Post by Ruby Lance on Oct 14, 2017 1:45:19 GMT -5
Ruby Lance turns on the webcam on her laptop and we get a spectacular shot of her just her! Well, we can tell she's still in a suite that she and Scotty Latime have booked for the week in San Francisco for the Squared Circle Con that will concluded with back-to-back wrestling events starting with Hype this Saturday and ending with Dissension.
"Hey! So! I haven't really been talking too much about my upcoming match this weekend at Hype."
She falls silent and looks down for a brief moment, still gathering her thoughts as her mind is clearly all over the place.
"First off, I want to say to Donovan that it's through no type of disrespect that I've been quiet about our upcoming match at Hype. You are obviously an amazing competitor. You're the number one contender for the West Coast Championship for a reason. I'm a little jealous about that, actually."
That at least manages a smile out of Ruby and a little bit of a laugh.
"Of course, that's not to say that I don't love being the South Bay Champion. No, but you are going to get a chance to do something about Julianna DiMaria running her mouth about all of us. That's enough to be jealous of right there."
She smiles again, though it's a fleeting moment and is not accompanied with a laugh. She takes a deep breath, still sorting through all of the thoughts going on in her head.
"So, why have I been quiet, huh? That's probably what you're wondering. We're friends. You and I are friends and have been ever since Danni came into both of our lives. I mean, heck, I'm a bridesmaid at your wedding! That makes the fact that I've kept my mouth shut about our upcoming match even more ridiculous, doesn't it?"
Ruby sighs and shakes her head. It's almost funny, but she can't bring herself to laugh about it. Instead, she falls silent. Her eyes dart off camera, perhaps checking to see if she's woken Scotty up. Or maybe to see if he's back from wherever he is. All we know is that he's not present in the frame at this exact moment.
"That's kind of the entire reason that I haven't said anything. Because I don't know what to say."
She takes another deep breath and lets it out slowly before she musters up the courage to look back into the camera lens that broadcasts her to Donovan (and the entire world).
"I had a bit of a meltdown earlier this week. I don't know if it's professional or whatever to talk about another company in my promotional material for West Coast Genesis, but I have to fight someone so important to me somewhere else. And that really sucks. It bothers me a lot."
She swallows hard and takes a moment to regulate her breathing, evening out her emotions before they get out of control on her again.
"It's kind of been a problem I've had for a while now. Austen and Danni and now you. They've all been tough. You're all tremendous competitors and all people that I look up to for your abilities and who you are as people. It's the reason we're friends! You guys are just great people and I love being around great people. It's just been hard to be around great people and know that when we clock in it's… it's a competition. That's what this business is. We all know that, I know we all know that, but that doesn't make the reality of the situation as easy as it is to just say it."
Ruby takes another deep breath and has to pause as she can already feel herself starting to run away with her thoughts. Her sentences are becoming more of a ramble and she fears that she's going to lose her point if she lets things go off the rails.
"I had a hard time competing against all of you in that ladder match because I knew that if I won… which I did… that it meant you guys wouldn't. It meant that what you guys wanted, what you guys have been striving for… you'd be denied because of me. The biggest win I've ever had and it's marred not just by a great guy showing his true heart, but by my friends leaving with at least some disappointment. And that bothers me more than it probably should. Maybe more than it bothers others in this business?"
That last one is definitely a question as she certainly isn't going to question how her friends feel about the topic at hand.
"Maybe this business isn't for me? Trust me, I can already hear people saying that. I can hear myself saying that, but I can't walk away. As much as this sort of thing bothers me, I can't walk away from that ring. I don't want to be away from it. So what's what the solution?"
Another question, but much like the other one it isn't one that's going to get any answers. She's aware of this and certainly isn't silently waiting for someone to speak out of nowhere to answer it for her. She's dwelling on the fact that she doesn't have the answer.
"Do I seek out people like Gabriel Griffin that would rather talk about how much he deserves to be champion rather than try to prove it? Or people like Julianna DiMaria that show absolutely no respect to anyone?"
The look on Ruby's face shows that she doesn't love the thought of that one bit. She shakes her head in aggravation.
"I don't want to fight people who refuse to respect me despite the work that I put in. I don't want to fight my friends. Sounds pretty ridiculous, right? It sounds like I'm the one who doesn't want to fight, doesn't it?"
She actually manages to laugh at that one, though she doesn't look the least bit amused by her dilemma. She has to laugh, though, otherwise she just might cry at how overwhelming all of this has become for her.
"I don't want to be the reason my friends are disappointed. Austen… you're a sweetheart. You are a true heart and I'm sorry you aren't the South Bay Champion. I love being champion. I don't ever want to lose my title and you know that better than anyone right now. The match that we had was… it was difficult in more ways than one for the both of us. You know what that title means to me, and it's why I know what it means to you."
Frowning, she looks down for a moment. She takes a deep breath and looks up at the camera.
"Danni… you've been someone that I've looked up to since I signed with West Coast Genesis. You're tough, and you're strong and independent, and you're still one of the nicest people I've ever met. Your two opportunities at the South Bay title have been absolute letdowns for you, I know. First, that random passerby gets involved and then a double count-out that left us both leaving that match disappointed. Though, only one of us left it empty-handed so I know it was worse for you."
She brushes her hair back out of her face and chews on her bottom lip out of nervous habit. Her eyes glance around the room once more before she turns back to the screen.
"So, that brings me to Donovan. It's different with us. We're not friends like Austen, Danni, and I are friends. You're friends with Austen. You're more than friends with Danni. You and I get along, but we don't talk like I do with Austen or Danni. And that's fine. It doesn't change the fact that this match is difficult for me for more than the obvious reason. West Coast Genesis spells out the size difference pretty clearly."
If you don't want to take the West Coast Genesis website's word for it, the look in Ruby's eyes says how daunting of a challenge she can already imagine Donovan is going to be.
"I know you've got a lot of prove, not just over me but over anyone. After a loss to Billy… yeah, I know that you are looking to bounce back and prove that you really deserve a shot at Julianna. I know you deserve one, but I don't book the matches around here. So, I know that for you it can't matter who is across the ring from you. I guess, I'm just trying to get it into my head that it needs to be that way for me, too. Because it does. I know that's how it needs to be."
She takes one more deep breath and puts a smile on her face. It's not quite as bright as it usually is, but she looks like this has worked out some of her inner turmoil.
"So yeah. There's me… not being quiet. Not really sure what to do from here."
Shrugging her shoulders, she reaches over and clicks a button to end the video.