Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2019 10:18:00 GMT -5
Frank and Lacey arrived at the T-Mobile Arena with a few hours to go before the start of their debut on Sin. Upon pulling into the performers’ parking area, Frank let out a large sigh. Lacey knew the nerves were building up in Frank, that he was making that night’s events into an even bigger deal than they were in his head. She knew Frank well enough to see him building pressure within himself like some kind of pipe bomb that was set to burst. Knowing Frank was on edge had always created a similar effect in Lacey herself, so she too was riding the edge and expecting the other shoe to drop at any minute.
Once Frank and Lacey got out of the car and unloaded their bags, Frank propped his bag onto Lacey’s and passed her the handle of the roller. She took the handle as if she’d done it a thousand times before, without question and in devoted reverence to the will of her husband of more than a decade.
As they entered the building, Frank took a focused, measured look at his surroundings before speaking.“So this is it, huh, Lace? This is the big time?”
Lacey looked around and smiled.“I like it.” Frank reached out and slipped his arm around Lacey’s waist as she leaned in to lay her head on his shoulder.
“It’s about goddamn time somebody rolled out the red carpet for Frank Lowe,” he said proudly with his free hand on his hip in a near Superman pose.
The couple stood in eye shot of catering where the staffers and stars of Trinity browsed picking over the buffet line and of the backstage interviewing area where Frank knew he’d spend a significant amount of time cutting promos. Though Frank was certainly more of a man of actions than he was a man of words, he still loved and appreciated the tough talking aspects of professional wrestling more than most people did.
Frank’s face displayed the first real, genuine smile he’d had since his initial conversations with the leadership team at Trinity. In the days between those initial talks and Frank and Lacey’s arrival in the arena, the stresses of a major change in life plans had gotten to Frank. He was more terse, crude, and aggressive at home. Lacey was taking it in stride, but his misbehavior and struggles with anger were certainly wearing on her. But in her mind, that was her cross to bear as vows are vows and marriage is forever. The way Frank treated her somedays wasn’t healthy, sure, but in her mind, that’s just what marriage looked like. It was how her father treated her mother, how her uncles treated her aunts, and how her President treated the First Lady. It was normal, and it was just how things worked. If she had a problem with it, that was her cross to bear, not Frank’s. That’s how she justified things to herself anyway.
Frank brought Lacey’s attention back to matters at hand, “Let’s find the lockers. I gotta get dressed, and you gotta stretch me.”
A few hours later in the day, Frank and Lacey were all dressed up and ready to go. Frank looked at Lacey and reminded her of the role she was to play: “You are there to support me and help me win by any means necessary. Don’t get caught. Don’t get me disqualified. Don’t get in my way. You just look beautiful and distract whoever you’ve got to distract. Got it?”
“Got it, Frank.”
“And don’t worry your pretty head about cheating in this match. It’s not cheating, it’s trying as hard as we can get away with.”
Lacey’s face reflected her unease with the position she’d been placed into, but Frank knew best so, of course, she’d unquestioningly follow her husband’s directives.
“I got it. I understand what you need… what we need.”
A production assistant interrupted the couple’s conversation: “Uh, I’m sorry to…”
Frank shot the PA a death stare.
“...uh… I… uh…”
Frustrated, Frank yelled, “What, boy?! What the hell do you need so bad that you’d butt in on a husband and wife talkin’ strategy?!”
“We… uh… we need you in production. You’re up real soon.”
“Oh.”
Lacey chimes in, “You tell the producers we’ll be there in a sec, hon.”
Lacey smiled and the PA bolted, leaving the room and running back to the interview set.
“What the fuck was that?”
“What was what?”
“THAT!” Mimicking Lacey’s cadence and inflection, Frank said, ‘‘‘Be there in a sec, hon!’”
Lacey kept silent as Frank fumed.
“We’ll talk about that bullshit later! We got places to be. Now don’t forget, you’re best seen and not heard from, Lacey.”
Frank stormed out of the locker room, and Lacey timidly followed behind.
Once Frank and Lacey got out of the car and unloaded their bags, Frank propped his bag onto Lacey’s and passed her the handle of the roller. She took the handle as if she’d done it a thousand times before, without question and in devoted reverence to the will of her husband of more than a decade.
As they entered the building, Frank took a focused, measured look at his surroundings before speaking.“So this is it, huh, Lace? This is the big time?”
Lacey looked around and smiled.“I like it.” Frank reached out and slipped his arm around Lacey’s waist as she leaned in to lay her head on his shoulder.
“It’s about goddamn time somebody rolled out the red carpet for Frank Lowe,” he said proudly with his free hand on his hip in a near Superman pose.
The couple stood in eye shot of catering where the staffers and stars of Trinity browsed picking over the buffet line and of the backstage interviewing area where Frank knew he’d spend a significant amount of time cutting promos. Though Frank was certainly more of a man of actions than he was a man of words, he still loved and appreciated the tough talking aspects of professional wrestling more than most people did.
Frank’s face displayed the first real, genuine smile he’d had since his initial conversations with the leadership team at Trinity. In the days between those initial talks and Frank and Lacey’s arrival in the arena, the stresses of a major change in life plans had gotten to Frank. He was more terse, crude, and aggressive at home. Lacey was taking it in stride, but his misbehavior and struggles with anger were certainly wearing on her. But in her mind, that was her cross to bear as vows are vows and marriage is forever. The way Frank treated her somedays wasn’t healthy, sure, but in her mind, that’s just what marriage looked like. It was how her father treated her mother, how her uncles treated her aunts, and how her President treated the First Lady. It was normal, and it was just how things worked. If she had a problem with it, that was her cross to bear, not Frank’s. That’s how she justified things to herself anyway.
Frank brought Lacey’s attention back to matters at hand, “Let’s find the lockers. I gotta get dressed, and you gotta stretch me.”
A few hours later in the day, Frank and Lacey were all dressed up and ready to go. Frank looked at Lacey and reminded her of the role she was to play: “You are there to support me and help me win by any means necessary. Don’t get caught. Don’t get me disqualified. Don’t get in my way. You just look beautiful and distract whoever you’ve got to distract. Got it?”
“Got it, Frank.”
“And don’t worry your pretty head about cheating in this match. It’s not cheating, it’s trying as hard as we can get away with.”
Lacey’s face reflected her unease with the position she’d been placed into, but Frank knew best so, of course, she’d unquestioningly follow her husband’s directives.
“I got it. I understand what you need… what we need.”
A production assistant interrupted the couple’s conversation: “Uh, I’m sorry to…”
Frank shot the PA a death stare.
“...uh… I… uh…”
Frustrated, Frank yelled, “What, boy?! What the hell do you need so bad that you’d butt in on a husband and wife talkin’ strategy?!”
“We… uh… we need you in production. You’re up real soon.”
“Oh.”
Lacey chimes in, “You tell the producers we’ll be there in a sec, hon.”
Lacey smiled and the PA bolted, leaving the room and running back to the interview set.
“What the fuck was that?”
“What was what?”
“THAT!” Mimicking Lacey’s cadence and inflection, Frank said, ‘‘‘Be there in a sec, hon!’”
Lacey kept silent as Frank fumed.
“We’ll talk about that bullshit later! We got places to be. Now don’t forget, you’re best seen and not heard from, Lacey.”
Frank stormed out of the locker room, and Lacey timidly followed behind.