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#Post#: 715--------------------------------------------------
The Friendship Test - Chapter 2 - Desperate Times
By: RampageSports Date: November 15, 2014, 10:48 pm
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The Friendship Test - Chapter 2 - Desperate Times
Sophia sat in the locker rooms at Qwest Arena, Boise, Idaho. She
was anxious. Her left leg was shaking and her cupped hands did
their best to hold her jaw still. She was staring intently at
the entrance as if willing someone to walk in. She looked half
contemplative, half petrified. She knew she was asking quite a
lot. It wasn't exactly a textbook strategy she aimed to
implement here. There were unwritten rules; and Sophia was about
to tarnish every single one of them.
After a bit more waiting, her target finally made her way into
the rooms and headed to one of the lockers, seemingly oblivious
to Sophia's mild panic attack in the corner. Sophia wanted to
stand, but her legs were still shaky with panic. Instead she
watched as the redheaded Welterweight champ shuffled about at
her locker. After another brief internal conflict with her
conscience, she decided this was the only way. Danni Harris
would have to be able to help.
Eventually Sophia found her voice. "Hey champ."
"Sophia! Long time, no see!" said the Rampage Sports stable
leader. She finished adjusting her shirt before turning to hug
her friend and former co-star.
The fact that Danni seemed genuinely happy to see her made
Sophia feel a little better.
"Nice show out there tonight. We all loved watching you slam
that little upstart, Rosie."
She tried to punctuate the compliment with a smile, but it was
likely more melancholic than happy. Still, always best to get
someone's attention with praise she figured. Plus, it was 100%
honesty. And honesty was the only thing Sophia was going to have
working in her favour tonight.
"Ah... Rosie had a tough night, that's all," Danni said as she
waved her hand dismissively. "Besides I didn't have anything
for Gabriella Cilmi. There was no stopping her, tonight."
Sophia's features steadily eased into a natural smile. "Well,
you haven't changed. I see you're still the modest, humble
leader you always were."
Danni shook her head lightly. "What are you talking about? You
were the leader when we were on set. And look at you now, Miss
Chicago P.D."
Sophia's smile slipped a little. She appreciated the
compliment, but she really wasn't in any mood to discuss her
leadership skills right at the moment.
Danni c*cked her head slightly. "I didn't see you out there.
Did you just travel out with the team?"
"Yeah," Sophia answered. "I always travel with the team. You
know what it's like." She playfully rolled her eyes at the
thought of her teammates and their brewing mutiny. "I kind of
wish I hadn't come on this one, though. Wasn't a pleasant
evening."
Danni nodded. "Yeah, it was a tough night for you guys. But,
you're gonna get the hang of it." She noticed the sour look on
her friend's face. "Don't look so worried. You have a lot of
young girls over there, but they have a lot of potential.
Samantha Hoopes is loaded with talent. And, you have Rachel and
Woz there to give you some veteran leadership. You guys are
gonna be okay. Just give it some time."
"Time? Time worries me more. At the start of the year we had
potential. Now all we have is dashed hopes and broken dreams.
What the hell do you even do with potential?"
That didn't sound like the Sophia Danni knew. She turned and,
for the first time, really noticed the pain on her friend's
face.
Sophia sighed. "I'm in over my head. Emmy's probably right.
We're cursed." She tried to force a smile. "Know any gypsies?"
Danni laughed. "No, but maybe Emma Watson still has a wand you
can use."
Sophia smiled weakly and looked away.
Danni could see that something was obviously wrong. "Hey," she
said, "are you okay, Sophs?"
That general question wouldn't on a normal day get much of an
answer from Sophia. But Danni was so gentle, so understanding,
that the question her friend posed now really opened her up.
When she turned back to meet Danni's gaze there were small tears
starting to well up in the corners of her eyes. "I'm Sorry,"
Sophia frowned. "I shouldn't be lumping this on you." She tried
to find more words but her lower lip quivered just enough to put
her off. She breathed in deeply, trying to settle herself. "I'm
getting a lot of pressure to fix everything, but I don't even
know where to start."
A single tear strayed from the shallow pool and rolled down
Sophia's cheek. "I need your help."
Danni's mouth hung open... she was stunned at how quickly the
conversation had turned.
What the hell?
"Hey," she said as she instinctively took Sophia's hand in
her's. "What's going on?"
Suddenly, that single tear was not alone as Sophia's brave
facade crumbled to dust. She began to weep openly, leaving
Danni shocked and worried. She reached her other hand behind
Sophia and pulled her head to her shoulder.
"Hey, woah!" she said. "Sophs, please... tell me what's wrong."
Sophia wanted to. She wanted to tell Danni everything. How she
felt completely overwhelmed leading thirty-three other fighters
in a failing stable; how she didn't have any answers and was so
tired from needing them; how she just wanted to run from all the
pressure and escape her troubles away from the UMMA, but would
feel even worse about turning her back on those that needed her.
She wanted to tell Danni how scared she was of failing, how she
felt trapped, and how much it tore her up that it felt like the
only thing in store for her at the Den was indeed failure. But
it was all too much. Instead, she allowed herself to weep into
the comfortable caress of her friend's shoulder.
Danni didn't know what to say or what to think. She and Sophia
had worked together on One Tree Hill for the better part of four
years. Danni had been brought in at the start of the fourth
season to fill a major recurring role, but Sophia was the star.
While some young actresses might have felt threatened by a
newcomer, Sophia's confident nature allowed her to be warm and
welcoming from the start. Though their characters didn't always
care too much for each other, the two actresses quickly became
close friends. So much so that, when Danni made the
professional decision to leave the series, it had crushed them
both. They promised to stay in touch, and had done a pretty
good job... even getting together occasionally when their
schedules allowed. Fate - and a shared competitive streak - had
brought them back together in the UMMA. Strangely, though they
saw each other more frequently now, they never seemed to have
time to really talk. Still, they had helped each other through
good times and bad, and Danni felt she knew Sophia pretty well.
But she'd never seen her like this.
Unsure of what else to do, Danni just held her friend and
waited.
Sophia let the weeping slow naturally and then tried to speak,
mumbling into Danni's shoulder. "I don't know how you do it. I
don't think I can." The words lingered and hearing them aloud
opened the flood gates again. Tears rolled freely down Sophia's
cheeks as she left her head buried against Danni, happy to hide,
even momentarily, away from the world.
At first, Danni was content to just let Sophia go on as long as
she had to. But, as she got over the shock of seeing her friend
so distraught, she became acutely aware of where they were. She
looked around and noticed a number of the other women casting
furtive glances in their direction, while others were openly
staring. She knew they needed to get out of there.
She angled her head and whispered softly into Sophia's ear.
"Hey... why don't we take a walk?"
Danni's words brought Sophia out of her trance, and she pulled
her head back and looked around. She too, suddenly realized
that this was not the place for this. She nodded, and followed
her friend out of the room.
#Post#: 941--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Friendship Test - Chapter 2 - Desperate Times
By: Raccoon Date: December 22, 2014, 6:00 am
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A failing stable? What?
Three of the top ten ranked fighters are RSI girls, three more
top 20. Raccoon has one in the top 20.
#Post#: 942--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Friendship Test - Chapter 2 - Desperate Times
By: RampageSports Date: December 22, 2014, 7:00 am
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The part about the "failing stable" was coming from Sophia, and
she was talking about her stable, Dragon's Den. And, while I
don't believe the Den was ever actually failing, they were
struggling at the time of the Lingerie Invitational event.
That said, Dragon and I need to get moving on new chapters. The
Den is improving rapidly, and this story isn't going to make
sense any more if we don't hurry up. :P
#Post#: 943--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Friendship Test - Chapter 2 - Desperate Times
By: Raccoon Date: December 22, 2014, 7:14 am
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Oh... Dragon's Den? That explains it, everybody knows it is
going down the drain. I blame the boss man!
HTML http://www.greensmilies.com/smile/smiley_emoticons_razz.gif
Wonder what else I'm missing because I don't 'know' the
characters?
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