To The Stars - 12. August, 2018

Sunday, August 12th

"No phone tonight," Diego told her firmly. "Every time you look at your phone, you're buying me a drink."
"What if it's important?" Rachel looked at him with a frown. "What if my mom's dying?"

"Like that's important to you," he scoffed, and she shrugged and they both began to snicker.

It was true. Diego felt the same way about his parents as well. He would always love them, but they did not recognise his children as they were all born out of wedlock. They did not accept his sister, who was a lesbian, and she was dead for all Diego knew. Pretty soon, they might not even accept him. If they saw him kissing stupid Lance on-screen like he'd been doing for weeks now, they'd disown him on the spot. He always suspected they didn't watch KADA as much as they said he did, and this was proof. Had they seen it, he would have received a furious phone call by now. He called his parents for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter and Christmas and that was enough for all of them. He used to visit once in a while, but since they banned him from bringing that "whore" into their house - Rachel, his girlfriend, not wife, with whom he had a sexual relationship - he hadn't done so in nearly two years.

"We need to get Gloria a boyfriend," Diego remarked, thinking about his beloved friend. She was going to hang out with Lance and Pearl tonight, not wanting to be a fifth wheel. "She'd be fun on a double date."

"Maybe she needs a girlfriend," Rachel laughed. "She has no luck with men. I think she scares them away because her biceps are nearly bigger than her boobs."

"They're not even!" Diego and Rachel were laughing together. It was nice. What a weird relationship this is, he thought. He was so ready to break up with her and was wondering why he hadn't yet - and he was starting to know why. He was falling out of love with her, but he still enjoyed her company - usually. As a friend or even a concubine, he would be a lot more fond of her. As a girlfriend, she didn't pull her weight. He was welcoming his emotional side, but she wasn't up to embracing hers, so it wasn't working anymore.

"Does Gloria like girls?" Diego suddenly had that image in his head. In the long, decorated history Gloria had with KADA, she had done it all, including a lesbian angle. He'd thought about it a few times.

"I don't know!" Rachel shrugged. "Glor says she likes guys but keeps an open mind. Maybe one day she'll find a girl she likes, and she won't have to deal with all that petty masculine ego crap she always gets with men."

"Hah, maybe that's for the best, then," Diego thought about it. Gloria Droese did have a habit of threatening men without meaning to. She was fiercely independent, a feminist through and through, she knew what she wanted and went after it. Articles often highlighted her as a strong role model for women and young girls. She flaunted her sexuality sometimes, she enjoyed a promiscuous lifestyle occasionally and she liked to work out a lot, but Gloria always did everything on her terms, never because someone expected it of her. She was the perfect role model for Diego's daughters, and that was why he wanted her to be more involved with them. I'm not someone they should look up to, he thought, but she is.

"Where the hell are they?" Rachel was already on her second cocktail. "I'm going to be drunk before they get here."

"Probably doing it in the back of their cab," Diego sounded a lot snarkier than he'd intended, and Rachel heard it. She glared at him. She was misinterpreting his bitterness - that was lucky.

"I thought you were past all this homophobic stuff. Don't be rude to them," she lectured him, and he almost wanted to laugh. She thought he was a twat because he didn't like them being gay. She didn't know he was upset because Ollie got to enjoy Sean's beautiful body and he didn't. Twat. Diego was weirded out that the word "twat" came up in his mind - mostly since it was an English word and his inside voice narrated everything in Portuguese. Stupid Lance is corrupting me.

"I am past it, Rach," he stood up for himself. Sean sucked me off and did it better than you ever have. "I'm not making a joke because they're gay, I'm making one because they can't keep their hands off each other."

"Sean can't keep his hands off anyone," she agreed with a smirk. "Especially you. How has that crush been going, anyway?"

"Ahh--" he stammered, hoping she was too busy thinking he was still a homophobe to come to another conclusion. "It's fine. I think he was lonely because Ollie wasn't on the road - he barely even talks to me now. I miss the massages, though."

"I bet you do," she was giggling mischievously. "I usually have to get the cuffs and the blindfold before you make those kinds of faces. Sean must have magic fingers. Maybe I'll ask him to work me over."

"He likes beefcakes," Diego jeered. "Ollie and me. I don't think you're his type, babe. Maybe Gloria, though."

"A beefcake, are you?" Rachel sipped from her cocktail again. She had her beautiful golden hair in an elaborate beehive of curls and braids, and her lips were a glossy pink. He admired the view of her. She was such a beautiful woman. What a pity she was damaged. Her jade gown with the spaghetti straps showed a lot of cleavage - she often showed a lot of her skin, but Diego was never jealous about that. Let everyone see the goods and let them know I'm the stud who gets them. She had problems, though. Problems she wasn't willing to try and fix. She just ignored them. He was done ignoring his issues - they only made things harder.

Fans recognised them quickly, so Diego and Rachel let them take a few pictures. The KADA power couple - Heavyweight champion and Women's champion. Afterwards, they'd requested that people respect their privacy, and they were. It was a high-end restaurant, and nobody came in without a reservation, so the traffic flow was limited enough. Diego took his kids to Chuck-E-Cheese every other week and some regulars were starting to notice the pattern, often showing up to try and get an audience with one of the biggest names in professional wrestling. Why should I go to another Chuck-E-Cheese? My kids like that one. It's got the best playground and decent service. I have every right to tell fans to leave me alone. I'm not paid to care during my time off.

"I've missed this, Rach," he reached across and gently stroked her naked shoulder with his hand. "Getting dressed up and going out. When we do we ever do stuff like this anymore?"

"I know, babe," she sighed and sipped from her glass again. "Baboon."

"Oh, that's why you're so careful," he giggled at her. "It's cute."

"Yeah, because of the Baboon," she nodded with her head, looking panic-stricken. Baboon was the codeword used amongst members of the group to alert the others of nearby paparazzi. Great, that's all we need. "It's making me paranoid he's going to upload the ugliest picture of me in the world."

Diego laughed and turned to look, and there was unquestionably a man with a camera aimed in their direction. The freaking paparazzi, man. So desperate. They always showed up at the most awkward of times, too. If he ever needed to blow his nose, scratch his balls or pick out a wedgie while he was in public, it was a foregone conclusion that it would end up on the internet. It didn't matter so much for him, because he could laugh it off. For Diego, being an attractive man - and he knew he was - came as a bonus, but it was his wrestling ability and charisma that mattered. For Rachel, though, a lot of her stock relied on her being desirable and attractive. It was something that was changing in the wrestling community, but KADA seemed to be going backwards. A lousy photo for Diego was something he could laugh off, but it could damage her. Having someone with their eye on her all night long was going to drive her crazy. Well, I'm not going to put up with that. He got out of his seat, and she did not attempt to stop him. The paparazzo was bold indeed; he didn't even try to put his camera down.

"Camera off," Diego warned him firmly. The man was sitting at the table with a very bored woman, probably his girlfriend. You can do better, sweetie. This putz is only able to support you because his job relies on me being ten times the man he is. Give me a call some time, and I'll show you what I mean. "Having dinner with my girlfriend and our friends, and we don't need you taking a photo every time we take a bite of something. If I see it again, I will be calling up my lawyers then I'll feed you the freaking thing, alright?" The paparazzo shrugged and began pocketing his camera, but Diego was already leaving him and didn't hear his snappy retort. Rachel grinned at him.

"I love it when you get all protective," she whispered and pressed a kiss against his lips. Oh, it was so good to have some life in their twitching corpse of a relationship again.

"Maybe I'll sit on your lap right here and give that guy something good to take back to his boss."

"We have a hotel room we can do that in," he winked provocatively at her. "We can go all night there, but I think this place closes at eleven."

Oliver and Sean both looked great when they finally rocked up together. Neither of them was ever on time for anything. Sean was in a cute white waistcoat with a black shirt and his long hair falling down his back. Ollie was in the full three-piece suit, a lavender creation in which he looked stunning. He had floral patterns shaved into each side of his very short buzzed hair. They walked hand in hand and traded hugs with both Diego and Rachel. Both lads had been good friends with Rachel for a long time before Diego finally agreed to get closer to them - on Gloria's command. It was the best decision he'd ever made.

"Watch out for the Baboon," Rachel immediately warned them, and Diego pointed very brazenly at the man who no longer had his camera out. If he was still trying to take pictures, he was doing it when nobody was looking.

"I was out for ten months, and I was never bored enough to chase people around and snap pictures of them living their lives," Ollie remarked, his gorgeous white teeth standing out when he smiled. "Damn, guys, you scrub up real nice! Rach, if I swung that way baby girl, Di would have to knock me out so I couldn't try and steal you from him."

"That's sweet," Rachel laughed. "And a bit creepy, but I'll focus on how sweet it was. And you guys! You brush up well! I'm actually glad Gloria decided to cancel on us because she'd be so thirsty for you two. Why don't you ever dress up more, Sean?"

"Because I hate it!" Sean pressed the service buzzer, shivering around in the formal clothes. "I think I'll need a cider to be able to cope with it all!"

"Maybe I'll get the Baboon to take a few pictures," Diego grinned. "It's nice to see you wearing more than fifteen dollars worth of clothes."

"He's only got a couple of fancy outfits," Ollie rolled his eyes and teased his little boyfriend by pinching him on his chubby cheek, making the boy wince.

"Stop!" Sean poked his tongue out and caught Ollie's hand, pacifying the bigger man by locking their fingers together. "They're all I need so that you rich people can take me to places like this sometimes."

"Well, we wanted to come here to avoid Baboons," Rachel mused, a little tipsy already. "This is what we get for our efforts, though, because that idiot is still trying to take snaps. I'll tell you what, Sean. You decide where we're going next time."

"Don't give him that!" Ollie shook his head frantically. "Please girl, be careful what you wish for!"

"No! We're going camping. I insist!" Sean grinned, and both Rachel and Diego looked appalled. Rachel was a rich brat from the start, born to a pair of millionaires. Diego came from a family with financial struggles and worked his way to earning a life of luxury and comfort for himself and his family. Neither one had much interest in sleeping in the confines of a tent in the middle of nowhere when they could afford to stay nearly anywhere in the world.

"Sean, if you take me camping and it sucks, which it will because all camping sucks, I'll never forgive you," Diego warned him, and Rachel quickly agreed with him in earnest.

"Hey! There are no Baboons in the woods! I promise you, if you come camping with me, you'll love it. All of you! Even you, smartass!" He growled at Ollie, who was making a face at him. "Don't act like you don't love it."

"You love it and I love you, so in a backwards way, I guess I do," Ollie admitted, bringing Sean's hand to his mouth and kissing it. "I just think you two over there might be a bit frail for Sean's kind of hospitality."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rachel gasped, finishing off her cocktail and hitting the empty glass down on the table. "You think I'm frail?"

"That's what he's saying, babe," Diego smirked at them. The boys were giggling from across the table. "I say let's prove them wrong. Whoever wants to go home first loses and buys drinks for a whole month!"

"Hah! You're shooting yourself in the foot, brother!" Ollie laughed, putting his arm around Sean and planting a kiss on his cheek. I miss Sean so much. "You remember who my baby is, right? Grandson of the tribe's chief? You think you can out-camp him? Puh-lease!"

"I don't have to out-camp him!" Diego pointed out. "I just have to out-camp you and I don't think you can last longer than it takes to say Ollie Ollie oxen free!"

"Ooooh!" Sean giggled and looked up at his boyfriend. "That's a challenge right there, Oliver! Now you have to come camping with me, you sucker!"

"Did you all plan this?" Ollie grinned, leaning down to kiss his boyfriend on the lips and lovingly stroking his face. Please stop doing that. Diego hated seeing them so in love. It's me. It should be me! "I feel like this was a setup to make me agree to go camping!"

"When we have time off, then you guys have it. We're going camping," Rachel stood up. "I need to go to the bar. One of you needs to come with me. Drinks on your KADA women's champion, bitches."

"I'll be a gentleman," Ollie was quick to answer. Yeah, of course you will, won't you? You're so freaking perfect, aren't you Ollie? You're funnier, you're better looking, and he loves you. Hmph.

"Hey," Sean said the moment their respective partners vanished. "I miss you. I want to see you again soon. The two of us."

"Do you?" Diego answered bitterly. "Maybe we should just wait until we all go camping so I can see you and Ollie making out by the river and being all romantic. How about you? Is that what you're looking forward to?"

"It's complicated," Sean looked down, and he looked sad. Too sad for him to be angry with, that's for sure. Diego was startled at how strong his feelings for Sean were. They controlled him. "I'm working through a lot of stuff. I'm sorry, Diego. I... this isn't easy for me."

"I'm ready to give up a lot of things for you," Diego whispered, wanting to reach across to touch him, to love him. This was frustrating. "I want to see you, but you won't let me. Why would you let me give you my heart if you don't do anything with it?"

"Let's meet up soon," Sean pleaded, looking at him with those two gorgeous moons. Aww. "We'll talk and stuff."

"Okay," Diego managed to smile at him. "We need to work this out, Sean. I'm not having much fun with this any more." Sean nodded.

~

Sunday, August 19th

"You think you can just push me out of the company, is that it?" Gloria flared at Michelle and shoved her shoulder.

"You don't get to talk to me like that!" Michelle yelled in her horrible smoker's voice. "I'm your boss. Act like it!"

"That doesn't mean you're not a bitch!" Gloria shouted back. Michelle shoved her back with rage, and Gloria slapped her in the face. The two of them broke character and started laughing. Diego rolled his eyes, and Jimmy was giggling like a schoolgirl from the seat next to him.

"You should have seen them crap themselves!" Michelle laughed, slumping back into her cushy recliner. "Oh, we sold the hell out of that fight."

"None of them will even look at me anymore," Gloria nearly had tears of laughter rolling down her brown face. "They think I'm a psycho who beats up her boss!"

"That was a horrible thing to do," Jimmy snickered, sipping from his wine glass.

"You're both insane; you know that?" Diego remarked with a grin on his face. "Marg will sack the both of you."

"Oh, it was just a fun little prank," Michelle almost downed her whole glass in one swig. "None of those bitches would know how to sell a steak to a starving dog, anyway. Let them see how we do it!"

She had a point. Lance Lovecraft was a terrible strategic hire by KADA (Margaret, that is) but he was a gay icon, a celebrity and a media sweetheart. He was always going to pay off, even if he embarrassed the company for the first few months he was performing. These six models, however, were just beautiful women. No star power and minimal training at best. We don't need more talent like that. We need Jimmys, Seans, Glorias and Pearls. To have some fun with the new girls, Gloria and Michelle pretended to have a real fight last night at the tapings right in front of them. They sold their street fight so well that two of the girls panicked and rang up Margaret to complain about their unsafe work environment. Silly bitches. Diego laughed just thinking about it. He wished he saw it for himself.

"Should we be getting drunk?" Diego asked, taking a sip from his second beer. "I'd be worried my boss would kick my ass for this, but she's the one peer pressuring me."

"Don't be a baby!" Michelle teased him, finishing off her wine. "Goddamn, Silva! They breed the men weak in Brazil, don't they?"

"Like they give the women balls in New York?" Diego smirked, and Gloria laughed. Michelle didn't back down. She never did.

"Oh Silva, you think those little nuts do anything?" Michelle had a habit of creeping Diego out. Jimmy never seemed to mind, though. "I'd back my uterus against your balls any day of the week." Michelle, gross!

"Aw, my widdle starling can't handle any of the girl talk!" Gloria cooed at him with a taunting smirk. "I also have a clitoris."

"Glo!" Diego squirmed, and everyone laughed at him.

"Wait until he hears about the cervix," Jimmy added, and Diego put the beer into his mouth to stop himself from complaining.

"Where do you think your army of brats came from in the first place, Silva?" Michelle was gone, laughing too hard to stop. Gloria was no better. Jimmy was able to control himself, but Diego would love to wipe the smirk off the man's face.

Although he was the current target of their jabs and jokes, he was enjoying himself. They were en route to San Diego. Although Diego preferred to avoid public appearances and interviews where he could, he hadn't been very good at declining Michelle's offers as of late. Now that she held knowledge about him that could destroy his backstage reputation, he was doing all he could to please her. To Michelle's credit, she was not a petty person. She was disgusted in him, of course, but after she chewed him out, she hadn't brought it up again. That didn't mean Diego felt secure enough to tell her no when she invited him to join Gloria and Jimmy to be guests on a late night show tomorrow night.

That wasn't all that was going on, he suspected. Michelle was one of the people who built KADA from the ground up - one of its original performers twenty years ago. She'd invited Jimmy, Gloria and Diego, the three full-timers who had been with the company the longest. They'd been wrestling under contracts with KADA for fifteen, twelve and ten years respectively. With the company's control slipping from Michelle's fingers as Margaret Bloom got more and more involved, it seemed like Michelle wanted to spend some time with the people she knew best in her private jet, reliving the good old days. Reminiscing with these people was lovely. Gloria was his best friend, and Jimmy a beloved and trusted acquaintance. If Michelle was still mad at him, she wasn't making it obvious. He understood. KADA was changing before his eyes since that horrible woman married Jerry and started getting involved in the company. Changing for the worse. Michelle hated it as much as everybody else was.

"How's the training going with Lovecraft?" Jimmy asked suddenly, and Diego felt the spotlight shine on him. Michelle and Gloria looked intently at him. Diego had no choice but to tell the truth.

"Not so great," he admitted, wary that he would be crucified if he said the wrong thing. "It's not that he can't do it, though. He can. I know he can. I don't think he knows he can. The kid has a lot of baggage and he's scared of taking hits, but we're working through it. I've put a lot of my time in training him, so I'm not going to let him stop until it pays off."

"Good," Michelle smiled. Actually smiled. "He's gonna be big one day, but we're gonna have to be patient. I hope bloody Marg lets him get confident in himself before throwing him into the ring with our wrecking ball again."

Jimmy groaned at the thought of the match that stained his decorated and respected wrestling career. He was one of the greatest of all time, but the main event with Lance damaged his reputation. It wasn't the fault of either man, and it took Diego a long time to stop blaming Lance for it, but it did happen, and everyone knew it was Margaret's fault for putting the kid in a position he wasn't ready for. Margaret would never admit to that, though. Whether she blamed Lance for making a fool of himself or Jimmy for being unable to carry the match despite his record was unclear.

"I wish he didn't make everything so hard on himself," Diego looked into his bottle, worried that Gloria would jump down his throat. "You know what I mean. The clothes, the hair and all that. I get that all of that's important to him, but it's dangerous." Gloria gave an exaggerated gasp.

"You worry about him!" She accused him, pointing directly at his face. That wasn't the response he'd been expecting, but he blushed all the same. "You're starting to like him and you're scared that he'll get hurt! That means you care! Hah. Caught you."

"I don't like him," Diego defended himself, nervously looking around at the two others. They were both observing him, but neither gave anything away in their expressions. It wasn't the first time Diego had been prickly with someone in the locker room and had a reality check courtesy of his oldest friends. "I don't! But I don't like him getting hurt outside. I wish he'd calm down and stay safe, you know? Go back to his natural hair and eye colours and stuff. Whatever they are."

"I know!" Gloria raised her hand. "I was with him when he video called his Mom! And she held up a baby photo for me. I'd tell you, but Lance blackmailed me into silence!"

"Blackmailed?" Jimmy laughed and hid his face in his hand. "What dark secrets does he know?"

"Tsk tsk," Gloria shook her head with a grin. "As long as I take his secret to the grave, you'll never find out."

What a shame Gloria and Jimmy never got hitched, Diego thought. They have so much chemistry and history. He was sure they'd spent a few nights beneath the sheets many years ago, but Gloria was too good at keeping secrets and Diego interrogated for sensitive information with all the subtlety of a punch in the face.

"Probably a glittery rainbow," Michelle grunted. "Sounds like our limey friend. Who cares?"

"I don't regret sending him to Coventry," Jimmy spoke up. Of the four, he was the quiet, reclusive one. It was a surprise that he'd agreed to come along. He was happy to make public appearances with the company, but he often came alone to these things. He lived a private life and rarely socialised. "He proved how tough he is. You have to respect his moxie."

"I'm gonna do my best to keep him safe," Michelle said, crossing her legs and looking suspiciously ladylike. "Good kid got a crappy deal. You keep doing what you're doing, Silva. I know you're hating this TV angle, but it's finally getting you over, at least."

"I'm surviving," Diego laughed. "He's prettier than half of my girlfriends."

"Look at him!" Gloria drunkenly pointed at him from across the aisle. "Did you think a year ago our little starling would ever be okay with kissing another man on camera?"

"Hell no!" Michelle scoffed. "I wore flats the day we told him he was kissing limey Lovecraft so when he tried to kill us, I could outrun Marg and leave her for dead."

"I guess when you get to come home to a girl like Rach, it's a small price to pay," Jimmy observed, and Diego smiled. That relationship was just waiting for one of them to break it off. It seemed like they both knew and accepted that. The drama and tension had disappeared, and Diego suspected it was because neither of them bothered to invest anything in each other. They hung out sometimes and had sex more often than not, but if that arrangement ended, Diego wouldn't care one bit. Neither would she.

"How's Ivelisse?" Gloria asked Jimmy, and the big man let out a mighty sigh.

"Ivy and I actually broke up last Wednesday," he replied sadly, and Diego now understood why Jimmy was here with them in the jet and not catching a flight by himself.

"Damn, Vause!" Michelle looked gutted, her wrinkles deepening as her face fell. "I'm so sorry to hear that! How long were you together? A long time."

"Eight years," Jimmy looked so debonair when he wasn't backstage or performing in the ring. His long, light brown hair was tied into a neat bun behind his head, he trimmed his ginger whiskers and he had a liking for waistcoats over collared shirts. It was hard to believe this was the same wild man who busted Diego's nose a few years ago with a pool cue - during a match, of course. Jimmy was gentle and soft in spite of his monstrous appearance and the destructive, animalistic character he portrayed for most of his wrestling career. Diego knew precious little about the man's private life, but he did know that he'd been engaged for nearly five years to a gorgeous Puerto Rican woman.

"We just kept pushing back the wedding and realised neither one of us wanted it anymore, I suppose," Jimmy shrugged and sipped from his drink again. Poor guy. "I spend half my life all over the world with the company, and she's always busy with her firm. We saw each other for maybe one night a week. It just wasn't enough, so we called it quits. I've been staying in a hotel while I find a new place."

"Aw James, you did really well!" Gloria remarked, an adoring smile on her face. "Trying to date someone who isn't a part of the business is a nightmare. Eight years might be KADA's record! I'm sorry, darling."

It was very rough. Gloria was right. Diego would be going away to the UK for three weeks on tour with the KADA company, and then Australia and New Zealand in early December. Any relationship he had, unless they were with the company as well, would suffer. Now that he was wrestling custody of Julian away from his bitch of a mother, he was going to have to work something out or maybe even renegotiate his contract. Margaret wouldn't like that at all. I'm a terrific wrestler though, Diego thought to himself. If KADA doesn't want me, there will always be another company that does. Julian comes first. He just does. I don't know if I can be away from him for so long, and I don't know if Audrey can tolerate looking after a kid that isn't hers for that long.

"If you're lonely or you need to get away, you can always come and stay with me as long as you need to," Diego reassured Jimmy, who looked at him through round, blue eyes. "If you can put up with Nina trying to kill you."

"That's awesome of you, man!" Jimmy smiled at him, running his finger around the rim of his empty glass. "I don't know. Maybe I'll swing by when I'm in the neighbourhood."

"If you don't come to Diego's next pool party, I'm going to tell the whole world all of your dirty little secrets!" Gloria playfully tossed one of her cushions at the big man, who caught it easily and laughed at her.

"Maybe I'll come next time if 'Chelle does as well," he grinned, and Michelle laughed derisively at him.

"I think not!" She asserted in that gravelly voice. "I need those younger kids to fear me, and I can't look intimidating when my ass is sagging out of my one piece."

"Well, the word is you'll kick the ass of anyone who disagrees with you after yesterday," Diego reminded her, and the girls both collapsed into giggles again. "I think there's plenty of fear going around."

"Maybe I should give Marg a knock on the head," Michelle growled. "I could tie her tits in a knot for hiring those girls." When the others looked at her with uncertainty, she continued. "It's alright, we can bad mouth the bitch here. She's got no eyes or ears in these walls, but you watch yourselves at the shows. She hears everything and I'm the one who has to sit and listen to her. Ugh."

"I still don't understand why she hates Sean Fox so much," Jimmy mused, and Diego's blood chilled. Michelle's eyes locked on to him immediately, and she ever so slightly shook her head. "I was looking so forward to having a match with him, and now he's back on the Island. I've been wrestling for twenty-two years and I still have no idea how the business works. He was so over, and now he's at the back of the line. Oh, no offence, Diego," Jimmy looked over to him, but Diego smiled back.

"No, I agree," Diego looked at Michelle as he replied, her grey eyes burning into him. What is she thinking? It was hard to tell with her. "I feel guilty about that. Sean deserved the push, not me. I'd be thrilled to drop the title to him if he got another chance."

"You're a great champion," Michelle agreed, but she smiled at him. I don't get it. Is she mad at me or not? "I wanted Sean in your place, though. Marg has her own way of doing things though, so we all have to do what Fox did! We're gonna get over it and move on. That crap's in the past and we have a Pay Per View to start getting ready for."

"I'm guessing I'll miss out on his one too," Gloria said glumly, resting her head on her hand.

Gloria was complicated. Where Jimmy loved being at the front of the company, Gloria didn't have an opinion on it. She and Michelle were the only two women in the company to win 'Match of the Year' in a prestigious wrestling newsletter. She was a multi-time champion and had a decorated record of intense, hardcore matches. These days, the Marg era, she never won any matches. The women, aside from a few exceptions such as Pearl, Rachel and Irina, could not keep up with her. This meant Gloria was forced to work at a slower, gentler pace than she was comfortable with. Still, she came to work loving life every day. She was happy to lose matches because she was being paid to do what she loved doing. Well, until those new girls got contracts. Now, she was becoming depressed and disillusioned. It hurt Diego a lot to see her like this. Why she didn't demand change or just up and leave to a company that appreciated her talent more was beyond his understanding.

"Shut up Droese, I won't accept that sort of crap," Michelle waved her off. "From any of you! You're my three most trusted professionals. I need you all more than you need me, and the same goes for Margaret. Unfortunately, she doesn't know wrestling from a mole on her ass, so we're gonna have to work harder to keep the company running than she is trying to ruin it. You're gonna get a program soon, Gloria. If Marg says no, she can bloody well cram it."

"We'll do it," Jimmy nodded and raised his glass. "We made all the sacrifices to get this company where it is, so we'll fight the queen wasp for it."

"Agreed!" Diego raised his bottle. "She might be the queen, but KADA belongs to us."

"Oh, alright!" Gloria smiled in spite of her misery and poured herself a new glass so she had something to raise. "To us!"

"Great work, kids," Michelle raised hers last. "I couldn't be prouder of any of you. I don't say that sappy crap a lot because I'm not that kind of girl, but it's true. You're my family. We've gone through plenty of rough times, so this isn't any different. Now, enough of this garbage. Let's get hammered."

~

Wednesday, August 29th

A horrible sound woke him from a peaceful slumber. Panic shot through his body and the sound of a shattered window replayed through his head over and over. Uh oh. Is someone breaking in? The alarm hadn't gone off. Diego, lucid and alert, slid from his covers and flicked on his light. There was a brick on his bedroom floor, surrounded by the broken glass of his window. It was everywhere. The room filled with the chilly midnight wind and Diego felt misty rain landing on his naked torso as he gingerly approached to assess the damage and see if he could get a glimpse of anyone who vandalised his house. He must have been recognized because someone - a male, he guessed - yelled as they ran down the driveway.

"Get out of my country!"

They hopped into the passenger seat of the car waiting by the road and it took off, tires screeching. It vanished n seconds. He shivered. I'm getting a security gate, Diego thought immediately, punching the wall in anger. That's it. I've had enough of these jokers harassing my family and me. Don't they have lives? What a joke! He slipped back onto his bed to avoid the glass, and he noticed something on the brick - paper attached to it? Oh, a message. Charming. I have an answering machine, you know.

You're dead.

Diego's mouth went dry when he read the printed words. Words of malice and hatred. This smelled of Zoey. She didn't take losing lightly - but he knew that. Sure, she was an angry, spiteful little bitch, but he never expected her to go this far. What is her problem? A brick through my bedroom window? Really? You know what? I'm done with her.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Somebody has thrown a brick through my window, and I've received a threat on my life," Diego spoke calmly into the phone, opening Julian's bedroom door and watching his son gently snoring. He couldn't believe that his little boy didn't wake up - the crash could have woken the whole street, he was sure.

"Okay, whats your address?" The woman on the other side spoke clearly and quickly. Diego felt better already.

"2239 Lowes Alley, Powell," Diego told her and repeated himself to make sure she got it correct. It wasn't the first call to emergency services he'd made. He didn't imagine it would be the last.

"Alright, is anyone hurt? Are you safe?"

"No medical attention is necessary. I believe we're in the clear, but if my ex-girlfriend is involved, I'm worried for my safety and my son's," Diego frowned, looking at the sole of his bare foot to see that he'd stood on one of the shards and he'd left a small trail of blood down the hallway. Not nearly enough to warrant a trip to the emergency room, but it sure did hurt.

"Hmm alright, we're sending a dispatch to come and check the situation, okay? They'll be there soon," she reassured him, and Diego breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps he was overreacting - the danger looked sure to be over, and he could call the local police department in the morning. The dispatch would likely take a look, ask their questions and leave, thinking the emergency call was a bit dramatic for a big, macho bodybuilder like Diego, but he didn't care. That note wasn't a joke and Julian was with him. Had the brick gone through his window instead, it could have severely hurt the youngster. Nobody messes with my kid's safety. That bitch is going down. Diego took a deep breath and tended to the wound on his foot while he waited.

Although he was weaning Julian off sleeping in his daddy's bed, he was spooked enough that after the dispatch came and went he curled up next to his son so he wouldn't be alone.