How To Train Your Dragon

Alex just continued to stare at Taylor with those same wrathful eyes. It hadn't dawned on him that hitting Taylor would've been illegal. He was pushing boundaries already when he attacked her in Friction. Something in their contracts allowed things like that but it wasn't exactly accepted. Out here on the train though there was no way he'd get out of that one. That wasn't why he didn't punch Taylor. But he was relieved nonetheless that he didn't. He was still tense and ready to pounce, but then Taylor made another joke about him. That made him laugh and revert back to looking smug.

"You got a picture, you got a name, you've gotten a close up, and keep talking about my junk. Want my number too?"

Taylor sat down, crossed her bare legs, and once again began to look for her place in her book. She looked up with a coy smile. "Oh, totally. Write it down for me?" She flashed him the whole thing, her brilliant, magazine-cover grin.

She had read a book once about some older wrestlers whom she'd never really heard of before, another tag team. Apparently, their manager, a middle aged guy, liked to get physical with them, abuse them, berate them when they lost. It amounted to a sort of a cautionary tale for women in pro wrestling. The simple fact that the girls stayed with that manager for as long as they did drove Taylor more and more crazy every time she turned a page and had to read about the scumbag.

Not at all unlike looking up from the book she was reading now and having to look at "Alex".

Alex merely shook his head at the smile. He suddenly felt like he understood his sisters more now than ever before. Their hatred of her made perfect sense. He always just assumed they let the blonde get to them and it was all a charade. He still thought it was, but now knew just how difficult Taylor made it at times. He then suddenly realized something, and pulled out his phone to send a quick text to his sister. Maybe they could help with this situation after all.

"So...why aren't you champion?" he then asked rather vaguely while he waited for an answer. "I mean...you're so talented and you're so confident." He then shrugged his shoulders. "So...what's the problem?"

"Just time, man. I don't take handouts, I just take fights," Taylor said without looking up. "When AFW gives me a shot, I'll take it. The belt will be mine for a long time, but champ or not I'll just keep kicking ass."

They had to be getting close to the station by then. If Alex wanted to go all black mask on her, he'd have to do it soon. She'd make him cry.

"Time?" Alex repeated back to Taylor. "How much time do you need? You've been wrestling for what...three, four years? How many championship shots have you gotten in that time?" He already knew the answer. "I mean...how many legitimate contenders have you even beaten? One? Two?" He crossed his arms and squinted his eyes in mock thought. He lifted up his hand and began counting out. "Angel...Gatt...Heather...Cecilia...Akashi...Adrian...Chigusa...Brittany..." He then shifted his eyes at her as if forgetting someone.

"Some how or another, you've managed to lose to every single wrestler of talent on the roster. I mean...some weren't real losses, let's be real. But wins are wins and losses are losses. And you've managed to lose to everyone of relevance." He then furrowed his brow in mock confusion. "In fact...apart from one win against a lesbian, eye-candy supermodel and a handful over nobodies...you really haven't actually won anything have you?"

Taylor did her very best to ignore him, but his words seeped into her mind like poison. Soon her neck was so tense that it was frozen in place. She clenched her jaw and did her best to keep her breathing even and slow. What he was saying was... completely true.

But she wasn't taking Angel seriously! She was brand new when she fought Gatt! Heather and Cecelia, that was a fluke. And... none of it mattered. She'd lost them all, and her career showed it.

Her cheeks were red, and her voice was small. "I tried..."

She began shaking her head. At some point she had closed her book and set it down on her thigh. She really wanted to be off the train.

"And who the hell are you, anyway?" She snapped, in a sudden overflowing of emotion. "My biggest fan? How the hell do you know everything about my ridiculous fucking waste of a career?"

Alex watched as Taylor's body language visibly changed. All of a sudden the proud, unstoppable, and invincible blonde was gone. And the person in front of him was the real Taylor. He was now facing the inner being of this woman, something maybe only three to four of her closest friends and family had seen before. He easily could have answered her question but it seemed kinda moot. He always did his research, especially on potential enemies and rivals. Saying that much would've just been wasting both of their time. He hadn't planned on saying anything in response. The train had already begun slowing down.

His phone vibrated and he finally broke eye contact with her to check it. On it was a text from Aurora. "why would you need parkers number? I could prob get it from my old manager." He quickly thumbed out, "Nevermind," and closed his phone. He looked back up to Taylor and then out the window. That smug grin was now gone. He couldn't muster any words before the train came to a stop and he pulled himself to his feet. He stretched his shoulder slightly and sighed. Now he wasn't sure if he could go through with the fleeting muse in his head.

Alex pulled his duffle bag off the top rack. He looked down at Taylor with a slightly blank but still somehow serious face. "Like I've said. You've got the talent and confidence. You just need to win." He held out a card which he dropped towards Taylor's lap. On it was his name. "Alexander Wilson Jr, CEO and Personal Trainer" And below it was the address of a wrestling training facility in San Diego, California. More important was the phone number and email address below that. And he finally answered her question honestly. "I pay attention to the people who I think are the present and future of our craft." Alex shut his mouth before continuing. Clearly he had a lot more about this to say. But part of him just wanted to leave before she saw something about his character that he wanted to remain hidden.

"You can't keep doing the same shit. It's gotten you where you are, but it won't take you any further. You're doing yourself a disservice." That sounded better. He turned his head to push the apartment door open and proceeded to walk off the train. What an interesting day.

Taylor could hardly believe her ears. This random asshole was offering to train her? She should be training him, if he should be so lucky!

She took his business card and stared at it for a long time. She wanted to tear it in half and throw it back in his face, but she kept looking at his name. She was dumbstruck.

Wilson?

But how dare he? Doing the same shit? He had no idea what she did! She was constantly improving her approach, mixing up her training regimen, incorporating new things, looking for what worked, what to improve. She had arranged her entire life to help her training. She had sacrificed things she loved, like... food. Hamburgers, street vendor hot dogs, cannoli, macaroni and cheese... dairy in general. Potato chips. Staying out late, drinking, sleeping until the afternoon. Spending all Saturday morning just watching cartoons. Ice cream, oh god, ice cream! She gave it all up to build her body and her mind into a finely tuned machine. She had even been vegan for almost two years! And she loved meat!

Her life now was all reasonable bed times, getting up early to run, eating nothing that didn't help her body, training, working out, lifting, reading to keep her mind sharp, drawing to keep herself creative, tricking and playing games so that even her fun was still of value to her training, watching and rewatching matches in her spare time, studying the competition, taking notes on the problems they posed to address in training later. She had learned with experience how to balance things so that she could get the maximum effect without becoming obsessive and driving herself crazy. Her two best friends were both highly skilled wrestlers and excellent training partners. Her mother-in-law was a veteran manager of former champions.

Every new day woke a new fighter in her. She couldn't change her story so far, but for as badly as every name on his list hurt her, she wouldn't change anything about those losses. The defeats she had suffered to that point served a purpose, they worked in her favor.

But above all that, she had a secret weapon.

She shouldered her duffel bag, and while she blinked away tears she began to thumb out a message to her husband.

What would u think if I said I couldn't cut it and wanted to quit?

Taylor smiled at her phone until people behind her needed her to keep moving. While she stepped off the train and onto the platform, she typed out a reply.

Thanks babe :*