that fragile line that was keeping me from snapping and wanting to rip someone’s head off. And unfortunately, the woman whose head I wanted to rip off was currently out of my reach. I took a deep breath pacing back and forth through the kitchen. A cup of tea sat in front of me that had been made for me.

Kallie Reznik, my innocent, sweet, blonde, best friend and apparently my tea maker sat nervously fidgeting at my kitchen bench. She swallowed hard, her hands wrapped around her teacup as she stared down at the swirling milk. I hadn’t noticed as I kept pacing back and forth. She had always been very awkward when it came to me talking about Aaron. You see Aaron had a massive hand in training her. Truth is she was Kallies mentor. And Kallie considered her a friend.

She is very naive

I, on the other hand, knew exactly the type of woman that Aaron asphyxia was ”She walks back into Finn‘s life, he has to deal with her at work, then she starts hanging around like a bad smell, and starts trying to get into his head, she then joins the goddamn company he works for and starts to torment both of us. And then, we find out that bitch never signed the goddamn divorce papers. And why? Why is she doing this? He’s happy with me we’ve moved in together. This is fucking ridiculous.” Every single one of my words was spat with the same amount of venom that was usually reserved for people that I hated while cutting a promo for any company that I happened to be working for.

Kallie sat there sipping her tea and looking nervous. And it was at this point that she finally spoke up, that she finally decided to add her two cents into the conversation. ”Maybe she still loves him”

I stopped pacing, I shook my head, and tried to take a deep breath to calm myself down. I turned leaning back against the opposite kitchen bench where the stove top was, the unused stove top, don’t judge me. I wrapped my arms over my chest, almost hugging myself as I tilted my head looking at Kallie. ”You said that with a hell of a lot of certainty.” I could see it, I could see it in her eyes and her body language. I could see it in the way that she was breathing. She knew something.

Kallie took a deep breath and shrugged ”I-I mean, it makes sense right? Why would she be doing all of this? She has to still be in love with him.”

I placed my palms onto the kitchen bench and leaned right across getting closer to Kallie and tilting my head ”You have something that you want to tell me, don’t you? Come on Kallie…” She stumbled over her words her nerves becoming more exposed.

”Well, no, I mean it’s just obvious-“

”KALLISTO!”

”I was talking to Aaron and she told me that she and Finn were technically still married and that she really wanted him back because deep down she was in love with him and she realized that that wasn’t going to go away and she says that they are meant to be together and she’s going to do everything in her power to be with him. I’m paraphrasing but that's basically what she said.”

Kallie closed her eyes. When she’s nervous she speaks fast. I was able to catch everything and I shook my head. I swallowed hard trying to push my emotions down. I was still angry. I was still furious. But I needed to keep calm. I couldn’t let Aaron win. I couldn’t let her strip me of everything that I had. all of the growth that I had been through. I used to push people away, I wanted to be alone because I didn’t want people relying on me or wanting to be around me. But now I had friends, I had family, I had a man who loved me. Despite everything.

Kallie looked up at me, I could see it, she was worried because I was staying silent and I hadn’t said anything. ”I’m sorry, she told me and I had no idea what to say, and before I could make sense of it and come and see you she had revealed the whole thing to Finn.”

I moved around the bench, stepping to the side I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her. My hand lightly rubbed up and down her back. ”Shhh it’s ok…” I stepped back and shot her a small smile. Kallie looked at me surprised.

She took a deep breath and took a sip of her tea ”You're not mad at me?”

I shook my head and took a sip of my own tea. She seemed relieved. And now I had to form a plan. ”I’m mad at Erin. I’m mad at her for not just letting it go, I’m mad at her from not only my standpoint of being in love with the same man that she’s in love with but I’m also mad at her for putting you in the position that she did. That is not something a friend should do. So I’m removing you from the middle of it. you don’t need to worry about it.”

”What are you going to do?”

I laughed and sighed heavily. ”Right now? Nothing. Because I don’t need to. Aaron is trying to make our lives a living hell but she also wants me to snap and push everyone away. Why do you think she told you? She wants me to be angry at you and push you away. She wants me to be angry at Finn because of this whole situation which was one of her making. I’m not going to let her do this. I’m not going to let her get into my head so I push the people I love away from me…”

Kallie had no idea what to say. I could see it, she was shocked at me bearing my soul and my heart to her. But it was true. She wasn’t just my friend, she was my family. And Aaron had tried to use her as a pawn in her little chess game. I wasn’t going to let her do this. I wasn’t going to let her win.

Perfect Soul

”I lost it…”

Kayla closes her eyes taking a deep breath, her long black hair is tied back away from her face in a bun, showing off her razor-sharp cheekbones, her green emerald eyes and a small twisted grin that appears to most people fear.

”Are you all expecting me to throw some kind of tantrum? To say that it was a fluke? To disrespect our new SCW world bombshells champion? Because that isn’t what’s going to happen. I lost, I lost a woman who on that night was better than Me. and I say on that night because it doesn’t mean she’s better than me as a whole. Some nights people are just on another level. And that’s what Andrea Hernandez was. When we stepped in the ring together at inception there was something different about her. The way she carried herself, the way she moved about the ring. She was a better version of herself than I had ever seen.”

“So, congratulations Andrea. You beat me. You stopped me from reaching 300 days as the world bombshells champion. I’m not going to say that it doesn’t hurt or that it didn’t make me angry or frustrated, because it did. Losing never feels good. Especially for someone like myself myself who feels that pressure so rarely. I’m not someone who loses all the time so when it does happen? It almost feels like a new sensation every single time. I’ve never become complacent in my losses. But, I did become complacent in my victories.”

“Thank you, Andrea…”

“Thank you for beating me. Thank you for giving me the gift of a loss. A singles loss. One-on-one in the center of the ring fair and square, you beat me. And I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you learn more from a loss than you do from a win. Every single time I have been beaten, I have come back stronger. And with the exception of one person who did return to this company but has been hiding from Me like a little bitch weakling, I have avenged my losses. I have been that woman. The one who will lose but comes back and decimates opponents in ways that so many others wish they could.”

Kayla chuckles, closing her eyes as her mouth twists again into that same twisted grin.

”And the clock is ticking. At blaze of glory, I’m going to get into that elimination chamber and I get to destroy every single one of you who dare step foot in there with Me. And it’s strange because while I am the former champion and I should be looked at as someone who could walk out as the new champion, I’m at a disadvantage. You see while everyone else in this match gets to just focus on either retaining their championship, like Andrea, or winning the championship like everyone else. I have to keep one eye open for an obsessed bitch named Aaron asphyxia.”

“I have to deal with her as a distraction. I have to deal with her constantly getting involved in my business. Not just my personal life now but my actual business. And I can’t let her distract me or stop me from getting my championship back. But first, I have to team with the woman who beat me. And some of you might be expecting me to lash out at this fact. To be angry about the fact that I’m teaming with Andrea Hernandez.”

“That couldn’t be further from the truth. Normally, I hate teaming with anyone who isn’t named Finn Whelan. But in this case, I’ll make an exception. And it’s for one reason reason. I look over at Andrea and I see someone who has the exact same attitude as I do. She’s a competitor. She’s a pit bull. She will scratch claw bite and fight her way through anyone to get the win. She hates losing just as much as I do so I know damn well that when Andrea and I step into the ring, we will both be fighting for the same goal. To walk out as winners. This might sound strange but I trust Andrea. And I hope she trusts me. Because between Bell to Bell from the moment that match starts to the moment that match ends I’m going to be her partner. I’m going to do everything I can to win that match.”

“After the match though?”

“Well, when the dust has settled and she and I have our arms raised then I will be keeping an eye on Andrea just like I know she’ll be keeping an eye on Me. Another thing she and I have in common either we’re not stupid. I know that when the bell rings and she and I have won this match she could very well hit me from behind and try and get an advantage, just like I would. That is where the trust ends, that is where the road to the elimination chamber and blaze of glory begins. And we can work together in this tag match, I know we can, but when we get in that huge structure? I’m going to be doing everything I can to rip your head off and take my championship back.”

“Respectfully…”

She chuckled and took a deep breath turning and revealing that she was wearing a thin Whelan T-shirt. Maybe a small sign of support for her boyfriend?? Or maybe she’s just being snarky. You can never really tell with Kayla.

”Now, onto two people who I don’t have respect for. Cassie Wolfe and Mercedes Vargas. We have one young barely out of diapers rookie and one grandma who is nearly back into diapers. The two of you are going to be in the elimination chamber but let’s face it. You are just making up the numbers. Especially you Mercedes. I can understand Cassie being in this match. Her getting an opportunity to earn the right to get into the chamber makes sense. She’s a young hot prospect that the company hopes is going to become something. But you? You shouldn’t be in this match. You shouldn’t be in any match for an opportunity at the world championship.”

“And don’t think I have forgotten about you deciding to cut a little interview on climax control. Yes Mercedes you are going to be locked in that cage with me. The difference between you and me is that when I say I’m going to do something I actually do it whereas you keep spouting off nonsense about the things that you’ve done in the past and then doing nothing with that information or time. All of that experience you have, all of that unbelievable knowledge that is stuck in that aging brain of yours is useless. You would be better served as a manager to a young talent imparting that knowledge on them and finding glory that way.”

“And yeah, I understand that you are sick of hearing the whole argument that you are old. So, let’s switch gears a little. You’re also selfish. You are a selfish, self-centered egomaniac and you can’t see past your own insecurities and your own failures to step back and reevaluate your life. They constantly say that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks and bitch you can’t learn shit.”

“I get it though, you don’t want to fade away. You don’t want to be forgotten. So you’re doing everything you can to scratch and claw your way into relevancy. You got into the chamber and now you’re just going to be there. Hoping and praying that you’re able to somehow get lucky and walk out of that cage as the bombshells champion. And anything can happen. This is an unpredictable match. So somehow, someway, you could fluke a win and we could see Mercedes Vargas as the world bombshells champion in 2025. And somewhere Samantha Marlowe just had a coronary….”

Kayla chuckles again and shakes her head before refocusing on the other opponent in this tag match.

”Oh, Cassie Wolfe. The little puppy that could. You just keep coming back, don’t you? We have to admire your tenacity. You are still young enough that it makes sense. You are still a piece of clay that can be molded into a champion or someone great. Unlike Mercedes who has passed her prime and use-by date, you are just coming into your own. Now, you deserve to be in this match. You have that mixture of youth and desire that everyone loves to see in a challenger. But you have to realize what you’re getting into. This week you are in a tag match, you have to tag with a woman who is always out for herself, against a team where All we care about is winning. You are teaming with a woman who needs a walker to get around against perhaps the two best bombshells currently signed to this company. The current champion and the former champion.”

“That’s what you are dealing with at climax control. In a few weeks at Blaze of Glory, you’re going to be locked in a massive steel structure. Vargus will be there. You will be there. I will be there. Andrew will be there somehow will be there. And of course, another spot that we will probably have to fill. Because people are dropping in and out of this company like fucking flies at this point.”

“Thing is, I brought up desire. I brought up your desire and your youthful exuberance. But I want you to have a look at my desire. If I wanted to Cassie, I could’ve waited until the end of the chamber match. I could’ve waited to see who came out of that match as the champion and then put my rematch clause into effect to face whoever the champion was. But I chose to enter that chamber. I chose to put myself in that situation with the rest of you.”

“And that should frighten you”

“But, before we get to that match. Before you are locked inside that huge cage with me, you are going to have to face me and Andrea. And whether or not you and Vargas believe it or can see it, you are both pretty much fucked. Andrea and I are going to get into that ring and we are both going to want to prove a point. And you two are going to be the victims. So I’ll see you at climax control, and then when all is set and done, I’ll see you with the cage. All three of you.”[color]

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 55: I’m only human, after all

There had been so many pleasant distractions over the last few weeks. Finn taking me to meet his family was one. That feeling I had being able to get to know him on a deeper level. I mean yeah I love him, and I know he loves me, but neither of us are very good at the whole relationship thing, and we have completely ignored that side of us. The side where we are supposed to meet our families and let them into our lives.

Well, we’ve crossed those lines. I met his mother, he met mine.

As I said - pleasant distractions. With everything going on in our lives right now it was refreshing to do something that didn’t involve us being tailed by a group of Romani. Or being “protected” by a group of Yakuza. Some time where we were able to simply be a couple instead of having to worry about flying in and out of airports and going to shows and doing meet and greets and all the other crap that our job makes us do. We got to act like a normal everyday couple.

But as soon as it ended and we came home, I felt the weight of the world back on my shoulders again. I felt the eyes of the Romani on me as I walked down the street. When I went to the gym, when I got something to eat, when I got my morning coffee. When I left or returned home. They were always there, always watching. At first I treated them with a quiet indignation. Glaring at them occasionally, flipping them off and then I started doing things like smiling and waving at them just so they knew I was there and I knew that they were there.

Finn told me I should stop.

I didn’t listen. And I have been trying to instigate them for the better part of the last few months. However, there is something else. Every single time I think I’m going to go over there and force them to take me to Jace, something happens and my plan crumbles to dust. But today, nothing was going to stop me. I woke up, I had my coffee, I grabbed my bag and got dressed. Getting my gym clothes on and holding my bag, I was getting ready to leave and walk right out the door.

Nothing was going to stop me.

”It’s not going to help…”

”Working out?”

Finn shook his head and slowly put down his newspaper. He stood up from the couch and moved toward me. He had a look in his eye that told me he was eager to say something. My hand tightened around my chin bag. It was a subconscious move.”Going and seeing him…”  I shouldn’t have been surprised that he knew. In another life, I think he would’ve been some form of detective, his detective powers and reasoning have always been top-notch.

”You keep saying that…. Any time you know I’m thinking about it. It’s the same argument over and over and over again. But, doing nothing isn’t changing anything either.” I was right, at least I thought I was. We were in some kind of weird holding pattern. Everything was the same day in and day out. No matter what we did, nothing was changing. So I was going to force a change.

Finn shook his head, folding his arms and leaning back against the kitchen bench I could tell that he was deep in thought. ”He’s not the type of man to be reasoned with. You keep on thinking that if you get him alone, he’s going to listen to you. That you can change his mind and just get this whole thing taken care of. He’s not going to listen. He’s not going to stop this.”

”Then what exactly are we meant to do?” I moved closer to Finn. I couldn’t hide, neither the annoyance on my face nor the slight pang of worry. ”We’re constantly being watched. They are always there. This is only going to get worse and we need to do something. Ignoring them hasn’t worked, you trying to talk to them hasn’t worked. The last thing left is for me to go and talk to him.”

Finn shook his head and reached out wrapping his hands around my arms ”Not the only thing left.” I tilted my head, there was something in his voice that made me think he had a plan. But what that plan was, I simply was not prepared for. ”Let’s get out of New York. Move away from here, they won’t care if we leave. There’s plenty of places out there where we would be happy.”

”Move?!?…. to where?”

”Florida? California?… don’t even have to stay in the US. You could move back to England, or we could go to Ireland.” he flashed a boyish grin at me. He knew damn well what he was doing with that smile. Usually he could get me to do whatever he wanted by using that.

This time, however, was different. ”No, no, no and no. Florida is filled with crazy people. If we moved there, Aiden would go from bringing home wombats and wallabies to try to bring home a pet alligator. California is filled with the most fake people on the planet Earth. England is rainy and dreary and I did everything I could get out of there and as for Ireland? See England without me trying to get out of there and you’ll see why we’re not going to step foot in that country.”

Finn chuckled and gave a small nod, before his hand drifted up to my face moving a few strands of hair from my eyes. His thumb grazed against my cheek and he leaned in kissing me on the forehead. ”Look… I don’t care where we go. I just want to get us away from them. And as long as I’m with you, I don’t care where I live.” I took a deep breath and before I could give him my answer he added something else in. ”Besides… we could go house shopping”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Thinking back when I moved into this large penthouse apartment with him, I was able to get away with so much. I changed parts of the decor. I bought furniture that he hated. I even made plans to knock down one of the walls to make it a more open living space. He knew what I wanted and knew that I’d say yes. ”That’s cheating…”

I shuffled closer and his hands slid from my arms to around my back. I leaned against him. It’s not that we were never affectionate toward each other, we just weren’t the type of people to make a big public display of it, preferring to wait until no one else is home to be able to show each other just how we feel. ”So, is that a yes?”

I looked up, getting on my tiptoes to give him a small kiss on the lips before nodding ”Yes…. I’ll move anywhere with you.” He leaned in close, looking for another kiss, and loudly, we both heard the door lock click. We heard the voices of everyone else coming in. Dickie and Aidan‘s laughter, Amelia and Kallie following. I groaned and took a step back, tilting my head. ”Maybe now we can get rid of the island of misfit toys…”

I moved into the kitchen to make some coffee as our friends returned. They took a deep breath and shook my head, this wasn’t the result I wanted. I still wanted a chance to talk to Jace, and I wanted it to end on my terms. But, as much as it pains me to admit it. Finn was right.

Lyon Hunt


”Hey look at that. Another SuperCard comes and goes and I am left standing yet again as the SCW World Bombshells Champion. Another challenger who was supposed to be the end of me. And it’s funny, because it’s not like Andrea Hernandez would have been any nicer of the champion than me. She doesn’t ingratiate herself to you people any more than I do; yet somehow, you got it in your head that she would have been a better champion than me. That this reign of terror that you all think I’m perpetrating on the Bombshells Division would’ve ended just because Andrea would be the champion – despite the fact that she and I have very similar thoughts on what should happen as a champion and where the division is going.”

Kayla takes a deep breath closing her eyes before clutching the championship title over her shoulder with one hand. The small smile comes across her lips as she pats the other side. The empty side. Almost as if something is missing.

”Every title defence, all of you get your hopes up that I’m going to get beaten and the title is going to be taken away from me. You got your hopes up with Tempest, you got your hopes up with Andrea, you even got your hopes up with Luna. And I’m not going to stand here and lie to you people, those three were real challenges. Those three are names that I can look at and know that I wasn’t necessarily going to walk out of the match as champion. But I did. All three of them are what I call the legitimate challenges. My first title defence was against the woman. I took it from and Julianna tried her hardest and was also a legitimate challenger..”

“Not everyone can stake that claim. Because not everyone is on a level that they can challenge me. That is something that Aleesha Jones should consider. See, I saw her win that little battle royale. And now she has a championship match in her back pocket and she can announce going after whichever one that she wants. A lot of people might not remember this but she beat me for the Internet championship. She ended up leaving the company before I could get my revenge and if you all remember correctly whenever I face someone who has a victory over me, I fucking destroy them.”

“Something to think about Miss Jones, before you go opening your mouth and making the worst mistake you could possibly make. And I’m not saying this because I don’t want to face you. To the contrary. If you pick me, I’ll be the happiest little girl in the world because that means I get to destroy you and put to bed any of these foolish notions people have that you are in any way, shape, or form better than me.”

“But the lesson that I want to teach you is one that one of my opponents this week already knows. Don’t you, Victoria?”

Kayla tilts her head, looking down at the Bombshells Championship, and then back over at the empty shoulder shaking her head. Clearly thinking about how she used to have two championships – one for each side – and now she has to move one title between the two like a peasant.

”Now, before I get to Victoria, let me shift focus a little over to Eddie. You see, while Miss Jones won the female battle royale Eddie Lyons was able to best everyone else there and get his shot at Finn. And let’s be honest here, Eddie. We all know that you have eyes for Finn‘s World Championship. and hey, at least you earned your way there, and challenging him face-to-face is something that a man would do. Maybe Miles Kasey should take note. Because it seems like no one wants to earn anything any more and no one wants to live up to the code that all of us professional wrestlers like to live up to and come at someone direct.”

“But, that is something that I do like about you, Eddie. You will come at someone direct. I know that you’re going to walk out onto that show and challenge Finn and tell him you’re coming for that World Title. Right before you and your cousin defend those Mixed Tag Team Championships against us. and I know for a fact that you will be up to the challenge because you are always up to the fucking challenge. Your cousin on the other hand, well…”

“Victoria, the last time you and I saw each other, I was beating you down one on one. And it’s funny, because you have been the most vocal about the mixed tag team titles and the fact you and your little pinhead cousin got the win over us. And I congratulated you, and I meant it. We could stand here and make all the excuses in the world as to why you actually beat us. It’s not like you guys had your hands clean.”

“Miles was as big of a part of you winning those championships as anything else. But, a win is a win and you should congratulate yourself and pat yourselves on the back because you beat the most dominant team that this company has ever seen. In fact, you two beat the two most dominant professional wrestlers that this company has ever seen. We sweep awards, we break records – that is exactly what myself and Finn do.”

Kayla steps forward, moving the Bombshell Championship from her right shoulder over to her left taking a deep breath before she continues. Her green emerald eyes burning forward as her red painted lips twist into some kind of arrogant, yet angry smirk.

”And, what have you done with those Mixed Tag Team Championships since you beat myself and Finn? Nothing, you’ve done nothing. He and I took them to the Main Event. He and I got everyone interested in them. Meanwhile, your first defence is also going to be your last. And the only reason that matches going to be in the main event is because of us. Because of myself and Finn. Because the two World Champions are going to be allowing you two idiots to bask in our fucking glory and feel the spotlight down onto yourselves. Now, Eddie has a shot at actually being a main event but you Victoria? As good as you believe yourself to be, you are not on the same level as myself, Tempest, Luna, or Andrea.”

“Sure, you like to walk around with the Roulette Title like some kind of prize and you like to be snarky to people like Bella Madison on Twitter or X or whatever the fuck it’s called. But when you get in the ring with someone who is a real champion, you fail. It wasn’t even you who beat us. Eddie was the one who got the pin, Eddie is the one who earned himself a World Championship match and you? When you had a chance to show the world that you were just as good as me, that you could beat me, you failed.”

“You failed.”

“You called yourself a queen, you tried to convince everyone that you are one of the best professional wrestlers on the planet, but when push came to shove and you looked at me in the eye, all I saw was a scared little girl who tries to put her angry face on whenever she gets in the ring. Someone like me. This isn’t a mask. I’m a raging bitch and I know it and I will do everything I can to keep my championship over my shoulder and now I’m going to do whatever I can to snatch those Mixed Tag Team Championships back. And it’s not because of any other reason that I want to.”

“See, Finn and I are already the longest reigning Mixed Tag Team Champions with the most amount of defences and at this point if we take those championships back, we’re doing so just to compete with ourselves. And it’s kind of fitting that he and I are competing with ourselves, because there is no other team that can.”

Kayla scoffs and shakes her head.

”In fact, when we take those championships back, we will be entering a very exclusive club. While Mercedes Vargas likes to talk about how she’s held the Mixed Tag Team Championships three times, she only did it twice with the same partner. So it’s going to be Vargas and Kain, and London Underground, and us. The only two time Mixed Tag Team Champions as the same team.”

“So, maybe we should be thanking you. Because allowing us to beat you and win them back means that we get to say we are two time SCW Mixed Tag Team Champions. And it gives us a chance to beat our own record.”

“And you two? Well, at least you can say you beat us to end our first reign and you get to say you were the Mixed Tag Team Champions.”

“Cause there will be no Miles Kasey to help you this time. Victoria, you already know that I can beat you, you already know that I’m better than you, and Eddie isn’t stupid enough to underestimate the World Champion. He knows how good Finn is, and he also knows how good we are as a team. When the dust settles, Finn and I are going to take back our championships. And then, if Eddie really is going to do what we all think he’s going to do, then I’m going to sit back and watch as Finn dismantle him for the World Championship. And you Victoria? Maybe one day you’ll earn the right to have a championship match against me, but we all know how that’s going to end, don’t we dear?”

Chapter 53: Relationships


There has been so much talk about the relationship that I currently have. You people see it week and week out with how Finn and I look at each other. The fact that while people know that he and I are in a relationship we are not like the other couples that you will see constantly floating around the wrestling Zeitgeist. We aren’t like Carter and Miles, constantly flaunting their private moments all over the place. Nor are we like Alexandra and LJ who seem to think that they need to put every little interaction all over social media just because if they didn’t, no one would know that they were together.

Finn and I are so subtle in what we do that many people don’t know that we are a couple unless they know us personally. Occasionally I will put something on social media, a little quip or a comment to make people laugh. I will gosh over the fact that my boyfriend is a very good-looking man as well as being someone who, to be quite frank, is amazing at sexually pleasing me. These aren’t things that I put out into the ether willingly. In fact, it is taking so much of my energy on a daily basis to push people away from our relationship relationship so they don’t get the wrong idea.

But why? Why do Finn and I keep everything so insular? Well, we both have our reasons and I can only speak on mine. His are his own and that is something that most people don’t realise. They don’t seem to be able to separate myself and Finn from each other constantly lumping us together. And yes we have been a tag team, yes we are in a relationship, but he and I are two separate people with two separate opinions on many different things.

But what were my previous relationships like? With the life that I’ve been living and the problems we’ve been having, we all know that The Romani are constantly watching us, and you all know that Jace and I were in a relationship. But what was that relationship like?

Well, for that, we need to go back to the beginning.

I sat in the back of the cab, looking over my sister Amber. It was about six years ago, maybe seven. The truth is time seems to blend together. She had been dating Jason‘s older brother Renée for a few months. I had met René a few times and he seemed to be someone who you didn’t want to mess with but cared enough for my sister that it was never really an issue. As the cab rumbled along the road, I couldn’t help but shake my head and look over my sister angry that she wanted to drag me along to some weird meeting with Renée and his family. ”I don’t get why I’m coming with you…”

Amber slowly smiled and shook her head ”Well, maybe it’s time Brenna’s family met my family. In fact will be meeting his brother Jase. I think you’re like him.” Her voice changed so she said the last few words my heart raced as I slowly turned to my sister with my eyebrows raised

”Hold on…” I shook my head trying to resent my thoughts as the reality slowly hit me that this was something different. This wasn’t just a meeting. Amber had something in mind. ”Are you trying to set me up with your boyfriend's brother? Amber, I’m not interested.”

She smiled and shrugged slightly ”He’s 6’8, long dark blonde hair, handsome, muscular….”

My eyes fluttered and I cleared my throat ”Ok…m-maybe I’m a little interested.”

At this point in my life, I can blame my use. My immature age in looking at someone’s physical attributes instead of seeing all the warning signs. At that point, I wasn’t sure what to make of the Romani, all of the gypsies who I had met previously. Amber seemed happy and Renée treated her like gold so at the time I didn’t see the warning signs. I didn’t see if there was anything wrong with what they were doing or their lifestyle so I was more open-minded to joining them.

The cab rumbled down the road and stopped right in front of a large gate, a compound filled with small shacks and houses as well as a few larger buildings that The more powerful members of the family were able to live in. Amber and I got out, moving to the gate she put the security code into the keypad before hearing a click and opening the door. We both walked in and, I raised an eyebrow seeing a bunch of aging men sitting with cigarettes in their hands glaring at us. Amber gave a small to them before moving through the gateway and out into the larger courtyard.

It was different for me. Amber seemed to be so comfortable around all these people, these older men who laid at us with a mixture of curiosity, anger, and lust. My heart sank, I felt an uneasy feeling in my stomach but Amber seemed fine. She was confident moving us through to the back of the compound to the largest building in the entire area. I swallowed hard. I was nervous. We walked through the front door and Amber giggled running and leaping into Renée‘s arms wrapping her legs around his hips and kissing him passionately. I rolled my eyes unsure of how to feel about her sudden public display of affection with this large Long long-haired and bearded man who I had spent limited time with.

Then I saw him, just as Amber said. 6’8, with long hair that was tied back in a bun, his large and muscular frame was hidden somewhat under a tight-fitting black shirt and jeans, his face was handsome with piercing blue eyes, a strong jawline, and cheekbones that could cut glass. I felt nervous, something that wasn’t normal for me now but back then when I was younger and less hardened to the world it was easier to see and believe.

He walked toward me and it wasn’t love at first sight, it was lust. Pure young lust. His eyes moved up and down my body, I knew what he wanted, I knew what I wanted. I was just too young and blind to see the dark path this was going to lead me down. ”Aye, you must be Ambers sister…Kayla was it?” I smiled and nodded slowly, I felt my cheeks flush a bright shade of red. I look back on those days now with embarrassment and trepidation at how stupidly immature I was. But I wanted him and was open to being with him.

”You know my sister set us up right?”

The night had gone on and I had spent time with him, getting to know him, not seeing the warning signs and red flags ”I’m aware…but to be honest it was my idea”

I raised an eyebrow, I was surprised that he was responsible. I was naive in the ways of the world and I let his attention make me feel special. I was stupid and young in my youth and all of this led me to who I was today. But this was the beginning and as I said you all need to understand it.

You see, everything I am today. The woman that I’ve become, it is all a byproduct of my history. You look at the relationship that I forged with Finn and you look at where we’ve gone in our lives and it all comes from whatever happened to us in our past. Everything that happened with him and his ex-wife, everything that happened with Me and Jace as well as my other relationships. It all pushed me to be who I am today and who he is today. And it’s why we are the way we are when we look at this current problem that we have.

All of this, the problems with the Romani, the fact it ties into Finn and his past with the Yakuza, we are being punished for the sins of our past. And for the first time, I have come to admit to myself as well as the rest of the world that we aren’t innocent in this. We are responsible for everything that our friends and family are going through. The decisions that we have both collectively made before even meeting each other are leading everyone down a path of discovery that they didn’t think they could deal with. a path of pain, anger, frustration, and danger.

And the irony is not lost on me. The irony is that all I’ve ever wanted was happiness. And now I have that happiness within reach, happiness with a man who never thought he deserved it, and all of it can be torn down because of mistakes that we both made in our younger years. But that is how life is. You never know where you are going until you look at where you’ve been. And that’s all. Finn and I being in a relationship and being deeply in love cannot fully embrace the love that we have all because of the Love that we used to have with people who never deserved it. And that is perhaps the saddest tragedy of all.

A new challenge

”Do you all smell that? It’s the smell of a real challenger approaching. The smell of rivalry and competition.”

Kayla Richards, our reigning and defending SCW world bombshells champion. Her long black hair was tied back in a high ponytail, showing off her burning green emerald eyes as she stared head and for the first time in a long time, she seemed excited. Excited about the future and excited about a match. The championship title, one that was fought over by the entire female roster was slung over her right shoulder, her right arm curling around the bottom half of the strap holding onto it for dear life. Her body language betrayed the fact that she was clearly afraid of losing it.

”You know, there was a small part of me over the last couple of weeks that started to believe some of the rhetoric that others were saying about me. Being at the top of the division is hard work. You have some people who respect you and others who are coming for you and gunning for everything that you have, ready to try and take it away from you at a moment's notice and they will do everything in their power to do it. Trying to get in your head with ridiculous statements. Now, I consider myself to be a mentally strong human being. I’ve been through a lot in my life and each time life throws one of those curveballs at me. I tend to hit it out of the park and keep going.”

“It is something that I’m rather proud of. Having that mental fortitude to look everyone in the eye and say that I know that I’m right and they are wrong. But in the last few weeks, I’ve heard those voices slowly echoing in my mind sewing seeds of doubt. Because everyone tries to tear you down when you are at the top of the hill. When you’re standing up there and looking down at everyone else trying to scratch and claw their way toward you, they will say things that will get into your head. Now, I am not innocent in this because I did it myself as I was climbing my way to this championship”

“However, when I talk, when I look someone in the eye and say something to them everything I have ever said has been based on fact. I don’t go wildly making things up to try and tear people down because in the end that can backfire on you.”

“So, as I said, the last few weeks have been hard because I did slowly start to doubt myself. I’ve heard the comments by all the different women coming after me and so many of them have been based on real facts. I did lose the mixed tag team championships. I did suffer my first loss in a year, these are facts and these are true things that happened to me and I can sit there and deny them but the truth is that it’s just going to make me look like an idiot. Denying your losses and denying your failures is a fast path to being looked at as a joke. If you accept them, then it takes away the power that others hold over you.”

Kayla pauses closing her eyes as she grips the championship title. When her eyes open, the passion and power is still there shining away.

”So, yes, my reign as half of the mixed tag team champions did come to an end. But that doesn’t stop anything. That doesn’t make what I accomplished mean anything less. I still defended two championships at the same time and held them currently which is something that no one else in this company can say they have done except for Finn, sure, Victoria Lyons can walk around saying she did it too and is currently doing it, but we did it on a level that she could never imagine. And I think I proved that by walking into a match with the woman who would be my equal and I put her in her place. Victoria Lyons believed herself to be a queen and I did whatever everyone wanted to do and I took her head off and left her laying in in the middle of the ring broken and beaten.”

“I did that. Me! And everyone who sat there saying that I was starting to go on a downward spiral had to eat their words. Finn and I lost those mixed tag-team championships but at the end of the day, it doesn’t stop us from being the best of the best. We can no longer call ourselves the best team in this company but we can still call ourselves world champions and that is exactly what I am a fucking world champion.”

“Something that Victoria lions will not soon forget.”

“It’s something that no one should forget, for the better part of three years since I came to this company I have done nothing but prove that. I’ve proved that by facing women who are in the Hall of Fame or who are going to be in the Hall of Fame. I have done that by avenging most of the losses that I have on my record which by the way are very few. When someone beats me as I have told each and every one of you, I come back with a vengeance and I come back better to right those wrongs and make sure everyone knows that I was the better woman.”

“Who else can make such a claim?”

Kayla lost to herself taking the championship from her shoulder and looking at it smiling as she admires the engraving as well as her name on the nameplate that sits at the bottom of the front-facing plate of the Bombshells championship.

” The truth is that I’ve always been someone who wants to get revenge and be better than I was previously. When I first won this championship, I criticized the woman that I took it from. I did. I’m not going to deny it. You see my next defense is against Andrea Hernandez, yet, the woman I took this from is someone who Andrea knows quite well Julianna DiMaria. And when I beat her I had done so by showing her a certain level of respect while also talking about how she only defended the championship against people who she knew she could beat. I honestly felt like she had been ducking Me.”

“And I called her out. I called her out because I wanted to be noticed. I was sick of sitting in the shadows and thinking that I was the best this company had to offer but I wasn’t getting the opportunity to prove it. And when I was given that opportunity I knocked it out of the park and I became the bombshells champion and I’ve held this championship for over 200 days. And in that time the championship defenses I’ve had also defending those mixed tag team championships have also been a little bit on the mixed side”

“See, I defended this championship against Ariana Angelos and Seleana Zdunich. And while those wins padded out my résumé the truth is I wish they weren’t on there because those two should never have had a sniff at a championship like this…”

“Admittedly, I also defended the championship in a rematch against Julianna as well as beating the blast from the past winner Luna Palsino and Tempest. Those three women right there consist of a former champion, a woman who won one of the hardest tournaments to win as well as one of the most physically imposing bombshells on the roster. So anyone who wants to talk shit about my championship rain can suck it because I clearly have beaten some of the best this company has to offer and now I’m faced with perhaps my biggest challenger Andrea Hernandez.”

She breathes in her nostrils flaring as she closes her eyes trying to calm herself down and lightly letting go of the air in her lungs, it calms her down, slowing down her heartbeat as she throws the championship back over her shoulder. She wears a Finn Whelan “Seattle Saint” t-shirt as a way to show her support for her boyfriend and the love of her life.

Q”When I say that my biggest challenger is Andrea Hernandez I say this with a certain amount of trepidation. See, Andrew went away from this company for a while and has come back and exploded on the scene and she seems to have picked up right where she left off. There seems to be a strange narrative where people seem to think I don’t show the proper respect to women who are good enough in this company. It’s something that a lot of people like Alexandra Calawhatwcerhernameis and Ariana Angelos seem to push out there.”

“All because I verbally berate them on a regular basis. But nothing could be further from the truth. When I look at women who can add something to this business and to this division I walk on them with open arms and I am more than ready to give them the respect that they’ve earned. Shit, I look at Alexandra Hernandez and I tell you all that she’s the biggest challenger that I’ve had and I fully mean it. She’s a woman whose career paralleled mine.”

“A huge chip on her shoulder, arrogance that many people believe she didn’t earn as well as starting off in the Internet division before becoming the world champion. It sounds very familiar doesn’t it Andrea? And I could sit here and deny that you and I have had a very similar path toward glory but the truth is that I would just be made to look like an idiot if I denied it. You are a real competitor and a real challenger for this championship. And I would be remiss if I looked into the camera and told the world that I was going to beat you easily because the truth is that I don’t know if I can come out of this match still the champion”

“Shocking, I know.”

“But, matches like this where I go up against someone who is as good as they believe themselves to be who are a real threat to my championship get me excited. I didn’t get excited facing some of the names that have fallen into me, because I knew I was going to beat them. Women like Adriana Angelo who I had beaten so many times before did not excite me when I got into the ring with her again to defend this championship. But you? Knowing that I’m going to be defending this title against you one of the biggest shows of the year gets my blood pumping and makes me want to be here. It makes me want to put on my best performance and it makes me want to beat you in Waze that many people just can’t understand. Because not everyone is like you and Me Andrea, not everyone lives in breathes for this shit.”

Kayla laughs to herself and takes a deep breath before shuffling sideways and tilting her head.

”I’m glad that you won that triple threat match. If I had been forced to face Alexandra I probably would’ve come out here and just stared at the camera, unwilling to say anything not showing any passion just being bored generally because someone like her shouldn’t be facing me for the bombshell championship because she doesn’t deserve it. If Alicia had one I would’ve just rolled my eyes and shrugged because she has a fading violet who should’ve stayed where she was.”

“But you? You are someone who left this company at the height of her powers. Someone who could’ve regained the world bombshells championship and stayed at the top of the mountain but instead you chose to take some time away and rediscover yourself. And now that you’ve come back, I think we can all agree that you are a welcome shot in the arm for this division. In fact, when I look at the history of the Internet championship, there really are only two names that matter for that title and that is you and Me. Andrea Hernandez and Kayla Richards. The two best Internet champions of all time.”

“But when we look at the history of the world bombshell championship your world title rain didn’t go as you wanted it to did it?”

“You reached the top of the mountain and you were able to defend the title against a few big names but in the end, you lost it to Evie Jordan. You lost it to someone who should’ve never have held it. So now here you are on your redemption tour trying to regain that glory. Also, you can prove to everyone that you always belonged here. I think you did but you need to prove it to yourself. So, our careers have a certain amount of parallel meaning to it. I have been the one to go on to world championship glory and show the world that I always deserve to belong here while you are still scraping and chlorine trying to make sure that you get that relevance you clearly want.”

She pauses taking a deep breath and shaking her head. Her facial expression changes, she knows that Andrea is good enough to beat her but Kayla also knows that she has something that Andrea can never have.

”You probably think that what you want is so far and above what I do that you can beat me. You want to prove that you were always world championship material and you can become the bombshell champion again, as some kind of unfinished business. You want to get people behind you to make sure they realize that the fight that you have inside is one of righteous need and want. And I get it, you have unfinished business. The problem is so do I.”

“Winning this championship and holding it for 200 days isn’t my endgame. It isn’t my goal. You see Andrea what I want is for people to look at this championship and have my name tied to it forever. I mentioned the Internet championship, when people look at that they see my name and your name. They see what we did with that championship and they want to emulate that. They want their name to be tied to that championship forever.”

“Well, the world championship has that too. Amber Ryan, Alicia Lukas, Roxi Johnson, hell even Mikah. All of those names are tied to this championship. When people talk about the best who have held it, they mention those women. That’s what I want. I want to be able to hold this championship and beat the best of the best so that when all is set and done people see me when they look at this title. They mentioned me when they mentioned the best you have held it and the best who have been associated with it. And to reach that goal I have to keep beating everyone who comes for me. Including you. Because I’m not at that level yet, I’m not at that height of my powers to be able to call myself synonymous with the world bombshells championship and you are standing in my way.”

“So, as much as I respect you and as much as I’m looking forward to this match you need to realize that I will do whatever it takes to keep this championship. I will drop to any lance to keep it and there is nothing you can do to stop me. You are good enough to beat me for this title, I’m not stupid. I know that. But you are facing someone who will do anything to keep it. I am the best you will ever get in the ring with, and considering the names that you’ve already faced I’m sure you’re thinking that is some kind of arrogant statement, and it can’t be true. But trust me Andrea when you and I meet at high stakes it is going to be a clash of two of the best this company has ever seen. But you’re facing someone who will do whatever it takes to leave the winner. And this war has only just begun.

Chapter 51: In a sisters shadow.

So many things have been happening in my and Finn‘s household. The last week also had been a whirlwind of action and moments. From Dickie and Aiden coming over and speaking to Finn, to my efforts trying to keep everything together with both of my sisters and Amber trying to connect with her young son Luca who was still living in the large apartment With Finn and me. Not to mention my complex feelings toward my nephew whom Finn had been able to rescue. My heart aches for him knowing that all he ever wanted was to be loved and cherished by his family and the feeling of rejection that he must’ve had when Amber struggled to connect with him.

But today was different. Amber had walked in bringing both Nova and Luna her twin daughters with her introducing them to Luca before taking him by the hand and taking him down the street to get something to eat and bond with him. She left her twin daughters with me and Finn allowing us to babysit the 2 6 year-old girls. Nova, who had always been headstrong and confident ran around and helped Finn with the different things he was doing around the house.

I on the other hand sat with Luna, she had always been the one who seemed to fade into the background standing in her more charismatic sister's shadow. I sat back slowly flipping through a magazine and showing it to Luna, we started talking about different dresses and clothes, allowing me to get an idea of what Luna wanted for Christmas.

I smiled at my niece. The truth is Nova and Luna reminded me of myself and Amber. While Amber and I were not twins and we had different views on life, we were only separated by three years. We had very similar personalities to each other, whereas Nova and Luna were completely different but I still had a soft spot for Luna. The young girl had always struggled and I wanted nothing more than to make sure my niece was going to be successful in life.

”Auntie Kayla…” I raised an eyebrow looking down at my niece. I acknowledged her voice before sitting back waiting to see what she wanted. ”Nova and I just started first grade. And it’s really weird. She has more friends than me. I don’t think people like me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Shaking my head I gave her a pat on the head ”It's ok no one likes me either”

Luna raised an eyebrow I know she wanted me to elaborate. I could hear Finn moving around close to the door. Stopping as he listened to the exchange. ”What do you mean Auntie Kayla?”

I sighed shaking my head ”When I was a little girl and I went to school your mother was one of the popular ones all through high school she had a lot of friends and had fun….I wasn’t as popular….I felt like I was in her shadow…” I took in a deep breath, shaking my head as I looked down at her. Luna studied me trying to figure out if I was telling the truth or if I was lying to her. She was so perceptive, as she always had been.

”And what did you do?”

”Nothing.” I smiled as Luna looked at me confused unsure of what to make of my statement. I cleared my throat deciding to elaborate. To let her know my secret the reason why I never cared if anyone disliked me. ”You will always find people, people who accept you for who you are. The most important thing is never changing. I could have, I could’ve changed and been more like your aunt Tasmin or been more like your mother, but I didn’t.”

She gave me a small nod understanding what I was trying to say. ”But didn’t you get lonely?”

I took in a deep breath smiling weekly before deciding on an answer ”A little bit. But eventually, you find people who want to spend time with you and like you for you. That’s what I got…. besides, I like you.” I smiled, Luna laughed and leaned over giving me a hug. I gave her a small paddle on the head kissing her forehead before she jumped down and ran to go find her sister.

Finn stepped around the corner moving up to me and folding his arms over his chest before leaning on the kitchen counter ”You are really good with kids”

I laughed and shook my head ”You seem shocked…”

Finn took a deep breath and stared ahead, he was choosing his words carefully. Smart man. ”Maybe. It just goes against what most people think of you. I know you have a side of you that you keep hidden, so it’s not shocking to me, but I just thought you should hear it. You do an amazing job with all of your family.” I simply smiled. It was a good feeling knowing that my efforts had always been noticed. Finn cleared his throat with a small smile coming across his lips starting in the corners it twisted upward ”Was that true? What you told Luna about how you felt? Being in Amber‘s shadow?”

”Oh god no I’ve always been fabulous…”

Finn stared at her, looking deep into Kayla's eyes with a small smirk ”Right, that’s what I thought…” he laughed moving around me and putting his hand on my shoulder. I reached up and squeezed it. As he released, he walked away spending some time with my nieces as I got to my feet and decided it was time to make a coffee. Being the favorite aunt is exhausting work and I needed energy.

”Auntie Kayla….come play hide and seek with us…Uncle Finn is gonna look for us…” Luna grabbed me by the hand, pulling me sideways as Nova came up as well giggling like a lunatic. I moved over looking across the room at Finn.

”Uncle Finn?” He shrugged that adorable boy screen plastered back on his face. He knew how to make my heart flutter. But I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that’s the kind of effect he had on me. I heard him start to count Nova Luna and I separated going and hiding. I sat in my hiding spot my arms folded over my chest looking out to see if I could see Finn coming. It hit me like a tonne of bricks. I was having fun. It was all about family…

Apex Predators.

The silence is broken by the sound of chuckling. Just a small one, a sharp inhale of breath as Kayla Richards comes interview. Her long black hair was tied back in a bun showing off her slender neck and strong jawline. She takes a deep breath tilting her head sideways with her tattooed arms folded over her chest.

”Well I wonder if anyone in the peanut gallery is still laughing at my expense? I told the world that this isn’t easy, I told the world that I was the best to do this and people still for some stupid reason doubt me. Tempest doubted me, so she decided to open her mouth and cast a shadow on my world bomb shield championship rain and make it sound like I wasn’t a worthy champion. Tell me Tempest, how did that go for you? How did all those stupid little comments about my actions as the champion of this division turn out for you? Because last time I checked, I’m still standing here as a double champion and you’re still standing there unable to break through the glass ceiling above you despite your enormous head and ridiculous height.”

Kayla lets out a small scoff noise shaking her head and throwing her hands in the air before placing The back around her chest, folding them over.

”It’s amazing to me how people seem to downplay what myself and Finn have been able to accomplish. What we’ve been able to do in the last year and a half. See, everyone keeps on pointing to other times throughout history in this company where people have held two championships concurrently. They talk about Roxi Amber and Mikah, and how they all held championships at the same time. But, what he and I have been able to accomplish our completely different. I’m not taking anything away from those women and the fact they were able to win a championship while still holding a championship.”

“But this is not the same. Both Finn and I have been able to defend the mixed tag team and world championships at the same time. We didn’t have to drop one of them within a month of holding it. We have been the mixed tag team champions for over a year and are well on our way to making sure that our names are forever etched in the histories of the biggest championships this company has. Nobody, and I mean nobody has done what he and I have been able to accomplish yet. There are still some people out there who want to run their mouths and discount both myself and him like nothing. Like we’re just pretenders to some imaginary throne that they’ve cooked up in their stupid little heads because they think they know better.”

“Finn just beat that overrated hack, Kris Ryans”

“It seems like his wrestling ability has aged about as well as his taste in women. I just beat Tempest. A woman who many thought was going to be the biggest test of my career because she was being locked inside a steel cage with Me. But he’s the problem, I wasn’t locked in that cage with her. She was locked in there with me and she was locked in there with the best fucking bombshell on this roster. So I walked out with that championship held high and now Finn and I are going to defend our mixed tag team championships against the Lyons family”

She steps forward, wearing a white crop top that shows off her midsection and the tattoos across there as well as her rather ample chest she leans forward. Her emerald green eyes piercing straight through the screen as if she’s looking right into the audience's soul.

”This match comes at a really horrible time for both of you. See, I would always be up to defend those championships against anyone let alone two people who have had a fair amount of success in this company and have shown themselves to be talented. But, coming out of my match against Tempest I was in a good mood but by the end of that super card not so much. You see I had to watch a stupid British ingrate turn around and stab a knife in my boyfriend‘s back in front of the entire goddamn world. That cowardly little douchebag who didn’t have the common decency to go up to Finn and say to his face that he wanted a championship match, so I’m not in the best of mood right now and because of that I’m getting into that ring and I’m looking to hurt someone”

“And that someone is going to be Victoria Lyons.”

“Under normal circumstances, I will just be looking at going in there and humiliating you because I don’t like you. Think you are quite literally one of the worst people on the planet and coming from Me someone who is universally disliked by 90% of the people in this company should tell you something. Victoria you are a skidmark on underwear that is found on a park bench frequented by old people, perverts, and homeless men. You are the type of person who would walk into a McDonald’s and then you would complain about the quality of the food. You are the type of person who thinks that Taco Bell shits are a right of passage.”

“You are the type of person who walks around in the summertime asking people about the heat.”

“Now, i’m not gonna sit here and say that you and your cousin aren’t great professional wrestlers because the truth is that you are. Hell, I even admire the way that you put Bella Madison against Me Victoria. I pointed it right out to Bella that I knew what you were doing because it was a brilliant move. You were putting Bella against me because you know I destroy her both mentally and physically making your job easier at violent conduct. And it worked, you came out the other side still holding your championship. You left Bella lying in the ring, as a nothing a nobody, and a broken shell. But, your choices helped you with that therefore I should be given an assist. So I guess I will say one small thing to you about that match.”

“You’re welcome…”

Kayla laughed to herself, shaking her head and looking down before looking back up with a small spark in her eye, it’s a spark of anger and frustration and a need to break someone.

”Now, well I can fully admit that you and Eddie are both talented, and I can even go as far as The say that you might be a threat to our championship rain and you could put up a good fight if you came after my bombshells world championship and Eddie might give Finn a small run for his money when it comes to the world championship this is not the week to be facing us. Your last name is not some kind of accident.”

“A lion is viewed as king of the jungle. An apex predator in a land of dangerous predators. And while Eddie takes the road of being honorable and trying to do the right thing in the right way you Victoria are more of a woman like me. A woman of my own heart as it were. You will do whatever you can to get an advantage because you know that that’s what this business is all about. But the problem is that you actually think of yourselves as apex predators in this business and this company.”

“But you’re not.”

“Finn and I are at the top of the food chain. We’ve proved time and time again through winning championships and defending them. He and I both took this company by storm and went right to the top. We’ve done things that nobody has ever done before and we have started taking off other records. He and I are both undefeated this year. He’s 14 and nothing and I’m 15 and nothing. Neither of us has felt defeat and neither of us has known what it’s like to walk out a loser. We are the best of the best. You and Eddie can do everything you can to take these championships from us and I’m sure you will do everything that you can even though you can’t stand each other.”

“But in the end, you’re both going to fall and fail the same way everyone else has. Because you simply are not on our level.”

Chapter 49: My decision.

The entire situation was completely fucked up. I knew it, Finn knew it, Amber knew it and of course, poor little Luca knew it. We weren’t going to send him back. That was never going to be an option. But where exactly was my nephew supposed to go? Amber his own mother had no idea how to process the information. And before any of you get too harsh on my sister you have to realise something.

She thought she would never see her son again. Her ex-husband took that child away from her the second that Luca was born. Amber had resigned herself to the thought that she would never be able to hold her son to see her son to talk to her son. And now to suddenly have that opportunity in front of her she was terrified of being able to spend time with him only to have him taken away again.

It was a twisted logic, but it was one that I understood. But I needed to go for a walk. I needed to get out of the apartment.

Luca had fallen asleep, taking one of the guest rooms he couldn’t believe his eyes as he saw a giant bed ready for him to lay in. He passed out and I heard little snores coming from the room. As I went to leave, Finn went to talk to Me. I just held my hand up and shook my head and in that moment he knew that it was better just to simply leave me alone. I had shit that I needed to talk about shit that I needed to process, but it was not going to be with him.

I walked out going downstairs and leaving through the front entrance. In hindsight, that may have been a mistake. Leaving out onto the public street like that after what Finn had done. I knew they were watching. The part of Me just didn’t give a shit. I moved down the sidewalk. The slightly post-summer sun hitting me. It was now fall. Officially. But it was still warm in the air left over from the summer that we had just gone through.

I moved down the sidewalk, my hands sliding into the pockets of my jeans. I took a deep breath and shook my head but then I heard footsteps behind me and I turned, my eyebrow raising as I saw my younger sister Tasmin ”Hey….what are you doing here?”

”Is it true?” My heart sank. I didn’t know if I should just tell her or not. I was shocked that she somehow knew. Before I could answer Tasmin continued. ”Did Finn find Ambers son? Did he really rescue him?”

I took a deep breath swallowing hard before opening my eyes and leading her off the sidewalk to a slightly quiet area in front of a cafe ”Yeah he did…but how did you-“

”Kallie”

Of course. She had seen what happened, she was there. Of course, she would tell Tas. ”Look, we don’t know exactly what is going to happen. Finn was able to get Luca out of there and we’re not going to take him back to that compound but at the same time, we now have them coming after us. Amber has no idea what she’s doing. I have no idea what I’m doing. I just know that I’m not going to let anyone hurt that boy.”

There was a determination in my voice. It’s spat like venom out into the world and my sister looked at me with a strange sense of admiration. And I understood why. Most people think I’m always just out for myself but when it comes to my family I’m very protective, especially with the children. Tasmin knows that I would do horrible things to anyone who hurt her daughter. ”Can I meet him?”

I nodded straight away. It would do Luca some good to meet his other aunt. ”Yeah, of course. It’ll do him some good.”

”I could take him in and look after him.”

”No” I straightaway shook my head. We were not going to go with that idea. I took a deep breath and folded my arms over my chest looking my sister dead in the eye to remind her of the situation that we found ourselves in. ”Jace and the rest of the Romani will be looking for him. I’m not gonna put you Adam or Dawn in danger…”

”Then what do we do?”

I shook my head. I honestly had no idea what to say. But I knew what I was going to do. I turned and we walked back to the apartment. I let my sister go in before me. I had this sinking feeling in my stomach, we were being watched. I looked across the street, my eyes darting site side. And I saw them. A group of men who just looked out of place. They were Romani.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath looking behind me at my home. I could walk in there right now go back up and tell Finn that we were being watched. I could tell my sisters what was going on and we could form some form of plan but there was something else there. I needed to take control of this. I needed to go and see my former boyfriend. The man who for the longest time kept me as a pet. Who tried to get Me to become his perfect little gypsy wife.

I growled under my breath. This man had held too much power over me for too long. I looked up looking at the windows of my home higher above the skyline. I swallowed hard knowing that Finn was in there waiting for me. ”I’m sorry…”

I was ready to go across the street to tell them to take me to Jase. But as I went to step forward and cross the road to hand reached out and grabbed me by the arm. It was Amber. ”The fuck are you doing?”

I turned and looked at Amber right in the eyes and at that moment she knew what I was going to do. She grabbed hold of my arm even harder and pulled me backward into the lobby of my apartment building. ”You know what I want to do. You know what I have to do, Amber.”

”No, you don’t” She shook her head, she was disappointed in me and I could tell. Part of her admired the fact I was ready to go and face him, to step into the lion's den with little to no regard for my own safety. ”You know damn well but will happen if you go and see him. And besides, are you even thinking about what will happen with Finn? How he will feel? And Luca? He has become attached to you.”

”And he should be attached to you. You’re his mother.”

I knew those words would hurt. But I didn’t care. I’d always been straight with my sister and I wasn’t going to stop now. She needed a wake-up call just as desperately as I did. ”yeah I am… and I need you. I need you to help me. I don’t know how I should feel about this. My son, I haven’t got anything with him and I need you to help me so please please don’t do anything stupid Kayla.”

Amber‘s pleading hit me in the heart and I had no choice but to comply. I looked back out towards the street and then at my sister before giving her a small nod. We both made our way to the elevator ready to go upstairs so Amber could see her son. So I could help her navigate the waters of being able to bond with him and get over this horrible feeling she had of abandoning her child.

A giant challenge

”I want to be completely transparent and clear on this. I didn’t want to face Bella Madison.”

Kayla Richards, the current reigning and defending SCW Bombshells world champion stands with her championship wrapped over her shoulder. Her hand gripping the main championship plate at the front her thumb grazing over the nameplate which bears her name.

”It wasn’t because I didn’t think Bella deserved the challenge. It was because that match had nothing to do with me. That match came about because Victoria Lyons wanted to punish Bella and destroy her before their match at violent conduct. I was being used as a tool. A tool to destroy Bella and make sure she goes into the match with Victoria with his little momentum as possible. And to be completely honest is a waste of my time. I am a champion, actually scratch that. I am the champion.”

“I have been at the top of this division since I stepped foot in this company. I walked in and started beating people right away only to be kept back in catering because the top names of this division didn’t want me out there making them look bad. I had to go to social media and run my mouth to make sure that I got booked. And when I did, we were off to the races ladies and gentlemen. Everyone they put in front of me. I beat And when I didn’t beat them, when I was the one who was staring up at the lights looking at someone else have their hand raised. Then I came back better than ever and put them in the dirt.”

“But the match with Bella was not anything that was going to benefit me or her.”

“And that was the point. Victoria Lyons knew what she was doing. She was using me to make sure that Bella was going to struggle and all that did was force me to have a match with someone that given the right circumstances and opportunity could be a legitimate challenger Famai championship. But, on that same night that I made Bella Madison tap out, I was able to look over and see four women ready to beat the living hell out of each other to get a shot at my championship.”

“Four women ready to put it all on the line to face Me.”

Kayla chuckles, thinking back to the match itself watching it backstage after she had beaten Bella watching the four women scrap and claw and do everything they could to try and get an opportunity. It made her heart swell with pride. Pride that this division still had women who were ready to risk everything to get a championship opportunity against the best

”I watched it happen in real-time. Song, Bobby, Tempest, and Harper Mason. The four of them went out there and did everything they possibly could to get their hand raised. And the prize, that little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a match against me. Now, a match against me is always going to be something worth fighting for but a match against Me for the world bombshells championship is something that every single woman in that locker room should be ready to lay their bodies down for. No matter the cost, no matter the pain, you should be ready to do everything you possibly can to get in the ring with Me for this world championship.”

“This title is the crown jewel of the bombshells division. Shit, it might even be the crown jewel of the entire company and in some circles a jewel that most people outside the company would love to come in and fight for. I have done everything that I can to make sure it is a prize worth getting. I want to take this championship back to the heights that it’s so with women like Amber Ryan Roxi Johnson and Alicia Lukas. I want this championship to be something that people will put their bodies on the line for night in a night out and that fatal four is a step in the right direction.”

“A step towards redemption”

“What do I mean by redemption? I hear some of you asking.”

“I look around at a lot of the names and faces in the women’s division. None of them have really been able to break out like I have. I have a handful of losses and a pile of wins. I have five championship reigns to my name. Three as the Internet champion, one as half of the mixed tag team champions, and one as the bombshells champion. I am at the top of this division and I have been for a very long time. But everyone else, everyone else seems to struggle. They will go on small spurts winning matches before filtering at a challenge that they should be able to overcome. And that is what I mean by redemption. This entire revision needs redemption. I need some of you to start rising up to the challenge to start being more like me and less like, well, you.”

She pauses moving the championship from her shoulder and lightly laying it down on the desk beside her. Kayla folds her arms over her chest. She is an impressive specimen, very very fit with rippling muscles and strong thighs. Her body is still very much feminine, but she shows what it is like to put the work in the gym.

”And a woman who very much needs redemption is tempest. You see, you look at a woman like Tempest and you think to yourself that she should be at the top of the division. Tempest, your size, your power, your skill set. You should’ve drafted this world championship and held it for as long as you want to. But instead, you have faulted and led yourself around the division on a whirlwind tour of despair and loss. Every two steps forward you take when it comes to getting that respect and redemption you falter and fall back three. I’ve watched it happen time and time again. And at the end of the day the closer you get to this championship the further away you get to holding it.”

“I’m sure that sounds like a contradiction but you, yourself are a contradiction. Look at yourself, your size and strength alone make it almost impossible for most people to beat you. But you’ve lost so many matches that you should have won. You have held championships but haven’t really done anything with them to make those titles worth it damn. You were a mixed tag team champion with Austin James Mercer, he is a former world champion and he lowered himself to teaming with you. And you two were one of the reasons why those championships ended up disappearing in the first place.”

“It took me and Finn winning those championships and then becoming world champions to make those titles mean something. And now we have a few people chlorine over themselves. Try and get shots at us. But I’m still waiting for real challenges to come at us. But in the meantime, I kept on defending my bombshells world championship because I needed people to realize how dominant I am.”

“Dominant in a way that you should have been”

“But in the years that you’ve been here, we’ve only seen slight glimpses of what you are capable of. Small moments where people stood back in all and fear of what you could accomplish. But you’ve never been able to break through that glass ceiling. You had your mixed tag team championship run and then since that moment all you’ve managed to do is be the Internet champion. A championship that I made. That title was being forgotten about and passed around like it was nothing. Until I stepped up and took it and made it worth something. You were able to beat Courtney Pearce and take that championship and you had a great run with it until you ran into the woman who I deed for the bombshells championship.”

Kayla shakes her head and throws her arms in the air.

”Julianna was a good Bombshells world champion. Just good. I disowned her. I took this championship and I beat her again. And she marked tried into your division slapped you upside the head and took that Internet championship off of you just as you were starting to get into the conversation of being the most dominant champion of all time. You had it right there in front of you at your fingertips to write yourself into the history books and become something that no one else could claim to be. You could start showing the world that the tempest that we all knew you could be right there in front of us and in the end you failed”

“But this is exactly what I’m talking about with you. You took those steps back after losing, only to take two steps forward by winning that fatal four-way. Truth be told I’m glad it was you. Song has only just come back and Harper Mason is nothing but a joke of a Nepo baby who thinks that she’s top shit. So in my heart and in my mind, it was between you and Bobbie.”

“Bobbie faulted at the last second. The two of you have been two of the biggest names who never actually won world championships. And now you have a shot at it. But the problem Tempest is that you’re facing someone who is better than anyone else who you faced before whether you’ve beaten them or whether you’ve lost. You got to claim a huge scalp in Alicia.Lukas… congratulations”

“Thing is, I’m not Alicia Lukas.”

“She is a fading star, someone who still has the skills to be good in this division but not be the champion. She is on the same level as women like Mercedes Vargas. Or Samantha Marlow. Women who can still claim to be great professional wrestlers but aren’t good enough to become the champion. Not good enough to reach the pinnacle again. And when I talk about reaching the pinnacle, Tempest you need to realize something that everyone else slowly has started to. I haven’t just reached the pinnacle I am the fucking pinnacle.”

“A win over me means even more than becoming the champion. Because the record that I have the scalps that I’ve claimed the wins that I’ve had and the career that I have forged in this company is second to none.”

“It is the kind of win that can make your career Tempest. And oh boy do you need a career-defining win…And trust me, you might have some kind of confidence leading into this since I'll be locked in a steel cage. But I'm not locked in a cage with you....YOU are locked in there with ME”

“Beating Alicia right now means nothing. Beating the Barnharts for the mixed tag titles means nothing. Beating Courtney Pierce? That gave you a small boost. But since then, since losing that title, since fading from the mixed tag team division. Tempest, you are someone who should be a dominant force. But every single time you get close you just fail to pull the trigger. And this time is supposed to be different right? Maybe it will be, the only problem is I question what the future holds…”

“If you are somehow able to show that dominance that we all know you’re capable of, I question what happens after. You beat me you take the championship and then what? Do you go on a dominant run and actually show us who you were meant to be? or do you stumble and fail? Like you have with everything else you’ve done in your life from your personal relationships and friendships to being a professional wrestler. This championship needs a stable champion and you are not it so I’m going to be damned if I let you get anywhere close to my championship and my division. And at violent conduct, steel cage or not, I’m going to break you and put you in your place”