DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
UCC (UMMA) Managers Forum
HTML https://umma.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Backstage Stories
*****************************************************
#Post#: 758--------------------------------------------------
The Friendship Test - Chapter 3 - Desperate Measures
By: Dragons Den Date: November 21, 2014, 4:37 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
The Friendship Test - Chapter 3 - Desperate Measures
QWest Arena - Danni knew it had a different name now, but these
places changed names so often, she couldn't keep track -
occupied one corner of a square city block on the eastern edge
of Boise. The other three corners were occupied by a pair of
office complexes and a convention center. The building the
arena was in broke down into three distinct sections: a
triangular parking garage fronting the corner, a hotel in the
middle and the triangle shaped arena in back. Danni led Sophia
out through the main door of the arena, which opened onto a
circular commons area in the center of the quadrangle. As they
stepped outside, she immediately noticed how quickly the
temperature had dropped since the sun had set. It had been
almost summer-like when she'd arrived earlier. Now, it was cold
enough to make her wish she had her jacket.
The commons featured a number of wrought iron table and chair
sets arrayed around a flowing fountain in the center. She led
Sophia to a table upwind of the fountain.
"Let's sit over here," said the RSI leader. "It's friggin' cold
enough. We don't need to be wet, too."
Sophia smiled weakly but said nothing, and the knot in the
center of Danni's stomach tightened a little further.
Once Sophia was seated, Danni dragged the other chair around to
face her without having the table in-between them. She reached
out and clasped Sophia's hand in hers and looked softly into her
eyes.
"I'm not sure what's going on here, but this is not the Sophia I
know," Danni said. "Please, hon... talk to me."
Sophia shivered as the night breeze passed over her. It did
serve in relocating her senses however, and she became more
aware of Danni's presence again. She noticed Danni's warm gaze
and then noticed their hands clasped together. Still teary-eyed,
she glanced up at her friend and smiled. "Thanks." It was all
she could offer, or think to, in that moment.
Gathering her thoughts, Sophia started to wipe the tears from
her face with her free hand. "Danni, I..." She struggled to find
the words. "I'm not cut out for this." Her breathing was still
laboured and a few tears still stained her cheeks. "The stable
is failing and I feel so hopeless. I just want to fix it all,
and I can't. I thought I could, but... I think I've lost hope. I
don't know what to do. It doesn't feel worth it anymore. I
wasn't ready to lead a UMMA stable. It's so different."
Danni looked doubtfully at her fellow stable leader. "Don't you
think you're being a little hard on yourself? You haven't been
at Dragon's Den all that long."
"Well, almost a year," Sophia replied. "And somehow things have
gotten worse instead of better." The tears had stopped, at least
for the moment, but there was still no peppy, full of life
Sophia. She was so drained, so visibly devoid of the necessary
energy to pick herself up. Any attempt she made at collecting
herself just made her feel like a fish flopping about futilely
on the deck. She was stuck.
Danni could see the vacant look in Sophia's eyes. She
remembered the dazed feeling she had when she first started at
Rampage Sports. She was already divisional champion when RSI
owner Richelle Winterfeld had approached her. Danni had been
perfectly happy and successful on her own, and she was content
to stay that way. But Richelle wouldn't take no for an answer,
and there was something about her Danni liked. Also, the idea
of having a full, modern training facility at her disposal held
a lot of appeal. She decided to take a chance, and give it a
shot. Little did she know Richelle had bigger plans in store
for her.
"I've tried to find those little silver linings, but, we're not
even close to competitive with other stables. The girls all want
answers. They want improvement. I have no answers. I don't know
how to improve things there." Her eyes looked back up to meet
Danni's pleadingly as a child would when the world ceases to
make sense, even for a moment. "Is it always going to be like
this?"
Danni shook her head softly and smiled. "No," she said. "Not
with you there to lead them, it won't."
Danni's unwavering confidence in Sophia, despite her minor
breakdown and all she had just confided, breathed an unavoidable
air of hope, and the head Dragonette felt no choice but to relax
a little. "Well, it's nice to know someone believes in me." She
smiled gratefully and actually showed signs of Sophia again. "I
need to hire you as my personal guru."
Danni gave a small laugh. "Hey, you know I'll talk you up
whenever you need it."
Something in Sophia's head clicked then, and a knowing look came
over her. "Um, speaking of hiring," she started, pausing to try
and gauge the kind of reaction this might get from her friend,
"I know we're not doing enough at the Den. Something's not
working. We need an outside view. Do you think you could come by
and check us out? Maybe help some training? I know it's a bit of
an ask, but I'm kind of at a loss here. You're the only person I
can think of that could help; and the only one I'd want to."
There were those pleading doe eyes from Sophia again. She knew
she was asking a lot, but she had to try. It was all she could
think of. Danni was an experienced stable leader, and an
incredibly successful one. If there was anyone that could turn
things around, this was her. Sophia wiped away one of the
remaining tears from under her eye and gulped. She wasn't sure
if she was unsteady again because of asking such a request or
because she was afraid of the answer. Likely, it was both.
Danni was truly shocked at what Sophia was asking, and the words
"Are you f*cking crazy?" almost shot out of her mouth. But she
managed to bite her tongue and give herself a second to think it
through. It was obvious Sophia had been struggling for quite a
while with the issues at Dragon's Den. The poor results they
had at the tournament had clearly made things more desperate,
and desperation makes people do crazy things. So, while what
Sophia was asking was impossible, there was no need to be nasty
about it.
"Hon, I..." Danni struggled to find the right words. "I don't
see how I can do that. I'm with RSI. I can't work for a
competitor."
She was afraid of that answer. Sophia's stomach did a flip and
her eyes fluttered briefly as the words hit her like a punch in
the gut. And she knew what that felt like.
Sophia's first instinct was to stand from her iron chair, and
smash it. She ignored that instinct, partly to save face, partly
to save her fist. Instead she went with her second thought; an
attempt at reasonable logic. "It doesn't have to be work,
technically," Sophia tried to say convincingly. "It's just a
fly-by favour for a struggling friend. Like a plumber giving a
quote. Tell me what's wrong with my pipes, maybe what I can do
about it, and bail."
In her desperate plea, she tried to make the favour sound as
casual as possible. It wasn't an easy task since she realised
that Danni was basically right. Never mind if she thought it was
a bad idea or not; what would her manager do if she found out?
She felt it likely that Danni's contract held some kind of
loyalty-to-the-stable clause. And Sophia was asking her to
break, or at least bend it, if even briefly. But, there was no
backing out now.
Danni was thinking very similar thoughts. She could see her
friend was hurting, and she remembered how hard it was when
she'd first started at RSI. She could have used a little help
back then, and she wanted to do that for Sophia. But, it was
crazy. Friend or not, Sophia was the stable leader of Dragon's
Den, which meant she was the competition. Beyond that, if
Richelle ever found out she was doing something like that...
Danni liked to think the two of them had a pretty good working
relationship. Maybe even something beyond that. But, something
like this might look like a betrayal to her stable owner. No
matter how good their relationship truly was, it wasn't likely
to survive something like that.
"You don't have to stay any longer than you want to," Sophia
assured her friend. "If it'd help you could wear a disguise."
Now she was just clutching at straws. But she knew it. She also
knew she had to keep it light. She had thrown enough drama at
Danni for one night and now she felt like the captain of a
sinking ship requesting her co-captain stay and follow her to
their doom. Only this co-captain had no official obligation to
stay, and had another, healthy ship, to go captain. She shrugged
and gave Danni a cheesy grin. "It could be fun. Just like old
times."
Danni closed her eyes and softly shook her head. Sophia was
playing on their friendship, and it was working... at least a
little bit. But this was a dangerous game, and she really
wanted no part of it. Rather than simply denying her former
cast mate's request, she decided to try to make Sophia see the
craziness of what she was asking.
"What about Dragon?" she said. "He'd lose his mind if he found
out a competitor was in the building."
Sophia's eyes half rolled, half closed with a hint of disdain.
She'd deliberately avoided thinking about him. "Dragon? F*ck,
even IF he noticed, he's so naive he'd probably assume you were
there asking for a job."
She sighed just thinking about it now. "I mean, he's a good
manager, but he's just that - a businessman. He's so stuck in
the books and the PR stuff and the upper operations of things
there. He's not much for actual hands-on MMA knowledge, so we
don't see him by the cages often." She giggled as she suddenly
tried to picture him in the cage. "Seriously, he has zero
knowledge. I think even Zoey could kick his ass," she laughed,
confident in having made her point. As far as she was concerned,
Dragon was the director of the show, but he rarely had much of
an idea about what went on behind that curtain.
Danni frowned as plan A went right out the window. Not only had
her suggestion failed to dissuade Sophia, but the thought of
Dragon believing she was looking to leave RSI made her feel even
more unsettled about Sophia's idea. She thought again about
being more direct with her friend. She cared about Sophia, and
she felt terrible about the situation. But going to Dragon's
Den was out of the question. Still... she could offer some
help. She decided to try suggesting another way for Sophia to
get a handle on things.
"What about Caroline and Rachel..." Danni paused as she tried to
remember the senior members of Dragon's roster, "and Josie,
too... right?" Sophia gave a little nod, but her gaze slipped
off into the distance, again. "You have a lot of young girls,"
Danni continued, "but you have some accomplished fighters, too.
Can't they help you rally the group?"
Sophia's gaze remained distant and dropped as she contemplated
her answer. "I don't know," she sighed, "they're really busy. I
mean, Rachel's focusing really hard on keeping her title next
month, and Caroline's been doing a lot of the same, but she
helps the Heavyweights where she can. And Josie wants to help,
but, I mean, they're just... busy."
Danni frowned again. She knew how important it was to have
experienced fighters within the organization that were willing
to help lead their teammates. Current and past champions such
as Daniela Hantuchova and Stephanie McMahon not only helped
teach the younger fighters the skills they needed inside the
cage, they also showed them how to act like champions. They
showed them how to be confident without being c*cky. They
showed them how to take responsibility for their own actions,
and to be respectful of their opponents. But, most importantly,
they showed them what it takes to win. There was no doubt it
was working, too. Younger fighters such as Emily VanCamp, Emma
Watson and Julianne Hough were not only winning titles, they
were stepping up as leaders in their own right.
The recurring, disappointed expression on Danni's face made
Sophia realize something: she wasn't getting what she deserved
or needed from her teammates or management at the Den. She had
the distinct impression that RSI was a cohesive, well-oiled
machine, and that no-one was 'too busy' to pitch in and help the
cogs turn. She thought about the cogs at the Den and how if she
had just a single oversight any given day, well, that was it -
game over. And suddenly, it did not seem right, nor fair, nor
viable, that she was expected to take so much of the burden
alone. But she knew there had to be more to it. The burden was
big, for sure, but she wasn't incapable of handling what was on
her plate. It seemed instead, that there were things not being
addressed at all, that she had not yet been able to identify.
Danni found herself in an awkward position. She wanted to help
Sophia. She wanted to share some wisdom... to explain how it
was that she was having such success at RSI. The problem was
that she didn't know. She never tried to do anything special.
She simply did what she felt was right, and her teammates
responded to it. As far as she was concerned, it was them who
made HER successful... not the other way around.
She did know this much: whatever it was that she had, Sophia had
it, too. When they were working on the show together, it was
Sophia that was the center of the cast. Everyone worked
together well because Sophia made the right moves to help them
bond and gel. It wasn't every person for themselves. It was
all of them, working together to make the show what it was. She
was sure Sophia could do that again with her Dragon's Den
teammates. Maybe all she needed was a gentle push.
But, how? With no way to explain her own success, Danni
wondered if she could help Sophia at all. She thought maybe, if
she knew what Sophia was doing now, she might be able spot
something that would help. But, the only way to do that would
be...
She sighed heavily. The idea of going to Dragon's Den literally
made her feel sick, but she didn't know another way. She tried
to convince herself that it was okay. She was simply offering
advice to a friend. One visit, just to get a feel for things.
Then, she would offer what she could, and Sophia would be on her
own. It sounded weak, even in her own head. But, for Sophia,
she felt she could go that far.
"Okay," Danni said softly, "I'll try to stop by."
Sophia started to say something, but Danni held a hand up to cut
her off.
"I'll come by AFTER work," she said. "I'm not training anyone.
I'm not talking to anyone. If I so much as see anyone else, you
can forget it. It'll be just me, coming by to visit a friend.
You can show me around... show me how things work... and I'll
give you whatever advice I can. Then, I'm out of there."
Sophia practically leaped at Danni, enveloping her in the
biggest, warmest bear hug she could possibly deliver. "Oh my
God, you're an angel," Sophia purred deliriously. "I don't know
how I'll ever repay you, but you bet your sweet ass I will find
a way."
Danni grimaced and shrank away as Sophia celebrated, suddenly
stricken by the thought that she just made a terrible mistake.
Sophia recognized the look on Danni's face instantly. She
quickly released the hug and turned the volume down from 11.
"Sorry," she said somewhat sheepishly. "You know I get a little
emotional. And I know, I know, you're just visiting, quickly,
and then you're gone." Sophia's eyes were warm and alive again,
and she was smiling wholeheartedly at her friend. "Still, I
really do appreciate it."
Danni smiled. "Don't worry about it," she said. She made a
"calm down" gesture with her hands. "Just try to stay cool, OK?
I really don't want anyone else knowing what we're doing." A
shiver ran down her spine as she thought again about what
Richelle and her teammates would think about what she had just
agreed to. She pushed the thought away.
Sophia gave a look of mock confusion and flexed those acting
skills. "What are we doing?! What are we doing?!" she yelled,
pretending to panic. Then she smiled and made the motion of
sealing her lips and throwing away the key.
Danni rolled her eyes. "Don't try to be funny," she said.
"You're not good at it."
Sophia gave an exaggerated frown, and both women laughed.
Though she was trying to make light of it, Sophia knew the risk
Danni was taking for her, and she was not the least bit
interested in getting her friend caught out.
"Now," she said as she hugged herself, "let's go back inside.
I'm freezing."
With a rub of her hands, Sophia nodded enthusiastically.
"Gladly. I mean, I know you want me to stay cool, but, hey, come
on! This is ridiculous."
"Ohhh," Danni said as she shook her head and pretended to be
disappointed. "Now, what did I just say about trying to be
funny?"
Sophia playfully swatted Danni on the arm, and they both laughed
as they rose and headed back toward the arena entrance.
"Oh," Danni said as they walked, "and let's leave my 'sweet ass'
out of this, OK?"
The mocking started again as Sophia feigned disappointment. "But
Daaannnniiii, no-one can ignore such a sweet ass..." she said,
poking her tongue out teasingly.
Danni made a show of looking around at her own backside. "It's
true," she said with a sigh. "I guess it's just a cross I'll
have to bear."
*****************************************************