Each and Every Step

Taylor lounged crossways on an overstuffed chair, her legs draped over one armrest and her head against the other. Her very minimal cotton lounge shorts made her bare legs a magnet for her husband, and she never missed an opportunity to entice him, even when he had somewhere to be. She tugged at the thin spaghetti straps of her tank top and shifted around to situate herself in her chair.

She held her phone in both hands. She found the number Adrian had called her from and saved it. She had named the contact "Dickbag". She stared at the screen, and at the waiting cursor flashing at the bottom. She'd already been procrastinating for half the morning while she adoringly watched Johnny going back and forth getting himself ready for another day of Tension super-stardom.

"Eat their skanky hearts out." She said aloud, and blew at her long bangs that hung in her face. All those Tension bitches could say whatever they wanted, but Johnny was all hers. "Are you gonna go break some hearts, Killer?"

Johnny ran a towel over his glistening wet hair. He was standing in the front of the living room admiring his lounging wife in all her splendid beauty. With a shirt draped across his shoulder, he grinned as Taylor spoke. "Yeah, babe." He said as he pulled the towel off his face.

"Gotta spend some time on the machines so I'm headin to the complex. He then grinned as he slid over to her and slipped an arm around her. He gave her an affectionate kiss and looked her in the eye. "I'm headin up to Tokyo tonight too, so I won't be home."

He turned and saw the phone she had been messing with. The blank screen with just the contact name on it. "Dickbag, eh?" He said with a chuckle. "Ladies night out?" He said giving her a wry look.

Taylor kissed Johnny back and her eyes stayed closed a moment after, with a dreamy smile on her lips.

"Yeah," she said. "Dickbag."

She had told Johnny that Adrian wanted her to help her train, but she hadn't told him what she'd decided. Ultimately, the old rivalries were meaningless now that she wasn't a wrestler anymore. It seemed like without that hanging over her head all the time, there was no reason why she couldn't make an effort with people. Unless of course people like Adrian hadn't forgotten their grudges, and were still looking to rough Taylor up.

But if anyone did try anything, they would regret the shit out of it.

"I'm training Adrian today. I haven't told her yet, so she's gonna have to get her ass to Kyoto. I could go to Tokyo with you and save her the trip, but I'm not looking to make her work less." She grinned. "She's got to earn every second of this."

She sat up and gave Johnny a great big slap on the ass. "Now get out of here, I have important business to do."

Johnny remained close while Taylor spoke. When she slapped his ass, his eyes lit up and he pressed against her for a long, deep kiss. When he pulled away he walked back towards the bedroom area, slipping his shirt on.

After a few minutes, he came back with a bag, ready to head out. "I might be gone for a few days if you want to keep her a round for a little boot camp." He said with a grin. "Just call me if you end up murderin her and I'll come back down to help ya hide the body." He said with a laugh. "See ya later, babe. Love ya." He said and waved to her as he stepped out the door.

"Okay, maybe I'll come by for a visit. Spend some time with the in-laws." Taylor said.

She really just wanted to spend time with Johnny's dad. When he mentioned that he was in town, she instantly wanted to go with, but she was afraid that she'd be crowding in on family time. Of course, she was family now, something she was still getting used to.

They each had their own things going on, and that was fine, but... maybe she'd just find the time to go to Tokyo for dinner one night.

"Bye! Call me tonight!"

After the door shut, Taylor set her attention back on her phone and the ever-so-demanding blinking cursor. In a moment, she started thumbing away at the screen.

She typed "come2 kyoto for the weekend but only if ur seriuos," and then added "call when ur trains here"

She looked at the message, and thought about what a retard she must sound like to everyone. She felt self conscious about it, and wanted to erase the message and write one with proper grammar and stuff, but she only sighed and sent it anyway. It was her. Adrian was probably smarter than her, and she probably knew it, but Taylor was just fine in her own skin. Even if she did feel like a total retard around half the people she knew.

Adrian got the text and understood it okay. Apart from using 'ur' twice for different meanings it was still perfectly legible. And Adrian was serious! Kinda, maybe, in a way... well there were a few lingering doubts... maybe a lot of them. But she was on the train to Kyoto first thing Staurday, a couple of changes of clothes including her workout stuff now, there wasn't much she could do to change the course she was on.

Well, she could just call up Taylor and bitch her out... but she didn't want to start shit. That whole thing was in the past now, she had to focus on what was coming up for her, and that started with an important training session.

Arriving at the station, still slightly sleepy in the morning she pulled out her phone, looked through her contacts, and dialed up the one named "Taylor Bitchtits" "Hello? I'm at Kyoto station."

Taylor ate a small breakfast, put in her morning run, stretched and had a little snack before settling down in her chair by the window. She sat straight up in it while she sipped a cup of tea.

On the table at her left hand, there was a thick paperback book, a biography of Mighty Yukiko. She had decided that she should read more, more than not at all, and the only things she could think of to read about involved wrestling. She found herself drawn in by the account of Yukiko's early life and her early career, and by how she faced obstacles and what she did to get past them. Taylor had never thought much about how other wrestlers came to be where they were.

It was slow going at first. She wasn't used to sitting in one place for so long, but she was gradually reading more and more at a time, starting at just a page or two. The night before, she had read several chapters in bed using her phone as a light while Johnny slept. She was actually excited to have some quiet time with just her and her book.

She sipped her tea, she always felt so refined and sophisticated sipping tea, so unlike herself, and picked up her book. The moment she found her page, her phone buzzed. she sighed.

She tucked the book under her arm and thumbed out a reply while she strolled into the kitchen. "k ill come pick u up n we can go straight to the gym. hope u slept on the train!"

She paused for a moment while she stared down at the screen, and then breathed another sigh and sent it. She put her book on the kitchen counter, grabbed her car keys and a light zippered hoodie, black with a silver silhouette of a bird with it's wings outstretched on the back, and headed off to the train station.

It wasn't a long drive. She was there in less than ten minutes. She parked on the curb and hoped she didn't get a ticket while she went in to find Adrian.

"...hope I slept on the train?" Adrian repeated as she looked at the screen "Aww man... this is gonna suuuuuuck." She groaned, banging the back of her head against a wall while she waited. It had been pretty much a year since the last time they'd been face to face. Wasn't she doing interviews for that big event for Tension or something? Who knows how much she'd changed, she was speaking slower anyway, maybe this wouldn't be too bad.

Taylor eventually spotted Adrian and it occurred to her how long it had been since she'd actually seen the goofy bitch in person. It seemed weird to see her outside of the arena, but there she was... banging her head against the wall.

"That actually explains a lot." She said as she stopped behind Adrian. She felt the need to say something else, but nothing came to mind. The moment quickly turned awkward, and she was quick to dismiss it.

"Ready?"

Adrian was starting to let her eyes close as she rested against the wall, almost sliding down to just sit on her bags before an unmistakable voice brought her ack to the word of the living.

"Ha, ha." Adrian retorted dryly, somethings hadn't changed. "Yeah, I'm ready: so got a special place where you keep in shape... other than your bedroom I mean." She yawned out, really wishing she had gotten some more sleep. This wasn't exactly the way she wanted to start things, but after Taylor started the snark war... somewhat on instinct: she couldn't help but fire back.