Glowing

Taylor laid flat on her back next to Johnny, the sheet pulled up to her chest, arms on top of it and spread out to cool off. The amber glow of the streetlight outside through the curtains illuminated the room like moonlight, and the only sound was their soft, panting breath as their chests rhythmically rose and fell.

She wore the contented, dreamy smile of a satisfied woman, her damp blue hair sprawled out behind her head, her body glazed with sweat. She glanced at her alarm clock. It was after three in the morning, and she'd be asleep soon. She couldn't have been any more relaxed, and she relished the quiet moments before sleep came.

She reached for Johnny's hand and laced her fingers with his. "How was that?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "I guess you could tell how it was for me..." Taylor tended to get very chatty, and sometimes very loud. Expressive.

She giggled softly, and then breathed a sigh. "It doesn't matter where we are, right? I mean we could be anywhere, Tokyo, Kyoto, and we'd still be here. Right? That's like... freedom." She felt silly saying it, and smiled and leaned her head on Johnny's shoulder. "I'm glad the trains here are so fast."

Johnny panted softly as he lay on his back next to Taylor. He had a sappy grin on his face and his eyes were half open. He was basking in the moment as he laid in his sweat soaked sheets in his apartment in Kyoto.

"Ah... hah... mazing!" He panted out as he turned his head and smiled at Taylor. "I can't believe this was what I was missing out on. Cause, holy shit..."

Johnny smiled at Taylor as she spoke. He rolled onto his side and draped his arm over her chest. Then he pushed up and kissed her ear. "That's right, babe." He whispered into her ear. "If we're together, it's all good." He then laughed. "Are ya worried about all the travel an stuff? I probably won't have another match in a while so I could come up to Tokyo for a little bit. Been a while since I saw one of your matches live anyway. Need to get up there."

"No, I'm not worried. About anything." Taylor said quietly. She let her free arm loll off the edge of the bed and idly swung her fingers back and forth.

"My matches are... I dunno." She said to the ceiling. "Sometimes I think that I was born to do this, and there's nothing else I'd rather do. Sometimes I feel like I'm just never happy doing it, and I'm always just worried about what the next girl will try to do to me. I haven't had any trouble outside of the ring since Adrian... so that's good. I guess I'm not as easy a target as I used to be..." She turned her head and leaned it back a little so she could focus on Johnny's eyes. "What do you think? About you in AFW... or about my career. If you weren't wrestling, what do you think you'd want to do? Like... what do you want to be when you grow up?" She laughed.

Johnny smiled at Taylor as she thought out loud about her future. "But you're awesome at it, babe."Johnny encouraged. "I think it suits you just fine...." He paused. "If you're more unhappy than happy doing something, then maybe it's time to think about doing something different, but ...it don't seem like you're anywhere close to that." He shrugged a little.

"I think it's cool and junk." He said. "I mean... it's different... now. Not in a bad way though but when I signed up I thought I could roll around with chicks and watch chicks wrestle and it'd be cool and I wouldn't have to worry about any thing and pretty much get paid to um..." He stopped his words and blushed. He didn't finish his sentence. "Yeah... junk like that. But uh... Now I sorta been thinkin about bein a better actual wrestler and stuff, like maybe I wanna take it seriously. I think that's pretty cool."

"Fuck... I got no idea about that crap... Like I think about the future and junk. I mean.. i know it sounds bad but... whatever. Maybe I'd see if I could get into a university or somethin and be all proper and shit." He laughed at that. "Wrestin's kinda all I know so If I wasn't in the ring I'd probably do somethin with that. Maybe I'd be a strength trainer or a coach or somethin. I don't think I'm smart enough to be like some wrestlin doc or anythin..."

Johnny then hugged Taylor. "As for you, I just want you to be the best. I guess. As long as you're happy, that's cool though. I'm pretty easy goin and I know that I like seein ya smile and I don't like seein ya not but if there's anyone who deserves to have their name in lights, it's probably you. Ya got all the right stuff." Johnny shook his head. "That's one thing I guess I can sorta pick out, I mean... I'm probably biased and junk though..." Johnny added with a goofy grin.

"I could see that. You'd be a kick ass personal trainer. You could use your sexiness to keep middle-aged moms coming to the gym and sweating like pigs on a bike while you yell at them. Teach dudes to be all buff and sexy-like. I like it.

"Wrestling, too, though, man. I get what you're doing and all... Like, why you can't just pull the trigger and beat some chick's face in. That's cool. I think you should go wherever you think you'd be best. I'm not gonna tell you not to roll around with hot girls, ya know, I'm not gonna tell you what to do. I think you should do your thing, ya know?" Taylor paused, and then added. "But... I do think that most of those Tension girls are way hotter than me. They've got, like... yeah." He knew what they had.

Taylor rolled onto her side with her back to Johnny and snuggled up into him, grabbing his arm and pulling it tightly around her. "I don't care about being the best. I just want to... I dunno. Be the best. I don't need to be better than everyone else, I just want to be the best I can be, and... like, I want that to be okay. I don't want to feel... I dunno. Who knows."

She sighed. Even talking about the things that usually knotted her up didn't seem to bother her. She closed her eyes and gave Johnny's arm a squeeze. "So, what was high school like for you?" She asked, for no particular reason.

Johnny grinned at Taylor's words. It actually did sound pretty cool. The way Mamouru was with his charm and charisma, Johnny was similar as far as his body went. He wasn't a biologist or anything but he knew his way around the body and at the very least knew how to get it to where you wanted it or what NOT to do. If he went to school, he could probably be an awesome personal trainer. The lifestyle would be great and he'd probably bring in more money than he ever would doing what he was doing now. Still.. He wasn't sure he wanted to give it up just yet.

Johnny smiled. "It's cool. I know ya don't wanna tell me what to do an junk but you probably would rather have me not do it than do it if the choice was yours. It's cool." He wasn't accusing her of anything. "It's not like I don't think about it every time I go to the ring. What I'm doing... and stuff. How it might make you feel. Maybe that's part of the reason why I wanna keep doing it? That seems pretty weak I guess... but maybe I can show you that I'm not going into the ring just to "roll around with hot chicks" That I am serious about wrestling. I don't really wanna fight dudes though. I mean... Maybe I'm not really good enough to fight dudes. Be big time. Shit, I don't know.

Johnny then shook her head. "They don't have shit on you, babe." He said. "Ha... I'd be lying if I didn't say I noticed but honestly... I'm usually more worried about them thinking I'm some gross perv like all the other dudes to even be concerned about what they look like. Who cares about that anyway. I get to sleep with the hottest body in Japan at the end of the night, so someone else can go screw em or whatever." Johnny then pressed himself tightly against Taylor and felt her against him. It was awesome. He hugged her tightly when she adjusted herself And closed his eyes, listening to her question.

"Heh... I guess it was pretty normal. I wasn't much different. Pretty goofy, pissed off the teachers cause I wouldn't keep my shirt buttoned or my tie straight. I thought I was the coolest dude in school. Got into fights a lot cause I wasn't really cool at all. Not as many as Mamouru though! Heh, I'd always come home roughed up. Black eye or some shit. I usually won the fights though unless they had a group of guys run me down. I was in a gang of toughs for a while. We thought we were hot shit but then they started getting into stupid shit like drugs and talking about Yakuza shit so I blew. Plus my mom beat my ass when she found out I missed a whole bunch of school. I didn't do very good in it anyway. but she said it was important. Dad was real strict about it too. I dunno. Guess it's pretty normal stuff? Not really though. Not here in Japan. How about you?"

"I... don't want to talk about it." Taylor said.

She remembered her school years vividly, but not at all fondly. As bad as it was for her to be at school, being teased and taunted and bullied and beat up, it was even worse when she was home, or at least it seemed that way at the time. She received no sympathy at all from her mother when she came home bruised and upset. She was more angry at her that she was involved with that sort of thing in the first place. When she was angry, she always said "Why couldn't I have had a normal daughter with nice friends and good grades?" It all made Taylor want to run away and live with her dad.

Of course, her dad wouldn't have it. He was plenty nice to Taylor when they were together, but he had no interest in raising a kid. While her mother was Italian and Swedish, her dad was pure-bred Irish, and with all of the stereotypical drunkenness that came with it. He always used his Irish blood to deflect criticism of his drunkenness, as if it justified it somehow. He drifted around the country until he finally drank himself to death.

Taylor still remembered the kids in school, the sounds of their voices and the things they would say. She remembered the looks in their eyes and the smiles they wore when they beat her up. Rarely did just one kid ever come after her, it was always two, and sometimes more. Mostly, it was girls, trashy, scummy girls, but there were also certain guys who got their rocks off assisting the girls with tormenting Taylor. She remembered having her arms held from behind by a boy, he was missing one of his front teeth, and how she kicked and struggled while a group of girls closed in. They slapped her face, punched her in the stomach, pulled her hair, until she was sobbing and couldn't stand. She remembered every second she spent on the ground after they left.

She wondered how the hell that even happened? Where were all the people that were supposed to protect all the high school kids? How could those kids do things like that? And why? With several years between her and her last school-yard fight, it seemed to strange and foreign to her, as if it was all an elaborate nightmare. Memories like that couldn't possibly be real, could they?

What struck Taylor, though, was how Johnny seemed to have been on the other side of all that, not that he was a bully but that he wasn't at the bottom of the food chain. Even worse, Taylor thought that Maybe her and Mamouru really did have more in common than her and Johnny.

After a lengthy pause, she said "Yeah, perfectly normal. Kick ass, sell drugs, join the mafia. Same old story." She turned onto her back and put her hands behind her head. "I didn't know either of you had trouble like that. Especially Mam. What about your dad, though? I've never heard either of you really talk about him. Where is he? What's he like? He's probably not a wrestler, right?"

Johnny frowned at Taylor's hesitation. He shared with her. Shouldn't she have expected to do the same? Especially when she asked the question. He let out a soft sigh and then kissed her neck. "Ok." He said and didn't press her further. He let the time pass in silence until she finally spoke. Then he let out a soft chuckle. "Guesso." He said as he looked at Taylor when she turned onto her back. "You didn't expect us to get into any trouble?" He laughed again. "C'mon babe. That's almost insultin." He laughed again but then became quiet.

"eah.. Guess not. What's there to know? He was a salary man an junk. Honestly I'm not even really sure how he stayed together with my mom as long as he did. He didn't really care for wrestling, didn't like that she DID like it and liked it even less that she brought US into it. He was pretty strict, Mom was always pretty loose about things." He stopped. "Well, that doesn't mean that she wasn't tough on discipline but there was a lot she didn't really care about. Dad wanted us to be professionals like him, get nice girls, settle down and have good families and live the "Japanese dream"

He let out a sigh. "Mom said as long as we were happy, and stayed out of trouble, then we were doing good. Heh, she didn't even mind a bit of trouble. She did try and make sure we were polite though. Guess it stuck with us in our own ways. I dunno. The divorce was pretty messy. Took a pretty heavy toll on Mom. Guess that's why she thinks she can wrestle now even though she spent her whole life managing wrestlers. Oh well... Guess she's having fun though. Her and Aunt Rosie are reliving the glory days or somethin."

Johnny then looked at Taylor. "I guess if I ask you, you probably won't wanna talk about it either? It's cool, man." He said and looked at the ceiling. "For real, like. It's all good and junk. Just bein with ya, babe."

Taylor sighed. He was right, she kept asking him things that she didn't want to talk about herself. Maybe she was just a coward and shouldn't mind talking about this stuff. She was an adult, after all, she should have the confidence to talk about the less-than-ideal stuff in her past.

"Well..." She hesitated. "My dad's dead. He died a couple months ago, and my mom didn't bother telling me. I only found out because I called her looking for a way to get in touch with him, and... He was a terrible dad, and an alcoholic, and he was never around. It was like he treated me like someone from school that you run into years later but don't really want to see anymore, so he was nice and everything, but that was it. He knew that I came here, but I don't think he had any idea what I was doing or anything. Or that it's been going kind of well."

"He couldn't ever hold a job too well. He made a lot of his money playing pool and shit. I guess he spent most of it on beer and whiskey and all that. He was a miserable dude, but... he was cool. Easy going, always nice to people. I still loved him, even though I don't think he loved me. Way more than my mom. She sucks.

"But now I'm here, and I'm done with all that. It's all behind me, and if I ever get wrapped up with my parents again it'll be because I decided to. Everything's different. Here, I can be myself and stop trying to be something to get the approval of people who just don't care. Or, maybe that's exactly what I'm doing here..." She laughed. "I dunno, man, it's just... Good to be here."

She rolled onto her side and wrapped herself around Johnny and rested her head on his chest. "If I wasn't a wrestler, I'd be a baseball player. I don't even know if they have, like, women's baseball or anything. I've never really played it. But it seems like it'd be a nice, wholesome thing to do. Wouldn't ever have to worry about some chick beating your face in, never have to worry about suddenly being yesterday's news and then your career is over."

Johnny listened carefully when Taylor spoke. He was glad that she decided to open up to him and could see that it wasn't the easiest thing for her. He squeezed her as she spoke, but remained silent. When she was finished, Johnny remained silent and as she rolled over, he slid his hands into her hair and let their legs tangle together.

"Thanks..." He said softly and kissed her head. He then listened to her talk about baseball and grinned. "Baseball's pretty hot shit here. You could probably do it and they love letting yankees come in... I think.." He chuckled, not really even sure.

Johnny then let out a sigh. "Man... I'm glad you like it here, babe. That's pretty awesome and junk. That'd be pretty sucky if you didn't." Johnny then turned his head a bit. "But... ya know... if ya ever got tired of hangin out here in Japan or whatever then... that'd be cool and stuff too.. um..." Johnny wasn't sure exactly what he was trying to say or rather how he said it. "Like.. it might be fun to go see what else is out there and stuff. Ah... Taylor-chan..." He said. "Is it cool to say stuff like that? I don't really know..."