Fatal Fortunes 2023 #2
{{ Thursday, November 16
Gretna, LA
BlackOut Academy }}
I am a cheater.
I mean, looking back at my wrestling career, I've certainly done things in the ring that ranged from bending the rules to outright cheating to win. I've been called a cheater many times over the years. But one thing I have never done before in my life, is cheat on a partner.
Until yesterday.
I got home and Dom was on the couch in the den, holding Heath. They were both asleep. I nearly threw up again as I went upstairs as quietly as I could, to not wake them up. I snuck past my family because I was too ashamed to face them after what I'd done. How could I face Dom? I am the worlds worst liar, I don't know how I'm going to keep him from knowing. Maybe not exactly what I did, or who.... but he'll notice something. I know it.
When I wake up, Dom is in bed with me, turned with his back to me, lightly snoring. His call time was later than I had to leave; they were starting when the actor they were waiting on arrived. I get out of bed slowly, trying not to move the bed too much or make too much noise. I then quietly get my clothes from the closet and go to the guest room to change and get ready. If Dom wakes up now and catches me dressing in the other bathroom, he'll have definitely ask questions. But he doesn't. Dressed, I have to go back into the bedroom one last time to grab my phone – somehow I forgot it on my nightstand. As I'm walking out, I hear the bed rustle. I stop, and he speaks, still half-asleep.
“Sneaking out, huh?”
I turn and look at Dom. He's propped up on one elbow, grinning at me. I can barely stand to look at him. I feel like he's looking right through me and into my memories of last night.
“I just didn't want to wake you up since you're leaving late this morning.”
“I wouldn't have minded.” The grin becomes a smirk. I force myself to grin back.
“I'll remember that for later.”
“You'd better.”
I smile again, and grab the door. “I should go.”
“Forgetting something?”
Shit. Every morning when we're in the same house, whoever is leaving first always gives the other a kiss goodbye. “Of course. Silly me.” I go over to the bedside and lean over to kiss him. I have no idea how I manage it without making some kind of tell. “I really have to go, though.”
“Okay. Have a good day. I love you.”
“Love you.” I force another smile and leave.
It's not a lie. I do love him. So much. I just.... I don't know.
* * * * *
I get to BlackOut and walk into the academy room upstairs. I'm early, only Amy and Travis are here so far. I set my bag down on my usual shelf in the back, and start to get ready for the day. I hear footsteps coming and look up. It's Amy, and she looks... concerned?
“Hey Bree, good morning.”
“Hey. What's up?”
“Uh... can we talk for a few minutes before you start prepping?”
“Sure.” I fold my arms.
“No.. I mean in private.” Amy looks around the room. I follow her gaze. Travis is in the corner setting up the weights correctly, and one of the students has just walked in.
“Oh. Yeah, of course.”
Amy nods towards her office, and I follow her.
Once inside, Amy closes and locks the door. I find that odd. Amy then goes to her desk and half-sits on the end. She has her arms crossed and looks very uncomfortable.
“Amy? Is something wrong?”
“No. At least, I don't think so.”
“Then what is this about? You're acting weird and you're worrying me.”
Amy nods to herself, then uncrosses her arms, only to clasp her hands together nervously.
“Okay. Under any other circumstances, I wouldn't say anything at all. What anyone does in their personal life and with who is none of my business. I am obviously the last person who has any standing whatsoever to judge anyone else. But in this case, I feel compelled to say something, before anything goes too far.”
I feel my face scrunch up. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“Bree...” I have never seen Amy this nervous to say anything to me. “I don't know when this started, nor am I going to ask, but I should warn you that if you want what you were doing here last night to stay a secret, I suggest you find somewhere else to carry on.”
No! My eyes nearly pop out of my head and my hands cover my mouth as I gasp.
“Oh no! How...” I can't keep talking. My hands cover my whole face, eyes too.
“We have security cameras... they're not on a timer, they're motion activated.”
“Oh my God.....” I am sick. SICK.
“Again, I wouldn't have said anything at all, except for the cameras. You needed to know they're there.” I make myself lower my hands and look at Amy. She looks embarrassed. I can only imagine what my face looks like.
“What did you see?”
“Uh... enough. I turned it off as soon as I realized what I was seeing.”
“Did anyone else-”
“No. I checked the recordings myself this morning. But Bree... I'm not always the person who reviews it, if you catch my meaning.” I nod slowly. Sometimes Wyatt checks it, too. That would have been a million times worse. “It just happened to be me today.”
“I hear you. The recording...”
“I deleted it.”
“Thank you.” I cover my face again. “I don't... know what to say.”
“You don't have to say anything. Like I said, it's none of my business. I won't ask anything, you don't have to explain yourself or tell me anything you don't want to talk about. All I'm gonna say is this... whatever may or may not be going on, if there's anything wrong, anything you feel you need to talk about... I'm here for you.”
I force my hands down and look Amy in the eyes. I know she means it. The fact that she's acting this way about what she saw, despite the way I treated her and exposed she and Jason years ago... it means a lot to me and I don't feel like I deserve it.
“I know you are. Thank you.”
Amy nods, then seems to decide something. “Actually, I am going to ask one question. Is everything okay? Like.... at home?”
I shake my head. “I don't know. I don't know anything. I just... I- he-” I stop and take a breath. “That was the first time.”
“I see. Well, again. I'm here for you, if you need anything.”
“I do need a favor.” Amy nods, waiting. “Don't say anything. Please.” I'm not too proud to beg.
“Of course not! It's not my business to tell. I won't even say anything to Josh.”
I hadn't even thought about that. “Okay, but.. he's gonna know you know. When I mention the cameras...”
“True. But I'm not gonna say anything regardless.” I just nod. “Are you okay to work?”
I rub my face hard, trying to pull myself together. “Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine for that.”
“Okay. You go ahead a take a minute or two in here, settle yourself. I'll see you in the ring.”
“Okay.” Amy smiles and starts to leave. “Amy..” She turns before opening the door.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you. For the warning, and not... flipping out on me, and-”
“Hey. I am the last person to judge, remember?”
“I know, but... I did it to you.”
“A long time ago, and it doesn't matter now. I know I'm infamous for holding grudges, but not for you. I'm just here to help, if I can.”
“I know. It means a lot to me. I hadn't thought far enough ahead to think about talking to anyone about it, but I'm glad someone knows, and I'm glad its you.”
Amy just gives me a smile, and leaves. She closes the door behind her. I lean against her desk and cover my face again.
Cameras!! How did I not think about that? This could have turned out so much worse. Someone or something is looking out for me, and just like with Amy... I'm not sure I deserve it.
* * * * *
When Josh got to the gym for classes, we gave each other a glance and understood the meaning – keep things as normal as possible during the day. At one point during a break, I went over to help him put some kickpads away and mentioned that we needed to talk when class was over. He agreed, and seemed slightly worried, but didn't ask anything.
Classes are now over and almost everyone is gone. Josh makes a show of volunteering to put the kickpads back into the storage room. I offer to help. He grabs a few, and I grab some and follow him. As soon as we're both in the room, he drops the kick pads and spins around to me.
“Is something wrong?”
“Why is that your first assumption?”
“Usually 'we need to talk' is girl-code for 'something is fucked up.'”
“Hm. Yeah, I can see how you'd think that. Well, to answer the question, yes and no.”
“That's not very helpful.”
“Okay. I'll just say it, I'm sure someone might notice if we're in here too long.” He smirks, but says nothing. “Last night? That can't happen again.”
Josh lets out a hard breath. “I thought we had an understanding. I thought-”
“No, no. I don't mean us.” Shit. There's an 'us' now. It strikes me how when I was at home, and even talking to Amy, I second-guessed myself and even questioned my own sanity over giving in to what I'd been fighting for weeks and allowing sex to happen. But standing here talking with Josh, just being around him... there isn't anything to question. “I mean here. We can't do that here again.”
“Why is that? It's clearly the most convenient.”
“It's also covered in security cameras.”
“That shut off after-” I start shaking my head.
“Motion sensor.”
Josh looks at me a moment, and then realization hits. “Wait a minute. We were recorded?” I nod. “How do you know that?”
“Amy.”
He drops his head into one hand. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
“She deleted it.”
“I sure fucking hope so!” He looks back up. “How bad is it?”
“What?”
“Amy. How bad is it? How mad is she?”
“She isn't. I know, I was surprised, too. She was actually really... supportive.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“I'd say ask her yourself but she said she wouldn't even mention it to you.”
“What about... Do you trust her to keep quiet?”
“More than anyone else. If anyone had to find out accidentally, I'm glad it was her.”
“Okay. If you trust her, then I will too.”
I smile. “I appreciate it.”
“I suppose I'll have to come up with reasons for you to come to my place.” Josh smirks.
“Rather sure of yourself that would work?”
“Oh, I am...” He peeks out the crack in the door, then grabs my face and kisses me. I let him a second or two, then push away.
“What are you doing? People are here!”
“That's all I wanted. Just a reminder. If you want something enough, you'll find a reason.” He gives me another smirk, then walks out of the storage room.
I didn't need a reminder. It was all I had thought about since last night. Maybe I could think of a reason to stop at his place, after all.
ON CAMERA
I am sure that most people are going to talk about their definition of fate, and what they think fate will lead them to, or that they deserve, or maybe that they don't believe in fate at all. That's the thing with these kinds of events with names that beg to be made into a theme.
I'm not going to do that. Not completely anyway. Instead, I'm going to talk about something else. The concept of Lux Veritatis. Yes, I've talked about it before. The Light of Truth. The way truth can't hide in the shadows forever, it will always find a way to come out into the light. In most cases, I've presented this as something positive, something uplifting. Motivating even, to remind us that no matter how dark things may look, truth will always light the way.
But Lux Veritatis doesn't only reveal the truths we want to hear, or ones that we like. No, the light often reveals hard truths. Ones we've maybe been avoiding, wish weren't real, or were maybe hoping we could hide or ignore forever.
That's the truth I need to discuss today, before I say one word about Fatal Fortunes.
Statera.
Balance. Light and shadow. That's what Datura and I put our energy into and wanted to bring to SCW. We created this team and we wanted to succeed. Many things hindered our progress. I won't list them all here, there's no point in that. It's been over a year since we declared ourselves a team and stated our goal to become Tag Champions. That... clearly hasn't happened. So many obstacles were put into our way. Injuries, other titles... for a while now I've questioned if we were making a mistake. If what we wanted just wasn't meant to be. Liz didn't want to hear that. She's stubborn, it's what makes her such a great competitor.
But Lux Veritatis doesn't waver.
It's clear to me now that despite our desire, despite our determination, despite our combined skill... Statera as Tag Champions just isn't meant to be. I don't say this with anger, or spite. I'm a little disappointed, and I know Liz is too, she wanted so badly to do something great with me. But Lux Veritatis demands that we accept even the truths we don't want to hear.
Now is not the time for Statera to rise. Glory Braddock and Brittany Lohan beat us last week fairly, I will concede that. I didn't care for Brittany's need for repeated strikes before pinning Liz, but other than that... they got the win. I wish them luck in their quest to become Tag Champions. I truly do. As for Liz and I... for Statera?
The truth is that she and I are better when we are on our own. When we focus on our individual goals. We come together as a force when necessary, but the truth, the hard truth... is that it's time for us to put our energy back into our individual goals. I can't speak for Liz, but for me? That's getting myself back into contention for one of the titles I held and lost last year.
I bet you're all expecting me to lay claim to the United States Championship, as I've made it no secret that it's the one that means the most to me. But, no. That isn't my focus right now. I had my chance to get it back, I failed, and I moved on.
Instead, I'm setting my sights on the Adrenaline Championship. You all heard myself and Liz confront Adam and Alistaire Allocco about the way they are treating this championship. Adam seems to think it's a decoration that he can just hand off to whomever he chooses, regardless if they've earned it or not. And then we have Autumn Valentine out here trying to stake a claim on a rematch that doesn't belong to her. Granted, its Lexy Chapel who pushed it, but Autumn went along with it, didn't she?
I am not here to stand back and watch games being played with championships. The Adrenaline Championship means something to me, too. It's the championship I won not long after coming back from having my son. It's the one that helped me prove that I didn't return too early, and that I have so much more to offer this business. And now I see that championship being disrespected, and I just won't stand for it.
Enter Fatal Fortunes. I may not get a sniff of the Adrenaline Championship over the two week event. I could be drawn into any title match, or no title match at all, just like anyone else on the roster. I'm not going to wax poetic about fate and if it exists or not, I'll leave that to everyone else. What I am going to say about fate, is that it doesn't matter what fate has in store for anyone, if you don't put in the work to get there, fate could easily hand what would have been yours to someone else. Maybe that's not fate. Maybe that's just how the universe works.
As for me? The way I work is simple. Hard. No matter what I'm given. Whatever Fatal Fortunes has in store for me, I'm not afraid of it. I welcome it with open arms. It's just another chance to keep proving myself.