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#Post#: 1415--------------------------------------------------
The Friendship Test - Chapter 22 - An Interesting Idea
By: RampageSports Date: April 22, 2015, 10:05 pm
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The Friendship Test - Chapter 22 - An Interesting Idea
The next morning, Danni and Steph turned up together in
Richelle's office. They entered wordlessly, as the owner turned
her attention in their direction... Steph seating herself in one
of the guest chairs, while Danni took up a position leaning on
the wall to her right.
After a moment of suspicious silence, Richelle spread her hands
out wide and said, "Oh, what fresh hell can this be?"
Danni smiled.
"Why do you assume we're here with bad news?"
"Are you saying that's not why you're here?"
"Well, that depends on how you look at it."
"I see," Richelle said. "Why do I strongly suspect I'm going to
look at it and think it's bad news?"
"I think, if you listen with an open mind, that might not be the
case."
"Uh-huh," Richelle said. "How much you wanna bet?"
Danni shrugged.
"I'll keep my money, thanks."
"Daring of you."
"Well, I'm not sure the open mind thing is something you can
pull off."
"How open are we talking?"
"Wide open."
Richelle sighed.
"I know this is going to ruin my morning."
"I don't know what makes you think it's going to magically stop
at noon."
The owner grimaced as she lightly rubbed her temple with her
fingers.
"Okay. Let's have it."
Danni gestured to her stablemate and said, "Steph has something
she wants to discuss."
Richelle turned her attention to Stephanie and waited.
"I'd like to make the training deal with Dragon's Den
permanent," Steph said, without preamble.
Danni would have gone with a more delicate approach, but she
supposed dropping the idea like a bomb would work, too.
Richelle was understandably confused.
"You want to become Sophia's permanent trainer?"
"No. I want to expand the program."
Richelle's eyes slid to Danni, who put on an exaggerated, toothy
smile.
She looked back to Steph.
"Expand how?"
"I think we should involve everyone," Steph said. "I think both
stables should train together."
Again, Richelle did the back and forth thing between Danni and
Steph. Her expression remained stoic and flat, as if her brain
was too busy processing what was being said to be bothered
sending any instructions to her facial muscles.
Steph took the silence as an invitation to continue.
"It's an opportunity to expand the pool of talent our fighters
get to work with. Think about the struggle we had finding
consistency in our heavyweight group. It would have helped if
Mac and Petra had someone like Wozniacki to train with. Britney
and Elisha could learn quit a bit from Josie Maran. Danni and
Amanda sparring with Sophia and Beckinsale would not be a bad
thing."
Danni realized she was building to the main attraction.
"And Watson and Mulheron need someone to keep them on their
toes. It's hard to imagine a better choice for that than Rachel
McAdams."
Coming from Steph, it sounded less like a sales pitch, and more
like a simple recitation of the facts.
Richelle sat silently, here eyes still sliding between her two
visitors.
"Let me see if I have this straight," she said finally.
She sat forward in her chair, put her elbows on the desk and
rested her chin on her clasped hands.
"I let you finish what you began with Sophia," she said,
centering on Danni. "When I did so, I asked you very directly
to make it quick, and get your ass back here."
She turned to Steph.
"To that end, I sent you to help her. I was there last night,
and I saw Sophia's fight. It seemed to me that the goal has
been achieved."
Danni nodded. Steph didn't move.
"To me, that means it's time for you both to come back here and
end this nonsense. Instead, you want to continue what you've
been doing. On top of that, you want to involve the whole
stable in this little charade. Is that about right?"
Though the request had come from Stephanie, Richelle had zeroed
her gaze on Danni.
"Don't look at me," Danni said. "This is her idea."
"And you don't feel you had anything to do with it?"
Danni didn't answer. The earlier back and forth between she and
Richelle confirmed for her that their relationship was back to
normal. That said, she thought denying her role in all this...
even in jest... might not be a wise move.
"Methinks perhaps you should shut up," Richelle finished.
Danni smiled lightly.
"Perhaps."
Richelle nodded and returned her attention to Stephanie.
"Explain to me why I should maintain my current calm and
collected demeanor and not just go ballistic."
"I already have," Steph answered. "Expanding our training
program makes sense. Danni's friendship with Sophia makes the
Den the stable to do it with."
Another nod and back to Danni.
"Do you guys sit up at night, dreaming of ways to make me
miserable?"
"No," Danni said. "We had this all planned out yesterday. I
slept like a baby."
"Bully for you."
Richelle sat back and closed her eyes. It was hard to tell if
she was considering Steph's request, or silently counting to
ten.
She opened them again and looked at Danni.
"I take it you agree?"
"I do."
At that point, Danni knew Richelle was going to go for it. She
might not be thrilled with Steph's idea... a fact easily
confirmed by the tight set of her jaw... but she was going to
let them give it a try.
The three of them had formed something of a small committee over
the past year or so... a committee in which everyone got an
equal say. Credit to Richelle for allowing it to happen. It
was her show to run, so she obviously didn't have to. Though
she did reserve the right to make the final call on everything,
she almost always went along when Danni and Steph were in
agreement.
Richelle's trust was not easy to earn, but, once you had it, she
trusted you completely.
Even when you were acting like an idiot, Danni thought to
herself.
"Has anyone talked to Dragon about this?" Richelle asked.
"Sophia should be talking to him, now," Danni answered.
"How do you envision this working?"
Danni looked at Steph, who gave a small nod... consenting again
to the plan they had discussed beforehand.
"We stick to the current schedule of two days a week, and we
alternate weeks," Danni said. "One week we would go to the Den.
The next, Sophia and her crew would come here."
Richelle said nothing for a few moments.
"You realize this may not go the way you want," she eventually
said. "You make it sound like they're all just going to hold
hands and sing 'kumbaya,' but there's no way everyone is going
to get along like that."
"I don't sing," Steph offered.
"You should try it," Richelle said. "Just keep it simple."
"Yeah," Danni said. "It should last your whole life long."
If Stephanie found the Sesame Street reference amusing, she
didn't show it.
"You're gonna have a stroke, you know that, right?" Richelle
said to her.
"When I do, I'll know who to blame."
Richelle looked at Danni, who rolled her eyes.
"We know everything won't be perfect," Danni said, picking up
the original topic of conversation, "but a little competitive
spirit is probably a good thing."
"Provided it doesn't get out of hand."
"We can handle it, and I think Sophia can keep her people in
line."
"What about Olga?"
It always comes back to Olga, Danni thought with a wry smile.
"I don't believe Olga will want to participate," she said.
"And if she does?"
Danni ran through the RSI roster in her head.
"She'll end up with Emily."
"Woah," Richelle said. "We could sell tickets to that."
"We could bill it as the ultimate battle between the forces of
light and darkness," Danni agreed.
"Emily has a dark side," Steph said.
Danni and Richelle both stopped and stared at her.
"I'm sorry," Richelle finally managed, "what?"
"You guys like to pretend she's the perfect little good girl.
Then, she steps into the cage and tears her opponent apart.
Good girls don't do that."
Richelle and Danni looked at each other, dumbfounded.
The phone rang just as Danni started to speak.
"That'll be Dragon," Richelle said.
She lifted the receiver to her ear.
"Richelle Winterfeld," she said. "Hello, Dragon... Yeah, I
don't where they get these ideas, either."
She made a shooing motion with her hand, and Danni and Steph
made their exit.
"Are you serious about Emily?" Danni asked. "You're talking
about the girl who went out of her way to defend her biggest
rival in front of the media."
"And threatened to beat the sh*t out of the reporter who asked
the question," Steph replied.
Danni remembered the scene well. Emily had just beaten Irina
Sheik to regain the lightweight title. It had been a bad night
for Irina, as Em had simply blitzed her from the moment the bell
rang. The one-sided nature of the fight was a disappointing
rarity for a rivalry that had produced one classic battle after
another. People who knew next to nothing immediately started
talking about whether it meant that Irina's best days were
behind her. One unlucky reporter posed that question to Emily,
and received a response no one could have anticipated.
Em verbally tore his head right off, telling him he had
absolutely no idea what he was talking about. She then launched
into a tirade that lasted several minutes and included a number
of choice words Danni had never heard her use before. Not only
did she lay into the reporter... and anyone else who shared his
opinion... but she emphatically and repeatedly praised her most
fearsome adversary in the process.
The effect was so shocking that no one present had any idea how
to respond. Every time Emily paused, the silence was so heavy
it seemed to force the air out of the room.
In the course of the tongue-lashing, Em did tell the reporter he
would likely be killed if he dared to step into the cage.
Though she never made a specific threat, the look on her face
definitely said come with me, and I'll show you.
The reporter elected not to take her up on the unspoken offer.
She finished by clearly and distinctly telling him that he
should keep his mouth shut. Once again, the implication was
that, should he choose to ignore her suggestion, she would shut
it for him.
As before, the reporter chose discretion over machismo and
remained silent.
In fact, Danni wondered if he had ever dared to speak again.
"You put her in a cage with Olga, and there's going to be
trouble," Steph concluded.
Danni considered that for a moment, then shrugged.
"Still be fun, though," she said.
"You bet your ass, it would," Steph replied.
Out of the corner of her eye, Danni caught sight of Emma Watson
coming through the front door of the facility. As they nodded a
greeting to each other, Richelle's voice beckoned from the
office.
"Hey, Emma!" she called out. "What's this I hear about a new
movie you signed on for?"
Emma looked pleadingly at her two teammates.
"Hide me."
Danni laughed and shook her head.
"Might as well get it over with. You can't avoid her forever."
Emma's shoulders drooped sadly as she looked to the floor.
"Come. Sit," Richelle continued. "We have much to discuss."
Emma slid her eyes back to Danni.
"I could try."
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