Lady Luck

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Fate

Off Camera

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Fate is a strange animal.  Humanity is naturally afraid of it because they cannot control it.  We humans can control how fast our vehicles go or leads our countries.  We can have it our way at burger king or buy as much shit as we want at Wal-Mart.  We can even guess at how we think the hands of fate will turn.  We can try to read the writing on the walls.  We can go into that casino and try to guess at what the lucky numbers will be.  Ultimately, though, fate is something we cannot control, and that fact alone terrifies us.  Why else do you think many Christian denominations condemn gambling as sinful and, going further than that, some states even outlaw the lottery?  It all goes back to a deep seeded fear of fate.

I have begun to think about fate a lot recently, especially since my sister Marie escaped from her kidnapping ordeal.  She had been kidnapped by her paternal half-sister Kimberly Williams, who had desperately wanted to make her pay for all of the suffering that her family had endured at the hands of the Jones family.

Funny, Kimberly tried time and time again to get revenge for her family, and her father Sean Williams tried before her, and none of them succeeded.  Sean Williams’ first love left him, mine and Marie’s mother left him, he got killed, and his daughter Kimberly damn near broke her neck and eventually ended up in the insane asylum.  It is enough to make one wonder if fate had always destined the Williams family to go down the toilet.  You have to ask yourself if the Williams family had just been dealt a bad hand and they were always destined to fail.

You know, had it not been for my father, who loved and cared for me deeply and provided a stable living environment for me, I could have easily turned out as crazy jealous as Kimberly.  I almost pity her.  The key word there is almost.  I cannot nor will I ever pity someone as insane as Kimberly Williams.

I think often about what fate has written for my mom’s family, the Jones family.  My father may be Andreas Lasiewicz but I am a Jones woman deep down inside and I cannot help but look back at my mother’s past and worry about my own future, especially now that I am engaged to marry Steven Bauer, a man I met while competing for the Global Championship Wrestling organization.

Steven asked me to marry him back shortly before GCW Resurrection.  Many thought it was a ploy to try and get me to back out of facing him for his International title at Resurrection but I gave him a chance and he proved his love to me.  We are supposed to be married but no date has been set.  We’ve just been talking and planning but no concrete date has been put into place and that’s all on me.  I am afraid of facing what fate has in store for me.  But then again, it is natural to be afraid of fate.  I am human after all.

Then there is my fate in the Independent Wrestling Cartel.  I joined IWC to provide back up for my sister Marie, to make sure she got an even playing field in a company where chaos and anarchy seemed to be the norm.  Never did I expect to receive the kind of push I just received.  Never did I expect, nor did I really want, to get thrust so deep, so quickly, into what I have been thrust into for Riot.

I am in a four way match for the X-Class Championship.

I have only been in one match, against The TPKid, and while I did win it hardly puts me in a position to get any championship matches.  It hardly makes me worthy of any championship matches.  Honestly, not one of the three of us in this match is worthy of facing Kathryn Pearson for that X-Class Championship.

No, not even Little Miss Muppet who keeps whining on twitter about her identity.

That’s the funny thing about fate; you never know what it has in store for you.  It’s much like a game of poker.  You may have to work very hard to achieve your goal or the dealer known as fate may very well deal you a royal flush right off the bat, putting you in the driver’s seat.

All three of us have been dealt that proverbial royal flush.  We are in the driver’s seat in that we have the opportunity to make a name for ourselves in IWC real quick, real fast.  We just cannot screw it up.

You cannot escape, fate, though, and I cannot escape it on this night out on the town.  Fate still goes through my mind as Steven Bauer, dressed in black dress pants, matching black blazer, and a white silk button up dress shirt, walks me into this fancy restaurant.  Steven wanted to celebrate many different things.  For starters he wanted to celebrate my winning the FWA Xtreme Championship at their recent pay per view, second he wanted to celebrate my upcoming chance to win even more gold at the IWC Riot event, and finally he wanted to celebrate the fact that I successfully rescued my sister from a living hell.

Honestly, I think Steven just looks for reasons to celebrate, but be that as it may, I do enjoy my time with him and we haven’t really had a nice time out like this in awhile, what with my busy wrestling schedule.  Unfortunately I am certain the topic of our pending wedding will get brought up and I would rather avoid that subject.

For this occasion I am wearing a navy blue mesh floral embroidered-top cocktail dress with metallic skirt.  It has an illusion boat neckline, a V'd back, and three quarter length bracelet sleeves.  The hemline stops just above the knee.  My feet are encased in strappy sandals with a three inch heel.  My long black hair is done up in the back.

“You are going to love it here, Jessie.”

“Maybe…”

Steven continues to gush praise out upon this restaurant, an upscale Italian restaurant while I try to downplay my enthusiasm.  Truth is, I do feel comfortable in this environment.  I get that from my Aunt Magdalena.  My father taught me not to gloat too much or flaunt my wealth too much.  Thus I have always been careful to try and appear as down to earth as possible.  In this case, however, Steven wants to show me off and I have no problem obliging.

“I know you would have preferred that French place but it’s not upscale for us Bauers!”

“Oh yeah?” I wink at him. “First of all, I am going to keep my last name when we get married.  Second, the French place you refer to is actually slightly more upscale than this. You just picked here because you didn’t want my Aunt Mags tagging along.”

My Aunt Magdalena is a sucker for all things French and Steven knew, as well as I, that there was a good chance she could have tried to invite herself if she learned where we were going.  With that said Steven cannot help but chuckle slightly at this.

Eventually we are led to our seat.  Just like the gentleman he is, Steven pulls out the chair for me, allowing me to sit down before he sits down himself across from me.  He really is pulling out all of the stops for this one, I think to myself as he and I both are handed menus by the female waitress.

“May I get you something to drink to start with?”

“Well, I…” I look at Steven and then back up at the waitress “…I’ll let Steven decide.”

Seven grins.  I can tell he liked that.  Certain men like the tradition of being able to make the decisions for the women in their lives.  Steven knows I enjoy my independence but, just this once, I figure I’ll let him have a sample of what it’s like to be in control.

“In that case, bring out your finest, most expensive red wine!”

“Very good.”

The waitress nods her head before turning and walking away to fill the drink order.  Steven and I then look back into each other’s eyes.  He breaks the ice first.

“I am glad you agreed to come tonight, Jessie.”

“Honestly, Steven, I am glad I came.” I smile warmly at him. “I haven’t had much time lately to just enjoy myself, you know what I mean?”

“I know exactly what you mean.”

“Just in the past two months I have had to deal with a chaotic situation in FWA that involved me co-holding their Xtreme Championship with Laurel Anne Hardy, I had to deal with Little Miss Muppet in IWC who has this ongoing identity crisis and somehow thinks attacking me is going to help her, and then I had to rescue my sister from Kimberly Williams who I thought had been killed.”

“That’s not to mention your upcoming schedule.  You’re wrestling Valentina Madison…”

“Little Miss Muppet.” I state, correcting him with a wink.

“Ah yes, Little Miss Muppet.  But you are facing her, Mya Denton, and Kathryn Pearson for the IWC X Class Championship.”

“Don’t even get me started on that!” I exclaim in a slightly louder tone.

“What’s wrong?”

Before I can answer the waitress returns with two glasses and a wine bottle.  She puts one glass in front of Steven and then another in front of me.  She takes the wine bottle and pours red wine into each glass.  After setting the wine bottle down she takes out a pen and notepad.

“Do you know what you want to eat or do you need more time?”

“Um, I’m not sure…” my voice trails off as I look over at Steven “…let him order first.”

She nods, looking at Steven. “Sir?”

“Ok then, I’ll just have a large lasagna.”

“You get a garden salad or a Cesar salad.”

“Cesar.”

The waitress turns back to me.  “Ma’am?”

“I think I’ll have a lasagna as well, only a smaller portion please.”

“Very well.” She scribbles the information down. “Garden salad or Cesar?”

“Cesar.”

The waitress scribbles the order down and then walks off, leaving me and Steven alone again.  He turns back to me, smiling nervously.

“So, what’s so wrong with you getting an X-Class Title Match?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Um…” he shakes his head “…no?”

I roll my head out of frustration. “Men…”

“I’m sorry…but I do want to help.”

“It’s just that I don’t deserve to be in this match, Steven.  That’s what’s wrong.  I have done absolutely nothing to earn this championship match.”

“Didn’t you defeat TPKid?”

I nod my head. “Yes, I won one match.  That hardly qualifies me for anything.  Abigail Lindsey won a match recently, and she’s even been in IWC longer than me.  What about her?  Hell, Alana Starr deserves a shot more than me.”

“GOOD!”

His shout was meant as a joke to make me laugh but it drew a few stares from the other patrons in the restaurant and it embarrasses me ever so slightly.  He can tell based on the look on my face that he made a mistake.

“Steven…”

“Yes?”

“Do that again and I will hurt you.”

“Sorry…” he says with a sheepish grin on his face.

“It’s ok, but seriously, I do not deserve to be in that match.  Hell, none of them do, to be honest.  Who the hell books these things in IWC anyway?”

“I don’t know but if it is bothering you then maybe we should talk about something else?”

“What else do you want to talk about?”

I am afraid of what the answer will be but I figure I should ask anyway.  Steven and I both take sips of our wine in unison as we compose our thoughts.  It is Steven again who breaks the ice.

“The wedding, let’s talk about the wedding.”

What amounts to the equivalent of a kick to the gut suddenly hits me like a ton of bricks.  This is exactly what I knew would happen and yet I hoped would be lucky enough to avoid.  I have been trying to put off this subject as long as I could.  And yet it was inevitable that we would have to cross this bridge eventually.  You cannot delay the inevitable forever.

“Do we have to?”

“No, I guess not, but…” his voice trails off

“But what?”

“…Jessie, I get the feeling something is wrong here.”

“Well…” after a tense pause I finally nod my head “…yes, there is something wrong.”

“Is it something I did?”

I shake my head vehemently. “Oh no, it isn’t anything wrong with you.  If anything you have been a saint, an absolute saint to put up with me for as long as you have.  You have been perfect.”

I take a sip of my wine, hoping the liquid courage will do the trick.  “I’m the problem, Steven.”

“You?” He shakes his head. “No, you are not a problem, Jessie.”

“Yes, Steven, yes I am a problem.”

I can feel the emotions rising up but I fight them back as best I can, mainly out of a desire to keep my makeup from running due to tears.

“My family is cursed, Steven.  My father has children with two different women, both relationships ended on a sour note.  My mother is even worse.  She had a relationship with a boy she met in school that ended badly, she ended up in a relationship with her own wrestling trainer and married up until that, too, fell through.  She married the man who would eventually be my father but obviously that marriage didn’t last.  She married another former wrestling hall of famer named Sean McBride and that marriage didn’t last.  She was engaged once to Brittany Lohan but they broke up.  Now she’s married again, this time to a woman named Lindsey Carter.”

“And you’re afraid the same thing will happen to you and me if we get married?”

I nod my head. “That’s right.  This prospect of marriage scares me, Steven.  It scares the hell outta me because I don’t want to become like my mother or even my father who have had a history of bad relationships.”

Steven reaches across the table and takes my hands into his.  He squeezes them tightly as he gazes lovingly into my eyes.

“Jessica, darling, are you listening to me?”

I nod my head silently.

“I can see why you’re scared and I want to make this as comfortable for you as possible because I love you, Jessie.  I cannot live without you.  You have to know that I will do anything to make this work out between us, absolutely anything.”

“Anything?”

“Yes, anything, because I cannot live without you.”

I take his hand and kiss it. “That’s what I needed to hear.”

“So we’re good?”

I grin from ear to ear. “We’re better than ever, babe.  Better than ever.”

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Lady Luck

On Camera

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“I really do love visiting the United Kingdom!”

I step in front of a backdrop of a large Union Jack that takes up the entire scene.  I am wearing black denim jeans, black boots, and a royal blue top.  My long black shoulder length hair hangs down straight.  Once I get to the center of the camera view I turn to face the front, using my right hand to motion to the flag backdrop behind me.

“It is here in the United Kingdom that I won my first World Championship in GCW.  It is here in the United Kingdom that I traveled with the Future Wrestling Alliance to win the Xtreme Championship in one of the bloodiest battles of my career.  Lately I have had a lot of luck here in the United Kingdom.”

A low chuckle escapes my lips. “Luck...we athletes hate luck, don’t we?  We like to think we don’t need luck, that we have earned everything we have ever received in this industry.  The fact that none of us want to admit is that there is always at least a little bit of luck involved in this industry.  Luck, whether it be good luck or bad luck, implies that we had nothing to do with it, and we like to think we had everything to do with everything that we have earned.”

“Mya Denton and Valentina Madison, two talents who have been here with IWC since Invictus.  You can count the number of matches Denton has been in on one hand.  You can do the same thing with Little Miss Muppet and her IWC record.”

“Yeah, your new name is Little Miss Muppet.”

“But me?  I haven’t even been in IWC that long.  I was at Invictus but I was only there for my sister.  I’ve had only one match, a victory against TPKid.  Now am I going to stand here and judge my opponents?” I shake my head. “No, I won’t judge them.  I won’t even judge Little Miss Muppet.  I can only speak for myself when I say that I do not deserve this great opportunity put in front of me.  Mya and Little Miss Muppet will have to speak for themselves.”

I shrug my shoulders. “Apparently Lady Luck has been looking favorably upon Lady Gambit, because not only did I get granted an X Class Title Match but it will be taking place in the United Kingdom, where more than just luck is on my side.”

“I may not be a native of the United Kingdom, but the Lasiewicz family has competed all throughout Europe, but especially the United Kingdom.  The English fans know and love the Lasiewicz family for all of our contributions to the industry.  This is going to be like hometown advantage these people, these fans, we have a connection.  Mya and Little Miss Muppet may have had more matches than I have here in IWC and Kathryn Pearson may have more IWC experience under her belt as well as the championship advantage, but this is my home turf you are about to set foot into.”

“Mya Denton is an amazing talent with a lot of bad luck.” I chuckle slightly. “There’s that word again, luck…”

I shake my head. “Anyone who says you are a loser, anyone who says you are pathetic or can’t wrestle, or does not deserve to be here is dead wrong.  You came within a hair of becoming GDW World Champion against Angela Jameson.  On multiple occasions you damn near defeated The Zodiac Killers for the FWA World Tag Team Championships.  And had luck been on your side, had the winds of fate been blowing just slightly differently in your favor, you might have won that world title, you might have won those tag titles.  But those are a lot of hypothetical questions which we will never know the answer to.  Bring your best, Mya, I look forward to it.  Bring everything you got.  Bring your new ‘friend’ April if you want.  I’ll be bringing The Morning Star…”

“That’s why luck is definitely not in anyone’s favor.” A sinister grin forms on my face. “I want you to pay very close attention to this part, Little Miss Muppet, because this pertains to you.  You want to think I am just a princess.  Most in the Independent Wrestling Cartel have been praying to God that I am just a princess and nothing more.”

“Ask IWC’s sister fed, the Future Wrestling Alliance, what I am.  Ask Dakota Smith who has been put out of the FWA after a match with me.  Ask Laurel Anne Hardy whose blood I shed at Darkness Within.  They will tell you I am no one’s princess.  I am the farthest thing from a princess.  What lies deep down inside me is not the heart of a princess but the dark heart of a demon.”

“If you want to fight me then I’ll gladly give you what you want, but the fact is that you have no fucking clue what you are asking for, Little Miss Muppet.  You have no idea what it is like to be in a real fight for your life.  You have no idea what it is like to really face a monster but that’s what you’re going to face on Riot; a monster, a monster named Jessica Lasiewicz, a monster with no conscience, no soul, and who has no problem putting you out of action in much the same way I have put so many others out of action.”

A light chuckle escapes my lips. “I might even do the entire world a favor and tear your tongue out by the roots so you can’t talk and saw off your fucking hands so you can’t tweet.  No one will have to put up with your bullshit anymore.”

“I really don’t give a damn about your wins over Chris Davids and Leviticus.” I sarcastically golf clap. “Congratulations on beating them.  But they just wanted to win.  I want to win the X Class Championship, yes, but I also want to gut you like a damn fish and send you straight to hell.  So yeah, this is just a little different.”

“I’m done talking about Little Miss Muppet.  Quite honestly, I don’t want to bother with her unless it’s to break her face and I will get the chance to do that at Riot.  I think it’s time to start focusing on the person who is arguably the major target in this match, Kathryn Pearson.”

“Somewhere, someplace there is some horny idiot shouting at the television right now that his client demands a title shot.” I throw my head back and laugh. “He’s probably also claiming that you’ve been ducking, dodging, and getting special favors.”

I shake my head. “If you’re ducking and dodging then you’re extremely stupid, and you don’t strike me as stupid, because a cowardly champion running from a fight wouldn’t run right into three opponents at once.  That doesn’t speak of cowardice on your part; that speaks of a fighting champion.”

“You are X Class Champion, Kathryn, and that took a great deal of talent, but you have to admit that some amount of luck had have been on your side for you to get the opportunity you had to win it, to hit that final move that allowed you pick up the win for the title, in some way, however small, you have to admit that luck was there, watching over you.”

“The fact that you are now facing three opponents on Riot is a sign that luck is no longer on your side, Kathryn.  And it’s an elimination match, that means you have to survive three falls in order to leave Riot with your championship.”

A frown forms across my face as I fold my arms over my chest. “My father used to close his promos with the same catchphrase each time.  He would always tell his opponents ‘Come and Place Ya Bets!’  Well I am saying that to you right now, Kathryn.  Come and place ya bets, but think long and hard about what you bet, about what you are willing to risk, because you and I both know that you have not been dealt a very good hand.”

“Now I’m not going to be so arrogant as to say that you have been dealt a losing hand and I am not going to say anything cheesy and equally as arrogant like I’m holding all of the cards.  The fact is there are four great talents in this match…” I pause momentarily and then shrug “…ok, three great talents and Little Miss Muppet…any of us could win, even Little Miss Muppet has a chance.  Hell, even the blind squirrel gets the nut from time to time.”

“What I am saying is that you will be tested like you have never been tested before.  I can’t speak for Mya and I can’t speak for Little Miss Muppet but I can tell you that I will damn sure test you.  I will push you to your physical limits and if you expect to survive with the X Class Championship, you will have to look deep into your soul and find that something extra, because The Morning Star is coming to take your soul and your championship.”

I shut my eyes. “Dobranoc…”