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#Post#: 426--------------------------------------------------
Bigger Things - Chapter 1 - A Day of No Rest
By: RampageSports Date: September 30, 2014, 12:09 pm
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Author's Note: I was debating on whether or not I should wait
and post this after we reorganize everything. But the story
centers on a real life event (I almost never let reality into my
stories :P ), and I didn't want to let it become ancient news
before I posted. So, I'll just move it later, along with
everything else. :)
[hr]
Character Reference
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Richelle_100x120.jpg
Name: Richelle Winterfeld
Nickname(s):
Background: Owner of the RSI stable, former underground fighter
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Danni_100x120.jpg
Name: Danneel Harris
Nickname(s): Danni
Background: RSI stable leader, reigning DEF welterweight
champion
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Emma_100x120.jpg
Name: Emma Watson
Nickname(s):
Background: Reigning FAC featherweight champion
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Stephanie_100x120.jpg
Name: Stephanie McMahon
Nickname(s): Steph
Background: RSI's fighter development coordinator, former DEF
super heavyweight champion, current SCQ super heavyweight
contender
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Britney_100x120.jpg
Name: Britney Spears
Nickname(s): Queen B
Background: Team leader of Britney's Brutal Beauties, DEF
middleweight contender, training partner and close friend of
Elisha Cuthbert
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Elisha_100x120.jpg
Name: Elisha Cuthbert
Nickname(s): Leesh
Background: Team leader of Leesh's Lethal Ladies, DEF
middleweight contender, training partner and close friend of
Britney Spears
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Emily_100x120.jpg
Name: Emily VanCamp
Nickname(s): Em
Background: Reigning ESL lightweight champion
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Ashley_100x120.jpg
Name: Ashley Tisdale
Nickname(s): Ash, Tiz, Blondie Girl, Sharpay
Background: ESL bantamweight contender
HTML https://aade768506dacb303a01a361d3dc0d27209a5ec4.googledrive.com/host/0Bz8YsEjMxOhMMXhVcF82aG5SXzA/Trish_100x120.jpg
Name: Dr. Patricia Leone
Nickname(s): Trish
Background: Head of the RSI medical staff
[hr]
Bigger Things - Chapter 1 - A Day of No Rest
September 22, 2014
It was barely seven-thirty on a Monday morning when Danni came
charging through the open door to my office.
"Did you see it?" she asked.
I slid my eyes over and looked at her without moving my head.
"Well... good morning to you, too," I said.
She waved her hand in annoyance. "Richelle... did you see it?"
"Are you talking about the speech?" I asked.
"Of course I'm talking about the speech," she said.
I turned to face her, relishing the fact that the movement was
not accompanied by any pain. It had been just over seven weeks
since my little escapade with Emma Watson... a little more than
six since Trish freed me from that hospital bed. Liberation
came at a price, however, as both Trish and Danni have been
taking turns harassing me about following the litany of
after-care instructions I was given. Thankfully, all of that
should be drawing to a close soon.
"I heard something about it, yes," I said.
"Heard something? You didn't see it? You're sh*tting me,
right?"
I smiled. "Yes, I am."
She narrowed her eyes at me.
"You're not that funny."
"Really?" I said. "Because in my own mind, I'm hilarious."
The speech Danni was referring to had been given two days prior.
It had taken place not all that far from where we were
standing, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
The topic had been the issue of gender equality, and video of
the address spread across the internet like wildfire.
News of the speech hit the following day, and it didn't take
long for it to reach me. It had started with a phone call. A
phone call that came at six o'clock on Sunday morning.
"You need to get online," I heard a voice say as I
unceremoniously dropped my cell on the pillow next to my head.
I stared at the ceiling, thinking maybe I could wish myself back
to sleep.
Again, a voice came out of the phone. "Richelle? Are you
there?"
"Who is this?" I asked.
"What do you mean, 'who is this?'" the voice asked
incredulously.
I realized it sounded vaguely familiar. I struggled to focus.
Young. Alert at his ungodly hour. And a little bit bossy.
"Tiz?" I said as it finally came to me.
"The one and only," Ashley Tisdale replied.
I rolled my head toward the phone, squinting to see the time in
the corner. 6:07.
"What the f*ck do you want?" I groaned.
"I already told you. You need to turn on your computer," she
said. "There's something you need to see."
"Is someone dead?" I asked.
"Well... no..."
"Then it can wait," I said as I disconnected the call.
I don't like mornings. Five days a week, I struggle out of bed
and sleepwalk my way to the RSI facility. Somehow, in the
mindless oblivion that exists between my bed and my office, I
manage to shower and dress. I cannot explain how this happens.
Danni once suggested that coffee might help me perform a little
better. The next morning, I stopped at the local WaWa and got
myself a cup. When I got to the office, Danni asked why I
hadn't tried the coffee idea. I told her I had. She asked me
where it was. I said I didn't know. A few days later, a
neighbor who had been at the store that morning told me he
watched me throw the still full cup into the garbage on the way
out. I have no recollection of this occurrence.
I may not know what happens in the oblivion, but I now
understand that it cannot be altered.
Saturday mornings are a little easier, but there are still
things to do and places to go. Sunday morning, on the other
hand, I basically skip altogether. As a Catholic, I'm supposed
to get up and go to church on Sunday. Instead, I choose to stay
in bed and feel the appropriate amount of guilt about not going.
In the end, I call it a wash.
I waited a minute or so to see if Ashley called back. She
wisely did not, so I drifted back to sleep. But a few hours
later, the phone rang again. This time, it was RSI's fighter
development coordinator, Stephanie McMahon.
"Hello?" I mumbled into the phone. I looked around the room,
and I was happy to see that at least the sun was up.
"Have you seen the speech?" Steph asked.
"What speech?" I replied sleepily.
"What do you mean, 'what speech?'"
I was quiet for a moment. "Have you people no respect for
Sunday mornings? It's supposed to be a day of rest."
She ignored me. "Someone else called?"
"I think so," I said. "I think it might have been Ashley. I
can't say for sure, though."
"When was that?" she asked.
"Felt like yesterday," I replied.
She needed a minute to process that one. "What the hell are you
saying?" she eventually asked.
I yawned as I said, "I really don't know."
"Just get up and check your email," she said in frustration. "I
sent you a link."
No sooner had she hung up when the phone rang again.
"Jesus... WHAT?" I yelled as I answered.
"Why are you yelling?" Emily asked.
Sure. It had to be Emily.
"I'm sorry, Em," I said. "You're the third person to call, and
it's still early. On a Sunday, for the love of Peter."
"Well, it's big news," she said. "Especially for us."
"Why for us?" I asked. "Is it bad?"
"No," she said. "You'll just have to look and see."
Leave it to Emily to finally catch my attention.
"Yeah, OK," I said. "Steph sent me something. I'm going. I
going."
She hung up, and I headed for the bathroom. Some things take
priority, no matter how many people call.
By the time I came back out, the phone was ringing again. My
eyes were finally open, so I could see it was Britney. Oh,
good.
"Is this some kind of practical joke?" I asked. "Because I
swear I will fire you all."
"What?"
"F*cking around with me in the morning is NOT a good idea," I
continued. "And f*cking around on a Sunday morning might get
you killed."
"I have no idea what you're saying. I only called to see what
you thought," she said. "Wasn't she awesome?"
"Wasn't who awesome?" I replied. "What the hell is everyone
talking about?"
"What do you mean? You haven't seen it, yet?"
"I haven't seen anything, no."
"Well, what have you been doing? Ashley said she called you
hours ago."
Ashley. See? I knew it.
"It was still dark when she called," I said. "It doesn't
count."
"Whatever. Go look and then call me back."
I disconnected the call, and the phone rang again. Elisha's
number came up, this time.
What... is... HAPPENING?
I picked up the call and said, "I haven't seen it, yet."
Great. I'm talking about it, and I don't even know what it is.
"Steph said she called you half an hour ago," Elisha snapped.
"What's taking you so long?"
"Well, for one thing, I have to keep stopping to answer the
f*cking phone."
"Whatever. Go look and then call me back."
I stared at the phone for a second... overcome by a strange
sense of deja vu.
Then I set it to silent, threw it in my desk and closed the
drawer. I heard it vibrate again as my laptop started up, but
enough was enough.
I logged in and brought up my email. As promised, the message
from Stephanie was there, along with at least a dozen others. I
opened Steph's and clicked the link.
For nearly thirteen minutes, I sat silently... transfixed as a
young woman stood before a room packed with international
delegates and rewrote the very concept of feminism. The speech
was simple, but it was eloquent. From the outset, it was clear
the woman was not simply trying to sound impressive. She was
trying to change. Her voice frequently cracked with emotion,
making her appear more vulnerable each time. That vulnerability
only served to make her that much more authentic. She spoke not
of what she'd heard, but of where she'd been and what she'd
seen. She artfully wove stories of international oppression
with her personal experiences of gender inequality. She took a
problem we often think of as being largely "over there," and
brought it right to the doorstep of anyone who was listening.
When she finished, those delegates stood and applauded her as
one.
I'd love to be able to explain what she said and what made it so
different, but I simply can't. I would only detract from the
message, as I lack the elegance needed to get it right.
Instead, I recommend you go and look for yourself. It shouldn't
be too hard to find.
The real question is, what made the speech such a big deal at
RSI? Sure, as a company made up of women from top to bottom,
the topic of gender inequality would get a lot of play in our
little group. But at six o'clock on a Sunday morning? No.
What made the speech special for us was not only the topic, but
also the speaker. She was a young woman whose heart and
determination we all knew quite well. A diminutive powerhouse
who cannot fathom the idea of giving up. Ever. And I'm quite
certain that each and every member of the RSI family had the
same thought I had after watching the video: The world was about
to change, whether it wanted to or not.
Why were we so convinced?
Because the young woman in question was our very own Emma
Watson.
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