Breakdown 2-24-22 #1
Tommy had suggested I sleep on my decision for who to hire for the new GM... but to be honest I'd much rather sleep with my decision. The man I chose, Micah Hart? Too bad he's not a wrestler cause he's the whole package. Hot, smart, experienced, and we're stealing him from Josh Hudson. The only way this could go bad is if he happens to be gay, and that's only because there would be no chance of me fucking him.
I made the call, Micah was excited to be offered the position. I asked him to come back to the gym for finalizing paperwork and to meet Tommy. We discussed a start date, as he wanted to give Josh Hudson enough notice, finish up a class. The timing worked out so that he could start after Tommy and I returned from Breakdown in London. Micah's first day would be the following Monday. Both me and Tommy would be able to be in New York to help him get started and trained. I was hoping most of his training would end up being my responsibility. Micah had a long conversation with Tommy in private while I saw about ordering equipment. I don't know everything they discussed but both seemed pleased when they came out of the manager's office.
With the Ante Up NYC GM being taken care of, Tommy and I could focus on SCW. Knowing we were shut out of the Tag Team Division for now, we decided to put our energy into our single's goals. For Tommy, that meant not letting Cid Turner forget how he fucked up Trios and making him pay one way or another. For me? I decided it was time I stopped waiting to be handed the spotlight I deserve, and just take it.
At Breakdown in Chicago, on a Friday and the last show before BHS, I made sure Owen Cruze, Lee, whatthefuckever, knew I wasn't playing around. Then I fought Glory Braddock. Jumped her before the bell then proceeded to kick her ass. She was so mad and it was glorious. Pun intended.
January 17
Santa Barbara
Ante Up
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When Tommy asked me to go to New York to hire a GM, it was supposed to be just for a week. But, after I hired Micah Hart, there were some things to be done there. Tommy didn't like how the equipment was set up, he said 'the flow doesn't make sense.' So he and I, along with Sabrina and Trent and one other staff member, took a few days rearranging the floor to Tommy's liking. No one complained after he explained his vision; instead they all agreed it made much more sense. We went to Breakdown, then went home. We spent the weekend resting and recovering from travel, me more so since I had been gone longer. Monday morning though, it was time to get back to business as usual. That meant showing up at Ante Up bright and early, ready for a day of classes, then our own training afterwards.
It was around 8:30 AM when I followed Tommy through the double doors. We were both dressed for training, as we both had classes. Tommy went straight upstairs to his office, he knew he'd have a lot of emails to catch up on before his class at 10. Mine was at 9, so I didn't have a whole lot of time to get ready. I went to my usual ring and dropped my bag on a chair. Today would be the first day I had to deal with Coral as a fucking student here, and I had no idea what to expect. All I knew, was that she wasn't there yet.
One person who was there though, was Ashley. I saw him walking towards me as I was stretching. He had a determined look on his face, rather than the smile or smirk I expected after being gone so long. I got up as he walked up.
“Hey doll, what's got you so fired up this early?”
“In two words? Yer sister.”
“What about her?”
“She's fucking crazy!”
I laughed. “Fuck, I could have told you that. In fact... I did tell you that.” I had told Ashley everything about Coral; the pool party trick, and her admission she set everything up to fuck with my life. He had been just as wary about her training here as me.
“Yeah, ya did, but I had no idear she were this crazy!”
“What'd she do now?”
“Hit on me!”
I stared blankly. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack!”
“Please tell me you didn't....”
He scoffed and cringed. “O'course not! Not after everythin' ya told me.”
I exhaled in relief. It was bad enough she'd tricked Tommy, and I shared one common dick with her, I didn't need a second. “Thank fuck...”
“Can I ask ya somethin'?”
“You know you can.”
“Does she know 'bout me an' you?”
I glanced around, making sure no one was in hearing distance. The internet had picked up on me and Drake, but as far as I knew, me and Ashley were still under the radar. We didn't need a repeat of the recent bullshit, from some other 'genius' looking for a payday. Luckily, no one was close enough to hear our conversation. I sighed.
“Yeah... I think she does.”
“Ya told her?”
“Not exactly... I told her I had a thing with one of the guys we were training. I'm pretty sure she's guessed by now that it's you. You hang around with us, and especially me, a lot.”
“So that prob'ly means... she were just fuckin' wi' me, to fuck wi' you.”
I nodded, suddenly extremely pissed. “Yeah. Exactly.”
Ashley looked down at himself a second. “Y'know... I'm getting' kinda tired o'being used just to fuck wi' people's heads. Mus' run in yer family.”
“Ash!” The whole thing between me and him had started with me trying to get him into bed so he'd back away from Tommy's daughter, Charlotte. We'd long since talked that over though and were past it. Or at least I thought.
“Yeah, sorry, that weren't on. Bad joke?” He grinned. It was hard not to forgive him.
“Yeah, bad joke. Do you know what time she's getting here today?”
“Err, she's in Gable's beginner class, so....” He looked past me over my shoulder, towards the front door, then cringed again. “Now?”
I spun around and saw Coral walking in. Her hair was up in a thick braid, like mine. She was wearing gray tights and a loose baby pink t-shirt, with a sports bra underneath, one white strap visible due to the loose shirt. That bitch. I took a step to go confront her. Ashley grabbed my arm.
“Wait... what are you gonna tell her?”
“I don't know. But this shit isn't gonna keep going. If I don't like what she has to say I'm kicking her out and I don't give half a fuck what Tommy thinks about it! I knew this was a bad idea...”
Ashley let my arm go and I stormed over to where Coral was setting up. She had her bag open on a chair near one of the other rings and was pulling a water bottle out. I walked up from behind and pushed her shoulder. She stopped moving, then slowly turned around. When she saw me, her eyes went wide.
“Oh. Kandis.”
“Hi.”
“I... uh... thought you were out of town.”
“I was.” I still had no idea what to say to her.
“Right. Well... welcome back.” She smiled, nervously.
“Thanks.” I decided I didn't want to do this in full view of the gym. “I think we need to talk in private.”
“Yeah. Sure.”
“Follow me.”
Coral nodded, and I led her up the stairs to a seldom-used office. It used to be David Helms' office, now it's sort of a staff office. Tish has used it more than anyone, but the other trainers have for one on one meetings with students, and I've used it occasionally when planning my classes, or when I needed a private place to meet up with Ashley that wasn't home or his apartment.
I opened the door, flipped the light switch, and turned to see Coral was right behind me. She walked in and I closed the door, locking it.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“What?” Coral looked utterly confused.
“Did I stutter? What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing?”
“You asked me to follow you, so-”
“Don't get smart with me! You know what I mean! Why did you come here? There's no way that you actually want to be a wrestler, so what is it? Think you can somehow trick yourself into bed with my man again?” Funny how that could mean two different people.
Coral crossed her arms. “Of course not. I'm not stupid enough to think that would work twice.”
“Then what are you doing here?!” I'm certain Tommy heard me from his office, and probably everyone downstairs did, too. Coral didn't even flinch.
“Probably exactly what you think. But not for the reason you think. I'm trying to get close to you. But-”
“If you think for a half-second that I'm gonna play nice and act like you didn't try to fuck up-”
Coral put her hands up defensively. “No. No. I'm not. I know what I did, I admitted it all to you. Then you told Mom... and she yelled at me... and....” She sniffed, as if she was trying not to cry. Fuck's sake! “Look, I was wrong, okay? Mom and me argued at first, but then we talked again, and... I don't know. I guess I grew up spoiled. It was just me and her for a long time. And then you appeared, and... I didn't want to lose her.”
I leaned on the desk, crossing my arms. “Let's assume for a moment that I believe this change of heart – and I'm not saying that I do – why would you think my existence would take her from you?”
Coral shrugged. “I already told you. You were her child first. Remember when we first met and I told you I thought I was gonna hate you, because finding out you existed made me feel like Mom only had me to replace you? Well if you're around now... then she doesn't need me anymore.”
“That sounds like something a child would say.”
“You're the one that called yourself a, what was it.... a fucked up teenager in an adults body? I guess I'm the same.”
Fuck if I didn't start to believe her. Maybe I wanted to. But then I remembered my talk with Gail about this.
“Gail told me you lied about everything. Growing up. How the fuck am I supposed to believe anything you say to me anymore?”
Coral sighed, and sat herself in a chair against the wall near the door. “Yes, I lied. I told you bullshit about Mom so you would think she was a terrible person and leave her alone. I've apologized to her a dozen times, and I'm gonna say it to you, too. I'm sorry.”
“I'm gonna ask you again. Why should I believe you?” I noticed there was no sarcasm in my voice. I really wanted an answer.
“I set everything up and told lies and... all of it, because I didn't want to lose Mom. But then everything came out, you actually talked to her when I didn't think you would, she found out what I did....” Coral shook her head at herself. “I could have lost her anyway, and it would have been my own fault. She told me to find a way to make things right with you. It's all she wants, you know. Her 'girls' getting along.” I nodded. Gail had told me that herself, I knew Coral wasn't making that up. Could she really be actually telling the truth now? "I knew you wouldn't talk to me, and Tommy probably wouldn't either, so I had to do something to get myself into the door here. If it wasn't for your friend Tish I wouldn't be here.”
“That's true at least, Tommy told me what happened. You know she only agreed to fuck with you, right?”
Coral nodded, a smirk on her face. “Yeah, that was made crystal clear my first day. I spent most of it on my ass instead of on my feet.”
“For what it's worth... so do most students on their first day.” I cracked a grin, then hated myself for letting my anger fade. Until I remembered what Ashley told me. “I have another question.”
“Anything.”
“If you're really here just to try to talk to me and make things right, and not keep fucking us... why were you trying to flirt with my student?”
“Who, Ashley?” I nodded. “Um, have you seen him?”
“Yeah. I've seen him.” I gave her a pointed stare.
“Right, of course, he's your student. You would have.... wait.” Coral's eyes went wide. “Is he that student? The one you told me about...?”
I scoffed. “You're really trying to act like you only just figured that out?”
“I had no idea... I swear. You never said his name, and you only mentioned it once or twice. Is he, really?” Fuck. All could do was nod. “Shit... no wonder he shut me down so hard. And no wonder you were so pissed this morning... he just told you, and you thought I was still fucking with you.”
“Can you blame me for thinking that?”
“I don't. I hoped to talk to you before now, I wanted to tell you everything the first day. But you went to New York.”
Godfuckingdammit. I believe her. I don't know why, and I'm probably gonna regret it, but I do.
“So were you never really interested in training? And you just stuck around til I came back?”
“That was the plan, I'll admit that. But.... it's kinda fun. I don't think I'm ever gonna be a real wrestler, but I might stay just to keep in shape. If that's okay with you?”
I hesitated. I mostly believed her, but there was that voice in my head wondering if she was just pulling another work, to continue to be close to me and fuck something else up. If I let her stay though, I could keep an eye on her.
“I guess that wouldn't be a problem.”
“Really?” Her face lit up, she hadn't expected me to say that. I wasn't sure how to take that.
“Yeah. Just do me a favor... and don't try to fuck all my students.”
“Maybe you could just tell me which ones are yours.” She smirked. I couldn't help but chuckle.
“Just the one.”
“Done.” She stood up and moved to hug me. I put a hand up. Not yet. “Oh... right.” She stepped back. “Thank you though. For not thinking I'm bullshitting you.”
“We'll see how this goes.”
She nodded, taking my meaning. “I should get to my class.”
“Actually, so should I.”
We went back downstairs. Tommy was there now, and saw me walk down with her. He gave me a questioning look. I mouthed the word “later.” I really wanted to hear his thoughts on this.
February 3
London
During Breakdown
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Body, Heart, and Soul was a mixed bag for us. I beat Owen, the kid is tough, I'll give him that. But I got his ass. Tommy though wasn't successful in the four-way Addy match. We blame Jordan Majors, she didn't even TRY to fight out of Cid's submission, she just gave up. Granted, it was after her ex attacked her, but have some self respect, right? Doesn't matter in the long run. Because as I keep saying...
We. Don't. Quit.
The London show started by pissing me off. Glory Braddock threw her tits on the table and asked for a World Championship match, just because she beat Syren at BHS. Nevermind the fact that Glory's last match before BHS was with me, and I won! Yet she thinks she deserves a shot? Before I could really get myself worked up to cause a ruckus over it, Holly Adams made some noise about being screwed again and she should be the champion. After her heavily edited video aired, complete with a bogus petition, I had enough. I stormed away from the monitor and went back to our locker room. Tommy followed me, so I couldn't slam the door like I wanted. I kicked a chair instead.
"This is fucking ridiculous!"
"Which part?" Tommy raised an eyebrow.
"All of it! Braddock gets a title shot just because she asked, nevermind the fact I exposed the bitch? Since when is beating Syren the goddamn measuring stick around here, everyone's beaten her at this point!" I haven't, but I haven't faced her, so there's that.
"She is a multiple time World-"
"And Holly is fucking delusional!" No way was I gonna let Tommy interrupt my rant. "A petition? She got pinned - twice! She needs to step the fuck down. You know what? If everyone else is getting shots just by asking, it's my fucking turn!"
"I'd say you have a valid claim. You beat Glory and Owen back to back. We've carried the Tag Division on our backs, we've both earned other opportunities. Go for it babe."
I smiled. I hoped Tommy wouldn't be upset if I reached that high, I know he'd love to hold the World Championship again, especially after a year or so ago when he failed against Bree Lancaster for the vacant title. But he clearly wanted to see me succeed. "Oh I will. They asked for us to give our thoughts on this later? They're gonna wish they didn't give me open air time."
Tommy walked over and grabbed me by the shoulders, trying to calm me down. "This is what they want from you. Selena, Glory, probably even Shaun. They want you to go off the rails so they can say 'that's not how a potential champion acts.' I have a better idea. We're about action instead of words, right?" I nodded. "So, let's be calm and collected in this interview they want. But later, that main event? That's where you make your real statement. With action. You follow?"
A smirk slowly formed on my face. "You're fucking brilliant. Join me? I'll need backup."
"You got it."
We kissed a few moments, then left the locker room. We had been told they wanted to film our reaction in a different locker room than ours, it was bigger to fit the camera. But we didn't know which one, so we hung around catering waiting to be fetched for it. We had been there a few minutes, Tommy had gone into the nearby restroom. I was drinking from a water bottle when I heard a female voice I didn't recognize.
"Excuse me, Miss Park?"
Oh no she didn't. I completely ignored her. SCW staff know better than that! Tommy came back, next to me.
"Oh, Mr. Valentine, Miss Park? Please, I'm here to take you to the locker room for your segment."
Tommy gave me a look, he knew exactly what was wrong and anticipated my reaction. I finally turned to the young woman. She looked fresh out of college. "You must be new here. What's your name?"
"Yes ma'am. I came on a month ago. I'm Scarlett."
I stepped up to herm glaring. "Hi, Scarlett. Whoever trained you missed something very important. You are not to use that name when addressing me. It's in my contract. I'm not sure why it's even on your run sheet, but I'll find out. If someone higher up heard you, you could be reprimanded or fired."
She stepped back, terrified. "Oh. I didn't know. I'm so sorry, Miss...?"
"Just Kandis. Make sure you remember that. If I ever hear it again... I'll have you fired myself."
She nodded, still terrified. "Yes ma'am. I won't forget. Um... we should go..."
"Lead the way."
Scarlett led us to the locker room to film. Tommy said nothing about the exchange, but he had a strange look on his face that I couldn't read. We didn't have time to talk about it anyway, we had to get on camera.
That main event, what was supposed to be Selena Frost versus Glory Braddock? Everyone saw what happened. Others had the same idea I did, but no one would remember Holly's interruption, Kim's desperate attempt to take us out, or Glory's high flying bullshit. They'd remember that I was the one who dropped Selena like a fucking brick.
Overlook me now, motherfuckers.