Under Pressure
A/N: Here is the next chapter, I hope you guys enjoy and as always feedback is appreciated. Little bit of a shorter chapter but just trying to keep building the story as it progresses.
July 18th, 2017
Pulling into the parking lot at the performance center, Jodie was nervous. Having gotten a text message from Matt Bloom asking to see him in his office as soon as he gets to the performance center. Maybe today was the day he was released from his contract?. He pushed that thought out of his head as he climbed out of his car, locking it and heading towards the building. Last night, he and Tyler walked through more of the potential 'five star' match that they could have had yesterday. Honestly he had no-one to blame but himself.
Tucking his hair behind his ears, Jodie walked inside the building and was met with the cool breeze of the air conditioner. As he passed by the reception desk, he felt his stomach turning and doing flips. It seemed as if with each step he was walking closer and closer to his demise, at least that's what it felt like to him. Turning right at a intersection in the hallway, Jodie turned left as Matt's office came into view. The door was partially open as he got closer to it. Coming to a stop at the door, he knocked on it three times.
"Come in." Matt called from inside the office.
Pushing open the door, Jodie walked in and noticed Darren Matthews who is better known as William Regal, sitting in a chair beside the desk. "You can go ahead and shut the door Jodie." Matt said, typing something on his computer. Jodie shut the door behind him and walked over to the desk and took a seat in one of the two available chairs. This is it, I'm done for. He thought to himself.
"Okay." Matt said as he finished typing, he looked up at Jodie and clasped his hands together "Jodie do you know why you're here?"
He felt like he was gonna be sick "Because of my poor performance yesterday with Tyler."
"Not only that but you've been here going on two years now and if we're being honest, you aren't developing as we would have liked. Ideally you'd be on NXT television right now but you aren't. Now obviously when you came here through Tough Enough, you were lacking in pretty much every area aside from selling. We've spent two years building you up: physically, mentally, taught you how to throw punches and kicks, the proper holds and techniques. In short, we've built you from the ground up and for the most part you've got the grasp of it all down. You have a gimmick, your promo work is decent but it just seems between myself, Darren, and Robert (Robbie Brookside) your in-ring skills are lacking." Matt adjusted his glasses before clearing his throat "So it's like this, we want to have you debut on NXT in October. However we need to see vast improvement in your in-ring ability between now and then. You have ninety days to turn this ship around and get on course or we're gonna wish you all the best in your future endeavors."
Jodie rubbed his eyes. He's always been one to be even keel and keep a cool head in stressful or tense situations but when it came to situations like this, he always tends to get a little misty-eyed. "No absolutely I understand what your saying." He tried to keep his composure but his voice came out weak.
"Son." Darren put his hand on Jodie's shoulder "We believe that you can do this." Darren turned to look at Matt "Do you have anything else to say to the boy?"
Matt shook his head "No, Jodie come on kid I know you can do this but you gotta make the grade."
"Understood coach."
Darren got up from his seat and helped Jodie out of his "Come on son there's a good lad." The two of them walked out of Matt's office and down the hallway. Darren was the first coach Jodie met upon his arrival besides Matt. Matt and Darren are good and bad cop duo. Both of them want everyone to succeed but their approach to it is different. Matt is very blunt and honest where as Darren knows how to sweeten someone up and tell them bad news without it sounding too terribly bad. In this case, Darren while he was a coach, to some of the other wrestlers he had assumed sort of a parental role, Jodie being one of them. The coaches never played favorites but you could tell who they had a soft spot for and Darren had a soft spot for Jodie.
"Two years ago, I met this scared shitless kid who had just boarded a plane for the first time with his parents no less." Darren nudged him as he chuckled and thought back to that day "How are your parents by the way?"
Jodie smirked "They're good, my stepdad is still working as an engineer for the shipyard and my mom is still working at the place she's been for years. They tied the knot after ten years last month, I missed the wedding but they told me they just had friends over at the house and got married on the deck by the pool in the backyard. My biological dad is doing good, just working and spending time with my stepmom, siblings and step-siblings."
"Well an invitation would've been nice." Darren joked "Nonetheless, send them my regards next time you talk to them. Would you like some tea?" Darren asked as they turned a corner passing the doors to the gym area of the performance center.
"A spot of tea would be nice."
"It would, I'll make you a proper gentleman yet." Darren smiled "Besides I can see you need it, and it's in the early afternoon back home in England so why not." Darren opened his office door and motioned for Jodie to step in. Jodie stepped in and took a seat on a black leather couch against the left side wall. Shutting the door behind him. Darren began preparing the tea.
"Don't let the business first attitude of Matt get you down son, he's a good guy and you've got heart and I believe we can get you upright again. That's why I'm going to personally devote time to training in the ring with you."
"Really?" Jodie was a bit surprised to hear this after the meeting in which he thought he was going to be cleaning out his apartment and going back home.
"I don't say things just to say them. Now how do you take your tea?" Darren asked, looking back at him.
"Cold and sweet." Jodie replied.
"Not that kind of tea lad, here I'll make you tea. Do you want any milk, honey, or sweetener?"
"Uh I don't know just whatever you think is best."
"Alright then you'll be in for a treat."
After a few moments passed by, Darren turned around with a tray of tea, finger sandwiches, crumpets, and pastries. Jodie was almost in disbelief that Darren was able to prepare all of this so quickly, or maybe he hadn't been paying attention to the time that had been going by. "That was fast." Jodie exclaimed as Darren walked over and set the tray down on the table in front of the couch.
"I already knew what the meeting was about, Matt and I talked about it last night. I came in a little early and did some prepping."
Darren leaned back on the couch "I really hope you enjoy this tea. I did it the proper way, the English way."
"So long as you don't tax me for the tea, otherwise I'll chuck it into the Boston harbor." Jodie joked but Darren completely stone-faced him for a second before chuckling.
"Oh I'm gonna tax you son, not in money but in the ring. Now drink up lad."
Jodie picked up the cup, he could feel how warm it was as the heat from it seemed to surround the handle of the cup. Taking a sip of it, the tea was very warm but sweet and thankfully didn't burn his tongue and ruin his taste-buds for a few days or a week. Setting the cup back down on the tray, Jodie picked up one of the finger sandwiches and bit into it.
"Well." Darren took a sip of his tea "How was it?"
"Actually it was pretty good if I'm being honest." Jodie said as he finished up the finger sandwich.
A smile formed on Darren's face "Good I'm glad. So what do you think it is in you that when it comes to making a match look believable on your end that you can't do?"
The answer to him was simple, he didn't wanna be a unsafe worker "I don't wanna hurt anybody, not only would I risk injuring someone and potentially end their career and ruin there life like the D'Lo Brown and Droz incident but if I get that reputation and decide to remain in the business if it doesn't pan out here, that reputation is gonna follow me and hypothetically make me unbookable."
"But you have to remember, you take that risk every time you step into the ring. We all risk it, thank god the WWE has excellent health insurance. Look, later today after you get done with promo classes and the gym, me and you are gonna meet in the ring. Just us no-one else around. You're a really good kid Jodie, your kind hearted, funny, good looking."
"Last one is debatable." Jodie retorted.
"My point is, I really think you can do this. It's up to you how far you go, and I wanna give you all the tools you need to succeed in this business and in life. Worse case scenario, it doesn't workout. Look at this way, everything you do is cross training for something you have yet to discover and do. Who knows, you may end up in mixed martial arts, or being a stuntman or something. I'll show you how to throw punches and kicks and make it believable, maybe the way they were explaining it to you it just didn't click but you just got to believe in yourself."
Jodie picked up another finger sandwich "I walked in this morning, thinking this was it and that I'd have till the end of the month to get my things packed and vacate my apartment, a ultimatum instead has been issued. I mean fuck, do you really think I can get this in ninety days? I just feel like I can sell so much better than I can actually make it look believable when I try and play on offense." Jodie felt his eyes getting filled with liquid again.
"Well." Darren scratched his head "Son this is it, you've got ninety days to get it or it's over for you and the WWE. I mean I might try and pull some strings with Matt and Robert and see if we can't shift you into a managerial role when the end is near if I don't think you've gotten it by then."
"Jodie, just believe in yourself and the rest will follow, work hard, play harder. The effort will pay off trust me, I may not have had a career like the likes of the Undertaker, Steve Austin, Ric Flair, or Triple H. But I'm satisfied with my lot in life, I've found more joy in being a mentor to new people like yourself coming up in this business than winning a title." Taking another sip of tea, Darren picked up a crumpet "Now be a good lad, chin up, nose clean and down to the ground and put in the work and effort and it will pay off I promise son."
A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter, as always feedback is appreciated.