...Previously…

Theo Pryce and I have never had much of a relationship.  There was a business one that comes naturally when you work in a man's company but that was the extent of it.  Anyone that knows me, that truly knows me, knows how important family is to me.  It’s hard not to think about the fact that aside from my kids, I really have none.  My grandfather and my parents are gone and so are most of my friends.  Existing in a world where you have virtually no blood relations can sometimes be a lonely, isolating feeling.  I have no brothers and sisters.  No cousins or aunts.  No one.  Except the three kids in the back of this Jeep.

“What about Uncle Theo?” I recall Frankie asking me in the car when Lauren and I were putting together a guest list for New Years.

“He’ll never come,” I replied.  It’s not that either of us have anything against the other.  We’re just different people and that’s okay.  I’m more relaxed and chill.  I’ll go with the flow.  He’s a bit more buttoned up.  Certainly a lot more put together mentally than I am.

“You have an Uncle Theo?” Lauren inquired.  She knew.  She just forgets practically everything.

“I’m calling him,” Frankie insisted from the backseat of the family Wagoneer.

“Frankie don’t you dare,” I warned him.  “He’s a busy guy.  He doesn’t have time to listen to you yammer on and on.”

“Oh look!” he exclaims.  “It’s dialing.”

“Dammit Frankie!  Hang up the phone!”

“You’re the one that insisted he have a cell phone dumb ass,” Lauren laughed.

“Uncle Theo,” Frankie said into his cell.

“...he answered?” I said under my breath.

“Dad’s havin’ a big New Years party and wants to invite you,” he paused a moment before letting out a laugh.  “You know how he is.”

“What!?” I called out incredulously before looking at my wife.  “How am I?”

“Well baby, you usually avoid reaching out to anyone who would typically want to be involved in your life,” she said.  Her words spun me for a loop.

“That was a particularly astute observation from someone so normally...”

“Aloof?” she asked.  “Hot?  Sexy?  Fuckable?  Am I close?  I don’t know what astute means.”

Annnnd there she is.

“Okay, see you then!”

Suddenly, my eyes are trained on the rear view mirror as I continue to roll down the interstate.

“Well?” I said in an attempt to hurry things along.

“Well what?” the little shit teases.

“Is he coming or not?”

“He said he had a previous engagement,” Frankie revealed.

“Figures,” I said with a sigh.  “Just like my dad, never showin’ up when...”

“But he’d move some things around and he’d be there,” he interrupted.

Outwardly, I was uncharacteristically stoic and unemotional.  Inwardly, I was over the moon.

---

Hello Dove.

I’m not mocking you, I’m celebrating you.  I’m celebrating Atara Raven because at long last she will stand across from me as an opponent and not a friend.  There is and always will be love in my heart for the incomparable Atty and why shouldn’t there be?  She’s privately and publicly been one of my biggest supporters for several years.  As long as I wasn’t facing Alias or Corey.

I don’t hold that against her, they were both great.

The former Atara Themis does so effortlessly what so many in this business work their asses off to be.  That’s must see TV.  If Atara is on a marquee, fans are pouring in in droves because everyone wants to know just what shenanigans she’ll get into this week.  She does every damn bit of it without a care in the world.

Atty is to be admired and really, if you’re not aspiring to be like her then you really even trying?  If she wins, great.  If she loses, so effing what, its on to the next little project and everyone still pays attention.

Now, don’t mistake my glowing words for weakness.  I respect and love her for everything she does in this business and while she may skate on her looks and skate on her carefree attitude, I much prefer working my ass off to earn every damn accolade I’ve received in this business.  As young as I am, I’m still a seasoned veteran as soon as that bell rings and my friendship with Ismini’s momma temporarily ceases to exist.

---

…Then…

New Years Eve had been a great evening.  Friends from all over, not just New York, made it in to make the night a special one.  Later on, I’d be reaffirming my commitment to Lauren as my wife since the first half of our first year was pretty chaotic.  Personally speaking, while the proposal later was the main event, Theo and Aunt Bri was one hell of an appetizer.  I was excited, even if not a little nervous.  Imagine my surprise when the normally buttoned up straight as an arrow businessman Theo Pryce showed up wearing a onesie.

Once they arrived and were introduced to other guests he and I retreated to the bar while the music played and the talk and laughter continued.  He and I sat and talked like we never really had before.  About business, about family, about the future.  While we never really spent much time together as family, I did remember he had an affinity for a 25 year aged whiskey called Glenlivet.

Setting a tumbler, the bottle and an ice bucket in front of us, we started to talk business.  He has his whiskey, I had my simple Vodka and cranberry.

“How’s OCW?” he asked, kicking off business talk.

“Sellin’,” I answered quickly.

“Turn a nice profit?” he asked before a drink.

“Bunch of it,” I say with a smile.  Unloading OCW netted me a cool 200 million in profit.  “I’m not really meant to stay behind a desk I don’t think.  I’m good at business, but it’s not very fulfilling at this stage of my life.”

“What is?” he asks as he looks at me.

“This,” I answered with a gaze around my house.  “Family.”

“What about the ring?” he asks the obvious next question.

“It’s in the plans,” I say with a smile.

“Yeah?” he takes a drink.  “Any thoughts on where?”

“I have several options,” I say with a laugh before taking a drink.

“I assumed you would,” he replied.  “You’ll be successful no matter where you go.  You’ve proven that already.  Though I’d be remiss if I didn’t suggest you come home.”

Initially I just laughed.

“What?” he gives a laugh of his own.

“Nothin’,” I say to him.  “It’s just interesting how life takes its twists and turns.  A little over three years ago you fired me.  Now here you are beatin’ around the bush askin’ me to come back.”

“I’m not sorry for that.”

“No I never thought you would be,” I agreed with him.  “I never blamed you for it anyway.  I was a...”

“Cunt,” he interrupts, which causes me to laugh.

“I was gonna say dick, but yeah… I was a cunt.”

“You can believe this or not but I fired you out of love,” Theo begins to explain.

My entire life growing up, that’s all I ever wanted.  Some god damn love.  Maybe that’s an unpopular trait to carry in a world where the vast majority of everyone is a different shade of gray.  Everyone is so “edgy”.  But I got news for ya, when everyone is edgy, it’s no longer edgy.  Regardless, I’ve always just been myself.  Right, wrong or indifferent.

“That forced you to step away and re-evaluate your life and your choices,” he continues on.  “Then when you did come back, you went on this incredible journey of redemption that saw you rise above your previous reputation.  That saw you realize your true potential.”

Still I say nothing.  Instead, I just looked at him as he spoke, not caring that my eyes were filling with tears.

“You became the star you always thought you were.  That we thought you were.  And despite the large shadow my brother cast over you, you stepped from it and became your own man.”

Silence befalls us for several long seconds.

“I never did thank you,” I say to him.  “You made me earn everything I ever achieved and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“So what do you think?” Theo asked.

“I don’t know if it’s time yet,” I admitted my hesitation to him.

“If not now,” he began his reply.  “Then when?”

Theo gave me a lot to think about.  We never discussed dollars and cents.  Never talked about the schedule or what sort of role I’d play if and when I returned.  Truthfully, it never got that far.  Make no mistake about it, XWF is and will always be my home.  No matter where I go or what I do, my last name has been synonymous with the XWF for an entire decade and I’d venture to guess it will still be that way long after I’ve taken my boots off for the final time.

There’s a certain comfort in that.  A familiarity.  At the same time, do I want comfort?  I’ve made a career out of pushing the envelope.  It’s become almost a calling card to make the best of the best sweat.  I have pushed others to hit gears they didn’t even know they had.  And I’m proud of that.  I am one of the best of the best.

---

See, I sat out the majority of the last seven months.  Some of it due to surgery, some of it because I ran myself into the ground for the last few years.  Everyone knew there was gonna come a time when I was done sitting on the sidelines.  Everyone knew a time was coming where the bug of competition would rear its head and I’d get back in the game on a full time basis.

I’ll admit that returning so suddenly at Snow Job wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for some grand re-entrance into the place I call home, or any place for that matter.  XWF was not at the top of my list when I began exploiting opportunities.  But as you know, when family needs me, I always go home.

Atara Raven has the unenviable task of squaring up with a man that is as laser focused as I’ve ever been.  What stands between her and the rest of the tournament is a man that is rested, relaxed and as good as I’ve ever been.

As good as she is, it pains me to see it.  It pains me to see all of her wonderful talents on display but only when she feels like it.  She’s always had this penchant for coming up short in literally every possible instance she’s had of putting her name at the top of the marquee.

I said I respected and admired her and that’s not a lie.  As good as she is, imagine just how good she might be if she ever truly gave a damn about anything.  Instead of hitting the brakes and mailing it in when things get tough, imagine if she just stepped on the gas pedal.  Imagine if she focused all of her extra time and energy on trying to be the best Atty she can be.

I don’t even like tournaments, Atara.  I’m gonna challenge you to do something you’ve never done before and tell you to smash the gas pedal and see if you really have what it takes to get the job done against one of the biggest names in the sport.  You’re capable… but do you really got it in you?  Can you get rid of that fear of success and the pressure that goes with it just long enough?
Somehow I doubt it.

At least when this match is over, I’ll have beaten a Raven.

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