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The Friendship Test - Chapter 18 - Full Circle
By: RampageSports Date: March 4, 2015, 10:02 pm
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The Friendship Test - Chapter 18 - Full Circle
It was early Saturday evening when Richelle arrived at the
Dragon's Den facility, and the sun was just beginning to set.
The dwindling light had colored the sky a burnt orange, with
streaks of yellow here and there. The building had picked up
the orange hue, and the overall scene had a soft, peaceful look
to it. Richelle's concerns about the upcoming meeting seemed to
fade into the background, allowing her to be a little more
rational. In truth, there was nothing to worry about. There
was no reason her offer would not be accepted.
And really... how bad could Dragon be? she thought as she
levered herself out of the car.
They'd met on occasion at different UMMA events and functions,
but they'd never said more than a few words to each other in
passing. Truth is, Richelle got the impression the Den owner
might have been in a little over his head. He'd assembled quite
a talented roster, though. He'd also chosen a stable leader
with the right balance of intelligence and humility to guide
them forward.
Clearly, there had to be more to him than it appeared.
As the main entrance door slid aside, she was immediately struck
by the size and opulence of the facility's lobby. She glanced
left, then right, unsure of how to reach Dragon's office.
On second thought, maybe Dragon just threw money around, and
hoped things worked out for the best.
Richelle's train of thought was interrupted as she noticed
Dragon appear, as if summoned, at the top of the stairs that
flowed into the center of the lobby. His solid 6'4" frame and
stubbled jaw may have made for an imposing figure save for the
polite smile he wore along with casual jeans and shirt, a far
more relaxed form of attire than most would expect from a UMMA
stable owner.
"Richelle," he announced spiritedly in greeting as he descended
the steps. "Thanks for making the trip."
"My pleasure," Richelle said, opting for the polite approach.
She had come directly from RSI, so she was still wearing her
faded blue jeans and sneakers... her auburn tresses set off by a
pale blue sweater. The sweater was not all that much to look
at, but it had a loose fit to it that she found soft and
comfortable.
She was glad to see Dragon's attire was similarly casual.
Dragon hopped off the stairs in jovial fashion and motioned to
the second floor of the building. "If you're looking for my
office, it's upstairs. Care to follow me up?"
"After you," Richelle said with a smile. "I appreciate you
seeing me on such short notice. And, on the weekend, no less."
Dragon's Australian drawl and general appearance of a poor-man's
Matthew McConaughey was a surprisingly calming influence and
Richelle seemed to relax into letting him lead the way. As he
took to the stairs again, Dragon turned to casually chat with
the RSI stable owner as if their impromptu meeting wasn't even
slightly out of the norm.
"It's a pleasure to have you here, but I must admit I'm very
intrigued as to what I owe the occasion of your visit," he said
with a mixed look of thoughtfulness and philosophical wonder.
"But, we'll get to that. How has the UMMA been treating you?
Well, I hope." He seemed sincere and relaxed, almost oddly calm.
Of course, he didn't yet have the information Richelle held, and
she couldn't help but wonder if he would be able to maintain his
air of whimsy once she got talking about their current
situation.
"Things have been going quite well for us," Richelle said. "It
was hard in the beginning, but we seem to be having some
success, recently."
They made their way into the Den owner's spacious office, with
Richelle taking one of the guest chairs as Dragon made his way
around behind the large mahogany desk. Dragon smiled widely at
Richelle's response and nodded. "I think 'some success' may be a
modest understatement," Dragon suggested. "I do pay some
attention to the goings-on in the organisation, and I must say
your stable has always impressed me," he admitted.
Richelle nodded. "I appreciate that," she said. "I can't take
much credit for most of what we've accomplished. It's the women
in the cage who do the hard part. But, I think I made some good
decisions in the leadership choices I've made."
She thought a moment about what was clearly her best decision to
date. She also thought about how close she'd come to throwing
that away.
"And you?" Richelle asked. "I trust things are starting to come
together for your crew. You certainly seem to have the
facilities you need for success. This is quite the place you
have here."
Dragon eased into his chair opposite Richelle, laying back
lazily in it as he made himself comfortable. As he found the
right words to respond with, he almost looked serious. "Well,"
Dragon sighed, "honestly, the teething difficulties have lasted
longer than I'd hoped, but it's all a process."
He then switched positions, leaning forward over the desk as his
optimistic nature seemed to push through, yet he remained candid
as he explained a little further. "I can't say I wasn't prepared
for a challenge, though. I was under no illusions starting this
place. I am aware my in-cage knowledge is limited, so I had to
find another way to attract the team I wanted."
He leaned back again, both hands in the air as if trying to
display the entire building.
"That's kind of where this fancy facility came from. They say if
you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with
bullsh*t. So, voila, this place was born. I'd hoped if the right
team had the right facilities to work with, we'd figure it all
out."
He dropped his arms and smiled coyly. "Probably fair to say
we're still doing the figuring out thing."
Richelle smiled. "Trust me," she said knowingly, "I think your
team is figuring things out just fine."
Dragon cleared his throat as he realised he'd been rambling.
"Sorry, I'm sure you didn't come here for a modern history
lesson on this place," he laughed softly, somewhat
self-consciously.
"So," he said, clapping his hands together enthusiastically.
"What brings you over here?"
"Well, as I said earlier, I think I made some good decisions, as
far as the women that run RSI," Richelle said. "It turns out
you made a pretty good decision, yourself."
Dragon frowned. "I'm sorry," he said, "I'm not sure I follow."
Richelle sat forward on the chair and rested her elbows on her
knees. She steepled her fingers in front of her mouth as she
tried to decide where to begin.
"I'm not sure if you're aware," she said, "but our stable
leaders have a history together."
Dragon was trying not to appear confused in front of the other
stable owner, but he was decidedly failing. "Sophia and Danneel?
Sure, they worked together for four or so years on One Tree
Hill."
He gave a thoughtful look, studying Danni for any sign of clues.
"I still don't know what you're getting at, but as far as I knew
they got along pretty well. Please don't tell me there's been a
serious feud that we have to throw monstrous amounts of damage
control at."
Dragon's assumption made Richelle wince inwardly, as she
realized the only possible feud would be between she and Sophia.
A feud that she, herself, had started.
"No," she said as she shook off the thought. "Quite the
contrary. It would seem that they've been getting along a
little too well."
Dragon spread his hands in front of him.
"You said your stable is still doing the figuring out thing,"
Richelle continued. "It seems Sophia is feeling the same way.
So, she turned to Danni for help."
"Help?" Dragon asked. "What kind of help?"
"They've been training together."
Dragon's brow furrowed. "Training, like, for a charity
marathon?"
Richelle shook her head slowly in the negative.
After a long exhale of breath, Dragon attempted to face what
Richelle was telling him. "So, what you're saying is, the heads
of our stables, whose responsibility it is to promote their
brand, were off galavanting together, because... because, why?"
Richelle shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure," she admitted.
But, as soon as he asked the question, Dragon realised he knew
half the answer for himself. Where could Sophia possibly get the
best advice on being an effective stable leader, if not from an
established leader at one of the most successful stables in the
UMMA? A leader who was also a divisional champion, no less, and
knew what it took to get not just herself, but a whole team of
other fighters, to win.
"Bloody hell," Dragon cursed, suddenly realising an epic failure
of his in recent times. "Just how desperate was Sophs feeling?"
The question was posed mostly as open thought, and he quickly
tried to move on as to avoid further opening up that can of
embarrassing worms.
"How much do you know?" he asked Richelle curiously. "And how
long has this been going on?"
"For months," Richelle said as ran her fingers through her hair
in frustration.
Part of her had wondered just how much Dragon knew about what
Danni and Sophia had been up to. If she discovered he was
somehow in on it, there was no doubt she was going to give him
hell for it. However, it was becoming clear that Dragon was
just as in the dark as she had been. The realization left her a
little disappointed. She really needed to let her emotions go
and have a good, rage-induced fit.
But now, she had no one left to yell at.
"Apparently, it started after the Lingerie tournament," she
said.
Strangely, she didn't give a second thought to saying the word
'lingerie' in front of this relative stranger.
Only in the UMMA.
"I don't know nearly as much as I wish I did," she continued.
"I only just found out what's been going on today."
She thought for a moment, then added, "Unfortunately, Danneel
has not been all that forthcoming."
Dragon was clearly stunned.
"How did you find out?" he asked.
"Danni was injured," she said. "I visited her in the ER earlier
today."
Dragon's eyes went wide. He started to speak, but Richelle held
her hand up.
"She's fine," she said. "It's just a sprained ankle. She won't
even miss an event."
Dragon rubbed at his face. Disaster averted, but only by sheer
luck.
"The real question is," Richelle said, "what do we do, now?"
Dragon was surprised at being asked that question by Richelle,
and he was almost feeling too guilty to answer it. It was
becoming clear to him that at least part of this situation had
been caused by Sophia not getting what she needed from the Den.
And providing her with that, was just about his most important
job.
Dragon's hand paused on his chin, clearly thinking. "First
things first, we shut down that training regime of theirs and
let you have Danneel back to train your own fighters." He
lowered his hand and sighed. "I'll have to have a chat with
Sophia before I decide what to do with her. I'm interested to
know what the hell she was thinking."
"Unfortunately," he continued, "I don't think sole blame is
hers. If she was as desperate as she must have been, I suppose
I'll have to work out some serious changes around this place."
The look on Dragon's face came as something of a revelation to
Richelle. Here was a man who'd surrounded himself with
beautiful women... women who's beauty actually seemed to
intimidate him a little. She'd seen the roundtable-style press
releases from the Den. They consisted mostly of Sophia and the
others running the show, while Dragon stumbled and bumbled his
way through, just trying to avoid being cornered by the women.
That left Richelle thinking being around these women was the
end-all, be-all of his plan. But, to see him now... it was
obvious the difficulties at the Den were weighing on him. On
top of that, he seemed genuinely concerned about Sophia.
Surprise, surprise.
"Also," Dragon added, "I honestly haven't had to reprimand a
fighter quite like this before. Can I ask what you plan on doing
with Danneel?"
Richelle gave a quick laugh.
"My immediate response didn't require a lot of planning," she
said.
Dragon looked puzzled.
Richelle sighed. "My reaction to the situation was somewhat...
emotional," she admitted. "'Reprimand' does not begin to cover
it."
Dragon's expression turned serious as he realized what Richelle
was alluding to.
"You didn't..." he began.
"I overreacted," Richelle said with a nod. "I would caution you
against doing the same."
"I think I can handle the situation appropriately," Dragon said,
a little defensively.
"I don't doubt it," Richelle answered. "I'm certain the women
knew they were doing the wrong thing. They were certainly
clandestine about their activities. But, they thought they were
doing it for the right reasons. That's especially true for
Sophia. She had to swallow a lot of pride to be willing to turn
to Danni the way she did."
Dragon nodded thoughtfully, taking in what Richelle had to say.
"I imagine you're right. It's not an easy thing to admit you're
in over your head. No doubt our struggling form as a stable has
weighed on her heavily. It's the kind of thing that can drive
people from the job."
Of course, anyone would be forgiven for mistaking Dragon as
talking about himself, and he was quickly becoming aware of the
similarities between Sophia's position and his own.
"You know, Sophia's more than just an asset to this stable,"
Dragon explained. "She may be a good fighter and a great leader,
but she's an even better person."
Richelle nodded steadily. Her opinion of Sophia had come a long
way in the past hour or so. Even if the Den leader didn't
realize it, she definitely had what it took to succeed. In
fact, if things didn't work out for Sophia at the Den, Richelle
would give serious consideration to bringing her on board at
RSI. She and Danni together would be something to watch.
That was quite a turn-around, considering Richelle had been
cursing Sophia's name only a short time ago.
"If her options were Danni or bust," Dragon said, "I'm glad she
went with Danni."
Dragon's compliment of RSI's stable leader made Richelle squirm
a little. It would have been nice if she'd approached the
situation with Danni as logically as Dragon seemed to be doing
with Sophia.
"Honestly," he continued, smiling sheepishly, "I'm feeling
grateful that Danni was willing to help. She really stuck her
neck out for Sophs, and for that I can't thank her enough.
Obviously she was there when no-one from here could help. That's
a pretty big thing. I'd say you're right in assuming that both
women had only the purest of intentions. It definitely sounds
like Danni did. And it's hard to mark against that, even if
logic dictates we should."
Yeah, Richelle thought to herself, Danni stuck her neck out, and
I cut her head off for her.
Not only that, she had blasted Sophia. Basically, for being
desperate.
It really had been a banner day.
She still had a chance to fix it, though.
"Actually," she began, "I'm wondering what you think of the idea
of letting them finish what they've started."
Dragon's eyes went wide. "Um... what?"
He was lost for words. Nor could he make head or tail of why
Richelle thought that was a good idea. She had a stable to run,
as did he. Why on earth either of them would want their leaders
of all people to be away from the center of their own stable,
was a difficult concept to grasp.
The shocked look on Dragon's face caused Richelle to laugh
slightly.
"You're suggesting we have Sophia and Danneel train together?"
He looked genuinely puzzled. "I must admit, that isn't a
position I expected you to take."
"That's certainly understandable," Richelle responded,
"considering that it's not a position I'd expected myself to
take, either."
That didn't do much for the Den owner's questioning look, and
she felt she needed to explain herself further. Too bad she
didn't fully understand why she was doing what she was doing in
the first place.
She sighed and did the best she could.
"I've come to trust Danni completely," she said. "I rely on her
for just about everything. So, while I admit that I don't
really know what she's thinking in this, I want to let her see
it through."
Dragon thought hard about the idea of the two stable leaders
meeting together. Maybe it was more than just fight training.
Maybe it would strengthen the leadership of both. After all,
experience is vital to leadership, and this would be a
completely different experience again. If the opportunity was
there for each to learn a few things, then, was it really a bad
idea?
Also, Dragon decided that Richelle must have known what she was
doing, even if the idea seemed an odd one at first. Really, if
either of them knew what was good for a stable, it was her. She
was the one in the room with success at all levels and a sleuth
of champions. Dragon had little to no success, really. Just
frustration, average at best fight records and an estranged
stable leader. He was in no position to think he knew better.
"Well, okay," he agreed thoughtfully. "I'm open to it."
Richelle nodded.
"I'm thinking of allowing Danni to come here and work with
Sophia a couple of days per week," she said. "Early in the
week, if possible. I'd prefer she be back at RSI as we close
things out each weekend."
"That's fine," Dragon said agreeably.
"Good," Richelle said. Then, she thought for a moment and
added, "I do have one other request."
"Oh?"
"I'd prefer Danni not come alone."
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