Post by Kathleen Conway on Jul 9, 2017 16:55:54 GMT
Kathy Conway squinted and rubbed her temples slowly, before she refocused her attention on the laptop screen. This conversation was starting to give her a headache, but she grit her teeth and maintained her professionalism and integrity entirely for the woman on the other end of this Skype call.
"Are you okay?" asked Caroline, her tone one of measured politeness rather than genuine concern.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine," replied Kathy.
A brief but not awkward silence passed between Kathy Conway and Caroline Fairfax. Both women had come to know each other well enough over the last four years of working together to know when the other was lying, but it was the tremendous mutual respect between them that kept Caroline from pressing the issue further.
"Listen, I really am sorry about all of this. I should have given you a heads up about Mr Verona's meeting with the Board."
"Yes, you should have. I shouldn't have to find out these things on the company website, especially when it involves the Board acquiescing once more to Roberto Verona's ego and overturning the decision they made a year ago to strip him of the Imperial Championship!"
"We haven't overturned the decision, we simply apologised for having to make it in the first place," insisted Caroline, "As far as the Board is concerned, Roberto Verona's reign ended at Night of the Immortals last year."
"Did you tell him that? Did anybody tell him that, to his face, during your meeting?"
"No, not exactly, but - ".
"Then what's the point? Because last I checked Roberto Verona was still strutting about as if he never lost a damn thing, and now with this public apology, not only can Roberto slap continue to slap my husband in the face with one convenient technicality after another, he can do it with the blessing of the Board. And why? All because Spike fucking Kane needs a partner in his pissing contest with Mike Laszlo and Cable Arcane?" After everything I've done for them, I thought the Board - I thought you would have more respect for me and my family than that Carol," said Kathy.
"I do. I do respect you, because I know how hard it was on you personally to represent us personally when dealing with Mr Kane, especially after the passing of his son. You swallowed your pride and did the job we entrusted you to do, and in doing so showed remarkable courage. Believe me, if I didn't respect you I wouldn't have pushed quite as hard as I did for them to hire Riley to lighten your load and responsibilities to the Diamonds Division so that you could spend more time at home with your daughters. I didn't want you to miss them growing up, I get enough resentment about that from my own kids at home..."
The sigh which followed Caroline's trailing words softened Kathy's position ever so slightly as she appreciated the fact that while they were in conflict on a business issue, this was still one mother talking to another and both were being forced to deal with things not entirely in either's control.
"I know, and I appreciate that. I do, but still you must understand how unfair all of this is. Roberto never apologised to Jake for ruining what should have been the biggest night in his professional career, and yet in order to continue doing business, he demands an apology from all of you. It's - "
"Hypocritical? Absolutely. Egotistical? Oh no doubt, but you and I have been here long enough to know that that's exactly how every successful man in the industry does business. This is a business where people make money by flexing their muscles and parading their egos, men like Roberto Verona just do it both in and out of a professional wrestling ring," said Carol.
Now it was Kathy's turn to draw out a sigh, as she shakes her head.
"Men," she said softly, and then she saw Caroline mirror her smile.
Rowan MacDonnough.
If fear had a name, that is it.
Rowan MacDonnough.
That is all I tweeted, about a week ago now, because that's all I needed to do to get your attention. I didn't explain anything, I didn't elaborate on my motivation to challenge you in my very first match back after a considerable absence from the ring as I look to kick off my campaign to be the Heiress to the Throne 2017.
I didn't threaten you, I didn't bully you, and I didn't promise you absolute pain and suffering, not because I am incapable of such things, but rather because I am better than that. I don't need to play the game by your rules Rowan to play it well, and even if I wasn't and you you did break me to the point of deeming it absolutely necessary to fight fire with fire, then I might as well concede to the loss you are inevitably promising to hand me come Sacrifice, because I know that once I commit myself to that road, and fight you on your terms, there is no coming back.
There is no victory.
On your ground, and in your shadow, I would be hopelessly outmatched at every turn, I know this Rowan.
I have known this for months now, ever since Riley Gordon found you in whichever pit of despair she scoured to offer you an IWF contract. I know you Rowan, I know exactly how you operate because I know fear. I know what it is to be deathly afraid. I know what it is to be absolutely terrified, and I know exactly what it is to lose control.
I know each of these things Rowan, and I know them intimately, because I have been forced to confront each of them at some point in my life, sometimes in the ring, sometimes out of it, and that is why I knew exactly what I was asking for when I called out to the Wolf of the Abyss.
I knew that if I hurled your name into the Abyss, the Abyss would answer, because fear always answers back.
It has to.
It's very nature demands it, because fear is what keeps the rest of us alive, Rowan, and there is no stronger base instinct in each of us than the instinct to live, to survive and to persevere. Something I know that you understand far better than most people Rowan, because you can't master fear without first mastering the art of survival...and if there's anything an apex predator like the wolf knows, it is how to survive.
But Rowan, the simple fact of the matter is that whilst you are a master of fear, you are a slave to pride.
A pride that most recently has been damaged by another woman you underestimated the resolve of, the reigning IWF Shieldmaiden Shea O'Hara, and now rather than learn from your mistakes or accept the foible of your own hubris, instead you choose to double down on it - and continue to underestimate my own resolve. Why?
Ego?
Arrogance?
Ignorance?
Or is it simply complacency fostered by the comfort of knowing that there is no possible way a woman like me can match you on any physical level, especially as I haven't stepped into a ring in several months?
Like I said before, I knew exactly what I was getting into when I asked for this, Rowan. I issued the challenge knowing full well that I would be susceptible to many things, including ring rust, but if there's one thing being married to a man like Jake Conway for almost a decade has taught me, it is the necessity of the calculated risk.
And that's exactly what this is for me, Rowan.
A calculated risk, and whether it pays off or not come Sacrifice, it won't be the first or the last one I take on Rowan MacDonnough.
As the leading authority in the Diamonds Division, it is part of my job to take calculated risks on my talent, and believe me there is no riskier prospect I've ever had to assess in my career than you Rowan. Every one of your matches that I signed off on here in the Imperial Wrestling Federation was done with more than a twinge of apprehension on my part.
I knew the risk to Charity Crowne.
I knew the risk to Astrid Hall.
I knew the risk to Alicia Lukas.
And I knew the risk to Shea O'Hara.
I knew the risks to each of these women - the stars of my Division, and whilst they may not have always walked away with the victory, their courage to face their fears every time they stepped into the ring with you Rowan, inspired me and from their courage, I began a journey to rediscover my own...and so here we are today, Rowan.
You are the first step in what I know will be a long and arduous journey for me.
I know you will put me through Hell at Sacrifice, and whilst you consort with fear to make the flames hotter, I walk with hope that I shall not be consumed by them.
You see, Rowan, I've come to the realisation that I cannot expect my Diamonds to face somebody that I'm not prepared to face myself, and so the time has come for me to once again lead my Division by example. Just like I did when I entered the very first Heiress to The Throne four years ago, and handed the one woman who has now gone on to become synonymous with the Diamonds Division her very first one on one loss - Eternity.
I may not have realised the dream four years ago, but I survived the nightmare, Rowan...
If I can do it once, I can damn sure do it again...
Because as Shea O'Hara proved two weeks ago at Bloody Assizes, no matter how deeply it festers in the recesses of your mind, fear only exists to be conquered.
So, this Monday, I will stare into the black abyss that has called my name for so long now, demanding satisfaction it has never found in all its years of unresolved pain and absolute misery...and I will not be the first to blink.
That much, I promise you.
You've made so many demands of me Rowan, you've demanded my Diamonds, you've demanded my attention and now you demand my fear...and in doing so you have reminded me of my limits. I have to draw the line somewhere, and so here it is, Rowan...
Make any more demands of me Rowan, and the only thing I will give you is the one thing you've always deserved.
My pity.
If fear had a name, that is it.
Rowan MacDonnough.
That is all I tweeted, about a week ago now, because that's all I needed to do to get your attention. I didn't explain anything, I didn't elaborate on my motivation to challenge you in my very first match back after a considerable absence from the ring as I look to kick off my campaign to be the Heiress to the Throne 2017.
I didn't threaten you, I didn't bully you, and I didn't promise you absolute pain and suffering, not because I am incapable of such things, but rather because I am better than that. I don't need to play the game by your rules Rowan to play it well, and even if I wasn't and you you did break me to the point of deeming it absolutely necessary to fight fire with fire, then I might as well concede to the loss you are inevitably promising to hand me come Sacrifice, because I know that once I commit myself to that road, and fight you on your terms, there is no coming back.
There is no victory.
On your ground, and in your shadow, I would be hopelessly outmatched at every turn, I know this Rowan.
I have known this for months now, ever since Riley Gordon found you in whichever pit of despair she scoured to offer you an IWF contract. I know you Rowan, I know exactly how you operate because I know fear. I know what it is to be deathly afraid. I know what it is to be absolutely terrified, and I know exactly what it is to lose control.
I know each of these things Rowan, and I know them intimately, because I have been forced to confront each of them at some point in my life, sometimes in the ring, sometimes out of it, and that is why I knew exactly what I was asking for when I called out to the Wolf of the Abyss.
I knew that if I hurled your name into the Abyss, the Abyss would answer, because fear always answers back.
It has to.
It's very nature demands it, because fear is what keeps the rest of us alive, Rowan, and there is no stronger base instinct in each of us than the instinct to live, to survive and to persevere. Something I know that you understand far better than most people Rowan, because you can't master fear without first mastering the art of survival...and if there's anything an apex predator like the wolf knows, it is how to survive.
But Rowan, the simple fact of the matter is that whilst you are a master of fear, you are a slave to pride.
A pride that most recently has been damaged by another woman you underestimated the resolve of, the reigning IWF Shieldmaiden Shea O'Hara, and now rather than learn from your mistakes or accept the foible of your own hubris, instead you choose to double down on it - and continue to underestimate my own resolve. Why?
Ego?
Arrogance?
Ignorance?
Or is it simply complacency fostered by the comfort of knowing that there is no possible way a woman like me can match you on any physical level, especially as I haven't stepped into a ring in several months?
Like I said before, I knew exactly what I was getting into when I asked for this, Rowan. I issued the challenge knowing full well that I would be susceptible to many things, including ring rust, but if there's one thing being married to a man like Jake Conway for almost a decade has taught me, it is the necessity of the calculated risk.
And that's exactly what this is for me, Rowan.
A calculated risk, and whether it pays off or not come Sacrifice, it won't be the first or the last one I take on Rowan MacDonnough.
As the leading authority in the Diamonds Division, it is part of my job to take calculated risks on my talent, and believe me there is no riskier prospect I've ever had to assess in my career than you Rowan. Every one of your matches that I signed off on here in the Imperial Wrestling Federation was done with more than a twinge of apprehension on my part.
I knew the risk to Charity Crowne.
I knew the risk to Astrid Hall.
I knew the risk to Alicia Lukas.
And I knew the risk to Shea O'Hara.
I knew the risks to each of these women - the stars of my Division, and whilst they may not have always walked away with the victory, their courage to face their fears every time they stepped into the ring with you Rowan, inspired me and from their courage, I began a journey to rediscover my own...and so here we are today, Rowan.
You are the first step in what I know will be a long and arduous journey for me.
I know you will put me through Hell at Sacrifice, and whilst you consort with fear to make the flames hotter, I walk with hope that I shall not be consumed by them.
You see, Rowan, I've come to the realisation that I cannot expect my Diamonds to face somebody that I'm not prepared to face myself, and so the time has come for me to once again lead my Division by example. Just like I did when I entered the very first Heiress to The Throne four years ago, and handed the one woman who has now gone on to become synonymous with the Diamonds Division her very first one on one loss - Eternity.
I may not have realised the dream four years ago, but I survived the nightmare, Rowan...
If I can do it once, I can damn sure do it again...
Because as Shea O'Hara proved two weeks ago at Bloody Assizes, no matter how deeply it festers in the recesses of your mind, fear only exists to be conquered.
So, this Monday, I will stare into the black abyss that has called my name for so long now, demanding satisfaction it has never found in all its years of unresolved pain and absolute misery...and I will not be the first to blink.
That much, I promise you.
You've made so many demands of me Rowan, you've demanded my Diamonds, you've demanded my attention and now you demand my fear...and in doing so you have reminded me of my limits. I have to draw the line somewhere, and so here it is, Rowan...
Make any more demands of me Rowan, and the only thing I will give you is the one thing you've always deserved.
My pity.
The smile in the mirror faded as Kathy Conway stared at her own reflection in the mirror. A hairbrush pressed over the hair which framed her right ear. There were a few more wrinkles around her dull blue eyes than she remembered, and an unwelcome streak of grey in her hair that she swore wasn't there yesterday.
Her confusion was subtle, at first, but as the stalled brush in her hand began to find its rhythm once more, it dawned on her that she had no idea what she was doing here. Quickly her mind processed her surroundings, they seemed to be both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
This was her bedroom, in her Las Vegas home, so why didn't she feel like she belonged here?
Something felt...wrong, she just didn't immediately know what, until she registered the wooden cane propped up against her chair.
She stared at it, trying desperately to remember anything about it.
Whose was it?
Why was it here?
Had something happened to Jake?
Was he injured?
Why couldn't she remember?
Her head was pounding and she reflexively abandoned the brush to massage her temples, still trying to make sense of all this, and as she held her own gaze in the mirror, she began to realise that she didn't recognise the reflection.
Now her heart began to thump in her chest, wanting out of its place almost as much as she wanted out of this place.
Kathy tried to find her feet, but soon regretted it as she fell out of her chair, landing hip first on an unforgiving floor. She grimaced as pain resonated from the point of impact down her leg, and then noticed the cane as it had fallen beside her.
Apparently it was hers, for now at least as she clawed at it, using both it and the chair as support to get her back up into a dignified position. Slowly she sat back down into the chair, and called on her detective instincts to help her find answers. It didn't take long for her to discover that none came to her.
The last thing she remembered with any clarity was a room at the Catalonia Goya hotel in Madrid, Spain, but the woman whose reflection she still helplessly probed in the mirror told her that it was reasonable to assume that she had not been there in years, and thus it was far more likely she was suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's.
A possibility that she just couldn't accept without proof, and so she called out to the one man she knew she could count on, her husband.
"Jake!"
His name left her lips tinged with far more panic than she intended. There was no answer, and as she looked down at her ring finger, her concern only intensified. There was no wedding band, and the lack of any tan line indicated that she hadn't worn one for years.
"Jake!"
A quest for answers rapidly became a please for help, and by the time Jake Conway arrived, she was already in tears. He rushed over to her falling to one knee beside her, his grown out hair peppered with the silver of age, but his face was still as warm and handsome as she could ever remember.
"Kathy, what's wrong," he said, instinctively wiping away the tears that had begun to glisten in her eyes.
"I...I don't know. I don't know where I am, or how I got here. I don't remember anything recent," said Kathy.
"The doctors said this would happen from time to time," said Jake.
"Doctors? What doctors? What happened, Jake? What happened to me? What happened to...us?" asked Kathy, noting that he wasn't wearing a wedding band either.
Jake now took Kathy's hand, and held her gaze, speaking softly.
"Well, what's the last thing you do remember?"
"The Catalonia Goya, we are - were - on one of IWF's annual European Tour - I have - had - a match with Rowan coming up, the first for me in the 2017 Heiress to the Throne tournament..."
Now Jake goes noticeably pale.
"Jake...what's wrong? What happened? Tell me, please..."
"And you - you don't remember anything else after that? The match?"
Kathy shook her head slowly as Jake sighed, he kissed her on the forehead.
"Perhaps it's better that way, she's put you through enough already," said Jake.
"She? Rowan? She did this to me?"
Jake says nothing, but Kathy persists.
"Answer me Jake, I need to know the truth."
Finally, Jake nods solemnly.
"What happened?"
"You don't need to know the details of what happened that night, just know that I've never forgiven myself. It shouldn't have happened. I should have been there, I should have done...something..."
"But you didn't, because you trusted me to handle my own business, and you wouldn't strike Rowan because you're not Spike Kane."
"No, I'm not Spike Kane, but I should have been, if it had been Pandora, he would have crippled Rowan, back then anyway, before Pandora proposed to him. The only thing I could do after that night was tell Verona that I was never coming back to work...and I've kept that promise. I retired from in ring competition, I walked away from the business...and I tried to stand by your side through it all, the appointments, the tests, and the rehab. Doctors telling us that it was very unlikely that you'd ever walk again, much less regain as much motor function as you did...eventually....because you're as stubborn as you are beautiful. Sometimes I forget that."
"How long have I...been like this?"
Jake didn't answer immediately.
"Jake?"
"Your match with Rowan was almost ten years ago," said Jake.
"Ten years?!" exclaimed Kathy, tears welling up in her eyes, "And us? What happened to us? How long have we been...separated?"
"Divorced," corrected Jake, "For almost seven years now."
"How could you?"
"I didn't, you did. You insisted it was better for the both of us this way, that you didn't want to hold me back, and that I deserved better than to be lumbered with somebody who may never walk again."
"So, why are you here now?"
"Because we all are, we're having an Independence Day party downstairs, they're all waiting for you. Spike and Pan, Andy and Dani, Astrid, Will, Emma, Caleb..."
"Wait? Spike's here? When did you two become so close?"
"Oh, right around the time you finally forgave him."
"Dad, come on, Mom's waiting for you downstairs, " said a voice interrupting them.
Kathy looked over and saw a brown haired teenage boy, Jake's son apparently, somebody else she had no memory of.
"I'll be right there, Jimmy," said Jake.
The boy shrugged and turned away, leaving Jake and Kathy alone again.
"Dad?" asked Kathy.
"Long story," said Jake.
Before she could press him any more, somebody else entered the room. Somebody who looked just like her, or at least how she used to look when she was much younger.
"Mom, are you okay?" she asked.
"Min?" said Kathy, "Oh my God, Min, is that you? You've grown so much!"
Now Domino approaches her mother, kneeling down in front of her, the family Kathy remembered was almost complete.
"Yes, its me," said Domino.
"And your sister, where is she? Is she downstairs too?"
Domino looks at her father, who looks hopelessly apologetic, and now Domino takes her mother's hand.
"No Mom, Soli's not downstairs, she's -"
"No longer with us," said Jake, sparing his young daughter the pain of delivering the news.
"What?" She can't be...dead," said Kathy, her eyes wide with the realisation that she did not remember anything about the death of her eldest daughter. "SHE CAN'T BE DEAD! BECAUSE IF SHE WAS I WOULD REMEMBER! I WOULD REMEMBER THE DEATH OF MY DAUGHTER!"
Kathy now shakes her head violently, panic coursing through her veins, her head pounding as she struggles to process all of this, the room starts spinning and she feels nauseous, until all she can do is scream one name in vain. The one name that started all of this.
"ROWAN!"
~~~~
Kathy sat bolt upright in bed, her face damp with sweat and her eyes wide with panic as she screams, startling Jake who was asleep beside her. Jake quickly clicks the bedside lamp on, bringing light to the Spanish hotel room before he instinctively hugs her and holds her, all the little things that helped her realise that it was just a dream.
A very bad dream.
No more words passed between them because none were necessary, and so it was that Kathy cried, openly in the arms of her husband, even as the drums of that dark howling abyss lingered in her mind.
There would be no sleep for her, not until this was over.
Well howdy there pardner.