Chapter 73: The Reckoning.

In the weeks leading up to the party tour that we were all expected to go on I enjoyed my time at home. The life of a professional wrestler is almost like that of a travelling showman. We leave and go to different parts of the United States and then different parts of the world all to perform in front of people. Whether it is the Climax Control weekly shows or the supercards that take us to exotic places during certain tours, we have to leave our homes and travel away.

Now, I’m not going to complain about this. I don’t want to come off like I’m ungrateful. After all, I get to go all around the world and see beautiful places all while doing the job that I love. I have a blessed life. I’m not going to lie about it and I’m not going to sit here and make everyone think that I’m trying to tell you that my life is hard. My life is not any harder than anyone else’s. I love my life, I love what I’ve been able to accomplish, but I also love staying at home.

I bought a house with the man that I love and I enjoy staying in it. I enjoy waking up in my own bed, I enjoy sipping my coffee while looking out the window at the beautiful wide open spaces of Colorado. I love the fact that a lot of the people in the city that I live in are either respectful enough that they do not treat me any differently or they genuinely do not know who I am because they don’t watch professional wrestling. Don’t get it twisted, I do get the occasional person who flips out and wants to talk to me, but for the most part the shop owners and locals just know me as the tattooed English girl married to the handsome tall rockstar-looking antisocial hunk.

There are locals at the gym who give me a courtesy nod when I walk through the door, the lovely little barista at my favourite coffee place who is putting herself through college and whose mother is constantly on her back about getting a boyfriend. There is the kindly old man who owns a lovely little restaurant that Finn and I like to visit. A man of Italian descent whose family works there, and he does some of the greatest carbonara that I’ve ever been given the privilege of eating. The reason why I’m telling you all this is because you need to understand how much I love my home.

I love what I’ve been able to accomplish and what I have in my life.

And in my mind I’ve earned it. I’ve gone through so many horrible things. And even now I get to sit staring into the eyes of an innocent young child. Kallie brought over DCx3. Her young son, the son of that idiot Australian who for some reason everyone else likes. And while his father might be a bumbling oaf who I don’t like to talk to, think about, or be in the same room as, Dax is lovely. ”You are getting so much bigger. What is your mother feeding you?”

Kallie smiled and shook her head. Bringing a cup of tea to her mouth and taking a sip, she leaned onto our black marble kitchen bench staring across at me with a look of mild amusement. ”He eats everything. Between him and his father, our grocery bill is through the roof.”

I screwed up my nose and smiled, Dax giggled and kept looking up at me before sliding down onto the floor and running across the room. He grabbed hold of a small book, moving back toward me and jumping up next to me, putting it on my lap before pointing down at it. ”Read please?” I picked up the book and couldn’t help but smile. I could feel Kallie staring at me, waiting for my reaction.

I simply smiled and opened the book. Sitting on my couch reading the story to Dax, I saw him filled with joy and happiness. But his eyelids became heavy, and the young man decided to pass out on my couch. I slid the small stuffed kangaroo that he had brought with him into his arms and pulled a little blanket over him before standing up and moving into the kitchen. ”You really are amazing with him. It’s so cute. It’s the same way that I’ve seen you with your sister’s kids.”

I shrugged. ”They’re innocent. They haven’t seen what the world is yet. They will have enough disappointment and anger in their lives. Enough heartbreak. I’m not going to add to that. Instead, I’d much rather be remembered fondly by the next generation, thank you.” Kallie smiled. I grabbed my purse and sighed. ”I need to duck out, Finn will be home soon. Don’t think you need to go rushing out of here. You can let Dax sleep.” She stayed quiet, just lifting her teacup to acknowledge me as I moved to the door and left.

I moved my way out onto the street. Looking down at my phone, I moved toward our Amazon pick-up box, knowing that I was going to get a few packages as well as a registered letter. Finn and I were waiting on work from a lawyer that we had hired, and a private investigator to find out exactly what the gypsies were planning. But it was on this walk that something hit me. I felt them—eyes all around me. I knew they were watching, I knew they were still there. And they were doing a very good job staying hidden. But this time something felt off. This time felt like it was going to be an attack.

I could hear footsteps behind me. A pace that was matching my own. The shoes even sounded like mine. It was a woman. One who was a similar height and weight to me. Interesting. They’re sending someone who they think would be fair one on one. Idiots. I moved and turned down a slightly more deserted street before spinning around and folding my arms over my chest, waiting for whoever it was. And just like I planned, the girl turned—a mop of long black hair masking her olive skin and green eyes. She turned up her nose, a scar visible going across her right eyebrow, down her eyelid, and then across her cheek.

”You….” I recognised her. She was a simple soldier when I was there. One that I had punished. One that I had felt shame in having to punish and destroy. But here she was, ready to come after me.

”Me… I should’ve known it was you that they were sending me after. Jace said it would be special. Maybe he was right. The second I saw you walk out of that door I knew it. I’d be able to get my revenge.”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. She had no idea what she was talking about. She was still brainwashed. Still a member of the family, still someone who would die for the rest of them. ”Revenge? Are you sure that’s what this is about? Because I know I left a mark, but the mark I left wasn’t that one.” My motion was toward her scar. I saw her eye twitch and her hand move up toward her face.

”This was still because of you. Do you know how long it took me to claw my way back? How many bullshit collections I had to do? Do you know how long I had to be exiled?”

”Well it improved your English.”

”Shut up! You don’t get to make a joke out of this. Do you think you’re special? Because you got out? Do you have any idea what you did? You and your sister. Because of your sister leaving and taking you, because of Renee dying, everything hit the fan and Jace needed to step up. But the rest of us are still in the same hell. Why do you get to escape? Why do you get to have a new life?”

Her words started to hit harder and harder. Changing from revenge and anger to what was almost a plea for help. Her voice cracked and her eyes changed. She wasn’t angry, she was jealous. She was scared and knew what she had to do. But didn’t have the stomach to do it. This girl was going to get eaten alive if she went back without accomplishing what she was told to do. But that’s why she was the one to do it. Jace knows damn well she doesn’t have the stomach for this kind of thing. He knew she would fail. He sent this girl to fail so he could punish her and make an example of her. And I’m not going to let that happen.

I turned and opened my purse, pulling out my chequebook. I scribbled something down, turning the cheque over and endorsing it before grabbing her hand and slamming it into her palm. She looked up at me confused. ”Look, it’s not much, but it’s enough that it will get you away from here. Cash it, get the money, and get the fuck away from Colorado and get as far away from the New York compound as you can. Go back to the old country. Go somewhere else in Europe, go to South America—just go anywhere where they aren’t going to find you. I’m sorry. For everything.”

She looked at the amount written on the cheque, her eyes widened. She backed away and nodded slowly. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t have to say anything. I knew what she felt because I had been there.

Hope

Bloodbath in Miami

The beach was beautiful. Even though it was no longer summer it was still warm and inviting in Miami, Florida. The beautiful white powder of South Beach, the calm ocean as it floated in, mixing with the tall apartment blocks that seemed to ebb and flow across the coastline. Kayla Richards smiled and took a sip of beer. Yes, beer, a cold beer on a warm day. Nothing is better.

”It’s funny Frankie, when you started using the rookie mistake angle I was torn on whether or not it was legitimately how you felt or if it was a tactic. If it was a tactic to draw me in and confuse me, then I could respect that. Hell, it’s something that I would’ve found impressive. Even if it wasn’t going to work. But, the more I hear you speak, the more I realise that this whole rookie mistake narrative that you’ve got cooking up is legitimately how you feel. Why would someone sit here and constantly throw that out into the universe?”

“You’re somehow openly admitting that I’m better while also giving yourself a way out of this whole situation. The situation that you should not have been in. You are here because someone else was too cowardly to face me. You are here because you were able to win a match that should never have happened. You might be a rookie, but even a fully formed, experienced version of you would struggle against someone like me. Just based off of who I am.”

“And what I am...”

“I have never needed someone to make their own mistakes or any kind of luck to beat them. That’s what other people need, Frankie. Others need their opponent to make mistakes, others need to be lucky. I just need to be me. That might seem incredibly arrogant to you and self-righteous, and maybe it is, but that’s what sets me apart from the regular riffraff that you have been beating and dominating since you stepped foot in this company. That is what makes me different than everybody else in this company. But all I keep hearing from every single one of you is that my luck is going to run out or that I’m not as good as I think I am, when every single shred of evidence shows the opposite.”

Kayla clicks her tongue and shakes her head, taking a deep breath before continuing and folding her arms over her chest as her beer sits on the small table in front of her. She looks out across the beautiful white sand.

”However, considering the other low-hanging fruit you have been going for, does the luck and rookie mistake angle really come off as a surprise to me? I guess not. You seem to believe that somehow I’m living rent free in your head. That’s cheap. If you are living rent free in my head then how did you spend the last month and a half, since I beat you, waxing lyrical about how it was a rookie mistake and how you are going to get better? You aren’t living rent free in my head, sweetheart. I’ll explain to you exactly what happened, just so you can get a real glimpse into the mind of the genius that is Kayla Richards.”

“A few months ago you were able to win a tournament. It was a shock to many that you won, but it wasn’t a shock to me. I saw your competition and I honestly believed that you were probably the best out of the bunch. That really isn’t saying that much. That is honestly like saying you are the tastiest thing at Arby’s — everything else is still shit. But you still won. You still earned yourself a match against me.”

“I indulged your little fantasy that you were going to be an incredible opponent for me. I played along and I did so for your benefit. I could’ve been even worse than I was. A bigger, more destructive bitch, both physically and verbally. I could’ve hunted you down backstage and beaten the hell out of you. I could’ve verbally eviscerated you every single time I spoke about you instead of showing you that little bit of respect that I did show you.”

“But I let it go. I let it go because this division needs stars and I didn’t want you quitting and running away like Andrea Hernandez recently did. So instead, I showed you a little bit of respect. And when the match was over, I walked out of there with my championship held high above my head and a huge smile on my face. Because I felt like a new star had been created and you were going to fight your way back to me, and maybe by the time you did, you would be ready. But the second I went through that curtain, the second that my music stopped and I went home, I stopped thinking about you altogether.”

“So, no Frankie, you have not been living rent free inside my head. You have been sleeping like a cheap truck stop whore in my subconscious, because I forgot about you.”

Kayla rolls her eyes and keeps her arms folded over her chest, staring straight ahead. But there is a small spark of anger behind her eyes, anger that Frankie would presume to know her and know what she was thinking.

”That was until you won this opportunity against me. Then I was forced to deal with you again. Forced to listen to the same bullshit that you tried to run at me last time. And it’s really strange to me how someone who sits there and talks so much about change has refused to change in the last two months since I beat the crap out of her and kept my championship. You keep on talking about change like it is your God-given right to try it. Do you know what real change is, Frankie? Real change is showing, not telling. You sit there and tell me what you’re about to do and you tell me how I feel and you tell me what to expect, but then you show me nothing.”

“Nothing.”

“You are a silly little pain addict who likes to use every single cliché under the book because you haven’t learned anything from anyone. You haven’t done anything of note and you are trying so desperately to get my attention when all you had to do was win. All you had to do was keep going and all you had to do was show that you could pull the trigger, and you haven’t been able to do that. Instead, I get some blithering bullshit about you being inevitable, talking about change, using words like "rent free", all of the regular cliché crap that everyone before you has come and used. And as much as I want to believe that you are going to come out firing at Violent Conduct and do everything you promised, I simply don’t have the faith in you that you have in yourself.”

“You keep saying inevitable like you are some comic book supervillain. We might as well paint you purple, put a cheap gold gauntlet on your hand, and have you strut around this place clicking your fingers thinking that you’re special.”

“But when I look at you, all I can think of is much like Thor with Thanos, your father should’ve just gone for the head. Which is ironic considering you just seem less and less like a fighter and more like Thanos with daddy issues….”

Kayla balls her hands into fists and steps back and forth, trying to calm herself down. Clearly annoyed at Frankie’s attitude more so than her presumptions.

”The fact is, I have to deal with you. I have to be the one to beat you and face you. And I have to listen to everything that you put out into the universe and make the decision on if I should take you seriously or laugh at you. The problem with laughing at you is that it diminishes everything I’ve done with this championship, because you are the best that this company has to offer right now to put against me. And all of your big talk about wanting change is just a joke. You don’t want change,  you want to face me. You don’t want a new era,  you just want attention. And the saddest part about it is that without me you don’t get what you want.”

“Without me, you are just another voice begging to be heard and noticed. Without me, you are just another rookie who has been able to accomplish big things with no one caring. But with me, Frankie? With me you tricked yourself into thinking that you matter. You tricked yourself into thinking that you are an agent of change and a champion of a new era. You believe these things that you are saying about yourself and considering the knee-jerk reaction you had last time I beat you, this isn’t going to be good for you. This isn’t going to be healthy.”

“At Violent Conduct you are going to be stepping in the ring with the greatest professional wrestler this company has ever seen. Not the best women’s wrestler, not the best bombshell or female. The best professional wrestler on this planet. That is who I am. That is what I am. And you need to do something better to beat me.”

“I just don’t have the faith in you to do it. And I simply do not believe you.”

Something you're missing made you who you were
'Cause I've kept my distance, it just made it worse
But I've learned to live with the way that it hurts

Chapter 71: Specter

This isn’t the first time I’ve been engaged.

I know, shocking right? But it’s true. This is, however, the first time that I was proud to tell my mother what was going on. Last time I was getting engaged to someone who had no idea what it meant to be in a relationship and a partnership. I was engaged to a man who believed that he owned me. The engagement ring that he gave me was more like a collar that he had put around my neck. Like you would to a pet. A deed of ownership.

That seems to be a running theme.

The second time I got engaged, I didn’t even get to answer the question. This time I travelled to tell my mother exactly what had happened, last time it was announced in front of her. She had no idea, she wasn’t given any warning. And strangely enough, neither was I. But this time was different. This time I was making the trip out to see her and tell her exactly what had happened. And while I knew that she would be happy for me, I was also terrified. I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t know how she was going to react.

In the grand scheme of things, I suppose it didn’t really matter. No matter what my mother said or did, it was not going to change the fact that I was now engaged to Finn Whelan. I’m going to marry this man and nothing that my mother could say or do was going to stop that. I knew that deep down. But it was still nice that I got to tell her. Instead of what happened when Matt Shields decided to just tell everyone that he had decided to take me as his wife.

That day was one of the most embarrassing and infuriating in my entire life.

My mother looked at me, she had this facial expression that I had seen before. It wasn’t a facial expression that was full of anger or embarrassment. No, this facial expression was one of disappointment. She was disappointed in me and disappointed in the situation. She knew damn well that my relationship with Matt was not going to last and I had gotten myself into a hole that I could have gotten out of easily. In fact, I could’ve done it at that moment when Matt announced that we were engaged. I could have and should have slapped him in the face and told him to get the fuck out of my mother’s house.

But I didn’t, and now all I can think of is the stark difference in reactions.

”Kay! This is a surprise. What are you doing here?”

”Lovely welcome, mother” I rolled my eyes and smiled before stepping into her little three-bedroom house. Her long black hair was tied back in a high ponytail, but she was dressed very similar to me. While I wore black jeans and converse with a black halter top, she wore the same style top but with blue jeans. She looked like a slightly older version of myself and my older sister Amber. The three of us all having long black hair, green eyes, and tattoos. The odd one out was, of course, my baby sister Tasmin with her long blonde hair and blue eyes.

My mother shook her head as she stared at me. I know she didn’t mean to sound how she sounded, but I was still going to give her shit. ”I’m just surprised, that’s all. You normally call before you come around. Turning up unannounced is more your older sister’s thing.”

I chuckled again and moved into the kitchen. I picked up her electric jug, pulling the top off and filling it with water before placing it back down and flicking on the switch. Grabbing two cups, I put a teabag in each and some sweeteners before turning around and leaning against the kitchen bench. ”I’m not allowed to drop in and see my mother? Besides, I wanted to surprise you. And flying all the way back to New York is not really my idea of a good time, so feel grateful.” I raised my eyebrows and stared across the kitchen at her.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head before sitting down at her little kitchen table and looking up at me. ”Right, calm down, you little dramatic bitch.” I couldn’t help but laugh at that one. She smiled warmly, I know she was happy to see me. Over the last few years I had gotten a lot closer to my mother. Not that I ever had a problem with her, but there was a time when our relationship was strained. But not anymore.

The electric kettle finished boiling. I turned and made our cups of tea before setting one down in front of my mother and the other in front of myself as I sat down. ”Speaking of flying back to New York, how are you coping with me not being around? Does Amber come and see you and actually spend time with you?”

”She does. But I spend a lot of time with your nieces. Nova and Luna remind me so much of you and Amber when you were little girls. You two weren’t twins but you might as well have been.” I took a sip of my tea and smiled. She was right. There were three years between myself and Amber, but looking at us you’d think we were twins. ”You didn’t just come here to see me and check that your sister was popping around. Cut the shit and tell me what’s going on.”

She knew I was there for a reason. My mother isn’t stupid. She knew damn well that I wouldn’t be dropping around just to say hello. If I was visiting her out of the blue, then it was for a reason. I cleared my throat and smiled before moving my hand, which I had strategically kept hidden from her, onto the table. Her eyes trailed down to my hand, they lit up, and she smiled. ”Finn asked me to marry him. And I said yes.”

There was a lump in my throat. Even though, as I said, I knew it was my decision and there was nothing that my mother could say to stop that, there was always going to be the small voice in my head that needed her approval. This anxiety-driven movement inside myself that wanted to please her and have her blessing. ”That’s amazing… I’m so happy for you! Congratulations.” I let out a deep breath, all of the weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and as my mother smiled and stood up to walk around and give me a hug, I felt like I could breathe again.

”Thank you… it was most definitely a shock. I wasn’t expecting him to ask me to marry him, let alone on a cruise ship, which was also a wrestling show. It’s probably the most ‘us’ thing that would ever happen, to be honest with you.”

My mother sat back down and just laughed. She shook her head and took a sip of her tea. ”You didn’t expect it? You two are perfect for one another. And I’m glad that he’s decided to ask you to marry him. You two really are the perfect couple.”

The rest of the visit went perfectly fine. She and I talked and laughed, made plans for her to come out to Colorado. But I had to say my goodbyes and come back home. And as the Uber stopped out the front of my home, I had a warm and fuzzy feeling of relief wash over me. This was my home, and now it was also where I was going to spend the rest of my life with the man that I love. I walked inside, going around the corner and stopping as I found a package leaning against the door.

I picked it up and went inside. Finn was not home, no one was home. I looked down and read the card. Not helping myself, I read it aloud. ”Congratulations…” I know the word gets around, but we had barely told anyone. I shrugged and opened the package, my heart stopping. My hand trembled as I reached in and I pulled out a small thin black rope. It was small enough that it could be tied around a wrist. I knew exactly what it was. And I knew exactly who it had come from and the message it was sending.

”Jace…”

A bridesmaid

The sun was shining, it was a gorgeous day with not a cloud in the sky. It was a bright blue day with the sun beating down. And sitting underneath a large umbrella was Kayla Richards, the current SCW World Bombshell Champion.

”Before I talk about what I did to that idiot Diamond Caldwell last week, or before I go into my upcoming championship defence and what it could mean for this company, I feel like I need to get a few things off my chest. So if you would allow me a little bit of time to get on my soapbox for a moment, I need you all to listen to me.”

Kayla folded her arms over her chest, sitting back on the deck chair that she was currently relaxing on. She was in a black and red bikini with her hair flowing down her body, enjoying her time in the sun before Climax Control.

”I understand that listening and understanding are two completely different things, and I also understand that some of you won’t listen to anyone except for yourselves and the sound of your own voices. But I am on the verge of something unprecedented. You look back at how little time I have spent in this company without a championship around my waist or over my shoulder, and you’ll see that I am leading this company into a more profitable period. A period where women are the ones who are going to lead us into the future of professional wrestling."

“And I am the face of this company and the face of the Bombshells Division. And I will drag each and every one of you, kicking and screaming, to the top if I have to. But this company needs better challenges for me. The ageing stars of yesterday and the arrogant bitches who don’t want to come back to this company are a major problem. As happy as I am that certain veterans have decided not to come back here, I can’t argue that their star power is needed."

“But I am the champion and you will all respect me. Respect me and give me the common courtesy of your best whenever you step in the ring with me.”

Her teeth ground together as she looked around and reached over, grabbing her drink. She took a sip before putting it back down, the alcohol calming her a little bit.

”This is something that Diamond Caldwell didn’t do. She didn’t say anything before our match, she didn’t do anything before our match, and when it was time for us to get into the ring and go at it, she put up a performance most people would call pathetic. And against me that isn’t really a big deal, because I make all of you bitches look pathetic on a daily basis. But this was different. I’m used to facing some of you and knowing that you know you’ve been beaten before you step in the ring, but she had the look of a woman who had been defeated when she put pen to paper and signed her contract in this company."

“I deserve a better class of challenger. I deserve women who are going to get into the ring with me and do everything they can to beat me. And that’s what I want. You think I want easy matches? You think I want to face women like Bea Barnhart? Or Song? Or Diamond Caldwell? Or either of her wives?"

“No…"

“I want challenges. I want women in this company that will get into that ring with me and give me a run for my money and perhaps even beat me. How am I supposed to get even better than I am now without facing someone who can beat me? I’ve said it time and time again: every single woman who has beaten me, I’ve come back better than I was before, and I have ended up climbing the ladder and becoming one of the most dominant champions this company has ever seen. But without others to push me, I am in danger of becoming stagnant.”

She paused for a moment, taking another sip of her drink and running her hands through her hair.

”And that is where both of the women who have chances at the Bombshells Championship come in. You see, to keep me occupied, I now have not one but two number-one contenders. I have Andrea Hernandez, one of the very few women on this planet who can say they have a victory against me. She was supposed to be the next one to get a shot, but this company decided that before I get in the ring with her, I need to defend my championship. Apparently, others can get away with only doing it at Supercards, but I need to do it before then."

“As Finn would say, I have to fulfil my ‘contractual obligations’… and in doing so, this company put three women in the ring and told them whoever wins gets a shot against me and this championship a week later."

“And I have to be completely honest, Bella Madison winning that match was not on my bingo card. Alexandra Calaway and Victoria Lyons I thought had better shots at winning and coming after me. And I don’t want that to come off as a slight against Bella, because I like Bella. But Victoria had just come off this huge run as the Roulette Champion, as well as being a former Queen for a Day and also having a win over me in a mixed tag match… and Alexandra?"

“Well, I don’t think she’s a better professional wrestler than Bella, but she is sneaky. She’s the type of woman who will smile and be sweet to your face, and the second you turn around she’ll be looking for a soft spot to stick the knife and twist it. And normally I admire that in an opponent. So that’s why I believed Bella was the least likely to win that match and have a shot at me. But now we have a ‘what if’ scenario happening?”

Kayla finished her alcoholic beverage and stood up, stepping out from under the large umbrella, letting her body get hit with the sunlight and the heat. She took a deep breath and looked at the beautiful blue ocean in front of her.

”What if Bella is able to beat me? What if she shocks the world? Can you imagine? Part of me kind of hopes that happens, because I know Andrea Hernandez would have an absolute brain aneurysm if Bella was able to beat me and was the one going into the Supercard with the championship to face Andrea. She would lose her shit. And there is a small part of me that would love to see it happen. But unfortunately, I can’t let that happen. And as I mentioned before, Bella, I like you. I do. You remind me a lot of my younger sister—the way you try and see the positives in everything, but you still have just enough of that bitch factor in you that no one really wants to cross you."

“You are always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Always taking two steps forward but three steps back. You won that triple threat and earned yourself a match against me, but do you really believe anyone thinks that you’re going to be able to beat me? All the promotional material is already done for the match against myself and Andrea for this championship. Think of those poor people who work tireless hours in the truck doing graphics for this company. Do you really want them to have to redo all the graphics just because you got a fluke? Do you think that’s fair to them, Bella? I don’t. Even though all of our graphics lately have started looking a hell of a lot better."

“The old ones looked like they were done by a 5-year-old with Down syndrome who just discovered what MS Paint is."

“But you still earned yourself a shot, and you should be proud of that. But here’s the thing. You are now getting into the ring with the biggest, baddest bitch in the yard. See, I’m the one who walks around here holding the gold that everyone wants. This is the championship that everyone dreams about. But not everyone gets to be champion. Not everyone gets to say that they’re the best. And you are, unfortunately, one of those people. And I’ll tell you why. It has nothing to do with how good you are or how good you aren’t.”

Kayla walked along the beach, dipping her toes into the sand and then into the water. She took a deep breath.

”You are definitely good enough to be the Bombshells Champion. You have all the skills, you have the pedigree. You were born into this business, and you have done so much work on yourself and in getting better time and time again. But the reason why you will never touch this championship as long as I’m champion is because you are too sentimental. You have too much heart. But not heart in the way that drives you to keep going when you take a beating."

“I’ll give you an example. When the Blast from the Past happened and your mother decided to step foot in an SCW ring, you did not immediately tell her to stop, turn around, and fuck off. You didn’t tell her that it was a bad idea. And I don’t mean a bad idea for her, because your mother showed that she can still go and she’s still one of the best professional wrestlers on this planet, and truth be told, I’m going to wish it was her who was standing across the ring from me on Climax Control and not you."

“But… that’s just it, kid. That right there is the problem."

“You have been in this company carving a path out for yourself. A niche for yourself. Going your own way and doing your own thing to the point where people were no longer looking at you and seeing your mother. They were looking at you and seeing Bella Madison. They weren’t seeing your father and they weren’t seeing your mother. They were seeing you. And all of that got wiped away when your mother decided to come to this company. And instead of going to her and telling her not to do it, you stepped back and smiled. Just like your mother will be smiling when she sees her baby girl go against me for the World Championship, and she will be doing everything in her power to make you believe that you can beat me."

“At the end of the day, your mother’s love is a beautiful thing, Bella. But that is why you and people like you and your mother are different from me. Everyone talks about how I’m not a good person or I’m a bitch or I’m arrogant. But what I really am is honest. Your mother’s not going to be honest with you. She’s not going to tell you you don’t have a chance against me. Just like you didn’t tell her that you didn’t want her in the Blast from the Past. You both lie to each other—blatantly. The people like me tell the truth. The truth isn’t convenient, the truth is rarely something that people want to hear. But the truth is all I have ever told. And the truth is, Bella…"

“I’m going to end you on Climax Control and send you back to the Internet Division where you belong.”

Chapter 69: How it started vs how it’s going

I had known him for a while. Finn Whelan. He and I had become friends. Not best friends, and we weren’t super close, but we knew each other. It was something that my boyfriend at the time, Billy Danielson, hated. He was insecure. And because of that, he would gaslight me if I had a male friend. It was something I hated. Eventually, we came to a breaking point. Billy and I broke up.

And no sooner had I been lamenting the fact I had another failed relationship than I got a phone call.

It was Finn.

He called to make sure I was alright. And in the same breath, he asked if I wanted to come out for a couple of drinks to drown my sorrows. We were both in New York. And I figured, why not? So there I was, after I’d spent the entire day trying to find things to keep myself busy so I wouldn’t think about the fact I had failed yet again at trying to make a man happy enough that he wouldn’t turn into a complete dick, now scrambling around wondering what I should wear.

After all, I had no idea what exactly this was. At least at the time.

I wondered if I should just go out in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, a pair of Converse and maybe a leather jacket. Or maybe a nice little black dress,tight, hugging my curves, something that would make my body look irresistible. But then again, all this was going to be was drinks between two friends, right? Or could it have been something more? Was Billy right in being worried?

I remember standing in front of my mirror, making the decision that I was going to doll myself up. Not so much for Finn, but for myself, to feel more like me. I slid on the little black dress, the bottom part cut so high on my thighs I had to be careful if I sat down or bent over. The top had a plunging neckline that made the twins pop. I took a deep breath as I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. I looked great.

I did my hair, did my makeup, and stood in front of the mirror again to make sure everything looked perfect. And on the outside, at least in my eyes, it did. But I also knew, deep down, that I was far from it. I felt like a failure. Even though I was trying to maintain an aura of confidence with what I was wearing and my attitude, I also felt deep down that this was going to be nothing. Finn and I were only ever going to be friends. And that’s honestly what I thought when I left my apartment that day to go have drinks with him.

”I both love and hate this event.”

I folded my arms over my chest. Walking around the deck of the cruise ship was always an interesting experience whenever we had Summer XXXTreme. Every year, we’d get a free holiday on a cruise ship, but we had to share it with not only all the idiots we worked with but also all of the fans. It was designed to give fans of the company access to its stars and allow them to spend time with us, ask questions, create a sense of community. It was a way for the company, and the stars, to say thank you for all the support these people gave us. But at the same time…

I hated spending time with them.

Finn walked next to me, his arm now out of the sling, wearing only a supportive brace under his shirt and jacket. He still wasn’t in the clear and was nowhere near ready to come back, but it was an encouraging sign. And I have to admit, the fact he was now able to wrap his arms around me made me feel a lot better too. ”I barely like turning up to an arena and dealing with the people we work with. Being trapped on a cruise ship with them for over a week isn’t exactly my idea of a good time.”

Finn chuckled. I knew what amused him when I went on these rants. He usually felt very similarly to me, but he wouldn’t vocalize it. He would internalize his annoyance at having to deal with people he hated and carry a silent rage behind his eyes. My discontentment was a lot more visceral. ”Try to look on the good side. We get to bring a whole bunch of our friends who aren’t even in the company. Because Amelia is here, Dickie is here. And because Aiden is here, Dax and Kallie are here…” I groaned and rolled my eyes.

”I could do without the Australian. The male Australian. Amelia is alright, I guess. And your brother… Well, the less said about him right now, the better.” We continued walking across the deck and inside the large shopping mall onboard. I could smell food being cooked by the various vendors and saw, out of the corner of my eye, perfume and jewelry shops. The wonders of being able to buy things duty-free on the open ocean.

”Honestly? It’s been good for Dickie to get away from it all. He needed to come out and just be himself, away from all the expectations being put on him.”

”And the expectations he’s putting on you to help him.”

My words came with a level of venom I don’t think Finn was ready for. We kept walking side by side, and after a few tense moments of silence, I felt it, his hand slid down and interlocked with mine, our fingers twisting together. I smiled slowly and shook my head. He turned and stood in front of me, leaning down to give me a small kiss. I took a deep breath, and when my eyes opened, I narrowed them because I knew exactly what he was doing. ”That’s a dirty trick, and you know it.”

He shrugged as we continued walking. I tried to calm myself down, but I was still angry. And of course, Finn picked up on it.

”He… you know he’s the only family I really have left. We don’t see my parents much. I’ve lost other people. If having his back is going to make sure he’s safe, then that’s what I have to do, Kayla.”

I took a deep breath. I felt my eye twitch. I knew he was right, but I also needed to let him know how I felt about the whole situation. ”I get that. I do. But you need to understand my point of view. You’re trying to make sure nothing happens to him. But I’m worried something’s going to happen to you. And look, I like Dickie....but I love you. I don’t want anything to happen to you, and I don’t want you dragged back into this fucking life.” We turned the corner, heading down one of the boulevards inside the ship toward a few more shops. I growled and continued. ”I just worry. And I also hate the fact that after you got out of it, your brother dove headfirst back in and then dragged you along. What kind of sibling who supposedly cares about you does that? If I got out of something and my sister went back into it and then tried to pull me in, I’d be pissed off.”

I didn’t even realize where we were going. We had taken a right turn into the EFFY shop onboard. I was surrounded by jewelry, but I wasn’t expecting what was about to happen.

”Pick a ring…”

”What do you mean, pick a ring? From where? From what part?”

Finn smiled and shook his head, hovering his hand over the large glass case containing engagement rings. He lightly placed his hand on the case and tilted his head.

”From these ones.”

My heart skipped a beat. Everything I wanted to say and had been ranting about vanished. My hands shook slightly as I looked down at the case, lit by bright white lights making the diamonds sparkle. I bit my bottom lip and tilted my head before settling on a ring in the dead center. I pointed at it and looked up at Finn, saying only two words.

”That one…”

My voice was barely a whisper. Finn gave a small nod and walked over to one of the attendants. He started talking to her before pulling out his Visa card, smiling and joking with them. I stood there in the middle of the shop, locked in shock. My heart beat so fast it felt like it was going to leap out of my chest. But I couldn’t help but smile. My cheeks flushed red as I saw the ring taken out of the case. The rest of it was a blur. But all I could think was, all those years ago, when he invited me out for a drink to lament a failed relationship… how wrong I was about what this was going to be.

Happy surprises and all that…

Expectation vs Reality

”I’m not mad, just disappointed…”

Kayla sighs, leaning back against the bar in her cabin aboard the cruise ship. Her long hair flows down her shoulders, her body covered in loose-fitting, holiday-style clothes as she looks relaxed.

”You know, I remember hearing that phrase from my parents when I was younger. Coming from my father, it was always taken with a grain of salt, considering he was an abusive piece of shit who didn’t know how to treat his wife or his children. But it was a lot more cutting coming from my mother. Disappointing her was something I never wanted to do. And if I heard that phrase, I knew I was in trouble. The thing is, in this context, I don’t expect you to give a shit, Frankie. Your arrogance has been shining through for the better part of two months since you stepped foot in this company, and we’ve all had to deal with your arrogant, self-righteous attitude.”

“Before I get into the hows and whys, I need you to understand something. See, I’ve been painted as a horrible person. Most people look at me and see someone who only cares about herself and is out for number one. And part of that is certainly true, I care about myself above all others. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about anyone. I care about my friends. I care about my family. I care about the people I’ve known for years who’ve always had my back. But I’m one of the only people in the world who will freely admit that, when it comes down to it, I hold myself above all others…”

“And that doesn’t make me a horrible person. It makes me a realist.”

“Everyone else is so quick to lie. They’re so quick to tell everybody that they’d do anything for their loved ones and their friends. That they put others above themselves. And while I’ll always have my friends’ and family’s backs, and I’ll always tell them how I feel, I’m not someone who needs to put that out there every five seconds. I’m out for myself. And in this business, that just leads to success. It’s something I see in you, Frankie. But while I freely admit it and see it as a strength, you seem to believe it’s a weakness. Like my arrogance is some kind of exploit to be attacked.”

“Oh, sweet summer child…”

She chuckles and shakes her head.

“Your inexperience is showing. And yes, I said inexperience. Something you seem to think doesn’t matter. I know what you’re doing. You sit there trying to tell me about my own strengths, then say they’re meaningless. You’re trying to play both sides of the same argument. It’s something so many others have done, and they’ve done it way better than you. You come off disingenuous. It’s really weird how you admit you’re not on my level, then talk down to me like you know what I’ve done and what it’s like to be me.”

“Like your heavy lifting comments. Bitch, what would you know about heavy lifting? You run me down like I haven’t been doing it for the last three years in this company. Heavy lifting is being a champion. Heavy lifting is knowing the entire division is coming after you and there’s nothing you can do about it except fight them off. Heavy lifting is being on top of the mountain and making sure no one can push you off. You’ve never been to the top of the mountain, you don’t know what it’s like. And for you to act like you do? It’s pathetic.”

“That tag match we had was a test. Our opponents were never going to beat us. The end result was about how you were going to frame it.”

“You keep acting like you were doing everything in that match despite the fact that if you go back and watch it, we were both clearly doing everything. It was 50/50. And that’s me being nice to you. But here’s the problem with you. You’re trying to shit on my entire career by saying that if you beat me, it means nothing. My career is bigger than this company. My career is bigger than what I’ve done here. And you think if I lose to you, it’ll invalidate everything? How big of a star do you believe yourself to be?”

She throws her arms in the air and keeps pacing back and forth.

“Or is it because you’re not a star? Is that what it is? You believe that because you’re not the biggest star in the world, and you’ve gotten to this point with your streak and your tournament win, that beating me will somehow make you? That it’ll destroy my legacy? That’s not just disrespectful to me and this title—it’s disrespectful to professional wrestling itself. That’s rookie logic, and it shows where your head’s at. Amber Ryan should’ve taught you better. But then again, considering she’s an egomaniacal moron who left this company when she thought she had nothing else to accomplish… the apple doesn’t fall far from the conceited prick tree.”

“Just like how you think the World Bombshells Championship defines me in this company. You really think I’m only relevant because this championship is around my waist? The title has never made the person. The person makes the title. Look at everyone who’s held it—and tell me the names that stand out.”

“Crystal Hilton. Mercedes Vargas. Seleana Zdunich…”

“Those names mean nothing. And they all held this championship. The title is never what defines you. And that’s something you need to learn, because you’re obsessed with it. You’re obsessed with this title because deep down, you know winning it is the only way you’ll ever matter in this business. But what defines Frankie? You brag about your win streak, five and oh. You think that means something? Look at my record. 44 wins out of 51 matches. Kid, that’s a record to be proud of. Not 5–0.”

“Your undefeated streak is impressive—but it’s not what defines your future. Being undefeated is a pipe dream. No one is unbeatable. I’ve proven that. Even your mentor Amber Ryan should know that. I see your little interactions with her on X. She might’ve been a great champion, and you might want to follow in her footsteps—but the path to relevance isn’t paved with kissing someone’s ass and hoping for the best.”

Kayla shakes her head and looks over at the SCW World Bombshells Championship sitting to her left.

“Oh wait, there I go being a narcissist and a sociopath. It’s funny, you Googled some personality traits and thought you could psychoanalyze me like that was going to work. I’m not some diagnosis you can throw out there. I’m the champion you’re going to fail to beat. But you? It’s funny people try to pigeonhole me as this narcissistic bitch who only cares about herself, while you sit there and tell people they’ll thank you later, like you’ve got a savior complex. Like you’re some wrestling messiah being held above everyone else. The second coming of your fucking mentor.”

“The saddest part, Frankie, is that you are talented. You could be a great champion in the future. You could be the future of this division. But not now. You’re not ready. And everything you said last week proves that. You think your little win streak means you’ve earned this. That you beating me erases everything I’ve done. That this championship will make you matter. But it’s the other way around.”

“So let me ask you something—what happens if you win?”

“Being a real champion means facing adversity. I have. I’ve been beaten and come back stronger than ever. But you’ve never had to feel that. You think it’s a positive that you’ve never lost in this company? That you get to wave your undefeated record around like it means something? You know what really means something, Frankie? Coming back. Getting beaten. Losing everything. Picking yourself up and fighting to get it all back. That’s what matters.”

“You’ve never felt that before. So I’m going to give you that gift, Frankie. I’m going to give you the gift of defeat. So you’ll know what it’s like. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll come back better. Ready to actually be a champion.”

“I’m giving that to you out of the goodness of my heart.”

“Thank me later, bitch…”

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?”