Perfect Match (5 page)

“I should have known I’d find you here with
Jackson,” Larry said again, shaking his head and smiling. “Are you
staying for the taping of the show?”

“Hey, I’ll let you guys talk,” Jackson said
as he was about to walk away.

“Not so fast, kid,” Larry said. “You are like
family to me and today is a big day for my family. Noelle is
starting her new career today, and you are starting a new feud.
It’s times like this that make you realize you should have come to
more shows with me, huh, Noelle?” He chuckled at his own joke. “We
are going out to celebrate after work. You, me, and Jackson.”

“Jackson?” Noelle said.

“Yes, Jackson. It’s about time you forgave
him, Noelle. Besides, with both of us at dinner tonight, we can
really get you caught up with the guys.”

Jackson felt a bit of an adrenaline rush. Was
Larry really saying that he wanted Jackson to hang out with Noelle?
Wait, did he say a new feud? He needed details. “Who’s the feud
with?”

“Kevin Donnelly and Kayla DeVine. You are
going to go after Kevin. You are going after his title and you want
Kayla.”

Jackson’s title push! Unfortunately, it
involved Kayla, which diminished his excitement some.

“How exciting! I’m definitely looking forward
to the show,” Noelle said.

“Are you sure about this, Larry?” Jackson
said, trying not to sound so defeated.

“Yes, sir. I just heard it from the creative
team. You are going to run in during Kevin’s match and take him
down with your move and steal a kiss from Kayla.”

Jackson was happy about everything, but the
Kayla angle. But, this is what he had been wanting, so he nodded
and decided to deal with it later.

“Don’t you even try leaving after practice. I
want you to come with us tonight and I mean it.”

Jackson looked over at Noelle, who was
smiling. Things got a little better for him with that smile. “You
sure?”

“Yes, please. You heard the man,” Noelle
said.

“I’ll be there. I’m gonna go find Kevin.
Can’t wait to hang out with you both tonight.” He smiled and
excused himself. venturing over to where Mike was waiting for
him.

“Hey, what’s up? Dude, she’s a stalker isn’t
she? I can see it on your face.”

“No, she’s not a stalker. It’s much
worse!”

“She’s a guy!” Mike said, teasing him.

Jackson ignored that comment, sighed, and
said, “That girl is, in fact, my Scout from Friday night, and the
woman that I can’t stop thinking about. Problem is, she is also
Noelle Reid, Larry’s very off-limits daughter.”

“Damn, Jackson. You sure know how to pick
them. Larry is going to kill you if he finds out that you guys were
all over each other.”

“He is not going to find out about it,
right?”

“Not from me.”

“I know that, Man. Ready for the last bit of
news? He just told me that I will be starting a feud tonight.”

“That’s great, Man! But, why so glum?”

“It’s with Kevin,” Jackson said and felt sick
about the last part he was about to tell Mike, “So, guess who is
the lucky guy that gets to kiss Kayla?” He cringed at the last
part.

Mike patted Jackson on the back. “Sorry,
Man.”

Noelle followed Larry around the building,
until they settled in a locker room style area that they had
converted into a viewing room. There were numerous monitors, TVs,
and people everywhere. She smiled, because of the craziness that
surrounded her. She would have been lost in all the chaos, if it
wasn’t for her Pop.

Of course, he would stop and introduce her to
people, or, in some cases, re-introduce her to people. Then, he’d
gush about how proud he was that his daughter was working with him;
he always wanted one of his girls to get involved in the wrestling
business. Her Pop was in his element. He loved his job and the
people in it. He showed her off with such pride and she blushed,
but if she was being honest, she felt just as proud. Her Pop was
very well respected and loved by all the people he worked with, and
that made her feel so good. He deserved all of this. Larry Reid was
something special, and she was glad she got to see it all first
hand. She only wished that she could be admired this much with her
job. She hoped to make Pop proud, but she also hoped for the
respect of everyone at the company.

She had to laugh at some of the grown men
dressed in sequins, feathers, spandex, crazy make-up, and, in one
very strange case, head to toe leather. She was certain that she
wouldn’t encounter anything as crazy as this crew at any other job
in the world. Honestly, that made this special already. This was
just a practice day. Tomorrow it was sure to be even crazier with
the actual taping in front of a live crowd.

Noelle took a seat by Larry at one of the
make-shift desks. As she pretended to be listening to what Larry
and Leather man were talking about, she looked around for Jackson.
She wondered if he would be dressed in some sort of outlandish
costume. She hoped not. She didn’t know how serious she’d be able
to take him if he wore a sequined, feathered robe. She couldn’t
believe it. The man that fueled her x-rated fantasies all weekend
not only turned out to be a wrestler, who she vowed she would never
get involved with, but JJ Smith, her first crush.

Their families spent a lot of time together
when she was a child. She remembered being fascinated with the hair
on his legs and he had the cutest dimples. She smiled, because he
still had those dimples. He sure did crush her feelings, though.
She had so much to process and, for now, that was being pushed to
the back burner. The only thing she knew, for sure, was that they
could not date. He broke all of the rules she had when it came to
men. The easiest one to focus on was that he was a damn wrestler.
Anything else, she’d think about later.

***

Jackson waited in the back for Kevin. He
thought Kevin was a decent guy so he was looking forward to working
with him. Kayla, not so much. He never thought he’d actually dread
seeing someone so much. It wasn’t always like that with Kayla. At
one time, he thought she was pretty special, but that was long
gone.

They met at Larry Reid’s school, the Ruckus
Room, and he was impressed with her natural athletic ability. She
was a tough girl and was ready to go head to head with any of the
guys at the school. They were always together and would always have
a hamburger together afterward. Before either one of them knew it,
they were dating.

He thought that he had the coolest girlfriend
ever, because they were both after the same goal…to become a big
star at BRAWL. They both thought they would become the World
Champion and Champion Goddess. It turned out that BRAWL had more of
a need for Goddesses than the guys, so she got the push first. The
first thing they were taught when they were learning about
characters is that the best characters are actually your own
personality magnified by ten. Kayla seemed to miss that day,
because she became her character, in and out of the ring. Kayla
DeVine became who she strived to be, a self involved, over the top
princess, who thought the world revolved around her. Jackson didn’t
have room in the relationship for Kayla, himself, and Miss DeVine
so he ended things with her. She didn’t take it well at all and
deemed him the enemy. She got so bad, that he actually regretted
ever being involved with her. He felt sorry for anyone that got
involved with her, but refused to sink to her level. He could
handle any false rumor she would start about him. He figured that
he knew the truth.

That was why he chose to avoid her, and now,
he was faced with the fact that he could avoid her no longer. That
was the easy part. The hard part was, he actually had to kiss her.
He sighed when he heard her laughter, before the doors opened and
she walked in with Kevin. He reminded himself that this promo was
what he had been working toward. This feud could be the official
start of his career, and he’d weather the Kayla DeVine storm if it
meant a championship at the end.

“Hey, Jackson,” Kevin said, shaking his hand.
“You ready for your big night?”

“I am.”

Kayla appeared bored and actually yawned,
before she said, “It’s not like you are winning the belt or
anything yet. Besides, they could change their mind about you
before show time tomorrow.”

Jackson chose to ignore that. Kevin responded
for him. “They won’t and he just might win the belt. I’ll be
leaving for a few weeks when my wife has the baby, so I’ll be
dropping the belt before I go. If you play your cards right,
Jackson, that North American Championship belt may soon be around
your waist.”

Jackson tried not to get ahead of himself,
thinking of winning the belt. He focused and said, “Well, let me
get through this first. Ready to practice?”

Kevin checked his phone, “Give me a minute,
my wife is calling.”

Jackson nodded and started to do some
stretches. He wanted to do anything to get away from Kayla, but he
wasn’t that lucky. Kayla sneered, “Isn’t it something how your
first big push is with me?”

“Only because you’re with Kevin.”

“Don’t get too excited about kissing me
again.”

“I’ll try to control my excitement.”

“Please do. I’m long over your sorry
ass.”

“My sorry ass? Really? I’m not the one who
doesn’t know the difference between who she is and her in-ring
character.”

“This is who I am and you just can’t handle
it. You just couldn’t handle how great I was becoming. You were a
coward and ended us, Jackson. Now, you have to deal with it.”

Kevin came back at that point. “Sorry about
that. I’m ready now.”

“Everything okay?” Jackson asked.

“Yep. She just got back from the doctors and
wanted to fill me in. Baby girl Donnelly will be here in three
weeks.”

“Congrats, Man,” Jackson said and shook his
hand again. “Now get in the ring, so I can give you a Shot to the
Heart.”

***

The time flew by for Noelle, she was really
enjoying herself. She had stayed away for so long and had wondered
how things were going to feel, being around again. She didn’t have
to worry about anything. The old ghosts were long gone. Watching
the practice for the show tomorrow was like watching a dress
rehearsal, and it was great. She was sure the live show was going
to be amazing! She was enjoying wrestling again for the first time
in years. Learning that she landed this job, she knew that she was
going to have to be around this environment again, and this time
she knew better. This was not hanging around seeing friends, this
was her future. She was not going to allow herself any
distractions. None. That is what she focused on.

So much for no distractions, because
Jackson’s segment came up. “Here, Noelle! Here is where Jackson is
going to shine,” Larry said proudly.

Noelle gave the monitor her full attention.
She was so excited for Jackson. She remembered how much he had
wanted this. She was so glad to be there for that moment. Kevin
Donnelly, whose character seemed to be a sort of playboy, strutted
down to the ring with a very flashy blonde woman. She wore a silver
outfit that was as small as a bikini, but a bit too small for her
as she was about to fall out of the top. She wore silver stilettos
that most women would break an ankle walking in. Not to mention,
this was just a rehearsal. The woman had very full and curly blonde
hair. She was very beautiful, very glamorous. She remembered Larry
saying that Jackson had to kiss Kayla, she didn’t like that. She
didn’t like that one bit.

Kevin and Kayla strutted into the ring. He
was the North American Champion and was really arrogant about
having the belt. He grabbed a microphone, and was being very
obnoxious, talking about how no one had the guts to challenge him.
He and Kayla were wrestling royalty and don’t expect any “common”
wrestlers to attempt to challenge him.

Suddenly, there was a blur of someone flying
into the ring. Had this been the live show, the audience would be
screaming at this point. Jackson got in the ring and stood on the
opposite side, giving Kevin the stare-down for a half a minute
before he took off running. With all of his weight, he rammed him
in the mid section, and Kevin went crashing to the ground with
Jackson falling down with him. She learned from Larry that it was
Jackson’s signature move, Shot to the Heart. She also learned that
Jackson’s in-ring name was Bullet.

Jackson laid him out cold and, suddenly, the
flashy Kayla stood there looking like she was fearing for her life.
She is quite the over-actress, Noelle thought. Anything to sell the
storyline. Jackson stood there pacing in front of her. She would
slowly take a few steps backward each time he came close. He picked
up the microphone and, he looked down at Kevin, who was really
selling that he was in pain.

Jackson yelled into the mic, “I accept the
challenge!” Then he turned to Kayla, taking her arm, and pulled her
to him and laying a hard kiss on her. When he was finished, he
pushed her away and smiled at her. “Go ahead…Try and dodge this
bullet.”

The guys in the back cheered and that was it.
Noelle told herself that it didn’t matter that Jackson kissed that
girl. He was doing his job, and, besides, there would be no more
kissing for the two of them. That ended the moment she realized he
was a wrestler, and it didn’t matter how much she liked him. At
least with him being JJ, they had a chance to still hang out. They
were old friends after all. Friends is all that they would ever be.
Even if she could date him, she wouldn’t. She didn’t trust him.
Their history proved that. So, she told herself again that she and
Jackson were never going to be anything more than friends and he
was just playing a part. She had to smile, because she was relieved
to see him wearing wrestling pants that looked like regular pants.
Nothing flashy for him.