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“Loyal to a fault. Yes. Which is why you’re in this pickle to begin with. With Mom and your misguided notion about your brand.”
“Hey, loyal is good. You should try it sometime, Mr. Player.”
“Now, now, no hitting below the belt.”
“Yeah, whatever. Not my fault you can’t keep a girlfriend for more than one night.”
Anyway, I’m not the type to use people or sidle up to them for gains. It feels weird, or it did last night. What was I supposed to say, Hi Ronan, will you train me so I can become the richest female wrestler of all time?
I hear chuckling on the line.
“Liam!”
“What? It would have been a good start to a lasting friendship and a million-dollar co-op deal. Just saying.”
It’s my turn to growl. “Fine. So, I screwed up. I am that desperate. I should have said something, anything, I guess. It’s just…”
“What? Chey, you’re driving me nuts, and I’m not making money talking with you. Spill it, or I’m charging by the hour.”
“Okay, geez. I admit it. I’m lousy at networking or whatever greedy businessmen call it these days. I’m stuck in this Archimedes identity, and I’m too much of a wuss to go out and make actual changes. Okay. Now are you happy?”
I turn my head and glare at my Hello Kitty lamp, thinking I should have put it in a half-Nelson for real.
“No, Chey, I’m not. I want you to see success again. You know I do. I’m your number one fan. Always have been. Well, after Mom.” I hear Liam chuckle.
“It’s hard, Liam. Change is hard. But I tell you, Disastra has really got me out of my shell. When I put on that cape and mask, it’s like, what shyness? Bam! I’m the Lady of Doom. And, boy, does it feel fantastic!”
“Right, so why waffle? Make the flip. Commit to change.”
“But why can’t I take the confidence I have in Disastra and meld it into Archimedes? Up ticket sales by upping my confidence. My moves are solid. You know that. I have a fan base. Well, what’s left of it. A new outlook, a new me, that’s all I need.”
“Wrestling doesn’t work like that, Chey. The world knows you as the soft, loving angel, the fighter for justice in the ring. No amount of confidence will change that. You need a whole new character. A whole new you in the ring.”
I sigh. And I don't care if Liam hears me sigh. “Liam, it’s one thing to say it. It’s quite another to do it.”
“It would be less so if you let our mother rest in peace.”
“That’s an awful thing to say.”
“Really? I see it as the truth. You’re keeping her alive by holding onto Archimedes. It’s as simple as that.”
Silence on my end. Every word I conjure up would only hurt Liam.
“Listen. You have it all wrong, you know,” Liam warns seriously. “Mom wanted success for us in whatever we did for careers. To not have to put our noses to the grindstone, work so hard, put up with so much industry abuse, and not be successful. If she saw your depleting ticket sales, Mom would be the first to make you switch. And Chey, you aren’t keeping her alive by hanging on. All you’re doing is hurting yourself.”
Silent tears flow down my cheeks. I’m not angry with Liam. I know that deep down he’s right. I just… I can’t. I won’t let go.
I hear Liam clear his throat. Again. “Don’t do that,” he huffs.
“What?”
“Don’t cry. You know how I hate it when you cry.”
I fake a wailing just to tick him off.
“Chey!”
“Sorry.”
