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October 12th, 2020
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
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There is an old saying, a proverbial warning if you
will, about “chickens coming home to roost.” What does it mean,
though? When used as a noun, the word ‘roost' refers to the place where
birds rest. When a bird roosts somewhere, it rests there. This rather old
saying, ‘chickens have come home to roost', is normally used to mean that the
bad things that someone has done in the past have come back to bite or haunt
the individual. In other words, it is a warning that your actions in the
past, no matter how long ago those actions may have been, will eventually come
back to haunt you. Further it is a warning that you cannot run from your
past. You cannot hide from it. You will one day have to face it.
Facing down challenges is something Glory Braddock
is used to by now. During her wrestling career she has faced down the
challenges of many champions, and in the process winning many pieces of gold
for her trophy case, and as of now she is the reigning SCW Adrenaline
Champion. The British Bombshell has taken on other challenges as well,
including the challenge of training a new generation of professional wrestlers
by taking charge of her late father’s wrestling school. Braddock has also
taken on the challenge of the corporate world by buying her own wrestling
promotion and building it up into her own image.
Her career has been a success by anyone’s
definition and she should be proud of what she has achieved.
Unfortunately Braddock has fallen prey to the same flaw of her father; she
wanted more. She was not content with the success she had, she wanted to
continue to move forward with bigger and better challenges. She wanted to
push herself in every aspect of her career. This obsession with being the
best has led to some poor decisions and bad judgment and those poor decisions
are now coming back to haunt her. Glory’s chickens are coming home to
roost at the worst possible time.
Even before her debut as a professional wrestler in
2008, Glory Braddock knew what she wanted to do; make a positive impact for the
sport of wrestling. Her family, beginning with Glenn Braddock himself,
the patriarch of the family, has always worked hard to improve the sport and Glory
knew that she would one day be responsible for continuing his legacy and
mission. Now that her father has passed on, the entire mission of the
Braddock family has fallen upon her shoulders. The self-proclaimed Best
in the World has done that through her wrestling career and by running her
father’s school, but she knew she could also make an impact in the business
side of professional wrestling. Throughout her career as a wrestler she
would watch as corporate suits would ruin the wrestling business; but she knew
she could do better. Buying her company, GCW, back in 2012 gave her the
opportunity to prove it. And over the past several years she has been
working to consolidate power and remove any threat to her rule. Yet the
cutthroat tactics she used to obtain unquestioned power in her company has
placed her friends and family in grave danger.
Her family was targeted twice by gunmen, once
outside of a hotel and they struck her husband Kurt Logan instead of Glory;
they tried a second time outside of a church and they struck Glory’s mother
Mary Ford who still is in a medically induced coma as a result. A third
time assassins tried to kill Glory by running her off of the road. And
now, most recently, they tried to poison Francis Taylor, the president of GCW
and sister of Glory’s close friend Matthew Taylor. There is no question
in Glory’s mind as to who is behind these attacks…
The Alan Family.
Matthew Alan founded the very company Glory now
owns. Matthew himself is being tried for white collar crimes but there
are factions within the company with connections to other members of his family
who would like to see him or his family back in charge of the company.
Glory truly believes that these are coordinated attacks intended to bully her
out of power or to simply assassinate her so that they can install whoever they
want as the new CEO of the company. So how does Glory respond?
The prideful side of The British Bombshell wants to
fight back. She doesn’t want to let them get what they want and she
doesn’t want to let go of what she fought so hard to obtain. But there is
another part of her that questions whether this fight is worth it. Her
friends and family have taken the brunt of this assault already and they are
lucky to be alive. Who knows how long until their luck runs out and these
assassins finally succeed?
All of those questions are on the mind of The
British Bombshell who finds herself in her corporate offices at Miami,
Florida. The office was painted grey, and it had only one floor-to-ceiling
window, which faced the main road. On the grey desk sat a desktop computer, a
notebook lying open, and a stack of papers sitting under a turtle-shaped
paperweight. In a corner, the air conditioner was blasting at medium, and there
was a swivel chair in the middle of the office. A bookshelf, bursting with
books was in a corner, with yet another stack of papers under a paperweight
that was shaped to look like a tuft of grass. A few pens were lying on the
papers, but some had fallen onto the top of the bookshelf.
She is sitting in her office, behind her desk, that
is right by a large window that overlooks the Miami skyline. The
beautiful blonde is wearing a black pencil skirt that flatters her curves, a
matching black suit coat over a white silky blouse. Her feet are encased
in black peep-toe high heeled pumps. Her long gorgeous golden blonde
locks of hair hang to just below the shoulders. The intense look on her face
tells the story of a woman prepared to do anything to defend herself and her
family. Today she is to confront the woman she believes may be
responsible for everything…
...Matthew Alan’s sister, Jennifer Alan.
BUZZ! The
buzzing from her desk phone indicates that her secretary is calling her.
Glory presses a button on the phone to turn it on speaker…
“Yes?”
“Ms. Braddock, your...um...eleven o’clock is here
to see you.”
“Jennifer Alan?” Glory
asks, just to be certain. There is a pause from the other end before she
receives her answer in the affirmative.
“Yes, Ms. Braddock.”
“Good, send her in.”
The SCW Adrenaline Champion steels herself in
preparation for what she expects to be a tense and rather volatile
meeting. This will also be a challenging meeting. Glory Braddock
was taught about business by a woman she once considered an adoptive mother,
Aphrodite Noel. Jennifer Alan, however, grew up in and around the
corporate world. Business is all Jennifer Alan has ever known. Glory will
be entering Jennifer’s world in an attempt to end this war. The only thing
Braddock has going for her is the fact that Glory is rather comfortable in this
world herself.
She watches as the door to her office slowly
opens. Jennifer Alan herself steps in the door and shuts it behind
her. Jennifer is wearing a dark floral print blouse, a nice pair of dress
pants, black patent leather high heel pumps, and her long brown hair has a few
curls to it but is otherwise left to hang straight and unrestrained to shoulder
length. Jennifer has a stoic gaze upon her face, as does Braddock. Neither
wants to be the first to blink, neither wants to give anything away. It
is almost like playing poker.
“Ms. Alan, I am glad you could make it.” Glory
is the first to speak, breaking the cold, tense ice of this moment. She
motions to a seat in front of her desk. “Please, sit down.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Jennifer sits down in a chair and looks around at the office, taking in the
atmosphere and environment. She nods her head, almost looking somewhat
impressed. “This is a nice office, Braddock.”
“Only the best. I hope your trip to Miami
wasn’t too difficult.”
“Not at all. I love Miami, actually.”
A confident smirk forms on Glory’s face as she
begins to feel more comfortable. “Me too. It is part of why I moved
corporate headquarters out of North Carolina and down here to Florida, that and
because of the fact that Florida is more business friendly than North
Carolina.”
Glory reaches into her desk and produces two small
glasses. She slides one across to Jennifer and keeps one for
herself. She reaches back into her desk and produces a small bottle of an
alcoholic beverage. She pours some into Jennifer’s glass and then pours
some into hers.
“Thank you.”
Jennifer takes a sip of the beverage. “I agree with you, by the way, Florida
is a better headquarters than North Carolina if the only consideration you have
is business.”
“Is there any other consideration to have?”
“Of course. You should also consider
tradition, something I thought someone like you would appreciate.”
Braddock furrows her brow. “Are you trying to
say something, Jennifer?”
“Yes, I’m saying that this company belongs in North
Carolina. And furthermore, this company belongs to me and my
family. That is what we’re here to discuss, isn’t it?”
Glory stares defiantly into the eyes of Jennifer
Alan. This is what makes Jennifer different from her brother.
Whereas Matthew would use deceit and manipulation, Jennifer was almost always
very blunt and straightforward. She is no different here with this
meeting today.
“Getting straight to the point then, are we mate?”
“I don’t see any reason to beat around the bush,
Braddock. We both want the same thing, and that is an end to a war that
threatens to wipe out both our families.”
The British Bombshell takes a sip of her drink. “I
agree. But don’t forget that you started all of this. You fired the
first shots, quite literally, when my husband, my daughter, and myself were
leaving our hotel several months ago. You hit Kurt and injured him but
unfortunately for you I was still alive.”
Jennifer chuckles. “Cute, coming from the woman
engaging in criminal activity in order to maintain control over her company.”
“And what does that mean?”
“Don’t play innocent, Braddock. I have my own
connections and I know everything. The day after the news broke regarding
my brother’s indictment on federal charges you saw an opportunity to get rid of
our family’s supporters on your board of directors. So you hired a
private investigator to do some digging. Am I right?” Jennifer
stares at Glory, waiting for a response, but Braddock remains silent.
Jennifer just chuckles as she sips her drink.
“That’s ok, you don’t have to say anything.
Like I said, I already know. It’s doubtful that your PI found anything on
my brother because, lets face it, he is good at covering his tracks. And
covering his tracks meant covering the tracks of those loyal to him. But
apparently he did leave one base left unchecked, that is the only way I can
fathom you convincing Meagan Collins to work for you. You blackmailed
her. And Meagan gave you all the information you needed to blackmail,
bully, or otherwise force our loyal supporters off of the board of directors or
to side with you. And yet here you speak with such righteous indignation
about your family being targeted. What did you expect would happen,
Braddock? And what did you expect would happen when you hired some
assassins to target me and my family?”
Braddock takes a sip of her drink before setting it
down. She points a finger at Jennifer. “I did not order the hit on your
family, Jennifer. That was all Meagan. I did not authorize that, I
would never authorize that.”
“Nevertheless your employee, Meagan Collins,
did. So of course you should expect consequences from actions like
that. You should have expected retaliation. Your family was
targeted again, am I right? Twice from what I hear. I am glad to
see that you are ok.”
Glory is fuming angry. Hate is boiling
over. She wants to beat Jennifer Alan down within an inch of her life
right here in this office but she knows that doing so is a huge mistake.
Jennifer is just baiting her. Glory must maintain composure and she takes
a deep breath to do so.
“Like I said, I did not authorize Meagan to do
that. So I got rid of her.”
“Yes and how did you get rid of her? Oh,
that’s right, the authorities conveniently showed up to arrest her when you
conveniently turned over evidence that you just so happened to find to prove her
guilt.” Jennifer smirks nastily. “You threw her under
the bus. You accuse my brother of being a criminal and yet you’re no
better than him.”
“I am no gangster.” Glory
says as she defiantly shakes her head.
“Oh yes you are, you are a gangster and you are a
hypocrite for pointing fingers at me and my family when you are guilty of the
same.” Jennifer takes another sip of her drink and then
sets the glass down. She stares down Glory Braddock. “So are you ready
to take this meeting seriously? Because lets face it, this bickering is
getting us nowhere. Just admit that you are not the saint you paint
yourself to be in the public eye and then we can move forward.”
The British Bombshell stares into Jennifer’s
defiant eyes. Glory pauses for just a moment before nodding her head. “You’re
right, I haven’t been true to myself lately. I haven’t been a good
person.”
“Good?”
Jennifer chuckles. “There’s your mistake, Braddock. There is no such
thing as good or bad when it comes to business. I admit you did well for
yourself but to do that you had to quit caring about right or wrong. When
you start caring about what’s right, about what’s good, then you will slowly
lose your stomach. And the fact that you want to end this war shows me
that you already have lost your stomach to be cutthroat and do what is
necessary to keep and maintain power.”
“You think I’ve lost my stomach?”
Braddock smirks. “Jennifer, I wonder if you have a soul. My daughter
and husband could have been killed. My mother is in a coma. All of
this because you targeted me. And your own family could have been
seriously injured or killed because of an attack Meagan Collins
authorized. Do you not care for the well being of your niece Geneva or
your sister Aurora?”
“Of course I do.”
“It doesn’t sound like it. It sounds to me
like you care more about getting what you want, you care only about yourself,
and not your loved ones. That is the mistake I made. And I am doing
my best to fix that. That is why I am here today meeting with you,
Jennifer. I am trying to fix my own mistakes that led to this war. No
one else needs to suffer because of our drive for corporate power.”
Jennifer pauses to consider Glory’s words.
She takes a sip of her drink and sets the glass down. A smirk forms on
her face. “You’re right, Braddock. This war needs to end and I am
willing to pull whatever strings necessary to bring about a temporary
ceasefire.”
“Temporary?” Glory
doesn’t like to hear the word “temporary.” She arches her brow out of
curiosity, wondering just what Jennifer meant.
“You see, Braddock, I do want something out of
this.”
“What do you want?”
“I want this. I want this office building, I
want all of the employees; in other words, I want my company back.”
“I bought it fair and square in 2012. It is
not yours.”
“It should be mine. My brother was unjustly
forced out of ownership by his business partner Mike Michaels. Michaels
wanted to merge with Daniel Herrera’s IDW but my brother didn’t approve.
He knew IDW was only taking advantage of us because they needed our help and we
were going strong. This company could have and should have survived on
its own and my brother knew it. Mike Michaels and Daniel Herrera forced
him out because he wouldn’t go along with their stupid merger idea. The
mere fact that it is here today is evidence that my brother was right.
But this company should belong to my family. We started this company and
we believed in this company when no one else did. Now I want it back.”
“You know I can’t do that.” Glory
states as she defiantly shakes her head.
“Why? Because you worked so hard to rebuild
this company? Because you made money off of my brother’s legacy?
Because you refuse to quit? Now who is being prideful? Now who is
thinking only of themselves?”
“That’s not what this is about and you know it.”
“Isn’t it?”
Jennifer stands up and stares down at Glory Braddock. “Just think about my
offer, Braddock. I will call for an end to the violence for now so that
you have some time to think and I want you to think about your daughter, your
husband, your mother, and all of your friends whom you have endangered because
of this war you started. You can end it but you have to sell this company
to me. I will pay a fair market value for the company. You will get
your money’s worth. But make no mistake I want the company and if I don’t
get it then the bloodshed will resume.”
With that Jennifer spins on her heel and storms out
of the office. The British Bombshell sits there in utter silence.
She is left with another difficult decision to make. She had hoped that
it would never come to this. She does love her company but she also
loves her family. She worked hard to build up this company and she is
proud of the work she has put into it. But she also wants to see her
family safe. The right thing to do is obvious, but Glory isn’t certain
that she has the guts to do the right thing.
==========
On Camera
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We open in front of the State Farm Arena in
Atlanta, Georgia. It is empty right now. Not a single solitary soul
in sight for miles around. It is also bright outside with the sun shining
overhead in the bright blue sky. A few moments later a beautiful blonde
female steps into view from stage right. It isn’t difficult to recognize
this as being the reigning SCW Adrenaline Champion, The British Bombshell Glory
Braddock. The champion is wearing denim jeans, black sneakers, a black
“SCW” t-shirt, and a brown leather jacket. Her long golden blonde locks
of hair hang straight and unrestrained to shoulder length. She has the
SCW Adrenaline Championship title belt draped over her right shoulder. A
stoic gaze is etched across her face, making it hard to determine what is going
through her head right at this moment in time.
“Arrogance, overconfidence, and just downright
cockiness can be a killer to anyone in the sport of professional
wrestling. Take my word for it because I know. It has bit me in the
ass before, one could argue that it bit me in the ass at Apocalypse. Or
if you don’t want to take my word for it then just ask Arthur Blank, who back
in 2017 was quite possibly the saddest rich bloke in human history. His
hand egg team...that’s football for your Americans…the Atlanta Falcons lost the
biggest game in the world of football, the Super Bowl, to my cousin’s favorite
team the New England Patriots. They were up by twenty five points late in
the game, all they had to do was run the damn ball but they got cocky, they got
arrogant, and they ultimately blew a twenty eight to three lead in the Super
Bowl.”
“But when you think of overconfidence in
professional wrestling who do you think of? Some of you out there may
think of yours truly.” The British Bombshell nods her head in
the affirmative. “I will readily admit that I have been a tad overconfident
in recent months but my confidence comes from my ability. I know how good
I am and I have proved it throughout my career defeating the very best this
business has had to offer. Everywhere I go I become golden and here I
stand in Supreme Championship Wrestling as your SCW Adrenaline Champion.”
Braddock adjusts the title belt over her shoulders and pats its centerpiece.
“When I think of overconfidence I think of none
other than my opponent for Under Attack, the number one contender to this
championship, Gavin Taylor. This championship isn’t unfamiliar to you, is
it mate? Unlike the aforementioned Falcons, you have been to the
mountaintop. You have tasted this piece of championship gold. You
beat Asher Hayes for it at Clarity. Things were looking up for you,
mate. But what happened to you? What happened to your glorious
title reign? I’ll tell you what happened; Asher Hayes kicked your ass and
took that championship back. Whatever personal opinions I may have of
Asher are beside the point, because the fact is Asher learned from his mistakes
enough to reclaim the championship. But you? Have you learned
anything?” Braddock shakes her head.
“The answer is no, you have learned nothing.
You have learned absolutely nothing. I mean, sure, you did earn the right
to challenge me for this Adrenaline Championship by defeating Jake Starr and
Aubrianna Powers at Rise To Greatness but if we’re honest with ourselves did
you actually do much of the legwork in that match? Starr did all the
heavy lifting and you just picked up the scraps by pinning Powers when he was
finished. Smart play, smart strategy, I’ll credit you with that, and it
was all perfectly legal in a triple threat, I’ll grant you that, but you took
the cheap and easy way out. And cheap and easy does not win
championships. Cheap and easy may get you close, but it will not get you
over that finish line. And cheap and easy is all you’ve ever been, mate.”
“Hell, you don’t get much more cheap and easy than
bringing out some tired, dusty, and retired old championships that no one with
any damn sense recognizes anymore and pretend you’re a champion. Just
because you carry a belt around doesn’t make you a champion, wanker, and yet
that’s all you did for months. Whether it was with Aubrianna Powers and
the so-called Mayhem Tag Team Championship or some other fantasy belt you
nicked out of the trash heap, you just carry around some toy with you and try
and make believe yourself a champion. But that’s all you are, Gavin.
You are just a make-believe champion and deep down in the conceited, arrogant,
egotistical skull of yours I think you know I’m right. Somewhere in that
head of yours you know that in order to be a true champion, a real champion,
you have to beat the best.”
Braddock raises the Adrenaline Title belt high over
her head. “And right now that’s me.” She sets her title belt back down
upon her right shoulder. “You may think you’re clever and I’ll admit that
your little games have gotten under my skin; don’t think I forgot about your
antics on Breakdown when you drilled Selena Frost in the head with the title
belt. You’re gonna say I should be thanking you but all you did was make
things worse for yourself because I wanted a clean win over Selena Frost.
I have wanted a clean win over her for a long time and you denied me that
opportunity. Do you know angry that makes me?”
A smirk forms upon her face. “But then again I
guess that makes us even? I did make your pompous ass wait on this title
opportunity. You have your games that you like to play and I have games I
like to play. You can play dirty? Well so can I only I do it
better. So I made you wait. And you know what they say, good things
come to those who wait. But nothing good will come of this opportunity.
Your arrogance and overconfidence is going to get you an ass kicking courtesy
of The British Bombshell.”
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