Your stage.

[Jennie Docherty / Djinnie!]

The air is filled with a wide decadent of aromas; French vanilla, hazelnut, Irish cream… Each one causes many to salivate while fantasizing of their first sip. Steam floats and disappears into the same air from the numerous machines that are working tirelessly to match the demand of the orders that are coming in. Despite the number of orders that are coming in, the crew that stand behind the counter greet each customer with a waiting smile, as they attempt to further seduce them with the treats behind the glass pane. The coffeehouse is filled with conversation and laughter from the rest of the patrons.

Hidden within this realm of wonder, the coffeehouse, is Allen Chaney. There is a paper cup beside his right hand, and his left hand holds a clipboard with a couple of papers attached; he curiously thumbs across a couple of the pages until someone garners his attention: the clanking of chains catches his attention, and he looks up to see Jennifer Docherty as she scoots past a couple of the customers but is unable to dodge every one of them.

“Excuse me! Pardon me! Watch your butts!” Jennie exclaims.

She wears black denim shorts, with chains attached and looping from the belt loop, as well as a studded belt. Knee high socks, a shirt that stops just above her waist, and a beanie to match the rest of the outfit.

She plops to a seat across from Allen and flashes a smile at him. She sets a paper bag on the counter and the crinkling sound overtakes the sound of everyone else as she starts digging into the bag, “They had banana nut muffins! Do you want one?” she asks all while pulling out two muffins…she doesn’t even wait for an answer before setting one in front of Allen, and the other in front of herself.

Allen moves his hands slightly, but still holds the clipboard, “Thank you,” he says, and mutters to himself momentarily before finally raising the clipboard, “What’s this? Is this some sort of hall pass list? ‘Cause there’s a lot of names, Jennie, and I just– I don’t know if I can sign off on–”

“A hall pass list? What?!”

“You know, one of those lists that people make that they– they–” Allen snaps his fingers together a couple of times, “They say that if they’re on the list, then it’s all fair!”

“Oh! Baby, no! That’s not a hall pass list, that list is much, much shorter.”

Allen blinks several times.

“KIDDING! I don’t have that kind of list!” Jennie giggles.

Jennie raises the muffin as crumbles begin to fall from the bottom; Jennie picks at the crumbs, but her bright eyes look at Allen who stays silent for a moment. He has a peculiar expression on his face; as if he were lost… confused… it was hard for Jennie to pick on the exact feeling, and she did not like to assume.

“What’re you thinkin’ about?” Jennie asks while popping a crumb into her mouth.

“Oh–” Allen twiddles his thumbs, and rolls his eyes momentarily as if to merely avoid eye contact, “Just have a lot on my mind, y’know? With PWE going on hiatus, and–”

“I heard about that.” Jennie interjects.

“Yeah… Anyways, that’s been one thing that’s just bothering me a little, but–”

“Y’know…” Jennie says, putting her hand over his, “You could come to IWF! I mean– if you wanted, of course, but y’know, the offer is always on the table! I just thought…y’know…it’d keep you busy, y’know? Get to bash in a few new faces–”

Allen’s lips curl into a grin when she mentions that, but he remains silent to allow Jennie to finish her own spiel.

“–work closer with me. I get–” Jennie stutters, and bites down on her bottom lip, “I have my own locker room, y’know? Perks of being the champ…” she says with a nod. “I just don’t want you to get bored.”

Sensing that Jennie’s spiel is over with the momentary silence, including the fact that she starts digging her nails into the muffin to pull another piece, Allen smacks his lips together a couple times to merely wet his lips, and he answers, “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll figure things out. But speaking of the whole IWF, you do have another title match coming up, annnd word has it, you wanted it? That last match you had, I’ll be honest, you kind of scraped by…”

Jennie snorts before answering, “You know the whole phrase: doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile: winning’s winning.”

“I know– Dom Toretto left that very important life lesson behind in 2001– and I get that, but it’s also good to have those decisive victories, y’know? The kind of victories that let people know why you are at the top of the company, and remind everyone how big the gap is between you and second place.”

“Babe…” Jennie says with a hint of arrogance and cockiness in her tone, “I defeated the two best champions in the history of the company… People were betting against me every step of the way. People were saying that there was no way that I would beat Tara! I did… People thought that Caroline was on cloud nine, and untouchable when she took the title away from Shelly, and thought that that momentum was going to carry her for a long time! I beat her… People thought that Shelly was going to take the title back because she never got pinned for it, and I beat her. And then I beat Brooklyn. People counted me out when I fought Atara at my sister’s show, but I beat her. I’m just really… so… used to people counting me out; so used to everyone calling me the underdog, but everyone they put in front of me, I’ve been beating them. I think it’s time people start treating me like a legit threat.”

“It’s pretty clear that you want this, and you’re hungry for it. I think they’d be crazy not to,” Allen replies. He takes a quick glance around the coffeehouse to see that some of the crowd has dwindled, and pushes himself a little bit away from the counter, “I’m going to use the bathroom, and then we should probably head out to make the showtime. I know you have to get your elf ears and stuff…leave it to you to cosplay at a screening of Dungeons & Dragons.”

“It’s all in the car already!” Jennie answers.

She plays on her phone while Allen walks away from the table, and after a couple of taps… LIVE! The numbers are already flooding from people tuning in for her live feed. Jennie sets the phone on the table with a stand as part of the case, and does her traditional “peace” sign at the camera whilst scrunching her face, and gives her own introduction, “Wassup, friends?! Your honorary djinn, the jinx, here to share with you some of the news… There has been a lot happening! I have– evolved– I am no longer Jennie-Two-Titles, but rather Jennie-THREE-” she holds three fingers up at her phone, “-titles! YES! Two weeks, friends. Two weeks of some GREAT matches! How great was High Stakes, by the way? It had ups, downs, twists, turns, disbeliefs! We had– EMMANUELLE sign with the company! We had… Matt Knox… come back, and–” Jennie rolls her eyes, “I’m not going into it!”

She leans forward, pressing her elbows against the counter. There are a couple people in the coffeehouse that have heard some of the commotion and are now peeking their own way into her promo, but she doesn’t refrain from continuing, “But the key factor that happened with IWF news is: I RETAINED! I am STILL the IWF Women’s World Champion, despite all of the people that are trying to COUNT ME OUT! Brooklyn– she put up a fight. She put up a great fight! And THAT– friends– is what I want. THAT is what I want as the champion! I want challengers who are going to get into the ring with me– push me– take me to my limits, and see if I can surpass them… much like Goku, always getting better! Always getting stronger, faster, and the determination he has to be the absolute greatest fighter in the universe!”

Jennie chuckles under her breath, and licks her lips. She nods, and then cocks her head to the side before resuming, “But that’s why I can’t stop now. I can’t stop and wait for Night of the Immortals– I can’t wait for Sorcha– I have to be back in the ring, DEFENDING MY TITLE! And that’s why I was itching for this match…that’s why I requested for IWF to find me an opponent– ANY OPPONENT– and make their dream come true by giving them a title shot! And, so…Latoya…” Jennie flashes a smile at the camera.

“Honey, how does it feel to be the lucky duck? To get your name drawn out of the hat and be up for a shot at MY TITLE– now, I’ve seen you…I’ve heard you running your mouth every so often, and ya even tried to run my name in my own hometown of Glasgow! What were you thinking there? Did you really think that my own people were going to cheer for you over me? And– just– delusions! DELUSIONS! Okay? You want to take what belongs to you? Honey, please, you haven’t done a damn thing to have any claim to this title– to my title. But you wanna be the queen? You wanna be the boss? This is your stage, girl.” Jennie leans back in her seat and gestures to her world.

“This is your chance to do everything you promised you would. This is your chance to take a title, and have your run with it… and… what is it you said? Take the title out of the black hole? This is your chance! And love, I want you to dig deep– I want you to dig deeper than you ever have, because you’ve shown that you can do some stuff inside the ring! I want you to bring every bit of that to it, and more, because I said it before…I’ll say it again…as the champion, I want challengers! I want a challenge! I’ve said it before; I’ll say it again: I did not take this title to hold it hostage! I did not win this title to parade around and claim myself as something that I’m not… I want to defend it. I want to defend it at Odyssey. I want to defend it at Sacrifice. I want to defend it at Night of the Immortals. I want to defend it at Bloody Assizes. I want to defend it at Legacy; Survival of the Fittest; Diamonds Are Forever; Metamorphosis; HIGH STAKES! And back…at Night of the Immortals…and we’ll keep running that back as long as I can– as long as I can continue to call myself the IWF Women’s World Champion, I’m going to be ready and willing to take on any challenger that IWF wants to put in front of me! But…Latoya…I really don’t think you have what it takes, and so let me go ahead and redirect this…” Jennie licks her lips.

“Sorcha, darling! Dearie! Love! Fae! Piuthar! I want you to pay attention to what I do this week… I want you to pay attention to what I’m going to do each and every week going up to Night of the Immortals, because there is going to be one thing racing through your mind when that fateful night comes up: you can’t win. You can’t beat me. It’s going to be a fact that you are going to face before we ever step foot in the ring! You’re going to– try. You can try! But… honey… My reign has just begun.”

“Oh, Jennie–” Allen says, and Jennie glimpses over her shoulder to see Allen down on one knee. The viewer chat is going crazy! The people in the coffeehouse have a round of applause, and many start flashing their own pictures of the couple. Allen glances back and forth, utterly confused. Jennie’s jaw drops, and her eyes widen, “I just wanted to–”

Jennie tosses her phone down onto the table, and covers her mouth, “Oh, Allen– oh, baby. No. No, no, no, no! We can’t– no! Not like this.”

“Huh?” Allen asks.

“Baby, please, we talked about this, and I told you that I just– I can’t– no. No, no, no, no, no!” Jennie stands up, and starts pacing back and forth, “After the last one– no! I can’t! I’m sorry, Allen, but I really can’t! No! I’m so sorry, I really hope– I don’t wanna hurt you– I’m so sorry, but…but no…”

Allen stands back up, and looks around the coffeehouse, “Will you all go back to your drinks?!”

“Not a chance!” one customer shouts.

Allen points at the guy, and wags his finger. He then steps forward and puts his hands on Jennie’s shoulders, “Jennie, no– I just was letting you know that I was back, and that we can leave whenever you’re ready.”

“Oh. OH! So you–” Jennie sniffles, “You’re not proposing?”

“No… It’s too soon.” Allen answers.

Jennie falls into Allen’s arms, hugging him as tight as she can, “Oh, that’s so great! I was like– worried– for a moment there…and…yeah…well, let’s go!” Jennie releases the hug, and starts gathering her stuff from the table; she hands her coffee over to Allen as she gathers the rest of her stuff, tucking her phone (still live) into her crocheted bag, and then turns her attention back to Allen and flashes him a quick smile. She takes the coffee with one hand, and then his hand with her other, and the couple start walking toward the exit.

“Besides, I have to see if you’re one of those people that talks during the movie.” Allen says reassuringly.

“Oh! I totally… am…” Jennie answers a bit nervously. “What were you doing down on one knee anyway?”

“I was tying my shoe.”

END.