Date December 11th 2018 / Time 10:49AM / Status Not Recording
Location The Wylde Residence – New York City, New York

I hear his soft knock on the door, taking another pull from the bottle before yelling out, telling him the door was already unlocked. I sigh and lean back in the chair, my legs propped up on the dining room table as I watch Joe step into the room and immediately he looks around him, shaking his head.

“Rough night, I take it?”

I shrug my shoulders and take another swig from the bottle.

“Obviously something’s going on and if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine.”

He continues, walking around the table and sitting down across from me, crossing his arms over his chest. I turn my head, looking across at him for a few moments, trying to figure out what I even want to say.

There’s so much running through my mind right now. It’s almost too much to process. First off, the match itself was nerve-wracking. I don’t think I’d ever been so damned nervous over one damn match – but I guess it was more so what was at stake, than the match itself. It was having been put into that position in the first damn place.. Of course I could have refused to participate in the match.. I could have, but I’ve got too much damn pride to do something like that.

Especially against someone I respect as much as I respect Gabriel.

And then there’s the aftermath… There’s standing there in the ring after Gabriel sacrificed his career to keep Jet from doing anymore harm onto Eden.. I was shocked. I think everyone was, but then again, I’ve seen it for a while.. He loves her. Desperately. Fully. And I know how that feels… So I get it.

But then I followed them backstage to find something I wish I’d never of seen again. Eden laying in a pool of her own blood while Gabriel and Jet argue to the side… I had to put a stop to it. Eden needed Gabriel, not for Gabriel to try to fight Jet for doing his job. But when we both turned our attention back to Eden.. she wasn’t there. Gabriel panicked. I can’t blame him. He slipped and fell, hitting his head on the concrete but before I could make sure he was okay, he was gone. So I followed him.

I wanted to make sure he and Eden were okay.

But when I got outside… They were gone. Both of them.

Almost like they never existed. It was an eerie feeling. I stood out there for a few moments, trying to ignore the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach – eventually deciding to go back inside and call the nearest hospital. I was sure that was where Eden was being taken and once I knew, I could have gone out there and sat with Gabriel and kept him company… Maybe even made sure he got himself taken care of in the meantime.

But when I called.. She wasn’t there. She wasn’t in the emergency room, she wasn’t anywhere… Neither of them were.

It was like they’d both disappeared and for some reason, I felt empty. I felt like I’d lost something… and it hurt.

So I came back home. I found myself a 24 hour liquor store and I bought myself a case of beer. I wasn’t about to touch the hard stuff, considering what happened the last time I did – and here I am.. Sitting and thinking about everything that’s gotten me to this point and wondering where my… my friends are. And hoping.. Praying that they’re okay.

“I.. I..”

He looks up as I begin speaking, our eyes meeting and that tightness in my chest gets just a little worse. Why can’t I put the words together to tell him how I feel? I throw my hands up in the air, letting them come back down into my lap with a loud slap.

“It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it.. I just don’t know what to say. There’s a lot going on in here right now…”

I say, pointing to my head.

“And I’m trying to make sense of it.”

He nods his head.

“I don’t think drinking will do you any favors..”

I shrug my my shoulders.

“I don’t know. Maybe you’re right.”

Maybe he is right, but that’s not going to really stop me. It keeps me thinking but keeps me from feeling like absolute shit because of the thoughts.

That doesn’t even make sense.

“Don’t think the angry tweeting does any favors either. Although seeing you bitch Kem out was pretty amusing.”

He says with a little smirk on his lips as I sigh and lay my head back on the chair.

“Yeah well that stupid bitch wouldn’t get it if it were a cheeseburger slapping her right in the face.”

I reply, instantly regretting what I said, but clenching my jaw so that I don’t backtrack on that statement. I can’t stand people like her, people who judge people based off of actions and decide that they don’t deserve a bit of compassion. Fuck that and certainly fuck her for her shitty ass attitude.

I hope she never finds herself hurting and in need of care because I might just spit right in her stupid fucking face.

“Luce?”

Joe says, pulling me out of my thoughts. I roll my eyes and slam my hand down on the table.

“I’m angry. I’m so angry I can’t see straight, Joe.”

I sit up in the chair, leaning my upper body on the table.

“You sure that’s not the booze doing that?”

I roll my eyes again and shake my head.

“I’m serious, Joe.”

I say quietly, looking up into his eyes again. His eyes widen slightly and he nods his head, I guess he gets it now.

“On my way here late last night, I realized that Ooley and his band of fuckboys didn’t want me in that match with Gabriel to actually end his career. No, they’re a lot better manipulators than I gave them credit for…”

I scoff and look up at the ceiling, feeling his eyes watching me intently.

“They wanted me there because they knew that I’d be enough of a distraction for Gabriel… Enough to make him panic as he tried to make sure Edie was safe, enough to make him give up his career to help her…”

Upon thinking about it again, I feel the corners of my eyes stinging and in an attempt to shake it off, I get up and move into the kitchen, grabbing myself another drink from the fridge.

“Do you want one, Joe?”

He shakes his head.

“No. I’m fine. Too early for me.”

I shrug and close the fridge, opening the bottle as I move back towards the dining room.

“Eh. Whatever.”

“So you think they used you?”

I take a quick drink and nod my head.

“I know they did.”

I say, walking back towards him, trying to be angry. Anger is what they deserve. Those fucks. Those assholes. Making him choose his career or Eden. Turning me into the fucking puppet…

“I fucking know they did. And I played right into it.. I became the willing distraction. Jesus Christ, if I would have just thought about it I’d of realized it before…”

I close my eyes and take another drink.. And then another, letting the cool liquid slide down my throat and following it all the way down to my stomach before I open my eyes again.

Why didn’t I grab the whiskey instead…

I glance over at Joe and I can see it in his eyes… I know he doesn’t care about Gabriel or Eden and for good reason. I get it. It’s the same thing I’ve been dealing with all morning.. People who don’t get why I feel the way I feel… Especially for them.

But none of them were around over the last few weeks.. None of them saw what I had the chance to see… The human side of Gabriel Baal and Eden Morgan. The parts of them that do deserve my compassion and my caring. The parts of them that everyone else is so Goddamned willing to assume are a farce or a ploy.

“Listen, I know Gabriel and Eden have done themselves no favors in the eyes of everyone in this promotion.. I get it. But come the fuck on. No one deserves to go out the way they did last night… and I can’t let it go. I was a part of it. Hell, it’s almost my fault that their careers are over now…”

“That’s just ridiculous. They made their choices, Luce. You know that.”

I lean against the table in front of him, sighing.

“I know. I know… and I made mine. But it was wrong. I was wrong… and I hate myself for it. But moreso, I hate them for putting all of us in this position…”

I sigh and look down at the bottle in my hand, twisting my wrist, watching the beer inside swish around in the container.

“So what’re you saying, Luce?”

After a few seconds, I look back up into his eyes and for a moment he’s taken back by the look in my eyes…

“I’m not staying there. Not after this. They want me to renew my contract. They’ve been after me for weeks…”

I point at the end of the table where my new contract lies.

“As far as I’m concerned, they can go fuck themselves.”