==========
July 7th, 2019
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
==========
Glory Braddock’s living room in Miami, Florida is a
gorgeous, sleek modern design. It is also clean; almost to perfection
with barely a spot and even if one exists, it isn’t noticeable. The cream
colored sofa is soft, comfortable, and plush.
It is situated in front of a large flat screen television mounted on the
wall above a fireplace. The fireplace does seem slightly out of place as
it is the only piece in this living room that looks relatively
traditional. It isn’t used often; this
is Miami, after all. Glory wanted it for its looks. Another aspect of this living room is the
tension that is contained within. You
could cut it with a knife, as they say…
The British Bombshell sits with her husband Kurt
Logan on the sofa. Kurt is wearing a plain white t-shirt and denim jeans
while his lovely wife is dressed a little nicer in a pink skirt that falls to
just below her knees, pink high heeled patent leather pumps, and a white silk
blouse. The reason for the tension sits in a plush red leather chair a
few feet away, perpendicular from the fireplace; Braddock’s eighteen year old
daughter, Melinda.
Melinda is the oldest daughter of Glory
Braddock. The British Bombshell was pregnant with Melinda when she was
sixteen, the result of a relationship between Glory and a fellow student at the
Glenn Braddock Wrestling School. As if teenage pregnancy and early
motherhood wasn’t enough, The British Bombshell also got involved with alcohol and
drugs at an early age. Needless to say,
she did get cleaned up and turned her life around, but one could also argue
that the apple isn’t falling too far from the tree.
Her daughter has been caught in some unsavory
practices; getting dead drunk at a party, petty theft, and she, like her mother
when she was her age, got into a relationship with a student at the Braddock
Wrestling School; a boy named Clyde Sutter.
Glory hopes to address all of this today; she hopes
to deal with this and resolve her daughter’s problems once and for all.
And yet, while this list of offenses on the part of Melinda is quite large,
there is still one more major problem on the mind of Glory Braddock that she
wants addressed…
“How long has Matthew been training you?”
Back in April Melinda Braddock brought up the
possibility of becoming a professional wrestler and following in her mother’s
footsteps. Unfortunately for the younger Braddock, Glory didn’t want to
hear anything of this. As a matter of
fact, Glory outright forbade Melinda from training to become a wrestler.
Most outside observers could understand the concern
of a parent who doesn’t want their child to enter a full contact sport like
professional wrestling. It is a dangerous sport and you risk injury every
time to step into the ring. Glory knows this better than anyone and not just
because of her own fair share of injuries during her career. Glory’s own
father, Glenn Braddock, suffered a career ending back injury.
That’s the last thing she wants to see happen to her
beloved daughter. And yet if you thought that Glory’s entire reasoning
behind forbidding her daughter from training was based on the risk factor, then
you would be wrong.
As her husband Kurt, friend Sophie O’Brian, and
others dug deeper, past that first layer, it became evident that Glory Braddock
wants to protect her daughter from having the business of wrestling “shoved
down her throat”, as Glory put it, in the same way that it was shoved down her
throat by her own father.
Yet recently Glory discovered that Melinda had been
training secretly with Matthew Taylor, a professional wrestler whom Glory
herself had grown up and trained with at the Braddock Wrestling School.
“Since April.”
Braddock’s eyes grow wide and quickly narrow in
anger. “April?! That’s when you told me you wanted to be a wrestler!”
“That’s right.”
Melinda nods her head, affirming her mother’s suspicion.
“So you outright disobeyed me from the very
start?!”
“Yeah, I have, because you trying to keep me from
achieving my dreams is absolutely stupid!”
“Melinda!” Kurt
exclaims. “Do not disrespect your mother.”
“Oh come on,”
Melinda rolls her eyes “surely you understand what I’m trying to say?
I am eighteen years old. I’m considered
an adult now. Surely you would be on my side!”
“I’m not on anyone’s side.”
Kurt retorts. “And yes, you are eighteen, but if you want to be treated like
an adult you should act like it and respect your mother.”
Kurt’s words are successful in quieting
Melinda. Glory Braddock, however, shoots her husband a nasty look.
She wasn’t happy with Kurt’s opening statement about how he’s not on anyone’s
side. He should be on her side. She is right after all…
...isn’t she?
“Thank you, Kurt.”
Braddock remarks before turning her attention back to Melinda. “Now Melinda,
you have to understand that rules are in place for a reason. Rules are in
place and we cannot just disobey them because we think they’re stupid.
Let’s say a judge releases a murder from prison and I go out and shoot that guy
because I think he never should’ve been released from prison. What do you
think is going to happen to me?”
“You’re going to prison. Duh,”
Melinda rolls her eyes “but that’s a bit of an extreme example, don’t you
think?”
“Fine, then how about an example from the sport you
claim to want to become a part of? Syren orchestrated a massive,
multi-layered scheme all with the intention of framing Kennedy Street and
inserting herself back into the world championship picture. Now she’s
surrounded herself with Ravyn, CHBK, and others, now with the goal of keeping
the championship within their grasp. If
I went and started breaking the rules, if I pulled a scheme like theirs,
whether its a plot to frame Syren or a I cheat like hell in my match at Rise To
Greatness the way they do, wouldn’t that make me no better than them?”
There is a pause as Glory stares into her
daughter’s eyes. Finally the younger Braddock sighs and nods her head.
“I suppose you’re right.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
Glory continues. “Rules are here for a reason; we may not always agree with
them but they are there for a reason.”
“Well I definitely don’t agree with your rules.”
Melinda snaps back with venom dripping from her voice.
“Hold your tongue. I’m not finished, because
I have done some thinking about all of this; I have been thinking about why I
really am trying to keep you away from wrestling in the first place.” The
British Bombshell sighs deeply and then pats herself on the chest. “I didn’t
want to become a professional wrestler. My dream wasn’t to follow in my
father’s footsteps. It was your grandfather’s dream that I follow in his
footsteps and…”
Braddock’s voice trails off; this is difficult for
her to say. She does love her father, despite the tension that does exist
between the two underneath the skin. And she doesn’t like saying bad
things about him.
“...and I didn’t want to force that dream of
following in my footsteps and becoming a wrestler onto you, the same way he
forced it onto me. But I realize now that I have done just that, only in
reverse. I have been trying to force my
dream of you never getting involved in this sport at all upon you. I have
been working my bloody ass off to try and force that onto you. My father wouldn’t listen to me and let me
choose my own path, and here I was failing to realize that you had chosen this
path all by yourself.”
Some of the tension that existed earlier is
starting to fade away. It is replaced by a growing sense of excitement
being felt primarily by Melinda Braddock, which is evident based upon the big
grin on her face.
“Wait, are you saying I can continue
training? I can be a wrestler?”
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying.”
Glory nods her head. “You can continue training with Matthew. Or you
can joint AnteUp, BlackOut Academy…”
“Or your school?”
Melinda suggests.
Immediately Glory goes silent. She still has
reservations about her daughter training at the Braddock School. She
doesn’t want anyone to think her daughter is getting preferential treatment and
training at a school her mother owns would seemingly do just that.
Besides, training at a different facility might force her to learn other
principles about life, especially if she has to pay for it herself and cannot
lean on the Braddock family to fund it. Still, the Braddock Wrestling
School isn’t entirely out of the question.
“We’ll see, but that’s not all of it…”
Glory’s voice trails off.
The young Melinda frowns as she studies her mother
and braces for what may be coming next. She has a pretty good idea as to
what this is about.
“Melinda, you’ve been keeping a lot of secrets from
Kurt and me. Specifically regarding Clyde.”
“Oh mom!” Melinda
exclaims.
“Don’t start. Just tell me, how long have you
been with Clyde?”
Uh…” Melinda
pauses, hoping to buy time. Her mother won’t let her have any.
“Answer the question.”
Glory demands, raising her voice ever so slightly. “How long have you been
seeing each other?”
“Um, since February.”
“So you’ve been keeping this a secret from us since
February?”
Oh Lord,” Melinda
rolls her eyes “so what if I did? Is it any business of yours?”
“Yes, actually, it is.”
Glory nods her head. “We’re your parents.”
“So what?”
“So, we get a say in this, especially when your
choice of boyfriend is a bad influence.”
“Clyde is not a bad influence!” Melinda
exclaims.
“I’m with your mother on this one.”
Kurt chimes in. “Most, if not all, of your bad behavior started after you
started seeing him.”
“Kurt’s right.” Glory
says, nodding her head. “And I saw firsthand the kind of person Clyde
is. He has ruthlessly assaulted his fellow students at the school.”
“You two are not being fair to Clyde!”
Melinda exclaims again, hoping to get through to her mother. Glory,
however, is steadfast as she shakes her head.
“I’m sorry, Mel, but I forbid you from seeing Clyde
again.”
“You can’t do that!”
Melinda shoots up to her feet, her voice growing even louder.
“I just did.”
“Yeah?”
Melinda answers back. “Well just try and stop me!”
Melinda runs off, past her parents and out of the
room. Glory attempts to get up and go after her but Kurt holds his arm to
stop her.
“Hold on, Glory. Let her be…”
“What? Why?”
“Let her have some space. For now.” He
suggests. “Let her calm down and then we can go back and talk to her later.”
Braddock frowns as she ponders her husband’s
suggestion. Finally she nods her head. “Ok, I can wait. But
trust me, I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure she doesn’t see Clyde
Sutter again. He is nothing but bad news.”
“I agree, but if we’re not careful we may push her
right into his arms.”
==========
July 10th, 2019
Nashville, TN
Off Camera
==========
It has been several days since Glory Braddock laid
down the law to her daughter Melinda. Thus far all seems to be well with
no signs of any rebellious actions from the younger Braddock. The British
Bombshell hopes that what she said finally sunk in and that Melinda will obey
the rules she has set forth, especially regarding Clyde Sutter. Still,
better to be safe than sorry, and thus Glory has continued to keep Melinda
close by, including taking her on tour with her at the SCW House Shows and
Breakdown events.
Clyde Sutter is a problem. Braddock is
ashamed that she didn’t catch it sooner. She was even warned about him by
Sophie O’Brian, who had witnessed firsthand how aggressive and violent he could
get at the wrestling school, harming other students intentionally. Glory
didn’t want to believe it. She wanted to
believe the best of him. That was until
Braddock was there to witness Clyde destroy Sophie’s brother, Mark
O’Brian. Then to cap it all off, Glory
caught Clyde alone after hours in the wrestling school with her daughter
Melinda; both half-naked. It was clear that intercourse was on their mind
had Glory not shown up at that right time to break it up.
Braddock has booted Clyde from the school and has
forbid Melinda from ever seeing him again. She hopes that is the end of
it so that she can focus on the matter of becoming SCW World Champion at Rise
To Greatness.
It will be a triple threat match at Rise To
Greatness between her, Alistaire Allocco, and SCW World Champion Syren. The
ultimate goal, as far as Glory Braddock is concerned, is to make sure Syren
does not walk out with the championship. Inserting herself into the match
and making it a triple threat increases Syren’s odds of losing to two-thirds. Still, in the back of her mind Glory would
love to be the one to dethrone her. Call it ego if you want, maybe it is
ego, but Glory would be proud to hold the SCW World Championship high over her
head in victory at the end of the night.
She must remained focus. She cannot afford to
be distracted at this point.
It’s a busy time backstage at the Bridgestone Arena
in Nashville, Tennessee where SCW Breakdown has just concluded. The
British Bombshell wasn’t in action tonight and thus isn’t wearing her wrestling
gear. Instead she is in more normal
clothes, consisting of a knee length pink skirt, matching pink patent leather
pumps, and a silky white blouse. Her long blonde hair flows loosely and
unrestrained to below her shoulders. Walking
arm in arm through the backstage area with The British Bombshell is her
husband, Kurt Logan.
“So this is Supreme Championship Wrestling?
Not bad…”
“Not bad?”
Braddock raises a brow. “That’s the best you got, love?”
“They put on a decent show. I’ll give them
that.” Kurt says with a smirk. Glory, however,
isn’t smiling anymore. She frowns.
Kurt immediately starts laughing.
“Oh lighten up, babe. I’m just giving you a
hard time.”
“I figured you were, but I need to start getting
serious.” Braddock retorts. “A great deal is on the line
at Rise To Greatness.”
“I know, and believe me when I say that despite my
bullshit earlier, I truly am impressed with the show SCW has running right
now. It somewhat reminds me of my career in the ring. It’s almost enough to give me the itch to
come back.” He leans over and kisses her on her
forehead. “But no worries about that, you are the only wrestler in this
family right now.”
“Yeah, at least until Melinda finishes training and
turns pro.” Braddock says quietly. Kurt notices
the nervousness in her voice.
“You’re still thrilled about her following in your
footsteps, are you?”
“How can I be, Kurt?”
Glory asks with a sigh. “Every single time I think about her training, I
think back to my own relationship with my father. I think back to how he
forced this life onto me.”
Tears form in the eyes of the British
Bombshell. Kurt immediately takes her into his arms and embraces her
tightly. “It’s ok, babe. Remember, this time it’s her decision.
She made the choice of her own free will.”
“Oh I know, but it’s easier said than done when you
have these terrible memories.” Glory
says as she wipes some of the tears from her eyes.
“You know, you should really talk to your father
about this.”
“I did.” Glory
says with a sarcastic chuckle. “I really let him have it, in front of
everyone at the Braddock Wrestling School. It was somewhat embarrassing
for the both of us, as a matter of fact.”
“You told me about that.”
Kurt says with a grin. “But I mean sit down and really talk to him.
And by that I mean have an honest conversation where you also spend some time
listening to him. Tell me the truth, Glory; you never listened to what he
had to say, did you?”
“No…”
Braddock sighs and shakes her head.
“There you go. Sit down and talk to him about
these feelings you have. It can’t be good for either of you to be holding
it all in like this.”
Braddock hates to admit it but Kurt is right on the
money. She does need to deal with this problem between herself and her
father, Glenn Braddock, sooner rather than later. But she cannot do it
now. Not right now.
“I’ll have it out with dad eventually, but it has
to wait until after Rise To Greatness. You know I’m risking a lot here.”
“I know.” Kurt
nods his head with a warm smile. “But that’s what I love about you.
You could’ve used this any way you wanted to try to give yourself the edge but
instead you are using it to do what’s best for SCW.”
“What’s best for SCW is that Syren lose the World
Championship.” Glory growls angrily. Then as
she pauses, that anger is replaced by a smirk. “Though I have to admit, it
will be bloody great to win my fifteenth world championship.”
“Exactly. And if you want to inspire your
daughter, then that’s just the way to do it.”
Kurt leans in for a kiss, which Glory happily
accepts. They romantically kiss on the lips for several moments until
they break. Kurt chuckles lightly, gazing lovingly in his wife’s eyes.
“Can I have another one of those? Maybe later
tonight? Along with some other extra
curricular activities?” He winks. Braddock snickers.
“Maybe, since you asked so nicely.”
“Well then let’s go, shall we? Nothing
keeping us here since Breakdown has ended.”
“Too true, except we need to find Melinda.
Where did you leave her?”
“Concessions.” Kurt
answers. “She wanted to get some food to take back to the hotel.”
“Fair enough. Let’s retrieve her.”
Braddock and Kurt begin immediately make a turn
towards the left in the direction of the concession area. Kurt had been
making sure to lead them in that direction already, knowing that Melinda would
be waiting on them there. Thus it doesn’t take very long for them to
reach the concession area. When the pair
get there, Glory scans the area but finds it virtually empty and Melinda
Braddock nowhere to be found. She turns and glares at Kurt.
“So where is she?”
“I left her right over there.” Kurt
points to an empty corner. “She said she would wait there for us.”
“Bloody hell,” Glory
remarks with a sigh “this is the last time I trust her!”
“Just calm down, Glory. She probably just
wandered off somewhere.”
“I can’t calm down!”
Braddock exclaims. “My daughter just walked off and I don’t know
where! If she had never done it before that’d be different, but she has a
history of running off!”
“Try calling her.”
“Good idea.”
Braddock was in such a panic that she didn’t think of this obvious
answer. She dials her daughter’s number and waits...and waits...and
waits...Braddock sighs with frustration as she finally gives up and hangs up
the phone.
“No answer?”
“None.” Glory
remarks.
“Still, I’m sure she’s fine.”
Kurt wants to keep his wife as calm as possible but it doesn’t seem to be
working. Glory Braddock is in panic mode.
And who can blame her? Her
daughter has seemingly ran away. The British Bombshell starts to scan the
area again to see if she missed anything.
Suddenly she spots something she did overlook…
...or rather someone. Kimberly Williams is
standing not too far away from where Kurt said Melinda should have been waiting
on them. Kimberly and Glory are not close at all to one another but they
are distant family. Kimberly is the
daughter of Glory’s cousin Angelica Jones. Maybe she knows something?
It’s worth a try.
“Kimberly!” Glory
says as she walks over, with Kurt in tow. The Woman Scorned and staple
gun expert grins devilishly as Braddock approaches.
“Hi, Glory! What’s up?”
“Nothing really, Kim. And I hate to sound rude, but
I can’t talk right now. I’m looking for my daughter who apparently ran
off somewhere. Have you seen her?”
“Yeah, I remember her.” Kimberly
nods her head. “She already left.”
“What?!” Glory
exclaims.
“Yeah, she left with some big dude. Bald
head. Built rather well.”
“Oh God…”
Glory’s voice trails off. That is a rather vague description, but still
it fits Clyde Sutter. Could he really have followed them here? It isn’t that much of a stretch. Clyde
knows that Glory competes for SCW. He
would have known that they would be in Nashville. And Melinda is enamored
with him. Of course she would leave with him.
But was it really him?
“Are you ok, Glory?”
Kim asks. “Your face looks pale.”
“Uh, yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks, Kim.”
“No probs!” Kimberly
skips away happily. Once Kimberly is gone Braddock turns and looks at
Kurt.
“We have to call the police.”
Glory answers. “You know we have to. If this is Clyde…”
“I know,” Kurt states “and we will, but…”
Kurt is interrupted by the familiar tune of
Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett. It’s the ringtone he’s set for his
phone, specifically for when Melinda calls as she loves that particular
song. Whenever that song plays from his phone, Kurt knows it’s her. So does Glory and she immediately perks up
upon hearing this.
“Hurry! Answer the phone! It’s
Melinda!”
“On it.”
Kurt immediately takes out his phone and answers
it, putting the phone to his ear. “Melinda!”
Braddock is a nervous wreck as she watches her
husband speak with Melinda. She hopes and prays that her daughter is ok
and that she will come back. “It’s good to hear that you’re ok but where the
hell are you? Your mother and I are worried sick!”
Kurt’s eyes grow wide. “You’re with Clyde?!”
That’s something Braddock did not want to
hear. “You’re right I’m angry and so is your mother! That guy is
dangerous and…” Kurt sighs as he puts his phone away. He looks defeated and
dejected as he gazes at his wife.
“She hung up on me. But she did confirm that Clyde
was here; he picked her up and she intends to stay with him.”
It’s a mother’s worst nightmare that their daughter
falls into the clutches of a predator. Now it appears to Glory that she
may have pushed her daughter straight into the clutches of a man who may very
well be a predator.
“No.” Glory
shakes her head vehemently. “No, no, no!”
“Come here.” Kurt
embraces Glory in a tight hug. Tears flow down both their cheeks now as
they cannot contain the fear and the sorrow. “We’ll get her back.
It’ll be ok. We’ll get her back.”
“It’s my fault…”
Glory’s voice trails off.
“It’s not your fault.”
Kurt says sternly. “You did not do this.”
“Didn’t I?” Glory
asks. “I pushed her. I pushed too much. Now she’s gone…”
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