Monday December 30, 2013
Salt Rock Grill
Indian Rocks, Florida
12:31 PM Local Time
“It’s good to see you out and about,” Wendy Briese said, looking up smiling at her friend, who had just walked into the restaurant. “We’ve missed you.”
Eileen Amaro returned the smile but it seemed to fade away as quickly as it came. She didn’t look like hell, but she was far from chipper. “Missed you too, Wendy. Good choice to eat.”
“Lyn recommended it,” Wendy said, passing Eileen a menu as the brunette took her seat. “How have you been?”
“Tired of being asked that question, for one,” Eileen snapped before she slumped back in her chair and glanced at the FFW Champion. “I’m sorry. That was impolite. I’ve been... Well. I’ve been better.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Wendy said consolingly, waving her hands. “I’m buying, by the way. No, don’t argue. I called you here, remember?”
“I remember,” The Tsunami nodded with the smallest hint of a smile. “I won’t argue, I promise. I don’t feel like being put in a Banshee just to let you pick up the tab.”
Wendy chuckled briefly, then sobered, looking away for a second, and then sighing, looking directly at Eily. “Look, Eileen. I…” she paused for a second, before plunging in. “I need you to tell me what happened.”
“No,” Eileen simply answered, staring right back at her. Her expression wasn’t anger or shame or even melancholy. It was deadened.
“I know how difficult it was for you,” Wendy said, lowering her voice and leaning across the table. “You have no idea how much I know, but-”
“DIFFICULT DOESN’T BEGIN TO DESCRIBE IT WENDY!” Eileen snapped, her eyes widening in vehement fury. She stared into the redhead’s bright green eyes before she began to slump back into her chair, eyes narrowed to slits. “If you know how difficult it was then why do you possibly want me to talk about it?”
“Because I’ve been there,” Wendy said quietly. “More times than you can imagine.” She paused, taking a deep breath. “Ten years ago… I was the World Cruiserweight Champion, and a man named Ronin was after my belt. It started off fairly innocuous at first, a taunt here and there, a staredown in the corrider. But then these… there’s nothing else to call them… ‘love letters’ started appearing in my locker room, the RV.. even once in my hotel room. It culminated one week before I was to defend against him, with me bawling on national television as he played a tape of MY FATHER, sent from prison, giving him ‘permission’ to do anything he wanted.”
Eileen listened to the story intently before she frowned grimly. Her lips finally parted to speak but she gritted down on her teeth. She opened her mouth once more, “What happened next?”
“He hit me with a chair and won… although it kind of got reversed because Pollaski shoved a video camera in the ref’s face and made him watch the ending and disqualify him.” Wendy said, the last half rather quickly. “That created a whole bevy of new problems, too. Ref’s don’t like reversing their decisions. Even if it was the right thing to do.”
“...Should have had Wolf hold a video camera,” She muttered bitterly before Eileen let out a sigh of frustration. “Meaning that it wouldn’t be the last time you dealt with Ronin for quite some time?”
“Actually, I got lucky there, he got hurt before that ever happened.” Wendy said. “But the point I’m trying to make is, you’re not the first person to have a rival go way over the line trying to humiliate them. I once got tied to the ring post, doused in soda, and dry humped by a midget. And I was the company’s champion at the time!”
“...” Eileen stared at her, completely speechless and jaw slack. The waitress broke the silence with a white smile from chipmunk cheek to chipmunk cheek.
“What can I get you guys? How about some drinks to start you off?”
The Tsunami held up the alcoholic drink menu found on the table and pointed down half of the list.
“We’ll both have Diet Cokes,” Wendy said firmly, smiling at the waitress as she walked away.
“I have to do this sober on top of it?” Eileen muttered. When she felt Wendy’s eyes burning on her she grumbled. “Okay. Fine. Where do I start? I...don’t know why I got so desperate to be in a relationship. I think just seeing my exes so happy and enjoying themselves and Caroline’s wedding and even if I was becoming successful in my career, something... Something ate at me. People tweeting about how their relationships make them so happy all the time and I began to get increasingly...Flustered. Then I found out about a speed dating thing and I met Tommy there. Maybe I should have realized it then. He was too perfect but...I had what I wanted. It was a whirlwind romance. Almost like a dream.”
She mumbled it again to herself, frowning. “Like a dream.”
Wendy grimaced. “So Aimee found out you were dating, and got to him to get to you?” she asked.
She shook her head, “No. He was in on it the entire time. I think she either hired him or they were friends before or something scummy like that. So I was dating a lie for months. Every time we laughed, everywhere we went, when we kissed, and when we finally...” Eileen’s face paled and she looked truly ill. Her eyes turned red and began to sting with tears.
“So there you go. I was stupid and I wanted someone to care about me and to go home too and see and do all that dumb romantic crap and I paid for it. Dignity. Title. Heart. All of it.”
“No, you weren’t stupid.” Wendy said, looking Eileen directly in the eye. “We all have needs Eileen. And one of those needs is for someone to love us. Truly love us, and make us feel special. That’s not a weakness, it will NEVER be a weakness, and I sure as heck pity ANYONE so darn miserable they THINK it’s a weakness! But to exploit something like that… that’s pretty sick.”
“Well then Wendy, Aimee is sick and deserves your pity but it doesn’t take away from the fact that she got me.” The Tsunami murmured, wiping her eyes. “She’s doing her best to be the next Isabella.”
“Then she’s failing miserably.” Wendy said firmly. “Isabella… she… it’s tough to explain. For all she’s said and done, outside of the ring, away from all this… she’s actually a decent person. She certainly never would have done anything like this. Aimee… she’s just twisted, and sick… and maybe even evil. If she could get away with killing someone in that ring, and making it look like an accident, I think she would. It’s Rori Mackenzie all over again… except Aimee is a LOT smarter.”
“All Aimee lacks right now is a figurehead in her corner, but I’ll take your word for it. So what are you gonna do? Wendy, if she beats you she’ll lord it over you. What she would do with a shot at the FFW belt and with the Evolution belt still in hand remains to be seen but..” Eileen trailed off, now thoughtful.
“But you hit the nail right on the head.” Wendy whispered back. “If she beats me, she’s got herself an FFW Championship match sooner or later, and the thought of that woman holding this title makes me want to throw up. But it goes beyond that. I know full well what’s ahead of me at One Night Stand, and I know I may not be the champion coming out. That means she’ll target either Val or Scarlett, and I’d rather not wish that on any of them. No… I have to put a stop to it. At Velocity. In Hawaii.”
“Yes, you do but don’t end her career or anything, Wendy. You’re above that.” Eileen said gently with an earnest smile before it quickly turned harsh. “Also because I’m going to.”
Wendy shrugged, looking somewhat uneasy. “Just… don’t do anything YOU will regret, okay? Let Aimee be the one doing all the regretting. But no… I wouldn’t dream of avenging you. Not when you are in full position to do it yourself.”
“Thank you,” Eileen offered, seeming to ignore the sentiment about doing anything she’d regret. “Shame about the match with Wendigo though. Would have been nice for FFW to brag about that for all of the year.”
“It’s unfortunate. But hopefully we can get together and get a rematch set up. But don’t worry about fed pride- FFW has the upper hand now anyways,” she winked. “After all, WE didn’t just lose Lyn Dallins to retirement.”
“...I just imagined Lyn in a dress for some reason,” Eileen mused with a smile. “I guess it isn’t so bad then.”
“But do you see why I needed to talk to you?” Wendy asked, smiling back, but returning to the subject. “I need to know what I’m up against. I had an idea, but I had to know just how far she went.”
As the waitress finally returned with a pair of Diet Cokes and they noted for her to give them more time, Eileen took a sip. “I do but Wendy I don’t know what I could tell you to expect. Sure you know what you’re up against now, right? Now though its a question of how or what will she even try to do to you.”
Wendy paused for a second, shrugging. “You may find this weird but talking to you has made me less concerned about it. Aimee Easter simply goes after what she feels are our weaknesses, right?”
The brunette slowly nodded, eyebrows raised. “Right.”
“So…” Wendy said, smiling almost evilly as she sipped her Diet Coke through a straw. “I guess my best option is to take those ‘weaknesses’ out myself.”
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