It's Been A While

She should have left things at that. She should have just went to her locker room, gathered her things, and left for the night. She was better then this. She didn't need to make a big deal out of the situation.

But screw that. Angel was still pissed and she wasn't going to just let things go that easily.

Once she had left the arena proper, she headed back through the backstage hallways, heading slightly aimlessly at first, before decided to head to the main locker rooms. She wanted to have a talk with Taylor, just a simple, face-to-face talk. No cameras, no crowds, just the two of them.

She headed towards the locker room and pushed the door in, stepping in and taking a look around, making sure that it was empty, save for herself. Then, the Latina stepped forward and took a seat, facing the doors, waiting for Taylor to arrive. She didn't know how long it would take her to get there, or even if she would come back at all, but Angel didn't mind. She could wait. She was patient, and she had all night.

Taylor's face was red, from fingernails and from loss, but her pride was the most bruised. She could still feel the weight of the mat on her shoulders, feel the faint vibrations with each slap of the referee's hand, hear the count ringing in her ears...

But she couldn't dwell on it.

It was just a setback. Not even that, it was an opportunity to show that she could kick Kelly Conway's ass, and all she had in answer her was blatant goddamn cheating. Her eyes would recover, though. Her pride would be right behind them. She wasn't going to let the loss knock her down, because again... She couldn't dwell on it, in large part due to the irritating little backstage reporter and her camera guy trying their best to block her path back to the lockers.

She rolled her eyes, and her Staten Island accent slipped out through her fatigue. "One side, guys, a'right? C'mon. Not right now."

"Taylor, your promo and your work in this ring had you as a clear favorite in the title race. With a loss like that, would it be safe to say you've all but dropped from contention?

Eva "Sugar" White had gotten the call to interview Taylor and was not going to be stymied by Taylor's words or her gestures. She kept the microphone up in the blonde's face and walked with her.

"Kelly seemed to pin you almost effortlessly. How does that compare with the grueling Summer Splash match against Adrian?"

Eva was as relentless in the interview as she was calling the play-by-play and barely waited for an answer before throwing out the next question. Eventually, one of them would stick.

"What did you think Angel's appearance meant tonight? Has she effectively said that you're not worth her time?"

Taylor closed her eyes and drew a deep, calming breath, reminded herself to watch her language, and that she couldn't just beat the shit out of Eva right then and there. As much as she wanted to cuss her out and punch her in the face, she had other people to consider. She couldn't let them see her like that.

"Stuff happens, man, it's wrestling. Kelly did her job and pinned me, that's that. I was over it the moment I stepped out of the ring. Adrian was..." Eva was onto the third question before she finished her thought.

"What? No. Ya know what?" She raised her hands and paused her gait in a moment of indecision, and then waved them dismissively at the girl. "We're not doin' this, man. Just watch me work, a'right? I'll answer all your questions in the ring."

She resumed walking at her own rapid pace to try again to leave Eva and her camera guy behind so she could get to a long, hot shower and some much needed peace and quiet.

"The way you showed us in the ring against Kelly!?"

Eva called out after Taylor. She spun on her heels and walked just as briskly.

"The fans demand to know! Was it an off night? Have you lost a step!? Maybe Adrian took more out of you than you thought!? Maybe Kelly Conway's just a better wrestler? What if she's not interested in a rematch? What if Angel isn't interested in a match?! Who will you even fight next!? We all know that you'll take on any comers but what will you do if no one's knocking at your door?!"

"I have NOT-" Taylor raised her voice, but caught herself. She picked her hands up in front of her again, her fingers curling into angry little claws before she pressed her palms to her forehead. It took everything in her to resist the urge to slug stupid fucking Eva in the motherfucking face.

"Everybody wants a piece of me. And even if I had a dry spell, I'm really good at picking fights." She knew she couldn't just try to answer all of her bullshit questions. It was best to stay far away from shit.

"I lost a match. One. One match in the last year. Kelly pinned me, but I was winning the fight. Anyone with half a brain can see that I was-" She stopped. Took a breath. She paused at the doorway to the locker room and turned to face the camera with a smile. "Hey, everyone. Sorry I didn't come through in the match. I promise that after next time, you'll forget all about this one, and I promise we'll do it again soon." She gave the camera her sharp, drop-dead-gorgeous grin and a wink, and then jerked a thumb at Eva. "I'm gonna hit the showers. If this chick doesn't leave me alone, I'll give you a little preview of what it'll be like for Kelly."

With that, she shoved through the door into the locker room, and she let out a heavy sigh like she was finally venting all the pressure that had built up over the course of the night. She stood still for a moment, eyes closed, head down, arms at her sides, before she headed for her locker.

The sight of the white haired champ sitting between her and there stopped her dead. "Of. Fucking. Course." She groaned.

Whatever. It was only Angel. She could handle her.

Angel sat there, on the bench in the locker room, idly inspecting her nails as she waited for Taylor. She was starting to wonder if she was even going to show up. Thoughts of Taylor leaving the arena for the night danced through her head, and she was beginning to think that maybe she should just leave. At the very least, sitting there waiting had helped her calm down a little. Was she feeling a little anxious about coming face-to-face with Taylor? Sure. But at the same time, some of her earlier anger had mellowed out.

Just a little bit though. She was still mad, obviously, but she wasn't going to completely blow up on Taylor. Maybe just a little bit.

She perked up, once she heard the voices outside of the locker room door. She recognized Taylor's voice, but wasn't quite sure who the other one was. It sounded like an interviewer, and Angel hoped that she didn't follow Taylor into the locker room with her. She wanted to handle things one-on-one.

When Taylor finally stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her, Angel couldn't help but grin one of her usual cocky, wide grins as she laid eyes on the woman. Taylor's groan was the only signal that Angel needed, the Latina calling up to her from her seat.

"What's wrong, chicaaaaa?" she asked, stretching out her last syllable in a mocking sort of way. "You don't seem happy to see me." She tilted her head towards Taylor, grinning just a little bit wider at her. "You know, if you really wanted to talk to me, you could have just called. You still have my cell number, don't you? It would have been a hell of a lot easier to just call me up, you know!"

"Fuck you, Angel."

Taylor didn't have the energy to beat around the bush, so she got right down to it. She cocked her hips to the side and planted a hand on one hip, and flicked her bangs out of her face. "Just cut the shit, a'right? Some shit I like to handle out there, and not on the stupid phone."

She lifted a hand, palm up, questioningly, and then let it drop back to her side. "So... what? Are we gonna talk about what I said? I'll start, fuck you for Nik, you're the most bullshit champ AFW has ever had, and I'm going to take your belt, so take good care of it for me, okay chiiiicaaaaaaaa?"

Angel lifted up her shoulders, letting them fall back down in a shrug, a drawn out sigh passing through her lips. "Fine, fine. We'll play it your way."

She lifted up her own hand, counting on her fingers in response to Taylor. "One. I'm the most bullshit champion we've ever had? As if. Or did you forget that Gatt held the belt before me?" She was purposely ignoring the Nikolette bit, for the moment at least. "Two. You? Taking my belt? That's a joke and we both know it. The only reason you called someone else out there to fight you tonight was because you knew I would have kicked your ass if I had reached the ring first."

She lowered her hand to her lap, giving Taylor her most mocking smile as she continued. "Oh wait, I almost forgot. You're Taylor Parker. You beat down big bad monsters of the ring like Silver Ace and go bragging about it afterwards. I guess I should be scared of you then, huh?" She really didn't mean to bring Ace into this. After all, Angel was pretty fond of the girl, and she knew she had a good future ahead of her. At the same time though, hearing the more experienced Taylor bragging about beating her like it was something to be proud of had really rubbed her the wrong way. "Good thing you put her in her place though, otherwise I might have been scared of her coming after me once she was done with you!"

Angel's smile suddenly dropped off of her face after that, the Latina's voice losing it's playful, mocking tone, her words suddenly sounding more serious. She stared up at Taylor, gazing right into her eyes as she continued. "I'll admit you were right about Nikolette though. I fucked up there and I made a mistake." She had to stop, had to take a deep breath to calm herself down. She could feel herself starting to get worked up again, and that was the last thing she wanted to happen. She wasn't going to snap on Taylor. She wasn't going to lose her cool.

"But whatever. What happened between me and Nikolette is between me and Nikolette, so maybe it would be best for you to drop it, alright? I plan on tackling that beast myself, when the right time comes, so stay the hell out of it."

"Whatever, man."

Taylor folded her arms and shifted her weight to her other foot so that her hips leaned the other way. She couldn't roll her eyes hard enough at Angel, and it all made her feel sick. She felt like she wanted to scream at her until her throat gave out.

"Yeah, between you and her and the fifty billion people that watched you beat and humiliate her. I like Nik, man, and that poor fucking girl, she just got fucked over by Kelly and Luk too. You made a hell of a lot more than one mistake. If I had known about that match the last time we bumped into each other, I'd have beat your ass right there." She took a breath, and then added "and Ace is legit, man, I don't care what you think about her. She's young and needs experience, but she's for real."