Reality (Linstead AU)

Chapter 80

"Coming down here was quite inspiring," Erin said as they were being driven to the hotel they were booked into.

"It definitely was," Jay said. He was still trying to process what had happened to him following Kylie Estevez's reaction to working with Clementine, and his subsequent text exchange with Raquel. Something had clicked in his head, almost literally. He felt awakened, that was the only way he could have put it. There was a sense of self confidence in him now that he had never known before. The question was how to explain what had happened to Erin?

Maybe it was best not to explain at all, he thought. It would be better to start living with the new confidence and to let her see it rather to be told about it. Yes, that was the best approach.

"You know that feeling I get when an idea for creative comes to me and I know it's going to be good?"

Jay nodded and played up his excitement in order to amuse her. "Uh oh, she's cooking!"

Erin did smile, but she wasn't focused on the humour because she was indeed cooking. "After you left to go to the bathroom, something Kylie said to me really got my mind going. I asked her why exactly she was so overwhelmed about working with Clem."

"Oh? What did she say?"

"Quote: Are you kidding? Clem's the best to ever do it."

"Wow. High praise," Jay said. And a bit over the top. One of the best women to ever do it, he could go that far. But he guessed there were fans who would agree with Kylie's assessment. Clem sure was great at the most important job a wrestler had to do. As Hank Voight himself had once said to Jay: 'You've got to make them believe in your shit.' It had been a point well made, if not made eloquently.

"For a while now I've had Clem's character on my mind. She's been referred to as The Diamond in the Rough ever since she made the main roster. It was a great nickname then. Now it makes little sense. So, let's say for a moment we change it to The Best To Ever Do It."

Jay grimaced. "Sorry, honey. Can't see that as a nickname for a babyface. Sounds too arrogant."

"What if I'm not talking about a babyface?"

Jay's eyes widened. Now that he had not expected. "You're thinking of turning Clem heel?"

"Sounds crazy, I know. But she has asked me about it before. I turned her down. But now, I might go for it. Doc Mikami has warned me to cut Clem's in ring time down too. Apparently she gets a lot of pain with that knee she blew out. Mikami thinks weekly wrestling is overworking it."

Jay could understand that. A knee injury as bad as the one that had put Clem out for over a year was about as serious as wrestling injuries got without involving paralysis or death. It could have been a career ender. An injury like that never healed fully.

"So you're saying what, have Clem turn heel and work less, while calling herself the best to ever do it?"

Erin nodded, getting more excited by the minute. Jay found her passion for the business endearing. "Yes, exactly. We make Clementine matches something of a rarity, rather than happening every week on TV. Sometimes we'll go weeks at a time without even seeing her on TV. But when she does show up, we'll have her presented like she's a big fucking deal. We'll make the fans feel like they're lucky to be in the presence of greatness."

So you want a heel who gets a big pop when her music hits just because she's there, but when she's in the ring ready to talk or fight the fans boo her because she's an arrogant bag of shit?"

Erin pointed at him in approval. "Yes. And we keep the championship on her. Maybe we make her the longest reigning women's champion of all time. She might cheat to win at times thanks to Raquel or Kylie or whoever, yet she'll still keep claiming to be in god mode."