Smiling Faces Sometimes

Melissa Sellers wanted to see Kozue Kaburagi. Why the hell did Melissa Sellers want to see Kozue Kaburagi?

Kozue asked herself that question time and time again as she walked down the hall to Melissa's office, and it made less and less sense every time she muttered it. She'd been working in the company for just under a year, and she was pretty sure she'd never even been in the same room as Melissa Sellers. They hadn't talked, didn't exchange e-mails, never had one of those bullshit pep talks that Kozue thought managers were required to give their employees.

But, then again, Kozue had been selected for the royale, even over plenty of wrestlers who'd been with the company longer. So, maybe, Melissa saw something she liked. Maybe this little invitation was about future opportunities and taking a bigger role in the company, getting some advertisements and such going on. Maybe even an action figure. More than life itself, Kozue wanted her own action figure.

Whatever the case, Kozue was dressed for the part, even if it was in a dress she'd only bought about an hour ago. Dark blue skirt, matching high heels, and a light blue blouse with long sleeves and frilly crap around the shoulders. She'd probably never wear it again, and it was more than she'd like to spend on a one-time thing, but there was no way she'd show up to a personal interview with her boss wearing a Nintend Power t-shirt. Even if it did look badass.

Kozue click-clacked her way over to Melissa's office, gave the door a little knock, then stepped back and composed herself while she waited for the answer.

"Ah Ms. Kaburagi" the answer came but not from the other side of the office door. No the smooth feminine voice came from behind the ninja and to the right as Melissa Sellers sauntered around the corner at the opportune moment. The GM of Tension was wearing a form hugging but classy dark silver and black full length dress, the silver patterns that flowed downwards seemed to glimmer in the lights above as she moved... It gave the impression that the material was damp, almost as if very fine droplets of water were caught on the surface of the black fabric and were caressing their way down to her feet in ripples.

"It is good of you to meet me." Melissa said smiling cordially, fingering the ebony bead black necklace around her neck

However this went down, Kozue would give the Tension manager this much, at the absolute least - this woman knew how to wear a black dress. It seemed to cling to her every curve, move like another piece of her body, like it was made specifically for her to wear - hell, with money like she had, it likely was. Ever step she made had this smooth, sauve, sexiness to it, as if she could own a room simply by being in it. And there stood Kozue, in her dinky, Wal-Mart, one-use dress. Inadequate, all the way.

Okay, first impression, make it count.

"Hey, yo." God damn it! "I mean, hey, hi, hello." Kozue scratched the back of her head and let it go with a light chuckle, as she tried to force some calm into her mind and took on the most genuine, pleasant smile she could manage without vomiting.

"It's good of you to have me...met." She winced off to the side for a flash, then looked back. "What can I do for you?"

Melissa just smiled gently as Kozue stumbled over her words, perhaps trying to hard to make a good impression.. But it was good that she was trying none the less. At that point the door opened to reply to Kozue's previous knock... A blue haired small girl, one of Ms Seller's personal assistants/receptionist/nurse stood in front of them expectantly

"I can take it from here." Melissa assured her without Nina having to say a thing "Shall we take a walk...?" Melissa said signaling down the corridor "I thought it might be a prudent to have a quick catch up after your showing in the battle royal not so long ago."

Relax, Kozue. Just relax. Melissa Sellers may  have been her boss, but she was a normal woman, at the end of the day. She put her socks on one leg at a time, like everyone else. She just looked a lot sexier doing it and the socks costed more than Kozue's entire outfit.

"Walk?" She looked between Melissa and Nina, then shrugged. Kozue did not relish the idea of stumbling behind Melissa in her heels, but if that was what the boss wanted... "Sure, that's fine. Not sure what there's to talk about, though - I mean, my 'showing in the battle royale' was just me getting smacked around by Ro, then..." She tensed up as the memory of King flooded into her head. The last thing she wanted to contemplate. Ever. "Yeah. Oh, but, ah, thanks for putting me in there." She gave Melissa a thumbs up and a smile. "That? That was cool."

The corridors of the AFW Tension complex wasn't the usual place Melissa would conduct a meeting,  but it was still better than the office and there corridors appeared to be sufficiently empty to still feel like one was talking in private.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the opportunity, some people do not know how to appreciate such things when gifted to them. But I think you are belittling your appearance in the battle royal. You were competing against the other great potentials in Tension for a chance at the Tension World Championship no less. Don't you think that is a sign that you are ready to compete for titles belt glory?"

Holy shit, Kozue's heart skipped a beat. She'd always thought that was just some lame cliche, but no, it was actually possible for your heart to miss one of its beats, and this was the perfect occasion to do it. Unless her hearing was way off, it sounded like the GM had insinuated the possibility of her, a rookie still in her first year, getting a title shot.

Well, okay, she hadn't said that much. Still, it was a nice thing to hear from the woman who signed her paychecks. Kozue forced herself to illicit some calm, and nodded back to Melissa as she kept up beside her.

"That'd be nice, yeah, but I have a ways to go. Haven't looked at the rankings in a while, but I don't think I'm near the top spots." She stumbled a bit with the high heel, twisting her ankle, but she quickly corrected herself and tried to mimic Melissa's regal gait.

Melissa obviously noticed Kozue's clumsy stumble but acted as if she did not, perhaps in a way trying to allow her to feel at ease by doing so

"The rankings here in Tension don't quite work the same way as they do in Friction. True, the best way to determine who is worthy of a title shot is by looking through the veterans and seeing who currently is top dog amongst them..." She lightly slipped her fingers through the front strands of blonde hair, pulling them back around the side of her face

"But I also prefer to reward potential in the hope of seeing something bloom. Look at Ms. Kirishima, new recruit to AFW Tension and already competing for the Tension world title."

It was probably just some business juju that Melissa had learned from her experience, but she did have a way of making things feel under control and at ease in the surroundings. Kozue was still a nervous at rubbing shoulders so high above her usual level, but it was getting easier.

Her face darkened, just a bit, at the mention of Reira and what went down at the Royale's ending. It was hard to blame Melissa for all of that, but at the same time, it was a none-too-subtle reminder that King and his cronies had been allowed to run wild at the PPV and security - if security was even around - hadn't done much to stop them.

"Reira sort of lucked up, though. I mean, if it wasn't for what happened with King, that could've gone a lot differently." She slid her hand along the edge of a water fountain as they passed, and took that tiny edge out of her voice before speaking again. "But yeah, I get you. Keeps things spicy, sort of like a Rocky thing."

Off-hand, Kozue wondered if Melissa had even seen Rocky.

Melissa did not make any comment on the Rocky reference, keeping ambiguity on the question Kozue posed herself.... Something else that the Sellers woman was not about to comment on was Reira's victory in the battle royal, she had obviously shown before this meeting to side with the ex wrestle angel by rewarding her with a place in the Thorns of a Rose... But Kozue probably didn't know that and there was no need to bring up something that would sour the mood.

"I am glad that you agree with what I am saying deary... And although your time may or may not be now, I would like to offer you the chance to have your potential flourish with a title shot."