Wrestling Desire 2 (A Contemporary Romance)

Chapter 1

Emma Cruise placed a hand over her suddenly queasy stomach, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  Why did it seem as if her life was slowly spiraling out of control? “How can I possibly do what you’re asking?”  She opened her eyes and stared directly into the face of her boss Gene France.

“You can do it because I’m not asking, I’m ordering,” Gene argued.  “And because your storyline with Holt is a ratings hit.”  His thin lips tipped up into a mischievous grin.  “We’ll bury the competition with our All Hallo’s Eve bash and the championship match is the clincher.”

“But you want me to pick sides.” Emma pushed up from her chair and began to pace.  “How could I possibly choose between my boyfriend and my brother?  Even if I could, which I can’t, people will hate me no matter my choice.”

She glanced from where her boyfriend Holt sat in the chair across from Gene’s desk, to Gene then over to the couch were her brother Derek rested with his arms stretched across the back and his leg across one knee.  “I can’t believe you guys are all right with this.”

Derek let out a sigh, shifted and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.  “Why are you getting so twisted abo
ut this, Em?  It’s not like he
wants you to do it for real.”

“It’s real enough to me,” she shot back.  “I’ve never wanted to be in front of the camera and now not only am I, but you’re placing me in a position where I’m going to be hated by fans.”

Gen
e
leaned back and folded his arms across his chest.  “If you didn’t want to be in the spotlight then you shouldn’t have gone to the ring last month to save Holt from William.  That action gave fodder to the fans and they’re eating it up, especially when you throw in Holt and Derek’s hatred for each other.”

“How about we do this?” Holt offered.  “What if Em
ma and Derek cut some promo
videos where he’s leaning on her not to support me during the title defense.  Maybe he can threaten
to
turn his back on her or something.  You know, stuff like if she goes with me the family will shun her.  His demands will force her to choose me, then the fans won’t hate Emma for making the choice, they’ll hate Derek for forcing her to choose.”

Derek arched a brow.  “Oh, so now I’m supposed to play the heel?  You know that’s not what I’m all about.”

“But you play the part so damn well.  It just seems to come naturally to you.” Holt shot back.

“That’s it.” Derek popped up from the couch.  “You want to go Hendricks?  I
’ll
kick your ass right here.”

Exasperated, Emma rolled her eyes and yelled. “Stop!”  She looked from Holt to Derek and back. “You both promised to knock off the fighting outside the ring.” Why did she always have to end up being the adult in these situations? 

For a moment there was silence then Derek dropped back down to the couch.  “You’re right.  I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” Holt added, a sheepish expression on his face.  “It’s just that Derek is always so serious about everything, he ends up being an easy target.”

“I’m serious because I care about my job,” Derek shot back.  “You could try it sometime.”

“Oh My God…enough,” Emma nearly growled.  “My stomach is in knots right now.  You both know what Doctor Andrews said.  Are you trying to put me in the hospital?”

“Of course not,” Holt reached for her. 

“All though,” Gen
e
added.  “You being hauled off in an ambulance would make for great TV.”

“NO!” Emma and Derek said in unison. 

“Come on, it’d be great.  We could have Holt by your side, holding your hand,” Gene encouraged.

“Absolutely not,” Derek shot back. “Emma isn’t an actress and all this camera shit is taking its toll on her.” Derek pointed a finger at him. “You need to lay off unless you want a real life scandal plaguing the company.  I don’t think it would do well to have her sick in the hospital and the reason being because you pushed her too hard.”  He dropped his hand to his side. “Tell you what? I’ll go along with whatever you decide to do to me, but you back the hell off when it comes to throwing Emma in the spotlight.”

“All right, all right.” Gene held up his hands in surrender.  “I see your point so I won’t have the writers go that route with Emma, but I do kinda like the idea of making you the bad guy in
t
his instance.”

“What?”  Derek’s head jerked up as he looked over at Gene.  “You can’t be serious.  You know that I always play the good guy.”

“Yes.” Gene nodded.  “But you also just agreed to go along with whatever I decided and I decided I like this idea.”

“Yeah, but…”

“No butt’s, Derek.  Look at it this way; you’re also fighting against what you see as bad influence and infiltration into your family.  Like it or not, the fans love to see rebels go up against authority, especially if they’re being treated unjustly.  The fans love Holt and Garrett for that very reason.”

“Then the fans are misguided,” Derek shot back. 

“Maybe,” Gene shrugged. “But no matter how you slice this pie, there are going to be fans who take sides, so I say we play those sides against each other.”  He leaned forward as his smile widened.  “You ride Emma to leave Holt and take your side.  She’s going to resist and at the match on All
Hollow’s
Eve Emma will be in Holt’s corner and Bryan will be in yours.”  He slapped his hands together.  “It will be a family feud and a ratings grabber.”

Emma’s heart sank.  She loved her job as backstage coordinator, but hated how she’d suddenly been thrust into the spotlight because of her new relationship with Holt.  Besides the stress her relationship caused with her family, now she carried the added burden of having to remember script and make time for promos on top of all her other duties.  Still, Gene was all about ratings and beating the competition, which meant he wouldn’t change his mind.  So she needed to suck it up.

“Are we finished here?” Emma asked hoping the answer was yes. 

Already on the phone, calling his writers Gene nodded.  “I’ll have Mark check in with you guys later about schedule the promos.”

Clutching her stomach with one hand Emma yanked open the door with the other and stepped into the hallway. “I hate this.”

“I told you Gene would throw you to the wolves,” Derek warned.  “He’s a shrewd businessman and he doesn’t miss an opportunity to turn a buck.”

“Thank you for standing up for me.”

“Anytime, sis.” Derek leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

“The good thing is the match is only two weeks away and then it will be over,” Holt offered as he rubbed circles across her shoulders. “Besides, being in the spotlight isn’t really so bad.”

“Says you,” Emma sneered. “I hate being the center of attention, always have. She moved her hand from her stomach to her head and rubbed her temple.  “At this rate I’m not sure my stomach is going make it.”

“You know,” Derek observed. “I find it interesting that you’re still not feeling well despite Holt and I backing off on the fighting.”

“Barely backing off,” Emma corrected.  “You two still go at it like cats and dogs.”

“Yes, but
what I’m saying is I think you
r nerves have as much to do with being in front of the camera as it does with our feud.”

“Maybe.” Emma considered his words.  “And if that’s the case I’m in serious trouble.”  She stepped out of Holt’s embrace. “I’m going to find a quite spot to meditate and if that doesn’t work to settle my stomach I’ll go find Doctor Andrews.  Maybe he can prescribe something to get me through the next two weeks.”

*  *  *

The roar of the crowd shook the building. Trying to calm her nerves, Emma took a deep breath.  The last two weeks had been hell and she’d dreaded tonight.  Though in a way she was glad the moment finally arrived.  In twenty-five minutes this would all be over and she could go back to her nice little world of coordinating from behind the cameras.

“You okay?” Holt eyed her with some concern.

She nodded.  “I will be soon.  Let’s just get this over with.”

His
intro
music began to play and she stepped through the curtain beside him.  The crowds roar nearly drowned out his entrance music pulling a grin from her.  The fans really did love Holt and apparently, despite her concern to the contrary, they liked her too.

As they reached the ring, Emma
walked around to the far side while
Holt climbed between the ropes.  He raised his arms above his head and much to Emma’s amazement the crowd grew louder.  As the music ended the announcer introduced Holt, then almost immediately Derek’s music began to play.  Derek entered to a round of boos and jeers that left sadness in Emma’s heart. For years Derek had been a hero to these fans as he and Bryan teamed up as ‘The Crusaders’ to take on evil within the EUW. 

Now, because of Gene’s desire for ratings Derek’s persona had been decimated and those same loyal fans turned on their champion.  Bryan walked beside Derek then took his place at ringside while Derek stepped through the ropes. 

With a ring of the bell the match began.  At first Emma tried to scan the crowd, keeping her gaze averted.  She studied the construction of the ring and even focused on the television commentator’s voices, any distraction that would keep her focus off the battle taking place in the ring.  However, she quickly realized that escaping the inevitable wouldn’t work.  She wasn’t back stage where she could turn away from the screen.

Holt loved to fly high in the ring and after dropping an elbow on Derek he climbed to the top rope.  Emma caught movement in the corner of her eye and immediately raced toward where Bryan was preparing to push Holt off.  She stepped between them just as Bryan raised a hand.  “Don’t you dare,” she warned. 

“Get out of the way,” he threatened.

She folded her arm across her chest.  “No.  This is a match between Derek and Holt and you are not going to interfere.”

Behind her she heard Holt launch off the ring post and connect with his target much to the crowd’s delight.

“So you really are taking Holt’s side,” Bryan yelled.

“No.  I’m making sure things stay fair,” Emma argued. “Just go back to your corner.” She gave him a shove and a roar went through the crowd reminding her she held an audience.

Bryan eyed her with disbelief as he slowly backed away.  Their face off wasn’t part of the script and she regretted him forcing her to this stand.  Still, they all knew the only real way for the rivalry to end was for Holt and Derek to have a fair fight.  

She returned to her own side where she worried and fretted as the match wore on, mulling over what transpired between them even as Holt took the upper hand in the match.  With Derek leaning on the ropes for support, Holt performed a running clothes line that launched Derek up over the top rope and out of the ring. 

He hit the ground and let out a shout of pain that had Emma scrambling around the ring with a new fear coursing through her. She paused at the corner as did Bryan on the other side and they watched while Holt use the ropes to perform a springboard moonsault off the ring and land on Derek.  He let out a second shout of pain and reached for his knee.  Emma and Bryan raced forward and she immediately pulled Holt off Derek.