ROH Taping
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Friday - August 14, 2009
Following the Royal Butterfly the pin was merely a formality, a short three-count and a bell later "Ride of the Valkyries" began playing as the victor was announced, "And your winner: Sara Del Rey!"
Lying on the mat was a 20 year old from Maine. Valerie Silverthorne, under the name Valley Silvers, sold the finisher to the best of her abilities before slowly rolling out of the ring and letting the veteran soak in her victory. Valerie sat on the floor catching her breath, back against the ring as Del Rey continued her victory celebration. When Del Rey reached the side of the ring where the girl from Maine sat she stopped, looking down at the girl who quickly made it to her feet and extended her hand. A sign of respect and a fixture of Ring of Honor, the "code of honor" was upheld as the veteran shook the rookie's hand before making her way back behind the curtain. Valerie followed shortly.
Now back behind the curtain she let out a breath. Her first match in an ROH ring was over and for the most part she seems to have done a good job, Sara seemed to agree as she gave a smile and another handshake before wandering off to change. Valerie stayed in her gear, just taking everything in about the company. It had a different feel than SHIMMER, that was for sure, and it had a different feel than the other Indie promotions she had worked for. She felt incredibly small here for some reason.
Valerie sat around backstage for the rest of the show watching as wrestler after wrestler went out and performed their absolute best before returning to the backstage area and going off to change or at least put on a shirt. As the show came to a close the dark haired girl from Eastport got up off the floor and journeyed over to where her things were and slipping on a t-shirt before heading out to see the fans and the other performers' merchandise.
A few pictures, autographs, and merch sales later Valerie found herself backstage again, packing up her belongings and finally changing out of her gear into a pair of shorts, a tank top, low rise converse, and a mini leather jacket. Short one shower Valerie doused herself in body spray after running a brush through her near waist length black hair and throwing it up into a pony tail. Slinging her green Slytherin duffle bag on her right shoulder and carrying her merch box in her hands, the blue eyed beauty began to make her way to the parking lot and her 2003 silver Volkswagen Golf, eager to crash for the night before driving home the next day.
Much to Valerie's displeasure however, as she walked and tried to fish her keys out of her jacket pocket her duffle bag slipped applying pressure to her elbow and causing her to drop her box. Just her luck.
With a huff the young woman dropped her bag beside her, kneeling down she began to gather her scattered belongings. Collecting her loose 8x10s quickly she shoved them back into the box before focusing on the few shirts that had made an escape from the box, giving them a quick dusting as she went.
"Need some help there?"
Looking up from her mess the young Mainer watched the young man approaching her. Any feelings of worry she might have felt disappeared almost immediately as she recognized him as one of the guys that had been on the card right before her match. Picking up the final shirt, the man known as Tyler Black handed it back to the Mainer after dusting it off.
"Thanks," She said, accepting the shirt and giving it a quick fold before tossing it back into the box and standing back up to be face-to-face with the man in front of her, leaving both her duffle bag and merch box on the floor as she fished out her keys, not wanting to go through the mess again. She gave him a smile, "It was a pleasure working here and meeting everyone."
"Well, I'm sure you got to meet most of the guys earlier, but you just met me," Tyler said with a chuckle. "Hey stranger, I'm Colby Lopez. Or Tyler Black if you prefer."
Accepting his outstretched hand Valerie grinned, "Hi stranger. Valerie Silverthorne, or Valley Silvers if you want."
Upon retracting their hands the Mainer extended her leg, moving her green duffle closer to her merch box, this caught Colby's attention once more. "Sweet bag."
Valerie gave him a smile as her cheeks tinted pink, Harry Potter was easily one of her favorite things in the world, "Thanks. I'd say 'nice shirt' but the Slytherin in me won't allow it."
The Iowan looked down at his own shirt, having briefly forgotten that it was his Gryffindor shirt that he had pulled on after the show. He gave a shrug as he replied with a grin, "Guess that means we're enemies then."
"Guess so." Valerie replied, her own smile growing.
"Hey, so some of us are gonna go out for something to eat or at least a few drinks, you wanna join us?" Colby gestured over his shoulder to a group of wrestlers that consisted of Kevin Steen, El Generico, Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli and a few more.
Before the dark haired beauty could reply another voice was calling out for her attention, "Val!"
The pair looked over toward the building's door as Chris Spradlin made his way over to them. The Mainer's ruby-stained lips maintained their smile, "Hey."
Upon reaching the pair Chris had leaned down to place a brief kiss on the corner of Valerie's lips, throwing his arm around her shoulders afterwards as he stood next to her and faced his fellow Midwesterner. "Hey, Black."
"Hero." Colby had extended his hand out of common courtesy, despite the fact that they would be going to the same eatery later. Stuffing his hands into his jean pockets the Iowan watched as the two interacted.
"You're coming out with us, right?" The Ohioan asked as the ravenette leaned into his side, her arm wrapping around his waist. "Or you and I could go do our own thing. It's been a while."
Valerie shook her head with an apologetic smile. "I was actually just going to tell Colby," she sent him another smile as they locked eyes, "that I'm not all that hungry and that I'd be no good at a bar since I don't drink, at least not yet. Besides, I should probably get some miles in before crashing for the night."
"You're not gonna be at the taping tomorrow?" Both Colby and Chris asking at the same time, the former looking more crestfallen than the latter as the girl shook her head again. The Iowan cast another glace to her green duffle bag. "So you have a show to get to or something?"
"Or something. I don't have any shows until next weekend."
"So what's the rush?" Chris asked, not too keen on missing out on time with the blue-eyed beauty.
"It's a special day tomorrow," Valerie replied with a small huff, he should have realized the date. "And I like my sleep."
Colby's comment of, "Don't we all." was drowned out by the accented voice of Claudio Castagnoli as he called out to his fellow King, "Hey Romeo, say goodbye to Juliet; we're starving over here!"
A quick laugh was shared before Chris bent his 6'4" frame once more to kiss Valerie goodbye. "Stick around next time," he whispered to her before leaving.
"Alright well, I guess I should head off too. Got a long drive ahead," the New Englander said with a sigh.
"Let me help," The Iowan said as he bent to pick up her merch box and her duffle bag. "I'll walk you to your car."
"You sure? The guys look like they wanna leave."
"They can wait a bit longer," A quick glance back showed the guys making faced at him by their car. "Besides, Death Rey would probably yell if someone didn't see you to your car. No one wants to get yelled at by her."
"Yeah... Chris didn't seem to mind though..." The last part slipped out louder than intended.
A shiver ran down Colby's spine at the mention of the Buckeye as they neared the Mainer's Volkswagen. "So, you and Hero?"
With a shrug Valerie popped open the car's back compartment and allowing her stuff to be put in, "Kinda. It's more of a situational thing, as in if we're in the same area."
"Nothing serious?"
"Not really, no."
The Iowan gave an awkward nod, rubbing the back of this neck with his now free hand as they walked to the driver's side door. "So, uh, I guess I'll see you around?"
"Here's hoping," she said with a small smile, extending her hand to the Midwesterner. "Well, I guess this is goodbye."
Accepting her hand he replied, "Parting is such sweet sorrow."
A broad grin showed up on Valerie's lips at the words. "I actually, really do love Romeo and Juliet. Among other things."
"Good to know," Colby returned her grin at this new knowledge. He stepped back from the silver Golf as she started the engine, giving her plenty of room to leave. But in this moment a sense of curiosity overwhelmed the Iowan as he watched the dark haired young woman start to back out of her spot. "Hey!" He caught the blue eyed girl's attention. "Where are you heading next? And why is tomorrow special?"
Valerie smiled widely at his curiosity before replying, "I'm going home. It's my birthday tomorrow and I can legally drink!" With a wave to Colby the little VW Golf pulled out of the parking lot and started for Maine.
Colby was left awestruck as he watched the silver car's tail lights disappeared down the street, heading back toward his friends when he could no longer see the lights, vaguely greeting them as he arrived. "Hey..."
Bryan watched his friend as he walked back toward him, an odd look on his face. "What's up, man?"
"Did you guys know that she's only twenty, well twenty-one tomorrow."
That explained the look on the Iowan's face. Kevin gave a low whistle, "Damn, that's kinda young for a chick."
"Right?" Colby looked over his shoulder back down the road Valerie had gone. "But she is good..."
"Good looking, you mean," Rami chuckled as he clapped his hand on Colby's shoulder. "You couldn't stop staring at her, man. Even with Hero all over her."
The long haired man shrugged off his friend's hand. "Shut up, Generico."
"Seriously though, what's up with that?" Kevin asked. "I think you're lucky Death Rey made him and Claudio leave to find us a place to eat."
Bryan nodded in agreement, "This night could have turned out way different. And all over some chick."
"I couldn't help it!" A smile spread across Colby's face as they all finally climbed into their car, he couldn't lie. "I think she's hot, alright?! Let's just drop it and go get some food."
She had stopped at a 7-Eleven to grab a coffee and a little something to eat a few miles down the road from where ROH had had their show, her stomach having now protested the lack of food. Valerie sat eating her pastry preparing to head off and drive part of the near eleven hours that would take her back home. This trip would be one to remember. Between wrestling Sara Del Rey and even getting the chance to perform for ROH, Valerie couldn't take her mind off of the encounter with the man known as Tyler Black. A small smile graced the lips of the Mainer as she took a sip from her coffee cup. He was something special...
A/N: So in order to get a be sense of my dear Valerie I have decided to embark on a 100 Themes Challenge! And for the first theme "Introduction" I give you the day Valerie and Colby met~! Hope you all enjoy this 100(+) part journey!
Feel free to let me know what you think. Considering I've been working on Valerie for over three years now I really would love to hear what people think following this first chapter and how I may improve the story or her as I go along.
As of this chapter Valerie is all I own, everyone else belongs to themselves.