The End of the World | 11:11
Nov 17, 2020 9:18:34 GMT -5
“The RevolutiDaddy” Wesley, Karlie Nash, and 5 more like this
Post by Lissie Hope ♥ on Nov 17, 2020 9:18:34 GMT -5
Awakening I | 11:11
03-29-2019
It caught her by surprise, though, when Robbie’s finger poked her in the eye. She nearly lost her grip of the phone.
“What the fuck, dude?”
He gripped her face to hold it still, pointing it upwards so he could get a better look. But when he plucked at her cheek, she started to visualize back when they were kids. This was a constant, a routine, that she hoped would never cease. It was childlike and pure; a tender act of love and affection that she decided she would never take for granted.
“You lost an eyelash,” he finally said, showing it to her. “You know you gotta make a wish now.”
She closed her eyes and smiled, digging her fingers into his wrist. She loved him; her brother, her blood, her protector. “Just turned 11:11, too,” she remembered.
“Double or nothing.”
For the first time in a long time, she let herself exist.
Miami, Florida | Two days before XIII | 11-11-2020
The aeroplane over the sea descended at a feverish pace, tearing through the atmosphere. The wheels skidded against the pavement, as the jet delicately grounded on the tarmac at Miami International. The flight itself was short and uneventful; no turbulent weather, no irate passengers clamoring about the importance of facemasks in the days following Joe Biden’s presumptive election victory. Lissie Hope had tried to sleep, snuggled in an oversized hoodie and a sleep mask that paired with her face mask to conceal her entire face. Even the most ardent of wrestling supporters would’ve failed to recognize the four-time World Champion on the flight, even if he or she wanted to.
As her flight neighbors stretched their legs and removed themselves from the seats, reaching into the overhead bins for their luggage, Lissie stayed in her seat for a few moments. She always liked being one of the last people off a flight, watching all of the passengers file into the aisles like sheep being led to slaughter. She powered up her phone and waited for the incoming notifications. A couple of messages from Spencer, and Adelaide, and Sara. ‘Ma checking in to make sure she arrived. An email with an ‘urgency’ notification was at the top of the list, though.
From: humanresources_mlee@actionwrestling.com
To: lissiehope@actionwrestling.com
Subject: Scheduled Meeting Upon Arrival (Miami - 11/11/2020)
Good morning, Lissie.
This is Maggie Lee from the Action Wrestling Human Resources Department. When you arrive at the Fillmore Arena this afternoon, please be prepared to conduct a rapid COVID screening. After you’ve done a walk-through of the event space, you have been assigned by AW President Torture to a scheduled meeting with Dr. Eduardo Chavez in Conference Room B. Please arrive by 2:00 PM.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me or Torture directly. Thank you.
Safe travels, and we’ll see you soon.
Lissie Hope sat outside of conference room B, confused about why she was even there to begin with. She didn’t see any of her other colleagues waiting on the chairs around her. There wasn’t a receptionist asking her to fill out an invasive questionnaire about her last menstrual cycle or recent sexual activity. There wasn’t a diagram of the human body to list all of the aches and pains going into the next match. This wasn’t a sterile doctor’s office at all.
Dr. Chavez poked his head out of the office and called Lissie in, motioning for her to have a seat in front of him. On the table was a folder.
Thank you for joining me on such short notice, Elisabeth.
Lissie, please.
Right, my apologies. It’s an honor to meet you.
What was your name again?
Dr. Eduardo Chavez.
I feel like I've heard your name before, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.
He smiled confidently and folded his hands over the desk. Lissie removed the sunglasses from her eyes and placed her purse down by her side. She looked around the modestly decorated conference room; an open bay window with the curtains drawn, letting the sunlight in. A view of the beach and the Atlantic ocean was all Lissie could focus on, and not the posters of stock photos and fake plants from IKEA.
Quite a view you’ve got here, doc. I don’t know how you get any work done.
Well, this space is temporary. I was commissioned by Action Wrestling specifically for this event.
Yeah, it’s kind of throwing me for a loop, to be honest. I’m used to the pre-match physicals and Corona testing and everything, especially for the big events, but what’s going on? Why am I here?
Lissie, this is a psychiatric evaluation.
It took a moment for Lissie to process the magnitude of what he’d just divulged.
I don’t want to alarm you. This is standard in this business, particularly when the mental health of an individual is in question. I just want to get to know you a little bit, and find out what’s the source of some the troubling behavior you’ve been exhibiting lately.
Are you seeing anyone else?
Dr. Chavez shook his head no.
Just me?
Lissie, some of your colleagues have expressed concern over your behavior lately, and that’s why we’re here. That’s why Torture asked me to see you. Now I don’t want you to get defensive or be accusatory; you’re not in any trouble. There are just a lot of people who are worried about you going into this match with Adelaide Ainsworth.
What are they worried about? That I’ve stopped giving half-a-shit over the punishment I’m going to put her through? Is she the one who sent this red alert to human resources? What a fucking cowardly bitch.
Adelaide didn’t have anything to do with this. Administrators and certain members of staff don’t feel like you’ve adequately grieved over the loss of your brother, and it’s clouding your judgement. I’d like to direct our attention to your actions in Mexico.
I got drunk a few times and shot a dumbass promo. Who cares? Remember, the cameras started rolling after I got that phone call from Las Vegas where the truth about my brother’s murder was revealed. I had to keep the mask on until I found out for certain. Till I had the moment to avenge my brother’s honor. That came at Trios when I chipped four of her fucking teeth.
Exactly.
What? What’s the issue there? That’s what we do.
No, Lissie. That’s what you do. Do you think a civilized, rational person would keep appearances up like that only to be so calculating with a demonstrative act of revenge? From the outside looking in, it appeared that you were planting the seeds to make you the sympathetic figure.
Am I not? My fucking brother is dead because of her.
She is not responsible for his death, Lissie. That’s a reality that you are rejecting, and your denial of this fact is why I believe you’ve been acting erratically over the last couple of months.
Lissie quiets and folds her arms in anger, appearing more like a stunted adolescent than the superstar with a championship lineage.
Your interview with Nate Burleson last week, and the continuation last night, exposed some reason for caution, as well.
Please enlighten me, doc.
Mr. Burleson lobbed you a softball to crush out of park when he was leading you to respond to James Nightingale’s attack on your mental health. Instead, you chose to brush it aside instead of taking the avenues afforded to you to address it.
Let me get this straight; so instead of bringing in this heartless psychotic who literally told me to go kill myself, you’ve decided to badger the girl that was the target of this verbal abuse instead? Am I understanding this correctly?
The difference between you and Mr. Nightingale is that we believe his outbursts are an act for the cameras…
Lissie is floored by this determination, and her eyes open wider than they’ve ever before.
...while your failure to address it feels more like you’re turtling up. And that’s why we’re concerned. You’ve said it yourself; you have suicidal ideations. I guess the reason why we’re here today is to get to the root of the problem.
I’ve been pretty fucking clear what the root of my problems are.
And that’s why we’re concerned. Because last night, when Adelaide showed you a few photos, you responded by punching the glass pane separating the two of you.
Dr. Chavez’ eyes draw lower toward her bandaged knuckles.
Those weren’t just “a few photos”.
So what were they? Why did they trigger you?
Why does it matter to you?
There’s an awkward silence now as Lissie picks her heels up to the edge of the seat, her chin tucked into the crevice of her knees. She can feel the tears begin to well up in her eyes and she quickly rubs it with the back of her hand. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she pulls out her tin of breathmints and places one on in the back of her throat.
I don’t think you’re supposed to swallow those.
Well I don’t think you should’ve ever been awarded a license, and here we are.
Dr. Chavez chuckles and flips open the folder, pulling out a XEROX printout of some of her recent tweets.
Your social media activity is alarming, as well.
Gimme a fucking break. Nate told me last week that he noticed I wasn’t even on Twitter almost the entire month of October.
Therein lies the problem, Lissie. It was a big month for you, you won your fourth World Championship, and there was nothing. No big celebrations, no gratitude of the fans or of that organization. A couple of formulaic promotions of the upcoming match with Ms. Ainsworth, but barely any interactions at all. Instead, you come back with this photo, late last night…
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We’re just concerned, is all.
Look, November 11th is a really important day for me.
It’s when you beat Dandy DiVito for the World Championship last year.
Yeah… among other things. And I couldn’t sleep last night. I haven't been able to sleep too many nights recently.
Dr. Chavez's eyes move towards her purse, where she placed the tin of breathmints.
I was in my own head. In my own feelings. I had some wine and I didn’t have anyone I could call to talk me through it.
That’s great, Lissie. I’m glad you have an outlet to express what you’re feeling. What you have to understand though is this is a business first, and we can’t have one of our top-billed superstars giving off this energy publicly. That’s why we are here doing this privately, because it’s not a good message to be sending to your young fans.
So this whole charade is a marketability concern? What’s the matter, is AW fielding calls from the FCC? Are you losing sponsorships? That’s what this is really about?
In a way… yes.
That truth bomb hit Lissie harder than any left hand Adelaide would throw in her direction in a few nights.
Wow. So this is what Torture and Gravedigger hired you to tell me?
I mean, we’ve gotten a little off track from your psychological assessment.
So you’ve gone a little rogue, huh? I feel that. What are you, a stockholder?
Dr. Chavez answered the question with his silence.
You’re really shitty at your job, you know that? Are we done here?
If you’d like to be.
If you want me to put on a smile and dance around and act like everything’s okay, that’s fine. I’ll do that for Action Wrestling. I owe Torture and Gravedigger that much, at the very least. They’ll be awarded with their big ratings at Thirteen, and I’ll be satisfied when I beat the living shit out of the second best woman to ever walk into an Action Wrestling ring. But if your intentions were to help me, doctor…
Lissie rises from the chair and heads for the exit.
...you really fucking failed. Big time. Enjoy the view.
Lissie, wait…
With that, she was gone.
Look, November 11th is a really important day for me.
It’s when you beat Dandy DiVito for the World Championship last year.
Yeah… among other things. And I couldn’t sleep last night. I haven't been able to sleep too many nights recently.
Dr. Chavez's eyes move towards her purse, where she placed the tin of breathmints.
I was in my own head. In my own feelings. I had some wine and I didn’t have anyone I could call to talk me through it.
That’s great, Lissie. I’m glad you have an outlet to express what you’re feeling. What you have to understand though is this is a business first, and we can’t have one of our top-billed superstars giving off this energy publicly. That’s why we are here doing this privately, because it’s not a good message to be sending to your young fans.
So this whole charade is a marketability concern? What’s the matter, is AW fielding calls from the FCC? Are you losing sponsorships? That’s what this is really about?
In a way… yes.
That truth bomb hit Lissie harder than any left hand Adelaide would throw in her direction in a few nights.
Wow. So this is what Torture and Gravedigger hired you to tell me?
I mean, we’ve gotten a little off track from your psychological assessment.
So you’ve gone a little rogue, huh? I feel that. What are you, a stockholder?
Dr. Chavez answered the question with his silence.
You’re really shitty at your job, you know that? Are we done here?
If you’d like to be.
If you want me to put on a smile and dance around and act like everything’s okay, that’s fine. I’ll do that for Action Wrestling. I owe Torture and Gravedigger that much, at the very least. They’ll be awarded with their big ratings at Thirteen, and I’ll be satisfied when I beat the living shit out of the second best woman to ever walk into an Action Wrestling ring. But if your intentions were to help me, doctor…
Lissie rises from the chair and heads for the exit.
...you really fucking failed. Big time. Enjoy the view.
Lissie, wait…
With that, she was gone.
_______________________________________________
What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all 'round the sun
What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me
What a beautiful face
I have found in this place
That is circling all 'round the sun
What a beautiful dream
That could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me
