I Just Posted

January 15, 2012
Denver, Colorado

“You know something? You’re right. I’m in.”

Rosalie looks at me, then to Alison.

“But I’m not cuddling up with either of you.”

She shoves past Alison and me, walking down the hall. I watch her as she leaves. Alison had just made her proposal. Rosalie, Ali and I were going to make things happen. We were going to make women a recognized force in IWF. Or at least, that was the plan Alison had come up with.

“Bummer. She’s kinda cute.”

Alison looks at me, frowning. I smile innocently.

“But you’re way hotter.”

She shakes her head, but kisses my forehead.

“Think it’ll work, babe?”

“I’m hoping. Come on, let’s watch the match.”

Alison grabs my hand, pulling me towards the locker room. We barge in, not bothering to knock. Alison takes a seat in an armchair near the TV, watching as Latoya makes her entrance. I look around for a place to sit down, before Alison rolls her eyes, and pulls me by the waist, sitting me in her lap.

“Hi.”

I smile, and hold her head, kissing her.

“Hi.”

Alison looks at me for a moment, and I stare into her eyes. She smiles, showing off her perfect teeth, kept behind glossy pink lips. She was beautiful…How had I never noticed it before? Why was I so attracted to her? Just two years ago, I hated her. Just the thought of her made me sick. Now…it was the opposite effect. She was….she was amazing. The ringing of the bell brings Alison’s attention away from me, and back to the screen. I rest my head against her shoulder, watching with her. She watches the match intently, as Latoya quickly gains the upper hand against Rosalie.

“Shouldn’t we help her?”

“Have some faith, she’s got this.”

There’s a knock at the door. I look at Alison, who shrugs.

"I'm not expecting anyone."

“I got it.”

I get off Alison, and open the door to see…

“Chad. What’s up?”

“Are you busy right now?”

I look over my shoulder at Alison, who is watching the match.

“No, not really.”

“Can we talk?”

“Of course.”

He glances over my shoulder, looking at Alison.

"Alone?"

"Uh...yeah, sure, I guess."

I look at Ali.

"Babe, I'm stepping out for a minute."

"K. Hurry back."

I smile, and follow Chad down the hall, and around a corner. He leans up against the wall. I spot a table nearby and hop up to it, sitting cross-legged on it.

“What’s on your mind?”

“I…nothing, I guess.”

"You brought me here for nothing?"

"You know what I mean."

“The match earlier?”

“Not even that. Just like…I thought tonight would be the night, you know?”

“The night for what?”

“That I’d turn things around. I mean, my career has just been…shitty, you know? I haven’t really had any success in IWF. When I come to the ring, people already know I’m going to lose. I’m a former world champion, but lately I’ve been competing as well as I did when I started my career. I mean...I'm 3-18. That's the worst record in IWF history. And I guess after a while, it's just starting to get to me, you know?”

He seemed really upset. I had never really seen Chad like this. Usually he was upbeat and happy, even though his career had never really been all that spectacular. I never thought it bothered him. He loved what he did, and the fact that he had the opportunity to compete at all was enough to keep his spirits up.

“Chad…”

“I don’t know. I mean, I don't even think that's what's bothering me, as much as I just have to deal with it. Like...I never really care whether I win or lose. It's not about winning to me. I do it because I love to do it. But it just sucks because the losses, and the travel schedule, and the toll on your body...it just starts bogging me down, and I don't have anyone to go to. Everyone's got someone they can travel with, to keep them company. I was thinking about it. Brandon had Anna, then you, now Keagan. You have Alison. Stygian has those two chicks. Shark’s got those girls of his. Fuck, even Corey has your aunt Jess. Chuck's got his ways of coping. I don't. And I guess that's what's been bugging me lately.”

“Aww, Chad.....you're lonely?”

“I don’t know. I guess. I mean…I never really had anyone, except for you. And I never really reached that big success. I guess I feel like that’s the reason. I’ve never had someone in my corner, and I can’t really find anyone to join me. It's shitty to get your ass kicked out there, then go back to the hotel and just kinda sulk about it. I got nobody to talk to. Nobody to help get my mind off it. It's just me and my own thoughts.”

“Chad, come on. You’re just looking for excuses. You’re a great wrestler, and a great guy. You’re just in a slump. It happens to everyone. You know I'm always here to talk to you when you need me.”

“Yeah. I mean, you're one of my best friends. But you have Alison, you know? I don't want to unterrupt that, and I don't want to treat you as my partner here, and my go-to girl when you already have someone that does that for you, you know?”

“You know if I wasn’t with Ali, I would date you.”

“Really? Even after the first try?”

I think about it for a moment.

“Well….no, I guess not. But that’s just because of me! It’s not you, Chad.”

“Easy for you to say.”

I frown. I really did hate to see him like this. Chad was one of my closest friends, and a lot of the reason for that was because I had never seen him upset. Something was really getting to him. He was always there to help me when I felt bad…why was I not here for him now? I thought of something.

“What if I set you up?”

“What?”

“A blind date. I know a girl that would totally love you. I give her a call, we set a date, and there you go!”

“A blind date with who?”

“I can’t tell you that. But trust me, she’s great. You’ll love her.”

“I, uh…”

“Please Chad?”

Chad looks at me, and takes a deep breath.

“Alright. Fine. For you. But you gotta promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“You come with me.”

“What? No! I couldn’t do that. This is one on one. You and her.”

“Ashley, please. You know I’m way more comfortable when you’re around. I can just…I can talk, you know? I’m myself. And if the date’s a bomb, at least I have a friend there. Please Ashley?”

I sigh.

“Alright, I’ll go. But I’m bringing Alison too.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks Ash. Seriously.”

I smile.

“That’s what friends are for, right?”

I hug Chad, and he gently pats me on the back. The sound of someone clearing their throat makes me stop. I turn to see Alison standing there, looking at me, her arms folded across her chest.

“Getting hot with the ex-boyfriend when I’m not around?”

I quickly let go of Chad.

“Alison, I wasn’t-“

“I’m kidding.”

Her face breaks into a smile. She opens her arms, and I smile, running to her. She wraps her arms around me, and kisses me.

“Rosa won.”

“You helped her, didn’t you.”

“Mmhm.”

I smile, and kiss her again. Chad looks at the two of us.

“I’m uh…I’ll let you two alone. Ash, call me sometime?”

“Sure thing Chad. I’ll text you when I got some info.”

“Sweet. Thanks a million.”

“Anytime.”

Chad walks off down the hallway, leaving me with Ali.

“What was that all about?”

I shrug.

“He’s just been feeling upset lately. I tried to cheer him up.”

“Ooh, cheer him up?”

I roll my eyes.

“Not like that.”

I look at her, smiling.

“Otherwise, what good would you be?”

She gasps, and slaps my arm. I laugh.

"I'm kidding!"

I kiss her cheek.

"I love you."

She smiles, and hugs me tighter. I frown slightly. I'd told her I loved her. I had finally come to terms with it. And I did. I loved Alison. But for every time I'd said it, she'd never told me the same. I had never heard her say those words to me: "I love you." I didn't really know what to think. The way she acted, the way she'd kiss me, or hold me, told me she cared. But she had never said it...it seemed so simple to me, but to her...I don't know. She never said it. And I guess I was starting to take it to mean she didn't. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe Alison doesn't love me. Maybe I'm chasing a lost dream.

“I'm hungry. Wanna get something to eat?"

I look at her, smirking.

"Is that something you?"

She giggles.

"Maybe later...But fo serz though. Wanna get out of here?"

I nod.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

January 15, 2012
Denver, Colorado
The Hotel

Alison and I walk down the hallway towards the hotel room, laughing. We had just gotten back from dinner. I had taken her out to a nice place in town. She seemed to enjoy it. It was a romantic place, pretty fancy compared to where we would normally go. I put my arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to me, and she instinctively wraps her hands around my waist. I stare at her. She looks…hot. Just her hair, her eyes, the color lipstick she chose for tonight…I smile, and kiss the top of her head.

“What is with you tonight?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been so...I don’t know. You’ve been kissing and touching me all night. You really want me that bad?”

She said it as a joke...but something told me she knew that was exactly the case.

“You look hot.”

She smirks.

“Bitch, I look hot every night.”

“True. I don’t know. You just look especially sexy tonight, I guess.”

She looks at me, a playful smile on her face.

“How sexy?”

“Extremely.”

Her smile grows wider.

“I know what that means.”

I bite my lip. I really wanted to. But…I don’t know. It still seemed like our relationship was based completely on sex. We had romantic evenings like this one…but they were few and far between, and even then, sometimes it just felt like two girls getting dinner. Like a couple friends, and not a real couple. I mean…sure, there were some nights, she really did feel like my girlfriend, and we really had a nice night…but more often than not, it just seemed like things weren’t all that serious. Still, I smile, and run my hands through her hair.

“Do you?”

Alison giggles, moving her hand from my waist to my ass. She rubs it for a minute, smirking. We stop at the door, and she digs through her purse, looking for the keycard. She looks over her shoulder at me, and shakes her ass, winking. I shake my head.

“Just find the key.”

She grins, and goes back to her purse. I glance at my phone. It was almost nine at night…and I had a text message. I hadn’t even felt my phone vibrate. I glance at the text.

[From: Jenny]
Me, him, you, and your boyfriend? For sure! Sounds like a blast!

I feel a sudden surge of guilt. I’d texted Jennifer Young about a blind date with a friend of mine. She seemed excited, and I told her he asked me to come as well. She knew I was dating someone…I just hadn’t broken it to her yet that the “someone” was a girl. So Jen was interested in Chad though. That much I knew. It was good, too, because I really believed the two of them would get along great. The problem was that we planned to spend the weekend at Chad’s…and I wasn’t too sure how fired up Ali would be about the idea. I still hadn’t told her about our upcoming date with Chad. There seemed to be a lot of miserable conversations I was avoiding lately. It was going to take some convincing, I was sure.

“So, Ali…”

Alison doesn’t bother looking up from her stuff.

“So, Ashy…”

I look at her, smiling. She glances over at me.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just looking.”

She smirks.

“Enjoying the view?”

“Very much.”

She giggles. There’s a short silence.

“What do you think of Chad?”

“He’s ew.”

I frown. No hesitation.

“Ew?”

Alison looks back to her things, shrugging.

“He’s got okay abs, but that’s it. His hair is greasy and he looks just…ew.”

“Okay…”

She stops again, and turns to look at me.

“Please don’t tell me you want a threesome with him.”

I roll my eyes.

“I take that as a no.”

“That’s a no.”

“K good.”

“But…what would you think about spending a weekend at his place?”

Alison stares at me again, frowing. She takes a step away.

“No.”

“You aren’t even gonna think about it?”

“He’s gross. His house is probably a pit. He probably doesn’t even have a house. Probably has a shitty apartment. Or he lives with his parents.”

“He has a house. It’s nice.”

“Ugh, I don’t know why you’re friends with him.”

“Because he’s sweet.”

“Whatevs.”

I frown.

“Ali…”

“I said no.”

“Would you at least consider it?”

“No.”

I stare at Alison, batting my eyes at her and making a pouty face.

“That’s pathetic.”

I stick my lip out even further.

“Is it working?”

“No.”

I frown.

“Please?”

“No!”

She goes back to looking for the card. She finally pulls it out of her purse, a triumphant grin spreading across her face. I gently grab her shoulder, turning her to face me. She raises an eyebrow. I gently push her up against the wall, pinning her against it. I move in close to her. She leans in to kiss me, but I pull just out of her reach.

“Please?”

She sighs, and groans.

“Ashley, come on…”

I rest my hands on her boobs, pushing them together, squeezing them. She bites her lip as I lean down, gently kissing the top of each one before standing up straight, looking her in the eyes.

“Please?”

“No, come on Ash, stop…”

I rest my hand on her leg, slowly sliding it up her skirt, into her pants and between her legs. She shudders, and gasps. I lean close, whispering in her ear.

“Please?”

I gently bite her ear, and she groans.

“Ashley…Fine…fine! You win! But you-”

She’s interrupted as I kiss her.

“-owe me.”

“I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

I gently pull my hand from her skirt, making sure to run my finger along her as I do. She tries to hold back her moan, turning it instead into a soft giggle. I slowly stick my finger in my mouth.

“Mmm…”

Alison stares at me, and I smirk at her expression.

“Do you want it?”

She bites her lip again, breathing faster.

“Yeah...”

I smirk, and grab her hand, forcing it down into my pants, grinning at her complete lack of resistance. I feel her, running her fingers gently along. I shiver, biting my lip. I lean in, whispering in her ear.

“So get it.”

I kiss her ear again, and smirking. Before I have a chance to do anything else, Alison lips collide with mine. She holds the back of my head, preventing me from pulling away. I push her up against the wall, the two of us still making out, right there in the hallway.

“Fuck…..Ashley…”

She lets out a sigh as I gently bite at her neck. She pulls at my pants, squeezing my ass and pulling me closer to her. I look up at her, and she stares at me, her forehead pressed against mine. She kisses me again, and I catch her lower lip, holding it in my teeth.

“Right now?”

She nods, and kisses me again, running her tongue across my lips. Before I can react, she breaks the kiss, bending down, and scooping me up in her arms. I wrap my arms around her neck, pulling her in to kiss her once more. She fumbles with the keycard, but manages to get the door open, and carries me to the bed. She flops me onto the bed, and immediately crawls on top of me, unbuttoning my shirt and tearing it open. She kisses me, right over my belly button, causing another shiver to shoot down my spine. Alison kisses up my stomach, stopping only to kiss my neck, breathing heavily down it. She kisses my chin before staring at me.

“You still owe me.”

I smirk, and pull her in for another kiss.

“I love you…”

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This is the kind of match that gets made to prove a point.

We’re up against Lillian Shark, who…wow, you know what? Lillian sucks. She literally hasn’t done jack shit with her career.

Then there’s Johan Alfredsson, who I’m sure absolutely hates me by now, and just wants me to fuck off and die. Sorry honey, but I’m gonna be around for a while. And what’s more, I’m going to be heading into Rising Monarchy to ruin your title aspirations…again! How about that?

And then, of course, there’s Robbie Hart, who at one point was the golden boy for this company, and a guy that everyone thought would take IWF by storm.

Wrong.

That’s not important though. The point that will be made this week is that the people across the ring from Robbie, from Lillian, from Karly and Johan…they’re a force.

Chad Mason has a shitty record in IWF. Sorry Chad, but it’s true. Does anyone happen to remember that Chad Mason was once a world champion? Was it the greatest victory? No. Not the greatest reign either. But he won. He was a world champion. How many people in IWF even give him a second thought?

Rosalie Knight. What has she done in IWF? If you guessed “A big heaping plate of nothing” you’re right. She hasn’t done anything worthy of note here in IWF…but to be fair, she hasn’t been given the opportunity.

Then there’s me. I’m…not important. In my corner, though, I got a girl I love, and I know she’ll be right there, cheering me on. That’s enough to make me a threat in this match. My drive to win, and to prove to everyone that I’m not just the girl at the sidelines, helping Ali to victory. I’m just as tough and as talented as the rest.

We’re the team that’s overlooked. All four of us: Alison, me, Rosa, and Chad…none of you take us seriously. None of you think we have it in us to succeed.

That’s where you’re wrong. And I promise, we’re going to prove it this week….and the next week…and every week after that until you people start to realize.

Ashley Matthews? Rosalie Knight? Alison Williams?

We’re here to stay. And we’re here to win.