Did you really?

Taylor decided the best way to handle it was to just pick up the phone and talk to her. No grudge, no talking behind her back, no picking a fight the next time she saw her. She was an adult, and she was supposed to be some kind of a role model. This was all just part of it.

She pulled her feet up on the couch and lounged on her hip, leaning against a large pillow. In front of her, the large home theater screen was dark, and the lights above her were dim. She was in her pj's, soft little cotton shorts and a strappy tank top and fuzzy socks pulled up to her knees. She could have easily fallen asleep right where she was, had she not just watched a rebroadcast of Akashi's match against Valley Doll. The match didn't bother her one bit, but something else did.

She took a breath and pressed 'call'. She waited while it rang.

Ace had been relaxing in her spacious apartment, enjoying a late snack while watching a kaiju film on TV, the volume low as she stood in her kitchen, when her cell phone began vibrating. Blinking, wondering who could be calling this time of night, she grabbed her phone and looked at the name, taking a second before answering it.

"Hey Taylor...hows it going?"

She said by way of greeting, wondering what this was about. While she didn't think they were on bad terms, the two hadn't spoke since that party Ace had attended which....hadn't gone well.

"Hey Ace. Haley. This isn't too late, is it?" Taylor asked. It wasn't even that late, but the question filled in space in the conversation that would otherwise have been uncomfortably empty. "Is it weird having two names? Like, I've always just been Taylor. Unless you want to start calling me Sparks."

"Nah, your fine, Just sitting up watching Natalia's new film, where she teams up with Godzilla...for some reason. If this trend keeps up, some team of Kawaii will end up starring in the next Sentai series or something."

She replied, pausing the film.

"Yeah, I guess it can be odd sometimes, but fans only call me Ace, so its really only with friends, family, and like...business related people that I get called Haley. Makes it manageable, since I don't deal with the latter two very much. I suppose I could call you Sparky, if I wanted my ass kicked again."

She chuckled a little, imagining the look on Taylor's face if anybody called her that.

"So whats up? I wasn't expecting a call after that whole...thing a bit back."

"Yeah."

A noticeable pause passed while Taylor was either looking for the words to say something, or debating whether to say it at all.

"Well, hey, I just had like a question for ya, 'n junk," she began, with an uncharacteristic hint of timidity. "Did you tell everyone I treated you like shit?"

"Ughhhh..."

Ace let out a groan, knowing exactly what Taylor was referring too. That promo, that damn promo by Valley.

"Look, Taylor, I know what your talking about, and it's not what you think. After that whole thing with Akashi, I was still pissed off, and ended up at a bar with Valley, getting drunk and venting. You had kicked me out and lectured me, so I ended up talking crap about how you guys were probably telling Akashi how right she was to treat a dumb rich kid like a chump. I'm not proud of it, and obviously that wasn't the case, so sorry about that.

"As for Valley Doll, I have no idea why she felt justified in acting like she was being my defender, or trying to "avenge" me or whatever, when we aren't even together anymore. It wasn't her place, and frankly she's a dumb bitch for going that far. But for what its worth Taylor, I have no beef with you, outside of stupid crap I said when drunk and already agitated, and I was only talking to Valley that time, not anybody else."

"Okay," Taylor nodded along, even though Ace couldn't see her all the way from Tokyo. "I kinda got that vibe from her, man, but you said it, not me. Like... Akashi's got her thing right now and she's trying to get some swagger back for her and the Japanese girls, 'cause like, they've kinda been sucking for a while now. Doll just twisted it into something else, and acted like a total dick. Like, first I got Kelly Conway representing America in the World Cup, which is like, stupid, but then that oven-roasted, Pam Anderson-looking cracker comes out acting like she's Captain America or some shit. Man, it's not a great time to be an American in AFW... Sorry if that was too much."

She sighed, and got back to the point. "But that's good, but like... I just really didn't like feeling like I was just a dick to you for no reason when like I tried really hard to help you out when you got here, ya know? Like, I tried to help train you and get you ready for Friction, and we sorta had our thing, but you put on a hell of a match, ya know? And then like... well, you know what I mean, you were there, but I just really... It makes me feel really bad when people say stuff like that about me, because I'm really trying, man, and I know I'm not perfect or anything, but like... Whatever. So just Valley Doll, just that one time? That was it?"

"Yes, just Valley, just that one time. I get it, you don't like people talking shit about you when you don't deserve it. I understand that, and I was over being "angry" at you and cassie before the end of the night anyway. I hadn't planned on bringing any of this up, until Valley went out there and tried to make herself look like some kind of badass and Akashi threw my name into it. Personally I think she did it just to fuck with me, acting like she needs to handle my issues for me and I should come back to her so she could treat me like some weak kid."

She shook her head, running a hand through her hair as she quietly cursed Valley in her head.

"But trust me Tay, you and I are fine. I've got nothing against you, and I never intended for anything like this to happen, especially publicly. If I had any issues with you, I'd have already made them clear to you privately, with the public only knowing about it if we decided to have a rematch over it. So...we cool?"