Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2017 17:28:56 GMT -5
For anyone who knows me, they know that I work for HYBRID as well as LAW and at Unleashed #19 on Saturday, I had probably the worst night of my fucking life and surprisingly enough, I actually won my match that night. Problem was, my victory was tainted as I was facing former Grand Champion, Dean Hemlen and thanks to the Children of Nephilim showing their faces and distracting him, I ended up picking up the victory.
Not only that but also on that very same night, I had discovered that a woman who I called one of my best friends, who I thought was dead wasn’t actually dead at all. And what makes it even worse is that this isn’t the first fucking time it’s happened.
So to say I’m fucking fuming is an understatement…
Dressed in a pair of black leather boots, a pair of skin tight black leather trousers, a black Batman T-shirt and my custom black leather jacket, instead of heading back to my hotel room, I instead decided to buy myself a bottle of vodka from the nearest liquor store.
After getting that, I then proceeded to go to a gym to vent my frustrations on the training bags, because I know fine fucking well that if I don’t take my anger out on the bags, I’ll end up taking out my anger on people instead.
“Nobody fucking sticks their nose in my business, Rivers!”
I scream out as I swing my fist at the bag, barely connecting with it as I take another swig from the bottle in my hand.
“I gave you fucking everything, Cynthia!”
Lashing out again at the bag, this time with a kick, I miss again and collapse on the floor in a heap as I curl up into the foetal position, hugging the bottle as I begin to sob.
“Why, Cynthia...why?”
While this is happening and unbeknownst to me since I can’t see her come in, my friend, HYBRID Grand Champion, Ashley Kenyon, walks into the gym wearing an almost perfectly matching ensemble except that her T-shirt is one for Jack Daniel’s instead of Batman. Ashley sees me and walks over, her stride telling anyone else that can see her to stay out of the way.
“Hugging that fucking bottle a little snug, ain’t ya?”
I look up and let my eyes focus on the woman standing there in front of me.
“Leave me alone, Ash...tonight has been a shitty experience and I just wanna be alone.”
Slowly getting back to my feet, stumbling in the process and nearly falling over again, I take another swig from the bottle and turn my back to her and line up ready to punch the bag again, but before I’m able too, I feel Ash taking hold of my wrist and then she spins me around to face her, taking the bottle of away from me.
“What the fuck, Ash?”
She just looks at me, shaking her head.
“I realize they have this effect on people, and this is gonna sound really rich coming from me, of all people, but you really ain’t needing any more of this. Cyn might be worth it, but the Children damn sure ain’t!”
“That’s why I’m drinking! I’m not drinking because of what those fuckers did! Yeah, I’m pissed off that they got involved in my match with Dean, but that’s the way this business works sometimes. This is about Cynthia...this is the second fucking time she’s done this to me. I’ve always been there for her, through everything, I gave her a second chance and...I don’t think I can go through this heartbreak a third time. I need to think about my own mental health, if I drop into another deep depression? I might lose my kids forever!”
“I get it, really I do, but you don’t wanna turn into me this way, Stacy. This is not a road you wanna roll on down on.”
“I’m just having a few drinks, okay? Venting my frustration out on these bags instead of people. I’ve been worse than this before, I just don’t understand why she would do this to me...to Li...but more importantly to Shay! I’m more bothered about how she’s hurt my friends over how she’s hurt me. Li and Shay don’t deserve that, they’re two of the nicest, most loving people I have ever known, and...she broke their hearts.”
I grab handfuls of my hair and grit my teeth in anger as my gaze darts back and forth, I feel the urge to break something. Glancing at the bottle of alcohol in Ash’s hand, I snatch it from her grasp and throw it against the wall, causing it to explode as I scream out in anger before Ash grabs hold of me and hugs me tightly.
“It’s okay. Be mad, be sad, feel whatever you want. Hell, if you want, let’s go find a bunch of cheap shit to smash, I’ll set it up in some room and you can go to town on it like it owes you money and threatened your Mama and kids, but don’t let Cyn’s issues become yours. You gotta keep your head up straight here or you’re right, there will be problems. Cyn’s dug herself a big ass hole, ain’t no reason you need to get a shovel and start digging a matching one for yourself next to it.”
Tears slowly roll down my cheeks as I sniffle a bit, holding onto my friend for a few moments longer before breaking away.
“I should get back to the hotel, I can’t imagine how Li must be feeling right now and poor Lis will be trying to make sure she’s okay as well as keeping an eye on Nick and Chels. Thank for you coming to look for me, it means a lot, especially considering how our relationship with each other didn’t get off to the best of starts.”
She nods to me and almost looks like she might laugh at herself.
“Yeah, well, I have been known to go off a bit half-cocked in my life and that was definitely one of those times.”
“Well I’m glad we were able to turn over a new leaf, Ash. We better get going, I don’t want to leave Lis too much longer with having to look after Li and the kids at the same time.”
Ash nods and shows a small smile before the two of us make our way out of the gym, Ash supporting me as I’m having trouble walking on my own due to being inebriated.
Right now I just want to get back to the hotel, make sure my kids and Li are okay. Little did I know that later that night, I would get a text message from one of my other close friends, Eavan Zdunich who asked me to give Cynthia one more chance.
At first I said no, she’d already had her second chance with me and she blew it, but I don’t know if it was the drink talking or if it was simply because deep down I care and love Cynthia so much that I don’t want to say goodbye forever to her.
I ended up agreeing to giving her one last chance…
Needless to say, when I got back to the hotel that night, things with Li were as bad as I expected. After witnessing Cynthia appear on Unleashed after we all thought she was dead, she ended up blacking out. The poor woman had been through a lot in the last forty eight hours since the night before at Ascension, after her Main Event loss to Marissa Hunter, she was targeted by Sylvia Lopez and caused her to have a breakdown.
As a result, I didn’t actually get any sleep that night, once Ash brought me back to the hotel, we all decided it would be best not to try and move Li so instead, we tucked her into my bed before Lis, Zenna and Ash went back to their own rooms. Jen would bunk up with the kids and I just sat in the chair, keeping an eye on my friend.
The sun slowly rises, obvious from the light beginning to shine through the blinds. I squint slightly as it hits my eyes and all of a sudden, the hangover strikes like a ton of bricks and my head is in excruciating pain, which isn’t helped by the kids who are now also awake.
They burst into the room, followed by a yawning Jen who is dressed in a pair of light blue denim jeans and one of my old grey Batman T-shirts. Nick and Chelsea, excited for yet another day of play time, as all kids are, come up to me shouting with excitement as I frown, holding my head in pain.
“Guys...calm down please, Mommy has a headache and Aunty Li is still sleeping, you don’t want to wake her up.”
They look over to Li and instantly calm down before giving me a hug and I kiss them both on their foreheads. Jen smiles and walks over as well and we share a passionate kiss with one another as she strokes her right hand through my long black hair.
“Didn’t get any sleep last night, baby?”
“Not a wink...I couldn’t...I was too worried about her…”
I say as we both glance over to our sleeping friend.
“She’ll be okay, Stace…”
Smiling, I look back to her and nod.
“Do you want me to take the kids out and go pick up some breakfast for us? Think you’re gonna need a proper big fry up to cure the hangover you’ve got.”
“That’d be lovely, honey…”
“Okay. C’mon kids...let’s go out and pick up breakfast for us, Mommy and Aunty Li. Put your shoes on...c’mon.”
I watch with a tired smile on my face as Nick and Chelsea do as they’re told and put their shoes on before heading out of the hotel room, leaving me alone with Li. Remembering that I said to Eavan last night that I would get in touch with Cynthia about helping and supporting her through her rehab, I take my phone out of my pocket and begin typing up the text to her.
“Okay, I'll support and help you the best I can under one condition. You make sure you stick with it until you're better. If I end up having to drag you to wherever you need to be? I'll fucking well do it.
But make no mistake about it, Cynthia, this is your last chance. You fuck this up a third time? You better hope it doesn't fuck with my mental health, coz if it does and I lose my kids again? I'll be out for your blood.”
Hitting send, it doesn’t take long for my phone to buzz and I have a reply from her.
“I promise Stacy. Thank you.”
I scoff at her response, she promised that last time and she screwed it up, so nobody can really blame me for not believing her. Texting back, I simply say to her:
“Don't thank me, thank Eavan. Also, don't get the wrong idea here. We're not friends, I'm just doing what's right. You need to earn back the right to be my friend.”
Again, it doesn’t take long for a response and once again, her response is short as it says:
“I will. I promise.”
Just as I finish reading it and place my phone back into my pocket, I hear movement from the bed and when I look over, I see Li stirring, so I get to my feet and head over to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it as she looks up at me and I smile.
“Hey, honey, how are you feeling?”
Li’s eyes go wide as the first waves of fresh panic starts to set in.
“Oh God! Did...I...oh...in...front of the kids?”
“Relax...Lis and Zenna saw the typical signs and Lis took them into the other room to play before it happened. They didn’t see anything, honey. It’s okay.”
Li starts to nod, tears welling up in her eyes as she looks at me, visibly distraught and embarrassed.
“I tried to make it stop, tried to not let it happen in front of them. I heard Lis call Kels and Lucy and then Z herded me towards the bathroom. I’m sorry… ”
The tears start pouring out of her eyes, her hands crashing across them trying to make it stop.
“Oh, honey…”
I gently pull her into an embrace as she cries into my shoulder, God knows what she can smell, no doubt alcohol and BO since I haven’t showered yet.
“I told you, it’s okay...it’s not your fault. The kids are fine, everyone’s fine...but I need to know if you’re okay.”
Breaking away from the embrace, I place my hands on either side of her face, wiping her tears away with my thumbs as I stare deep into her eyes with my own tired eyes.
“So, are you okay?”
Li stares up at me and then manages a small, timid nod.
“I will be, yes. I knew this was probably coming, I hadn’t had one in months and then Sylvia…”
She trails off and then looks up at me apologetically.
“I couldn’t stop it anymore after Cyn showed up…”
Dropping my arms down by my side, I look away for a few moment, my teeth grind together as I shake my head, I’m still angry myself about that, despite me agreeing to help her.
“It honestly doesn’t surprise me, I don’t understand what the Hell is going on with her. I was almost done with her completely, I was worried about my own mental health as well as yours. But I got a text from Eavan last night, asking me to be there for her, and...I don’t know if it was the alcohol, the lack of sleep or just because deep down I still care and love her too much to walk away, but I agreed to be there for her after all…”
I stand to my feet and walk over to the window and stare out at the sunrise, which was a bad idea considering the hangover, which causes me to rub my head.
“But this is her last chance. If she fucks up again...I’m done.”
“Z and I have both been there, it’s the incident Sylvia was referencing. I told Cyn everything in our talks about rehab and what she needed to do. I’d asked Z, Kels and Lis if it was ok to tell her our story and they said yes. I knew if she fell… “
Li takes a deep breath and shakes her head.
“I know we all fell, so the idea wasn’t that far out there and yet I was still shocked when it happened. All I can think looking at her is…that used to be me…and could so easily be me again…”
“Do you think she told her everything?”
Turning my attention back to my friend, I retake my seat on the edge of the bed.
“I mean, do you think Cynthia told Sylvia everything about you when they were ‘together’?”
“As upset and crazed as she was? I don’t know if she would have remembered all the details but broad strokes? Possibly, yeah…”
Just as I’m about to retort, the hotel door opens and in walk Jen and the kids with enough ingredients for all of us to have a good hearty breakfast. The moment Nick and Chelsea see that Li is up and awake, they run over and jump onto the bed and wrap their arms around her.
“Yay! Aunty Li’s awake now!”
“Nick? Chelsea? Be careful now, Aunty Li’s still recovering from her fall last night.”
They break away from her and Chelsea looks at her head, as if she were a doctor.
“Do you want me to kiss your head better, Aunty Li?”
Li looks at my little girl and smiles for the first time all morning.
“I think that would do me wonders, Doctor Chelsea.”
Chelsea smiles brightly as she stands up on the bed and carefully kisses her on the forehead before turning her attention to me.
“There, Mommy. Aunty Li’s all better now.”
“I’m sure she is, with the power of magic hugs and kisses. Now how about you and Nick go and help Jen make breakfast so Aunty Li can jump into the shower.”
“Okay, Mommy…”
The two of them climb down off the bed and run into the kitchen area where Jen is and begin helping her get everything prepared.
“Are you sure you want me to do that first?”
“They’re making a pretty big breakfast, I sure as Hell need it to cure this hangover and you need all the strength you can get so both of us will have time to have a quick shower before it’s ready. It’ll be fine…”
“I know that feeling, happily haven’t had one of those in seventeen months.”
She gets up from the bed and hugs me.
“Thank you, Stace.”
“Anything for you, Li. If you need anything while you’re in the bathroom, just give me a shout, I’ll be right outside.”
And with that, I hand her a couple of towels and she makes her way into the bathroom as I move back over to the chair and sit there before hearing the water of the shower begin to run.
After getting a good hearty breakfast inside of us, both Li and I were feeling a lot better and after saying her goodbyes, she made her way back to see her sister and fiance while Jen and I focused on packing up our things, ready to catch the flight to Malibu so we can be at Zoey’s for her big Halloween party on Monday.
It’s something I’ve been looking forward to since it was first announced…
So Sunday was pretty uneventful, the moment we touched down in Malibu, I decided to hit the gym to get a decent workout in while Jen and the kids went out to get our costumes for the Halloween party. The kids absolutely adore getting dressed up and they like to impress, especially Nick who’s a right ladies man, haha.
I figured that on Monday morning, while Jen took the kids to the park for a bit play, that I would record my response to Gabby for LAW #72.
The camera flickers to life as I’m here in my hotel room in Malibu, dressed in my purple silk dressing gown with a nice hot cup of coffee with milk and two sugars in my hand. Once I’m happy with everything, I make my way over to the couch and set my drink down onto the table in front of me and take a seat.
I cross my legs on the couch and lean forward, picking up my beverage and taking a tiny sip of it.
“So I checked out your blog the other day, Gabby, because of course, I was interested in what you had to say and well...there was one thing that struck me right from the very beginning. See, you believe that you put more effort into your pick your poison opponent for Amy than she did for yours, which in all honesty, at first, I took that as an insult but then as I continued on, I soon realised it wasn’t. Who knows why Amy chose me to face you, the only person who knows the answer to that is Amy herself. It could have been for the reasons you listed or it could have been because she believes that I would do so much damage to you in our match it would result in you not being one hundred percent going into your title match against her, which, as I alluded to before, I’m not out to do such a thing as I’m not that kind of person.”
Taking another drink, I lick my lips and let out a satisfying ‘ahhh’ as the warm liquid travels down my throat, warming insides.
“I appreciate that you recognise the passion, drive and determination that I have, Gabby. It’s been something that I’ve always had inside of me, my Dad when he trained me from the age of fourteen made sure it was drilled into me, of course, a lot of it just came naturally to me due to how much I love this business. I know that my actions will end up speaking louder than my words to you once we step into the ring against each other, but trust me when I say this, when I went out there at LAW #71 to make that address to the fans and everyone in the back, it sure as Hell wasn’t a front and you can guarantee that you’ll get that same fire, that same passion, drive and determination...because no matter who my opponent is, whether they’re a champion or not, whether they’re a number one contender or not, whether they’re a friend, a foe or someone in between, I always give everything I have in the matches I have, so when we do battle with each other, it won’t be any different!”
I smirk a little.
“It’s actually going to nice and refreshing to face someone who isn’t a pathetic, big-headed bitch who thinks she’s the greatest thing to ever step foot into a wrestling ring. Thus far in my LAW career, I’ve faced La Estrella, who I respect a lot and she showed me just as much respect and we had one Hell of a first round match against each other in the Queen of the Ring tournament, and on paper, due to how much more experience she has in this business along with her heritage, her father and grandfather being two extremely successful and famous luchadores, it wouldn’t surprise me if she had been the favorite to win that match. And then there was when I faced Crystal, who, truth be told, can come across as a bit arrogant but after getting to know her outside of the squared circle, she’s also someone who shows me a lot of respect and I return the favor and when it came to that match, despite losing to her, I gave her one Hell of a fight which again, probably not many people were expecting. And of course, not forgetting the Over The Top Rope Battle Royal between every competitor in the Queen of the Ring tournament, minus Kat, which yet again...nobody was probably expecting me to be victorious considering the array of talent I was up against, but just like with Estrella, I proved how capable I am.
My face drops now as I take another drink before shaking my head.
“And every other match I’ve had so far in my LAW career have been against members of the ‘Cool Kids’, having two single matches against Sarah Lacklan and Milisandre Crowthorne, who as expected, both shot me down before even seeing what I was like in the ring, talking about me as if I was useless at my job and I had both of them defeated but thanks to Sylvia, that ended up not happening. Then of course, there was the six women tag team match where I teamed with my good friends, Zoey Madigan-Star and Farrah Cornett to take on Angelica Vaughn, Ashley Williams and Roxy Cotton. And just like their fellow ‘Cool Kids’, they too shot me down before we even stepped into the ring and I ended up showing them exactly just how wrong they were and as a result, we picked up the victory.”
Realizing that I’m rambling a little, taking a large gulp of coffee, I get myself focused and back on track.
“The point that I’m trying to make is that it’s going to be nice to have a good ol’ fashioned wrestling match against someone who recognizes just how good I am in that ring just like I recognize just how good you are, Gabby. I also appreciate that you’re not looking past me considering the position you’re in, because you’re absolutely right, I’m going to be going into this match with everything I’ve got and I intend on making a name for myself by defeating the number one contender for the LAW World Championship. Because you see, I turned professional nearly a decade ago, and I’ve never been a World Champion. I’ve held titles in every single company that I’ve worked for bar this one, which I hope to change in the near future, which is the reason why I want to beat you because it’ll help me climb up that ladder that much quicker. Like you’ve already said, you’re already a two-time World Champion here, as well as one-time Marquee Champion. You’ve already established yourself here, and I know that once you get the taste of gold, you crave it once you’ve lost it. It’s like a drug, and that’s exactly what this is for me, not the fame and glory, but wrestling in a whole is my drug and I want to be the best of the best and to do that, I need to beat the best of the best, and I certainly consider you one of those people.”
Chugging the rest of my coffee, I lean forward again and set the mug back down on the table before wiping the excess liquid off my lips with my sleeve.
“So you can bet your ass that we’re going to have the fight of our fucking lives in the Cincinnati Gardens Arena, but mark my words, Gabby...I’m not going to allow you to win. One thing you’ll soon learn about me when we step into that ring against one another is that it takes a Hell of a lot to keep me down! I will not stay down...I will not quit...I...will not...break!”
I uncross my legs and stand to my feet before making my way over to the camera, glaring deep into the lens.
“So Gabby? November, 5th 2017 in Ohio...you will suffer my Judgement. Your Final Penance...is coming!”
And with that, I turn off the camera, causing the screen to fade to black so I can focus on getting myself ready for the party.
Nobody understands how important this match is to me, other than Gabby possibly since she’s been in the exact same position as I am in right now. There was a time when she was new to this company, nobody had really heard of her and she needed to make a name for herself and she did exactly that.
But whether she likes it or not, it’s my time now to be that person who makes a name for herself. It’s a dog eat dog world in this business, sometimes you have to face friends or people you think highly of and respect, and you’ve got to put all personal feelings aside and focus on yourself.
And I’m going to make sure I make the most of this!
Not only that but also on that very same night, I had discovered that a woman who I called one of my best friends, who I thought was dead wasn’t actually dead at all. And what makes it even worse is that this isn’t the first fucking time it’s happened.
So to say I’m fucking fuming is an understatement…
Dressed in a pair of black leather boots, a pair of skin tight black leather trousers, a black Batman T-shirt and my custom black leather jacket, instead of heading back to my hotel room, I instead decided to buy myself a bottle of vodka from the nearest liquor store.
After getting that, I then proceeded to go to a gym to vent my frustrations on the training bags, because I know fine fucking well that if I don’t take my anger out on the bags, I’ll end up taking out my anger on people instead.
“Nobody fucking sticks their nose in my business, Rivers!”
I scream out as I swing my fist at the bag, barely connecting with it as I take another swig from the bottle in my hand.
“I gave you fucking everything, Cynthia!”
Lashing out again at the bag, this time with a kick, I miss again and collapse on the floor in a heap as I curl up into the foetal position, hugging the bottle as I begin to sob.
“Why, Cynthia...why?”
While this is happening and unbeknownst to me since I can’t see her come in, my friend, HYBRID Grand Champion, Ashley Kenyon, walks into the gym wearing an almost perfectly matching ensemble except that her T-shirt is one for Jack Daniel’s instead of Batman. Ashley sees me and walks over, her stride telling anyone else that can see her to stay out of the way.
“Hugging that fucking bottle a little snug, ain’t ya?”
I look up and let my eyes focus on the woman standing there in front of me.
“Leave me alone, Ash...tonight has been a shitty experience and I just wanna be alone.”
Slowly getting back to my feet, stumbling in the process and nearly falling over again, I take another swig from the bottle and turn my back to her and line up ready to punch the bag again, but before I’m able too, I feel Ash taking hold of my wrist and then she spins me around to face her, taking the bottle of away from me.
“What the fuck, Ash?”
She just looks at me, shaking her head.
“I realize they have this effect on people, and this is gonna sound really rich coming from me, of all people, but you really ain’t needing any more of this. Cyn might be worth it, but the Children damn sure ain’t!”
“That’s why I’m drinking! I’m not drinking because of what those fuckers did! Yeah, I’m pissed off that they got involved in my match with Dean, but that’s the way this business works sometimes. This is about Cynthia...this is the second fucking time she’s done this to me. I’ve always been there for her, through everything, I gave her a second chance and...I don’t think I can go through this heartbreak a third time. I need to think about my own mental health, if I drop into another deep depression? I might lose my kids forever!”
“I get it, really I do, but you don’t wanna turn into me this way, Stacy. This is not a road you wanna roll on down on.”
“I’m just having a few drinks, okay? Venting my frustration out on these bags instead of people. I’ve been worse than this before, I just don’t understand why she would do this to me...to Li...but more importantly to Shay! I’m more bothered about how she’s hurt my friends over how she’s hurt me. Li and Shay don’t deserve that, they’re two of the nicest, most loving people I have ever known, and...she broke their hearts.”
I grab handfuls of my hair and grit my teeth in anger as my gaze darts back and forth, I feel the urge to break something. Glancing at the bottle of alcohol in Ash’s hand, I snatch it from her grasp and throw it against the wall, causing it to explode as I scream out in anger before Ash grabs hold of me and hugs me tightly.
“It’s okay. Be mad, be sad, feel whatever you want. Hell, if you want, let’s go find a bunch of cheap shit to smash, I’ll set it up in some room and you can go to town on it like it owes you money and threatened your Mama and kids, but don’t let Cyn’s issues become yours. You gotta keep your head up straight here or you’re right, there will be problems. Cyn’s dug herself a big ass hole, ain’t no reason you need to get a shovel and start digging a matching one for yourself next to it.”
Tears slowly roll down my cheeks as I sniffle a bit, holding onto my friend for a few moments longer before breaking away.
“I should get back to the hotel, I can’t imagine how Li must be feeling right now and poor Lis will be trying to make sure she’s okay as well as keeping an eye on Nick and Chels. Thank for you coming to look for me, it means a lot, especially considering how our relationship with each other didn’t get off to the best of starts.”
She nods to me and almost looks like she might laugh at herself.
“Yeah, well, I have been known to go off a bit half-cocked in my life and that was definitely one of those times.”
“Well I’m glad we were able to turn over a new leaf, Ash. We better get going, I don’t want to leave Lis too much longer with having to look after Li and the kids at the same time.”
Ash nods and shows a small smile before the two of us make our way out of the gym, Ash supporting me as I’m having trouble walking on my own due to being inebriated.
Right now I just want to get back to the hotel, make sure my kids and Li are okay. Little did I know that later that night, I would get a text message from one of my other close friends, Eavan Zdunich who asked me to give Cynthia one more chance.
At first I said no, she’d already had her second chance with me and she blew it, but I don’t know if it was the drink talking or if it was simply because deep down I care and love Cynthia so much that I don’t want to say goodbye forever to her.
I ended up agreeing to giving her one last chance…
Needless to say, when I got back to the hotel that night, things with Li were as bad as I expected. After witnessing Cynthia appear on Unleashed after we all thought she was dead, she ended up blacking out. The poor woman had been through a lot in the last forty eight hours since the night before at Ascension, after her Main Event loss to Marissa Hunter, she was targeted by Sylvia Lopez and caused her to have a breakdown.
As a result, I didn’t actually get any sleep that night, once Ash brought me back to the hotel, we all decided it would be best not to try and move Li so instead, we tucked her into my bed before Lis, Zenna and Ash went back to their own rooms. Jen would bunk up with the kids and I just sat in the chair, keeping an eye on my friend.
The sun slowly rises, obvious from the light beginning to shine through the blinds. I squint slightly as it hits my eyes and all of a sudden, the hangover strikes like a ton of bricks and my head is in excruciating pain, which isn’t helped by the kids who are now also awake.
They burst into the room, followed by a yawning Jen who is dressed in a pair of light blue denim jeans and one of my old grey Batman T-shirts. Nick and Chelsea, excited for yet another day of play time, as all kids are, come up to me shouting with excitement as I frown, holding my head in pain.
“Guys...calm down please, Mommy has a headache and Aunty Li is still sleeping, you don’t want to wake her up.”
They look over to Li and instantly calm down before giving me a hug and I kiss them both on their foreheads. Jen smiles and walks over as well and we share a passionate kiss with one another as she strokes her right hand through my long black hair.
“Didn’t get any sleep last night, baby?”
“Not a wink...I couldn’t...I was too worried about her…”
I say as we both glance over to our sleeping friend.
“She’ll be okay, Stace…”
Smiling, I look back to her and nod.
“Do you want me to take the kids out and go pick up some breakfast for us? Think you’re gonna need a proper big fry up to cure the hangover you’ve got.”
“That’d be lovely, honey…”
“Okay. C’mon kids...let’s go out and pick up breakfast for us, Mommy and Aunty Li. Put your shoes on...c’mon.”
I watch with a tired smile on my face as Nick and Chelsea do as they’re told and put their shoes on before heading out of the hotel room, leaving me alone with Li. Remembering that I said to Eavan last night that I would get in touch with Cynthia about helping and supporting her through her rehab, I take my phone out of my pocket and begin typing up the text to her.
“Okay, I'll support and help you the best I can under one condition. You make sure you stick with it until you're better. If I end up having to drag you to wherever you need to be? I'll fucking well do it.
But make no mistake about it, Cynthia, this is your last chance. You fuck this up a third time? You better hope it doesn't fuck with my mental health, coz if it does and I lose my kids again? I'll be out for your blood.”
Hitting send, it doesn’t take long for my phone to buzz and I have a reply from her.
“I promise Stacy. Thank you.”
I scoff at her response, she promised that last time and she screwed it up, so nobody can really blame me for not believing her. Texting back, I simply say to her:
“Don't thank me, thank Eavan. Also, don't get the wrong idea here. We're not friends, I'm just doing what's right. You need to earn back the right to be my friend.”
Again, it doesn’t take long for a response and once again, her response is short as it says:
“I will. I promise.”
Just as I finish reading it and place my phone back into my pocket, I hear movement from the bed and when I look over, I see Li stirring, so I get to my feet and head over to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it as she looks up at me and I smile.
“Hey, honey, how are you feeling?”
Li’s eyes go wide as the first waves of fresh panic starts to set in.
“Oh God! Did...I...oh...in...front of the kids?”
“Relax...Lis and Zenna saw the typical signs and Lis took them into the other room to play before it happened. They didn’t see anything, honey. It’s okay.”
Li starts to nod, tears welling up in her eyes as she looks at me, visibly distraught and embarrassed.
“I tried to make it stop, tried to not let it happen in front of them. I heard Lis call Kels and Lucy and then Z herded me towards the bathroom. I’m sorry… ”
The tears start pouring out of her eyes, her hands crashing across them trying to make it stop.
“Oh, honey…”
I gently pull her into an embrace as she cries into my shoulder, God knows what she can smell, no doubt alcohol and BO since I haven’t showered yet.
“I told you, it’s okay...it’s not your fault. The kids are fine, everyone’s fine...but I need to know if you’re okay.”
Breaking away from the embrace, I place my hands on either side of her face, wiping her tears away with my thumbs as I stare deep into her eyes with my own tired eyes.
“So, are you okay?”
Li stares up at me and then manages a small, timid nod.
“I will be, yes. I knew this was probably coming, I hadn’t had one in months and then Sylvia…”
She trails off and then looks up at me apologetically.
“I couldn’t stop it anymore after Cyn showed up…”
Dropping my arms down by my side, I look away for a few moment, my teeth grind together as I shake my head, I’m still angry myself about that, despite me agreeing to help her.
“It honestly doesn’t surprise me, I don’t understand what the Hell is going on with her. I was almost done with her completely, I was worried about my own mental health as well as yours. But I got a text from Eavan last night, asking me to be there for her, and...I don’t know if it was the alcohol, the lack of sleep or just because deep down I still care and love her too much to walk away, but I agreed to be there for her after all…”
I stand to my feet and walk over to the window and stare out at the sunrise, which was a bad idea considering the hangover, which causes me to rub my head.
“But this is her last chance. If she fucks up again...I’m done.”
“Z and I have both been there, it’s the incident Sylvia was referencing. I told Cyn everything in our talks about rehab and what she needed to do. I’d asked Z, Kels and Lis if it was ok to tell her our story and they said yes. I knew if she fell… “
Li takes a deep breath and shakes her head.
“I know we all fell, so the idea wasn’t that far out there and yet I was still shocked when it happened. All I can think looking at her is…that used to be me…and could so easily be me again…”
“Do you think she told her everything?”
Turning my attention back to my friend, I retake my seat on the edge of the bed.
“I mean, do you think Cynthia told Sylvia everything about you when they were ‘together’?”
“As upset and crazed as she was? I don’t know if she would have remembered all the details but broad strokes? Possibly, yeah…”
Just as I’m about to retort, the hotel door opens and in walk Jen and the kids with enough ingredients for all of us to have a good hearty breakfast. The moment Nick and Chelsea see that Li is up and awake, they run over and jump onto the bed and wrap their arms around her.
“Yay! Aunty Li’s awake now!”
“Nick? Chelsea? Be careful now, Aunty Li’s still recovering from her fall last night.”
They break away from her and Chelsea looks at her head, as if she were a doctor.
“Do you want me to kiss your head better, Aunty Li?”
Li looks at my little girl and smiles for the first time all morning.
“I think that would do me wonders, Doctor Chelsea.”
Chelsea smiles brightly as she stands up on the bed and carefully kisses her on the forehead before turning her attention to me.
“There, Mommy. Aunty Li’s all better now.”
“I’m sure she is, with the power of magic hugs and kisses. Now how about you and Nick go and help Jen make breakfast so Aunty Li can jump into the shower.”
“Okay, Mommy…”
The two of them climb down off the bed and run into the kitchen area where Jen is and begin helping her get everything prepared.
“Are you sure you want me to do that first?”
“They’re making a pretty big breakfast, I sure as Hell need it to cure this hangover and you need all the strength you can get so both of us will have time to have a quick shower before it’s ready. It’ll be fine…”
“I know that feeling, happily haven’t had one of those in seventeen months.”
She gets up from the bed and hugs me.
“Thank you, Stace.”
“Anything for you, Li. If you need anything while you’re in the bathroom, just give me a shout, I’ll be right outside.”
And with that, I hand her a couple of towels and she makes her way into the bathroom as I move back over to the chair and sit there before hearing the water of the shower begin to run.
After getting a good hearty breakfast inside of us, both Li and I were feeling a lot better and after saying her goodbyes, she made her way back to see her sister and fiance while Jen and I focused on packing up our things, ready to catch the flight to Malibu so we can be at Zoey’s for her big Halloween party on Monday.
It’s something I’ve been looking forward to since it was first announced…
So Sunday was pretty uneventful, the moment we touched down in Malibu, I decided to hit the gym to get a decent workout in while Jen and the kids went out to get our costumes for the Halloween party. The kids absolutely adore getting dressed up and they like to impress, especially Nick who’s a right ladies man, haha.
I figured that on Monday morning, while Jen took the kids to the park for a bit play, that I would record my response to Gabby for LAW #72.
The camera flickers to life as I’m here in my hotel room in Malibu, dressed in my purple silk dressing gown with a nice hot cup of coffee with milk and two sugars in my hand. Once I’m happy with everything, I make my way over to the couch and set my drink down onto the table in front of me and take a seat.
I cross my legs on the couch and lean forward, picking up my beverage and taking a tiny sip of it.
“So I checked out your blog the other day, Gabby, because of course, I was interested in what you had to say and well...there was one thing that struck me right from the very beginning. See, you believe that you put more effort into your pick your poison opponent for Amy than she did for yours, which in all honesty, at first, I took that as an insult but then as I continued on, I soon realised it wasn’t. Who knows why Amy chose me to face you, the only person who knows the answer to that is Amy herself. It could have been for the reasons you listed or it could have been because she believes that I would do so much damage to you in our match it would result in you not being one hundred percent going into your title match against her, which, as I alluded to before, I’m not out to do such a thing as I’m not that kind of person.”
Taking another drink, I lick my lips and let out a satisfying ‘ahhh’ as the warm liquid travels down my throat, warming insides.
“I appreciate that you recognise the passion, drive and determination that I have, Gabby. It’s been something that I’ve always had inside of me, my Dad when he trained me from the age of fourteen made sure it was drilled into me, of course, a lot of it just came naturally to me due to how much I love this business. I know that my actions will end up speaking louder than my words to you once we step into the ring against each other, but trust me when I say this, when I went out there at LAW #71 to make that address to the fans and everyone in the back, it sure as Hell wasn’t a front and you can guarantee that you’ll get that same fire, that same passion, drive and determination...because no matter who my opponent is, whether they’re a champion or not, whether they’re a number one contender or not, whether they’re a friend, a foe or someone in between, I always give everything I have in the matches I have, so when we do battle with each other, it won’t be any different!”
I smirk a little.
“It’s actually going to nice and refreshing to face someone who isn’t a pathetic, big-headed bitch who thinks she’s the greatest thing to ever step foot into a wrestling ring. Thus far in my LAW career, I’ve faced La Estrella, who I respect a lot and she showed me just as much respect and we had one Hell of a first round match against each other in the Queen of the Ring tournament, and on paper, due to how much more experience she has in this business along with her heritage, her father and grandfather being two extremely successful and famous luchadores, it wouldn’t surprise me if she had been the favorite to win that match. And then there was when I faced Crystal, who, truth be told, can come across as a bit arrogant but after getting to know her outside of the squared circle, she’s also someone who shows me a lot of respect and I return the favor and when it came to that match, despite losing to her, I gave her one Hell of a fight which again, probably not many people were expecting. And of course, not forgetting the Over The Top Rope Battle Royal between every competitor in the Queen of the Ring tournament, minus Kat, which yet again...nobody was probably expecting me to be victorious considering the array of talent I was up against, but just like with Estrella, I proved how capable I am.
My face drops now as I take another drink before shaking my head.
“And every other match I’ve had so far in my LAW career have been against members of the ‘Cool Kids’, having two single matches against Sarah Lacklan and Milisandre Crowthorne, who as expected, both shot me down before even seeing what I was like in the ring, talking about me as if I was useless at my job and I had both of them defeated but thanks to Sylvia, that ended up not happening. Then of course, there was the six women tag team match where I teamed with my good friends, Zoey Madigan-Star and Farrah Cornett to take on Angelica Vaughn, Ashley Williams and Roxy Cotton. And just like their fellow ‘Cool Kids’, they too shot me down before we even stepped into the ring and I ended up showing them exactly just how wrong they were and as a result, we picked up the victory.”
Realizing that I’m rambling a little, taking a large gulp of coffee, I get myself focused and back on track.
“The point that I’m trying to make is that it’s going to be nice to have a good ol’ fashioned wrestling match against someone who recognizes just how good I am in that ring just like I recognize just how good you are, Gabby. I also appreciate that you’re not looking past me considering the position you’re in, because you’re absolutely right, I’m going to be going into this match with everything I’ve got and I intend on making a name for myself by defeating the number one contender for the LAW World Championship. Because you see, I turned professional nearly a decade ago, and I’ve never been a World Champion. I’ve held titles in every single company that I’ve worked for bar this one, which I hope to change in the near future, which is the reason why I want to beat you because it’ll help me climb up that ladder that much quicker. Like you’ve already said, you’re already a two-time World Champion here, as well as one-time Marquee Champion. You’ve already established yourself here, and I know that once you get the taste of gold, you crave it once you’ve lost it. It’s like a drug, and that’s exactly what this is for me, not the fame and glory, but wrestling in a whole is my drug and I want to be the best of the best and to do that, I need to beat the best of the best, and I certainly consider you one of those people.”
Chugging the rest of my coffee, I lean forward again and set the mug back down on the table before wiping the excess liquid off my lips with my sleeve.
“So you can bet your ass that we’re going to have the fight of our fucking lives in the Cincinnati Gardens Arena, but mark my words, Gabby...I’m not going to allow you to win. One thing you’ll soon learn about me when we step into that ring against one another is that it takes a Hell of a lot to keep me down! I will not stay down...I will not quit...I...will not...break!”
I uncross my legs and stand to my feet before making my way over to the camera, glaring deep into the lens.
“So Gabby? November, 5th 2017 in Ohio...you will suffer my Judgement. Your Final Penance...is coming!”
And with that, I turn off the camera, causing the screen to fade to black so I can focus on getting myself ready for the party.
Nobody understands how important this match is to me, other than Gabby possibly since she’s been in the exact same position as I am in right now. There was a time when she was new to this company, nobody had really heard of her and she needed to make a name for herself and she did exactly that.
But whether she likes it or not, it’s my time now to be that person who makes a name for herself. It’s a dog eat dog world in this business, sometimes you have to face friends or people you think highly of and respect, and you’ve got to put all personal feelings aside and focus on yourself.
And I’m going to make sure I make the most of this!