It was fair to say that Tommy Wasley hadn’t gone into EMERGE 34 expecting to come away with the victory when he was booked against now-former Rush champion Jennifer Helms in Bolton, but once the match ended that was exactly what happened. In truth, he had been a little distracted, his mind had been on other things as he headed into the arena that night, which could be seen as a somewhat damning indictment on his dedication to his craft, given he was distracted by the pitiful state of his personal affairs, but luckily for him, his tag partner Johnny Taylor was more than aware of what was going on in that big ol’ Northern skull of his and made moves to remedy the issue! The Skype call had been a genius idea, something which both Tommy and Johnny could agree on; they both knew how bad it could be for the portlier of the two men had Tommy truly gone into EMERGE 34 that night as distracted as he had been before they departed for Lancashire, and even if his mind wasn’t completely cleared by the call he’d made with Ms. Williams, it had cleared things up enough to allow Tommy the concentration needed to face someone as well trained and athletically gifted as Jennifer Helms! The result had still come as something of a shock for Wasley however, because while he was relatively confident in his own ability, he was sure that Jennifer was going to expose the gulf in class between the two once the bell rang.
It had been tough. Ridiculously so if he was being honest with himself, and Tommy had to wonder if luck played more of a part in things that a man would normally like to admit, but he had done it, Tommy Wasley had not only won his second championship in EMERGE but the first ever singles title of his career! That had been a watershed moment for Wasley and his career, because until that point people had written him off both as a joke but also as nothing more than a ‘tag team wrestler’ who didn’t have what it takes to become successful in his own right. That old adage, those who can do, those who can’t teach? Well, in wrestling the same sentiment had been applied to tag team wrestlers by many over the years and while it had always angered Tommy, until that point he had done nothing to expel the myth either.
But now he had!
He had taken control of his own destiny in a sense, taken control of his own career and had helped shake the reputation that surrounded him in the business. He was more than ‘only a tag team wrestler’ even if he knew how much it took to be in a successful team to begin with… but with another show in the bag, it was time to head back to the states - at least that decision was made now - so that he could try and figure out what was going on away from the ring. During their brief skype call on Friday, Tommy made the decision that instead of flying back to California, he would instead fly out to meet up with Kim before Breakdown so they could talk. With a quick check of SCW’s tour schedule, Tommy made a call to the airline and switched out his connection from Atlanta to California for one to Portland instead, making sure to check in to the same hotel that SCW booked Kim into before taking the nine hour flight back stateside. He flew with Johnny and Tommy Cook up until Atlanta, but then the two parted ways and Johnny went with Cook for the original flight and Wasley went to check in for his solo flight. On the bright side, he flew first class and that made a second flight of almost five hours bearable after the original nine hour flight from Manchester, but he was happy when he finally arrived and checked into his hotel in the late afternoon, pacific time. His body was telling him it was much later but that was just the jetlag talking and he flat out refused to nap and make the whole thing worse.
“Just got checked in love,” the portly northerner said into his phone not long after letting himself into his room for the night. He was talking to Kim, who was somewhere in the hotel, but he had no idea where because they hadn’t arranged things any further than him finding out what hotel he needed to be in or at least go to in order to see her should rooms not be available. “Gonna be honest, am fuckin’ knackered, but if a spend more’n two minutes in me room am gonna go t’ sleep an’ a dunt wanna do that,” he informed Kim as he stepped back into the hallway. He needed caffeine, preferably via mainline I.V if it could be arranged, and he planned to head down to the restaurant downstairs to get coffee or possibly even a red bull from the bar if it was an option.
“You should sleep on the plane!” Kim told him, like he’d been a huge idiot. “That way, you don’t have to consciously admit you’re hurtling through the sky at five hundred miles an hour in a tin can full of other peoples gas!” she added, and despite his tiredness, Wasley’s booming laugh filled the hallway.
“Aye well, am not the best flyer in’t world if am ‘onest, love…” Wasley admitted. It was something of an understatement in all honesty; he hated flying, because who wouldn’t want to be thirty five thousand feet in the air, defying all things rational as you soar through the skys in… well, what Kim said, a flying tin can!
“All the more reason to sleep through it!” Kim told him as he reached the elevators and hit the button. “Okay, so… no sleeping. I suggest coffee. Or cocaine. But coffee is less frowned upon. That’s still true, right?” she asked, and Wasley couldn’t even tell whether she was joking or not with the question.
“Think al stick wi’ coffee if it’s all the same love,” He replied with an uncertain chuckle, hoping she was joking.
“Probably for the best,” Kim told him in earnest, before moving on. “What floor are you on?”
Wasley looked at his room key. He should have known automatically, but he was tired, that was his excuse and he was sticking to it. “Sixth…”
“I’m on three,” Kim told him. “Three oh six to be precise. Stop talking at me and I’ll order coffee up here. There’s less people to deal with if I don’t have to leave me room. I can tolerate you, but lots of other people? Not today, Satan!”
He didn’t know whether to amused or insulted at the fact she said she could tolerate him. “Alrate, al be darn in-” was all he managed before he realised he was once again talking to dead air. “She rate needs t’ stop doin’ that…” he said to himself before the lift arrived with a ding and the doors slid open. He hit the button for floor three and stepped out onto the landing a few seconds later, taking a moment to remember which way he had to turn before making his way to the door.
He knocked twice before slipping his hands into the pockets of his jeans. The door opened and Kim stood there looking puzzled for a second before remembering that it took more than half a minute for room service to turn up. “I knew it was too soon for the coffee to arrive!” she said, physically slapping herself in the forehead before stepping back to let him in. “Come on, we don’t have all day!” she said, grinning. He didn’t bother to argue the fact that they literally did. He walked in as Kim closed the door behind him and made his way to the chair in the corner of the room, sitting down as Kim sprang back into the room and leapt onto the bed to sit cross-legged across from him. “So… congratulations are obviously in order, Mr. Rash champion!” she told him, grinning. Her own belt, the SCW United States championship was on the dressing table next to him, he noticed when walking into the room.
“Rush champion love, Rush,” he said, chuckling to himself. “An’ cheers… not that it’s really sunk it yet, t’ be ‘onest…”
“I said on twitter how cool it’d be if we both ended up champions, and you went and made it happen, you big hunk of winning, you!” Kim said, smirking at him. “I know I should have probably wished you good luck on skype, but I’d just woken up…”
“Aye well, a probably wunt ‘ave ‘eard y’ anyway, after what y’ said before hangin’ up,” Wasley admitted, looking sheepish. He wasn’t sure how he was going to bring the subject up, but she had presented him with the opportunity and he took it. “Which a guess we should talk a’bart, eh?”
“Why, what did I say on skype?” Kim asked and in that instant Tommy’s heart just sank… right until the point where Kim started to grin and he realised she was playing him. “Sorry… couldn’t resist…”
“Not funny love,” Wasley told her as he did his best to hide his embarrassment. The beard went some way towards saving his blushes.
“Well, something tells me this conversation is going to be kind of awkward, so can you blame me for having a bit of fun first?” Kim asked, sulking a little before sighing. “Okay… so wanna talk about it?”
“No… but yeah… I think?” Wasley managed and Kim nodded in agreement. “A mean, a do… but a guess it is gonna be kinda awkward, ain’t it?”
“Probably…” Kim agreed.
“If y’ wanna just pretend that y’ dint say owt, we can-” Tommy started to say but Kim cut him off.
“You’re the one who tries to run from things Thomas, not me!” Kim said, putting on a brave face. She used his full name, which meant it must be serious. “Look, we’re adults aren’t we? Let’s just have a proper adult conversation… I don’t want you to go back to England. There, I said it in person. Now say something, because I just realised I’m the only one talking and that’s kind of making me nervous and you know that I start just saying whatever comes to mind when I get nervous, dammit Tommy speak!”
“A… a… fuckin’ hell, talk a’bart puttin’ me on’t spot!” He stammered, put under pressure and blurting out exactly how he felt. “Fuckin’ hell… alrate, adulting time. Am not gonna move back t’ England, a were bein’ daft.”
“That means being an idiot, right?” Kim asked and Wasley nodded. “Okay, so we’re in agreement over that at least. I can’t believe you were considering moving country though, that’s kind of extreme, even for you…”
“Well t’ be fair love, y’ seemed either oblivious or uninterested an’ a dint wanna carry on mekin’ a tit of me self if a dint ‘ave t’...” Wasley reasoned, but Kim just rolled her eyes.
“And people think I’m crazy,” she said, sighing. “I mean, I never gave you any sign I wasn’t, did I?”
“But y’ never med it seem like y’ were, either…” Wasley countered, with what he thought was a reasonable argument. “A mean, if a had an inklin’...”
“I didn’t tell you to go to hell. Didn’t try and staple you despite how obvious you were, I figured that was enough!” Kim said before cringing. “Yeah, I just heard that too… but I’m not great with this stuff, okay? My previous relationships haven’t exactly worked out great, I have bad experiences behind me and you’re actually a good guy, so I worry that it’ll go wrong…”
“That’s kinda what life’s a’bart though love, takin’ risks knowin’ it might go t’ shit…” Wasley said, trying to reassure her that it was a perfectly normal worry to have.
“Yeah, but…” Kim began, before closing her eyes for a moment. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes again to look at Tommy. “I kind of have things going on right now, and I was worried that it would all pile up on me… does that make sense?” she asked and Tommy nodded. “I guess at times I just revert to the out there version of me… like, I throw out the crazy soundbites or do crazy stuff and people are like ‘There’s Kim, doing Kim stuff again’, but that’s not all I am. And I worry that if I take things seriously, people are going to reject me because I’m not being ‘Kim’ enough. Following?”
“Love, think a’bart who y’ talkin’ to…” Tommy told her. The Moustache Ride fans, not all of them appreciated the fact that Tommy was taking a serious stand in EMERGE, they wanted the comedy and nothing more, but that was life, wasn’t it? “Y’ can’t please everyone love, an’ bollocks to them who don’t get y’...”
“I just want to be accepted Tommy, that’s all…” Kim said, being honest and open now. “My match with Bree, I showed people that I can actually wrestle a serious legitimate match and be a success. But what if people soon grow tired of me if I’m not being crazy all the time?” she asked.
Wasley just shook his head at that though. “They’d ‘ave t’ be barkin’ mad love, ‘cause I’d never get tired of ya…” he said, completely ignoring the fact that his words were grotesquely cheesy. He didn’t give a fuck, they were supposed to be having a serious adult conversation and that included honesty, regardless of cheese factor. It seemed to work though, because Kim’s whole demeanor changed, and she looked him directly in the eye… only for a knock at the door to ruin the moment.
“Coffee’s here!” Kim exclaimed, jumping up from the bed. Wasley sighed as Kim started to head for the door, only to stop all of a sudden and walk back to the Yorkshireman, placing a hand on the side of his face before kissing him. It was only a simple soft kiss, but Wasley felt light as a feather for that one moment… which considering his considerable bulk, was impressive. “Not as scratchy as I expected,” Kim said as she broke the kiss off, grinning. Wasley just sat there in a world of his own, his brain trying to catch up as Kim went back to heading for the door as a second knock came from the other side.
Had that just happened? Had he imagined that or had Kim Williams really just kissed him? He pinched himself, quite literally, to double check. It hurt, so he clearly hadn’t imagined it. “Chuffin’ ‘ell…” he said to himself under his breath, barely hearing the conversation between Kim and the guy with room service. He didn’t even care that the guy had interrupted their conversation… that had just happened! It had just happened! And it took every effort to not punch the air and cry out in joy. What a bloody difference a few days could make, huh?!
To Be Continued.
[REC]
“Three weeks… three weeks a’ve bin holdin’ it in instead’a makin’ a big deal art’a the fact a did what a did in Bolton, an’ yet nar am standin’ ‘ere in front’a this camera, a don’t even feel like a should mention winnin’ singles gold f’ the fest time in me career…
This week, a stand side by side wi’ the lovely young lass that a beat three weeks ago f’ the Rush championship, an’ then mere seconds after that match, she were savin’ me bacon from another attack, which only goes t’ tell me am doin’ summet rate pokin’ at the dirty cheatin’ bastards in this company, ‘cause they keep tryin’ t’ tek me art, dunt they?!
Am like that annoyin’ fuckin’ wasp at the Unforgiven picnic, ain’t I? A just won’t fuck off no matter how many times they try an’ swat at me. An’ it’s been twice nar, twice that John Blair has tried t’ jump me, even bringin’ that big lummox Sundown wi’ him t’ try an’ remove the thorn from Unforgiven’s side… an’ it might be thanks t’ Jenni that am still standin’ ‘ere this time around, but that’s what this Resistance is a’bart, ain’t it?!
We’re not tryin’ t’ tek over the place, we ain’t tryin’ t’ bring a roster t’ heel like some lapdog, we’re fightin’ t’ defend this place against the pricks tryin’ t’ tek over, an’ aye, that’s gonna put us on’t defensive, an’ it’s gonna slap a big fuck off target on us back’s, but a’ve said it before an’ al say it again, that target? It’s a fuckin’ badge of honour sunshine!
Dildoinger, Tony Blair an’ Jessica Jones’ Killgraves are gonna be tryin’ t’ get hits in on them targets this monday when we wander into Exeter fo’ EMERGE thirty five, three of Unforgiven against three’a EMERGE’s defenders goin’ at it, an’ am sure it ain’t gonna be a simple three on three ‘cause we all know what them cunts are like for their numbers advantages but what’s life wi’art a few challenges, eh?!
A mean, ain’t this already one big fuck off challenge anyroad, standin’ up to a bunch’a pricks that’re determined t’ try an’ destroy this place from inside art? So what’s a few more challenges ter overcome in’t grand scheme’a things?
But am more’n ready f’ this fight. A’ve repeatedly said over recent months that unless these wankbiscuits flat out kill or cripple me, am gonna keep fightin’ wi’ every last fibre’a me bein’ until it’s over, one way or another! An’ while some may balk at the size’a the threat in front’a ‘em, a look at the people am standin’ wi’, not just this week but in general… an’ am not scared. Am not worried a’bart us bringin’ the war t’ Unforgiven, am not scared’a what they can do t’ me, or what they can do t’ this roster… ‘cause this roster ain’t made’a yellow bellied spineless pricks, it’s med of fighters!
It’s med of people wi’ more bravery than what these bastards can ever understand, not through stupidity or insanity but belief! We believe in this company, in this business, an’ a don’t gi’ a fuck what threats those rat bastards mek, we ain’t turnin’ tale an’ runnin’ away!
So Liam, Melissa, an’ especially you John… fuckin’ bring it! Me, Jenni an’ the Princess, we ain’t gonna run away when that bell rings on Monday, we’re gonna bring you twats a fuckin’ fate! An’ if ya labourin’ under the misconception that y’ gonna ‘ave a walk in’t park then am lookin’ forward to showin’ y’ how sorely mistaken all three’a you are! Our conviction is rock solid, ‘cause we’ve got a cause t’ truly believe in… question nar is do you pricks really think your blind loyalty is more powerful than our conviction? Summet tells me that y’ may be on’t losin’ end’a that debate… an’ if we get our way, it won’t be the only way you’ll be on’t losin’ end either.
So let’s see what that loyalty brings y’, eh? See you three tossers on Monday. Don’t blame us if we show no mercy! Toodles."[/REC]
