For Carissa…
Harper Reynolds' heart pounded as the Delta Airlines flight touched down safely in Baltimore, Maryland. Today was the first day of the rest of her life or at least the rest of her career. From the time Harper had been a little girl, she could be found standing in front of a mirror with a hairbrush in her hand as a makeshift microphone. Whether it was her mother making dinner or her father mowing the lawn, Harper had always been there to give the play by play of the day's events. Her heroes weren't singers or actors but the local anchor men and women who graced the desk of the local news channels. She loved everything that had to do with journalism and her childhood dream had been to make a career in her chosen field.
Harper had begun preparing early on in life. She maintained a 4.0 grade point average from grammar school through high school. She was pretty and outgoing, devoting her time to the extracurricular activities of the debate team and the school media team in lieu of sports and cheerleading. Graduating as the valedictorian of her class, she went on to Missouri State University where she majored in journalism. Four years later she again graduated at the top of her class, taking a job afterwards for a St. Louis radio station not far from where she had grown up. For three years she had garnered experience doing something she loved before deciding it was time to go back to school. Pursuing a Master's degree in Communications at the University of Missouri, she had nearly completed the two year odyssey that would pave the way for her career path.
There was one thing left. Harper needed to complete an internship. She had looked everywhere searching for the perfect position. One Saturday afternoon while grocery shopping, she had run into Mr. Korklan, her ninth grade high school teacher. In addition to being a huge educational presence and influence in her life, Harper had grown up close friends with the man's two sons, Matt and Mike. Both had gone on to pursue careers in the sport of professional wrestling and Matt had eventually found huge success as Raw Superstar Evan Bourne. It was Mr. Korklan that let Harper know that journalism and communications internships were available with the WWE. Harper had researched it, applied online and after several correspondences, had been selected. It was a six month stint and the first three months had been spent working five hours a day in the Stamford, Connecticut corporate office. Afterwards, she would begin traveling with the Raw brand for the remaining 90 or so days. Getting to go on the road with the on air talent would reunite her with a man who had been one of her best friends nearly her whole life.
They had grown up in the same upper middle class community. Both attended Parkway West High School in St. Louis. They had met in preschool and had been friends ever since the day in kindergarten Harper had forgotten her snack and little Matt Korklan had offered to share his cheese doodles with her. The moment had bonded them through high school graduation. They had been close ever since. They studied together and hung out together, often spending free time camping and going to movies with their large group of friends. They were together all the time, the best of friends but for Harper, it had always been more.
He was gorgeous, had a great smile, was smart as a whip and one of the nicest people Harper had ever met. It was impossible not to like him and his cheerful personality and gentle mannerisms made him one of the most popular kids in school. Guys wanted to hang out with him and girls wanted to sleep with him, or at least have him as a boyfriend. Oblivious to his own hotness, the shy, sweet teenager was not one for one night stands. He was more the relationship type guy. He liked having a girlfriend, having someone to spend time with, talk to and cuddle with. Through the years Harper had been there to give him relationship advice, listen as he gushed about new loves, and see the disappointment in his eyes when his heart was broken. All the while her heart ached for her best friend, the guy next door, that Korklan boy.
She never told him how she really felt. Instead she was a best friend, just one of the guys. They went their separate ways in college but stayed in touch through e-mails and phone calls. They occasionally saw each other on weekends and in the summers. She was there as he studied hard in marketing but spent hours wondering if he could make a real living doing what he loved. Harper had encouraged him to go after his dreams so he arranged his schedule to attend class three times a week and the remainder of his days he spent working the independent scene for whatever promotion was willing to take a chance on him. Harper had been there to support him, cheering him on loudly from the stands from every unairconditioned civic and dive bar he performed in. They both graduated in 2005 and moved in together sharing a small two bedroom apartment after Matt got a job as a sales and marketing vice president of a small mailbox company. The life of suits and ties and the norm of a nine to five was too stifling for the young daredevil. He quit his job and left St. Louis wrestling in bigger Indy feds until finally being picked up by TNA, then the WWE. Over the years Matt and Harper had lost touch but she occasionally got to keep up with him via Monday nights spent in front of the tube.
When the WWE unexpectedly chose her out of thousands of candidates for the internship, Matt had been the first person she had called. He had been thrilled for her and they had spent hours catching up on the phone. Facebook and texting had kept them close for three months until it was time for her to come on the road with him. Right away he had offered for her to stay at his home in Tampa, Florida on the two to three days a week they wouldn't be traveling. She had accepted and now as passengers began filing out of the plane, she made her way down to the baggage claim. Her eyes searched the sea of people there to meet their loved ones and she didn't have to look far. Standing front and center, holding a sign that said Welcome, Harper, was her good friend. He was as cute as she remembered, his trademark grin plastered over his handsome face. He wore glasses, like he did most of the time when he wasn't wrestling and he looked great in jeans and his own Fly Air Bourne tee shirt. He always was a good dresser.
"Little Harper Reynolds," he said, pulling her in for a hug.
"Little Matty Korklan," she gave him the once over.
"How have you been? How was your flight?"
"I have been great," she answered as he helped her collect her belongings. "I got the chance to go back home to St. Louis for a little r&r, now here I am ready to go. The flight was good, smooth and turbulence free and I am super excited to see you wrestle tonight and see what goes on behind the scenes at the arena."
"It's so awesome, you'll love it," Matt grinned as he led the way to the rental car. "I got in last night, drove straight from Pittsburgh. I got to work out earlier so if you want to grab a late lunch we can do that, then head over the arena."
"Sounds good," she smiled.
He put an arm around her.
"Dude, it is so good to see you. I mean that, Harper. You look great. I'm really glad that we've had the last few months to talk and be real friends again. I'm looking forward to the next three months with you. It'll be cool."
"Me too, Matt. Look, are you sure it's not too much trouble me staying at your place in Florida?"
"Of course not."
"I appreciate it, I just don't want to impose."
"It's no imposition, trust me. It'll be great, like old times. You're the best roommate I ever had."
"You just say that because I cook and do all your laundry."
"That maybe had something to do with it," he joked.
Harper bit her lip.
"Seriously though, how does your girlfriend feel about that?"
"She won't mind. Oh Harper, I can't wait for you to meet her," excitement filled his eyes. "Chloe is so awesome, you'll love her. I think you guys will get along just great. She models, does a lot of print and commercial modeling here and there. She is absolutely gorgeous. She is out of town a lot, just as much as me sometimes so it's not like we live together full time anyway. Besides, I have plenty of room. Mike is wrestling a lot with the Ring of Honor promotion, my old stomping grounds and he crashes a lot at my place too."
"How is Mike?"
"He's doing well. The wrestling is really coming along and he loves it. I'm proud of him."
"Good for him."
"Yeah. You'll see him soon. He'll probably come over by next week. He's dating this chick, Bryn. It's his first serious girlfriend. She wrestles too and her stage name is Shadow. It's sort of this weird goth character but she's really talented so she makes it work. Anyway, she is sort of his permanent valet now so they're doing their thing."
"That's so cute. Our little Mikey is all grown up with his first serious girlfriend."
"But we're going to have a good time. I'm wrestling Edge tonight and we worked out a lot of cool, high flying spots. It's gonna be crazy so I can't wait for you to see it."
"Me either.
As the pair made their way to the parking garage, they were stopped by a trio of shrieking overly excited women. Harper chuckled to herself. Matt had always been a cutie and received plenty of attention from the opposite sex but the high flying tactics of the fearless Evan Bourne had catapulted his sexiness status to a whole new level. The women who looked barely old enough to be out of school cried, giggled and threw themselves at Matt. He was gracious and kind, always respectful to the fans who adored him. He chatted for a few minutes, signed autographs and posed for pictures which Harper took for the girls. After shaking hands, they continued on their merry way.
"Sorry," he blushed.
"Occupational hazard, huh? Beware of the screaming groupies. Look at you all famous."
"Get out of here," he tried to shrug it off.
"I mean it. That's so cool, Matt. You're living your dream. How awesome is that?"
Matt nodded, looking thoughtful for a moment.
"I guess you're right. I mean, this is all still new to me. I'm just a kid from St. Louis with a dream. You imagine this life and you get it and it's surreal. I used to dream about the life I have now."
"Is it what you thought it would be?"
"More. The money and the fame are great but it's more than that. It's a real sense of accomplishment. I gave up a lot, I took a real chance because I wanted this to happen. Not many people thought it could and let's face it, it was a real long shot."
"But you made it work."
"I made it work and a lot of that is thanks to you, Harper."
"Me?"
"Yeah. You were my best friend and you were a great one. You were so supportive. You encouraged me to chase my dreams and when things were rough, you never gave up on me or stopped believing in me. You were there for the long road trips, you even drove me a few times. We'd end up at the worst rat holes for me to perform in front of 20 people and get like 40 bucks in return. I have a feeling I owe you a lot of gas money."
"You can start by making it up to me with dinner tonight."
"You got it."
Matt pulled her close and placed a kiss on her cheek. His best friend was back and he was elated. They both were.
"I'm glad you're here, Harper," he winked at her.
Harper looked around. She and her best friend were back together and living their childhood dreams…together. It didn't get any better than that.
"Me too, Matt," she smiled. "Me too."