Cheap Shots
Following CC275
“I can’t believe that almost just fucking happened.” the curtain to the gorilla position swings open broadly and Bella Madison storms through to the other side, chugging on a bottle of water before whipping it to the side landing it in a trash can, without barely looking. She stops for only a moment, catching her breath as Malachi walks out from the area with a couple of bottles of water in his hand. He tosses her another one, as she is in mid-stride, pacing. “I mean, are you kidding me right now? I show the woman all the fucking respect in the world and she tries to attack me after she already had me beat?”
“I’m just glad you had the presence of mind to powder out before she could do whatever the hell she had in mind.” he says, grabbing at her face to make sure there was no damage.
She sighs, pushing his hands away from her, “I’m fine. Embarrassed but my ego will heal.” she takes a moment just to really process what happened, “What do you think Johanna would have done?”
“No clue, love.” he says before placing a kiss on her forehead, “Anything to keep you from being more than ready for our match against them, more than likely.”
“What. A. Bitch.” Bella quips and that causes Mal to snort with laughter, causing him to spray a bit of salva onto her head, “OH EW!!! COULD YOU NOT!”
“I’M SORRY! You completely caught me off guard with that one.” he says laughing while taking his hand to her forehead, wiping it down.
“Good thing I need a shower, last thing I need is your snot in my hair.”
“I...” he stops himself short and looks around.
“What? ...out with it. Let it go Mal or you're gonna end up bursting a blood vessel in that head and you’ll die and leave me all alone and I refuse to be a widow!” she says playfully poking him in his side.
He grabs her hand and pulls her close and whispers low, “Too many ears for what I want to say.”
She looks up at him with her eyebrows raised, “Tease.”
“Sass.”
“You know...I gotta give you credit. I know it’s been hard holding back on everything lately....feeling like Mark and Christian are trying to egg you on into you losing your temper and in return they are trying to pull this shot out from under us. I’ve been impressed but listen...” she takes a deep breath and holds his hands, “Don’t think I don’t know that there is one hell of storm setting in, in that head of yours. The restraint alone is impressive, considering your track record.”
“The punching bag has been very therapeutic.” he says with almost a growl.
“I know it has. If you want to unleash everything that you have had to hold on to....do it. Do not hold back because you think they will pull this match out from under us at the last second. Too much work has gone in, promotional wise, and I just did not get my ass kicked for 15+ minutes in opening this show for no reason. There’s respect and then there’s pandering...and I refuse to pander to anyone.” she glares down the hall a bit...like she’s waiting for something but it doesn’t come, “Respect given has gotten us this far but after what just happened here...”
He stops for a moment and looks at her, “You sure you didn’t get kicked in the head?”
“Oh a few times, nevertheless...I’m done letting our good behavior be the catalyst for people to talk shit about us. They wanted us to stand in line, we did. They wanted us to fight for our shot, we did and we won. So now what? We’re supposed to just accept the fact that if we unleash even for a moment that it’s all gone? Fuck that.” she smirks as she takes his hand and they make their way down the hall, “This time last year, you took me onto that cruiseship, just so I could have a few days of relaxation away from what was my life. Not only did I have the time of my life, I came out of it, not only with business contacts but a contract for a place I barely knew looking for a chance to not be under any kind of pressure from my family name. I spent a year here with so many amazing chances and matches, coming so God damn close to the Roulette Title, only to have it slip through my fingers and back at the bottom. What good has playing nice done lately for us though?”
Mal falls silent because he knows when she gets going like this...there is no stopping her.
“I almost got my head taken off tonight. That’s what it got me. And who knows, maybe it’s because Johanna sees us as a legit threat to Wolfslair’s Title Reign. But I’m done playing nicey nice anymore. I will respect the fuck out of what they have done for the Mixed Tag Division. They are an unstoppable force, but I will not show respect where it is refused to be given. If I have to piss a few people off in the process of that...”
“Sounds like you’ve been teetering on the edge of this.” Mal speaks up.
“For a while now. Bad enough you got Krys and Mikah chirpin’ constantly. I’ve been in a bad mood to boot with everything else. I’m not even mad about the loss...” she sighs as they reach the door to the assigned dressing area and she sags against the wall, “I just feel like unless we win this damn thing, we will never get the respect that we have fought so damn hard for.”
Mal smirks at her, “I understand that completely.” he glances around for a moment, “Tell ya what, I’ll make a trip to catering, get something to snack on for us and some more water while you change. We’ll get the hell out of here, go get a giant thing of ice cream from that place you found and we will start game planning. Tomorrow we hit the reset button, train our asses off and once we hit that big ass boat, Wolfslair and SCW will never know what hit them.”
“Maybe tacos and tequila wouldn’t hurt. I do have something I need to take care of before we hit that reset button tomorrow, but that does sound like a plan.”
He raises his eyebrows at her, “What something?”
She bites her lower lip with a sheepish smile on her face, “Just...something.”
“Bells” he said, drawn out and in a warning tone.
She smiles gently, and places a kiss gently on his lips, “Stop, it’s nothing bad. Honestly, I should have done it days ago, but it came to me earlier and if I don’t handle it, it’s going to keep festering and I am going into this with a clean slate of personal issues. I’m not gonna let my own mind get in our way and cost us this. It’s happened one too many times. Our life is finally starting to calm down and there are only a few missing pieces.”
He just glares at her, “If you insist but you know how stubborn she is.”
“Well...” she smirks with a gleam in her eye, “Aren’t you lucky you are engaged to someone who is just as, if not more stubborn?” he just sighs and looks up as to curse the Gods, “Go, I’ll be out in about 15 or so”
“Yeah yeah. I’ll be back in 20 to be on the safe side.” he goes to turn to leave and stops, “Oh...one more thing.”
He pulls her ring out from his pocket, grabs her left hand and slides it back on her ring finger before giving her hand a kiss before her.
“Be right back.”
Maid of Honor?
The following day
Hurricane Bella blowing through Las Vegas on a mission. Before Malachi even woke up, she was sufficiently caffeinated, a kiss on his sleeping cheek, a scratch of the pup’s head and she was like the wind, out the door.
First stop? A dress shop that she found a week previous. She stopped herself from going in because her best friends were still healing from the battle they were all in together. She had been through this before, they were still new to the war they were all in together. But it’s time they come out from hiding and first up was the woman of the hour, Malachi’s baby sister, Alanah. She had 4 dresses picked out before a woman even approached her, ones that screamed her future sister-in-law and in a bit Mattie Comier. Mattie would probably still insist on making them herself, as part of her rehabilitation but this was just stop one. Second stop? Was going to make sure that this rift ended once and for all.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
“Ohhhhh I know you’re in there...” Bella stands in the hallway, arms full with a couple of dress bags and a big gift bag.
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
“Jack! Open the damn door!”
“Who is it?”
“Candygram, Amway...Jehovah’s Witness. OPEN UP SUCK NUGGET BEFORE MY ARMS BREAK!”
The door swings open to see Jack Russow standing there with a smirk on his face. “Suck nugget?”
“Desperate times call for desperate measures. Is she here?”
“Course she is. Not sure if she still wants to see you or not. I thought you’d be on the ship by now anyways.” he leans against the door frame, playing with a fresh apple, staring at Bella that is struggling just a little bit with everything in her arms.
“I really need to talk to her, please? Even if it's just for 5 minutes. Quick in and out and then I’m gone and you won’t have to deal with me for another week.”
Jack shrugs, “Convince me.”
“Pardon?” she says glaring at him.
“Convince me that you should be let in to see Alanah.” he says taking a good chomp out of it.
“Look, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important. This is the first time I have actually come here to even try to talk to her. Everything else has been by text and voicemail. I just...” she looks over her shoulder just trying to get a glimpse in but her 5’5” frame compared to someone with an extra 9 inches on her proves to be almost impossible, “....dammit...Jack.”
“Nice try.”
She looks down and sighs for a moment, before she catches a glimpse of Pip, “Hey, uhhh...what is Pip doing?”
“I’m not falling for that.” Meanwhile behind him, she smiles as she sees Pip riding by on his chariot, the Roomba.
“Uhhh...you may wanna...look at the master.” she says between her suppressed giggles.
“I wanna what?” Jack turns around and sees Pip with a big smile on his face, “Oh dammit...not again. PIP!”
Bella takes that chance to slip pass him and makes a b-line right for their bedroom. She opens the door to see Alanah sitting on the bed. She quickly closes the door behind her as we hear Jack trying to catch the tiny pup, “Hey!”
“Bella, how’d you..?” Alanah looks at her with surprise with her doe like eyes.
“Oh Jack is such an easy mark.” she says as she lays things down on a chair next to the door. “How are ya?”
“I’m...I’m alright. You?”
“Me? Well, all things considered, not bad. Except that my best girlfriends have basically refused to talk to me. Sorta hated that, and weighed a lot on my shoulders.”
Alanah sighs, “I’m sorry about that. I’ve been meaning to call but...”
Bella smiles softly at her, “I get it. We had a crazy match, full of emotion. What happened after that was even worse. But after everything I was really hoping to be able to sorta sit back with you and with Mattie and...I don’t know...maybe celebrate the fact that we are all back together again. I don’t blame you for being upset and I can never ever apologize enough for what happened. I didn’t want to beat my best friend for my first title.”
“I know, Mal told me you didn’t even want to look at it for a while.” she said standing up, tucking her hands behind her.
“I really didn’t. I thought I’d feel better...but it didn’t. Not being able to talk to you was the worst of it though because I had so much stuff I wanted to talk to you guys about that needed to wait til Mattie came back.” she looks over at the big gift bag and grabs it, “Which is why I’m here. I needed to take care of things before Malachi and I headed west for a few days.”
“Oh that’s right, the Summer Xxxtreme show. I can’t believe you get to go on that big ship again without me!” Alanah says crossing her arms in front of her.
“It’s not like we’re gonna be out on the water this time though.”
“Still!” and the girls laugh a bit. Alanah gave her so much shit about it last year that it was a running gag between the two.
“Well to make up for you not being able to do it again, I hope what I got here will make up for it a little bit and I promise to bring you back some souvenirs.” Bella hands her the bag and smiles. “Go ahead!”
Alanah takes the bag from Bella and turns around to open it up to pull out a big bottle of red and white wine. They’re favorites to share. Next she pulls a card out. “You may wanna read that before you go digging any further.” Bella says.
Alanah opens the card up and reads it out loud. “Sis, while I know we are not related by blood but you are still a blessing to me. I cannot wait for the day we are related by law and nothing would make me more happy if you played a huge part in my special day as I marry your brother.” Alanah starts to tear up a bit, “Now that you’ve read this, look in your bag once more.” she drops the card to the side and pulls up a glob of tissue paper with something inside that says ‘OPEN ME LAST!’. She rips into it and once the paper is clear she holds a small teddy bear wearing a shirt that says ‘Maid of Honor’. By now tears are falling from her eyes, “Oh...Oh Bella.”
She turns around to see Bella standing there holding 4 very cute looking dresses all in Alanah’s favorite colors. “Whadda say sis? Wanna help me plan my biggest day in my life?” Alanah just stands there in silence, “I couldn’t picture anyone but you and Mattie doing this with me. She’s actually my next stop but I needed to ask you first.”
Alanah looks at the dresses and back at her best friend, “Mattie is going to kill you if you actually bought these.”
“Only borrowed. Figured I’d give us a good start though. So...is that a yes?” Bella says with hope in her voice.
“HELL YES!” Alanah wraps Bella up in a hug that causes Bella to drop the dresses on the ground and hug her back. “We need to go see Mattie. NOW!” She quickly turns around and grabs the wine and puts it back in the bag as Bella cleans up the dresses and grabs the bags they came in and the girls scream out the door past Jack.
“HEY! Where you goin’?” he says watching the girls make their way through the front door.
“MAID OF HONOR DUTIES! BE BACK SOON! LOVE YOU!”
And just as fast as they came through they were gone. Jack just stands there with a confused look on his face for a moment before... “Hey, Jack.” he spins on his heels and looks at Bella leaning a bit into the doorway, “Thanks.”
She winks at him and takes back off after Alanah with laughter filling the hallway.
Clear Conscious. Clearer Goals.
After a few more days back in Vegas, the Sun Princess was open. This beautiful ship brings back a ton of memories for Bella Madison, as she walks out on the balcony that adorns every room, coming from checking out her and Malachi’s room. Just as amazing as last year, just as comfy and somehow they got lucky enough to get an ocean side. She takes a deep breath in and almost shivers. Los Angeles weather is so much different from the desert they have made their home in lately but she welcomed it, even if it was only for just a few days.
“This view is amazing! I don’t even care if we’re never leaving port.” she says planting herself on one of the lounge chairs. “I forgot what this was like, which is just sad. Stupid virus turning the whole damn world turn upside down in just 5 months. I can’t remember the last time I even saw my actual home but still, just to get out of Vegas. They may have to carry me off this ship, kicking and screaming with how this feels right now.”
Things are finally starting to feel normal again. Mattie and Alanah forced her to take the dresses back, as predicted but they spent hours just talking like nothing had ever changed. Mattie with her drawing pad had her and Alanah’s sketches of their dresses, up to the detail of their measurements. They even began talking about her wedding dress. All they needed was a date but with what was looming for Bella and her fiance, Malachi, they tabled that discussion til they returned....hopefully victorious.
Still...Wolfslair looming, her loss to Johanna AGAIN has forced her to train harder than ever. She’ll be damned if she came face to face with her again, that the threat she dropped following their match would somehow become reality. The Mixed Tag Team Championships in their grasps and their hands raised high.
“The goal from day one, was to pave my own path in SCW. Last year, when I came on the trip, I was just there to hang out and take it all in. I was in awe of it. After a week of hanging out with this crew, I took the initiative and had a wonderful chat with Mark Ward. He knew of my family, and where I came from but I knew that my journey here was not going to be an easy one. Honestly, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.” She stretches out a bit and smiles. “In the year that I have been with SCW, it’s been nothing and everything like I expected. I’ve been given chances, only for it to be just shy of getting that moment. I appreciate every single chance I have gotten, it shows that the powers that be see something in me that I didn’t think was possible this time last year.”
“I know I have their respect, I know I have some respect from a select few of my peers. But for some reason, there is a fine line. That line was crossed 2 weeks ago at Climax Control. Wolfslair has run roughshod over the entire division, a few different ways, a few different times. We watched as they dominated every challenger that has come their way, including us. I mean, we weren’t the ones that got pinned but nonetheless Wolfslair still remained on top. Where they want to remain. They have broken a lot of records, even Lach and Sierra’s. You can’t help but sit and just so slackjaw at their work.”
That’s where she leans forward, her hands together under her chin with her engagement ring glimmering in the sunlight, “But then Johanna just had to go and fuck up that respect. I don’t know what the hell I did, maybe I pissed you off in a former life somewhere. Maybe you just hate my face? Or Johanna sees something. Sass n Bash is an actual potential threat to their reign. Which in that case GOOD! I want them to actually have that fear because I know it’s going to be a hell of a fucking fight. A fight that at the end of it will still make them realize that we were not going to just lay down. Malachi and I have been fighting like hell for a chance. We’ve had to pull some white rabbit’s out of our hats in the process and some look at it like we are whining. That is the furthest from the truth. Nothing that we have done is a lie. Prove us differently, we dare you. We have stepped up and backed up EVERYTHING that we have set out to do.”
“Is that why you attempted to attack me after you already had me beat, Johanna? Because you know Malachi and I will back up what we say, and take the Mixed Tag Titles from you and Alex? For a big bad ass bitch, who already had me down, you sure went out of your way to make a point. Too bad I was quicker on my feet.” she scoffs, “I guess we just have to earn a tad bit more respect by doing the one thing that no one in SCW has yet to do...and that is FINALLY beat you two.”
She slides off the chair and takes one more glance towards the ocean before entering into her room. “We’ve held off, we have bid our time, we have bit our tongues til they bleed. We have faced and jumped through every hoop, some of them even on fire. And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, we have Wolfslair’s attention. We have a lot of people’s attention. Good! I’m glad because here on Sun Princess, where it all began for me a year ago, there will be nothing sweeter than getting that 10 pounds of gold. With no more hoops, with no more extra teams or added on stipulations. It’s finally going to happen.”
“And if you are sitting there waiting for a thank you? We’ve already said it. We’ve done what was asked. And now, we’re going to do what we said....and we’re not holding back anymore.”
