Joining
A week vanished in the blink of an eye, and the departure date for Detroit was suddenly right on top of us.
The wrestlers heading to Detroit this time were Michael, Edward, and Tyler—three of the guys—plus Selma, Dorothy, Taina, and me. Seven of us in total.
The numbers were smaller than the Milwaukee trip, but with Dorothy, Michael, Selma, and me all going together, the actual firepower we were bringing was way higher.
This time, though, WWO had a special request.
Early Friday morning, the director called all of us in.
“They want every one of you driving up instead of flying.”
All seven of us just stared at him.
“Drive from Orlando to Detroit? That’s eighteen, maybe nineteen hours.”
I hadn’t even started calculating the time, but Michael already had a rough estimate.
“That’s right, Michael. About that long. Looks like WWO wants to see how adaptable you all are. And honestly, they’re not wrong. This situation is special. Luxury plane rides almost never happen. You’re always moving by car. Even if it was Orlando to Boston! And this time you have to book your own lodging too.”
The director’s office went so quiet you could hear someone swallow hard.
Orlando to Boston would be two full days of nonstop driving, wouldn’t it?
Just thinking about it made me shudder. I really needed to start looking into that camping trailer rental Jane had mentioned last time. That way, once The Live was over and we moved to WWO, we could use it right away.
“Don’t even dream of going alone. Travel together.”
“When do we have to arrive?” Dorothy asked, already frowning.
“You have to make the Sunday afternoon training session. For the sake of your condition, you’d better be in Detroit by Sunday morning at the latest. All right—once you’re packed, leave together.”
First order of business was deciding whose car we were taking.
Selma’s sedan was out. Taina drove a pickup that was comically oversized for her tiny frame, so that was out too. Dorothy had an SUV, but it was an older model than mine.
“Charina, we’re taking your car.”
“Fine by me. Let’s hurry home, pack, and meet back up. An hour and a half enough?”
“Good. Meet here by noon and we roll.”
The guys decided to take Tyler’s car and we coordinated with them too.
I rushed home, packed my bags, grabbed some snacks from a convenience store, and waited for the others.
One by one they showed up.
“We’ll rotate drivers every hour and a half.”
“Works for me.”
“While Charina’s driving we should also book rooms.”
“Weekend—I’m worried there won’t be any left.”
“Sunday and Monday should still have openings.”
Tyler’s car took the lead and I followed.
This was the first time in this life I’d driven more than thirty minutes straight, but an hour and a half was completely doable. Once we cleared downtown Orlando the roads were empty.
And the real blessing was that I was traveling with people I actually liked. If even one awkward person had been in the car, the whole trip would have been hell.
“Which brand do you think we’ll end up on?”
Once we were out of Orlando and the rooms were booked, the conversation naturally turned to wrestling.
“Dorothy’s going to one of the main brands, right? The rest of us to NEXT?”
“I don’t want to be the only one going to Law or Smash Down. And looking at Charina’s form lately, she might go up too… Charina, you hear anything?”
Dorothy’s words from the passenger seat made the back of my neck prickle. In the rearview mirror Selma and Taina were staring holes through me.
“I haven’t heard a thing.”
“Liar! Jane told you something, didn’t she?”
“Selma, I really don’t know anything. Just that after The Live in November every brand is getting a full roster overhaul.”
“We already know that much. Ugh. We’re probably moving to WWO, but I’m already worried about what comes after. We’ll have to adapt all over again.”
Selma’s sigh was echoed by the same look on Dorothy’s and Taina’s faces.
“TPA’s going to disappear, right?”
“Probably. Even if the entire TPA roster transfers over, they’ll still be short on talent—and some people are getting cut.”
“What about that bitch Natasha?”
“Whoa. Didn’t expect Taina to be worrying about Natasha.”
I’d heard the two of them had actually come to blows once and still hated each other.
“They say keep your enemies close where you can see them. Now that she’s out of sight I’m even more suspicious. Who knows what kind of mess she’ll start.”
“Yeah… I’ve got a really bad feeling about her.”
Selma and I barely knew anything about Natasha Blancherd, so we spent the rest of the drive listening to Dorothy and Taina recount every bit of trouble they’d had with her on the way to Detroit.
We left at noon on Friday and pulled into a small Detroit hotel at two in the afternoon on Saturday.
Not eighteen hours—twenty-six.
It was a long haul either way, and arriving early wouldn’t have given us anything useful to do, so every time a rest stop appeared we pulled in and took a real break. That stretched the trip out even more.
At the scattered rest stops a few male eyes drifted our way, but the second they spotted the three big guys with us they looked elsewhere. We arrived without a single incident.
In the hotel lobby Dorothy looked us over and said,
“I know you’re tired, but stretch properly before you rest. And try not to nap if you can help it. You’ll mess up your sleep cycle and then you won’t sleep at night. You all know what happens if we screw up a Law show, right?”
Dorothy had actual WWO experience, so she knew exactly how to handle this kind of situation. Unlike the big hotels we’d stayed in before, this place was tiny, so she also warned us to check the food and watch for hidden cameras.
“Dinner’s at a chain pizza place.”
“Pizza? Pass.”
“Yeah, not feeling it.”
Taina and Edward clearly hated the menu.
“It tastes the same whether you’re in Orlando or here. No chance of a miss. And they have pasta and chicken too. Just deal with it.”
“Can’t we just go to a regular restaurant nearby?”
Taina really didn’t want pizza and kept pushing for somewhere else.
“Unless we’re going somewhere expensive, this is safer. If the whole group gets food poisoning we could end up in a lawsuit. And have you forgotten where we are? This is Detroit. You cannot just wander around feeling safe—especially at night. Stay in the busy areas.”
That shut Taina up completely.
We drove the ten-minute walk to the pizza place and each ordered something we could actually eat. Taina?
After a long internal debate she settled on cream pasta and a chicken leg and ended up cleaning her plate.
“Well, look at that—once you start eating you do just fine.”
“Gotta fill up if I want to sleep early. If I’d known it was going to be like this I would’ve booked a nicer hotel.”
“In smaller towns the rooms get even worse. Places like New York, the lodging costs are insane. So you save where you can.”
“Whoa, Dorothy. That’s actually badass.”
Michael clapped and praised her.
“Michael, I’m not joking. Among the retired legends, the broke ones outnumber the rich ones by a mile. Live large and that’s exactly where you end up.”
Selma leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“Damn. If Anne or Elizabeth had come with us we’d be screwed right now, huh?”
On paper the three of them had similar careers, but Anne and Elizabeth had never worked for WWO. Only Dorothy and Natasha had.
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. This is what ‘experience’ actually looks like. Dorothy’s crushing it today.”
“Totally.”
Stamford, Connecticut. CCO’s office.
Paul was receiving a guest together with Danny Bantrell, Senior Vice President of Talent Relations.
“It’s been a while, Sara.”
“I’ve seen you on TV, but aside from the hair color you haven’t changed a bit. You haven’t aged at all. Must’ve been pretty comfortable over there.”
Paul’s greeting was ordinary. Danny’s was pure sarcasm.
Sara Bankis didn’t rise to it.
“Yes. It’s been a long time, both of you. And thank you for taking the meeting.”
“Hmm. Time heals all wounds? Your patience has improved. The old you would’ve snapped already.”
Sara gave a faint smile.
“It’s been five years. And EAW is an excellent place to learn patience.”
“Hahahaha! Maybe we should send some of our kids over there for a study-abroad program. Sorry—just testing you. Welcome back, ‘The Boss’ Sara Bankis!”
Danny laughed and held out his hand. Sara shook it with a smile of her own.
“We’ll match the same terms you had at EAW. One year, then we raise it. Sound good?”
“Sounds good.”
“You’ve gotten decisive. The old you would’ve haggled over every detail.”
“Did I? I don’t remember.”
Paul thought that in the five years he hadn’t seen her, Sara’s mental game had gotten a lot tougher.
“In exchange, for that full year I’ll guarantee you a top-line championship.”
That one actually surprised her. Her eyes went wide.
She clearly hadn’t expected a top title right out of the gate.
“Really? You’re serious?”
“I’m serious.”
“Law? Smash Down?”
“Neither.”
“You’re not sending me to NEXT, are you?”
Paul briefly considered teasing her, but he had another meeting soon and couldn’t spare the time.
“Of course not. You think I’d send you to NEXT?”
“Then…?”
“It’ll be public soon enough, but for now this stays confidential. Can you do that?”
“Of course. Even when I caused trouble, I never caused that kind of trouble.”
“True.”
Only after getting her confirmation did Paul continue.
“Once The Live in November is over, we’re announcing that we’ve acquired TPA. You already smelled that coming, right?”
“Yes. The rumors have been everywhere.”
“We’re launching TPA as a brand-new brand. And we’re giving you the World Championship of that new brand.”
Sara’s expression turned a little complicated. She was probably thinking it would be some half-baked midcard brand.
“Heh. You think it’s going to be a shell brand, don’t you? It won’t. It’ll be on national television and Jetflix from day one. And we’re completely reorganizing the rosters of every brand. A lot of top talent will be moving over to the new one. You just join once the roster is set. Satisfied?”
After hearing the full pitch, Sara broke into a bright smile.
“Yes. Completely satisfied.”
“Good. Do the medical, and if everything’s clean we sign immediately.”
Paul and Sara shook hands, both smiling.
“Things are about to get busy, so take a little trip first.”
“Heh. I need to get my body ready. There’s this ridiculous rookie who’s been making noise…”
“Charina? I have no plans to make her champion anytime soon. Even if I do, it’ll be a secondary title. Your paths won’t cross.”
“Still, I’d like at least one match with her.”
“That much is easy enough. Go on.”
“Yes. Thank you for your time.”
After seeing Sara and Danny out, Paul was reviewing materials for the upcoming meeting when his phone rang.
Ring… ring…
“Casey? What’s she calling for at this hour?”
He answered his second daughter’s call immediately.
“Casey. Why are you calling me at this time of day?”
“Dad! I think I can graduate early in December.”
“Ohhh! Congratulations, sweetheart! You started school early and now you’re finishing early too. That impatience is pure Mom. It wasn’t just Ayla who got the short fuse. Really proud of you, Casey.”
“Thanks, Dad. So… you’re giving me a graduation present, right?”
His eldest, Ayla, was the affectionate one who always wanted gifts. Casey and the youngest, Amy, almost never asked for anything. Once they hit ten they just said, “If you’re going to buy something, just give me the cash.”
For this kid to ask for a present…
It was almost as shocking as Sara Bankis’s personality change.
“Of course, Casey. What do you want? What should I get you? A sports car? A house?”
“Not that kind of thing. Um…”
“It’s fine, just tell me. What do you want?”
Casey hesitated, drawing it out. Paul didn’t push. He just waited.
“Dad… so, um…”
“It’s okay. Spit it out. I’ll get you anything.”
“Okay. I’ll say it. Dad! Give me the general manager spot for the new brand. If I’m going to be a GM, I want to start as soon as possible. You’ll give it to me, right? Please?”
Paul pressed both temples with his free hand.
His second daughter had inherited her mother’s ambition too.
Maybe the person who carried the old man’s blood the thickest wasn’t Stacey after all—it was Casey.
Handing her the GM role itself wasn’t a problem. General managers still moved according to the scripts, and any real headaches could be controlled from here.
There were just two issues.
One: she was still far too young. She wouldn’t even turn twenty until next January.
The other: Casey was a hardcore Charina fan.
She’d been full of schemes since she was little, so he had absolutely no idea what her fandom might make her do.