Good Fortune

Taylor strode down the hallways of AFW at a rate of speed uncommon to normal human beings. She had important business for the first time in what seemed like a long time, something that might even end up being a good thing, which would perhaps be a first in her dealings with AFW management. She was excited, sure, but didn't think of it like that. She was all business. She was ready to go.

She was decked out in a pair of tight, gray-blue skinny jeans with a black, chrome riveted belt and a tight black tank top that left a portion of her flat, defined midsection bare, a pair of red Doc Marten's, and an assortment of random jewelery. She had her delicate silver ring in her left eyebrow, a tiny silver stud in her right nostril, a stud in each ear, a thick, shiny black, stretchy bracelet on one wrist accompanied by several brightly colored round rubber ones, and a leather strap bracelet on the other with a silver chain. Her bright blue hair was up in pigtails, and her long bangs nearly covered her right eye. She was ready for Aurelia Fortuna.

"Hey, what's up?" She said with a casual wave and a winning smile to Mercy as she passed the receptionist desk without breaking stride. She violently shoved open the door to Aurelia's office and strutted inside like she owned the place.

"You wanted to see me?" She said with a big grin that lit up her face, brimming with energy and chaos.

Aurelia was surprised by Taylor's sudden entrance. It was a pleasant surprise to be sure. It broke her out of her current contemplation and into a brilliant smile.

"Not only did I want to see you, this is the you that I wanted to see." Aurelia responded. In some corner of Aurelia's mind she must have been anticipating the visit as her bar shelf had already emerged from the refrigeration unit in the floor behind her. It was now more fully stocked, notably featuring a selection of Japanese beers along with a couple choice imports. "May I interest you in a drink?" she asked motioning. As for her own glass she had recently nursed it to death and moved to prepare herself a scotch and soda.

Aurelia had recently had the security team help her shift her desk to one side, so it wouldn't separate her from her interviewees. It was still close enough to serve the purposes she needed, one of which was a convenient place to mix her drink.

Taylor swaggered over near Aurelia's desk with a lopsided grin. It was nice to feel like someone in the AFW brass wasn't just waiting to fuck her over, and with Lukretia that feeling was somewhat multifaceted.

"Nah." She said with a shrug, and then after a moment "Do you have water?" She still drank, but only on a technicality. It was something that could happen if she was out with people, or for a special occasion or something, which reminded her that her birthday was coming up. She hadn't drank at all in a long time... She hadn't even had chocolate or ice cream or soda or anything like that in forever. Her body felt so good when she ate clean that she just didn't want to cheat with her food anymore.

She found herself unsure of what to do with herself for a moment while Aurelia mixed up her drink. It was always a little awkward to be the one not drinking, and most people didn't expect Taylor to be so nearly straight edge. Generally, she didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't do any drugs or even take aspirin, and she was mostly vegan. As for sex... she did do that, but she'd been completely monogamous since meeting Johnny, and before that, in Japan, she'd just had no action at all.

"So whatya got?" She asked, and put a hand on her hip. "Wanna know when I'm gonna start winning matches? 'Cause like you guys dumped all that promotional shit into me and everything after the Entropy thing and I haven't done a goddamn thing all year except get my ass kicked?" She was mostly just probing Aurelia, partly out of her own insecurity. If she brought it up, maybe Aurelia would downplay it or something. "Tell you what, you get me a fair fuckin' fight and I'll give you some highlight reel-type of shit, a'right?"

Aurelia frowned for a moment when she heard Taylor's request. Of course, she must be that sort of punk. "I have... tonic water. Sorry." she muttered. She set her drink aside and sat down. At this rate, she was going to end up with a shelf full of alcohol she didn't drink. At least she had learned something about the blue-haired girl in the process.

"I thought I told you last time we talked. I don't expect you to win. I expect you to perform. Which you have been doing, in fact, you seem to perform quite well under duress. Which is good because I think Lukretia is a bit obsessed with you." She paused for a moment staring right into Taylor's eyes before asking, "Are you worried you aren't winning enough matches?"

Taylor hesitated before responding. She was relieved that Aurelia was still positive about her, but somehow she was only more convinced that there must be something terrible coming next. She stared off into space, and then looked back at Aurelia.

"Lukretia's obsessed with my ass." She said plainly. "And... yeah. I'm not winning enough of them. I mean... everybody loses sometimes, ya know, but like... I want to win all of them. I need to." She said, and fixed her darkly made up blue eyes on Aurelia. "I'm not interested in just getting paid. I need to be the best. All I care about is..." What was it? She thought of something, but she didn't say it aloud. "Whatever. I'm not a loser. These girls aren't like me, man, but fuck... I'm not gonna whine about it but I'm so tired of getting fucked over fighting two on one or three on one or whatever. Ya know?"

She paused, and scowled. Then she remembered that she'd been talking a bunch, but still hadn't heard what Aurelia wanted from her, if anything.

"So..."

Aurelia narrowed her eyes a bit as she listened to Taylor, leaning forward for a moment. There was one something that Taylor cared about. And it wasn't just winning or she would have simply said so.

But Taylor did have a drive to win, and that was something Aurelia could help with. "So, you want to have some matches that are challenging but fair. Matches designed by someone other than Lukretia. I will make that happen for you. It's good to have a drive to be excellent at the things you do, just don't let your identity become consumed by it. You have a lot to offer."

Aurelia placed her foreknuckle to her lips musing for a moment. "Speaking of which, I was wondering how you were doing outside of the ring. I had heard that you were having some tough times." She paused. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. I just want to make sure you're able to put on the best show you can, that you're not being hindered by anything."

"Well, jeez, I mean, I'm not gonna, like, complain about it and stuff. Ya know. Like I'm not going to cry my eyes out over it, because whether it's a fair fight or not it's on me to win. Ya know? Whining about it afterward isn't going to help you in a fight." She said. She suddenly felt awkward standing, so she sidled over to the chair across from Aurelia's and sat down. Then she fidgeted, couldn't get comfortable, and stood up again, and then blew at her bangs in a futile attempt to get them out of her eyes.

She wondered about her identity. What was it that made her her, really? Her personal style, fighting, music, her devotion to physical fitness... her personal problems. She felt like she had a better grip on it two years ago. Her time in Japan had pushed her, stretched her as a person, and... she didn't really know anymore. What did she even want to do?

"Oh, um..." Taylor hesitated. She knew that Aurelia probably just had a professional interest in Taylor, she even sort of said she did, but it still felt to Taylor like maybe she was someone she could talk to. She knew it was stupid, but she didn't really have any friends at the moment, and the people she was on friendly terms with she didn't really talk to and they were all wrestlers anyway, so that made things more complicated. That wasn't counting Johnny, of course, but he was one of the things she needed to talk about sometimes!

"I'm... okay." She said slowly, her voice suddenly weak. She seemed to shrink behind the chair. "It's been kinda... Tough times, ya know. It happens. Whatever. You just put someone in the ring with me, man, I'll take care of the rest, a'right?"

The younger woman was clearly not "... okay." She was the picture of a shrinking violet, given her choice of hair color. It bothered the blonde behemoth. There were a some people at AFW she wouldn't give the time of day, but Taylor was not one of them. There was something about the woman that truly reminded her of herself. Like if she could help Taylor she would be helping herself.

"Look, Taylor, I'm. I'm not here to get paid either. I want to do anything I can to build you up here. I just don't want to feel like I'm messing with your privacy." She stepped out of her chair reaching the desk in a single stride. She procured a business card and a pencil. Then she scribbled a number down crossing the printed number next to it out. "I hate resting on formality. It's a waste of everyone's time. This is my actual cell phone number. When you convince yourself that I am not really so self-important as to not give a shit how you are actually feeling give me a call." She pressed the card towards Taylor with both hands (in a somewhat ironic gesture).

Taylor looked hesitant to take the card, but when she did she cracked a sweet smile.

"Um... thanks." She said. To be honest, she didn't think Aurelia was self important, but she got the message just the same. She didn't know quite what to think about it, or rather how to feel about it, but it seemed like she had an ally in the AFW. That was good, right?

"Um..." She said, and her eyebrows knit up while she thought. "I don't want any special treatment. Ya know? I want to earn what I get in the ring. Like... this is cool, but I don't want to, like... like what everyone said about me and Akashi. I want to be... my own person, I guess." She didn't want to look like she had help. That would make her look weak, and that was one thing she couldn't stomach.

Aurelia smiled back softly. "Of course, I totally understand. When you step in the ring, it's all about you. I'm not going to interfere with that."

"Speaking of which," The giant's mind was flitting through options like a hummingbird. "Let's talk about matchups. Obviously we'll be doing you vs Akashi soon enough. I think Angel another match with Angel would be good. I can think of a couple newer wrestlers I might choose too. Did you have any other ideas?" She paused for a moment, catching her breath. She had gotten carried away with the myriad of possibilities an adept fighter like Taylor offered her. "These can all wait until Temple Games is over naturally."