Residence
of William Prydor (Baltimore, Maryland):
June 9, 2008, 1:04 a.m.
This was something
he wished he could get used to. He
wasn't used to being so close to home after a show that he could drive from the
arena and be there within an hour. After
letting some traffic leave first, he departed the arena at midnight, managing
to get onto I-95 with almost no traffic.
He made good time and was home before one in the morning.
Now, as he stood
in the shower and let the hot water ease some of the tension and weariness--and
mostly the pain from hitting that 450 Flashfire off the top of the ladder-- out
of his body, his thoughts wandered. Not
to the next show--there would be time for that in the near-future--nor did he
let his thoughts wander towards how tired he felt. He didn't even focus on the lowercard title
shot he had already won at the end of May.
Instead his thoughts drifted…to the woman sleeping just down the hall
from his room.
He would be a
bald-faced liar if he said that there was no romantic tension between the two
of them. He had a sort of crush on her
ever since he helped out the LAPD with a case or two during his time on the
west coast. Of course, she had been married
and he had been with Brandy, so nothing could ever be pursued. That never stopped him from talking with her,
staying just beyond the point of flirting with her…and when she responded in
kind, he wasn't certain how to act. Over
the years, they had progressed into out-and-out flirting, but nothing had yet
come of it…yet. It occurred to Will that
at the present, both he and Elyssa were unattached. Perhaps this was the Fates' way of telling
them to get together?
Shaking his head
at that thought, Will stopped the shower and grabbed his towel. He was a firm believer in "There is no
fate but what we make." For so
long, after Brandy had stomped his heart flat, he was hesitant to try to open
it up to another. Sure, he and Elyssa
continued to joke and flirt, but she was still married at the time and he
respected that. But…could this be
something he could pursue now that both were single?
He sighed and
walked into his bedroom, collapsing on the bed.
He felt so beat-up, so drained that he thought sleep would claim him
quickly. However, sleep was a long time
in coming and once it finally claimed him, his dreams were haunted by the image
of a fairly beautiful woman, with brown hair and deep green eyes that he saw on
a near-daily basis….
\___(^)___/
Not even five
hours later, he was awake, clad only in a pair of knee-length shorts as he
stood outside for his daily ritual in the nearly 80-degree heat of the early
morning. With the driving beat of
Metallica's "Enter Sandman" providing the soundtrack for today's
morning routine, he failed to notice her standing on the guest room balcony,
watching him flow through the unique style he used with a pair of weapons. In recent days, she had taken to watching him
in the mornings, but always on the quiet.
She knew he religiously did this to start his day, and knew better than
to disturb him.
Was there more to
watching him than just marveling at the way he wielded the bamboo swords? Elyssa wasn't about to say one way or the
other, but the smile slowly crossing her face as she watched could easily have
been all of the answer that anyone could have needed. He reached for the pause button on his mp3
player, and Elyssa quietly slipped back inside, not wanting to disturb him.
Back in the center
of the yard he stood, a light sheen of perspiration covering his upper torso as
he took in a few deep breaths. It was
getting too hot and humid already today to be outside for long…but there would
be little respite for him today. He had
an 8:30 appointment with a contractor to talk about the demolition of the house
currently within the borders of the End of Nowhere, and the building of a new
house on the grounds. He didn't want
Elyssa to live somewhere that held bad memories for them both, and if she
wanted to stay near him while he was training, he'd rather have a decent place
set up for her, with all of the amenities included. Just because he chose to train in the wild
(so to speak) didn’t mean that anyone else should have to suffer unwillingly.
Sighing, he pulled
the earbuds out, marveling at how quiet the city seemed to be this
morning. Sure, there were some emergency
sirens in the distance, but that was to be expected. Otherwise, everything seemed rather calm and
collected, which was a rarity in his experience. Tucking both weapons under one arm, he just
wrote it off to sheer luck and went inside, the chill of the air-conditioned
room creeping up his spine and causing him to shiver momentarily. There was little time for rest if he wanted
to beat the morning rush of traffic and get to the End of Nowhere on time.
Within five
minutes, he was dressed in his typical style of clothing, and he and Elyssa
were off. There was an undercurrent of
tension in the air, but whether this was romantic tension or something
completely different, neither one would have been able to say. Both of them kept their thoughts to
themselves as the truck rolled on.
The
End of Nowhere: June 9, 2008, 8:35 a.m.
Will led Elyssa
and the contractor to the house that was formerly Brandy's. A moving crew had come in late last week, and
the house was now as empty as one could wish.
The pair stood by while the contractor took a look around, examining the
house in minute detail. Will was trying
to build up the courage to ask Elyssa about a date, and had just opened his
mouth to speak, when the contractor came back in.
"This is a
good house; I cannot see why you'd want it torn down and re-built."
Will replied,
"I'm closing the door on some bad memories. It's a long story, but the summary is the
previous tenant and I parted ways on far less than hospitable terms. Since someone else is looking to move in, I'd
rather give them a new place without any of the stigma that would plague me otherwise."
"Well, if you
put it that way…." The contractor
chuckled for a brief moment before continuing.
"It seems as if everything is in good repair here, and the
foundation is solid. If you want us to
build here, we can do that and have the place finished in about a month. Now, I have the e-mail you sent regarding the
layout of the house. I can see no
problem with any of that. Depending on
how the weather and other circumstances hold, I think a month is a good estimate. Now, concerning the price--"
"You do what
you have to, sir. I want this project
expedited. I have your bid; if it needs
to be renegotiated we can do so later.
The sooner this is done, the better."
"All
right. I'll bring a crew in tomorrow and
we'll begin demolition. Depending on how
late the guys want to work and the availability of lighting, we may get this
done early."
"Make it so,
sir. The sooner, the better."
The pair shook
hands, and as the contractor walked away Elyssa turned to Will. "Are you trying to get rid of me, Mr.
Prydor?"
Will's eyes
widened at this. "No, Elyssa. It's not like that at all!"
"Then what is
it? It seems like that to me, so please
enlighten me!"
Will paused, then
leaned in to whisper to Elyssa, who promptly stuck her hand out to stop
him. "No, Will. You can say it out loud or not at all."
A look of
exasperation crossed Will's face--what he wanted to say was something he was
not used to saying aloud, and he was afraid it would offend her. With a deep sigh, he looked into Elyssa's
eyes and said, "The sooner we get your house built, the sooner we can
christen it…and our relationship."
Elyssa looked
absolutely gobsmacked as she absorbed that comment. Will shook his head and turned away, mentally
kicking himself for saying that. He
never saw Elyssa smile, nor did he see her approaching him from behind until
she pressed into his back, arms wrapping around him.
"I had been
wondering how long it would take you, Will.
Thank God you finally came around to it."
Those were the
last words Will expected to hear…but he could never say just how welcome they
sounded in that one moment in time.
Residence
of William Prydor (Baltimore, Maryland):
June 9, 2008, 10:15 p.m.
The humid night
air lays like a blanket over the land, as the people slowly settle into the
places they will be found for the night. Standing on my balcony, I stare off
into the night, a thousand-yard stare seeing everything and yet nothing at the
same time.
Once again, the
management is looking to change the NLW Championship title hunt. I still have the undercard title shot in my
back pocket, from the night Aph and I defeated Heat and Black Phoenix. But after losing to Aph for the big belt, I'm
not certain if I'm ready for that level of match yet. My losses in title matches continue to haunt
the back of my mind, a not-so-subtle reminder that my abilities perhaps are not
as good as I once thought they were. Of
course, the venom-laced comments from Jake Steel are a continual reminder of
that as well. A silent smile crosses my
face as I'm reminded of what happened to him just under twenty-four hours ago.
That doesn't mean
I'm giving this up without a fight.
First things first, I have to make it to that match, and I've got five
people I have to get through first.
Archangel…someone
who looks like they belong in the middle of downtown Liberty City, trying to
edge in on the Russian drug cartel. A
fuckin' waste if you were to ask me. The
guy seems to be made of stone, but his talent is wasted by the crap he sends up
his nose. It is due to people like him
that America is going down the toilet.
Brad
Jackson…someone I have a bit of respect for in the ring. He knows how to get things done, and I have
to respect a man who can do that. All of
that aside, however, I'm not going to hold anything back when it gets to go
time. When the bell rings, you're just
another opponent that I'm going to have to go through, much like last night in
the tornado tag match.
Harvey Danger…the
one person everyone takes lightly. Not
me. I saw what he did against
Draco. You put the man in the right
situation, and he is going to surprise everyone. I refuse to be the one that is on the
receiving end. Harvey, I have nothing
against you, but you're not going to pull one over on me, if I have anything to
say about it.
Then there's the
Legacy champ, Draco…oh, I know all about him.
He caught me unawares with his submission finisher the last time, and
cost me the Legacy championship. There
is still bad blood here, whether he cares to admit it or not. If worse comes to, this will be a scouting
match, since I still have intentions of getting a rematch for his Legacy
title. Fool me once, shame on me....
And then there's
Vincent Kane. Finally, we get to close a
bit of unfinished business stemming back to April 20, when he debuted by
whacking me with a steel chair after my match.
No, Vinnie K, I have not forgotten.
I will take great pleasure in finally getting down to business with
you. There will be no chair shots, no
ladders, none of that. It's going to
come down, quite simply, to "who wants it more?" You and Jackson can go ahead and team
up--hell, to be honest I expect it.
Honor among thieves and all that shit.
In the end, it
won’t matter. I will not be denied. I will walk out of Uprising with two title
shots in my pocket. And there is nothing
that any of you can do to change that.
The sound of a
door opening behind me brings me out of my reverie, as I turn. There, wearing only a sheet, is Elyssa, who
looks at me in a worried manner.
"Will, you coming back to bed?"
I smile and nod at
her. "In a minute, dear. I just need another minute or two to
myself."
She nods back as
the door closes behind her. I lift my
head and look up, only a few stars visible due to the ambient light
nearby. A peace comes over me, as I know
that finally, my life is starting to get on track. It is on that thought that I smile, turn to
the door, and walk through, the darkness of the room comforting in its' own
right as I lay next to Elyssa, sleep claiming me for its' own a few seconds
later.
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