4.10.2010
WEST 84TH STREET
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
2:58 PM CENTRAL DAYLIGHT TIME
Finally, Wendy Briese-Thompson thought to herself as she ran down the sidewalk. Spring has arrived!
It had been a long time coming.
The eastern United States was coming out of one of the worst winters on record. Blizzards, frigid temperatures, and high winds had battered the countryside all the way from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Coast, leaving the residents pining for July and Triple-digit temperatures.
But now, as late as it was, the icy tendrils of winter had finally broken their grasp on the region. Flowers had began to bloom, and migratory birds slowly but surely had begun to return from their southern winter getaways.
And then today came. Sunny, highs in the mid sixties, 40% humidity with a light wind coming from the south. The very epitome of what an April Saturday ought to be.
For Wendy, it was perfect running weather.
Of all the exercises and regimens she and Terrence used to keep themselves in competitive condition, Wendy liked running the best. Unfortunately, when she had been director of the MCCT, between her job and her family, she hadn't been able to run as nearly as much as she liked.
Now that staying in peak physical condition was more or less her job, she could do it as often as she wanted to.
She supposed she felt the same way when she was running as Terrence did while he was driving- it was an excellent time to contemplate her life while she was doing something she loved.
And right now, she had a lot to contemplate about.
Her biggest concern, she figured, was her new tag-team partner. She had not seen, nor heard from Victor Mandrake since last Wednesday, when he had held a gun to Megan Cerotta's head until Wendy had agreed to align herself with him. No doubt he was holed up in his castle on the Florida Panhandle with his half of the World Tag Team Championships, plotting his next move.
At least he had decided to sign with Appalachian Wrestling. She had been worried that as soon as the Birdz had announced their contract signing with PWX, Victor Mandrake was going to stroll down the aisle, a freshly inked contract in his massive hands, ready to torment her on a weekly basis. Even with Mandrake competing over in Pennsylvania, she had a feeling that she would be seeing her more than enough of her diabolic tag partner.
Annoyed, she gritted her teeth, and received a dull throbbing pain in return- a harsh reminder that Mandrske hadn't been the only person she had been an idiot about.
She supposed she was lucky that Valora Salinas had settled for merely punching her instead of trying to cave in her skull with that omnipresent lead pipe. In hindsight, she probably shouldn't have brought the belt with her. She had forgotten that Valora had won and lost the titles without even being able to so much as touch the belts. Dangling such a juicy prize in front of her was like pouring au jus all over oneself, walking into a lions den, and praying one didn't get bit.
Still, she felt a stab of irritation over the whole ordeal. She had respected Valora enough to take her entire family to Cleveland, walk into a likely hostile arena, and try to smooth thngs over. And Valora had responded with insults, threats, and suckerpunches. A small part of her wished that she hadn't pushed Terrence away.
But she was dwelling on things she couldn't control. Whether or not Mandrake wrestled in Indiana, Pennsylvania, or Antarctica, she was still oath-bound to him for the time being. And she could no more control Valora's feelings about her than Valora could have wrestled the belt away from her Thursday night.
But there was one thing she COULD control. Less than forty-eight hours away. Monday night.
The WhirlyBirdz make their PWX debut against the Fallen.
Wendy normally got nervous before her matches, but she doubted she had this many butterflies since she faced Mike Bell for the Bayou Heavyweight Championship. The Fallen had already secured themselves the Number One Contenders to the PWX Tag Championships, and, from the looks of things, would receive their shot at High Stakes, win or lose. But even so, to knock off the top contenders for the belts in a debut match- that's making an impact!
She had been both annoyed and elated by James Silkk's casual dismissal of her and Terrence. Annoyed? Well, that was a given. Nobody liked to be disrespected and viewed as stepping stones. The elation was- well, how many times had people overlooked at the WhirlyBirdz with nary a second glance, and then found themselves leaving the arena in defeat?
If she had her way, there'd be two more names gracing THAT list come Tuesday morning.
Still, there was more riding on this match than position-jostling in the PWX Tag Team Division. In a way, her relationship with Terrence was at stake as well.
Ever since their fight in the car two weeks ago, a rift had opened between her and her husband. They had begun to mend the schism, but her unwilling betrayal of Terrence merely days later had widened the rift until it had nearly swallowed their relationship whole.
The gap had been bridged almost immediately, but Wendy knew the chasm was still there. Its not as if there was an awful tension in their relationship, she and Terrence laughed, played with Theresa, made love, trained, every aspect of their lives the same as it had always been.
But Wendy saw the bitterness on Terrence's face everytime he looked at her title belt. That another man... a hated enemy, no less, had inserted himself between him and his wife was eating him inside, and Wendy knew that he had come to view the Tag Titles as the symbolic embodyment of that horrible obstacle. Wendy knew it was a mark of how much he loved her that he had ran Valora off, because she doubted he'd mind if he never saw that cursed belt again.
But here in the PWX, there was nothing to come between them. Here, it was the WhirlyBirdz, the way it had been intended all along.
If the World Tag Team titles had widened that gap, maybe, just maybe the PWX tag titles would close it. At the very least, she owed it to her husband to pay him back for all the support he had given her.
She slowed her pace to a walk as she approached an intersection, the glowing red hand across the way forbidding further progress. Wendy began to jog in place, waiting for the walk signal that would allow her to cross the street, towards the apartments on the other side.
The Crooked Creek Apartments.
Cassie DeSlair lived in there.
Wendy stopped her jogging, as she wrestled with the idea that was emerging in her head. She needed to talk to her former nanny, in fact, she had planned on calling her tonight. But maybe a personal visit would be a better idea.
Or not, she mused, as she looked at her attire. Her sweat-stained dark gray t-shirt and black warmup pants were ill-suited for calling.
But then again, Cassie had seen her looking less dignified than this.
The light turned green, and Wendy started across the street. By the time she reached the yellow meridian line, she had made her decision.
Now just to figure out which building was hers.
In truth, Wendy had not seen Cassie since the morning after she had gotten fired from the theater. Then, Cassie had simply handed in her resignation, and walked away. Even though she had watched Theresa a couple of times at her apartment since, Terrence had handled everything. She supposed it wasn't by design- Terrence had simply been available when the time came to pick Theresa up.
But she remembered all to well her treatment of Cassie that day, and she knew it was yet another bridge she needed to mend.
If only she could remember what apartment it was.
With a sudden inspiration, Wendy whipped out her phone, looking for Cassie in her contacts. She was sure she had put her address in... Success!
Apartment H-6
It didn't take Wendy long to find building H and knock on the door of Unit 6, hoping that Cassie would be home. Just seconds later, the sound of a lock clicking and the door opening rewarded her.
A woman of twenty-three with pale blonde hair and icy blue eyes opened the door. "Wendy!" Cassie DeSlair muttered in surprise.
"Hi..." Wendy smiled nervously. "I was in the area, so I thought I'd drop by and see how you were doing."
It sounded so lame, even to her. She could tell Cassie was looking at her funny, and had a distinct feeling she was searching her mind for an excuse to shut the door.
"May I come in?" Wendy asked abruptly.
Cassie started, shocked at the boldness of Wendy's request. Finally, she acquiesced, albeit with a lack of enthusiasm. "Sure..."
Cassie lead Wendy inside, and Wendy was surprised to see that the apartment was slightly on the messy side. It wasn't squalid, but the Cassie she remembered was fastidious in the extreme- it had been one of the reasons she'd been hired.
"Sorry about the mess," Cassie said, as if reading Wendy's mind. She beckoned to a chair, which the redhead took. "I haven't been feeling like... just not too well lately."
Wendy noticed the change in Cassie's direction, and stared at her former nanny hard. Cassie's eyes, while still a vibrant blue, had dulled somewhat, and there were definite bags under her eyes. Her face was tight with worry, losing so much of the youthful glow it once had. She debated whether she should ask Cassie if everything was alright.
Cassie broke the silence first, however, with her own attempt at small talk.
"So, how's Ther-"
"Cassie, I'm sorry!"
Wendy's blurt had surprised even her, and had cowed Cassie, who stared at the redhead in confusion. "What are you talking about?" the blonde woman asked.
"I should have listened to you, and told Terrence." Wendy confessed. "Keeping it from him only made things worse. And I didn't mean to be so horrible to you either. I was just upset and..."
"Stop it.." Cassie snapped. "Wendy, you had just been fired. You were upset. As far as Mandrake goes... Terrence knows now?"
Wendy nodded. "He was furious when he found out."
Cassie nodded, unsurprised. "Then the important thing is you and your family are safe. That's all I cared about..."
"Not really," Wendy said bitterly. "He's forced me to be his tag partner."
"What?" Cassie was stunned. "I heard you were back in wrestling, but I didn't... how were you FORCED?"
"He held a gun to one of my student's head until I agreed."
"Oh my God!" Cassie gasped. "What... what kind of monster is this man?"
"Evil Incarnate," Wendy said softly. She could sense she was on the verge of tears again. "Its my fault. Had I said something sooner, maybe this wouldn't have happened."
"Don't blame yourself, Wendy" Cassie fired back. "You can't control what he does."
Wendy merely nodded, and the two women sat in silence for some time. Finally, Wendy broke the silence. "If you weren't mad at me, why did you resign?"
"Because I knew you and Terrence didn't need me anymore. But I didn't think you could bring yourselves to let me go. I didn't want to cling to some token position you kept out of charity, so I quit." There was a pause. "I wish I hadn't."
"Cassie, is everything alright?"
"Yeah, its fine." Cassie nodded, but Wendy could hear a catch in her voice. "Its just that I figured I would be hired by another family... or even a day-care center. I didn't expect to end up working at Wendy's."
Wendy noted the irony of that, but she had a distinct feeling Cassie wouldn't be amused. She stared at the other woman for a while.
"Would you consider coming back?" Wendy asked quietly.
For a second, she saw Cassie's eyes light up, but then narrow skeptically. "Wendy, no. I already told you I don't want charity. I'd be more than happy to watch her while you and Terrence are at shows. But what could you possibly need me full time for?"
Wendy paused, and tried to gather her thoughts. "You know how I was raised, Cassie. My parent's cared more about their Broadway careers and hobnobbing with the "elite" than they did about raising me. My dad only cared about the acting legacy I would give the family, and my mom... she didn't have her priorities straight until... until the end."
Cassie nodded understandingly, so Wendy went on. "When Theresa was born, I vowed that I would never do that. But then, the opportunity to run the MCCT was handed to me, and... well, Terry suggested we hire a sitter... just to see how it worked. You were so amazing, Cassie, I knew that my daughter would be safe, and I made sure to always have time for her when I got home."
"But Terrence and I... I think we underestimated how much time we would be needing to travel. We could be gone for days... even weeks at a time. I don't want to be away from my little girl for that long"
"So take her with you," Cassie reasoned.
Wendy nodded. "But who would watch her during our matches or promotional events? That would be where you came in."
"Wait..." Cassie was dumbfounded. "You want me to TRAVEL with you?"
Wendy nodded. "You would travel with us. We'd pay you what you made before, plus lodging and meals. You would help us with Theresa, and watch her while Terry and I competed. We would also work out so you could have personal time, as well. You'd probably need to quit your job at Wendy's, though" she finished with a wink.
Cassie chuckled, but shook her head. "I don't know... its so sudden."
"It'll be an adventure," Wendy coaxed, then paused. "Although... it may be dangerous. I should warn you."
"Dangerous?" Cassie was alarmed. "How?"
Wendy paused. "Most wrestlers are normal, albeit hyper-competitive people... but there are some utterly despicable people in this industry, who wrestle because they love to cause pain. Sometimes they... try to make things personal."
"Like what Mandrake did?"
Wendy nodded. "He's not the only one. And I don't want to scare you from this, Cassie. But I need to be honest. The possibility is there. There are depraved people in this business. But I'm only telling you this as a caution. I don't think it'll actually happen."
There was a long pause, and Wendy could see Cassie milling things over. Finally- "Can I think about it?"
Wendy nodded. "Consider our door open," she said with a smile, standing up. "But we leave Monday morning for this week's show, so let us know soon if you want to start this week." She smiled. "I really hope you say yes, Cassie."
"I'll think about it," Cassie promised, although Wendy could see the sudden rush of excitement in her eyes.
"That's all I'm asking," Wendy said with a smile. "I better be going, though. Got a run to finish!"
Cassie followed Wendy to the door, and promised one last time to consider the offer, before Wendy left to resume her run. As the door closed, Wendy smirked in triumph.
She had seen the excitement in Cassie's eyes.
She would be making the trip alongside them come Monday morning.
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