David Helms :: "As Dangerous As They Come"

Canadian Tire Centre
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
1st July, 2020

“--she’s still a fucking bitch!” the fiery Regan Street roared, her bellowing voice reverberating off of the cinderblock walls of the otherwise tranquill locker room some forty after the culmination of Breakdown. Her husband David, showing all the hallmarks of a brutal match to bring the show to a close, sat backwards astride a folding chair, his chest pressed against the cold metal as his head hung heavy as his thoughts. Helms appeared deep in contemplation as his gaze fixated on the tiled floor between his feet, his hands pressed firmly on his knees where bruising was already beginning to form on the skin around his knuckles. His forehead served as an explanation for the delay in their leaving the building; his underground rules match with his former friend Thomas Valentine had left the New Jerseyite bloodied. And even if he felt fine in himself as he arrived backstage, the wound on his forehead had required a handful of stitches and protocol was that he should remain around for a period of time to ensure there were no lingering issues or signs of potential problems. Concussion or similar. He was fairly sure that wasn’t the case, but who was he to argue with medical professionals; he was just an asshole from New Jersey with no medical training... a history of concussions didn’t make him a medical expert and certainly didn’t give him the knowledge required to make a diagnosis. It wasn’t the first time that David had left the ring requiring the assistance of the medical staff and their needle and thread, and as he said contemplating the ground beneath him, he was fairly confident it would not be the last time he would require it either; if anything, David mused internally, this was becoming something of a new norm for him since his comeback earlier in the year. He’d been in an eerily similar condition following the street fight against The Wonderland, requiring stitches that night too... the only difference being that that night had ended in victory for the veteran from New Jersey, whereas tonight, in no small part thanks to unwelcomed interference from a certain ‘classy’ individual, the show had ended in defeat. And yet, to Dave’s immense surprise, he found that he wasn’t particularly angry about what had transpired… he was disappointed, sure. Mostly in himself if he was being completely honest with himself, as he should have been expecting what had happened out there… but as he sat with his head hung low, contemplating a particular crack in one of the tiles of the floor beneath his feet, he found that he was actually feeling rather zen about the whole ordeal. Perhaps that would change in the coming days, perhaps as he recovered from the effects of the match on his body and mind, he may reach a different conclusion… but in that moment at least, David Helms was at peace with what had happened, even if his wife definitely wasn’t.

He was thankful that from where she paced, across the room from his own position, that Regan couldn’t see the smile that sat on his face however, as he was fairly sure that she wouldn’t understand it if she could. She was not in the same mindset as him, and without looking up he could already see the look that was no doubt set firmly on her normally beautiful features. And yet the anger that she was undoubtedly showing on her face, at least the way he imagined it at any rate, was beautiful in it’s own right. She was angry for him; her love for her husband left her enraged, both at Tommy Valentine and Bree Lancaster, the latter the subject of discussion in the room around him that up to yet he hadn’t made himself a part of. As he sat quietly, happy to let the others talk between themselves, he was able to think, and perhaps a little clearer than he had any right to given what had just taken place less than an hour earlier… but he was thinking clearly. He actually saw things much clearer now than he had before the Breakdown had hit the air. Thank you Bree, you’ve made everything much easier, and the best part is that you don’t even know you’ve done it.

David was happy to allow the conversation to flow around him though; to take a break from his thoughts, even to reply to someone regardless of how brief, was a distraction and in that moment he felt as if everything was finally clicking in his mind. Until that point, particularly the point where the World Title connected with his head thanks to Bree’s cowardly attack, things could have gone either way with their little showdown scheduled for Rise to Greatness. And David wasn’t sure which way it was going to go, that was true. Thankfully, Bree had done as she had, and that had settled things as far as David was concerned. She had set the tone for the remaining weeks until the biggest show of the year and if that was the game she wanted to play then so be it. Who was he to say no? And so David remained quiet, allowing Regan to blow off a little steam as she ranted to her audience inside of the locker room. Selena was there of course, and David knew he needed to thank her at some point as she was the one who had rushed the ring by Regan’s side at the end of the match to ensure things didn’t escalate any further than they already had once Tommy had picked up his victory. She had been an ever-present since, Helping David to the trainer’s room with Regan and Lucas and then following them back here when he was all patched up. It was for Regan’s sake, David was more than aware of that, but he was thankful nevertheless. Delilah was also there of course, though the normally chipper young Brit was unusually quiet as she sat with Jordan Majors, who for some strange reason had joined them in the locker room too. He wasn’t sure how that had happened or when they collected her as part of their group, but he wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it; he wondered if Jordan’s appearance played into the suspicions he had regarding her friendship with Kath, but he wasn’t going to fixate on any of that and instead he decided to simply let it go. If the two of them were more than friends, it was their business. He just hoped that his ex-wife would have the sense to tell him in advance of it getting out to the public so that they could figure out how they were going to approach the whole thing with Jay when the time came. “I swear to god babe, you’d better kick her ass at Greatness, because she deserves one!”

Regan’s words were kind of lost on David as he concentrated on his thoughts; he was vaguely aware of what she was talking about, that she was angry with Bree for interfering in the night’s main event… that was the reason his head was still ringing, in all honesty. It wasn’t the show from Tommy that opened him up and left him requiring a handful of stitches, but when Bree rang his bell with the world title. Wasn’t the first time that had happened either though, even if it was the first time Bree had attempted it. And it wasn’t exactly something he hadn’t been expecting either, considering the woman that Bree was; if anything he should have been waiting for it, and in a lot of ways he was surprised it hadn’t come much sooner… but Bree was an opportunist, so why wouldn’t she wait and pick her moment when he was otherwise busy? Bree Lancaster wasn’t the type of person to get her hands dirty unless the odds were firmly in her own favour, and that was exactly what she had going for her tonight. Tommy wasn’t ever going to warn Dave what was coming his way, not with the bad blood between the two of them right now, and the fact he capitalised on Bree’s attack shouldn’t shock anyone either… but while Dave’s head was still ringing from the belt he once held hitting him in the back of the head, he also knew that it wasn’t an opportunity he was going to gift to her again, and she wouldn’t be in a position to have that kind of opportunity when they met one on one at Greatness! And that was the thing for Dave; this may be Bree’s yard right now, thanks to her holding on to the top title in the company… but this was his wheelhouse, this was his business! He’d been a professional wrestler for more than two decades, and Bree thought that she had it won already. That was going to cost her, all he had to do was not rise to the goading and the attacks and everything would hopefully work out fine.

“You need to calm down, sis…” Selena said, as the sound of Regan’s frantic pacing continued to reverberate off the walls of the locker room they occupied. Regan was angrier than David had seen her in some time, and she clearly needed to get this out if for no reason than to be able to finally cool off, and David almost broke his silence to point that out before Selena continued to speak, ending his opportunity to do so. “It’s no surprise that someone like Bree would pull the kind of stuff she did tonight, it’s just who she is. She thinks she can do anything she likes and get away with it, you know that…” the Alaskan native reasoned and David half looked up to see if Regan was listening, but his hellcat wife was still pacing and if he was any judge, she wasn’t listening to anything anyone was saying anyway. When she was fired up, it was ridiculously difficult to get through to her...

“She talks about family and disrespect and then does that?!” Regan asked in disbelief as David’s eyes went back to the floor again, his momentary glance unnoticed by all in the room. Why would anyone have noticed, everyone was locked on Regan as she raged against David’s upcoming opponent. He wasn’t complaining about that. He had been wondering if any of them could see the smile that was now playing across his face from the places they were all sitting. It wasn’t exactly a normal reaction after picking up a loss that also required stitches to close a wound in your head, was it? But nobody was looking at him and that meant he could avoid any awkward questions at least. He wondered if Jason or Lucas would have picked up on it if either of them were there… he suspected maybe they would, but luckily both had already left the building. Lucas had helped him back to the trainers room after the match and Jason had arrived shortly after with Amy in tow, to check in on him. They’d tried to insist on waiting around but David wasn’t having any of it; he’d been banging up - pun intended - far worse over the course of his two decades in the business than what Tommy and Bree had achieved between them that night and as he wasn’t looking to ruin anyone’s night more than he already had, he insisted they head off to the hotel to relax. It took some convincing, but finally they all agreed and the three left to grab a cab together. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Selena, Delilah and Jordan, who all chose to ignore his protests in order to wait until he and Regan were allowed to leave. “She has to have a mouth like a fucking vacuum cleaner, that’s all I’m saying, because I have no fucking idea what your half-brother sees in her otherwise!” she spat out, sighing heavily as she tried to let out her frustration and the room briefly fell silent. David started to wonder who was going to fill it when the answer came via a knocking at the door, which swiftly swung open to reveal the camera crew that was still following Regan and the rest of them around everywhere. He had to forcibly swallow a sigh that was desperate to break out of his throat, going with an irritable roll of the eyes instead, before Regan did something that made him want to get up and kiss her! “Not now guys,” she said, shaking her head. “We’ll pick it up later,” she added with authority as she slammed the door on them before they could even contemplate stepping inside the room.

That only added to the reasons to smile, which had crept slowly back on his face again at the image of the door slamming shut in the face of the camera. No fireworks for your little documentary tonight kid, sorry. So far, nobody seemed to have noticed that he was smiling, they hadn’t even seemed to notice that he had been silent since first sitting down in the locker room they currently occupied. The discussion had been taking place around him for several minutes and yet he’d been relatively ignored that whole time… which was exactly what he’d wanted. “We should focus on what’s important,” Selena said, trying once again to get Regan to calm down. “David just had a hell of a fight with Tommy, a war even, and he came out with little more than a few stitches. It could have been much worse, Regan, you know what the Underground is like…”

“Selena is right, mate!” Delilah added, and David cast a sideways glance to see her nodding enthusiastically. “I mean, I’ve watched a lot of old tapes as part of my training and I’ve seen some seriously fucked up stuff go down in Underground matches… some of them done by Dave in fact… so him having a bump on the noggin and not much else is probably a win?” she reasoned, trying to add some logic to the proceedings as she attempted to make light of the situation. It failed miserably.

“A win?” Regan asked, scoffing at the idea and firing a look at Delilah that made her wish she could recoil through the wall she sat leaning against. “Delilah, I trained you to know better than that! You don’t look for the victory in defeat, you look for what went wrong… and I think we know what went wrong; it was that putty faced cunt Bree Lancaster!”

“Woah,” Delilah said, her eyes wide. Jordan, who had been looking at her phone David noticed, snapped her head up to look at Regan in shock, her eyes darting between the two family members before she quickly looked away again, trying to avoid eye contact as she went back to her phone. It was evident she didn’t want to get between them, maybe through not wanting to get between the teachings and student and trainer, maybe she simply felt like it wasn’t her place to intrude because she was an outsider in many ways. Either way, Jordan chose not to say anything, and David thought it was probably for the best. If was enough that she was even there to show her support for the family that she had befriended in recent weeks, leaving Delilah to fight her own battles. “Okay, so someone’s got their knickers in a twist mates, don’t cross the Hellcat tonight,” Delilah added, once again going back to the well as she tried to make light of the situation in order to calm things down, but it was more than evident that Regan wasn’t in the mood for joking around, even if she knew Delilah meant well.

David knew that too, and he appreciated the attempt, even if Regan cut her off in her tracks for a second time. “Cut the crap Delilah,” the Hellcat said. “There’s a time and a place to try and lighten the mood and it isn’t here and now, okay?”

David heard Delilah’s sigh from where he sat, he didn’t even need to look up to see that she was conceding defeat, he could hear it in the sigh that had escaped her throat. And the fact she didn’t argue back only compounded the fact. “Let’s all just try and calm down, okay?” Selena suggested, holding her hands in a calming gesture as she picked up the mantle of attempting to soothe the situation. “We’re all a little angry, but the last thing we should be doing is taking that out on each other.”

“That’s easy for you to say Selena, your husband wasn’t just cracked in the head with the world title!” Regan bit back, and there was more than a little venom in her words, which sort of caught David off guard a little… but he cocked a sideways glance and strangely, found Selena smiling.

“You’re right,” Selena admitted, nodding. “Because I don’t have a husband, I have a wife, and the chances of her being hit in the head with the SCW world title are pretty non-existant right now, as you well know…” she added for good measure and Regan, despite herself, managed to crack at least a hint of a smile if not the full thing, and had the sense to look slightly guilty, given the circumstances. And that seemed to have given Selena the victory she was looking for at least. “We just need to take a moment to collect ourselves, that’s all. Emotions are running high, be it because of Bree’s cheating or Tommy taking advantage of that fact--”

The mention of Tommy seemed to wipe away any trace of a smile from Regan’s face as she started to glare again. David could hear her teeth grinding together from where he stood, which wasn’t exactly a good sign. “That asshole would take advantage of his own mother if he thought it would benefit him,” Regan snarled, going back to pacing. “And thanks to Bree, we’re not gonna hear the end of his bullshit! I’ll give it a week before he’s saying he deserves a world title shot when Dave wins, he’s that arrogant!”

“I mean, that kind of makes sense?” Delilah suggested, looking confused. “Someone beats the number one contender before they go on to win the belt, doesn’t that mean they maybe deserve a shot themselves? Hey!” she started to reason before snapping her head towards Jordan, looking excited! “That means you’d deserve one too mate!”

Jordan’s eyes widened as she stared at Delilah in shock before looking at Regan, her lower lip stuck between her teeth as she chewed on it nervously. “I uh…” she said before turning back to Delilah. “I don’t think that’s how the business works, boo. Besides, I’m not looking for one! Beating Dave was a huge moment for me, but it was a huge shock too... I’m not looking for a shot and I’m not gonna petition for one weeks after the fact either…” she added, clearly trying to do damage control in Dave’s opinion.

Yet he couldn’t help chuckling about the fact to himself; hell, there was some logic to the idea, there was also logic to the idea that Tommy should perhaps get a shot too, should Dave win. It was crooked logic, because Jordan was right, that wasn’t exactly how the business worked, but you could build a convincing argument with it if you tried. “Yeah, because you actually have some fucking integrity,” Regan told the young blonde before snarling as she spoke again. “But Tommy fucking Valentine can’t even spell the word, let alone possess any! I’m calling it now, he’s gonna be demanding a world title shot when you win, Dave!” she added, without really looking at Dave as she did so.

“Um… thanks?” Jordan said, though the Nebraska born star of tomorrow wasn’t sure she should be thanking her or not. On the one hand, Regan had paid her a compliment by saying she had integrity, but it also made the blonde wonder if it was designed more as a shot at Tommy than a compliment to her. Of course, that could just be how Regan Helms was, because Jordan would be the first to admit that she had a lot to learn about the family she had befriended as of late, so she wasn’t really sure which direction to go in with that one. “I doubt Sasha will give Tommy a shot if or when Dave wins, anyway. Sasha may have her faults at times but she isn’t an idiot and she doesn’t fall for stupid x plus y equals z stuff, because anyone can use that crap to make an argument for their own opportunities, can’t they?”

“See?” Selena asked, pointing at Jordan. “Everyone gets it, Regan. If Tommy wants to try that crap he’ll get shut down and quick. But him and Kandis are our problem, not Bree. She’s David’s.” she added, and David couldn’t say it wasn’t a fair point to make. Bree was his problem, it was him who was getting the World Title shot, Regan and Selena should be concentrating on Kandis and Tommy… only that wasn’t how it worked in a marriage, was it? Wasn’t that why David was in the position he was in a lot of ways, because he had made Regan’s problems his own? It was why he was selling his assets from their business partnership, he knew that… wasn’t Regan only doing the same thing now?

And Regan clearly agreed with him on that, as she snapped her head around to stare at her tag partner. “So what, I shouldn’t show concern that she just blasted my husband in the head with a title belt?!” she snapped, clearly unimpressed with the suggestion from someone she clearly believed should know better. David actually felt bad for Selena, it wasn’t as if she was being nasty when she said what she had, just trying to add some perspective… but Regan clearly wasn’t in the mood for doing that, and it was showing. “Because you should know better than most Selena, your spouses problems are your problems too…”

Selena looked like she wanted to say something, but she thought twice about it and simply nodded her head before looking away. Selena knew Regan possibly better than anyone with only a few exceptions, and she knew better than to try and argue with the Hellcat right now. She also knew that what Regan had said was right, more so than most given her own predicament, so she wasn’t going to argue. She didn’t need to though… because it was finally David who spoke next. “Anyone wanna hear what I think or should I go back to being quiet and leave you guys to it?” he asked, continuing to look at the floor for a second or two longer, letting silence settle over the room. As he finally looked up though, the four women saw the smile that had been sitting on his face since he’d entered the room more or less and while some were confused, Regan rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Alright ass, tell us what you think,” Regan said, knowing full well that his question was intended as a joke rather than showing annoyance with any of them.

“I think this conversation is pointless,” David explained, laying his folded arms across the backrest of the chair now as he sat up straight. His face was swollen in places and he still had a little blood crusted in one nostril, but the grin that split his face wide was what drew the eye. Whether that was because it left unanswered questions or whether it was because people thought it was weird, David didn’t know, but the four women were all waiting for him to actual explain himself. “You’re not debating the same subject, you’re making points that are all valid,” he said, pointing at Regan first. “You’re right babe, your problems are mine and my problems are yours, that’s how a relationship works and the fact you’re this worked up makes me love you more each second…” he said before pointing at Selena, his eyes still locked on his wife. “But Selena’s right, Tommy and Kandis are where your concentration needs to be, because you two have some titles to win! Selena already won the US title tonight, and I’m glad she did, it’s a hell of an achievement, but you guys deserve those tag belts and I don’t want you letting Bitch Lancaster distract you from that!” he told her, giving her a stern look before raising one eyebrow, asking if she understood him. She sighed, and took a seat on the empty chair next to Selena and simply nodded. “And Delilah’s right,” he said, turning to nod his head at Delilah. “Maybe there is some logic to Tommy getting a shot if I win, Jordan too,” he added, acknowledging Jordan in turn. “It’s crooked logic, but this business has run on far less over the years, so I wouldn’t be shocked if either of those scenarios happen. Jordan, you’re a hell of a talent and you’ll be headlining this place some day, even if you’re trying to play it cool and not annoy anybody right now…” he told her with a laugh.

“Thanks,” was all the young blonde could say before looking away again.

Maybe it was just that it was awkward to be told that by someone face to face, but her cheeks flushed at David’s words and she went back to looking at her phone for something to do that didn’t involve maintaining eye contact. “But as for Bree…” David said, turning back to look at his wife. “What she did tonight?” he asked before actually laughing. “All she did was prove me right all along, babe.”

“Proving you right, how?” Selena asked, and Dave was quick to explain.

“Isn’t it obvious?” David asked as he turned to look at the Selena, surprised she didn’t know what he was thinking already given her own previous history with Bree. “Think about what she was like when you beat her, Selena… she told the world she let you win, instead of accepting she was second best on the night…” he reminded her and Selena actually laughed at the memory of how ridiculous that was. “She thrives on attention, that’s what it comes down to… she couldn’t stand the idea you beat her because that means you got the attention, so she tried to take it back by making out that it was her own kind gesture that gave you the win. Attention whoring at it’s finest!”

“But what does that matter?” Jordan asked, not exactly following where David was going. Even if he was right - and Jordan more than anyone would know what an attention whore Bree was - what did he get out of being right? “Right or wrong Dave, you still got clocked in the back of the head with the world title… so I may be missing something, but I don’t understand why you’re smiling.”

And Jordan’s confusion, it only served to strengthen the resolve of David’s smile. It wasn’t that he took any pleasure in knowing something that Jordan or any of them didn’t, he wasn’t that kind of person. He just found it funny that he could see a picture that the others could. Like a magic eye puzzle where you have to unfocus the eye to see. Or maybe the hit to the head had just scrambled his brains and he was actually losing the plot. He preferred the first explanation however. “Because she’s driven by that desire for attention, doll!” David told Jordan as if he was pointing out something obvious. “So she tries to get underneath people’s skin and force them to pay attention to her! Look at her history, it’s her fucking M.O at this point! She claims she’s such a great fucking wrestler, that she’s on the next level to everyone else, no pun intended… but how many people has she had to blindside in order to try and give herself an advantage this year alone? Back in January she did it to Rachel, pushed her off the ropes in a match against Blackbourne and then attacked her, because she knew she was gonna have to defend against her at Day Of Infamy otherwise… she clocked James with the title claiming she was getting a receipt the same night me, Jason and Lucas fought The Wonderland in that street fight, which set up their match at Cold Blooded, which had further bullshit when she claims she never saw Zoe getting involved, which I call bullshit on. Now she’s gone after me and clocked me with the world title. Least I got the vip treatment I guess; the prestige of being hit with the big one… but it fits the pattern! If she could have got her hands on Kim Williams, she’d have done the same to her too! She couldn't though, so she cheated to beat her sister in a match instead, hoping that would send a message. Bree cheats, she attacks people, she talks trash about them, and it’s all to get a rise out of them and hopefully throw them off while drawing the attention to herself… and I’m not going to give her what she wants.”

The final line was the one that truly summed up what he was happy about, why he was smiling, and it had already dawned on Regan and Selena what he was getting at, they understood how David worked better than most and Regan started to smirk as Selena nodded in understanding. Jordan looked thoughtful as she began to think on what David had said, but Delilah looked like she had no clue what was going on. “So… you’re saying you’re… going to do nothing, mate?” she asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. “Because that doesn’t sound like a great response to being hit in the head with a blunt object to be honest… if sounds like the opposite of what you should be doing, actually…”

“No, Dave’s right,” Jordan said, and everyone turned to look at her, which caused her to recoil a little at first, but she swallowed hard before giving a confident nod. “I know Bree… and Dave’s right. She’s trying to get under your skin, to piss you off and hope you make a mistake.”

“Exactly,” David said, nodding. “Only… well, she set the tone tonight, didn’t she? Up to now, sure, we’ve shot a few barbs at each other and it’s been fun watching her spin a few lies or ‘twist a few truths’ as she’d probably call it, given she claims she never tells a lie,” he said and Regan, Selena and Jordan all gave short sharp laughs at that one which caused David to smirk as he continued. “But until tonight, it’s been kind of peaceful… banter and bravado. But now she’s attacked me. She’s changed the rules, and now she’ll be expecting me to look for a receipt as she calls it. And that’ll justify everything she’s said about me, so she can keep harping on about the harm i’ve done to family, about how I disappoint people or hurt them. But I’m not gonna give her the fucking satisfaction. I’m not going to give her the excuses she’s going to be looking for when I beat her at Rise To Greatness, I’m going to make it as clean as possible on my end and if or when I do take that title from her, I’m making damn sure she has no excuses left in her dirty little playbook to let her off the hook, I’m going to force that scheming, conniving, cheating little bitch that on the night, Bree Lancaster was just plain not good enough to beat David Helms and that everything she said, did or attempted wasn’t enough to get the fucking job done!”

And just as the tension in the room reached an almost palpable level with David’s little diatribe, it was broken again with Delilah’s somewhat comedic yet perfectly timed decision to jump to her feet, giving a rousing round of applause complete with whooping and cheering that seemed to die out very quickly as she realised she was the only one doing so. She looked around nervously as her face turned beet-red and she sat back down, mumbling to herself that she expected everyone to jump up and clap. “You’re a dork,” Regan told her cousin, smirking as she stood up and walked over to her husband. “And you’re still an ass… even if you’re not as dumb as people think all of New Jersey is,” she added before kissing him on the top of the head. “Come on, we’ve hung around here long enough to know there’s no concussion. Let’s get out shit and get out of here. I’m starving and I need a beer.”

“Oh god yes,” David agreed; the idea of a cold beer was one that resonated with him on so many levels in that moment in time, even if it probably wasn’t the best of ideas given the painkillers he’d been given by the trainer. But one wouldn’t hurt, and he was capable of some self-control even if he was also capable of drinking half a bottle of rum without even realising it. He slowly got to his feet, managing to hide the fact he was a little unsteady on them from everyone thanks to their distraction as they grabbed their own stuff and were preparing to leave. David wasn’t sure what the next few shows were going to hold, he wasn’t sure whether Bree would go back to the well and try and attack him again or not, he wasn’t sure of a lot of things as they hurtled towards the show of shows at breakneck speed or so it seemed… but he was sure of one thing: while he couldn’t control what others did or didn’t do, he could control his own reaction and he wasn’t going to give Bree the satisfaction of getting under his skin like she had so many others since her rise in the company. He had been around the block too many times to let those games get to him like they had some, and he sure as fuck wasn’t going to let her drive him out of the company. If this was his moment or if it wasn’t, it would be on his terms that he went into that fight and if he came out with his head held high regardless, it would be enough for him. He just hoped he was leaving the arena with his bag fifteen pounds heavier when all was said and done, because he may never get another chance after this…

Helms Household
Hollywood Hills, California
20th July, 2020.

It was a somewhat fortunate if not entirely relevant fact that the floors in the Helms household high up on Mulholland Drive were made of hardwood and not covered in carpet, because if they were, David Helms may have left a six foot groove considerable more worn and faded than the rest as he paced back and forth in the lounge as he anxiously awaited the arrival of his ex-wife Kathryn with their son, Jay. He had been worried sick, a description that didn’t truly do the feeling justice despite being told not to be, from the minute Kath had called and informed him that their boy was currently in the emergency room of a local hospital after somehow eating a candy bar that contained the only thing he was unable to eat, due to an allergy to almonds that he’d had for as long as David could remember, and David couldn’t quite believe that Jay hadn’t been paying attention or that it he had been allowed to be so careless by Kathryn until the reality of what happened had actually been revealed. It wasn’t on Kath’s watch as she hadn’t been the one to pick him up from school. Kath had been called into work to sort out a problem on her day off, leaving her somewhat in the lurch and as he was locked in a meeting with his attorney at the time and in a further unfortunate turn of events, Regan was out of the country with Selena, neither he or Regan could collect him either… so Kathryn had turned to her house guest Jordan Majors to pick the little guy up from school.

The whole situation seemed like one fuckup after another for Dave; the fact he had a meeting so couldn’t do the pickup, the fact Regan was out of the country. Kath being called into work on her day off, the fact Jay had eaten something he should have known better than to try. And he couldn’t help wondering just why the hell Jordan of all people was who ended up being given the job of collecting him, too! As much as David was conscious that Jordan had been staying with Kath for a while now, he wasn’t exactly sure how much interaction she’d had with his son, given that Kath had him during the days that Jordan wasn’t really around due to the schedules they all kept. The arrangement had been that way since before David unmasked to officially come out of retirement; Kathryn looked after him from Monday night until Thursday night and he was with Dave and Regan the rest of the week, splitting custody in as close to even as possible while also allowing them to schedule work around it too. The two of them owning their own businesses was a godsend in that regard and allowed both to ensure the schedules lined up without having to rely on the benevolence of an employer, which also made David’s secret in-ring return and subsequent reveal that much easier too… so why was Jordan doing Kath a favour when there were plenty of people she could have called to ask them to grab the kid that had more of a relationship with Jay than Jordan did?! Matty or Mikaela, even Kath’s folks, despite David hating her father. There were plenty of options and David couldn’t quite figure out what the hell Kath was thinking, which added to his anger at the fact such a potentially costly mistake had been allowed to happen!

“Oh thank God,” he finally cried out with relief as a buzzer sounded in the hallway that told him the electric gate had been triggered at the foot of the drive; it was a system he’d had retroactively installed around six months earlier, that wasn’t part of the original system but was suggested by a technician after the Ace Marshall breakfast debacle had left David with doubts that they were protected as much as he’d thought they were. And Dave was out of the front door of the house before Kath’s car had even made it through the gate, waiting on the stoop as they travelled up the gravel driveway to come to a slow but noise stop next to Dave’s Audi, which he had gunned back home from his meeting with Heath, expecting to have to shoot off to the hospital until Kath calmed him down, and possibly picked up a ticket or two on the way. “Hey champ, how you feeling?!” David asked as Jay jumped out of the rear passengers door and ran up to him.

“Dad look, I got a sticker!” Jay proclaimed excitedly as he rushed towards his dad, pointing at his t-shirt where a shiny gold sticker was stuck to the front of it. “The doctor lady said I was super brave, and I think she was just trying to be nice but she gave me a sticker anyway and Jordan bought me a Dr. Pepper from the vending machine,” he added as Dave smiled back at his son before scooping him up and hugging him.

“Sounds great, kiddo!” David told his ten year old son, smiling as he took a better look at him, his fatherly instincts taking over as he searched for signs that his son was suffering from any lingering issues after going into anaphylactic shock. “You must have been scared, Jay… did you manage to get to your epi pen in time?” the concerned father asked as he put Jason back down on the ground, at least happy for the time being that his son looked like he had come through the whole ordeal unharmed.

“Actually, Jordan found it,” Jay said, beaming with happiness as he turned to shoot the blonde a toothy smile. “She didn’t know what I was eating… I forgot to check and I did a stupid, but Jordan was the one who saved my life dad, she’s a hero!” the ten year old explained, practically glowing from the hero-worship that radiated off of him.

David tried not to allow it to show on the surface, but he was actually pretty surprised to hear that and despite everything, in spite of all his questions over why the hell it was Jordan collecting Jay to begin with, he couldn’t help feeling more than a little guilty over the fact that he had clearly judged Jordan way too harshly with this. “She did, huh?” David asked, looking at Jordan who’s face flushed red as she looked sideways at Kath before he turned back to look at his son again. “Well, I guess that just means that we should all be super thankful to her, huh? Did you say thank you?” he asked, getting a big enthusiastic nod from his son in return. Unbelievable; an hour earlier the kid was gasping for breath and could have died and now he looked like he’d just been to Disney Land and got to hug Mickey Mouse!

“He, uh… may be exaggerating what actually happened slightly,” Jordan told David, smiling sheepishly before looking at Jay. “I only knew what to do because Jay made it painfully obvious where to look, isn’t that right kiddo?” she asked and Jay looked contemplative for a moment before shaking his head.

“It was a team effort!” the ten year old replied, grinning broadly. “I showed you where to look and you did the,” he said before bringing a hand down in a stabbing motion and pressing an invisible button with his thumb. “Tsht!” he added for good measure, mimicking the sound his EpiPen made when Jordan had used it.

David and Kathryn both laughed, leaving Jordan looking uncertain whether she should even be joining in with the joke; an hour ago, she was freaking out that she may have killed a ten year old, or at least allowed a ten year old to die in front of her eyes, and now his parents were laughing at that same ten year old’s antics and Jordan was clearly feeling uncomfortable in that moment in time.

“Alright sweetie, how about we get you inside, huh?” Kathryn asked, smiling at her son as he turned away from Jordan to look at his mom. “You can grab whatever you want while mommy and Aunty Jordan talk to daddy then we’ll go and get something to eat, how’s that sound?” she asked and the ten year old perked up even more than he already was. Jay nodded with enthusiasm and turned to run up to the door of the house and Kath watched him every step until he disappeared inside before she finally turned to look at her ex-husband, grinning. “Who’d be a parent, huh?” she asked, giving a little laugh that once again seemed to make Jordan feel out of place as she folded her arms around herself and simply watched Kath and David exchange a look between them.

“So what the hell happened?” Dave asked as Kath started to walk towards the house and David fell in step with her, with Jordan picking up the rear as she hesitantly followed them inside, not sure she was even invited but not wanting to hang around outside because that would probably look even dumber. “You didn’t really tell me a whole lot, just that he ate something he shouldn’t… how the hell did he end up in that position in the first place, he should know better!”

“From what he said, he got into an argument with another kid at school because they wanted him to do something he didn’t want to and it left him in a mood,” Kath explained as the three headed inside and David closed the door behind them before motioning to the kitchen. “One of his friends gave him the candy to cheer him up and he apparently didn’t think to check what was in it because he was frustrated and thought he’d feel better after eating something sweet… next thing you know, he’s struggling to breathe in the back of the car and Jordan had to give him his shot,” she continued to explain as they headed into the kitchen and Kathryn with Jordan in tow, made her way to the table to sit down.

In no time at all, David made them drinks and they were all sat around the table, with Jordan steadily starting to look more and more relaxed. This was the first time she had been in the Helms household and she still felt a little like an interloper as Kathryn and David discussed what was going on with Jay at school. She was looking around the room, leaving them to it when she heard her name and it pulled her back to the conversation with a sharp shock. “Uh, what? Sorry, I was… you know… well, not listening to be honest...” the blonde admitted with a level of candor that made David laugh out loud and Kath smirked as she took a sip of her coffee, drawing a nervous laugh from Jordan too.

“I figured,” David said, still chuckling. “I said that I appreciate you acting as quickly as you did. It’s not an exaggeration that you saved his life, doll… thank you Jordan, I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”

The blonde flushed again, but gave another flustered smile. “I really didn’t do much,” she protested. “I mean it when I said Jay told me what he needed, I just jabbed the button that’s all…”

“Yeah well, simple or not sweetie, he’s still here because of how quick you were to react,” Kath said as she reached over and grabbed Jordan’s hand to give it a squeeze. The blonde squeezed back for a minute before looking as if she’s been given an electric shock and she quickly yanked her hand away from Kath’s grip. To her credit, Kath acted as if nothing had happened, but David’s eyes narrowed and he couldn’t help thinking about the suspicions that he’d been having for weeks now where the two of them were concerned. “You okay sweetie?” she asked David and he looked up from the spot where their hands had been touching a second or two ago. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something…”

His first thought was to keep quiet. To say it was nothing, that he just spaced out for a second and that he should just mind his own business when Kath asked him what the problem was… but the suspicions, the questions he’d been asking himself, the fact he was convinced something was going on between Kath and Jordan… he couldn’t help himself and he decided to be blunt and honest with his question. “Okay, I’m just gonna go ahead and ask the obvious… is there something going on between the two of you? Because I’ve been picking up on a vibe for weeks now, and to be honest, I’m starting to think it’s definitely not me reading into things that aren’t actually there, so… is there?” he finished lamely, unsure if it was his business or not to be asking, but he was done with ignoring what he thought were obvious signs for the sake of being polite.

And to be honest, if there was something going on then surely he had a right to know even if it was just for Jay’s sake? If he was going to need to be part of a situation where they sat his son down to explain that mommy was dating another woman then he wanted to know about it in advance so he could at least be prepared for it! “W-what? No, there’s… we’re just--” Jordan spluttered as she started to talk, but Kath cut her off as she reached out to grab Jordan’s hand while looking David directly in the eyes.

“We’re together,” the brunette confirmed, with such little care for admitting the fact that Jordan turned to gape at her in open-mouthed shock, her eyes the side of saucers as Kath simply smiled sweetly back at David. “Have been for a week now, after making it official while in the UK last monday, right sweetie?” she asked, turning to Jordan. The blonde seemed flustered for a second, but something about the look that Kath gave her seemed to steel her resolve and Jordan turned to David and nodded, smiling nervously.

David looked at her nervous expression then back to Kath, who was still smiling sweetly at him. It took about two seconds before he shrugged his shoulders and picked up his coffee. “Alright,” he said before taking a sip.

Jordan’s face screwed up in confusion as soon as he’d said it. She turned to Kath looking for a sign that this was as weird as she thought but Kath hadn’t reacted either, so she turned back to David. “Wait, that’s it?” the blonde asked him, taking her hand from Kath’s as she sat forward to lean on the table. “You ask if there’s something going on, say you’ve been suspicious for weeks then when we admit it, all you say is alright? What the hell?!” she asked in disbelief, the whole thing seemingly mind-blowing for her.

David suddenly looked guilty, and he put the mug down again quickly. “Fuck, you’re right,” he said, virtually facepalming without physically doing so. “Congrats guys, I’m genuinely happy for you both. It’s great, it really is,” he told them, looking at Kath first with a smile, before turning to Jordan, who’s face was slack-jawed and wide eyed with shock.

“What?!” she blurted out, even more confused than she had been to begin with. “Okay, I have no idea what’s going on right now…”

David couldn’t help but laugh. “What did you expect?” he asked Jordan, still grinning. “That I was gonna lose my shit or give you guys shit? I’m happy for the two of you… I only wanted to know the truth because eventually, we’re gonna have to talk to Jay about it, that’s all.”

“I think Kylie was worried you were gonna freak out that your ex-wife was dating another woman,” Kath said with a grin and suddenly it was David’s turn to look confused. Kath realised what she’d said and chuckled. “Long story… don’t worry about it…” she added and Dave just shrugged. The day had already already been eventful enough without more revelations to add to the mix.

“Well on the previous point, I feel like I should point out my ex girlfriend was dating a woman while I was dating her, so…” David reasoned, leaving the rest unsaid as he chuckled to himself and even Jordan cracked a smile at that one. “I’m serious though, I’m happy for the two of you… and who cares what me or anyone else thinks anyway, as long as you two are happy. Fuck everyone else…”

“It’s not like we were keeping it quiet, sweetie…” Kath explained as Jordan nodded her head.

“We just wanted to figure out what we were for ourselves first that’s all,” the blonde added. “When you asked me if anything was going on weeks ago, on the flight back here? There legitimately wasn’t back then… it just sort of… blossomed, more or less?”

David opened his mouth to tell Jordan that there was no explanation due, but it was a cry from upstairs in the house that caught their attention. “Moooooommmm,” Jay shouted down to them, screaming his head off to get her attention if the echoes throughout the rest of the house were anything to go by. “Mom, come here a minute!” he shrieked again and Kath sighed before chuckling to herself.

“Guess I’m needed upstairs…” the tattooed brunette said as she slid her chair back from the table and pushed on her knees to get to her feet. “I’ll go see what he wants and make sure he’s getting everything ready and then we can decide where we go to eat. You’re welcome to join us if you want sweetie,” she explained, gesturing to Dave before she made her way to the door and disappeared from view.

A wry smile slipped onto David’s face as he noticed Jordan watching her leave; while she looked a little worried at the idea of being left alone all of a sudden, he also noticed the way she was clearly looking at Kath’s ass as she made her way into the hallway and out of view. He thought about making a joke about it but decided to let it slide. “Well, if Jay’s picking where we eat, I reckon it’s gonna be McDonald’s all round and I think I’ll give that a hard pass...” David said, laughing, as Jordan’s attention was dragged back to the room instead of the image of Kathryn leaving it. “So… hero of the hour, huh?” Dave said, keeping the conversation going as he got up and took his empty mug over to the cig before making his way over to the doors that led out onto the deck. He didn’t step through them but threw the door open as he pulled out his vape. “I know I said it already, but I really am grateful for your quick thinking, doll. If you’d lost your shit, who knows whether Jay would be here right now and believe me, nothing fills a parent with fear more than the idea of losing their kid. You did amazing, Jordan…”

Jordan’s cheeks flushed beet-red once again as she turned in her chair to look at him, managing to actually keep eye contact this time. “I’m just glad that he was okay,” she told Dave, sighing. “I freaked out… me and Kath have been dating for like, a week, and I nearly let your son die while I was meant to be looking after him, I am clearly not good with kids…”

David exhaled a plume of vapour out of the door before turning to face Jordan again. “I disagree,” he said and Jordan seemed highly dubious of his statement. And David could clearly see that she didn’t agree in her face too. “Hey, I’m serious… okay, so he ate something he shouldn’t have, but did you see the way the kid looked at you when he was talking about you earlier? You’ve already won him over, I can tell that much…”

“That’s only because I said he could come car shopping with me,” Jordan admitted. “I don’t even know how to drive, so I don’t know why I even promised him that, but there we go…”

David laughed, shaking his head. “You did it because you know he’d be excited by the idea,” he told her. “And that’s part of dealing with kids, you make promises for stuff to cheer them up or get them to behave or whatever, it’s a strategy all parents use. Okay so it’s mostly promising them a new toy rather than a car, but you just scaled up… who cares if you’re setting a precedent, right?” he said, laughing again, but Jordan’s face went white and she looked panicked. That only made him laugh more. “Dude, I’m kidding. Jesus kiddo, did you lose your funny bone today?”

Jordan’s shoulders sagged and she let out a big sigh. “I’m just worried I’m not cut out for this, you know? That I’m not cut out for being responsible for a child, even if he’s not exactly little… I’m worried I’m going to mess up or get it all wrong. Kath’s such a great mom and you’re a great dad and Regan is fantastic too… I have a lot to live up to now I’m going to actually be a part of his life, and I’m scared…”

David leant back against the doorframe and looked at Jordan, suddenly getting it. He suddenly understood what was going on, and he knew exactly how he could fix it, even if she didn’t think there was anything to fix. “You know, it’s funny,” he said, turning to look out of the door instead of at Jordan, so that she didn’t feel quite so insecure about being the centre of attention. “But I remember Regan saying something similar when we first started dating, that she was worried about not being able to handle the workload of caring for a child…” he told her, remembering just how stressful Regan had found the whole thing at the time. “She didn’t have much experience with little kids, she wasn’t used to it and she was constantly frightened of fucking up… sometimes to the point where she’d almost fuck up because she was trying not to fuck up…” he went on before turning back to look at Jordan. “But you want to know a secret?”

Jordan seemed confused, he brow furrowed as she replied. “I mean, sure?” the blonde said, not really sure what David was getting at.

“All parents feel that way at first,” David explained, hoping to reassure Jordan that what she was feeling was nothing out of the ordinary. “There’s no magic wand that you can wave and just instantly know how to bring up kids… when Jay was born, me and Kath didn’t have a fucking clue what we were doing, despite reading all the parenting books we could get our hands on at the time… but you learn as you go. And you’re lucky, because you’re not coming in needing to change diapers or do night feeds and all the really stressful stuff. He’s ten, he’ll be going to middle school in September. You’re coming in just in time for the mood swings and desire for privacy to start,” he told her, chuckling. “Or maybe the arguments and door slamming depending on how much of a dick puberty turns out to be… but not the point. What is the point is that nobody knows what they’re doing at first, and Regan would tell you herself how much she struggled with things at first if she was here right now. But you pick it up. You learn, and eventually… it just works. So if you and Kath are making a go of things, then don’t worry about becoming another caregiver, alright? Jay likes you and your good people. That’s all that matters.”

The blonde sat in silence, hanging on David’s every word as he tried to explain things to her in a way that he hoped would make her feel better about things. And it seemed to work too, though David was sure it was the part about how Regan felt the same when she first came into David’s life rather than the part about how no new parents new what they were doing either. “You really think I can do this?” Jordan asked, and David could actually see the need for reassurance in her eyes, so he nodded. The relief that washed over her in that moment was practically tangible. “You have no idea how scared I’ve been, David. I don’t want to fuck things up with Kath, but if I’m no good with Jay that’s a recipe for disaster and I--”

“You need to stop worrying about doing that, okay?” David said, cutting Jordan off mid-flow before she could talk herself back onto the ledge, metaphorically speaking. “New relationships are stressful enough as it is, wondering if it’s going to work out, if you’re compatible, when the honeymoon period will end, all that kind of shit… the last thing you want to do is add more what-if style worries about the kiddo. Today could have been a disaster Jordan, but you dealt with it and saved Jay’s life. Compared to today, what else could go wrong, huh?” he asked, and Jordan thought about it, looking like she was actually trying to come up with scenarios to throw back at him and he started to laugh. Jordan went to speak as she saw him laughing but before she could, “All I Want” by A Day To Remember started to blast from his phone in his pocket.

“You use your own theme for a ringtone?!” Jordan asked, smirking. David simply shrugged.

“I was a fan of the band before they signed off on me using their music, alright?” he said, grinning impishly as he wrestled his phone from his pocket. “Shit, I need to take this, one minute,” he said, looking at the name on the screen and Jordan just shrugged before David stepped outside and closed the door after him. One swipe of the screen later, he had the phone pressed against his ear. “Hello?” he asked, as he made his way over to the other side of the deck to lean against the railings that looked down over the pool area below and the canyon beyond.

“Mr. Helms?” a man’s voice on the other end of the line asked, before pushing out without waiting for an answer. Phone conversations and the etiquette involved are strange, when you really think about it. “Andrew Fisher from Morgan, Irwin and Platt. How are you today sir?”

While David hadn’t dealt with anyone named Andrew Fisher up to that point, the name Morgan, Irwin and Platt was one he was more than familiar with; they were one of the several brokers that he had hired to try and find a buyer for his portfolio of assets tied to The Next Level. They were actually the smallest of the near half dozen or so companies he had hired on a no-sale-no-fee basis and he expected the least from them if he was obvious, but they were actually the first company to call him since he had enlisted the services of any of them. “It’s been a day,” Dave said, without elaborating. “What can I do for you Andrew?”

“Actually sir, I have some good news,” Fisher informed him, and David heard typing on the other end of the line during a slight pause before Fisher’s voice picked up again. “We’ve had an offer submitted for the portfolio that matches the listing price, right down to the last cent. Between the two of us Mr. Helms, I feel I should point out how rare that actually is, given we normally expect some sort of negotiation on the price to take place before offers are finally submitted, so it’s something of a rarity,” the broker explained, leaving David caught off guard as he didn’t really expect the brokers to come through with any bids.

That hadn’t really been a part of the plan if he was being honest with himself; the brokers were all on the agreements they were, because he ultimately expected Tommy to find the money in order to buy him out, but he wanted to leave his former best friend under no illusions that he meant business and fully intended to sell up rather than it benign some sort of empty threat. But now the smallest of the brokerage firms had come through with a potential sale? How in the hell had that happened?! And not only had they received an offer, but it was for the full asking price? He wasn’t sure which part he was more confused or surprised by! “The full price?!” he asked, his head spinning slightly as he thought of the figure that the accountant and his attorney Heath had both agreed on with the brokerage firms when the process started. The number was staggering, and suddenly it felt extremely real! “Jesus, I expected to have to come down a fair bit for anyone to submit anything… does it say who the offer is from?”

“Actually Mr. Helms, it appears to be some sort of holding company,” the broker explained. “The only name we have is an attorney that has been in contact with us to facilitate the purchase, but that is by no means an unusual occurrence in these matters… we have already forwarded a copy of the offer and it’s associated paperwork to your own attorney for approval and should the two of you be in agreement, we can send a copy of the contract to the buyer to sign, with only one proviso…”

“Which is?” David asked, wondering when things were going to prove to be too good to be true. If something seems too good to be right, it probably is; that was the way he viewed things and as soon as the broker mentioned the full asking price had been offered, David had been waiting for the other shoe to fall, that would bring the whole thing crashing down.

“The prospective buyer requests you meet in person to discuss the sale and if agreeable, to sign the documents in person,” the explained, though he didn’t exactly sound like he was that concerned with the request if David was any judge.

“That sounds doable, but it seems a little strange if I’m honest bro,” David opined, wondering how often this kind of thing happened in the business world. Over the years, he’d left all of this stuff to either attorneys, accountants or brokers, he wasn’t used to getting his own hands dirty where deals were concerned and it had paid of plenty up to now, so should he really be changing his methods with what would turn out to be the biggest deal of his life? “Is that common practice in these kind of deals? Because I’ll be honest Andrew, I’ve never encountered it until now…”

“It isn’t unheard of sir,” the broker confirmed. “Especially with larger deals such as this; a buyer may wish to meet the owners and find out why the company is listed or a seller may want to ensure the assets will be in safe hands,” he explained, and David couldn’t help but see the logic on both ends, even if it was an unfamiliar position for him to be in. “In this case, the buyer wants to talk about the offer he has made and wants to meet this saturday to discuss it.”

“Shit,” David said, his mouth on autopilot before remembering who he was talking to. “Sorry bro, it’s just… I’m kind of busy this weekend. Work related stuff I literally can’t get out of even if I wanted to.”

“We’re aware Mr. Helms,” Fisher explained, before once again catching David off guard as he continued. “And so is the buyer… which is why they have offered to arrange a meeting in Minneapolis, should you be agreeable.”

What the hell? This man or woman knew enough about Dave’s career to know he would be busy but was willing to go to Minneapolis in order to hold the discussions?! Why was it so important that they did it right away, too? Did they think someone else was going to swing on in with another multi-million dollar offer and usurp them as being at the front of the queue if they didn’t meet right away?! “I dunno dude, that seems kind of strange…” David admitted, his brow heavily creased as he frowned.

“Actually sir, I wouldn’t worry about it if I’m being completely honest,” the broker replied, sounding nonchalant about the whole thing. “The deal is straightforward. Full asking price offered, immediate purchase with little delay, no chain of buyers or a sale of assets required first… if you want my honest opinion, it’s pretty watertight and if all it takes is a meeting to sign off on the deal, I’d think very carefully before you say no, because in all honesty, it doesn’t get much less difficult than what’s been presented to you, as I’m sure your attorney Mr. Mitchell will agree with,” the broker explained, and David wondered if this was all just a part of trying to make a sale so that they could cash that fat commission cheque… but at the same time, he had a point. If Heath did tell him that everything was in order then why should David question the judgement of the broker and his friend’s legal advice? “A venue has already been arranged in Minneapolis, Mr. Helms, all that’s required now is you to okay the meeting and a rough idea when you’ll be available and we can move forward. So I’d suggest perhaps contacting your attorney Mr. Mitchel to discuss things with him and then get back to me here at the office and we can get everything set up.”

This was all coming thick and fast for David, he wasn’t expecting everything to happen at such speed and had actually expected for Tommy to keep him on the line for weeks before coming up with the money to eventually buy him out… so this?! David told the broker he’d do exactly that before ending the call, suddenly acutely aware that he was not operating on tight margins as far as time was concerned; realistically, he had maybe a day or two at most to decide whether he could make the meeting or not, or if he wanted to make the meeting even. Should he actually put Tommy through that, despite everything that the bastard had said and done over recent weeks? Was it right for him to punish him as much as selling so an outsider would? “Oh, there you are, we were…” Kath said as he walked back inside to the kitchen to find Kath back in the room, sat talking to Jordan. Her words trailed off as she saw the shell shocked expression on his face. “Jesus… is everything okay, sweetie?” she asked with such concern that even Jordan started to worry that something was wrong.

“It’s not Regan, is it?” the blonde asked, suddenly conscious of the fact that Regan was out of the country and who knows what may have happened to her.

David shook his head though, which at least seemed to be a relief for the two women. “It was one of the brokerage firms that I hired to sell my portfolio,” he explained, walking to the table like a zombie to re-take his seat across from Kathryn and Jordan. “I’ve had an offer to buy the lot for the full asking price…”

And in that moment it dawned on them exactly why he was so shell shocked as he first walked back into the house; David explained about the terms and the meeting that the buyer had requested, told them the value of the deal and that he’d need to call Heath to make sure it was all above board. He also tried to explain how he didn’t think this would happen and that deep down he felt like he was betraying Tommy despite the way he’d been acting for the longest time now. Kathryn nodded along with him; it must have been difficult for her, because not only did she see what Dave and Regan had been through with Tommy, but she no doubt got it from Tommy’s ex wife Kirsten too, who despite the way things had played out, continued to try and have a relationship with him for the sake of their children. By the time Dave finished explaining everything, Kathryn and both looked exhausted from the info thrown at them. And then Jordan weighed in, and when she did, it left both David and Kathryn off guard. “You should do it,” the blonde told David, no hint of hesitation in her voice as David looked at her in surprise. “I’m serious. If I’ve learned anything in the last few months, it’s that you need to do what’s best for you instead of living your life for other people… I did that for months, doing everything Bree wanted me to, what Sienna wanted me to. But then I made a decision to take my career back, and yes, it cost me a lot… but you know what it gave me? A new start, and something amazing too,” she said, grabbing Kath’s hand in her own as she smiled at her girlfriend before looking back to face Dave. “I’ve been a fan of this business for a lot longer than I’ve been a part of it, and what you and Tommy did together was incredible… but you can’t cling to the past if it’s to the detriment of your present or future. Go to the meeting and if the guy’s legit, then sell. Fuck Tommy and his attitude, think about yourself boo. That’s what I think anyway, uh… you can, you know, ignore me if you want…” she finished, somewhat lamely as the reality of the situation dawned on her, that she was giving David Helms advice in his own kitchen about what he should do with his life. Two decades and change in the business, almost as long as she’d been alive, and she was giving him her opinion on what he should do!

But for David, it was an illuminating moment. Everything Jordan had said simply made sense, even if she clearly reached the point where she started to question if she had the right to give advice. He appreciated it though; aside from it being a fresh pair of eyes that wasn’t as connected as others in his life were to the problem, he also started to think he just needed the kick up the ass and for someone to remind him that it was okay to step the fuck away from toxic situations. And there was no denying that his friendship with Tommy was toxic at this point. “You know what, fuck it,” Dave said, making a decision right there on the spot. He’d made the threat, he’d told Tommy he would do this and if the asshole from Raleigh chose not to believe him, that wasn’t his fault. “I’m gonna talk to Heath and if he says it looks legit, I’m gonna set up the meeting! All being well, as much as I’ll miss the place when I’ve sold up, I'll be free of him, and that’s what this was all about!” he added, a new-found confidence over what he should do and how he should handle the situation. And his decision drew whoops of celebration from both Kathryn and Jordan which only helped to convince him it was the right call, even if they would probably have been just as positive had he decided not to go ahead with the first offer that came in. As much as his friendship with Tommy had meant to him for years, as much as he cared about Tommy, as much as he loved him as a brother… it struck David that perhaps he was hesitating because he was mourning a relationship that had died, rather than being hopeful that it may someday be fixed. The empire had grown to great heights over the years, but the foundations were crumbling, no, they had already collapsed… and David had told Tommy his intentions. He’d told Tommy that he was selling up, whether it was to him or to a complete stranger. It wasn’t David’s fault that Tommy appeared to have done nothing to try and find the money; he hadn’t heard from a single one of the brokerage companies he had taken on about a possible deal until today, so why should David afford Tommy more time when Tommy couldn’t afford him even as little as civility when they had to be around one another?! No. Fuck Tommy Valentine, that was the conclusion that David Helms reached. He was going to agree to meet with the buyer in Minneapolis, and who knows… there was a chance that he may not just be coming home from Minneapolis with his bag fifteen pounds heavier, but his bank account considerably bigger too! And then… well, the future in terms of his career was already wide open. But the future outside of the ring may well be wide open too! He already had two separate offers to go into business with other people, from Lucas and Jordan… so the upcoming weekend may just prove to be one of the biggest of his life. And despite everything, despite all the negatives and the fears and doubts… he was excited. About life in the ring and out of it. And what better situation was there for him to be in, other than going to Minneapolis, winning the belt and signing the contract anyway. The future would tell with that one though. Until then? He wasn’t going to dwell on the past. He was going to concentrate on the here and now and simply enjoy it!