Post by chaos lite on Sept 9, 2012 19:14:30 GMT -4
"baby, do what you gotta do
for the shit that you gotta have
do what you gotta do, baby
for the shit that you gotta have..."
for the shit that you gotta have
do what you gotta do, baby
for the shit that you gotta have..."
sep.09.twelve
Frustration? No.
Jealousy? Not explicitly.
Disgust? That’s pretty close to what Aubrey J. Parker is feeling at this point in time.
She sits in her Toronto, Ontario hotel room lying on the bed with arms crossed defiantly over her chest and a childlike pout adorning her face. Her friend since childhood, Cassandra McPherson is on the bed adjacent to hers with a pleasant smile on her face as she sits pretzel-style on the mattress. It was endearing to see Aubrey humbled which was a rarity even at age seven. For much of the morning, Aubrey hadn’t said a word. It wasn’t necessarily “nice” but it was a refreshing change of pace. More often than not over the past few months, Cassandra would describe Aubrey’s acts as mature. She simply wasn’t as self-centered and self-destructive as she used to be, in her opinion.
But there were still moments like these where the girl would just shut herself off from the rest of the world and her anger would be tucked away and come out in the form of misguided insults or verbal assaults later. That is something that Cassandra McPherson is able to describe in vivid detail.
”Aubrey.”
”...”
”Aubs, come on.”
”...Cassandra, why do you pry?”
”Why do I pry? Ha. Because I’m sharing quarters with you. I don’t want to sit in a Canadian hotel room with Negative Nancy, mmmkaayy?”
”I am completely, positively positive, Cassandra. My silence indicates a good mood. Take note of that because I feel like you’rrrrre lookin’ to ruin it.”
”Look...”
”Oh yeah you are.”
”I know why you’re all pissed off. And I know who you think you’re pissed off at.”
”Why do you keep saying these things?”
”You’re mad at Logan because you didn’t get the exposure he got this weekend. It wasn’t the AJP show like you secretly wanted this whole time.”
”You’re trying to piss me off. Is this some secret form of motivation, you bitch?”
Cassandra smiles slightly and sighs.
”If you could only be so lucky.”
Aubrey looks at Cassandra for a few seconds with a thoughtful expression. She finally sits up and turns to swing her legs off the bed.
”I just don’t get it. Logan gets all this credit and all this recognition but he wouldn’t have even come out of retirement if it weren’t for me.”
”I don’t think you can give yourself credit for his performance last week, Aubs.”
”I’m not! I know it sounds selfish, but the whole time Logan and I were talking about joining APW over the summer, he made it seem like we were some ‘package deal’; a single unit or whatever. But what kind of unit is that? He didn’t even tell me he was going to some autograph signing or promoting our match against ComiKaze.”
”I don’t think it was your business. In the ring, you guys are a ‘package deal’ but outside of it, when he’s in front of his hometown, it’s different. It becomes intimate. You’d be out there rubbing shoulders with these ‘smart’ fans that think they know everything about you-- and these fake fans that didn’t know you before APW and I’m sure deep down that annoys the hell out of you... But with Logan, it’s different. He might have family or friends out there and he doesn’t need YOU hogging the spotlight like you did in the past!”
Aubrey’s mouth falls open. She stares at Cassandra with a look of pure bewilderment, but finally regains her composure and clears her throat.
”Wow.”
She leans back on her palms and looks across the room at Cassandra. Aubrey attempts to maintain a warm and pleasant demeanor but all traces of emotion are beginning to seem more and more artificial.
”Thanks for your input.”
”I’m not trying to be the bitch. I’m trying to be your friend. And honestly, I think Logan is too. You’re just not letting him. Your ego’s in the way.”
Aubrey sighs audibly and allows herself to fall completely onto her back on the mattress. She throws her hands up over her face and groans.
”I’m trying to stop it.”
”Well try harder. Do you know anything about who you’re facing this week?”
”They’re superheroes. We’re facing two assholes in capes.”
”Shark Boy and the Red Crow.”
”Snake Boy.”
”...Of course...”
”Ugh. Their names piss me off.”
”Well, good. At least it’s them and not your partner.”
Aubrey doesn’t respond, but groans in shame again. Cassandra laughs lightly at her reaction but continues.
”What do you know about them going into the tag team match? Come on-- get up!”
Cassandra leans across the three foot stretch of carpet dividing the two beds and slaps Parker’s knee. Aubrey sighs and throws her hands down to her sides.
”They’re crazies and they’ve never wrestled a match in their professional careers.”
”Well I don’t... Think that’s an unbiased synopsis, Aubrey.”
Aubrey narrows her eyes at Cassandra, responding in a fraudulent tone that feigns interest.
”They’re two promising prospects from Los Angeles, Cassandra. Scouts have talked about their agility, and their ruthlessness in the ring. They know all about fighting, Cassandra because they were vigilantes. They fought crime in their own neighborhoods in the streets of L.A. They kept the streets clean. They’re really somethin’ to look out for, this Red Crow and this Snake Boy, let me tell you.”
Cassandra rolls her eyes.
”Wanna try to add a little more sarcasm for the fanboys?”
Parker sits up again, sporting a devious smirk projected at Cassandra.
”Do you want to hear the truth?”
”Humor me.”
”They don’t stand a chance because ComiKaze came here as a publicity stunt. I doubt they were hired based on their ability to wrestle and I doubt President Jeff and Johnny Diamond ever gave them a chance in their minds. They’re superheroes. And they don’t come from Asgard or Krypton, they come from the quiet, upper middle class-inhabited suburbs of Cali.
“Last week Logan and I defeated men much bigger than us. We beat the number one contenders to the Tag Team titles and we’re about to face two kids that look like they came from the west coast’s finest middle school wrestling team. Cassandra, there’s the humor. We’re in the curtain-jerking match against two jokes in multi-colored spandex. Yarmouth and Raab get Noble-Hart in a title match on Overdrive this week. Logan and I? We get the Power Rangers.”
”You set the tone for the show. You’re the first thing you see, and you’re the people that bring them in. You get the crowd started with an awesome match and they’re hot all night... And then maybe you get a spot in the main event one day.”
Cassandra audibly laughs aloud to herself at the overuse of the word “you.” It was so fitting considering she was sitting across from the girl she’d known for seventeen years-- someone she used to consider the biggest narcissist in the United States.
”What if they don’t even put up a good fight?”
”Do they have to?”
”Hard to steal the show when you have no supporting cast members, Cassandra. I mean damn, I don’t want Mr. Dangerous to come and steal my spotlight.”
”I’m sure it’s going to be fine. I don’t think he’s gonna come out... Christ, I hope not.”
”Over the past week I’ve started to think that this whole match is some sort of joke. It’s a giant gag that M&M isn’t in on. Have you heard anything from ComiKaze since everyone made a big fuss about them debuting?”
”Personally, no, I haven’t.”
”Yeah. Neither have I. They’ve never wrestled in their lives and they already decided that they couldn’t care less about the match. That’s what I’ve been given to work with.”
”Well what do you think you deserve?”
Aubrey pushes herself off of the bed and moves lethargically to the window, clear on the other side of the room. She raises a hand to the center, pushing a few of the blinds back and looking down at the world below. Even at nine o’clock on a Sunday morning, Toronto is busy and bustling. Her eyes find several individual targets for a few seconds before they travel to the next one. Each person is taking a unique route or path-- and for the first time, she can see the intimidating mass of the city.
”I want all of these people to know who I am.”
She doesn’t turn back to Cassandra just yet. Cassandra stifles a small laugh at the mild *thud* she hears as Parker places her forehead against the glass of the window.
”So what are you gonna do about it? You can only play the hand you’re dealt, Aubs, and this week it’s Shark Boy and Friends.”
”Snake. Snake Boy.”
Cassandra nods politely.
”Of course. Him. But hey, at least YOU’RE paying attention to them.”
”As much as I can. They’re ghost, Cass.”
”What if it’s some sort of intricate mind-game, eh?”
”That would be almost too much to ask for. A challenge. A real nemesis to test ourselves against. Something that these people would notice.”
Cassandra frowns behind Parker and leans up lightly on the bed, trying to peer through the glass down at the city. She quickly gives up on the action and beckons Parker toward her.
”Don’t worry about them so much. You didn’t give a damn a year ago!”
”A person can only take being hated so much. Like, do you know how degrading it is to go into the convenience store and have some stranger call you a ‘bitch’ or a ‘whore’ because of what they’ve seen on television? Or how discouraging it is to have a bunch of little kids booing you, trying to throw stuff at you when you’re walking up to an event? I’m tired of it. I’m tired of being that person.”
”So you’re gonna work your ass off for their affection, and then when they give Logan MORE attention you’re going to turn on all of them and go on a tangent explaining why you hate them and why it’s all their faults that you turned into a bitch... Right?”
Parker’s laugh is dry. Her mouth doesn’t even open. She allows the blinds to fall closed and then turns her head toward Cassandra with a smirk. Aubrey shakes her head slightly.
”I’m gonna earn it.”
Cassandra tilts her nose upward, shooting Aubrey a look that invites the claim to be challenged.
”Focus on beating ComiKaze. Make it look good.”
”It will.”
”Beat every man, woman, and tag team put in front of you.”
”I will.”
”And then...”
”And then?”
”When the whole roster is forced to take notice...”
”Then the fans will too. Everybody will.”
”And Logan will.”
The girls’ eyes meet as Cassandra says this. Its meaning is cryptic and Aubrey’s face falls once she pushes herself off of the bed, snaking past Aubrey to make her way into the bathroom. Moments later, an inconsistent whistle emits from the bathroom and streams of water splash against the porcelain. Cassandra had apparently stepped into the shower and Aubrey’s forced to temporarily halt any attempts of decoding the statement.
Aubrey locates her cell phone and makes her way out of the hotel room in a hurried pace toward the elevator.
~ ~ ~
Parker moves quite swiftly through the thick crowds of Toronto, Ontario. With her hair down and her makeup applied as per usual, there was nothing preventing the fans from seeing who she was. No sunglasses, no jackes-- but as she moves past them, making eye contact with who she believes to be every single resident of Toronto in the crowded streets, only a few look at her with any form of interest of certainty. Enough to make a local celebrity blush, but not nearly enough to satisfy Parker.
She feels a slight lump in her throat as she reaches the end of the street, finding herself at the edge of a crosswalk. She removes her phone from her pocket and dials a number rapidly before raising the phone to her ear, waiting patiently for a response.
The line picks up on the other end.
"Good day lady Parker. What can I do for you?"
"Logan... I called because I wanted to tell you how much of an asshole I feel like. I'm sorry for snapping at you the way I did earlier and I give you a lot of credit for putting up with that tantrum..."
A brief pause.
"It's all right. I know how much recognition means to people in this business. I was once a fresh face in this industry too. The goal then is to be a star, and as many people say, if you aren't aiming to be the star, you're in the wrong industry. But I've also been the star and at that point I ended up being minimized by seemingly everyone that had clout. So I also know how fleeting that recognition can be."
There is a long, still silence on Parker's end.
We capture her move past more faces on the street. This time, there are two young gentlemen, one adorning a "Nobledrive" t-shirt while the other has a tank top that boasts Jason Kash across the chest. Parker's eyes travel up to meet theirs, but they show no signs of familiarity, only glancing briefly before passing by.
"Guess I just got a little carried away. I never meant to seem like I was losing focus..."
"I never thought you were lacking focus. I know you want to win. I know you want to be successful. It's noticeable in essentially everything you do. Just try not to become obsessively focused. It's quite easy to lose sight of other important things at that point."
More people-- a middle-aged man and his daughter who looked to be a pre-teen. He wears a bored expression while she clutches his wrist, walking along to excitedly and hurriedly explain the ins and outs of her entire week. Again. Nothing.
"Right. I'll make sure to look out for that."
She stops. As a group of teenage boys pass her, hollering and shoving eadh other, only two turn their heads as they pass Parker, and not in the vein of a starstruck fan... Just the looks of curious, yet underdeveloped males. She pulls the phone away from her ear for a second to cough, eliminating the sudden lump in her throat.
"Guess I should thank you for the reality check."
Logan chuckles softly.
"It wasn't really required. More like a gentle reminder. For now, we will build a name together. We'll do this right and make something that lasts. It's only week two for us and we have about six more before we'll know if we have our first big opportunity."
"Maybe. Who says we can't raise some eyebrows now and accelerate that process, eh?"
She laughs gently and after a brief deliberation begins the trek back toward the front doors of the hotel.
"If an opportunity comes, we can be sure to take it, but there really is only one target on Meltdown at the moment."
"Lively?"
"Just what he holds. But there's going to be a bit of a queue for us to get through first."
"Hey, like you said... If an opportunity comes, right?"
"Absolutely. We've already beaten two former contenders. Now we'll need to see about some legitmate current ones."
"Whatever we need to do, we'll do it."
Parker's tone slowly begins to take a mildly distant one as her mind lingers around the allure of the North American Title.
"When the time comes."
"Right."
She casts one more look into the busy street. Two young men on bicycles race past-- both sparing looks over their shoulder at Parker. One of them begins to brake to a stop, but a shout from his friend causes him to reconsider. Regardless, the young man continues to gaze back at Aubrey over his right shoulder, peddaling furiously.
"Well, I'll probably end up giving you another call tonight, Logan. I think I'm gonna go grab some lunch or something."
"All right. Just don't stir up more trouble than you can handle."
"Hahaha. Me? I think I should take some offense. I'd never."
She finally makes her way to the glass double doors of the hotel, but her eyes remain on the masses in the streets.
"Talk to you later."
"Until then."
end.
