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[Opponent: BTB Barren Earth] I stand here in the middle of a vast open space. I look around, trying to pick up something noticeable, but nothing strikes out at me. An empty desert, full of dried up land, the cracks ceasing everywhere. My eyes glance around; front, behind, left... right. She's not there. She's just not there...
My hands loosened around the steering wheel, a loud huff of air roaring from within me striking the windshield. I make a left turn before pulling right into the center of her driveway. Pulling the clutch back, I pull on the handle and shove open my door. I motioned around the front of the car. It had felt like there was a camera covering me this whole procedure, watching me from behind my back as I approached her front door and knocked three times.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
No answer. I knew she was in there, I could feel it. All I needed was for her to open the door. What was needed had faded into thin air. My fingers beginning to fiddle together, the worry began to build up inside of my. My fist raised again and pounded on the door, repeating the procedure.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
My knees beginning to shake, my breathing coming unsteady, my thoughts racing. I began to move back and forth on the door mat, trying to get a hold of myself. Just raising to knock again, I held myself back.
l| Patrick |l Sasha, I know you're in there.
I had called out, dropping my fist to my side. Desperation had struck, I had to hold myself steady, placing a posture on the door frame. Time had gone so slowly, seconds becoming minutes, minutes becoming hours. I hollared out once again.
l| Patrick |l Please baby, just let me talk to you.
For once in the past week and three days, I had heard her voice.
l| Sasha |l Please Pat... Go away...
l| Patrick |l Just answer the door. I'm not going to leave until you open the door and I see the color of your eyes.
I waited impatiently, standing with my feet having a slight jitter to them. My toe continued to tap the mat, until I finally saw the white wooden door open slightly. I moved in close, looking through the small crack. The crack had moved open slightly, exposing her beautiful face covered in tears.
l| Patrick |l Baby...
l| Sasha |l Please... just go.
l| Patrick |l Look, you don't know what you mean to me. You're my everything. I need you.
l| Sasha |l You need your wrestling...
l| Patrick |l I need both. It's what makes me... me. You know? I need you this weekend, I won't be able to go on without you. Come on, Sash, you know I love you. I know you love me. Why hold back?
Her head dipped low, the tears now dripping to the floor as it took a lot out of me to even see her like this. My eyes moved up and down, the sound of sobs coming out from within her.
l| Sasha |l You have to go...
She closed the door, but I stuck my forearm to the center, stopping it from slamming shut. Opening the door, I moved into the house uninvited. She made no move before I placed my arms around her, holding her head to my chest.
l| Patrick |l It's alright, Sasha. It's alright...
I felt her body shaking, the tears soaking through my shirt onto my chest. She had held herself defenseless, just standing there quivering.
l| Sasha |l I just can't take it anymore...
l| Patrick |l Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you anymore. I promise.
We stood there together, holding each other in our arms. As much as we wanted to, we just couldn't let each other go. What were minutes felt like seconds. She finally looked up at me, wiping her eyes in one hand.
l| Patrick |l Sasha... I need you this weekend. I need you there in my corner, cheering me on. I need you, Sasha.
l| Sasha |l I need you, Pat...
We had finally separated, my hand holding onto hers as I directed her towards the couch, lifting her over the back of the sofa and placing her down, seated. I walked around, taking a seat next to hers with our knees touching softly.
l| Patrick |l Look, I truly am sorry for-
l| Sasha |l I don't need another apology.
She was still shaken up, trying to hold back her emotions. A lot of things had taken their tolls on her recently, and I was the man to put the blame on. I waited, watched as she stood there, inhaling deeply with a sorrowed look of solitude on her face.
l| Sasha |l I just want to get past this, okay?
l| Patrick |l Okay...
l| Sasha |l Just last week, I was watching you on television. I stayed glued to the television for hours, watching you. I came across your match with Little Jim...
l| Patrick |l And?
l| Sasha |l And I was wondering who the hell was in that ring! You were all over the place, you barely squeezed your way out of that match, and that's not like you, Patrick. Do you even know who you're going up against this week?
l| Patrick |l No.
I stared down at my lap, focusing on my two hands locked together. It was only a momentary moment before she had managed to grab my attention once again.
l| Sasha |l Well you better hop to it. It's round five, you can't slack off now. Two more to go...
l| Patrick |l Remember what I said, Sash, keep your eye on what's ahead of you, not-
l| Sasha |l Past it, I know. But we both know, you're gonna' beat BTB.
l| Patrick |l You knew I was facing BTB?
l| Sasha |l I balled my eyes out for hours watching news on the Roughkut Invitational, what did you think was gonna' happen?
l| Patrick |l Manipulative... I love it.
A smile had crossed both our faces as she delivered a tap to the side of my arm.
l| Sasha |l Go study up, babe.
l| Patrick |l Gotcha.
I threw two guns at her and winked before heading out the door. I knew she was behind me, sitting on the couch, staring me down as I had left, jogging out the door. It was nice to have her back. So nice to have a sense of support. Something to lean on.
I had been up for nearly twenty hours, my eyes feeling bloodshot as I continued to penetrate the television screen. My teeth were bitten down on the tip of the pencil before I took a quick note, jotting it down on a pad of paper, quickly darting up and down from the paper to the television screen.
l| Sasha |l You coming to bed, baby?
I blinked heavily as I turned to the sound of her voice behind me. I twisted around in the seat and gave her a half smile.
l| Patrick |l Yeah, in a few minutes, okay?
I turned my attention back to the television as I could feel her footsteps creeping towards me. She had pulled up, taking a seat on the arm rest, placing her left arm around the back of the chair.
l| Sasha |l Let's see what you got here...
She pulled the piece of paper off my lap, staring down the small lettering, the jotted notes, the pictures.
l| Sasha |l How long have you been doing this?
She said, flipping the paper over and examining the other side of notes.
l| Patrick |l Three hours or so.
l| Sasha |l You should relax, Pat.
l| Patrick |l I missed a lot this week, babe.
l| Sasha |l I know, but you can always study up on BTB tomorrow. Come on, my bed's getting kinda' lonely. Do you think you can beat him, Pat?
l| Patrick |l I know I can beat him. I can beat anybody in this tournament. The numbers are slimming down, I eliminated the tournament's biggest man, I've earned myself some recognition. And-
l| Sasha |l And you're going to be just fine. Just get some rest, you've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow. Trust me, I've seen this guy wrestle, you've got him in the bag.
I tried to take it all in. Thinking back and forth between Barren's footage of round four and Sasha's recommendations. It seemed clear. It had seemed easy, finished, complete. I knew I had BTB Barren Earth in the bag. He couldn't light a candle to my talent, but it all just seemed too easy for a round five match.
l| Sasha |l Please?
l| Patrick |l I-
I hesitated, taking a look at the remote control before me. With my right hand, I had reached out and grabbed a hold of it's base. Roaming my finger to the head of the control, I pressed the off/on button, fading the screen to a black.
l| Sasha |l Thanks.
l| Patrick |l Do I get rewarded for this?
I had said, showing an arrogant smile as I set down the remote on the seat. Her eyes met mine, giving me a wink with a seductive smile. She nodded, yet dribbled out the following:
l| Sasha |l You wish.
l| Patrick |l Ah come on, Sash, I'm gettin' rusty here.
l| Sasha |l I'll keep you wanting more...
She stood up, turning her back to me before walking to the bedroom of the apartment. I rose myself out of the seat, staring at her with intensity.
l| Patrick |l No you won't, Sasha.
I had chased her into the room as she turned towards me, steaming backwards with an entertained look. She fell back onto the bed as I came down on her innocently. We had fallen for each other.
Again.
I stood cold outside, the snow slamming into my face, the ever-so-painful sensation of needles stabbing at your face. It had stung, each little one that met my flesh. I kept my head low, scrunching up my shoulders to protect myself from the harsh weather.
l| Patrick |l How much longer?
l| ??? |l Like thirty seconds. Sorry about the hold up, Mr. Glenn.
l| Patrick |l Nah, it's alright. I called you out here on such short notice. I just wanna' get something out there for my opponent to chew on.
I forwarded my face against the wind, preventing the snow from my exposed face. I watched as the air withdrew from within me, watching it as it seeped into the cold atmosphere quickly before me. Shivers were slowly running down my spine as I tried to focus on the words that I needed to say.
l| Camera Man |l Got it. You ready?
l| Patrick |l Ready as I'll ever be.
l| Camera Man |l Alright.
He hoisted the heavy camera onto his shoulders, counting down from three to zero before I spotted the red light flash on. My face was once again feeling the bite of the atmosphere. My hair was waving in the wind as I began to speak.
l| Patrick |l Round five. Do you have any idea what that means BTB? This is no time to slack off, this is no time to just give up. Especially when you're going up with a wrestler such as I. I haven't seen your face on TV all week, I just hope you're in the gym, practicing for the hardest match of your wrestling career. Hopefully you're working with your skills inside of a squared circle.
l| Patrick |l Though in all honesty, I don't blame you if you've already given up on yourself. I'm sure you're quite aware of my abilities. This week is going to require lightning to strike twice in one area if you stand any chance of surpassing me. Don't keep your hopes up, BTB, I'm beatable, but not on my A game.
My body began to quiver. I grew annoyed at myself, trying to think of a possible fan to hide my instability. Reluctantly, the camera man knew his job well as he began to move backwards, gesturing for me to follow.
l| Patrick |l You're a road block in my journey. I've just got to find a way to work around you. I'll have to adapt, just like you will. Though I am going to set myself aside from cheap talent when you realize I'm much more experienced, I'm much more agile. It's been said before, you don't need to be the strongest, you don't need to be the fastest, you need to be the smartest. Well, I place myself in a category of intelligence, and this week you'll see why.
l| Patrick |l You'll see why when you say good-bye to the Roughkut Invitational and I drop you out of round five. Sincerely, from Mr. PG himself, I congratulate you for making it this far, but also sincerely, from my natural charisma, I've got to say you've had one hell of a run, but this weekend's the day you realize that fact is greater than fiction. Fact: Patrick Glenn always comes out on top.
l| Patrick |l So tape your wrists, lace up your boots, prepare yourself. I'm not looking for another win, I'm just using you to insure I don't get ring rust. You've already got a challenge. I want a challenge. You do that, BTB, and you'll make yourself known. If you deliver a good, hard fought match, you'll have earned my respect and I'm sure the respect of others. Respect can get you far in your career, it may not win you matches, but at least you'll have something to lean on. So BTB, this match isn't about me, it's about you. You prove yourself worthy of entering my ring and you show the fans your heart, dedication and pride, and I'm sure you'll be able to walk out of that ring with your head up. So use this to your advantage, we all make mistakes, it's just how you learn from them.
The camera had stopped as I closed in slightly, a gray-rimmed shadow covering the side of my face.
l| Patrick |l BTB Barren Earth, welcome to class. I'll dismiss you when I'm ready to dismiss you. In round five, I have nothing left to learn. I know what to expect. But for you, you learn from me and I'll teach you how to become a wrestler.
l| Patrick |l You will benefit from this situation.
l| Patrick |l But then again, you'll be just another statistic to my victories.
The red light had faded, now turned into a darkened grey. My whole face scrunched up, feeling the pain of frostbite beginning to settle in. I covered my ears with the cuffs of my coat as I instantly hid behind a tree for shelter. The camera man had followed around, dropping the camera to in front of him with a smile on his face.
l| Camera Man |l Good work, Pat. Nice and smooth. I honestly don't think you're going to top that, but do you want a second take?
l| Patrick |l Nah, it's too cold out.
l| Camera Man |l So you really think you've got the win, huh?
l| Patrick |l I'll only say things on camera if I believe it.
And I spoke each and every word truthfully. As the day grew on, so did my confidence. I could feel the urge build up inside of me. The more I had thought about it, the more I had thought back to Sasha's words.
I've got him in the bag.
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