Full Squared Circle

Alaina loved meeting fans. Some people found it bothersome but without them she would still just be a super fit nurse doing fitness competitions and wishing she took up a competitive sport.

However, the last time she did a function like this in the arena she had a much bigger crowd... and a title. However, she was surprised at the number of people who still had faith in her despite her recent performances. Truth be told she was still reeling from the losses, still thirsty for a big won after being knocked down again, and again and again.

For the fans, she hid a great deal of her inner turmoil. After signing autographs and posing for pictures her own booth area had emptied out after a while bit there was still quite the crowd down the hall still scrambling foe someone's autograph in the events closing minutes.

"Huh.... I wonder who that is?" Alaina said. She got up, wearing her training wrestling attire of a tiger print sports bra, semi-showy briefs (showing a bit of hip and cheek won over many a male in the crowds) tiger boots and tiger kneepads. Fans loved posing with her in photos when she had wrestling gear on so why not oblige them and show her figure... now up from 160 to 165 lbs coupled with a 1.5% drop on body fat.

As Alaina approached she saw a familiar face, and belt all stirring very mixed and conflicting emotions inside....

Valley swore, she’d signed more autographs in the past six months than her entire career combined.

There she was at her booth, the Entropy Championship laid in the chair beside her, going through the business as fast as she could. All smiles. All laughs. The occasional instagram photo, the occasional somewhat uncomfortable hug, the occasional pen refusing to work when she absolutely needed to. She loved the fans, she loved the attention, but so much of it all at once was just something she would never get used to.

She needed a break. She needed something to ease the tension. And then, miracle of miracles, that something appeared - Alaina Sanders.

Valley Doll lit up the moment she saw the former champion, and even more so when she noticed her frame was looking sharper than ever. While the Amazon’s fortunes hadn’t been too great lately, she wasn’t letting any of that slow down her workout routine, it seemed.

”Hey!” Valley stood up and waved her over, getting the attention of more than a few fans. Photo-op time.

Alaina was both happy and anxious to have Valley notice her.  Her size and attire made her stick out like a confused amazon. Alaina was not surprised by the crowd, she recalled such things when she had a title. She missed it more than one could imagine.

"Oh!  Hey what's up?"  Alaina asked with a slightly nervous smile and awkward wave.  Old news standing in front of currently headline news.  "No breathing room over here huh?" Alaina noted the crowd, making her way through to be a bit closer to Valley.

Given the way they’d parted company last time, Valley was understandably worried about how this could go. Alaina was a sweetheart, one of the nicest people she knew, but this was the sort of thing that could weigh heavily on a person, and it seemed like her fortune in the ring had been going downhill, lately.

It seemed like that wasn’t dampening her spirits too much, though. Or she was doing a good job of hiding it.

”Room for one more.” Valley scooted over and pulled another chair up beside her, offering it up for Alaina. ”Good seeing you, Al. How’ve you been feeling, lately?”

Valley could hazard a few guesses on that question, but she figured it was a good place to start in a conversation.

The fans looked at Alaina and a few were surprised. Alaina smiled and took the seat smiling at Valley Doll. Then the question came. In private she was far more inclined to give the actual answer.

Looking around the people seemed curious as to what she would say. Keeping her smile she did her best to be general. "Oh you know, I am doing.." Alaina began. "Shitty, I can't get a win against women passing me in the ranks like race cars. My dad isn't doing any better." Things she wanted to ay bubbled to the surface. "..all right, just trying to get by and stuff." Alaina said. A few people in the crowd picked up on her answer. They likely interperted "trying to get by" as "trying to salvage my career."

Trying to be cheerful Alaina looked over at the belt next to Valley. Seeing that again made it really hard to be cheerful but Alaina was still going to try. "It looks like we got a hell of a crowd here for the champ! Woooooo!" Alaina said, as she clapped, firing up the crowd of Valley fans and patting Valley on the back. Truth be told, Alaina was damn proud of the job she was doing in defending the title like crazy in what have been amazing matches. At this rate she would break Alaina's little record of Entropy title defenses.

"Damn it, stay positive." The amazon told herself silently as she was publicly all smiles.

Well, this was getting awkward fast. Valley could almost feel the tension in the room, like it was a palpable force all around them, permeating the air. People were cheering along with Alaina, but it was the uncomfortable kind. The kind people made when they didn’t know what else to do.

Best to end it. Quick.

”All right, folks!” Valley stood up and started gathering her materials, motioning for security to start dispersing the crowd. ”Got to start getting ready for tonight - big match planned! Be sure to tune in!”

The crowd wasn’t too pleased to have things ending so soon, but Valley couldn’t sit there all day. This was as good a reason to cut things short as any.

She started stuffing things into her backpack and turned to Alaina. ”Hey, for real.” Valley brushed a few hairs out of her face and looked up to the Amazon. ”Are you okay? Because you’re really not looking it.”

Well damn.  Even with the best intentions in mind Alaina made this awkward.  It was bad enough she screwed up I side the ring but outside too?

As the crowd dispersed Alaina stood there with her hands on her hips, and her head dipping down.  "I am sorry I messed up your autograph session."  Alaina said sheepishly before Valley spoke up again.

Now, Valley wanted the truth.  Hearing the truth from someone weighed down from all areas was never easy.  "Well, someone earlier was kind enough to point out that if ya take away my tag success with Julia and my title run I have lost more matches than I won.
I feel better than before, bigger, stronger, smarter, faster yet I choke away every meaningful match since..."  The amazon trailed off looking at that belt.  A flood of emotions overcame her.  Logic and decorum were completely over-ridden by her desire to get a monkey off her back, and rid herself of mental baggage chaining her down.  Early on when she got the title Valley and Ace were very outspoken on what they thought of the old dojo.  While she never said anything about it even during am old 4 woman interview the amazon still felt like she had 2 knives still in her back... Even if it was never intended to have that effect on her.  The old wounds, and new high profile losses had taken their toll, as did the turn of general opinion of Alaina in the ring... Not to mention everything back home.  She was an amazon on edge.


"..well, you know.  It looks like some people were right.  I got where I was because of who I know, not how good I am.  I whined and cried for a two one one beat down match to cheat my way to the title.  That was a good one to hear.  I got more shots than I deserved so even an undercard talent could get gold, all because I was affiliated with the right people.  I guess it is fitting you are the one to have beaten me and exposed me as a coat tail riding amazon creampuff huh?"  Alaina said almost out of breath after her rant.  Still, she continued.  "I should just cash in and leave, go back to nursing like before.  That paycheck can't come close to helping cover my dad's medical bills like this contract and side endorsement stuff can but at least I was good at it."

After released the internal pressure of the krakatoa eruption Alaina's face quickly changed to an expression of "Oh my God what have just done!?"  The stunned amazon just stayed silent as Valley unfairly found herself in the crosshairs of an emotional rant and cry-fest.  Alaina kept her hands on her hips and paced, shaking her head unsure of what to say or do next.

Valley wasn’t quite expecting that. Alaina was many things, but she’d never struck her as all that talkative - she was usually curt and pleasant and happy. This was not that. This was nowhere even close to that.

Valley stood there and listened as her friend/foe let it all spill out, venting so many emotions at once. It was hard not to say anything, to not just reach out to her - she knew the Amazon had been having a rough spot of things lately, but she never imagined it was tearing her up so much inside. They’d had a good match, a great match at Avalanche, she’d defended the belt honorably…

Well, that was in the past. In the present, Valley was standing there, and she wasn’t sure what to say or do after Alaina spoke, leaving them to bask in awkward silence for a few seconds. One that broke when Valley did the only thing she felt really made sense.

She moved forward, opened her arms, and gave Alaina a hug.

Alaina was pretty much swaying and not sure what to do when Valley hugged her. Alaina hugged her back and fought to keep herself from crying. She was an uncharacteristically emotional mess. "I am so sorry. I just.. I shouldn't have blown up at you like that. You didn't do anything wrong Val." Alaina began to say before taking a few deep breaths and trying her best to sort of collect herself.

"I just am not where I thought I would be, and am further from it career-wise. Coupled with stuff going on back home and I've been under pressure to win and I have choked. I pretty much lose when it counts the most. It isn't your fault that you... you are just a better wrestler than I am." That last part came out quiet and it was almost like a dagger. Alaina felt deep down that she needed to be the best woman in all of AFW but there was a lot of undeniable evidence that stated otherwise especially of late.

A little pat on the back. A rub. A sigh.

It was cliche, sure, but Valley often found that a perfectly timed hug could do wonders when it came to defusing a situation, and that was sorely needed in this instance.

”Hey, don’t say stuff like that.” Valley backed away and gave the former champion a little push - playful, but there was some serious tenor in her voice, too. ”I beat you, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m better. It doesn’t work that way. I’ve been beaten before and I’ll be beaten again - everybody has their off days, everybody has people they can’t squeeze a win out against. That’s the way wrestling works.”

She looked from side to side, making sure they weren’t drawing to much attention, and started to walk along with her friend. ”You’ve got to stop thinking that kind of thing, take your mind off it. What are you in the mood for?”