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#Post#: 1223--------------------------------------------------
The Friendship Test - Chapter 19 - The Perfect Fit
By: Dragons Den Date: March 7, 2015, 10:48 pm
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The Friendship Test - Chapter 19 - The Perfect Fit
As requested, Danni was at RSI early the next morning. She
hobbled her way in to Richelle's office - the injured ankle
surrounded by an inflatable support that made it look like her
foot was bracketed by a pair of plastic soccer shin guards.
She'd been ordered to stay off the ankle and given crutches to
aid in that task, but she refused to use them now. She'd done
what she'd done, and she was here to face the consequences. She
didn't want sympathy for her injury, and she certainly didn't
want it to look like she was trying to garner any.
As she entered the office, Richelle looked up and immediately
eyed her empty hands. She answered the owner's question before
it was asked.
"I figured I could find boxes here," she said.
"Figures," Richelle said. "Can't even follow simple
instructions."
Danni almost reacted, stopping only because she noticed the
small smile on Richelle's face.
After a moment, Richelle raised her eyes to Danni's and said,
"I'm sorry about yesterday."
A wave of relief and emotion caught in Danni's throat. She
fought hard to control herself, but she knew her eyes had
already betrayed her... her vision blurred by the tears that had
pooled there. She blinked them away and let them roll down her
cheeks, shaking her head as she calmed herself.
"No," she said finally. "You don't have anything to be sorry
for."
Richelle nodded and said, "I'm sorry just the same. We've been
together a long time. You deserved better than that from me."
"And you deserved better than having me sneaking around behind
your back," Danni said.
Richelle nodded again.
"Okay."
Just like that, they both knew what had happened was behind
them.
Though she felt like she was mostly under control, Danni
couldn't seem to stop the tears from flowing, one behind the
other. She grappled with a strange mix of happiness and shame.
She was thrilled that Richelle had reconsidered, but she didn't
feel that she deserved it.
Above all, though, she felt a sense of overwhelming relief. She
had come here this morning expecting to be relieved of a
position she had never wanted, and now couldn't imagine living
without. She had been furious with herself for gambling it away
in her attempt to help Sophia. Now, she simply couldn't believe
she was going to get a chance to set things right.
"Now," Richelle said as she gestured toward the guest chairs,
"you wanna tell me what the hell is going on with you?"
Danni sat and said, "I don't know how to explain it."
Richelle gave her a bored look. "Try."
Danni shrugged. "It started simply enough. Sophia asked for
help. She was desperate, and I felt bad. I owe her a lot, but
it wasn't really about that. I just felt like I could give her
a little push in the right direction."
The tears had stopped, and she grabbed a tissue from the box on
Richelle's desk and dried her cheeks.
"I know I should never have gone there," she continued, "but it
seemed like the quickest way. I wanted to get a feel for how
she was doing things, and share a little of what we do."
She paused as a puzzled look came over her face.
"Only, I couldn't figure out how I fit into everything."
"Excuse me?" Richelle said, a look of total disbelief on her
face.
Danni spread her hands. "Here I am, telling her about Daniela
and Aly... Em and Roselyn... Julianne and Ashley."
She paused as she tried to word what she was thinking.
"Did you ever realize this place runs on it's own?"
"Uh... no," Richelle said, adding a steady head shake to her
incredulous look. But Danni wasn't really paying any attention.
"I'm trying to tell Sophs what she can do to make her stable
better, and I have no idea what I do. I couldn't even tell her
how to start."
Richelle joined her hands in front of her on the desk, and
tapped her thumbs together.
"I see," she said. "And how is it you ended up in the cage with
her?"
Danni shrugged again. "It was the only thing I could think of.
I thought maybe Sophia would get more respect if she was better
in the cage."
Her eyes were focused on Richelle's desk, but she wasn't really
seeing anything.
"It was the only difference I could think of between the two of
us," she concluded.
Richelle thought for a second, then stood up abruptly.
"Come with me," she said as she came around the desk.
Danni looked down at her injured foot, but the owner gave her no
sympathy.
"Next time, bring the crutches, stupid."
Danni smiled. For a moment, she wondered if Richelle had heard
about the crutches from Trish, but that didn't seem likely. She
simply knew... and that didn't surprise Danni, at all.
She pushed herself to her feet, and hobbled along behind.
Richelle led her into the training area, stopping in front of
the first practice cage in the room.
"This jog any memories for you?" she asked.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Danni said. "It's a
practice cage."
Richelle smiled and said, "This is the cage where you trained
Jules... before her first title fight with Vikki. The cage
where you single-handedly made her into the first champion RSI
could really call it's own."
Danni rolled her eyes. "You're being ridiculous."
"Oh, am I?" Richelle said as she gestured back toward the cage.
"Any other memories jump out at you?"
"No," Danni said with a shrug.
Richelle nodded. "I seem to recall you slapping the sh*t out of
a certain blond Scotswoman," she said.
She was talking about ESL featherweight champion Tiffany
Mulheron. When she'd come to RSI, Tiff was a wreck. She had
just suffered a horrendous beating at the hands of champion
Nadine Coyle. The kind of beating that makes a fighter wonder
why she even bothered trying. She was so deep in her own
self-pity that she couldn't see daylight. Richelle had brought
Danni in to work the blond out, but what happened instead had
come as a surprise to everyone... Danni included. She had
mercilessly thrown Tiff around the cage... literally trying to
beat some sense into her. It hadn't been part of any sort of
plan. Danni had done it on instinct.
And it had worked.
"I admit that I had no f*cking clue what you were doing that
day. All I know is that same blond... a woman who had
completely given up on herself... now has a title belt she never
thought she could win. She is also half of a championship duo
that makes other stables curse our very existence."
Danni smiled. There was no denying that the partnership of Tiff
and Emma Watson was a force that could not be ignored.
Richelle stepped away, leading Danni deeper into the training
area. She stopped again near a cage along the back wall.
"Do you remember what happened here?" she asked.
Danni's eyes clouded over as the all-too-vivid memories came
flooding back. This was the cage where Richelle had faced off
with a wildly out of control Emma. Richelle's goal was to force
Emma to see that she had ventured way across the line... to try
and snap her out of it and bring her back to reality. It had
worked in the end, but the price had been much higher than any
of them could have imagined. The battle left both women badly
beaten, and Richelle's injuries had nearly proven fatal. Had
Danni not gone against Richelle's wishes and stayed around that
night... had she not been there when Emma started screaming for
help...
Danni pushed the thought away.
"I remember," she answered, unwilling to say anything more about
what had happened that horrible day.
"Me too," Richelle said with a solemn nod.
Then, she led the way back to her office.
"Do you remember any of the things that have happened in here?"
she asked.
Danni raised an eyebrow and said, "I'm not going to keep playing
this game with you all day."
Richelle smiled. "Fair enough," she said. "Here's what I
remember..."
"I remember you convincing me to make Britney and Elisha the
leads for our first two teams," the owner continued. "And,
though they drive me crazy, they have done nothing but win.
Their teammates love them, and the two groups each stand
together every time they go out there. Not one of them is in it
for herself. I have Britney and Elisha to thank for that, and I
have you to thank for them."
The owner perched herself on the front edge of her desk and
waved Danni back into a chair.
"You were also the one who convinced Stephanie to stay on with
us here at RSI. And I recall a related discussion between you
and I that became somewhat spirited."
Danni remembered it well. Steph had been experiencing a string
of bad luck in the cage, and her frustrations had boiled over...
leading her to basically announce her retirement. Danni chased
her down afterward, and the two of them had it out.
By the time they were done, Danni realized that losing wasn't
the only thing bothering Steph. RSI had been growing at a
ridiculous rate, and Steph knew she had the skills to help out.
But, no one even thought to include her.
The oversight still made Danni angry to this day.
A few days later, Danni had turned up in Richelle's office,
frustrated at the mistakes they'd made with Steph. She
transferred her anger onto Richelle for no logical reason, and
the conversation got out of control fast. Though rumors abound
about what happened in this office that day, only she and
Richelle would ever know the full truth.
The "spirited discussion" had actually been an all-out brawl.
Not a verbal one. A physical one. Danni had been the one to
start it. She had lashed out and literally shoved the owner
halfway across the office. She immediately realized her
mistake, and she fully expected Richelle to turn around and fire
her on the spot. That's what would have happened with any other
owner. But, on that day, Danni discovered she wasn't working
for just any owner. Richelle had spun around and launched
herself into Danni, driving her against the office door. On top
of that, the owner had held her own in the pull-no-punches fight
that followed.
The fight ended as quickly as it started, with no clear winner.
A few minutes later, the two of them were seated side-by-side,
laughing the whole thing off and trying to figure out what to do
about Steph.
The moment stood out as crystal clear in Danni's memory as if it
had happened only minutes ago. It was the moment she became
certain she was exactly where she was supposed to be.
"By the time we were done, RSI had the UMMA's first fighter
development coordinator," Richelle said. "I would wager to say
that move has worked out well."
No argument there. Despite her testy demeanor, Steph was
awesome at her job.
"So, I think you're thinking about this the wrong way," the
owner said. "RSI does not succeed simply because of you. We
succeed because of Steph... and because of Britney and Elisha...
Aly... Emma... Emily... the list goes on and on."
"Hell, I like to think that, every so often, we succeed because
of me."
She gave Danni a look that playfully warned her not to argue
with that last part.
"But, there is no way we succeed without you," Richelle
concluded.
The two of them looked directly at each other.
"Your friend Sophia could not succeed here," Richelle said.
"Not because she isn't capable, but because we need you.
Everything that's happened here has formed around you, and there
is no one that could take your place."
Danni smiled... not totally convinced that everything Richelle
said was true, but thankful just the same.
"Someone once referred to the women of RSI as 'my girls,'"
Richelle said. "Well, they're your girls too, Danni. And, to
put it frankly, they could give a sh*t about your title."
Danni raised an eyebrow. "Hey."
Richelle shrugged. "The only reason they care about that title
is because they know it's important to you. And, I'm not
exaggerating when I say that. You don't get to see it because
you're in the cage, but, when you fight, every single member of
RSI is watching. Every single one."
Danni didn't know what to say. Even if she did, she wasn't sure
she could control her emotions well enough to get the words out.
"They look to you for everything, and you never let them down,"
Richelle said. "They'll do anything for you, and I feel the
same way."
"Alright, alright, STOP!" Danni said as the tears threatened to
come again. "I get it!"
Richelle gave her a serious look.
"Do you?" she asked.
Danni nodded. "Yeah."
"Good."
Richelle let the moment settle before she moved on.
"So," she said, "what now?"
Danni didn't hesitate.
"I call Sophia and tell her we're done," she said. "I belong
here."
"That's true," Richelle said, "but maybe there's another way."
Danni eyed the owner suspiciously.
"Sophia and Dragon will be expecting you at the Den facility
tomorrow."
Danni literally couldn't make sense of what she'd just heard.
"What the f*ck are you talking about?"
Richelle's expression remained business-like as she explained.
"I've made arrangements for you to loan your services to
Dragon's Den on Mondays and Tuesdays."
"For how long?"
"Until you say otherwise."
Danni was floored.
"Why?"
"If this was important enough for you to do in the first place,
then it's important enough to finish."
Danni shook her head in disbelief. "You're unbelievable."
"I know," Richelle said with a smile.
The smile faded quickly as she added, "But please... be done
soon."
"I will," Danni said. Then, she looked down at her injured foot
and said, "I'll be more careful, too."
"Oh, I know you will."
Danni gave a puzzled look.
"I'm sending Steph to keep an eye on you."
Now, Danni was beyond stunned. She knew Richelle was full of
sh*t, too. She could send anyone to keep an eye on her. She
deliberately chose Steph for a reason. With Steph with her at
the Den... well, now they would have everything they could
possibly need.
"You really are unbelievable," she said.
That drew another shrug from the owner. "We're a team, right?"
she said.
She lifted her hand up in front of her and made a fist.
"We are," Danni said, tapping her own fist against the owner's.
"Bah-a-la-la-la," Richelle said as she drew her hand away.
Instead of giving the confused look Richelle expected, Danni
just rolled her eyes.
Richelle gasped.
"You know what that was!" she breathed, pointing a finger at her
stable leader.
"I have a niece," Danni replied. "What's your excuse?"
Richelle shot her a look. "What do I need an excuse for?"
They both laughed, and Danni suddenly couldn't help herself.
She threw her arms around Richelle and pulled her close.
"Thanks," she said.
"You're very welcome," Richelle said as she returned the
embrace.
They stayed like that a while before Danni turned to go.
"Wait a minute," she said, looking back at the owner. "If Steph
and I are at the Den, who's going to run things here?"
Richelle's eyes narrowed. "What the f*ck kinda question is
that?"
Danni's eyes went wide as she realized what Richelle was
planning. Again, she spoke faster than she thought. "Oh...
my... God."
"Nice," Richelle said with a smirk. "Real nice. Your
confidence is touching."
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