TWW Chapters

"Rich? I mean, Sharc?"

He didn't move. He just sat still, resting against the pillows on his bed, his legs covered by the white comforter, shirtless, his red hair falling into his eyes. Lisa looked at him for a moment, holding the cordless phone in her hand. Not sure what she should do.

"It's Bait."

There was a slight twitch at the speaking of her name. And then slowly, Sharc's head spun around and he looked up at her through strands of his fine hair. Reluctantly, she extended the phone toward him and waited.

Slowly, his hand reached up and he took the phone and put it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rich. It's me. How are you?" She said, the slightest hint of concern in her voice. Sharc looked up at Lisa, his pregnant live-in girlfriend, who just threw her hands up in the air and stormed out of their bedroom.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"Good. I was so glad to see you come home. How come you took off so quick afterwards? I was hoping we could talk. I haven't seen you in like, forever."

Sharc scratched his head and cleared his throat. "I dunno. Long drive."

She chuckled. "A half-hour?"

"Well, Lisa's pregnant. And she wanted me back actually."

"Oh? Lisa? That girl you were running with in PIW? So that wasn't an angle."

"I said as much on TV."

"I don't believe anything I see on a wrestling show."

"Well, she's five months along now. So it's quite real."

"Wow. You two gonna get married? I'm talking to Rich," she said to someone on her end.

"I highly doubt it," he said with a sigh. "Is that my old buddy?"

"Yeah it is," she said with a bit of a moan. "He sends his love as always."

"You two still…"

"Yep. Three years."

"You two gonna get married?"

She sighed and then was quiet for a few seconds. "I doubt it honestly."

Sharc suddenly sat forward and put his feet on the floor. "Really?" He then noticed Lisa was back in the doorway, but he focused his eyes on the carpet. Mainly on the piece of carpet where another carpet had been thrown to hide a blood stain from his head in an incident he can only wish he could forget.

"It's a long story. Maybe we can go out after the show? It'd be nice to talk to you again. I miss you, Rich."

He looked up and saw Lisa pouting in the doorway. He had missed Bait more than he could probably ever convey. He hadn't seen her in, hell, over a year now. Even though they were exes, they had maintained a friendship. She was one of only two people he would even consider to be a friend and he treasured her. They had been best friends during all their time in the XWL/WWL. And there was something far deeper he felt for her that he wanted to tell her.

He opened his mouth to tell her what he had wanted to several times in the last three years, but instead of saying what he wanted to, he simply said: "Definitely."

"Great. Well, we gotta head out, so I'll talk to you Sunday."

"OK. Take care."

"Bye."

As Sharc hung up, Lisa stepped into the room and sat down beside him. For the first time that he could remember, the beautiful brunette ran her fingers through his hair.

"Care to explain?" she asked.

Was that a bit of jealousy perhaps? Highly unlikely, but not impossible he supposed.

"God, why don't you just tell her," that woman's voice asked from behind him. He didn't dare turn around. Instead he just closed his eyes and hoped she would go away again. "Why don't you tell that bitch that you're still in love with that other bitch? You afraid this slut will leave you? Are you that fucking desperate? Are you?"

Sharc's began shaking as if he had been out in the freezing cold too long.

"Do you believe in ghosts, Lisa?" Sharc asked, seemingly out of the blue.

She eyed him oddly and slowly shook her head. "Nooooo."

"Our boy here better shut his mouth before he says something stupid," a man's voice said from behind Sharc as well. Sharc didn't want to turn and see him either. "Because if you're stupid enough to let anyone know, well, you can kiss your freedom goodbye. Remember that."

"What about ghosts?"

"I, uh, just watched a show the other night is all. It was odd."

"Don't change the subject. I want to know who the girl is."

"Nobody you need to worry about."

"I've got Chelsea, the mother of your baby girl to worry about. I don't need to worry about some other bitch."

"We work together. Fate brought us back together for some reason. PIW closed. TWW returned. The timing could have been more…" he suddenly got a chill up and down his spine and didn't finish his thought. Instead, he just put his hands to his ears and fell back onto the bed and curled up into a ball.

"Fucking God. What's wrong with you!" Lisa angrily got up and left the room, leaving Sharc all alone.

But not…

It was quite a show. It was quite a night. He still really couldn’t even believe he was staring across the table at her. Staring at his first everything. They both had silly grins on their faces, grins neither one of them had had in a long time. And it was nice.

"So this Lisa person," Bait said with a bit of concern. "I don’t understand why you’re still with her if she treats you the way you say she does. I mean. I know you haven’t exactly had the bestest life ever, but for God’s sakes, why do you need somebody who treats you like you’re garbage?"

Sharc shrugged. "I don’t know. I know it’s wrong. But it’s like, it feels like I need abuse in my life."

"Nobody needs abuse in their life. God. I had to learn that the hard way these last few months as he got more and more pissed off over his faltering career." The he, being her ex-fiancee, the man Sharc had defeated on Shockwave in a brutal war, Python. His longtime professional rival, mainly because of Bait.

Sharc rose up his bottle of beer, and Bait did the same. They clinked the necks together in a cheers gesture.

"Here’s to rebirth. Here’s to second chances. And here’s to my bad memory that prevents me from remembering what your real name is," Sharc said, starting to laugh hysterically.

Bait just sat there a moment, her jaw hanging open, but the slightest trace of a smile, almost as in a "I can’t believe I just heard you say that."

"Amy," she said shaking her head. "Damn you, Rich."

"You know. For the longest time there has been this....I don’t know...it’s like my brain had this hold over me, telling me that I am Sharc. That I deserve those beatings I get in the ring. But then you come along, and then suddenly, it feels different. Life feels different. Different than I ever had with Chelsea. Not as twisted as whatever me and Lisa have. Just....nice."

Amy smiled. She then stood up and pulled her chair around the little table they sat at in a sports bar type of establishment. The place was just about completely dead at the moment, with only a few other people in sight. She put her right hand on his thigh and slowly began running her hand up and down, ever so slowly, and staring deeply into his eyes. And then she licked her lips.

After just a few seconds, Sharc slowly began caressing her inner thigh, his hands ever so subtlely creeping under her black skirt. All the while, staring deep into her eyes.

Amy slowly leaned toward Sharc, brushing the hair away from his face, and then whispered in his ear.

"Fuck Chelsea. Fuck Lisa." She then slowly ran her tongue up the back of his ear, as he closed his eyes, enjoying the amazing feeling buzzing around in his brain. "Fuck me."

After Rich opened his eyes, he pushed himself off the chair and grabbed her hand. Together, hand-in-hand, they walked out the front door, in their buzz forgetting to pay for their many drinks, and out into the chilly night. Amy looked at Rich as they got outside and then like a crazed beast, moved toward him and kissed him passionately, pinning him against the wall, as their hands explored each other’s bodies.

Without saying a single word, Rich followed her to her rental car, got in, and they drove off into the black morning hours.

"You’re not rid of us yet. And you never will be. Thanks to HIM. We’re gonna be together until you die. And then forever rotting in Hell. So you might as well get used to it! He brought us here."

"Where are you?" he asked nervously, feeling like he was trapped back in middle school again, helpless, but worse. Young, skinny, a complete loser crippled by severe hatred of everyone he came into contact with. But in addition to those torments, he was in complete darkness.

Except for the voices.

"Rich? I’m right here."

Rich opened his eyes. He felt someone’s fingers gently stroking his red hair. The room was still mostly dark, save for some dusty sunlight around the edges of the huge shades of the hotel room.

"You have a nightmare?" Amy asked gently.

"I guess that’s all it was," Rich answered, sitting up and running his own fingers through his long, tangled hair. She sat up, gently caressing his back with her fingers.

"No more nightmares," she said, gently tapping his nose as she spoke those three words. "I’m here now. It’s time to move on," she said with a big smile.

With that, she leaned in and kissed him. Many times.

Making thought go away.

Making pain go away.

Leaving only ecstasy.

© 2003 John Leary