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Flashback
April 2013
Off Camera
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“I’m sorry,
but this is an insane proposal!”
The person
speaking right now is everything but “sorry” for what he said. He meant every word and he means it with as
much venom and vitriol directed at yours truly as he possibly can muster. That voice happens to belong to Stan Lee
McBride Jr., the older of the McBride siblings.
Sitting around a conference table with him is the oldest daughter,
Blaire McBride, a raven-haired beauty who has mastered the art of “wearing the
mask” in social situations, as you might put it. She may want to murder you right there on the
spot but if it serves her needs better she can act like you and her have been
best friends forever.
Across from
them sits Stan Lee McBride Sr. and his wife Diane. Then there’s me, sitting at my own part of
the table, which in a way symbolizes how I am so unique from the rest of this
family. For one I am not a McBride by
birth. I was adopted by Stan and Diane
after my father left and my mother was murdered. Second, of the children at this table right
now, I have more share of stock in McBride Incorporated than either Stan Jr. or
Blaire.
McBride
Incorporated wasn’t supposed to be mine to start with, Stan Jr. and Blaire know
this and that is why they are so enraged with me right now. What started out as a mere modeling company
grew and expanded to include more and more products and avenues such as beer
and wine, high scale yet very popular restaurants in New York City, and a
cruise line; that combined with my law firm makes McBride Incorporated a true
powerhouse in the business world. And I
sit at this table, with a twenty five percent share of stock in this
powerhouse. Stan Jr. and Blaire have
twelve and one-half percent apiece while our parents share a fifty percent
share of the company.
Karen: I
hardly see how this is insane. CJ Osborne
is putting on a show called Unsanctioned.
My understanding is that the majority of the revenue goes to charity.
Blaire: And
I believe that’s why Stanly is upset, Karen.
McBride Incorporated would get nothing out of it by helping Mr. Osborne.
Stan Jr.
That’s right and besides, isn’t that guy wealthy enough as it is? He doesn’t need our help, so why waste time
on this pathetic charity gimmick?
And people
thought I was selfish and greedy. It
takes all I have to not roll my eyes at them as I sit patiently and wait on our
parents to chime in. Diane and Stan Sr.
both are doing a very good job of hiding their opinions on the matter.
Diane: What
do you think, dear?
Stan Sr.: I
think…
He gazes
over at me and then he turns to Blaire and Stan Jr., two of their biological
children. The wheels are definitely
turning in the head of this wise man.
Stan Sr.: …I
think you and I won’t be able to keep running this business ourselves for very
long, Diane. These wonderful, brilliant,
and opinionated children of ours will soon be running this company by
themselves. So your mother and I will
stay out of this. We’re going to let you
three decide as if you were the only owners of this great company.
I see Stan
Jr.’s eyes bulge out of their sockets.
Blaire is no doubt getting upset too but, as I said earlier, she is a
master of disguise and you wouldn’t tell it right now as she just looks on
stoically, but both know what’s coming next.
Karen: In
that case, since I do have majority stock between the three of us, I guess we
will be helping out CJ Osborne with Unsanctioned.
With a
flutter of my eyelids, putting on the sweet little daughter routine for mom and
dad and showing Blaire that I can put on a social disguise just as good as she
can, I smile.
Karen: Mom,
dad, thank you. I will tell Mr. Osborne
that we will help him in any way we can.
Stan Sr.:
Excellent. I am so glad you children can
make these decisions for yourselves.
Mom and dad
only came by today to get this business out of the way. I had suggested awhile back that McBride
Incorporated should assist CJ Osborne with Unsanctioned. Whether we get actual money out of this or
not, at the very least it’ll make us look good.
Good public relations can, at times, be just as important as money. My foolish siblings are either too blinded by
their jealousy or too stupid to realize that.
Speaking of
those individuals who are foolish and blind, my opponent for GDW Fever will be
one Brandy Daniele-Garret. Both of those
adjectives could be used to describe this blonde haired bimbo. She is a delusional fool who actually thinks
she is the best in the world. Brandy
can’t wrestle her way out of a paper bag and she has the gall to place herself
above such greats in this company as Glory Braddock, Angela Jameson, or Andreas
Lasiewicz? Even some of us GDW newcomers
have a hell of a lot more right to claim the title ‘best in the world’ than
that idiot Brandy. Cameron Chase and
Alana Starr are other names that come to mind as bright young newcomers who
have already gone leaps and bounds farther than Brandy could ever hope to go.
And she
blindly plays follow the leader with her little pals in Society of
Destruction. She seemingly can’t think
for herself. Whenever they quit she
quits. Whatever fed they join she joins.
She’s only here because Eric Herrera and
Fury are both here. That’s it. They say jump she asks how high.
People like
her deserve to be put out of their misery and I will gladly do that at Fever.
The air in
the room grows cold and tense the very moment father and mother exit the
room. All eyes turn towards me and they
are fierce with rage, a fire that is reserved towards me and me alone.
Stan Jr.: I
don’t know how you live with yourself, Karen.
How often
have I heard that line? It never fails
to humor me and thus I let out a slight giggle.
Karen: Quite
easily, dear brother.
Stan Jr.:
Don’t call me that. I am not your
brother. You are not part of this
family.
A sly grin
slides across my face.
Karen: Would
you rather I call you junior?
He stands
up, pounding his fists on the table and pointing a finger at me. Yes, I know how to push his buttons. I lived with this hot headed young man for a
long time. Stan Jr. is my father’s
oldest son. He, more so than the other
children, is most angry with me. If
anyone would feel entitled to a family fortune it would be him, or at the very
least to have equality amongst the siblings.
Yet instead of equality, instead of the oldest having the majority,
yours truly, one of the younger children, has majority. I’m not even a biological child of Stan and
Diane. I am adopted. So yes, I can see why he is upset. I just don’t care.
Much like
how I don’t really care about Brandy Daniele-Garret. The poor little girl got tore apart in a
steel cage match. The poor little girl
and her buddy are bitching about being treated as jobbers in GDW. The way I see it is if they can’t take the
heat then they should get out of the kitchen.
The way I see it is if they can’t improve then they should get out of
our way. I will happily send this one
particular nuisance packing in my debut match as a GDW superstar.
Stan Jr.:
You damn sure can’t call me that!
Karen: Sure
thing…junior.
That was
enough to set him off. Stan Jr., in one
mighty push, shoves the rolling chair against the wall, and it hits the
wall. He turns and storms towards the
door, throwing it open and then slamming it shut behind him as he exits. I laugh nastily but my jovial mood is ended
when Stan’s sister, Blaire, decides to pipe in.
Blaire: Do
you have to always provoke him?
Karen
Provoke him? Stanly has always been a
hothead, Blaire, and you know it.
Blaire: Can
you blame him, Karen?
She reaches
out and places her hands on top of mine.
Blaire is attempting to be comforting and kind, despite the fact that I
know the next words out of her mouth will be vindictive and jealous.
Blaire: You
are not only the youngest but you are adopted.
He is the oldest and yet somehow you have a twenty-five percent share of
this company, twice as much as Stan and me.
Don’t you understand why he might be a little upset, Karen?
A sly grin
slides across my face.
Karen:
Actually, Blaire, you’re right, I do understand why he might be upset with
me. You know what else? I even understand why you are so damn jealous
of me.
My sister is
taken aback. She sits back in her chair,
feigning shock.
Blaire:
Jealous? Karen, why would you think such
a thing?
Karen:
Please, Blaire, the prying eyes of mother and father are not in the room right
now. You do not have to pretend.
That sly
grin on my face remains as the next words out of my mouth oozes confidence,
borderline arrogance.
Karen: So
tell me, dear sister, how do you really feel about me?
There is a
tense pause as I watch my sister’s facial features go from shock to stoic
emotionless. Then it evolves into a look
of anger as she gets up out of her chair and gazes down at me through the green
eyed monster of jealousy and greed.
Blaire: You
want the truth, Karen?
I nod my
head.
Karen: Yes,
the truth…how do you feel about me?
Blaire: Stan
has no problem with you having a portion of the family business, his biggest
problem is that you have majority amongst the children when you are youngest of
us all. I disagree with him.
She points a
long, carefully manicured finger at me.
The way she points at me with those nails it almost resembles a talon
going after my very heart.
Blaire: You
don’t deserve any portion of this family business!
I let out a
brief bit of laughter.
Karen: I
love you too, Blaire.
Blaire: I’m
serious. This company has been in the
McBride family for generations and now here you are, standing to potentially
inherit the whole damn thing, and yet you are not a McBride by blood.
She shakes
her head in disgust.
Blaire: You
aren’t even a McBride.
I have oh so
many sarcastic, smart ass, witty remarks in my repertoire but none of them seem
very appropriate right now. Blaire
McBride, my older sister, looks incredibly pissed off as it is, there is no
need to antagonize her any further. We
used to be close, she and I, and I think that is part of the reason watching
her walk away like this, in an angry huff, hurts me almost as much as her own
words hurt me.
Blaire:
Goodbye, Karen.
She exits
the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
This meeting of the family business did not go well, but that’s how it
usually goes for the McBride household.
I’m used to it by now. Thus I
stand up out of my chair and exit the room on my downstairs to the living area.
Our parents,
Stan Sr. and Diane, kept fifty percent of the company for themselves and split
the other fifty percent of the company amongst their four children, that being
the three biological kids and yours truly.
We each got twelve and one-half percent of McBride Incorporated as a
gift from Stan and Diane, and we were told we could do with it as we pleased.
Stan Jr. and
Blaire had no problem sharing equally with me.
Their righteous indignation about them being older is bullshit because
they never cared until I became majority shareholder amongst the children. Melanie, though, never cared about the family
business. She is not a
businesswoman. The truth is, and I feel
sorry for the girl, she has no idea what she wants to do. She just knows she is not a businesswoman.
Melanie
wanted to get rid of her portion of the company. She wasn’t interested in it. Stan and Blaire had always treated her like a
second class citizen simply because she didn’t care for the family business. Why would she sell it to two people who had
treated her like garbage all of her life?
Instead she sold her share to someone who had grew so close to her that
they became more than just best friends…but almost like true, blood sisters.
Thus she
sold me her twelve and one-half percent of McBride Incorporated.
==========
Present Day
Off Camera
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Karen
McBride, normally dressed to the “T”, is wearing simple pair of blue jeans,
black boots, and a black IWC t-shirt.
Her long brown hair hangs down unrestrained to shoulder length. She is crouched down behind a large hummer in
the parking lot area of an arena in North Carolina that is playing host to a
GCW House Show. Next to her is her
younger sister, Melanie McBride, similarly attired.
“Do you really want to do this, Kare-Bear?”
Karen nods
her head. “I do, Melanie.”
Melanie
sighs. “You already have fifty percent of
McBride Incorporated. You took her
inheritance from her. Isn’t that enough
of a payback?”
Karen shoots
Melanie a look. “No, Melanie, it isn’t
enough. Blaire used my friends against
me, she used them in order to pressure me to sell my share of IWC ownership to
her.”
Karen
winces. “I was weak…I admit it. But now, thanks to what she did, I remember
just who I need to be.”
“And who is that?” Melanie asks,
curiously.
“The same cutthroat bitch who had always
upstaged Stan Lee Jr. and Blaire for years.
The same woman who survived on the streets for years. I can use those tactics and knowledge to bring
her down.”
Karen turns
and places a hand on Melanie’s shoulder. “If
you don’t want to be here…”
“No,” Melanie shakes her head “I need to be here with you. I want to be here with you.”
Karen
reaches out and embraces Melanie. “That’s
why I love you, Mel.”
At that time
she sees Blaire McBride, the other sister, exiting the arena and stepping out
into the parking lot area. Karen shoots
a look at Melanie.
“Stay here…”
Melanie
nods. “Sure.”
With that
Karen steps out from behind the hummer and spears her to the concrete floor. Karen then pulls her up to her feet and slams
her face first into the hood of the car.
“You want to be in the wrestling business, Blaire? TIME TO PAY YOUR DUES!”
Karen tosses
Blaire onto the hood of the car. She
hops up onto the hood of the car with her and then body slams her on the hood
of the car. Karen then takes Blaire and
throws her through the windshield of the car, causing it to shatter.
“We’re not through here, Blaire…this is only
just the beginning…”
