Post by Hope Diamond on May 14, 2017 13:56:27 GMT -6
Salem, Massachusetts, May 3rd 2017
***
I like this little town in New England perhaps because in the old days I would have been a prime candidate to burn on the stake as well.
Salem Massachusetts is for people who are into sailing ships and witches, mostly witches and my new manager seems like the warlock on duty.
Lou Thirteen´s office is located under the roof of one of those picturesque three-story buildings made of brown stone, white windows and forest green doors.
A brass sign beside the door bell reads
I ring the bell.
“Yes?”
It´s Lou´s voice, polite and emotionless. I don´t know if he has a secretary. Perhaps the invisible ghost of Sarah Good.
“Hope Diamond here.” The name starts to roll off my tongue more easily now. It´s an advancement of sorts from ‘Foreign Demon’ that used to be my handle in Japan.
“You remember our appointment?”
“Of course. Please do come in.”
With a soft electric hum the door opens. I do not have to look for directions. The solid wooden with a brass sign like the one outside is just in front of me.
Lou Thirteen opens the door as always decked out in a dark suit pith a pitch black flower on the lapel. Beats me what flower but he wears them more often than his shades.
Normally guys who wear mirrored shades in a dimly-lit room make me laugh. With Lou it´s different. It´s like he´s going to whip off these specs any moment and make me look into the empty eye sockets of the Black Death. So I admit it. I´m a hard-boiled wrestling bitch looking out for numero uno but Lou Thirteen gives me the creeps. Maybe he´s a real sweetie when you get to know him. Then again more likely not.
Today the shades are off. Of course he has no empty eye sockets. His eyes are pale blue and as expressive as glass marbles.
“A pleasure to meet you again.”
He takes my hand and place a kiss on the back of it. That is part of what he calls old-fashioned. His manners are better than most that´s true. Still Lou can cool down a room he is in better than any air condition.
Thirteen leads me out of the small entrance into his office. The walls are lime-green, the furniture is made of solid dark wood and coffee-colored leather. Besides his desk hangs a black-and-white picture depicting a scene from the (in)famous witch trials.
“You like a coffee or something?”
“No thanks. I just wanted to check how the contract signing is going.”
“They are going very well. But please do have a seat.”
I sit down in the thick brown visitor chair and Lou hands me a thin leather wrapper. Inside I find the documents I had been waiting for.
I scan the contract he has hammered out for me and stop right after the header.
“Future Stars of Wrestling? The Minor League?”
Lou staples his fingers in front of his face. He surely noted the impled accusation but does not seem to care.
“Not quite. You see, you spend a lot of time in Japan. In the EWC things are done differently than in Tokyo or Osaka. Wakarimasu? You need to get used to the ways of the EWC. There is currently a lot of turmoil in the Monday Night Brawl brand because the new General Manager Victor Price is making a lot of waves and with more cross-overs in the future the ripples will undoubtedly affect Rampage as well. So Future Stars is the best place to start for you. As the Japanese would say: You can´t paint a barn in a thunderstorm.”
Not sure what to hate more, the fact that Lou seems to know more about Japan than I do, his fake Zen wisdom or the fact that he´s right. Of course I´ve seen the last Monday Night Brawls before coming here and Victor Price is as much of an asshole as I am only less pretty and less classy. When he announced that he would get Brawl back into shape, Victor pretty much kicked President Mac right into the family jewels. Good to know that they are old friends. As the new kid on the block I don´t need trouble with President Mac´s evil twin right from the start. So Future Stars of Wrestling it is.
"Clever."
Lou nods. Why do I have the feeling he can read me like a damned phone book?
“You will be traveling a lot as soon as you are being booked by Future Stars and it would not make much sense for you to rent an apartment. So I found a place for you to train and live for the next few weeks. Consider it your new home. It is just a few miles outside of town and really very convenient.”
***
I like this little town in New England perhaps because in the old days I would have been a prime candidate to burn on the stake as well.
Salem Massachusetts is for people who are into sailing ships and witches, mostly witches and my new manager seems like the warlock on duty.
Lou Thirteen´s office is located under the roof of one of those picturesque three-story buildings made of brown stone, white windows and forest green doors.
A brass sign beside the door bell reads
Scratch, Niklas & Associates
Legal Counsel & Public Defense
Est. 1692
Legal Counsel & Public Defense
Est. 1692
I ring the bell.
“Yes?”
It´s Lou´s voice, polite and emotionless. I don´t know if he has a secretary. Perhaps the invisible ghost of Sarah Good.
“Hope Diamond here.” The name starts to roll off my tongue more easily now. It´s an advancement of sorts from ‘Foreign Demon’ that used to be my handle in Japan.
“You remember our appointment?”
“Of course. Please do come in.”
With a soft electric hum the door opens. I do not have to look for directions. The solid wooden with a brass sign like the one outside is just in front of me.
Lou Thirteen opens the door as always decked out in a dark suit pith a pitch black flower on the lapel. Beats me what flower but he wears them more often than his shades.
Normally guys who wear mirrored shades in a dimly-lit room make me laugh. With Lou it´s different. It´s like he´s going to whip off these specs any moment and make me look into the empty eye sockets of the Black Death. So I admit it. I´m a hard-boiled wrestling bitch looking out for numero uno but Lou Thirteen gives me the creeps. Maybe he´s a real sweetie when you get to know him. Then again more likely not.
Today the shades are off. Of course he has no empty eye sockets. His eyes are pale blue and as expressive as glass marbles.
“A pleasure to meet you again.”
He takes my hand and place a kiss on the back of it. That is part of what he calls old-fashioned. His manners are better than most that´s true. Still Lou can cool down a room he is in better than any air condition.
Thirteen leads me out of the small entrance into his office. The walls are lime-green, the furniture is made of solid dark wood and coffee-colored leather. Besides his desk hangs a black-and-white picture depicting a scene from the (in)famous witch trials.
“You like a coffee or something?”
“No thanks. I just wanted to check how the contract signing is going.”
“They are going very well. But please do have a seat.”
I sit down in the thick brown visitor chair and Lou hands me a thin leather wrapper. Inside I find the documents I had been waiting for.
I scan the contract he has hammered out for me and stop right after the header.
“Future Stars of Wrestling? The Minor League?”
Lou staples his fingers in front of his face. He surely noted the impled accusation but does not seem to care.
“Not quite. You see, you spend a lot of time in Japan. In the EWC things are done differently than in Tokyo or Osaka. Wakarimasu? You need to get used to the ways of the EWC. There is currently a lot of turmoil in the Monday Night Brawl brand because the new General Manager Victor Price is making a lot of waves and with more cross-overs in the future the ripples will undoubtedly affect Rampage as well. So Future Stars is the best place to start for you. As the Japanese would say: You can´t paint a barn in a thunderstorm.”
Not sure what to hate more, the fact that Lou seems to know more about Japan than I do, his fake Zen wisdom or the fact that he´s right. Of course I´ve seen the last Monday Night Brawls before coming here and Victor Price is as much of an asshole as I am only less pretty and less classy. When he announced that he would get Brawl back into shape, Victor pretty much kicked President Mac right into the family jewels. Good to know that they are old friends. As the new kid on the block I don´t need trouble with President Mac´s evil twin right from the start. So Future Stars of Wrestling it is.
"Clever."
Lou nods. Why do I have the feeling he can read me like a damned phone book?
“You will be traveling a lot as soon as you are being booked by Future Stars and it would not make much sense for you to rent an apartment. So I found a place for you to train and live for the next few weeks. Consider it your new home. It is just a few miles outside of town and really very convenient.”
