A Fork Stuck in the Road

Talia stared at her phone when Cassie called back. Did Cassie really have something that important to say? She took a deep breath and hit answer. The barrage of words from Cassie stopped her saying anything. She listened to every word without responding. She had taken verbal beatings like this from Akashi, Johnny, Taylor...but never Cassie. It was unexpected in every sense of the word. By the end of it, her own hand was shaking. And not from rage. She didn't say anything though she couldn't hold back her sobs. She wanted to get away from all of this, every step along the way people would say the same things Cassie did. And they wouldn't just resort to using words.

Talia opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She looked at her phone and the name 'Cassie' on the screen. All she had to do was hit 'End Call' and be forever done with Cassie, Taylor, everyone else. How could Cassie argue with that? She lifted up her thumb to do just that. But she couldn't muster the nerve to hit the button.

The silence hung heavy over both ends of the line, with only Cassie's slow, deliberate breathing to count the seconds. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against a wall.

It wasn't about what Talia did anymore. Cassie was done with all that. She felt detached, as if it had all happened to someone else, and she had no interest in rehashing all the wrongs suffered by whoever. None of that mattered, unless something was going to change.

She breathed another heavy sigh. "Sorry. I'm not trying to yell at you, but I don't know what to do to get you to..." It was so simple. Why couldn't she find a word for it. "I don't know how to help you."

Talia stayed silent. Cassie's words only reinforced her desire to hang up. If she couldn't be helped, why was she even talking to Cassie? She just wanted to cut off and abandon this part of her life forever. That was the only thing she could do. "Just...just stop trying so hard...just...," she whispered and pulled the phone away from her once more. She didn't know how to finish that sentence either. She wanted to say be supportive and be her friend. That was all she ever needed from anyone. And she knew it was too much to ask from Cassie considering what the they had been through.

Talia shook her head and took a deep breath. "...just stop, okay?" She just wanted to apologize and be done with things. She didn't want to have to explain herself to anyone, least of all Cassie. "I'm not running away. I lost the fucking match. I have to leave to find a new career. Did you forget that?" She was done with all of it. She hated it. It was the same exact thing with Taylor. No matter how hard she tried to resolve things, they just kept getting worse. "And I know it's my fault. Thank you for reminding me of that." She took another deep breath but didn't say anything more. She knew anything else would just make things worse.

"Well... okay." Cassie's shoulders fell and she slid face-first down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. She clearly wasn't helping anything, and she didn't need to be snapped at by some irate teenager.

"You only came to Friction because of me," she said quietly. Talia had had a career, such that it was, before she ever made it her mission in life to destroy Cassie, along with everyone else she thought had wronged her, or at least failed to do enough to right her. "I'm sorry I can't help you, but maybe I'm not the one you should be talking to. But thanks for calling, and everything. Bye."

Then it was her turn to hang up, and she flopped onto her back with her feet propped up against the wall, staring up at the ceiling.

As soon as Cassie hung up, Talia called her back. She wasn't sure if the girl would pick up or not. Even better if she didn't, in fact. Then she could leave a voicemail and never have to hear Cassie's response. She was angry that Cassie assumed it was all to target her. She was being just as self-centered as she accused Talia of being. It wasn't just about Cassie. It was about all of them. Taylor, Akashi, Johnny...all were Talia's motivations.

But when the ringing stopped, Talia's mouth didn't say what her mind told it to. "What do I do, Cassie? What can I do?"

Cassie's phone rang seconds after she put it down. She groaned, and bonked her head against the floor. It was torture. Talia was stuck in in infinite feedback loop of anger and self-pity and hopeless overreaction, and Cassie's only role in it was to get beat up for trying to help. Same as always.

She answered. "I dunno, Talia. Maybe just be nice to people. And maybe be brave enough to not just admit defeat and leave. That's all Taylor tells me, for a year now. Never, ever, ever stop, never let anything stop you, never let anything beat you, never quit, always get back up. I'm going to go home for a while, but I'm going to come back and be better because I want to, and because I'm not going to let anything you did beat me."

"I was nice," Talia answered barely above a whisper. "I was," she repeated in futility. "And people took advantage of me...they beat me...abused me...mocked me...I...I couldn't take it anymore." Talia sat up in her seat. "I fought back. I didn't let those people get to me. I became brave. But...but then you stopped me and told me to behave." The redhead's jaw cracked this time around. "Do you know...how it feels when everyone you know uses you...and then when you finally find one person who you can trust, she blames you when you finally stand up to them?"

She didn't want Cassie to answer. She knew she'd say something about doing it the wrong way and she herself would admit it was the wrong thing to do. "It's just so hard...to keep trying. I've been fighting a battle for a year now...And unlike you...I didn't win...I didn't have people who supported me unconditionally every step of the way...I didn't have someone telling me everything was going to be alright...I...I was all alone...trying to prove to myself that I could make it...that I could succeed in this league on my own." And she couldn't. "You say I didn't try but believe me, I did. I gave it my all. And my all wasn't good enough."

"Yeah..." Cassie said. She knew that the only reason she was able to stand her ground against Talia was because she had Akashi and Taylor and her family, and John, and Ro and Amanda, sort of, and some other people, in her corner to help her along every step of the way. She couldn't imagine going through anything like what either of them had gone through alone.

When she was at war with Talia, she forced herself to ignore the things that had happened to the girl. The incidents in Tension. Killer King. She didn't believe a word of what she said about Johnny, that was obviously not true, or at least exaggerated, but now she couldn't help but feel for her. She was this far from home, with nobody to help and people lining up in Tension to hurt her. She blamed the bookers, partly. She didn't like Tension. Obviously, naive, petite, young Talia had no business being in a ring with a male heavyweight. It was wrong.

She realized suddenly that there was something she could do, and the thought of it gave her butterflies. It was terrifying, and Talia would probably never do it, but without thinking too hard she shut her eyes tight and went for it.

"Do you want to come to Ontario with me?"

Talia was breathing in and out relatively quickly after her long-winded explanation. She had let it all out, laid all her emotions out for Cassie. Even after everything that had happened between them, Talia had never forgotten how it all started. She never forgot what had driven her to act so crazily. No matter what anyone ever told her, she was not crazy...or evil. Spontaneous, maybe. Unstable, possibly. But not crazy. And if Cassie couldn't accept that then this was all a waste of her time. Then Cassie asked that question. And Talia froze.

"...Ontario? You mean like...Canada?"

Talia just stared at the wall. Was Cassie joking? How could she even take a request like that serious? She wanted to fish around to see if Cassie was even serious. And if she was...how could Talia possibly agree to such an outrageous offer.

"...like...your home?"

Cassie held her breath. She knew she didn't have to worry about how her family would handle it. Her brothers might need a talking to beforehand to make them understand, but she knew she could count on her parents. That didn't mean the idea didn't make her heart freeze in her chest.

"Yeah," she managed to say. "Do you wanna?"