Tempest: Look Gabriel, I appreciate the gesture. I really do, but this? It wasn’t necessary.
The latest in a long string of successful graduates of the famed GO Gym, the amazon Tempest said from her seat at the Steak N’ Shake restaurant along the Las Vegas Strip. Across from her, one of the two responsible for helping to bring her into the world of professional wrestling, Gabriel Stevens, carefully took a bite of the gargantuan burger on his plate. After a moment’s pause, he wiped his mouth with the napkin and looked to her and watched as her eyes roamed the room around them, her attention ever-vigilant from her days as an active bounty hunter.
Gabriel: No, I disagree. Odette and I always try to reward our students when one wins a championship, and yours was overdue. Plus, getting to know you these past months, you didn’t strike me as the type to prefer one of the ritzier restaurants.
Tempest scoffed as she reached down for her own burger.
Tempest: At least not with a married man.
That brought a look up from her trainer as she took a bite. Gabriel smirked and shook his head. A wisecrack, from her. Slowly he was growing satisfied at how she was loosening up and the proverbial walls started to crumble. It was a task. Not even Fenris took this long to feel free enough to be himself as was the woman seated across from him. He could tell there was a haunting behind her eyes. Why? He was unsure.
Tempest: I do appreciate it though.
She said casually as she took a bite from her own meal.
Tempest: I had to get out of the Gym. No offense.
Gabriel: None taken. Mind if I ask why? You left as soon as Krystal came in.
Tempest: You mean you don’t know? You didn’t see on Twitter?
Gabriel shook his head.
Gabriel: Been a bit too busy at home and at the Gym to be bothering with Twitter. Why? What’s been going on?
Tempest: Just a matter of my match with Bella this weekend and Krystal making comments about how she had every intention on interfering to cost me so she could have her one-on-one with Bella at the Supercard.
That certainly got Gabriel’s attention as he looked up before he could take a drink from his glass and slowly set it back down. His brow knitted into a slight frown.
Gabriel: Excuse me? Krystal said she wanted to cost you your match?
Tempest just nodded, silently brooding as Gabriel watched her carefully. One of his students? Threatening to interfere in another student’s match to cost them?
Tempest: It’s crazy. I knew when I got into this business that it was every woman for herself. But I also thought there was a measure of loyalty. At least where students of the same facility were concerned.
To say Gabriel was not pleased with what he was hearing would be a vast understatement. There had always been loyalty shown between the members of the GO Gym. He glanced sidelong to his student as she reached for her drink and he could see the wall around her slowly going back up.
Damn it.
“Let me make this perfectly clear. Bella? You and I have a history as I recall. When I first came to SCW, I had a time picking apart certain Bombshells on the roster. Just to get my name mentioned. To make people sit up and take notice. To make the bosses realize I was here. Just for fun. You were one of my first playdates, as I recall. And now, here we are. Our first actual encounter in a match where you have to get past me in order to finally get your chance at the Roulette title. You
do know why they saved me for last, right?”
“Because the disappointment is always greatest when you are that close to success, only to fail. When the dumbblonde in a movie running from the crazed killer gets that close to safety, only to fall victim. Just
this close to making it. That’s why, Bella. Because they handed you those first two wins on a silver platter. Now? You got me. One of the Mixed Tag Champions. Someone you don’t have a chance in hell of beating. I just thought you’d want to understand why they did what they did.”
“Oh, and Krystal? You made your sense of loyalty perfectly clear. So allow me to do the same. Come anywhere near that ring on Sunday and I’ll make what I did to that
other Crystal look like playtime at Disneyland.”
