pretty fun to
watch.”
“Dave?” Mandy asked.
“Red Stark,” Caroline laughed. “They’ve had a rivalry the last few
weeks. As far as I know they have a couple more matches after tonight, but
being the opener is a pretty big deal.”
“Cool,” Mandy said as she leaned on the windowsill. She watched
as Jay stormed out of the back and the crowd roared for him as he pulled off
his shirt and threw it into the audience.
“So smart of him to turn face,” Sharon nodded as she watched Jay’s
entrance. “I don’t think he can ever go back to heel again, but stranger things
have happened.”
“Everyone keeps saying things like ‘heel’ and ‘face’, but I don’t get
it,” Mandy had to ask. “I don’t understand.”
“A heel is a bad guy,” Caroline explained. “And a face is a good guy.
Long time wrestling slang. You’ll get used to it.”
Mandy returned her focus to the ring. They were pretty far away, but
she still go an excellent view of the two wrestlers as they began their match.
She watched Jay throw his opponent, and she gasped when it looked like the
other man broke Jay’s back over his knee.
“He’s fine,” Caroline assured her. “It looks worse than it is. Still
hurts though.”
“Looks like,” Mandy nodded as she watched from between the two
Starlets. The crowd roared below them and she leaned as close to the glass as
she could to see Jay climb to the top of the ropes and then throw himself into
the air, slamming his body on to Red Stark’s while the crowd went wild.
“Here comes his finisher,” Caroline told her. “He calls it the Snake
Bite. It’s a pretty lame name for an awesome move if you ask me, but it’s got
to make sense with the persona, ya know?”
“Sure,” Mandy nodded like she understood. She was more worried about
Jay getting hurt than what the moves were called. How he was able to flip the
other man over while holding him in a headlock seemed insane, but he made it
look effortless as both their feet left the mat and then they landed with a sickening
snap.
“He’s got him now,” Sharon cheered. “God I use to have such a crush on
Jay.”
“Really?” Mandy asked, trying to sound as polite as possible. In truth,
hearing the Starlet say she was interested in Jay made her stomach drop, but
she tried to shrug it off.
“Like a million years ago,” Sharon laughed, easily picking up on
Mandy’s unease. “Then I met Joel, he goes by Jack Hustle in the ring. He’s got
a match later that should be pretty good, despite it being a filler. Jay’s
never dated someone in the company.”
“Oh,” Mandy nodded. She knew right now was not the time to be worrying
about whether Jay was dating anyone, but she couldn’t help but wonder. She was
in no position be dating anyone, she still hadn’t even officially ended things
with Ronnie. Yet still she let herself think of it, just for a second.
Her phone ringing from where she’d left it on the couch brought her
back to reality. It had to be the diner, she’d missed work and they were either
calling to check to make sure she was okay or to fire her. Either way, she had
to let them know she was quitting without notice and now was as good a time as
any.
“I’ll be right back,” Mandy said as she hobbled over to her phone.
“You’ll miss the end of the match!” Caroline protested, but Mandy could
hear the announcer calling the three count and she knew Jay had won.
“I have to take this,” she explained as she got her phone and stepped
out into the hall before she answered the call.
“Donna?” she asked, expecting it to be her boss on the other end of the
phone.
“Where the hell are you?” Ronnie’s voice barked at her through her
cell.
“Ronnie,” Mandy sighed as her shoulders slumped.
“Damn right it’s me,” he shouted at her so loudly she needed to move
the phone away from her ear as he spoke. “Where are you?”
“I don’t know if I should tell you,” she said, trying to keep her