Post by PH RECORDS on Nov 29, 2020 17:33:36 GMT -5
August 8
10:30 am
Tampa, Florida
She was sore, she was exhausted...but she was elated.
For the second week in a row, Kasey Winterborn had picked up the pinfall win in her match, but this week’s victory was especially emotional. With her success over Phoenix LeStrange, she was now going on to the Hell on Earth pay per view as part of the triple-threat match to determine the inaugural Grand Champion.
It still seemed so surreal to her. She had been so keyed up that she barely slept last night once she got to her hotel room after the show. Of course, she paid for it the next day, nearly missing her flight back home from Texas. She managed to catch a brief nap on the plane before landing in Tampa, and now she was riding the elevator up to her apartment, where she was hoping to sleep for a few more hours before her shift at the bar that night.
As she got off on her floor and made her way to her front door, she heard loud music coming from someone’s apartment and rolled her eyes. Who blasts Alicia Keys this early in the morning? she thought to herself as she fished her keys out from her messenger bag. But as she got closer to her door, she realized that the music was coming from her own apartment.
With a roll of her eyes and a wry smile on her face, she unlocked the door of her apartment and stepped through the threshold, where she was immediately greeted with the sight of streamers hung from every square inch of the ceiling, balloons taped all over the walls, and a giant “CONGRATULATIONS” banner strung up over the breakfast bar.
She looked around with a stunned expression on her face as her duffel bag fell from her shoulder and landed with a loud thump! on the floor. She took a few steps inside, heading towards the living room, when out of nowhere a confetti popper exploded near her face, showering her in colourful bits of paper and glitter.
“THERE’S THE GIRL OF THE HOUR!!” Darrell cheered loudly, jumping out from around the corner of the hallway and wrapping Kasey up in a bone-crushing hug. He swung her around in circles as they made their way into the living room.
She was still spluttering, trying to wipe confetti from her face and hair. “Darrell, what...I mean...what is all this?”
“Uh, what does it look like?” He gestured around them to the decorations. “It’s a freakin’ celebration!” He turned to the breakfast bar and picked up two champagne glasses, handing one off to Kasey. “Because….THIS GIRL IS ON FIREEEEEEEEEE!!!” he sang along with the song currently playing.
Kasey let out a little laugh. “Really? Champagne at ten o’clock in the morning?”
“It’s got orange juice in it, so it’s technically breakfast.”
She shook her head, still smiling. “I can’t believe you did all of this for me.”
“And just why the hell shouldn’t It? You deserve it. You’ve busted your ass for years to get to this point, and now here you are. On the cusp of winning your very first major title, headlining a pay per view for the first time...if that isn’t enough cause for celebration, I don’t know what is!”
“I know. I guess it just hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I just keep thinking it’s some kind of dream that I’m about to wake up from.”
Darrell arched an eyebrow at her. “Want me to slap you to see if it hurts?”
She gave him a withering stare. “That won’t be necessary.”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Your call. But I can assure you that this is no dream, girl. You were incredible last night! You looked like the god-damn star that you were always meant to be. And once you win that Grand Championship, all will be right in the universe.”
“Uh, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, kay? I’ve still got one more Proving Ground to get through before the pay-per-view, not to mention once we get to the show, there’s two other guys vying for this belt. I’m just not sure -”
Darrell reached over and pressed a finger to Kasey’s lips, cutting her off mid-sentence. “Uh-uh. You stow that talk right this instant, sailor! I don’t wanna hear it. You have been riding that confidence high for two weeks now, and look at where it’s got you. The minute you start letting self-doubt creep into your thoughts is when it all goes tits up. Like the wise Confucius once said, ‘If you think you are the shit, you will be the shit’.”
She let out a giggle snort as her brown eyes rolled back. “Pretty sure Confucius didn’t say that.”
“Or Aristotle, whoever. One of those old philosophizing geeks. Point is, you need to believe in yourself, even if no one else will. Not that I think you don’t have your fair share of believers. You are fast becoming one of the biggest faces of Project: Honor.”
She raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. “And just how would you know that, exactly?”
“Hey, someone’s gotta keep tabs on your internet presence. And since I’m a social media savant, I took it upon myself to become your unofficial manager. At least, in the online realm. Someone’s gotta make sure your nudes don’t get leaked, after all.”
Kasey spluttered the mouthful of the drink she had just taken, nearly spraying it halfway across the room. “I do NOT have nudes!”
“Maybe not, but the horn dogs on the internet don’t need to know that. It’s been kinda fun teasing them with that possibility and watch them go absolutely apeshit trying to find them.” He gave her a little wink and bumped her hip with his own, making her burst out into giggles.
“You are the absolute worst.”
“And that’s why you love me, babycakes. Now, a toast!” He raised his glass in the air. “To Kasey Winterborn, the future inaugural Grand Champion of Project: Honor. May your future be as bright and fabulous as your hair!”
With another giggle and a slight blush in her cheeks, she clinked her glass with his and they sipped as they made their way out onto the balcony to continue their impromptu celebration.
-------------------
August 13
Tampa, Florida
It was rare for Kasey to be up by sunrise, since both of her jobs had her working nights and sleeping during the day, but there were the odd days when she was able to rise early and enjoy the light show that Mother Nature provided. Today just so happened to be one of those days, so she decided to head down to the beach and enjoy an early morning swim, seeing as even before sunrise the humidity was suffocating.
When she arrived at the beach, she was happy to see that it was fairly deserted, save for a few people out walking their dogs. She picked a secluded area near some trees and laid her towel out, taking a moment to sit on it and enjoy the atmosphere for a little bit. She was dressed in a mid-length bright yellow sundress and white flip flops, which she kicked off to press her toes into the soft white sand. Her bright crimson hair was piled up in a messy bun atop her head, and she had a black bandanna folded and tied into a headband to accessorize. She leaned back on her hands and closed her eyes, a serene smile forming across her face as she basked in the moment before her big brown eyes fixed on the camera in front of her.
“Life could not get any better for me right now. And I’m not saying that as a humblebrag or anything. For real, I had pretty much given up on my wrestling dreams. Too many times I had been let down, either by my own expectations being too damn high or from circumstances beyond my control. But then Project: Honor came around, throwing me one last lifeline. Giving me one last chance to fulfil all the dreams in my head that were just begging to be set free. So when I signed the contract, I was cautiously optimistic, I’ll admit. I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high, just in case. And...well, look at me now.” She smiled a little bit, blinking her eyes rapidly to clear the thin sheen of tears forming in them before they could roll down her cheeks. When she spoke again, her voice was slightly more emotional. “Two matches in, and I became one of the contenders to the top title in the company. That has never happened to me before. Everywhere else that I’ve been, I’ve had to fight and claw my way into the spotlight, just to get a sliver of recognition. But it was like the higher-ups of Project: Honor saw something in me that even I didn’t realize was there, and put all their chips on me. And I’ll be damned if I let them down. At Hell on Earth, I am going to prove to them - and to the world - that their faith in me was not misplaced when I become the first ever Grand Champion.”
She cleared her throat slightly, the emotion of the moment passing just as quickly as it had arrived. She planted a bright, somewhat cheesy smile across her face. “However, before I can do that, I’ve got another point of business to attend to. That being helping to welcome a newbie into the folds of our strange little family of misfits.” She brought her hand up to wiggle her fingers at the camera in a wave. “Hey there, Kyle! Welcome to our little corner of the world! So glad you could make it. I’m Kasey Winterborn, and I’ll be your tour guide on this week’s edition of Proving Ground!”
She twirled a stray lock of her hair around one finger before attempting to flick it back over her shoulder dramatically. “By the looks of it, it’s about to be the Battle of the Fabulous Hair. Because as glorious as my own mane is, I gotta admit that you do have some pretty lustrous locks yourself. To be honest, I may be a little jelly. I think between you and I, we probably have the best hair in the entire company. But that ain’t gonna save you from the thrashing you’re about to be on the receiving end of. See, I am on probably the hottest streak of my career right now. Two and oh, baby! Not to mention my sweet little title shot coming up in a couple weeks’ time. And look at you, brand-spanking-new to the company, coming in all fresh-faced and wide-eyed! It’s like watching a little kid go to school for the first time. I’ll tell you right now, you hit the welcoming committee jackpot, though! I mean, you’re gonna lose, that’s a given...but at least you’ll lose to a future Grand Champion! And hey, never let it be said that I am not a giving person, so I’ll tell you what...once I become the inaugural Grand Champion, I’ll let you have first crack, alright?”
She gave a cheeky little wink as she dug her toes a little more into the sand, the breeze coming off the bay ruffling the few loose tendrils of hair surrounding her face. “Then again, once I get my little paws on that shiny piece of hardware, I’m pretty damn sure there’s gonna be a lineup a mile long of people wanting their moment in the sun with me.” She tapped a finger thoughtfully against her chin, before snapping her fingers. “I got it. You share your haircare routine with me, and I’ll put you at the top of the list. Kay?”
She giggled a little, before her face went a little more serious. The smile fell away, replaced with a look of fierce determination. “Now, I know there are people out there saying that I don’t take things as seriously as I should, and that maybe if I did, then I would have been a champion multiple times over by now. And to those people, I want to share this with you and tell you from the bottom of my heart, with absolute sincerity…”
She raised her hand and promptly stuck up her middle finger, while flashing her usual cheeky grin to the camera. “I don’t give a damn what you think of me. I am who I am, and I make no apologies for that. And once I become the Grand Champion, I will continue to be the loveable weirdo that you love to hate, apparently. So buckle up and hold onto your butts, because I ain’t going anywhere! You’re going to be seeing a looooooooot more of my beautiful mug, especially once it’s plastered all over the Project: Honor homepage with the Grand Championship in my hands. ”
She flipped her hand around and extended her index finger so that she was flashing a peace sign at the camera now, before winking and blowing a kiss. She stood up from the towel and pulled her sundress off over her head, revealing a neon green two-piece swimsuit and with one last cheeky wink and her tongue sticking out of her mouth, she took off running down the sand towards the crystal-blue waters as the camera faded out on a shot of her diving headlong into the surf.
10:30 am
Tampa, Florida
She was sore, she was exhausted...but she was elated.
For the second week in a row, Kasey Winterborn had picked up the pinfall win in her match, but this week’s victory was especially emotional. With her success over Phoenix LeStrange, she was now going on to the Hell on Earth pay per view as part of the triple-threat match to determine the inaugural Grand Champion.
It still seemed so surreal to her. She had been so keyed up that she barely slept last night once she got to her hotel room after the show. Of course, she paid for it the next day, nearly missing her flight back home from Texas. She managed to catch a brief nap on the plane before landing in Tampa, and now she was riding the elevator up to her apartment, where she was hoping to sleep for a few more hours before her shift at the bar that night.
As she got off on her floor and made her way to her front door, she heard loud music coming from someone’s apartment and rolled her eyes. Who blasts Alicia Keys this early in the morning? she thought to herself as she fished her keys out from her messenger bag. But as she got closer to her door, she realized that the music was coming from her own apartment.
With a roll of her eyes and a wry smile on her face, she unlocked the door of her apartment and stepped through the threshold, where she was immediately greeted with the sight of streamers hung from every square inch of the ceiling, balloons taped all over the walls, and a giant “CONGRATULATIONS” banner strung up over the breakfast bar.
She looked around with a stunned expression on her face as her duffel bag fell from her shoulder and landed with a loud thump! on the floor. She took a few steps inside, heading towards the living room, when out of nowhere a confetti popper exploded near her face, showering her in colourful bits of paper and glitter.
“THERE’S THE GIRL OF THE HOUR!!” Darrell cheered loudly, jumping out from around the corner of the hallway and wrapping Kasey up in a bone-crushing hug. He swung her around in circles as they made their way into the living room.
She was still spluttering, trying to wipe confetti from her face and hair. “Darrell, what...I mean...what is all this?”
“Uh, what does it look like?” He gestured around them to the decorations. “It’s a freakin’ celebration!” He turned to the breakfast bar and picked up two champagne glasses, handing one off to Kasey. “Because….THIS GIRL IS ON FIREEEEEEEEEE!!!” he sang along with the song currently playing.
Kasey let out a little laugh. “Really? Champagne at ten o’clock in the morning?”
“It’s got orange juice in it, so it’s technically breakfast.”
She shook her head, still smiling. “I can’t believe you did all of this for me.”
“And just why the hell shouldn’t It? You deserve it. You’ve busted your ass for years to get to this point, and now here you are. On the cusp of winning your very first major title, headlining a pay per view for the first time...if that isn’t enough cause for celebration, I don’t know what is!”
“I know. I guess it just hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I just keep thinking it’s some kind of dream that I’m about to wake up from.”
Darrell arched an eyebrow at her. “Want me to slap you to see if it hurts?”
She gave him a withering stare. “That won’t be necessary.”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Your call. But I can assure you that this is no dream, girl. You were incredible last night! You looked like the god-damn star that you were always meant to be. And once you win that Grand Championship, all will be right in the universe.”
“Uh, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves, kay? I’ve still got one more Proving Ground to get through before the pay-per-view, not to mention once we get to the show, there’s two other guys vying for this belt. I’m just not sure -”
Darrell reached over and pressed a finger to Kasey’s lips, cutting her off mid-sentence. “Uh-uh. You stow that talk right this instant, sailor! I don’t wanna hear it. You have been riding that confidence high for two weeks now, and look at where it’s got you. The minute you start letting self-doubt creep into your thoughts is when it all goes tits up. Like the wise Confucius once said, ‘If you think you are the shit, you will be the shit’.”
She let out a giggle snort as her brown eyes rolled back. “Pretty sure Confucius didn’t say that.”
“Or Aristotle, whoever. One of those old philosophizing geeks. Point is, you need to believe in yourself, even if no one else will. Not that I think you don’t have your fair share of believers. You are fast becoming one of the biggest faces of Project: Honor.”
She raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. “And just how would you know that, exactly?”
“Hey, someone’s gotta keep tabs on your internet presence. And since I’m a social media savant, I took it upon myself to become your unofficial manager. At least, in the online realm. Someone’s gotta make sure your nudes don’t get leaked, after all.”
Kasey spluttered the mouthful of the drink she had just taken, nearly spraying it halfway across the room. “I do NOT have nudes!”
“Maybe not, but the horn dogs on the internet don’t need to know that. It’s been kinda fun teasing them with that possibility and watch them go absolutely apeshit trying to find them.” He gave her a little wink and bumped her hip with his own, making her burst out into giggles.
“You are the absolute worst.”
“And that’s why you love me, babycakes. Now, a toast!” He raised his glass in the air. “To Kasey Winterborn, the future inaugural Grand Champion of Project: Honor. May your future be as bright and fabulous as your hair!”
With another giggle and a slight blush in her cheeks, she clinked her glass with his and they sipped as they made their way out onto the balcony to continue their impromptu celebration.
-------------------
August 13
Tampa, Florida
It was rare for Kasey to be up by sunrise, since both of her jobs had her working nights and sleeping during the day, but there were the odd days when she was able to rise early and enjoy the light show that Mother Nature provided. Today just so happened to be one of those days, so she decided to head down to the beach and enjoy an early morning swim, seeing as even before sunrise the humidity was suffocating.
When she arrived at the beach, she was happy to see that it was fairly deserted, save for a few people out walking their dogs. She picked a secluded area near some trees and laid her towel out, taking a moment to sit on it and enjoy the atmosphere for a little bit. She was dressed in a mid-length bright yellow sundress and white flip flops, which she kicked off to press her toes into the soft white sand. Her bright crimson hair was piled up in a messy bun atop her head, and she had a black bandanna folded and tied into a headband to accessorize. She leaned back on her hands and closed her eyes, a serene smile forming across her face as she basked in the moment before her big brown eyes fixed on the camera in front of her.
“Life could not get any better for me right now. And I’m not saying that as a humblebrag or anything. For real, I had pretty much given up on my wrestling dreams. Too many times I had been let down, either by my own expectations being too damn high or from circumstances beyond my control. But then Project: Honor came around, throwing me one last lifeline. Giving me one last chance to fulfil all the dreams in my head that were just begging to be set free. So when I signed the contract, I was cautiously optimistic, I’ll admit. I didn’t want to get my hopes up too high, just in case. And...well, look at me now.” She smiled a little bit, blinking her eyes rapidly to clear the thin sheen of tears forming in them before they could roll down her cheeks. When she spoke again, her voice was slightly more emotional. “Two matches in, and I became one of the contenders to the top title in the company. That has never happened to me before. Everywhere else that I’ve been, I’ve had to fight and claw my way into the spotlight, just to get a sliver of recognition. But it was like the higher-ups of Project: Honor saw something in me that even I didn’t realize was there, and put all their chips on me. And I’ll be damned if I let them down. At Hell on Earth, I am going to prove to them - and to the world - that their faith in me was not misplaced when I become the first ever Grand Champion.”
She cleared her throat slightly, the emotion of the moment passing just as quickly as it had arrived. She planted a bright, somewhat cheesy smile across her face. “However, before I can do that, I’ve got another point of business to attend to. That being helping to welcome a newbie into the folds of our strange little family of misfits.” She brought her hand up to wiggle her fingers at the camera in a wave. “Hey there, Kyle! Welcome to our little corner of the world! So glad you could make it. I’m Kasey Winterborn, and I’ll be your tour guide on this week’s edition of Proving Ground!”
She twirled a stray lock of her hair around one finger before attempting to flick it back over her shoulder dramatically. “By the looks of it, it’s about to be the Battle of the Fabulous Hair. Because as glorious as my own mane is, I gotta admit that you do have some pretty lustrous locks yourself. To be honest, I may be a little jelly. I think between you and I, we probably have the best hair in the entire company. But that ain’t gonna save you from the thrashing you’re about to be on the receiving end of. See, I am on probably the hottest streak of my career right now. Two and oh, baby! Not to mention my sweet little title shot coming up in a couple weeks’ time. And look at you, brand-spanking-new to the company, coming in all fresh-faced and wide-eyed! It’s like watching a little kid go to school for the first time. I’ll tell you right now, you hit the welcoming committee jackpot, though! I mean, you’re gonna lose, that’s a given...but at least you’ll lose to a future Grand Champion! And hey, never let it be said that I am not a giving person, so I’ll tell you what...once I become the inaugural Grand Champion, I’ll let you have first crack, alright?”
She gave a cheeky little wink as she dug her toes a little more into the sand, the breeze coming off the bay ruffling the few loose tendrils of hair surrounding her face. “Then again, once I get my little paws on that shiny piece of hardware, I’m pretty damn sure there’s gonna be a lineup a mile long of people wanting their moment in the sun with me.” She tapped a finger thoughtfully against her chin, before snapping her fingers. “I got it. You share your haircare routine with me, and I’ll put you at the top of the list. Kay?”
She giggled a little, before her face went a little more serious. The smile fell away, replaced with a look of fierce determination. “Now, I know there are people out there saying that I don’t take things as seriously as I should, and that maybe if I did, then I would have been a champion multiple times over by now. And to those people, I want to share this with you and tell you from the bottom of my heart, with absolute sincerity…”
She raised her hand and promptly stuck up her middle finger, while flashing her usual cheeky grin to the camera. “I don’t give a damn what you think of me. I am who I am, and I make no apologies for that. And once I become the Grand Champion, I will continue to be the loveable weirdo that you love to hate, apparently. So buckle up and hold onto your butts, because I ain’t going anywhere! You’re going to be seeing a looooooooot more of my beautiful mug, especially once it’s plastered all over the Project: Honor homepage with the Grand Championship in my hands. ”
She flipped her hand around and extended her index finger so that she was flashing a peace sign at the camera now, before winking and blowing a kiss. She stood up from the towel and pulled her sundress off over her head, revealing a neon green two-piece swimsuit and with one last cheeky wink and her tongue sticking out of her mouth, she took off running down the sand towards the crystal-blue waters as the camera faded out on a shot of her diving headlong into the surf.