The Lunch Bet

Alaina nodded quietly for a second before answering Valley. "Karen Starring. I cleaned her clock a few months ago. For whatever reason she introduced a chair to my body over and over to feel better about herself that night." Alaina said with a shrug.

"Yeah, I think we can handle just about any other tag team. I just... I feel like Julia is ready for the big time. If tag title run gets in the way of something like that I dunno how I would feel. You seem pretty hell bent on me staying over in the tag division though." Alaina added with a raised eyebrow. To her Valley mentioning that a couple times now was.... curious.

She was likely just pointing Alaina in the direction of success and gold again... granted it was with someone and not her own merit. "Having Julia does increase my chances of success quite a bit huh?"

”Karen Starring?” Valley was surprised to hear that Alaina had been attacked by her, but not too surprised. She’d seen a few of the blonde’s matches, enough to know that she could be a wild, fierce, strong opponent. She’d been hearing a few rumblings about her, but she didn’t expect any big moves to be coming out of her. Apparently, she was wrong.

Before she could pry, though, Alaina’s next sentence made her raise up her hands in defense. ”I don’t mean anything, you know, untoward about it. I just think you guys could rock the division easy, is all. I’d love to see you guys take Imperial Order down a peg, they desperately need it.” She perked up and wagged a finger her way. ”Maybe even take on me and Ace sometime? That’d be a great main event.”

With things calming down a nudge, she nodded along with Alaina’s point. ”Yeah, she does, but that’s just because you two work so well together. You know each other, you complement each other’s skills. That’s the mark of a good tag team.”

Alaina closed her eyes and rubbed them, finally taking off rhe sunglasses. Black bags, and bloodshot red eyes were now visible. She had not slept at all since her title loss.

"I am sorry, I know you aren't here to rub shit in my face. I just....." Alaina said as she shook her head, remaining silent as she searched for the right words. "When ya beat me years ago, you beat me clean. I knew I wasn't where I wanted... no, where I needed to be. Yet again, I found out that I am not there at the top. You more than anyone here are the ghost of what I may never be. The amazon, very good but nwver great. Always a bridesmaid."

Alaina let out a resigned sigh, again shaking her head. She didn't want a pity party. However emotions she had kept bottled up since that night were spilling out uncontrollably. She tried to compose herself and deflect the attention back to Valley in a good way if she could. "I rambled on too much. Fuck. Just... lets just forget what I said, it is fuckin' nonsense anyway. You are the champ, and you deserve it. You are gonna have a run that eclipses all of them. They will see what a true Cali-girl can do with you in the spotlight."

God, this brought back memories. There was absolutely no way she was bringing it up now, but Valley still remembered the exhilaration when she won the Slamazons title, claiming it in the dying days of the federation. It was an amazing feeling, but what came next rained out the parade. Never defending it, never putting in on the line, made the win feel hollow. Almost like it wasn’t real until she’d fought to keep it.

She’d thought it was curse, but now, looking at Alaina, it occurred to her for the first time that it might have been a blessing in disguise. She never knew what it felt like to defend the belt, but she never knew what it felt like to lose it, either. There were precious few champions who could say that, and unless something extreme happened, she wouldn’t be one of them forever.

She was on top of the mountain, but someone would come and knock her off. One day…

She was lost in her thoughts, so much that she almost lost track of what Alaina was saying.

”I, uh…” She took a quick bite out of the donut. ”You already showed them what a Cali-Girl can do, Al. I just have to drive the point home. You can’t be so hard on yourself, babe.” Valley shook her head. [color=#ff00ff]”I know it kind of hurts right now, but you’ve got to get some perspective. You’ve climbed plenty of mountains here, and there’s still plenty more to go.

Alaina was silent for a while, then she took a deep breath. It was the kind of breath where one would expect a long motivational speech to follow or at least a lot of talking. Alaina was short on words though. "Maybe, yeah. I just need to tighten up, retool training. Downtime won't be an option. Not anymore." Alaina said as she drank her water.

"I appreciate you meeting me and letting me honor my bet." Alaina said as she pulled out some money putting it on the table. "That will cover this and the tip. I have already taken up too much of your time I think." Alaina said as she put her sunglasses on and started to get up out of her chair.