Adieu, Mon Homme
Jul 19, 2020 5:59:32 GMT -5
Claire Hawkins, Quixote Della Torre, and 2 more like this
Post by Ash Blake on Jul 19, 2020 5:59:32 GMT -5
Four canines sink into the skin of an apple the way one falls asleep, slowly first, then all at once. Eight incisors rend and tear a pulpy pound of flesh from the whole, disappearing into the gaping maw. Four molars mash the mass into paste before it slides down the throat. Lather, rinse, repeat.
"Miss Blake?"
Ashley Blakesley's eyes snapped to the dim glow of her laptop's screen at the mention of her name. The man on the other end of the Zoom™ call, a nebbish man in a drab gray tweed jacket waved for her attention, the mop atop his head bouncing with each motion, bangs sweeping in front of his thick-rimmed glasses.
"We're about to start recording, you probably don't want to be eating on the air."
"Of course, silly me," she responded, blushing. With a slight, embarrassed grin she placed the half-eaten fruit on the hotel room dresser, checking and double-checking to ensure it was out of her webcam's line of sight.
"Are you ready?"
She sat up straight and ran one hand slowly down her face, her nervous grin replaced with an almost-solemn expression by the time it drifted down past her chin and fiddled with the scarab pendant around her neck.
"Whenever you are." Her smile returned, despite herself.
With a single motion on the other side of the country, a small red dot appeared in the corner of her screen and the man on the other end seemingly came to life.
"Hello once again Action Nation," he said, reciting the same intro he'd given countless times before, "and welcome back to Action Calling, the number six Monday Night Clash recap podcast on Spotify! As always, I'm your host Isaac Delusion but unlike always, we have an Action Calling first. Long time listeners know that I've been here from the beginning, since the very first episode of Monday Night Clash and yet today, July 14th, 2020, 882 days later — not that I'm counting — is the first time I welcome a guest onto my show and not just any guest, but one of AW's most recent signings, Miss Ashley Blake!"
She giggled as he offered a weak, one-man round of applause, hiding her face in her hand for a moment.
"Please, call me Ash."
"Alright, Ash. I'll keep it real with you, normally I have a whole sorta structure to this show, but this isn't exactly a normal episode so I hope you don't mind if we just skip to the main event."
"That being?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Getting to know you a little. Figuring out what you're all about. I'm sure for a lot of people, this is their first time hearing of you."
"That kinda comes with the territory, no? I'm an unknown, an upstart, someone Action Wrestling was kind enough to take a flier on. And I don't plan on squandering that opportunity."
"Of course not, but it's not like they're taking it easy on you in their debut by throwing you out there against Estrella Luiz."
"Maybe they see something in me."
She paused for a second, lips pursed, seemingly lost in thought.
"Or maybe they just got a case of buyer's remorse and are throwing me into that brick wall in hopes that I wash out before her friend makes alphabet soup out of my spinal cord," she added with a shrug.
"A very possible outcome, given the level of destruction we've seen that behemoth is capable of."
"What's his name again, Life?"
"Yeah, I think it's supposed to be ironic."
"There is an irony in there somewhere, undoubtedly. I just don't know if she's in on the joke."
Isaac's eyes narrowed, a pensive expression forming on his face. "I don't know if I follow."
"Look at Estrella Luiz, like really look at her. The first thing you see is that she's…" she gestured with her hand, urging the host to finish the sentence.
"Small?"
"Not even that. I'm five-seven, weigh about a buck and a quarter; I'm small! Yet I'll basically tower over her. Not taking anything away from her, of course. If anything, pointing this out is a major compliment because look what she's been able to accomplish in spite of that clear physical disadvantage."
"Like being the longest-reigning Television champion in AW's history."
"Exactly! And correct me if I'm wrong, but she didn't have this monster in her corner when she was breaking records, was she?"
"No, that one's a recent development."
"So I guess what I'm saying is, I look at this woman who scrapped and clawed her way to success in the past hiding behind a freak of nature and I ask myself, what is she even looking to accomplish?
"She's not fighting for the paycheck, she makes that part nauseatingly clear every time she lords her wealth over us commoners. It's not like she cares much for the audience's respect. Any title is only as prestigious as the people who hold it and a giant asterisk that reads 'had someone else fight my battles for me' isn't gonna do much for that. So I just want to know, what's the point?
"If she has any honor at all, she'd send her pet away and we'd face each other one on one. May the best woman win. I'm hoping against hope that she will. But I also know that when someone tells you who they are, you listen. And this stunt tells you everything you need to know about her. That she's backsliding. That she has no faith in herself. That she's holding tightly onto a status she knows she doesn't deserve.
"And it's a shame, because she could be so much more than that."
"Sorry to interrupt, but it seems like you have a lot to say and I need to get my ad-read in somewhere," Isaac said with a chuckle as Ash took a deep breath. "This week's edition of Action Calling is brought to you by Ph—"