With every swing he roared in anger. For his fight with Aubrey, for the way he felt the HWA was using his friend’s death to gain viewers, for the nightmares, for the trauma, for the stress, for the heartache.
Swing after swing, brick after brick, he slung that hammer like it was his only salvation.
For his dead brother Daniel. For his ruined and alienated relationship with his younger sister, for the missed birthdays, for the sacrifices he made, blowing off family, neglecting friends, missing holidays; in this moment none of it was worth it. He swung and he swung, he grunted, and he roared. He battered that wall until finally a large blister had formed on his palm and tore open causing him to roar in pain, dropping the hammer and slinging it into the rubble in frustration before lunging at the wall and throwing a heavy-handed fist into it, making a sick thud. The piece of wall crumbled as he dropped to his knees.
A silent sob escaped him as he held his hand against his chest, squeezing it with his other hand, he didn’t break his dominant right, but the blistered left was throbbing. He panted and worked to slow his breathing, he had worked himself into this rage and he didn’t even really know why. Was he really that f*cked in the head? Sitting there in a heap, he tried to reflect, to make sense of it all. He was kicking himself daily for letting these memories affect him, to Impact his daily life, a life he was extremely happy with. He wasn’t longing for the “good old days” he never found himself thinking about what he would do differently, but one simple invitation started a chain reaction that had him where he was. His wife was angry with him over a 13-year-old relationship. His gym was swarmed by media wanting to ask about HWA and Eddie Phoenix. All his space was invaded by the HWA in some form or another and he felt boxed in.
As the sun started to rise over the horizon, the work site began to burn in a bright orange hue, the golden rays painting the walls and flooding the area with light. Talon lifted his head and looked out at the sunrise, the radiant heat from the sun slowly brought him out of the wilderness and he began to feel like himself again. He needed to get a handle on these floods of emotion, it was becoming a detriment and he was smart enough to recognize it; but the help he needed wasn’t something he was particularly fond of. A few moments pass as he rifles through his duffle bag and finds his gauze and tape; clearly this wasn’t the first time he found himself with blisters from his new stress-relief routine. As he finishes wrapping his hand, his phone chimes for a text notification.
(Aubrey – Text): “So I’m going to be flying to Dallas for that conference tomorrow, so if we’re going to clear the air it needs to be tonight. Vesuvio’s at 8PM?”
Looking at his phone and taking another deep breath as he comes down from the adrenaline rush, he taps a reply. It could have been warmer, but he wasn’t sure what he felt about how Aubrey blew up about the entire Blush incident. She overreacted, and despite her pseudo apology, he wasn’t ready to fake nice either; but he also was a firm believer in not traveling angry; he learned from his past mistakes and traveling after a fight without talking it out rarely ended well so he was going to do the right thing and try to explain things and make them right with his wife.
(Talon - Text): “Yeah, let’s talk tonight.”
He sent the message and packed up his bag. He left the sledgehammer propped against the wall, knowing he would be back for more “sledgehammer therapy” if things didn’t change soon.
LATER THAT NIGHT
The Wilkinson’s are seated at their favorite Italian spot in Manhattan, Vesuvio’s. The owner Arty has reserved their favorite table, so they sat in the most intimate spot in the entire restaurant, secluded from the public, but in their own little slice of Italy, the classic Italian music playing, two glasses of their favorite Montepulciano on the table, it was the right setting for a quick re-connection after a rough week. The couple is mid conversation, having already talked through Talon’s past with Blush, how and why the relationship ended, and why he had kept the details from her, Aubrey at least appeared to understand, and now they were back to appearing normal.
(Aubrey): “So Ashlyn is going to be there to take care of the kids during my trip, I told her she might need to play single mom for the weekend if you decided last minute to fly out to San Francisco for Havoc.”
Talon raises an eyebrow in confusion.
(Talon): “Babe, I’m not kidding, I have no intention of going back. The company and network would jump on it and squeeze it for every last viewer and click they could get, The Parkers would give me their same old “whoa are we, we didn’t know!” schtick and expect me to buy it; and more likely than not one of their little pet projects will try to make a name for themselves and step up to me and try to use Ed’s memory as a weapon… F*ck. All. That.”
Aubrey gives her husband a look and a shoosh as his voice had raised a level or two too high to be cursing in the high-end establishment. Wiping her mouth with the cloth napkin as she looks around the room, she nods.
(Aubrey): “…all I’m saying babe, is that if you want to go, I think you should go. We’ve talked about what we need to talk about, you have my support. 100% you have OUR support. So if you need to go, even if its just for some closure, or whatever. I think you have to do it. “
Letting Talon mull over her words for a moment, Aubrey grins with a sly smile and lets out a giggle.
(Aubrey): “Plus, I’ve never seen that ass in wrestling trunks in 8K, so momma wants.”
Talon chuckles, nearly spitting his wine at the joke. It felt good to laugh again, hell it felt like he hadn’t had a natural laugh with his wife in months, but it had only been a couple of weeks. Perhaps she was right, but then again, he had always preferred to trust his gut; and between the eerie nightmare and the waves of inner turmoil he was battling, he just felt that the best action in this case was to take no action.
(Talon): “I appreciate that babe, but really, I’m good for now. Maybe once all the Eddie coverage is over and if I still feel an itch to write a final chapter I’d consider it, but this just screams publicity stunt right now and I’m angrier at Parker and his buddies at CBS than I am anything else. The itch isn’t to wrestle for HWA, it’s to beat the sh*t out of anyone and everyone who is making a profit off of Eddie’s death. I know it sounds a little illogical, but they couldn’t just let it go. A memorial show? What’s next, parade Pilar out there and have her become the manager from some douchebag heel and make a mockery of their family name? …come to think of it, that might be the line they crossed that made me fly to whatever city they were in and tear it all down myself.”
Aubrey shakes her head. She knows he needs to vent, but when he gets on a roll sometimes, she just can’t help but disagree. She was her own woman, and not one to just nod and smile.
(Aubrey): “Come on Talon, now you’re just getting worked up. Forget I said anything. Don’t think about going to San Francisco. Don’t even watch the show. It doesn’t make sense to watch something you don’t like, just to hate it more. Just don’t tune in. Call Pilar, check on her and the kids, maybe make some plans for us to come visit, I don’t know? …but we need to distance ourselves from this sh*t sandwich if you don’t want anything to do with them. You’d give me the same advice if Jeff called me wanting to have me come run it back in AP –"
Talon raised a hand, he didn’t like talking about either of their former companies, old business was bad business; and this HWA debacle was proof of concept. He shook his head and then nodded, agreeing that she was right.
(Talon): “You’re right. You’re definitely right. I’ll call Pilar again and try to get her to make some plans, she was pretty upset about Ash’s acting out lately so clearly, she’s got a lot on her plate, and now with the media catching wind of Ed’s death thanks to the CBS clown show; she’s really overwhelmed. …”
Talon takes another deep breath and wills himself to calm down. He reaches out and opens his hand for Aubrey to join him, she does so without hesitation and the two share a genuine embrace. Holding hands was enough to help center him for a moment and remember that if he pushed the HWA business out of his mind, he could enjoy a nice dinner with his lovely wife.
(Aubrey): “Oh another thing, your sister called…”
(Talon): “Ally?... you’re kidding.”
Talon and his baby sister Alexandria hadn’t been on speaking terms for the past few years. After Talon departed HWA Ally became a on-air personality at Talon’s promotion Code Red Wrestling. It was there that she ended her relationship with Logan Neilson and eventually met and started a relationship with Rex Evans. Rex and Ally dated for a couple of years and had a child, Danny; but eventually things fell apart and while they remained friendly and on speaking terms, the two shared custody of their now 9-year-old son. Ally finished her education and earned her doctorate to become a Trauma Therapist. She had lived in Charlotte for a few years, but after their mother had passed, she elected to move back to New York, where she now had an office and practiced her craft, helping those who need it most. Unfortunately, the two seemed to be content not reconciling their differences for whatever reason.
(Aubrey): “No. She said Rex had kept Danny for an extra week or something, so she wanted to come pick up our Dani and take her shopping, if we didn’t mind.”
(Talon): “I’m not letting our problems come between her and our kids, or you for that matter, but we’ve got nothing to talk about, period.”
(Aubrey): “Okay, I’ll tell her to call Ashlyn to make plans, it will probably be while I’m in Dallas. I just didn’t want you to be surprised.”
(Talon): “Thanks, last thing I need is for Ally to come in with her two-cents on what is going on in HWA; it’s bad enough Ashlyn is fan-girling out about the whole company revival thing like she’s not a freaking professional wrestler herself… kids these days, huh?”
The two smile as Arty brings their meals to the table. After a brief conversation, Arty heads back to the kitchen and the couple begin to eat.
/end
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