~Off Camera~
When Emmie Ward enters the hotel room of her tag partner and co-champion Jack Asher's room, she is both confused and surprised.
The floor is littered with manilla file folders, there are papers and pictures. Newspaper articles are strewn everywhere and Jack himself is just as disheveled as his room. He has what can only be described as a crazed look in his eye as he pours over the paper in his hand.
"Jack... what's all this about?"
She steps over a pile of discarded folders and manages to make it to his bed, which also appears to be covered in more of this 'research' he was doing.
"I know it got to you about Daniel accusing you of not doing research but this is ridiculous..."
Jack holds up a hand, cutting her off.
"I don't care about that. He was just using the only thing I said that he could dispute. It was more of this smoke and mirrors bullshit he constantly tries to use. No. This is actual research. London Underground are real honest to god mobsters and I'm going to prove it."
Emmie offers him a compassionate smile, even though he hasn't actually looked her in the eye since she came in.
"Jack, that's ludicrous. Daniel is not a gangster. He's just a business man that made some good investments."
He spins now and Emmie can see how even more obsessed he has become since the cruise.
"No. Em, I know that you want to be the good cop in this team and try to see the innocence in everyone but honestly sometimes there isn't any good to be found. I don't have enough evidence to come out and say it publicly yet, but I will. I will find something. I have the interns at Dad's firm digging..."
Emmie sighs. "Way to piss of your Dad doing that. Besides, when are you going to take your bar exam? You finished your last course ages ago."
Jack bites onto Em changing the subject. "Why do I need to? I have wrestling. I have the tag titles. I have you."
She shakes her head.
"Because being an impressive multinational lawyer is a far better gig than a tag team wrestler in a local Nevada promotion."
"That's some nerve, Emmaline Ward. Weren't you accepted to Oxford for pre-med before leaving it all for wrestling. You very well know what it feels like to live and breathe this sport..."
Emmie stands up, doesn't back down from her partner. "It's different and you know it. You are doing all this research why? To out some guy that wrestles? So what if you are right and the world knows? You think people will suddenly like you better? That it will somehow change everything? It won't. People are always going to see you as the arrogant little shit stain that came into SCW not knowing he stunk."
"Oh really? You practically begged me to partner with you. Do you remember? Didn't mind the stench then, did you?"
Emmie can almost see the pout. The arrogance was wearing thin these days, she gave herself credit for pushing him in a better direction, however it was times like these she could really see the difference in how they both grew up affecting how they dealt with stress.
Emmie smiles. "I didn't say I thought you stunk Jack. I just said everyone else does. You know what I realized after that fiasco on twitter last week? I realized that it doesn't matter. None of it matters. Daniel might just very well have this secret life you claim, but so what? It will never take away from the fact that you..." she motions between the two of them. "...We have already bested them once. London Underground is not a team that takes well to having their egos busted up. They seem to think they still have all the fans they did months ago but they don't. We are what's new. We are relatable to so many young fans. We are transparent to a fault and that is what has those fuckers in a tizzy. The only thing they have is to prey on our new-ness, he preyed on my need to succeed despite my last name and he's triggered you into this obsessed little cretin. He's played us both exactly how he meant to. Let's not give him the satisfaction. We gotta stay united Jack otherwise they will win and all of this will be for nothing."
Em's words are still with him long after she's left to enjoy another night of depravity among the island locals. She'd tried to persuade him to join her but he'd already proven that bar hopping, no matter how beautiful the scenery was, was not his thing.
Jeri hadn't been able to join him this week but they'd been texting and skyping. They were even discussing him coming out to Malibu again after this tour was over. After Calia, he had a hard time believing he would ever find a woman that would fit every single one of the qualities he wanted in a partner, but Jeri had filled all of those and more he hadn't realized he wanted . Now they were getting to the point where he wondered if they should discuss the next step. And that, of course, was Sex.
He was surprised that after Em had exposed his being a virgin on social media it hadn't sparked more of his fellow wrestlers to tease and ridicule him over it. Not many men like him were still virgins at twenty-four. Mind you, Jericho was twenty-three and yet also still a virgin. He wondered if it really was something so mind blowingly eventful that it would change his entire outlook after one night?
Bobbie had insisted that most people hyped it up to be this magical thing and then were left completely disappointed because of it
"You'll blow it in like two minutes the first time. You'll probably apologize to Jericho a million times but you'll feel a little dirty until things rise up again. After like, the third or fourth time, it will be so much better. I promise."
He didn't want to believe her though. The thought of failing so bitterly the first time at something that was supposed to be so monumental seemed inherently wrong to him. He didn't want Jericho to be disappointed that she had waited, and he failed to live up to her expectations. Just like with everything else in his life, he turned to his laptop, immediately researching everything to do with the 'first time' and what he could do to avoid a bitter disaster.
The six degrees of Google had led him down a dark and disturbing path, one that led to a particular 'kink' of virgin school boys and their unapologetic teachers. With a disgusted grumble he closes his laptop and was back to internally pondering.
He knew Emmie was right. London Underground had played them both. If Daniel was smart enough to be a gangster in plain sight, then he was certainly smart enough to pick at their flaws. But the fact remained, Daniel had completely glossed over his points about them being outdated and irrelevant, which to him meant it did what it meant to and struck them just as easily as their own initial blow had with him and Em. London Underground had no defense for that. Because it was true. Everything he said was true. Except his joke about them dressing in drag, that was just him throwing insults back. But they knew from the beginning just how good him and Em were but he also knew they were both still wet around the ears. He knew that Jack's ego was large enough to easily pierce and that Em was sensitive about her "uncle Mark". But they couldn't keep using that same argument while in another breath claim to be better representatives for the titles. It just wouldn't keep like he hoped. London Underground were essentially treading water in a shark infested sea while bleeding heavily. And him and Em were two of the sharks.
But it wasn't just them. It was any other team that got into the tank. Caleb and Jesse, admittedly, were just as hungry for any sort of gold and if him and Em weren't careful, they might just lose it all in next week's match and then prove those gangster assholes right. He wasn't about to do that.
He must have dozed off, because a knock on the door roused him. He glanced at the alarm clock, seeing it was nearly four am. Looking out the peephole he can see it's Em and she's not alone. She's being half lifted by a very impressive looking man. He could have bench pressed Jack and Jack hardly ever admitted he wasn't as good as someone else.
"Does she belong to you?" The man has an accent but Jack can't be sure if he's a local or just another tourist unfortunate enough to get stuck with a drunk Emmie.
"Uh, kinda. Bring her in."
The man deposits her onto Jack's bed and then looks at him with disapproval.
"You know, you really shouldn't let your girlfriend out by herself. Some of the locals may take advantage of such a young pretty girl."
"She's a friend, co-worker, not my girlfriend."
The man chuckles. "Well all she could talk about was Jack this, Jack that. I assume you are Jack, no?"
"Yes but..."
"I know a crush when I see one."
Then man turns leaving Jack alone to care for Emmie.
"Em, you'd be so mad at that guy if you weren't mostly unconscious right now."
With a sigh, he removes her heels but stops there, not feeling comfortable removing anything else she was wearing.
"I appreciate that you want to have a good time Em, but I think this drinking is becoming a problem."
He'd noticed that over the last few months her drinking had steadily increased. To the point where she was becoming more irritable to others and easier to actually irritate. Point in case, her tweet last week. It was out of character for her.
He moves to the couch in the suite, knowing there was a pull out bed there. Which he would move her too once he got it fixed up.
Getting her there was no easy feet, dead weight was hard to get a good grip on. He finally hauls her up in his arms only for her to curl into his neck.
"You smell good Jack-e..."
He pauses. What if that man was right? He couldn't stay her partner if she had feelings for him. He thought that they had both established early on that there was not an ounce of romantic chemistry between them but this changed everything.
"You're drunk. I could smell like a foot and you'd think that was good."
She giggles as Jack lays her down on her stomach, just in case she vomited in her sleep. He would never be able to forgive himself if she choked on his watch.
As he goes to move away, she grabs his face and full on kisses him. For a split second he forgets everything but it's all forced back, slamming into him like a car crash. He pulls away.
"Em, you're drunk..."
Not to mention that he was falling for his present girlfriend and thinking about sex with her, but now he was suddenly thinking about Emmie in a way he shouldn't. He backs away, getting into his own bed and shutting off the bedside lamp. He didn't need this right now. He had so much to already worry about, sexual attraction to his tag partner was not something he needed to add to that.
***
~Promo Time Again~
If Jessie and Caleb think they have a chance they they are far more deluded than I previously imagined.
I do not however, want to be like Daniel from London Overrated. I mean Underground... what was I thinking... I am not going to deny either of these two their due. Both have held titles, so it's not as though they lack the potential. They have so much of it that the big wigs keep on giving both of them opportunity after opportunity and sadly... well maybe not so sad but still unfortunate, they fail to bring home gold both have claimed they deserve. Unlike our future opponents of the muscle head bullies of London, they have trouble winning matches against every challenger. So tell me, coming up against the champions, how is this any different? We have come up against what some believe is the rightful heirs to these titles and gone home victorious, so I'm interested to hear how Caleb intends to be essentially better than London Underground.
Facts are there, he isn't and therefore, by default not better than Em and I. I gotta say, I am trying real hard to find some redeeming qualities in these two but I'm coming up short. Amy and Vinnie couldn't defeat us, and they are by far the better pair in this headache of music choices, so what chance do these two members of the "B" team have to offer that their more accomplished club patronage didn't have?
I'll give you a hint... they got nothing. While I appreciate their determination and the clout to get on social media and proclaim to be "the new champions" it's really all just words. Until I see something that proves otherwise, I don't really believe that Caleb has what it takes to beat me, that he has what it takes to beat anyone. He's gotta get off this treadmill of failure and truly evaluate the things that are just digging his grave for him. We are both arrogant men, the difference is that my arrogance is justified with the wins I have, Storms doesn't have that same proof.
I am in no means thinking I don't have to go out there with everything I got. I always give everything even in the matches where I believe I am far more superior, one hundred and ten percent. If that means that Caleb gets destroyed in the process? So be it. I am one half of the tag champions and I am here to represent the best of the best. It's Caleb that needs to step up. However, I highly doubt that Caleb will admit that I am by far the more superior athlete. In fact, pretty sure he's going to talk about his failure at SummerXXXtreme and how it's only made him more motivated to get hold of... ANY gold.
As we already saw sir, getting a title is not going to change anyone's opinion that you're pretty bad at this wrestling thing. But please, enlighten me with how you intend to beat me this time. I always enjoy a bit of comedy.
