CWC: The Third Wheel?
Mar 24, 2018 2:13:04 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Mar 24, 2018 2:13:04 GMT -5
Toronto, Ontario || Thursday, November 9, 2017, 5:30 PM (OFF CAMERA)
When Kasey Summers had received the invitation for dinner, she'd been skeptical. She'd been tempted to delete it completely. In the end, though, curiosity had won out and she'd replied to the sender, accepting. Now she stood on the sidewalk out front of one of Toronto's nicest Italian restaurants, trying to screw up the courage to go inside. Self-preservation won out – it was damned chilly, super windy downtown by the water and of course she'd worn a silly knit shawl that did nothing to protect her from the elements. "You dope," she muttered, stepping through the doors and making eye contact with the hostess. "I... I'm meeting someone. They're probably already here. It's probably under Stone."
The woman nodded, plucking a menu from beside her stand before gesturing for Kasey to follow her. The table was in the back, where the lights were subdued. The place was nice, classier than the places she usually frequented. When she spotted Matt Stone, she lifted her hand to wave, only for the smile to freeze on her face when she realized Nessa was with him.
Matt wasn't as shy to wave her over, noticing her walking over and offering a warm smile, knowing that this wasn't going to be easy but still wanting to go through with it. It took twenty minutes trying to convince Nessa to come to this meeting, so he imagined Kasey would be just as hesitant, if not more. "Remember, behave." He whispered to Nessa as he waited for Kasey.
Nessa sighed, rolling her eyes before pasting on a fake smile – it wasn't lost on Kasey for a minute as she stopped at the table. She looked back and forth between the two of them before her gaze settled on Matt, eyes narrowing. "You're paying and I'm ordering the most expensive thing on the menu." Having said that, she plopped down in the empty seat, already reaching for one of the breadsticks in the basket on the table.
"So the Nessa special, got it," he said with a slight chuckle, trying to lighten the mood which was as successful as you would think. "So the reason why I asked you here was to-" he started with his pitch before being cut off.
"I'm taken. And as attractive as I think you are, Matty, I'm so never gonna be the third in whatever kinky stuff you two are into." Kasey snapped, pointing the breadstick at him while Nessa tried not to choke on her wine.
Matt looked almost amused, looking over Kasey as if he was considering what she said. "First of all, being taken has never stopped me before and second, not actually what I wanted to discuss, but I like the way your mind thinks."
The redhead snorted, reaching for the ice water as her gaze slid to Nessa again. "And whatever this sales pitch is... you can't tell me the ice princess here is cool with it. I mean, I had a hand in ruining that joke of a wedding of hers, after all."
Nessa's smile was brittle but she managed to say, "water under the bridge, sweetie. Alex wasn't worth my time. I should thank you for that, really."
"Yes, me too, actually. I mean, I know I did at the time, but..." he cut off, feeling Nessa staring at him. "We don't need to get into all that, what I asked you here for was to discuss something current, something that would not only help yourself, a rising star in Empire but also help us, a mutual understanding and benefit."
Kasey burst out laughing. "Oh my God... are you trying to recruit me right now?"
"You could say that." He replied, taking a sip of his water. "I can't imagine you're very happy right now with what's happened since your partner kicked your big, round-" He was elbowed in the side and stopped talking for a moment. "Ahem, self to the curb." He corrected himself, self was clearly not the word he was describing at first.
"Ughhhhh." She pulled a face, making a disgusted sound as she shook her head. "And I thought Jenson and I were going to honestly make a run at the titles. I mean, no offense to you two but I kinda want to get my hands on some gold sometime this century and getting buried in midcard hell isn't really ideal, you know? What a dick... between him and Gray Malone and Caleb Houston, the douchecanoe is full and about to tip."
"I couldn't agree more." Matt said, sounding as sympathetic as he could. "That's sort of what I was talking about, Nessa and I aren't exactly thrilled with the way we're being treated either, to be honest, and so we're thought that a team up, as the kids call it, would be an interesting avenue to explore."
"How was it you put that? Mutual benefits? Okay, I see what you two get out of it... if I'm going to be assaulting people at random anyhow – that's the plan. Bri Davenport was just the beginning. I think I'm going to dent Kenzie Rydell's head next. But what do I get out of aligning myself with you two as a third wheel?" Kasey rested her elbows on the table, peering expectantly at Stone.
"What do you get?" Matt asked, as if the question was self-answering. "Well for starters, you get to participate in these lovely meetings." Matt looked to Nessa who was fascinated by her glass of water. "You also have two people who will always have your back, and will always be covering your back and watching your back and..." Again he was elbowed in the ribs. "Well you get the point."
Nessa cleared her throat, taking a demure sip of her water as if she hadn't just been throwing elbows. "The numbers game," she finally said, "you and your goon... clearly that's getting you nowhere, honey. We're offering you a rare opportunity."
"My..." Kasey stammered, "did you just call him a 'goon'? He has a name, you know!"
"Of course he does, but his name doesn't really change the point. What we're offering you is a chance to be part of something special. We've shown that we can win championships in Empire, clearly we're doing something right. We can make you one, too."
The light went on in Kasey's eyes as her attention snapped back to Stone. "And you know that's what I want. More than anything. I've had all these shots... all these clusterfucky group matches and I'm never the one getting pinned but I'm so the one getting shafted every single time."
"It's just not fair, is it? I mean, we had a tag team clusterfuck to deal with as well, and we just got lucky." He didn't believe that at all, but he had to say it to get the pitch to work. "You're one of the most talented women on the roster and it's about time you've gotten what you deserve. The problem is, everyone thinks that and they're all out for themselves. Us though? We're the tag team champions, we're not going to be trying to cut you down and stop you, we can be there with you, two people you can always know are not going to be anywhere but by your side. All we ask in return is reciprocity."
She found herself nodding, the wheels turning as a smile grew on her face. "Okay, see, that makes sense. And I don't have to massage her feet this time," she shot a dark look Nessa's way, thinking of the time the blonde had tried to blackmail her, basically turning her into a personal slave for a few weeks.
"I promise I won't ask you to." Nessa murmured, glancing up as the waiter arrived with salads for all three of them. "I took the liberty of ordering your appetizer, Kasey."
The waiter set down all three bowls and then brandished a giant pepper mill. "Fresh ground pepper?"
"Oh, yes!" Kasey said, "lots, please!"
The waiter kept grinding away, the little flecks of pepper flying through the air until Kasey stopped him, her eyes going to Nessa again as the blonde reached for her napkin, her nose twitching. "Oh no," she murmured, trying to fan the sharp smell of the pepper away from her to no avail. She sneezed, loudly, the cloth napkin to her face barely muffling the sound as the waiter withdrew as silently as he'd arrived after taking Kasey's main course order.
All of it happened in a matter of seconds but it was as though time stood still as the redhead watched Nessa hunch her shoulders again, unable to control the loud, "AHHHCHOOO," that burst from her. The memory came back and Kasey's lips curved into a devilish smirk as she remembered the giant and VERY public fight Nessa and Matt had had on SVW programming when she'd sneezed all over his title belt. One look at Stone confirmed that he still felt the same way about his partner's sinus troubles.
"Sorry, Nessa," Kasey said, "I really like pepper."
Matt had started inching away from Nessa with his chair as soon as the waiter had taken out the pepper mill and he was quite glad that he had as Nessa succumbed to one of her many nasal weaknesses. His teeth were clenched as he tried to remain on task and keep the sales pitch up. "It would be an equal partnership of course, no one demeaning-" He started before being interrupted by Nessa.
Another sneeze ripped through the silent restaurant and then Nessa, her watering eyes narrowed, turned and pointed a finger at Kasey. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?!"
The redhead was stifling laughter, shaking her head. "Swear to God, I didn't. But it was pretty damn hilarious... not gonna lie!"
"Oh yeah, real funny." Matt said flatly, clearly not impressed with what just transpired. "Nessa, why would anyone do that on purpose, why don't you go get freshened up?" He phrased it as a question but it sounded pretty forceful.
Grumbling to herself, Nessa pushed up to her feet and stormed off in the direction of the ladies room, leaving the two of them alone for the time being. Kasey picked at her salad for a few seconds before spearing a cucumber, crunching it loudly while she waited for Stone to keep trying to win her over.
"Okay, now that we have that sorted, as I was saying, I know the two of you have history, but really, you two know each other and you both know what the other is capable of. You know this is a good idea Kasey, so what's the hesitation?"
"I don't trust her and as you were so quick to remind me, I've been burned recently by someone I trusted. So, you know, skepticism is expected, no?" She kept munching on the salad for a few more seconds before flashing him a grin. "Fine. I'm in. Why not?"
"Excellent. I think this is going to help us all Kasey, the only thing I ask is that you try not to push her buttons. As you can see, she's pretty quick to anger, but she just broke up with her fiancé...again, so kid gloves, if you can."
"Fiancé... wait..." Kasey stared at him in confusion, "I thought you two were back together?"
"Us? Hah, no. She was dating...well engaged really, to some French dude. He was awful...though he did love massaging her feet, maybe she has a thing for that come to think of it." He shrugged, eating his own salad. "Her and I are partners, that's it."
"Oh." Kasey nodded, looking like she wanted to say more but falling silent as she caught sight of Nessa on her way back to the table. "Okay, well, that's cool then. Are you guys gonna have my back this week then? And do you want me to run interference during that stupid match Nessa has?"
Matt didn't notice that Nessa was on her way back, looking from his salad to Kasey. "You don't have to worry about Nessa's match, I'll be out there for it, won't be an issue. As for watching your back, I guess it depends on what you're wearing." He added with a smirk, not noticing the look his partner was now giving him.
Kasey grinned, "usually a skirt and those little hot pants cheerleaders wear under theirs because it never really stays down when I'm flying. You know how it is. A girl's gotta cover up her... ASSets."
"I wouldn't say a girl's gotta do that, but regardless I'll have your back anytime, Kasey." Matt replied, matching her grin.
"Well, that's positively nauseating," Nessa grumbled, reclaiming her seat. "I take it that means you're in?"
The redhead nodded. "Yeah. But I swear to God, if you two try and screw me over..."
"Yes, yes, we know your stance on three-ways, don't worry about it." He paused for a second, thinking that might not be what she was referring to after all. "You don't need to worry about anything, Kasey; we need each other. You'll be back in title matches before you know it, I promise."
"Back to winning title matches, you mean." Kasey replied, lifting her water glass, "what the hell, I'll drink to that."
