Tensions Mounting

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Scene 1

Off Camera

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It has been a long time coming for The Sisterhood.  After distractions such as The Daughters of Darkness, Jake Starr, Tainted Justice, and Team Desire, after overcoming these and other obstacles such as the clusterfuck of Tag Team Turmoil and Lexi Von Aaron’s interference, finally Angelica and Kayla Jones are going to get what they’ve been after for a very long time…

…a one on one shot at the SCW World Tag Team Championship.

It’s been well over a year since Angelica and Kayla have held the SCW World Tag Team Championship.  They lost the gold to Gable Winchester and Autumn Valentine, a team who would go on to have a historically long run with the belts.  It was especially frustrating for the Jones siblings at that time because they were the only team to defeat Gable and Autumn one on one during their historic reign.  Unfortunately both of their wins were non-title matches.  They failed to grab the brass ring when it mattered.

Despite being the only team to beat Gable and Autumn, The Sisterhood had to share the tag title shot with not just one team, but with just about every team in Supreme Championship Wrestling due to the booking of Tag Team Turmoil.  And then The Sisterhood had that opportunity taken from them as well when Jake Starr caused them to be eliminated early in the match.

But now the distractions and the obstacles are all gone.  Shaun Cruze and AJ Helms have agreed to give Angelica and Kayla the tag team title match that they have earned and it happens on Breakdown live from Atlanta, Georgia.

Still there are other distractions that exist for Angelica and Kayla.  Primarily it is the personal crisis going on outside of the ring in Angelica’s marital life.  To be more exact, Angelica has no more marital life due to Lindsey Carter asking for a divorce and subsequently turning up missing.

The divorce was bad enough for Angelica.  She had gone through five previous relationships before Lindsey Carter came along.  Her enemies began to mockingly refer to her as a whore considering how many men she’d had by this time.  Angelica had hoped that she had finally found love with Lindsey Carter but all of that hope was dashed when Lindsey left.

She should’ve seen it coming.  It was destined to fail, considering the marriage was built upon a scheme by Meagan Collins to take Lindsey’s company from her.  It was built upon lies and deceit and, while Angelica did grow to truly love her, it was destined to doom.  No relationship built upon a lie can succeed.

Kayla Jones-Snow knows this all too well.  Growing up in the foster care of an abusive drunk, Kayla knows what trust means to a relationship.  She could never trust that family she lived with.  She grew to have a strong distrust of anyone she met.  To this day it is hard to earn the full trust of Kayla Jones.  And while she does love her older sister, despite the fact that she knows her older sister means well, Kayla cannot help but think that Angelica brought a lot of these problems upon herself.  Angelica did, after all, actively participate in Meagan’s scheme to take over Lindsey Carter’s company.  What did she expect to happen?

But Kayla observed for months how her older sister fought to reclaim herself and her identity from the demon she referred to as The Dragon.  But now that she’s been reminded of what she did to Lindsey Carter, Angelica has begun to doubt herself again.  She feels the darkness creeping back up.

Right now Kayla finds herself in an unusual situation: alone in a gym on the outskirts of Atlanta.  She is training by herself, decked out in red adidas pants, white sneakers, and a plain white t-shirt.  Her long red hair is pulled into a ponytail in the back.  Ever since she and Angelica reunited The Sisterhood and began to tag team again, they’ve tried to exercise and workout together.  It builds better tag team chemistry and oftentimes the team with the most chemistry wins.

Normally Kayla would not let Angelica out of a training session, especially one as important this; a few days before their SCW World Tag Team Championship match.  But Kayla also knows that Angelica cannot be distracted or lack focus on Breakdown.  Lacking focus, being distracted could prove to be fatal.  Angelica needs some alone time right now to clear her head of this Lindsey Carter business.

This isn’t Boston, it is Atlanta, thus Kayla has to attend a public gym instead of the Jones private gym in Boston.  She adapts well, though. There were a few who recognized her and her husband Trenton as they came in but she went straight to work over at the heavy bag.  She laid into it with vicious strikes and kicks.  Trenton is holding onto the bag, keeping it in place as best he can, but with his wife’s violent kicks even he is having trouble holding it still.

“You’re doing good, Kay, keep it up.”

“I know I’m doing good, Trenton!”

Kayla jumps in the air and does a spin kick to the bag, knocking Trenton back as he is unable to maintain his grip on it.  Trenton chuckles lightly under his breath.

“Wow…that was intense…”

Kayla smirks.

“Not my fault you can’t hold on.”

Trenton rolls his eyes.

“Whatever.  Do you want to try something else?”

“I’ve been beating the crap out of this bag ever since I got here, so I may as well try something else.”

Kayla storms past Trenton and heads to the treadmills.  Trenton follows her.  Kayla steps up to the treadmill and quickly turns the machine on.  It starts out as a slow pace, too slow for Kayla’s liking as she almost immediately cranks it u p to a much faster running pace.  Trenton looks at her quizzically.

“The treadmill, Kay?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong?”

“Is there any real point to it?”

“Sure, one advantage we have over Cruze and Helms is our speed.  So I need to make sure I am still at peak performance.  Besides…”

She sighs.

“…it isn’t like Angelica is here for me to spar with and work on actual wrestling.   I’m rather limited here in what I can do, babe.”

“There is a swimming pool here at this gym.”

“Yes, but I didn’t bring my bathing suit.”

Trenton smirks.

“I don’t see a problem there, Kay.”

Kayla shoots him a nasty glare from the treadmill as she’s running.

“…jerk.”

“Yes, but you still love me.”

“Of course.”

“Good, so you’ll tell me what’s really wrong with you?”

“You know damn well what’s wrong, Trenton.  Angelica and I have a tag team title match coming up and I’m the only one training.  She’s busy enjoying a day to herself doing God knows what.”

Trenton nods his head.

“Yes, but YOU were the one who suggested that she enjoy a day to herself.  YOU said it would be good for her to get out and clear her mind of this Lindsey nonsense.  You told her you and her could train together another day.  This was all your idea.”

Kayla narrows her eyes.

“…if I could, I would kick you right now.”

“Yeah, because you know I’m right.”

Kayla sighs out of frustration.

“Angelica does need to clear her head.  She does need to get her mind clear of this whole Lindsey Carter crap.  That whole marriage was a sham to begin with.”

Trenton arches his brow out of confusion.

“You sound awfully upset your ex-sister-in-law’s disappearance.”

“I feel bad for Lindsey.  Angelica pretended to care for her and love her so that she could lure Lindsey into that trap set by Meagan Collins.  Lindsey lost her company because of Angelica.  It doesn’t matter to me if Angelica grew to care for her or not, the fact is that marriage was destined to fail because it was built upon a lie.”

Trenton nods his head.

“True, but like you said, Angelica grew to really care about her.  Plus she feels legitimate remorse for what she did.  Angelica needs to get over this, don’t you think?”

“I agree, that’s why I told her to enjoy this entire day to herself.  I’m just worried about her.”

Trenton tilts his head to one side.

“Why?”

“Someone has taken an interest in her, Angelica; a not so subtle interest, either.”

“Aphrodite?”

Kayla nods her head.

“Bingo.”

“Well in fairness, Kay, she is a grown woman.  Don’t you think she can take care of that herself?”

“I’d like to think so, but…”

She sighs and shakes her head.

“…but you just don’t know Angelica like I do.  When she’s in the frame of mind she’s in now, she tends to make mistakes.  Her judgment disappears completely.”

Trenton smirks.

“You really think she’d entertain Aphrodite?  Or do you think Aphrodite even is curious about her?”

“God I hope not…”

==========

Off Camera

Scene 2

That same time of day at a bar in Atlanta

==========

Much like most bars in this city, there is a stage for recording artists and wannabe sings to entertain the crowd.  Most of the well known singers don’t lower themselves to performing at bars but Angelica Jones is not like most of those singers.  For starters, she is not among the most well known of country music artists.  True, she does have a legitimate recording career with a recording label.  She was once with Taylor Swift’s Big Machine Records but now she is having her career managed by her own younger sister, Kayla Jones, whose business recently got into the music industry.  In 2003 she released her first album, “Firestar”.  Her second album was released in 2005, “I Light the Fire”.  After over a decade long pause, she released her 2014 album titled “Legacy”, a play of her promise to revive her legacy.  In 2015 and 2016 Angelica would release two albums while with Kayla’s company, titled “Welcome To My World” and “Game Changer” respectively.

Needless to say, Angelica’s singing career is not something to be mocked. It is legitimate.  But to say it is her primary objective would be a falsehood.  Angelica could be as big as the current country artists of the day if she chose to focus on her singing career but she feels a duty and an obligation to her professional wrestling fans and, more importantly, to her sister Kayla.  She feels obligated to try and win back the SCW World Tag Team Championship.  Due to that fact, Angelica’s singing career is regulated to small concerts once in awhile as well as singing at bars, either scheduled or on karaoke night like tonight here in Atlanta, Georgia.

Atlanta is the city that will play host to SCW Breakdown, the night Angelica and Kayla finally get their long awaited one on one shot at the SCW World Tag Team Championship against The Honor Code.  Singing tonight serves a dual purpose; it gives back to fans of her music and it helps her to take her mind off of what will no doubt be one of the most challenging tag team matches of The Sisterhood’s tag team existence.

“Well she seemed all right by dawn's early light, though she looked a little worried and weak.  She tried to pretend he wasn't drinkin' again but daddy left the proof on her cheek.”

Angelica is on stage with microphone in hand.  Many of those in attendance tonight at this small bar in Atlanta recognize her not for her music but for her wrestling career.  It doesn’t matter to Angelica.  She is here to entertain and thus she bolts out the lyrics to the best of her ability, which is quite good, causing a roar from the patrons.

“And I was only eight years old that summer, and I always seemed to be in the way.  So I took myself down to the fair in town, on Independence Day.”

The words “Independency Day” draws yet further roars from the fans.  They recognize that she is covering “Independence Day” by Martina McBride, which happened to be the very first song Angelica used as an entrance theme when she debuted as a professional wrestler in 2003.  This song is special to the Boston native for that reason and thus she always makes it a point to cover this Martina McBride specialty whenever and wherever she sings.  Angelica is grinning from ear to ear.

“Well, word gets around in a small, small town; they said he was a dangerous man.  But mama was proud and she stood her ground, but she knew she was on the losin' end.  Some folks whispered and some folks talked, but everybody looked the other way.  And when time ran out there was no one about on Independence Day.”

Angelica pumps her fist in the air to draw more enthusiastic cheering from those in attendance.  Many react with cheers and others raise their glasses in the air as a symbolic toast to Angelica Jones as she prepares to belt the electric chorus line to this famous song.

“Let freedom ring!  Let the white dove sing!  Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning!  Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong!  Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay, it's Independence Day!”

Angelica’s body is moving to the rhythmic beat of the song.  Then something odd catches her eye as she looks out at the audience, all of whom are cheering loudly with all of their heart and soul.  Whatever it is she saw, Jones doesn’t let it sway her or shake her.  She continues…

“Well, she lit up the sky that fourth of July, by the time that the firemen come.  They just put out the flames and took down some names, and send me to the county home.  Now I ain't sayin' it's right or it's wrong but maybe it's the only way.  Talk about your revolution.  It's Independence Day.”

Once again she pumps her fist into the air and then points out into the crowd.

“Let freedom ring!  Let the white dove sing!  Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning!  Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong!  Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay, it's Independence Day!  Roll the stone away, it’s Independence Day!”

The music slowly dies down but the cheering of the audience does not.  Angelica, who stands on stage in an ankle length black floral print maxi skirt, black flats, a black “Supreme Championship Wrestling” t-shirt, and her signature black leather jacket, does a slight curtsy before handing the microphone over to the disc jockey.  Jones steps down from the stage and then immediately scans the room for that thing she saw earlier.

It’s still there.

Jones makes a beeline past fans who want her autograph or acknowledgement.  Normally she would stop and talk but right now she’s on a mission.  She moves past them all to the back of the bar to a table where she finds a beautiful female sitting at a booth all by herself.  The woman is quite known to Angelica as they have had their rounds from time to time in the Global Championship Wrestling squared circle.

“Aphrodite Noel.”

Aphrodite greets Angelica with a rarely shown smile.

“The one and only.”

“So have you finally elevated yourself from twitter stalking to real life actual stalking?”

Angelica chuckles as she winks at Aphrodite.

“Some things are better said in person. Don’t think I didn’t notice you favoriting the photo I posted too. I was more shocked by that then you were of me favoriting yours.”

“Yes but I could always make the argument that I was just returning the favor for all of your favorites.”

Aphrodite nods.

“True. By the way, I thoroughly enjoyed your performance. If you weren’t wrestling full time you could have made a full time career out of singing.”

Angelica chuckles and nods her head.  The Boston native sits down across from Aphrodite in the booth.

“Thanks.  Sometimes I wonder if I’m just crazy.  I could be living a much nicer life as a singer but instead I get paid to get my ass kicked on a weekly basis in the mere hopes of winning championship gold.  Hell, trying to belt out a good song is much easier than trying to defeat Shaun Cruze and AJ Helms for the SCW World Tag Team Championship.”

“You and your sister are tough. I know that from first hand experience. I wouldn’t worry too much. I can’t attest to how tough Honour Code is, this isn’t you and Kayla’s first rodeo with tag title matches. The belts will be yours, I’m confident of that.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.  I can’t speak for Kayla, but I sure could use some confidence right now.  I’ve been down in the dumps lately anyway and the last time we went up against Cruze and Helms, they beat us.”

“Or...”

Aphrodite leans forward.

“You could use a distraction. No need to drive yourself crazy worrying about what happened in the past and what will happen in the future. You just sung your heart out. Feel good about that.”

A grin forms on Angelica’s face.

“You seem to know me well.  That’s why I came out here in the first place.  I need a distraction.  I need something to get my mind off of everything that’s been going on lately in SCW and in my life regarding…”

She sighs.

“...Lindsey.”

Aphrodite leans back. She knows exactly what Angelica is talking about.

“Sorry about that. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll take good care of Lindsay’s business. I have no clue what I’m doing. I’ll figure something out.”

Aphrodite shrugs.

“It was a bit opportunistic of me to take control of her business away from Meagan, I view it as a win-win. Meagan’s career is no longer tied to mine. And I get to start anew. Ever since I broke things off with Chris Davids I’ve been in a state of limbo. I looked at my life. I asked myself do I want all this? I made changes that were necessary, it all started with me being who I am instead of hiding behind the mask everyone wanted me to be. I’m free now. Lonely... but free.”

Angelica shakes her head, running her hand through her long red hair in a sense of frustration.  She holds out all five fingers on her right hand.

“I’ve had five relationships, Aphrodite.  Five.  At least two I can safely say were my fault that they ended.  Me and Lindsey ended because the marriage began on a lie.  I…”

She chuckles.

“...I pretended to love her to trick her into marriage and thus signing that prenup Meagan wrote so that Meagan would gain control of the company if Lindsey and I ever ended our marriage.  And let’s not forget that I put a bullet through the head of my first boyfriend...the father of my oldest daughter.”

Tears form in Angelica’s eyes.

“I tried so hard to rid myself of this demon within me, the demon I called The Dragon, but after this Lindsey business, after being reminded of what I did to her, I’m beginning to wonder if there is any good in me at all?  I’m wondering if I deserve any happiness or if I just deserve to be alone...for the rest of my life…”

“You’re not a monster, Angelica. We’ve had our differences in the past, correction, still do in all likelihood. We’ve worked for the same company long enough for me to tell you with one hundred percent certainty that there is good in you. You have a good relationship with your daughters right now right? Despite the mistakes you’ve made with them. You and Kayla have a solid relationship. The world can see that.  It’s easy for everyone else to say don’t beat yourself up because of the mistakes you made. Besides, no monster would question if there is good in them.”

Aphrodite smiles. Angelica ponders what she said as she shuts her eyes.

“I used to be a nun once.  I went to confession on a weekly basis, not that I had to, I just wanted to.”

She chuckles.

“You know why I liked confession so much?  It felt better to get this guilt off of my chest, telling it to someone else, rather than speak it to some invisible deity whom I cannot detect.  You know?  It always made me feel better.  And this has helped.  Thank you.”

“That’s a change of pace. Beat being called evil all the time by the resident Scooby Doo Gang of GCW.”

Aphrodite sighs.

“Since we are in the confession spirit, I have one of my own. The reason why I favorited your photos is because I find you attractive. Even when things were more volatile between us I found you easy on the eyes. It’s more then that... I guess.”

Aphrodite crosses her arms.

“We’re Alpha females. We love to dominate, we love to bend people to our will. What you call The Dragon I view as the part of your personality that takes no prisoners, that wants to win and consume everything in its path. I’ve always been that way. So when I wanted to force you to worship me that’s all that was, one predator challenging another predator. I despise weakness. And you are not weak. You are one of the strongest people I know. For me that’s all it was, one predator against another. Maybe it is a lot more than that, or always has. I don’t know. That’s what I want to find out. Does my interest in you go beyond one predator wanting to conquer the other or.. Is my interest in you something else entirely..”  

Angelica is somewhat stunned to hear this admission from Aphrodite.  She stares silently at first, taking it all in, before finally sighing and beginning to speak…

“You know, I never thought of The Dragon like that.  I always looked at it as something I needed to get rid of.  I even tried to get rid of it, and with my good friend Sister Maria’s help I thought I had rid myself of it.  Part of my troubles, my concern, is due to doubt...doubt that I had really gotten rid of it...the Lindsey situation made me doubt that I had gotten rid of it…”

She shakes her head.

“...but you make a good point.  Maybe it isn’t something I can get rid of; maybe it’s just the part of myself that wants to dominate?  In that case it’s just something I should accept as reality and control rather than get rid of.  As for your interest in me…”

She winks.

“...Kayla has suggested that I move on from Lindsey, that I get back out there in the dating scene…”

Aphrodite tilts her head to the side.

“Is that your way of saying you’re willing to entertain my interest in you? You do know who I am...”

Aphrodite smirks.  Angelica smiles as well.

“Look, despite what people may say about you, you are not evil.  There is only one true good and one true evil, in my opinion.  Everyone else falls in a shade of gray between the two.  Some of us are more one than the other.  And besides, I…”

She sighs.

“...I need someone.  I mean, I have Kayla but that’s different.  She does love me and I love her but she can’t give me the kind of attention I need.  I’ve tried five times to have happiness and failed and I can’t help but think I’m at fault.  If I am good like you insist I am, then I can’t give up.  Eventually I will find the right person.  I just have to try.”

She laughs lightly.

“I mean,  it has been quite awhile since I dated, but last I checked dating was all about checking to see if something is there.  As unusual as it may appear...maybe there is something between us?  We won’t know until we’ve tried.”

Aphrodite extends her hand anticipating Angelica to shake it.

“I agree. It’s worth finding out.”

Angelica takes her hand and then, in a surprising of her own, kisses it before shaking it.

“Yes, let’s…”

==========

Off Camera

2 Hours Later

==========

Kayla and Angelica Jones up until recently had shared a hotel room when they were on tour with Supreme Championship Wrestling.  It made sense to them.  Angelica Jones may have been married to Lindsey Carter at the time but Lindsey never came on tour with them, and Kayla was still single.  It made perfect sense for them to share a hotel room.  Some sibling pairs may not have done that but for the Jones sisters it worked out.  They’re very close and they felt they were doing a service to one another by keeping the other company.  Kayla had no one else in her life and Angelica’s wife was not with them most of the time.

That all changed the moment Kayla married Trenton Snow.  She knew she could no longer share a hotel room with Angelica.  Trenton jokingly said he would have no problem sharing a room with two beautiful women, but Kayla knew it was not practical nor was it right to him and her as a couple.  Angelica insisted that she would be ok traveling alone.  Besides, it wouldn’t be as if she were truly alone.  Angelica and Kayla always made sure to have the same hotel and rooms next to one another.  So it wasn’t as if they had been cut off from another.

Nevertheless, Kayla was still concerned.  She had always been secretly concerned about the stability of Angelica’s marriage to Lindsey Carter due to the fact that they were married based upon a lie.  The situation was exasperated due to the fact that Lindsey never came with them to any SCW events on any of the tours.  Lindsey claimed she didn’t care to travel, but Kayla doubted how much a long distance relationship like that can take.

Kayla wasn’t surprised in the least when Lindsey wanted a divorce.  Angelica was, but Kayla wasn’t Kayla saw it coming a mile away.  But now with Lindsey gone and Angelica’s mental state rocked from the news, Kayla was even more concerned that her sister would be alone and how that loneliness would affect her.

To combat it, Kayla made sure to keep close tabs on Angelica.  Some might think Kayla was being overprotective.  No matter.  Kayla was worried about her state of mind.  She wanted to make sure she was getting along ok.  And as annoying as some may find it, Angelica was never bothered by her younger sister texting her or calling her just catch up.

Angelica always responded because she knew it would put Kayla’s mind at ease.

Yet on this night, she hasn’t been responding and Kayla is troubled as she paces the floor in her and Trenton’s hotel room.  Trenton is lying in bed reading a magazine, somewhat oblivious to his wife metaphorically creating a trench as she gazes at her iPhone, anxious for it to react…a buzz…a ring…anything from Angelica…

“Come on, Angel, call me back…”

Trenton sighs upon hearing this.  He lowers his magazine and gazes at Kayla.

“She’s probably sleeping.”

“She knows I get worried!  She should put my mind at ease and contact me, damnit!”

“She probably just forgot and fell asleep.  So let her sleep.”

“Yeah, sleeping with who though?”

Trenton smirks knowingly.

“Hey, now that’s a pleasant image.”

Kayla stops her pacing and immediately turns to face Trenton, glaring angrily at him.

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing!”

“That’s what I thought.”

Kayla resumes her pacing.  Trenton sighs.

“Look, if you are that concerned about her, just go next door.  You have a key to her room and her room is right next to ours.”

Again Kayla stops pacing.  She reaches into her pants pocket and produces the aforementioned key Trenton was referring to.  She stares at it and sighs.

“I don’t know…I don’t want to invade her privacy…”

“You won’t be invading her privacy.  She told you to come over anytime you wanted.  So just go.  Put your mind at ease.”

“I don’t even know if she’s there…”

She sighs.

“…the last time I spoke to her was when I told her this morning to go out and enjoy the whole day to herself.  It’s night.  She should be in bed.  She knows we have a training session TOGETHER tomorrow.  She can’t be out this late when we have a tag title match to focus on.”

“First of all, babe, you are not her mother.  Whether you like it or not, you have to let go of this over-protectiveness of yours and let her live her life.  Secondly, you and your sister have the best tag team chemistry in SCW.  No one can match the chemistry of a sibling duo.  Individually you’re formidable, together you can beat anyone, including Cruze and Helms.  You worry too much. Third…”

He motions to the wall that, no doubt, separates their room from Angelica’s room.

“…if you are still this damn concerned, just go next door.  You’ll find out real quick if she did come back  or if she’s still out enjoying the night.”

Kayla gazes at Trenton and then back down at the key card that would allow her entrance into her sister’s hotel room next door.  After a few moments of thought Kayla finally sighs and nods her head.

“Ok, I’m going to check on her…”

“Good.”

Kayla turns the knob on the door and then exits the hotel room.  She walks a few feet down the hall to the very next hotel room door next to hers.  Kayla inserts the key card and she hears the door unlocking.  Kayla pushes it open and then steps inside, letting the door shut behind her.

“Angelica?”

Kayla walks further into the room.  She finds her older sister on the bed wearing a beautiful black white ruched mesh adorned corset with a subtle pleated frill at the top and trim along the bottom line to add a very elegant lady feel, coupled with lace sheer thigh high stockings complete the look.  Angelica is chatting with someone on the phone but that doesn’t strike her immediately.  What strikes her immediately as unusual is the fact that this definitely was NOT part of her attire when she left today…

“Uh-huh, yeah…”

Angelica senses that she is no longer alone in the room.  She turns her head and finds her sister there.

“…yeah, I’ll call you back. Believe me, I will.”

Angelica hangs up and places the phone down on her bed.  She turns around and gazes at her sister Kayla.

“Hi, Kay.  Uh, what are you doing here?”

Kayla places her hands on her hips and stares at Angelica sternly.

“I wouldn’t be here at all if you answered your text messages.”

“Oh, yeah…”

Angelica smiles sheepishly before chuckling lightly.

“…I was kinda distracted.”

“I can tell.”

Kayla sighs as she walks over to the bed.  She sits down next to Angelica.

“You know why I worry about you, right?”

“I do, but you don’t need to worry.  I’m fine.  I really am.  And I’m sorry I didn’t contact you.  Like I said, I got a little distracted.  I was talking to a friend.”

“Someone you met tonight?”

Angelica nods her head.

“You could say that.”

“Who is it?”

Angelica shakes her head.

“No one you would know.”

Kayla smirks.

“What I really want to know is where the hell you got that outfit.  You damn sure didn’t come on the tour with it.”

“You’re right.  I didn’t come to Atlanta with this.  I ended up at a bar tonight where I sang some karaoke…”

Kayla rolls her eyes.

“Giving away free concerts again, eh?”

“…you know it!  Anyway, I was at a bar during karaoke and I decided to go shopping afterwards.  I found this little number and absolutely had to have it!”

Angelica hops up off of the bed and does a three hundred sixty degree turn like a fashion model.

“How do I look?”

“You look stunning, sis!  Still though…”

“What?”

Kayla furrows her brow as she stares at Angelica’s incredible beauty.  Kayla shakes her head.

“…something seems off.”

Kayla reaches to the bed and snatches Angelica’s iPhone before Angelica can react.  Kayla quickly keys in the passcode, as Angelica and Kayla, being extremely trustworthy of one another, shared each other’s passcode with each other.

“Hey!  What are you doing?”

Angelica reaches for it but Kayla gets up and starts to move away.  Kayla meanwhile moves to the photo library and finds several pictures of Angelica in this new outfit.  Kayla frowns and then turns back to face her older sibling.

“You took pictures of yourself?”

“Of course.  I do look great in this, don’t I?”

“Yes, and lately you’ve been sharing any and every picture under the sun to the idiots on social media.  Seeing you in an elegant dress is one thing, but they don’t need to see you looking like this!”

Angelica shakes her head.

“I’m not going to share it on twitter.”

Kayla stares at her sister intensely for a few moments before nodding her head.

“I believe you, but I still wonder just who you ARE sharing this with…”

“What?!”

Once again, before Angelica can react, Kayla has gone deeper into the phone, into the text messages.  Kayla’s eyes grow wide as she gazes at the first one that popped up.  She then looks up at Angelica who sighs, looking defeated, as if she was just caught with her hands in the cookie jar.

“Look, sis, I can explain...”

“Yeah, explain why the hell you sent APHRODITE NOEL a picture of yourself looking like a whore!”

“It’s just a picture, ok?  Calm down.”

Kayla shakes her head.

“No, it’s not just a picture.  I bet Aphrodite was the person you saw tonight, wasn’t it?”

Angelica pauses, refusing to answer at first. Kayla grows more and more frustrated and finally shouts angrily.

“WASN’T IT?!”

Angelica nods her head.

“Yeah, I saw Aphrodite tonight.”

“I’m not dumb, Angel.  I can see what’s going on.  She starts stalking you on social media by favoriting all of those damn pictures you posted.  You don’t think anything of it but that’s where it all started.  Then you see her tonight.  You have what you perceive as a friendly chat.  Suddenly you’re finding yourself dressed like a whore sending more pictures of yourself looking like a whore to Aphrodite.”

Angelica places her hands on her hips.

“And what’s wrong with Aphrodite?”

Kayla’s eyes grow wide with shock, stunned that she heard her sister ask this question.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s because she did permanent mental damage to our cousin Julia and damn near did permanent mental damage to our other cousin Glory?  Maybe it’s because she’s a psycho bitch who has wanted to own us from day one?  Maybe it’s because she’s…”

“SHE’S MY GIRLFRIEND, OK?!”

Kayla is silenced by this shocking admission.  Angelica sighs and nods her head.

“Actually we just decided to start dating, see if anything is there.  So yeah, she may as well be my girlfriend.”

Kayla finally recovers from the shock of the news and glares angrily at Angelica.

“Have you lost your ever loving mind?!  Aphrodite is a bad person, Angelica!”

“She’s bad, Kay?  She’s evil?  Some have said the same thing about us.  Shaun Cruze even made some rather incendiary accusations directed towards us.  Are we bad people, Kay?”

“Yeah, bring up Shaun Cruze, because that further illustrates my point. We have a tag team title match coming up and you’re hitting on an evil individual.”

Angelica shakes her head.

“She’s not evil, Kayla, she just made mistakes.  I’ve made mistakes too.  She’s alone now, so am I.”

“That’s nonsense.   You’re not alone.  You have me and Trenton.”

Angelica chuckles.

“Yeah, right, you can give me only so much of what I need as an individual.  If you tried to give me all of it, we’d have something incest going on.”

Kayla furrows her nose in a look of disgust.

“Eww…”

“And as for Trenton, as much as I’m sure he’d LOVE the idea, I KNOW for a fact you do not support sharing your husband.  Besides, I want someone of my own who can satisfy my needs and make me feel special.  It’s been forever since anyone has ever taken a liking to me.  No one ever favorited my photos, no one ever posted photos of me.  And it may have started with twitter but it goes beyond that.  No one has showed any true interest in me in a very long time, Kayla.  You have your happily ever after with Trenton, and I am truly happy for you, but I need mine.”

Kayla shakes her head.

“You can and will have that special person, Angel, but it damn sure won’t be Aphrodite.”

“You can’t stop me, Kayla.”

Kayla gazes at her curiously.

“What’d you say?”

“I said you can’t stop me.”

“Look, Angel, I’m just trying to look out for you.  I’m trying to do what’s best for you.”

“What’s best is for you to remember that you are my younger sister.   You are my tag team partner.  You are many things to me. But you are NOT my mother.”

That sent Kayla over the edge.  She reared back and attempted to slap Angelica but Angelica blocked it and then instead slapped Kayla across the cheek instead.  Angelica is genuinely shocked that she did that.

“Kayla, I…I just reacted I’m…I’m sorry…”

“No, don’t apologize…”

She points a finger at Angelica.

“…but know this, what we have together as The Sisterhood, what we have is special.  No matter what happens between us right now or going forward in the future can destroy what we have. What makes us strong is that we view each other as equals.  There is no leader in this team.  And together we’re going to beat the shit out of Honor Code and take back the SCW World Tag Team Championship.  I can promise you that.”

She shakes her head.

“But I can also promise you that you will not be treated as Aphrodite’s equal.  That’s not how that bitch operates.  You will be Aphrodite’s bitch and you’ll eventually figure that out.  You may decide then you want my help or you may decide you like being her bitch.  Either way, I will promise you something else…this relationship will also fail…”

Angelica is on the verge of tears.

“Kayla, please…”

“No!  I kept my mouth shut about Lindsey, even though I knew it would end in divorce.  I kept my mouth shut because you seemed genuinely happy and I didn’t want to be the one to ruin it.  I see I made a mistake. I should’ve told you.  Well I won’t make that mistake again.  I’m going to be completely honest with you right here and now and tell you that you and Aphrodite will not be equals.  She’ll the Alpha and you will be the Beta.  You will be the bitch.  And this relationship will fail.”

Kayla turns to walk away but Angelica places a hand on her shoulder.

“No, stop…I don’t want you leaving like this…not…”

“Stop, Angelica.”

Kayla swats her hand away.

“I told you, The Sisterhood is fine.  Our relationship is fine.  It’s just going to be different from now on, because I can see Trenton was right all along.  I should just leave you alone and let you make your own decisions and pay the consequences of those decisions.  You’re a grown woman, if you want to fuck up your life, have at it.”

“Kayla, I…I’m sorry…”

Kayla nods her head.

“Yeah, me too.”

With no further words to be said, Kayla exits her sister’s hotel room.  As soon as Kayla is gone, Angelica drops to her knees on the floor and begins to cry.

==========

On Camera

==========

Bill Parcels says, “if you got anything to you at all as an athlete and a competitor, you don’t care what the circumstances are.  You still got competition.”

Easier said than done, Mr. NFL Hall of Famer and former Super Bowl winning head coach.  But if anyone epitomizes that quote it would have to be the Sisterhood.  I still remember the time we reached our peak, it was at Under Attack 2015 when we defeated Standing Room Only to become the SCW World Tag Team Champions.

It was a grand and glorious moment.  I never wanted it to end.  Oh but it did end, all too suddenly forty two days later at Final Level 2015 when we lost the titles, without being pinned, to Autumn Valentine and Gable Winchester.

Since then we’ve had circumstances galore thrust our way.  We had to beat Autumn and Gable in a non-title match to earn a title match and we did.  We beat them a second time in another non-title match.  We were thrust into Tag Team Turmoil instead of getting a one on one shot, and we were screwed by Jake Starr out of our title opportunity…

…to be fair, so was Shaun Cruze and AJ Helms.  But at least Honor Code got their revenge, they beat the B&B Experience for the tag team titles.  They made things right.

We never did get to make things right for us.

We were then under the assumption that we would get our tag team title match against Honor Code but the circumstances of Shot of Adrenaline thrust AJ Helms into the semi-finals and thus we did not get to compete for the tag titles. Instead we got Shaun Cruze and the Honor Code Wannabe Lexi Von Aaron.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell once said “the healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort.”

The Sisterhood always competes with their absolute best effort.  Sometimes we win, sometimes we don’t, but we always can leave with our head held high knowing that we did everything we could to win.  Though even a team made up of Angelica Jones and yours truly needs a healthy reminder every so often that they are not the end all be all.

Helms, Cruze, we’ve danced before.  I remember it well because that was the first time you had this strange impression that we were arrogant, and perhaps we were a tad arrogant that first time around.  Perhaps we did overlook you.  Hell, I’ll go as far as to admit that we did overlook you.  You beat us, you humbled us.

But you know what else you did?  You lit a fire under our ass.  You gave us motivation because ever since then Angelica and I have made it a point to never again let that happen.  Never again would we be caught napping, not putting forth our absolute best effort.  Never again would we look past anyone.

And since that loss to you boys, we have been on a tear.  We beat everyone in the tag team division from Adrenaline Rush to Autumn and Gable, Tainted Justice and Team Desire.  And who knows what would’ve happened had Jake Starr not stuck in his nose in our business and cost us in the Tag Team Turmoil?

Gianni Versace said that “it is nice to have valid competition; it pushes you to do better.”

Versace?  Really, Angelica?

Yeah, what’s wrong with him?  He makes good shit.

Whatever.  Go on.

Anyway, competition does make you do better, and that’s why The Sisterhood is in SCW in the first place.  We know we have the ability to beat any tag team on the SCW roster.  You line them up, we’ll knock them down.  We’ve been practically doing just that ever since we lost the titles to Autumn and Gable.  Every obstacle put in our way, we have managed to overcome.  We had our rough patches when we thought The Sisterhood was dead but we resolved to stick together, we resolved to keep fighting, and not to give up on our dream of regaining the SCW World Tag Team Championship.

We refused to be dejected or dismayed when we got defeated.  We learned from our mistakes.  We eventually would get back that victory.  Each team that beat us, we would come back and beat them.

Except one team…only one team still holds a win over our head and that one team is the final obstacle keeping us away from the mountain top…

Honor Code.

True competitors, true champions, they learn from the mistakes they’ve made in the past.   Trust me when I say that we have learned from each and every defeat.  Each and every loss has helped us to grow and to improve as a tag team.  We know why we lost to you the first time and we will not lose again, I can guarantee you that.

We learned a lot about ourselves as a team from that first encounter and we also learned a great deal about YOU as a tag team.  But we’re not going to share we learned from you or about you from that first encounter.

We’re not giving away our strategy in advance.  You’ll just have to find out on Breakdown.

Though maybe I should ask you what you have learned about The Sisterhood?  You apparently haven’t learned much about our character.  We’ve shown nothing but the utmost respect for you as a tag team because you’ve earned it.  You are the SCW World Tag Team Champions and that makes you the best.

But that’s also why we want to beat you, because we want to prove that we are the best and the only way to do that is to beat the guys who hold the belts.  So until we beat you on Breakdown, you ARE the best tag team…

…so enjoy being the best.  It won’t last much longer.  Your reign as tag team champions and label as “the best” is on the clock and your time is running out.  The Sisterhood has come calling and we want our belts back!

That’s the kind of people we are, Cruze.  Are we bitchy at times?  Yeah.  But we’re tough bitches, we’re confident, and we will not back down.  But when we’ve been beaten fair and square we’ll admit it and always give those who beat us honestly their fair due.  We are not these arrogant individuals you paint us as being.

And we’re also the kind of people that, when we see something we want, we go after it with every fiber of our being.  That’s why we’re targeting you.  You two have something we want.  You two have the SCW World Tag Team Championship.

What kind of person are you, Shaun?  From what I’ve observed, you’re the type of person to freak out and lose your cool over the smallest of things.  They say redheads have short tempers but hell, Kayla and I have nothing on you.  No matter we say you think it’s disrespectful.  No matter what we say, you think we’re being crass, classless, or arrogant.  Seriously, are you just naturally grumpy or is it something you ate?

Shaun, have a snickers…you’re not yourself when you’re hungry…

Don’t misinterpret.  We do respect what you’ve accomplished.  We recognize how good you are.  But The Sisterhood will not stand idly by and let our character and reputation be questioned by anyone.  Not even the so-called Honor Code.

Now you want to be the “honorable” tag team, sportsmanship and class and all that.  I respect that and I agree, more teams and more people should be honorable and respect tradition.  But I don’t care how Honorable you are, no one died and made anyone judge of morality here in this company.  It’s a simple matter of knowing right and wrong.

Angelica and I know right and wrong.  We know what we’re doing and we know we’re doing things the right way.  If you disagree, fine, that’s your opinion, but we don’t take cheap shots, we don’t cheat.  We don’t need to in order to beat you, Shaun.  But choose your words carefully, because as I said, we’re not going to stand idly by and let you call our character into question just because you and AJ are the almighty Honor Code, the interpreter of all things Honor!

Whatever.  I just hope you understand that your so-called “win” at Retribution was tainted.  Your team CHEATED to beat us at Retribution.  You want to talk cheap shots and cheap tactics?  Your team took the cheap way out at Retribution.  Yeah, Lexi was the one who pulled my tights, but just as you win as a team and you lose as a team, you CHEAT as a team.  Lexi helped you take the cheap way out.

Congratulations.  Now let’s see if Honor Code is willing to put its money where its mouth is, let’s see if you are at least HONORABLE enough to admit that you did not earn that win.

Mahatma Gandhi said that “we win justice quickest by rendering justice to the other party.”

You got your justice.  You beat Blake and Bree to win the tag team titles.  But The Sisterhood have not had our justice. We’ve been jumping through hoops, overcoming obstacle after obstacle put in front of us…even though we were the only team to defeat then World Tag Team Champions Autumn and Gable…

…twice…

…we still had to defeat Tainted Justice.

…we still had to defeat Team Desire.

…we still had to participate in that Tag Team Turmoil Match.  Only now are we getting our one on one shot at the tag team titles.  And despite any attempts on your part to spin it otherwise, YOU are the ones with all the pressure.  You’re favored.  Smart money is on Honor Code.

You’re the champions, you don’t have to beat us to leave with the gold.

You’ve already beaten us once.

One party has achieved their justice, one party has obtained what they’ve wanted all along.  Now it’s time for the other party to get its justice…to get what it wants…and we’re going to get our justice, Cruze.  We’re going to get our justice, Helms.

Last quote comes from a truly great philosopher; Plato.  And no, Lexi, I don’t mean the dog from Disney.

Plato said, “justice means minding one’s own business and not meddling with other men’s concerns.”

I hate it for you two, I truly do, but you have a bit of a Lexi problem, don’t you?  She’s that third wheel guest that you don’t want.  She’s annoying, she’s interferes in your matches…

…not very Honorable, though admittedly you can’t control that nitwit.

AJ Helms, you have all of the potential in the world to be a first ballot hall of famer, future world champion, hell, Supreme Champion here in SCW.  And up until this point you’ve been proving all of those who believe in you, myself and Angelica included, right.  But you and I both know that potential is being threatened this very moment by Lexi Von Aaron.

Over the course of your rookie year you’ve been very quickly indoctrinated into the harsh realities of professional wrestling, and I’ll give credit where credit is due, you’ve hung on thus far, but make no mistake about it, AJ, The Sisterhood will give you the fight of your life on Breakdown.  It will be a fight you haven’t been in before and you had better be ready.  You had better be focused on the task at hand…

…or we will own your ass.

Though I have to ask, can you focus on Angelica and me with that idiot running around?  Lexi is not your problem right now, boys, your problem is The Sisterhood because we are going to take the fight to you with or without Lexi there.  Hell, if Lexi is there, I’ll whip her ass too.

Forget about the crazy bitch.  Focus on the immediate threat to your tag team titles.  I can promise you, I swear on my own mother’s grave that The Sisterhood will do everything in our power short of cheating to become SCW World Tag Team Champions!

And she means it, she never swears on mom’s grave.

Shut up!  Point is, that we are willing to bleed, to sweat, and to pay the ultimate price to become SCW World Tag Team Champions once again!  I broke my freaking neck and I came back from it!  So do I have the heart?  You damn right I do!

Hey! What about me?

…Yes, Angelica has that same heart, that same drive!  She’s had her fair share of injuries too and she has come back from each and every one of them!   Our journey of redemption, our journey of vindication, has lasted well over a year now and we still have nothing to show for it.  But have we quit?  Have we given up?

No, we have not given up.  We are right here, ready to get up in your faces at Breakdown and fight.  We are ready to compete for the tag team titles, but more importantly we are…

…ready to kick your teeth right down your throat!

That was my line, Angelica.