Post by Sapphire on Jun 17, 2017 21:33:33 GMT -5
Off-camera to be sure. This is kind of a send-up to something I was meaning to write for the XHW PPV that was coming up but will never happen now. Hope somebody enjoys it.
June 12th, 2017
Seattle, Washington
3:41 PM Local Time
“Well.”
Sapphire is sitting in her apartment, minutes after the public announcement of Xtreme Honor Wrestling’s collapse.
“I won’t lie to you, I’m not really surprised.”
Sapphire is not alone. Sapphire is sitting at her desk while her landlady and confidant, Kim Fulton, is sitting behind her on the bed, legs tucked up to her chest so she can wrap her arms around her knees and hold them close. Sapphire’s face is a sea of stoicism, while Kim seems fairly despondent.
“I mean, a name like Xtreme Honor Wrestling?” Sapphire sighs, drumming her fingers on her computer table. (For it is indeed a desk only in name, as she has a laptop plugged in and sitting on a basic six-foot folding table.) “It was confused what it wanted to be from the start, but they paid me so I couldn’t really complain.”
“Is that all it takes?” Kim asks with a hint of disgust coloring her downtrodden expression. Sapphire responds by spinning around her computer chair to look at Kim directly.
“Sorry I didn’t have the chance to live in quote-unquote ‘proper society.’ Yeah, if I get paid enough, I’ll do pretty much anything.”
Kim stands up off the bed, goes over to her purse sitting on Sapphire’s bedside table, and digs out an honest-to-god newspaper before walking over to Sapphire and dropping it on her desk.
“Who paid you for this?
Sapphire raises an eyebrow and looks at the headline.
LOCAL BUSINESSMAN FOUND DEAD IN HIS OFFICE
She raises an eyebrow, lips curling up in the slightest of smirks. “Who said I had anything to do with that?”
Kim just stares at Sapphire. “We talked about this before. You basically stated your intent to kill him in cold blood.”
Sapphire smiles, shrugging. “I said I’d try not to kill him if I met him, that I’d incapacitate him if I did, and that he couldn’t be allowed to leave town.”
Kim rolls her eyes. “I’m not a moron, Ginny, I knew what you meant and I knew you were only trying to calm me down.”
Sapphire continues grinning in the face of growing anger. “You don’t know anything, and if anybody asks, you tell ‘em so.”
“Goddamn it, this is not a game!”
“Who said it was?”
Kim just stops and sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. After a moment, Sapphire pipes up again.
“You never did answer my question. With him out of the picture, who owns Waist Management now?”
Kim just groans and waves her hand vaguely in the paper’s direction, prompting Sapphire to pick it up and read the story associated with that headline. It’s a side feature--a man’s murder is big news, but it’s Seattle, and besides that, the neverending cock-up cascade that is the present administration provides endless cover stories for journalists nationwide--so Sapphire doesn’t have to skim very far to get to the bit at the end, the bit she’s interested in.
Thomas Buckner is not survived by a wife or children. His company, Waist Management, LLC, will be closed while the premises are investigated, but will reopen with former general manager Kimberly Fulton acquiring Buckner’s controlling majority shares.
There’s a brief pause as Sapphire drops the paper, then she smiles wider than before. “You bitch!” She playfully smacks Kim on the shoulder, though that doesn’t keep the petite brunette from wincing and rubbing her arm. “You had me going for a minute there.”
“It’s not like I’m excited about this!” Kim throws her hands down, smacking the mattress on either side of her. “I am now the proud owner of a gym entangled in years of legal and financial tangles that will cost more to untangle than the damn place is worth. If there’s even any money left to work with.”
Sapphire’s smiles fades into a vague grimace as Kim continues her tirade.
“I don’t know where all the money he was laundering went, but I doubt he left any of it for me. Don’t.”
Kim points at Sapphire, whose fists are clenched at her sides. Her vague scowl is now extremely clear, and more of a scowl. Kim looks like she’s trying to be both firm and reassuring, but that just makes her look wide-eyed and a little manic.
“I see that expression. I don’t know if it’s your fault or not, but you are not going any further down the rabbit hole. He is gone, and we are free of him, and we’re going to make the most of what we have.”
Sapphire just stands there, whole body tensed (which has the unsettling side-effect of making her entire body flex and bulge, as most of her quite muscular physique is exposed by her cutoff denim shorts and halter top).
“You have a match this Sunday you need to keep getting ready for, and that includes not getting yourself arrested or killed for something beyond your control. The shit is out of our hands now.”
After several more seconds of being rooted to the spot, Sapphire lets out a ragged gasp and sinks heavily into her computer chair.
“You’re right.”
Sapphire lets out a pleasureless laugh. “And now my weekend is a lot less complicated.”
Kim lets a little mischief sneak into her eyes. “You gonna’ spend more time with that Mason guy?”
Sapphire furrows her brow at Kim. “Yeah, but what about it?”
“You know he wants you real bad.”
Sapphire shrugs. “Maybe.”
“You could always try to leverage that into a new job.”
Sapphire rolls her eyes. “Yes, let me just jump on that Muscle Massacre Member and I’m sure he’d be able to manage making me a part of the ring crew.”
“Sarcasm aside, it’s better than what you’ve got now. And I can’t guarantee I’ll have the money to hire you on properly at the gym, even if I can save it from bureaucracy hell. Maybe it’d be good for you to start at the bottom of a proper promotion, rather than shooting to the top of an unstable one.”
Sapphire stares at her computer screen, and by extension XHW’s closing notice. After a moment she shakes her head and turns back to Kim.
“Alright, I’ll talk to him about it. But I’m going to make it my mission to milk as much pain and glory out of the All Female Invitational as I can. I’m sure Devlin Scott could make room on his roster for the winner of the tournament.”
“That’s great and all, but learn from this,” Kim says, standing up and steadying herself on her feet. Aside from the likely pins and needles she’s got going on, she looks exhausted, despite the relatively early hour. “Have a back-up plan in case things don’t go your way.”
“Oh yeah?” Sapphire asks, standing as well. “What’s yours, then?”
Kim smiles grimly. “Finish liquidating the gym and get another secretary job. I’ve got the resume for it.”
“Giving up a little early, are we?” Sapphire asks, a bit of playful ribbing leaking back into her demeanor. She gets a chuckle from Kim who shakes her head.
“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.” Kim gathers her things before heading out of the bedroom, Sapphire following her into the main room. Once Kim’s in her shoes, she turns back to Sapphire and looks up at her with pleading eyes. “Promise me you won’t do anything stupid?”
Sapphire chuckles. “You know I can’t make that promise. But I’ll try to take all my frustration out on Zoey, rather than some random dudes at a bar.”
Kim nods. “I’ll have to take it.” She pauses again, turning to open the door, but before she does, she turns back again. “Look, if you stay out of trouble, I’ll do my best to--”
“Ssh,” Sapphire says, putting her large finger on Kim’s lips to shush her. “You do what you have to do, I’ll do what I have to do.”
Kim responds by reaching behind her for the door and cracking it open. She then steps back and to the side so she can edge her way out of the door. She then glares at Sapphire, though there’s obviously no bite in it. “You really have to stop doing that.”
“Stop obsessing then. I can take care of myself, you take care of yourself.”
Kim opens her mouth, but closes it before Sapphire can reach up again. She just nods, then bows out of the apartment, pulling the door closed behind her.
The moment Kim is gone, Sapphire walks over to her window to peek down at the parking lot. She sees the tiny form of Kimberly walk over to her car, a 2015 Ford Fusion, get into it, and drive away. The moment she has left the apartment building’s property, Sapphire pulls out her phone and calls someone either in her contacts or recent calls, since it only takes one tap.
“You there?”
Kim walks back into her living room a bit, then nods at something the other person says. “Yeah, she just left.” A short pause is followed by “No, she thinks I’m responsible.” She doesn’t stop for long, but starts talking over the person on the other line. “Yes, I know I am TECHNICALLY, but that’s what the money’s for!”
Sapphire pinches the bridge of her nose as she stands in front of her fridge. “Look. Let her think I did it, just keep her safe.
“No, I know she won’t, she benefited from his death just as much as us.
“Just keep her safe long enough to keep the leeches from sucking the rest of their money free of the legal shitstorm she’s about to endure.”
There’s a pause long enough for Sapphire to collect herself with a heaving breath, then she smiles, apparently getting the answer she wanted.
“Good. You came highly recommended, Huang, I expect good things.”
With that, she hangs up. “I’m going to spending a lot of time training and traveling, this had better be worth it.”
With that, Sapphire hits the interwebs. She’s got an opponent to research, and a flight to cancel, and a twitter to tweet on that totally isn’t just open so she can bitch and moan at Mason Moore.
Definitely not.