Post by AngelicaVaughn on Aug 19, 2017 18:00:54 GMT -5
“Angelica Mary-Elle Vaughn, get your flat ass in this office right now, young lady!!”
Those were the words that greeted our blonde 5’9 protagonist as soon as she opened the doors to her agent’s offices. They came from upstairs, where the main office was located, reverberated through the hallways, wobbled down the stairs, bounced off the walls and slapped Angelica in the face like they were a wet towel.
It was clear her agent was upset. And Angelica had a pretty good idea why.
Suffice it to say, she knew she was in trouble.
The usually oh so relatively bubbly Vancouverite made her way up the round staircase. She used the metal guardrail to pull herself up the broad wooden steps, her legs still exhausted from not only an early morning squat session that would make Sarah Lacklan proud, but also football kicking practice. Everything was shaking, from her calves to her hamstrings, quads and even her glutes; the backside buns that Angie herself underestimated oh so dramatically were starting to shape up real nicely, a fact that Angelica was completely oblivious to.
As soon as she arrived on the first floor, she saw her agent standing in the doorway. Edith Seybold, the very definition of a cougar (not that Angelica knew what that meant), but in spite of that also one of the greatest damn agents in the business, her clientele limited to only the best athletes in the world, from a wide variety of sports. While she was very secretive about it, Angelica knew she represented at least one NBA player and two NFL’ers. It was still a mystery to her why this woman had contacted her with an offer, but nevertheless Angelica was very glad she had made the decision to sign with her. The woman could draw blood from a stone when it came to negotiating contract deals, and the hype machine surrounding Angelica and the rest of the #CoolKids probably wouldn’t have taken off as well as it had without her vast experience in the media landscape.
Nonetheless, Edith’s eyes shot forth thunderbolts that almost smote Angie on the spot. She was impatiently tapping her high heeled foot on the marble floor.
“How good of you to finally join me,” she said rather sarcastically. “In my office, now!”
Angelica felt like she was being summoned to the principal’s office, a feeling that she almost always had when talking to her. She was a bit scary and a bit mean, but the money she kept putting in Edith’s account basically guaranteed her undying loyalty and willingness to go the extra mile for her. Despite being a sourpuss and a grumpyface, Edith had done right by her, no doubt about it.
She stepped into the pristine office, its marble floor so shiny and its walls so pearly white it made her eyes water. She sat herself on the large leather chair in front of the massive oak desk, and put her handbag with cat motif on the floor next to here as Edith leaned against her desk, looking down on Angelica. A strategy to assert her dominance and control no doubt, but of course Angie was oblivious to that.
“So,” Edith began, her hand resting on the phone that was standing on the desk. “I just got off the phone with Lucas Dupree…” Her voice was calm and collected, but Angelica detected a slight tremble in it too, indicating that Edith wanted nothing more than to lose her shit. “He told me something very interesting, Angelica. Something that I actually didn’t want to believe at first, because there is no way someone could ever be so thoroughly and utterly stupid.” There was a slight pause as she stopped talking, instead opting to stare a hole through her client.
“Erm… kay?” Angelica answered, trying to get her to finish her lecture. Angelica knew what she was talking about of course, but didn’t want o say it out loud.
“He told me,” Edith continued, walking to the back of her desk, taking a seat and leaning back in her chair, folding her arm and crossing her legs, “that after the last LAW-show, he came to you. Explained to you his plans for your career at the company. That he told you he was impressed with what you have been doing inside his ring. Defeating Maria Salvatore, Laura Amber Williams and even your own coach. Three wins in a row for such a young superstar was, according to him, enough for him to consider you for a Chaos Title match… Ring any bells?”
“Erm… yes?” Angelica replied. She wasn’t going to deny it, obviously.
“But the next part!” Edith said, “The next part is what really interested me. Because you see, I was getting giddy with excitement when I heard that. And just so you know, I don’t usually do ‘giddy’. ‘Giddy’ is not in my dictionary. I do not consider ‘giddy’ to be a part of my range of emotions, and the last time I was ‘giddy’ was when my seven year old self found out her daddy was taking her to Disneyland! So imagine my surprise… no, my disappointment… when he told me you had turned down his offer, instead opting to face Sam Tolson in a regular one on one match at the Queen of the Ring Pay Per View…”
Another rather awkward silence fell, and Angelica stared at the ground, but even then she could feel Edith’s aura of rage slowly building.
“Of course,” the agent eventually went on, trying to keep her tone of voice as casual as she possibly could, “I told him that that must have been a mistake. That there was no way that even YOU could be so foolish as to actually REFUSE a title shot, which would considerably increase not just your status in the company, but the entire wrestling industry! Because, I told Lucas, Angelica is fully well aware that attracting sponsors, getting on magazine covers, getting big-money deals for big-money matches, is all way more likely to happen if she has a title around her waist or on her shoulder!”
Edith grabbed a pen from her desk and started furiously tapping it against the oaken surface. “But no, it turns out that he was right…” Another silence fell, disturbed only by the tapping of the pen and the consistent ticking of the second hands on the wall-mounted clock. Until a loud bang of fist meeting desk exploded the bubble of tension that had been building up for a while now.
“HOW COULD YOU HAVE BEEN SO STUPID, ANGELICA? WHAT WERE YOU EVEN THINKING?” Edith shot to her feet, and pulled her own hair, her eyes widened and her skin looked much paler than it usually was. “Throwing away a title shot like this? Against Sam Tolson? This is everything we worked for, girl! A chance to legitimize yourself! Establish yourself! Crown yourself! And you throw it away… for what exactly?” Edith stopped talking and looked at Angelica, clearly expecting an answer. There was no getting away from it now. No ignoring it. She had to explain it.
“I… I just made a choice! If I beat Sam Tolson for that title, and I believe I can, then that would mean I can’t challenge for the tag team titles! And that’s what I REALLY wanna do, Edith! It’s what I originally came to LAW for… to team up with Ash!
"
“Ashley Williams…” Edith sighed. “That woman has no idea how lucky she is to have someone as loyal as you looking up to her. Look, I won’t deny that Ashley Williams is a great talent and that you two would be formidable together, but the true all-time greats are the ones who go out there and get shit done by themselves, Angelica! There are great tag teams, legendary tag teams even, but their accomplishments are always ranked below those of the true Hall of Fame worthy superstars that people talk about for decades to come. I just want what’s best for you, girl. And not just because you pay me for it. In any case, I told Lucas Dupree that next time he signs off on one of your matches; he comes to ME first, instead of talking to you. Because quite frankly, Angelica, I admire your work ethic and your will to succeed, but your business decisions leave a LOT to be desired!”
Angelica shrugged. “I don’t really care, to be honest. Sure, I want to be great. I want recognition. Fame. Titles. But most of all, I want my friends by my side while doing it, and Ash is one of the best I have! If not THE best. So yeah, I turned that title shot down. Sam Tolson is a big enough name that beating her will be worthy of recognition regardless.”
“But she will still be champion! And you will still be left with nothing.”
“Not yet… but soon. Real soon. I already put the Boardwalk Angels on notice.”
Edith pursed her lips. It was hard to tell whether she approved or disapproved, but in the end it was Angelica’s choice and it was HER job to make sure she reached the goals she set for herself.
“Fine,” the agent eventually said. “I would prefer for you to become a bona fide single’s star, but if this is what you want, so be it. Just make sure you have a proper showing a LAW, Angelica. Don’t forget, it’s your number one company! All others you’ve been at have folded, so don’t let that Rose City match you’ve got coming up distract you too much.”
“But… “ Angelica counter-argued, “I wanna win there too! I wanna be inaugural champion!”
“Well, don’t bother. LAW is where you will earn your stripes and where the TRUE competition lies. If something happens during that match that could compromise your health for your match against Tolson, don’t think about risking an injury. Tap out if you have to, even if you feel you can still go on. It’ll be for the best. No need injuring yourself only to see another company fold and then having the company where you are supposed to legitimize yourself have a less than 100% version of you on their shows. Understood?”
Angelica nodded. She didn’t have much choice, and there was a certain wisdom to Edith’s words. LAW came first, now and always. Sam Tolson was her main target now, and putting her away would go a long way to legitimizing Angelica’s rise to the top, more so than any other win in any other venture she was part of right now.
“Understood. Put Tolson down for the three, or choke her out. Nothing else matters.”
“Exactly,” Edith said, before throwing her a piece of paper. “Now, let’s write some material together and have you memorize it. You’ve got a recording session tomorrow. I can’t have you spouting the nonsense you spout on Twitter on camera.”
------------------------
Angelica stood in front of a panel, emblazoned with the pink star of LAW. She was in her full LAW make-up and gear. Blood was dripping from her throat all the way down to her right arm, and the spotlights reflected in the gems stuck to the skin around her eyes. Her braids didn’t move a millimetre as she slowly cocked her head, staring into the camera.
“Sam Tolson. We are to finally meet in the squared circle. An honor and a privilege, if you ask me. If you ask someone else, though? Not always certain which response you’re gonna get. To 50% of the people, you are a great champion, a beautiful, proud and strong woman who fights like a she-devil. To the other 50%? You’re a overhyped, cowardly, fight-dodging paper champion who does nothing but seek excuses to get out of situations she knows she can’t handle. At Queen of the Ring, we’ll see which of these two versions of Sam Tolson show up. I am hoping with all my heart that it is the former. Because when I beat you, not only will I have proven to the world that I am able to go toe to toe with one of the greatest in the business, I will have proven that I am ready to be a champion. That my shoulders can help carry a company. Because even though this match is not for the title, it will be painfully obvious after you choke on my hand that I am ready for the next level! Prepare to meet the REAL Angelica, Sam. Not the silly girl you see on social media. At QOTR, you will see that I am not a blonde little girl, like so many often call me. You will find that, after I lock in the #EW!, I am… Simply… #Vaughnemous!”
Those were the words that greeted our blonde 5’9 protagonist as soon as she opened the doors to her agent’s offices. They came from upstairs, where the main office was located, reverberated through the hallways, wobbled down the stairs, bounced off the walls and slapped Angelica in the face like they were a wet towel.
It was clear her agent was upset. And Angelica had a pretty good idea why.
Suffice it to say, she knew she was in trouble.
The usually oh so relatively bubbly Vancouverite made her way up the round staircase. She used the metal guardrail to pull herself up the broad wooden steps, her legs still exhausted from not only an early morning squat session that would make Sarah Lacklan proud, but also football kicking practice. Everything was shaking, from her calves to her hamstrings, quads and even her glutes; the backside buns that Angie herself underestimated oh so dramatically were starting to shape up real nicely, a fact that Angelica was completely oblivious to.
As soon as she arrived on the first floor, she saw her agent standing in the doorway. Edith Seybold, the very definition of a cougar (not that Angelica knew what that meant), but in spite of that also one of the greatest damn agents in the business, her clientele limited to only the best athletes in the world, from a wide variety of sports. While she was very secretive about it, Angelica knew she represented at least one NBA player and two NFL’ers. It was still a mystery to her why this woman had contacted her with an offer, but nevertheless Angelica was very glad she had made the decision to sign with her. The woman could draw blood from a stone when it came to negotiating contract deals, and the hype machine surrounding Angelica and the rest of the #CoolKids probably wouldn’t have taken off as well as it had without her vast experience in the media landscape.
Nonetheless, Edith’s eyes shot forth thunderbolts that almost smote Angie on the spot. She was impatiently tapping her high heeled foot on the marble floor.
“How good of you to finally join me,” she said rather sarcastically. “In my office, now!”
Angelica felt like she was being summoned to the principal’s office, a feeling that she almost always had when talking to her. She was a bit scary and a bit mean, but the money she kept putting in Edith’s account basically guaranteed her undying loyalty and willingness to go the extra mile for her. Despite being a sourpuss and a grumpyface, Edith had done right by her, no doubt about it.
She stepped into the pristine office, its marble floor so shiny and its walls so pearly white it made her eyes water. She sat herself on the large leather chair in front of the massive oak desk, and put her handbag with cat motif on the floor next to here as Edith leaned against her desk, looking down on Angelica. A strategy to assert her dominance and control no doubt, but of course Angie was oblivious to that.
“So,” Edith began, her hand resting on the phone that was standing on the desk. “I just got off the phone with Lucas Dupree…” Her voice was calm and collected, but Angelica detected a slight tremble in it too, indicating that Edith wanted nothing more than to lose her shit. “He told me something very interesting, Angelica. Something that I actually didn’t want to believe at first, because there is no way someone could ever be so thoroughly and utterly stupid.” There was a slight pause as she stopped talking, instead opting to stare a hole through her client.
“Erm… kay?” Angelica answered, trying to get her to finish her lecture. Angelica knew what she was talking about of course, but didn’t want o say it out loud.
“He told me,” Edith continued, walking to the back of her desk, taking a seat and leaning back in her chair, folding her arm and crossing her legs, “that after the last LAW-show, he came to you. Explained to you his plans for your career at the company. That he told you he was impressed with what you have been doing inside his ring. Defeating Maria Salvatore, Laura Amber Williams and even your own coach. Three wins in a row for such a young superstar was, according to him, enough for him to consider you for a Chaos Title match… Ring any bells?”
“Erm… yes?” Angelica replied. She wasn’t going to deny it, obviously.
“But the next part!” Edith said, “The next part is what really interested me. Because you see, I was getting giddy with excitement when I heard that. And just so you know, I don’t usually do ‘giddy’. ‘Giddy’ is not in my dictionary. I do not consider ‘giddy’ to be a part of my range of emotions, and the last time I was ‘giddy’ was when my seven year old self found out her daddy was taking her to Disneyland! So imagine my surprise… no, my disappointment… when he told me you had turned down his offer, instead opting to face Sam Tolson in a regular one on one match at the Queen of the Ring Pay Per View…”
Another rather awkward silence fell, and Angelica stared at the ground, but even then she could feel Edith’s aura of rage slowly building.
“Of course,” the agent eventually went on, trying to keep her tone of voice as casual as she possibly could, “I told him that that must have been a mistake. That there was no way that even YOU could be so foolish as to actually REFUSE a title shot, which would considerably increase not just your status in the company, but the entire wrestling industry! Because, I told Lucas, Angelica is fully well aware that attracting sponsors, getting on magazine covers, getting big-money deals for big-money matches, is all way more likely to happen if she has a title around her waist or on her shoulder!”
Edith grabbed a pen from her desk and started furiously tapping it against the oaken surface. “But no, it turns out that he was right…” Another silence fell, disturbed only by the tapping of the pen and the consistent ticking of the second hands on the wall-mounted clock. Until a loud bang of fist meeting desk exploded the bubble of tension that had been building up for a while now.
“HOW COULD YOU HAVE BEEN SO STUPID, ANGELICA? WHAT WERE YOU EVEN THINKING?” Edith shot to her feet, and pulled her own hair, her eyes widened and her skin looked much paler than it usually was. “Throwing away a title shot like this? Against Sam Tolson? This is everything we worked for, girl! A chance to legitimize yourself! Establish yourself! Crown yourself! And you throw it away… for what exactly?” Edith stopped talking and looked at Angelica, clearly expecting an answer. There was no getting away from it now. No ignoring it. She had to explain it.
“I… I just made a choice! If I beat Sam Tolson for that title, and I believe I can, then that would mean I can’t challenge for the tag team titles! And that’s what I REALLY wanna do, Edith! It’s what I originally came to LAW for… to team up with Ash!
"
“Ashley Williams…” Edith sighed. “That woman has no idea how lucky she is to have someone as loyal as you looking up to her. Look, I won’t deny that Ashley Williams is a great talent and that you two would be formidable together, but the true all-time greats are the ones who go out there and get shit done by themselves, Angelica! There are great tag teams, legendary tag teams even, but their accomplishments are always ranked below those of the true Hall of Fame worthy superstars that people talk about for decades to come. I just want what’s best for you, girl. And not just because you pay me for it. In any case, I told Lucas Dupree that next time he signs off on one of your matches; he comes to ME first, instead of talking to you. Because quite frankly, Angelica, I admire your work ethic and your will to succeed, but your business decisions leave a LOT to be desired!”
Angelica shrugged. “I don’t really care, to be honest. Sure, I want to be great. I want recognition. Fame. Titles. But most of all, I want my friends by my side while doing it, and Ash is one of the best I have! If not THE best. So yeah, I turned that title shot down. Sam Tolson is a big enough name that beating her will be worthy of recognition regardless.”
“But she will still be champion! And you will still be left with nothing.”
“Not yet… but soon. Real soon. I already put the Boardwalk Angels on notice.”
Edith pursed her lips. It was hard to tell whether she approved or disapproved, but in the end it was Angelica’s choice and it was HER job to make sure she reached the goals she set for herself.
“Fine,” the agent eventually said. “I would prefer for you to become a bona fide single’s star, but if this is what you want, so be it. Just make sure you have a proper showing a LAW, Angelica. Don’t forget, it’s your number one company! All others you’ve been at have folded, so don’t let that Rose City match you’ve got coming up distract you too much.”
“But… “ Angelica counter-argued, “I wanna win there too! I wanna be inaugural champion!”
“Well, don’t bother. LAW is where you will earn your stripes and where the TRUE competition lies. If something happens during that match that could compromise your health for your match against Tolson, don’t think about risking an injury. Tap out if you have to, even if you feel you can still go on. It’ll be for the best. No need injuring yourself only to see another company fold and then having the company where you are supposed to legitimize yourself have a less than 100% version of you on their shows. Understood?”
Angelica nodded. She didn’t have much choice, and there was a certain wisdom to Edith’s words. LAW came first, now and always. Sam Tolson was her main target now, and putting her away would go a long way to legitimizing Angelica’s rise to the top, more so than any other win in any other venture she was part of right now.
“Understood. Put Tolson down for the three, or choke her out. Nothing else matters.”
“Exactly,” Edith said, before throwing her a piece of paper. “Now, let’s write some material together and have you memorize it. You’ve got a recording session tomorrow. I can’t have you spouting the nonsense you spout on Twitter on camera.”
------------------------
Angelica stood in front of a panel, emblazoned with the pink star of LAW. She was in her full LAW make-up and gear. Blood was dripping from her throat all the way down to her right arm, and the spotlights reflected in the gems stuck to the skin around her eyes. Her braids didn’t move a millimetre as she slowly cocked her head, staring into the camera.
“Sam Tolson. We are to finally meet in the squared circle. An honor and a privilege, if you ask me. If you ask someone else, though? Not always certain which response you’re gonna get. To 50% of the people, you are a great champion, a beautiful, proud and strong woman who fights like a she-devil. To the other 50%? You’re a overhyped, cowardly, fight-dodging paper champion who does nothing but seek excuses to get out of situations she knows she can’t handle. At Queen of the Ring, we’ll see which of these two versions of Sam Tolson show up. I am hoping with all my heart that it is the former. Because when I beat you, not only will I have proven to the world that I am able to go toe to toe with one of the greatest in the business, I will have proven that I am ready to be a champion. That my shoulders can help carry a company. Because even though this match is not for the title, it will be painfully obvious after you choke on my hand that I am ready for the next level! Prepare to meet the REAL Angelica, Sam. Not the silly girl you see on social media. At QOTR, you will see that I am not a blonde little girl, like so many often call me. You will find that, after I lock in the #EW!, I am… Simply… #Vaughnemous!”