Long Time No See

Julia's reaction to being spanked nearly mirrored Alaina's, except she jumped a little bit more while she yelped thanks to the Amazon's superior strength. With a laugh she rubbed a hand on her bottom while listening to her friend.

"Nah, he and Jess are back home. They won the New Frontier tag titles a couple months ago, so they're workin' on defendin' those for now. But I'd definitely be up for Peggy comin' along for the workout! Gotta see how she looks in that bikini, maybe send a pic to Josh later, yeah?" With a small laugh she winked and gave Alaina a playful nudge with her elbow.

Alaina chuckled a bit and finished up the photo shoot, leaving her with the rest of the day to figure out what to do with Julia. "I bet he would like that huh? I think that could be arranged!" Alaina said happily before texting Peggy while the two women began to walk to the outdoor beach gym.

"So what exactly have ya been up to? I need to know all the details! Things in Friction have been a bit upside down since you left." Alaina said waiting to hear what Julia had to say. She was eager to hear about how things have been back in the US. She had only sporadically visited home and her fathers health stabilized so she was needed less although she did fly back for a long weekend each month although she didn't do much other than see her family. It had been since March of 2014 that she was really in the loop as far as that went.

"We still don't have Taylor around. Cecilia Northman had a long Friction title run, and Imperial Order lost their tag titles to Belinda Northman and Chelsea something... Loski? They are still tag champs. Jessica Wright is still hardcore champ. I had a shot at her but... didn't quite work out for me." Alaina said with a shrug. "Maybe we can get an interview together about our reunion huh? Could spark a bit of fun in the tag division!"

Beach-goers who were lined up alongside the border of the boardwalk centered their queried attention not on the fetching duo of curvaceous wrestlers calmly strolling along...but on the flamboyant spectacle unfolding further down the beach where the waves of ocean-water gently cascaded with a rhythmic ebb and flow. In particular, where a specific section of the sandy shoreline had been partitioned off with wooden barriers and various security personnel looking no less threatening despite the fact they were wearing cargo shorts and polo shirts due to the heat of the weather. The reason for the heightened security being made apparent should you manage to mount yourself on someone's shoulders to witness the elaborate photoshoot being conducted.

G.D.B.:

A certain Imperial Rose lounging atop the sandy surface adorned in a fetching two-piece designer bathing suit and broad straw hat shading her from the sun's rays. The glittering golden necklaces and bejeweled accessories worn around her neck and waist having little chance of diverting one's attention from the true object of desire smiling back at the camera and the employee behind it tapping the button with camera shutters opening and closing continuously. The heiress' come hither smile complimenting the alluring sensuality of her full-figured form that made her seem more unattainable to the common man and way out of their league due to her entrancing beauty...and the more prudent obstacle of her being incalculably wealthy. Alaina's photoshoot not being the only one scheduled today...but Gwendolyn's was the only one conducted separately on the beach, as per her specific demands whether it inconvenience beach-goers or not.

Though even through the hustling workers and security detail...Gwendolyn's hazel eyes captured Alaina strolling along the boardwalk. An easily noticed figure considering her height, and a sight she would think nothing of considering there were no end of wrestlers congregating this day...until she happened to notice the masked figure beside her. Awash in a wave of nostalgia...and knowing some moments were just too deliciously enticing to pass up...Gwendolyn would smirk nefariously and and promptly sit back up to the puzzlement of the photographers. A flicking shoo of her hand was Gwendolyn's signal for her handlers to explain to the photo crew to remain here until she returned. Gwendolyn taking her time in primly approaching the former tag-team with a cute bounce to her resplendent golden curls and security entourage hovering behind her. The heiress strolling up from behind Sonic Boom with as nonchalant and chipper a greeting her lovely voice could enunciate.

"Why~...if it isn't the esteemed Amazon of AFW herself. It simply boggles my mind as to why upper management refused to inform the other competitors that their presence at today's photoshoot would be wholly unnecessary considering that my modeling expertise and exquisite figure will be all that these photographers will be needing for the foreseeable future....*giggle*...Greetings Alaina~...casually cavorting amongst the lower class once again I see. Although this time with a masked stranger to whose identity I haven't the foggiest notion. And…you are?~..."

Alaina was happily speaking with Julia and going over something of a workout plan when they were approached. Alaina didn't see Gwen until she spoke, and once Alaina heard that voice she felt a grating on her ears. "Oh! Hello Gwenniecakes! You look much better than the last time I saw you... I mean you were laid out flat on your back at my feet with the bell ringing and all..." Alaina said with a shrug. "Although.... is that some sag I see back there? Ya might want to work on that a bit." Alaina added with a smirk, leaning to her side and pointing towards Gwens backside trying to get in her head a bit. If Gwen thought Alaina would be easily provoked to confrontation or agitated by her mind games she was mistaken.

Julia was so sure nothing could’ve possibly ruined the amazing mood today had put her in. If it had started raining she would’ve danced in it and laughed about it with Alaina after the fact. The Amazon was giving her a lightning-quick rundown of what had happened in Friction in her absence. There was zero chance she’d retain every bit of the rapid fire info, but just talking to Alaina at all after two years apart felt so good she couldn’t possibly put it into words.

...And then she heard another voice, equally familiar but far less welcome.

A chill shot down the cowgirl’s spine as she heard Gwen’s voice, feeling like someone had just dumped a bucket of cold water on her. She turned toward the aristocrat, brow already twitching at her arrogant comments and feigned ignorance of who Julia was. The masked blonde would’ve certainly have been quickly provoked by her antics, until Alaina, calm and collected, answered with a clapback that made Julia’s jaw drop just a bit. The frustration that had started building seemed to disappear, and a brief, sudden chuckle escaped her lips, and it took some effort and willpower to keep it at that.

“Damn, Alaina. Looks like ya slammed her so hard ya gave her amnesia!” she joked before looking at her old enemy again. “It has been a while though, hasn’t it? What’ve you been up to? Other than...you know, gettin’ dropped on ‘yer head by Alaina over here...”

Brimming with pomposity upon approaching the strength and speed based tag-team, Gwendolyn uplifted her high-end sunglasses as she vaingloriously pretended to be unawares as to who the masked individual beside Alaina was. It was indeed all an act of mirthful whimsy on her part towards greetings two of her more infamous adversaries throughout her wrestling tenure, the three of them perhaps having more history between eachother than the national museum. The three of them forming an enclave of wrestling luminaries diametrically opposed to the gathering of fans and random passerby's huddling around them but being kept at bay by the small accompaniment of security personnel having followed Gwendolyn from her beachside photo shoot.

"Tch...Dispensing such tasteless ridicule does little to disguise your blatant envy towards having a figure as flawless as my own, Madam Sanders. Revel, in your victory all you want. Just as long as you're aware that I will NOT, abide another. Still...tis a shame that for all your unseemly muscles, the one in your brain remains as feeble and underutilized as ever before." Gwendolyn quipped back with an irritated glower from Allie essentially pushing every button the heiress had. Her snooty pout than being redirected to the blonde adversary to her right. "Ah...Madam Rogers, allow me to welcome you back from your excursion~...What a joyous reunion this is. You must excuse my erroneous misjudgment in recognizing you. For you see, my most poignant memory of you just happens to be you...without your mask on~..." Gwendolyn drolly smirked, alluding to their SS match...

Alaina really wished that there wasn't an army pf private security right now. She was torn between not wanting to cause a scene and wanting to smack Gwendolyn. Sometimes you can't have both. "You see Julia, some things over here never change. Gwendolyn and her attitude are just one of them." Alaina said as she motioned to Gwendolyn and her lacky crew.

"So Gwendolyn what else have you been up to? You seem to keep yourself busy and never lack for company it would appear. It is a shame that there is a tag partner that seems missing though. Sonic Boom and Imperial Order would appear to have unfinished business and such after all." Alaina added with a shrug.

Julia was vaguely aware of the forming crowd being kept back by the security personnel, but was much more focused on the irritated aristocrat. She raised a brow and listened in amusement as Gwen fired back at Alaina. In a weird way, Julia had missed this. Of course in the back of her mind the nostalgia effect wouldn’t take long to wear off, and weeks or months from now if their paths crossed again the cowgirl doubted she’d feel the same about these sorts of conversations as she did now. Gwen managed to speed the process up a bit when she directed her comments at Julia, reminding her of their first encounter, those final moments still possibly the worst memory of her wrestling career.

Alaina was right. Some things never changed.

She clicked her tongue, and willed herself remain levelheaded. “Well, thanks for the welcome back… But ya know, I think I get what ya mean. My favorite memory of you was when we shoved a giant ass cake in your face. How’d that taste, by the way?”

"Why, I haven't the foggiest notion as to what you could possibly be inferring to, Madam Sanders. Unless mine own recollection fails me, the debate as to whom the superior tag-team was has already been thoroughly quashed. I see no reason to return to the matter lest you eagerly desire to add yet another humbling loss to your record...*giggle*...Madam Kosha and I have indeed opted to pursue other ventures, for it’s a noblewoman's natural inclination to discover new venues to display one's breathtaking elegance, grace, and natural superiority~..." Gwendolyn poetically rebuked towards her muscled adversary with an emphatic flick of her resplendent locks just to make it perfectly obvious that the heiress has not lost a vainglorious step in Julia's absence, who she than turned to address with an irritated twitch to her eye but composure remaining intact.

"Saccharinely sweet...though no manner of sugary confection could outmatch the taste of victory I partook of when you took that dreadful spill from the summit of the ladder that night. Unlike the beet red complexion you're currently sporting, I do believe there was a fine shade of royal blue coloring one's face as well~..." Gwendolyn delighted in antagonizing the ill-tempered cowgirl clearly becoming visibly vexed from this increasingly tenuous little reunion amongst old comrades. "Is it safe to assume that your resigning here is the direct result of the gross incompetence of your deplorable grappling acumen back home, where you were incapable of winning a championship in your own laughable excuse for a bog standard wrestling league...because I believe it is."

It was undeniable that nearly every word that came from Gwen’s lips found a way to push at least one of Julia’s buttons, every time likely by design. But masked girl had done this song and dance enough times that she felt sure she could take it and keep her composure, even though doing so took considerable restraint and willpower. She was doing a good job of it too.

...Until that last part.

Gwen could insult Julia all she wanted. No, Julia hadn’t won her family promotion’s top title during her time back home. Of course she had wrestled regularly, but she had stayed out of the title picture to focus on recruiting and training stars. Pointing out her lack of a title run didn’t bother Julia. She was proud of what she accomplished, and of the roster there had accomplished. Julia could take an insult. Hell, she expected them from Gwen. But for her to turn that disrespect onto her family and the New Frontier locker room...that was crossing the line.

Gwen’s last sentence had barely finished when Julia lowered her shoulder and charged, aiming to blast her disrespectful rival right in the gut with a spear to tackle her right into the sand!

“Don’t you EVER talk down to them like that!”