Post by emily on Nov 5, 2022 11:14:18 GMT -5
~Off Camera~
“Hey Pops! Am I catching you at a bad time?” Emily texts on her Pepsi Blue cat shaped cell phone as she looks at a sunny Las Vegas strip through the window of an apartment at the Velvet Rabbit Casino. She had driven down a few days ago for her debut at the WGWF with plans to stay in a room by herself, but later canceled that booking when her off-and-on-again boyfriend Buster Gloves invited her to stay with him. It was a beautiful day out and Emily was seriously considering just staying in Vegas for a while before heading home to LA.
“Never a bad time for you kiddo. What can I do for you?” Buster’s dad texts back.
“Buster’s away for a couple of hours and I need some advice.” She sips a cup of her morning coffee, 3 creams, 4 sugars. A bottle of Pepsi on ice and on deck. “Did you see the WGWF show last night? Me and Buster were both there.”
“I saw it. Didn’t know you two were back together. You looked happy.“
“I was! I’m glad to be back with Buster. I missed him and you and the kids so much last week and you too!”
“We missed you too. Is Buster treating you ok?”
“So far he is. I know he… cares about me. He just makes bad decisions once in a while. Ya know?”
“He gets that from me.”
“So he often tells me.”
“No.”
“On the next show, we’re in a tag team together! Like old times.”
“Oh Lord.”
“Hush You! This is so totally exciting!. We’re going against some chick named Sonya. She’s awful. She harshes my mellow. I don’t get why she’s so mean and not just mean but royal bitch mean Pops!”
“Maybe she has Daddy issues. Or mommy issues!”
“...”
“lol”
“That’s literally her problem.”
“Oh shoot. I was just goofing on you because you’re using your boyfriend’s Dad as your therapist.”
“You’re lucky I like you, Pop.”
“Lol”
“So anyway, Sonya needs more hugs I think, Maybe I’ll give her one after the match..With my fist!”
“Why can’t we all just get along? lol.”
Not sure if the text conversation is over, Emily brings her face close to the glass wall, one arm propped up on the horizontal window frame, eyes focused on the cars moving below. “It never rains here.” She says out loud to no one. She turnss, plops down in a cup shaped chair, and crosses her legs. She spends some time thinking about what has happened in the last few weeks.
The last time Emily had spoken to Buster's dad was a couple weeks ago. They were close. Much closer than Buster would like them to be, but I guess that’s a good problem to have. She was close with her own dad but he is over in Europe and it’s not always easy to get a hold of him because of the time difference depending on which country he is in. Emily, whose heart knows no bounds, had become quite attached to the old fart, almost as attached as she was to Buster’s two teenage sons, Dalton and Swayze. But Buster had screwed that up pretty good and his mistakes were driving a wedge between everybody.
Her boyfriend Buster Gloves is a recovering alcoholic. All alcoholics are in some kind of recovery, but his specific journey had recently seen the end of five years of sobriety, followed by a couple arrests, and a quiet break up. Rather than to confront him about his problems, Emily had chosen the way of pacifism. She made sure his kids were ok, she shot a few text messages to Buster’s Dad, then she packed up her things and got on an airplane back to California. It’s not what she wanted to do, but she has a history of losing people to alcohol and she would not allow herself to stick around and see it happen again.
The time she had spent apart from Buster had been hard on her but she was glad that she had her best friend Eric Winters and his boyfriend Evan to talk with as well. She really didn’t want to leave him. He needed her and she needed him, and may or may not love the guy, but her fight or flight response kicked in quite literally. It was hard on those nights, alone in her bedroom in her grandmother’s house in sunny southern California, when she just wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else. In a way, it was a greater punishment for her, losing 4 people at once, than it was for Buster, but she believed that it was the right thing to do. Either Buster would choose her, and they could all be happy for a while, or he could get lost in a bottle.
She missed him. The way he smells. The way he walks. She missed how he ate her terrible food without ever complaining about the taste, or the sight of it. She missed the boys, they were building a real bond. Not a mother-son type bond, but something different. Their mother had been deceased for a very long time. They needed a positive female influence in her life and it made her feel good to provide that. Besides, there were some things about Emily that they understood more than Buster did. The age gap was a real challenge sometimes. It made her feel useful, helping them get ready for practice, taking them to the doctor, sharing a pizza. She missed all of that. And wondered if the boys did too.
Not knowing what else to say or who else to text, Emily just scrolled and scrolled on her phone. Watching useless Tiktok videos and checking the analytics of her own social media channel. Months ago, after she started dating Buster, he and his kids had helped Emily set up her social media pages and she had developed a huge following. The instagram page drew a lot of attention. The Tiktoks and the Youtube videos were followed by millions. People knew Emily Simms from Level Up Wrestling, but the endorsement deal from Pepsi was the thing that made her massively popular. People would stop her in the mall, at the grocery store, in the airport and ask her “Hey, are you the Pepsi girl?” and Emily would say “I sure am. Would you like to take a picture?” And they would, because Emily is infectious… in a good way.
There’s a knock on the door. Thinking that it may be Buster and that he may be in trouble again, she sprints through the modest apartment. After a couple locks and a slide chain, she opens the door to reveal a bellhop with a fancy cart. Three fair sized boxes sit on the cart.
“Are those for Buster? I can take them.” she says.
“Actually they’re for you, Ms. Simms.” says the twenty something boy.
Emily is flattered. Buster must have gone shopping without her and had presents sent back to his room where he knew she’d be waiting for him. Her birthday isn’t until Halloween, how sweet is this guy. Damn him for screwing up the curve.
“They are? Thank you!” She says and slips the young man ten dollars after he unloads the packages onto the counter. Emily almost pushes him out the door before running back to her presents. “Buster… you shouldn’t have.” She asks out loud as she carries the boxes over to the kitchen table and grabs a knife to cut the strings off the packages. Then she takes a look at the shipping labels.
The first box was shipped from Spain. “Fancy!” She slices the tape from the box and spreads the cardboard flaps to each side. Tissue paper flies in the air and then a bounty of Italian snacks and chocolates reveal themself. Also in the box is a plastic envelope with a blue cloth inside it. Curious, she pulls the item from its packaging to reveal that it’s a cobalt blue bucket hat with the word “Pepsi” written on it and a packing slip written in Italian.
“Delicious AND refreshing” Emily exclaims as she puts the bucket hat on. It’s a perfect fit. She’s so happy she almost misses the card in the bottom of the box. The deep blue envelope holds a plain white greeting card. She read it out loud. “I’ve enjoyed your Twitch channel so far Miss Emily. I hope to hear more from you soon, please enjoy the bucket hat and snacks! Much love. -L”
The card gives her pause. It’s a little strange isn’t it? The package isn’t from Buster. He wasn’t thinking about her. And this isn’t an early birthday present. Furthermore, someone else sent this package to Buster’s new home for about 4 weeks, and this person knows that Emily Simms is staying there. She calls the front desk.
“Yeh. Hi. My name is Emily. Someone just delivered some boxes to my room and it’s kind of freaking me out. Do you know where they came from?”
“Oh, yeh Ms. Simms. Mr. Gloves had mentioned to us to expect some deliveries.”
“So he knows about this?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Alright. Good enough for me. I guess he’s got some explaining to do later.”
She gently lays the plastic phone back into its cradle.
With some hesitation, Emily opens the second box, hoping a human head isn’t inside. It is Halloween after all. The second one is smaller, but prettier, coming all the way from British Columbia, Canada. The card inside said it is from a couple who had been following Emily’s career and were huge fans. Wrapped in protective green bubble wrap is Emily’s first action figure, from Level Up Wrestling, as well as some other Pepsi merchandise.
The third box was less ornate and impressive, but the contents were more meaningful. The card said it was from a family in Kansas who were fans of her Twitch Channel. Inside the box was a framed drawing, in crayon, that showed a blond stick figure in a blue outfit with a championship belt over its head. “Awww. How sweet is that?”
Her stomach starts to rumble. Despite her small stature, Emily can EAT. She lets out the world’s cutest soda burp and starts to miss Buster again. “He should be back by now, where could he be? This is my first ever fanmail. How much longer are you going to be Buster?”
Emily sends Buster more text messages. Asking about dinner. Asking about room service. Flirting. Getting impatient. Sending selfies with the boxes. Being passive aggressive. It took way longer than she wanted before he texted her back. And when he did, it was short and cold.
“Meet in the lobby restaurant in 30 minutes.”
No flirting back. No emojis. No selfies. Why is he always so serious?
Emily tries on one of the Pepsi t-shirts from the box, and fixes her bucket hat (all the way from Italy) while winking at herself in the mirror. She may have an unhealthy relationship with Pepsi cola, but she is the cutest damn thing west of the Mississippi. Sandals slide onto her feet and the wrinkles are smoother out of her clothes. Just a phone, a clutch, and a bit of lip gloss and she’s out the door and on the elevator.
10 minutes and a Pepsi cola later and she’s reunited with the WORLDS GREATEST boyfriend, her WGBF.
“Hey Pops! Am I catching you at a bad time?” Emily texts on her Pepsi Blue cat shaped cell phone as she looks at a sunny Las Vegas strip through the window of an apartment at the Velvet Rabbit Casino. She had driven down a few days ago for her debut at the WGWF with plans to stay in a room by herself, but later canceled that booking when her off-and-on-again boyfriend Buster Gloves invited her to stay with him. It was a beautiful day out and Emily was seriously considering just staying in Vegas for a while before heading home to LA.
“Never a bad time for you kiddo. What can I do for you?” Buster’s dad texts back.
“Buster’s away for a couple of hours and I need some advice.” She sips a cup of her morning coffee, 3 creams, 4 sugars. A bottle of Pepsi on ice and on deck. “Did you see the WGWF show last night? Me and Buster were both there.”
“I saw it. Didn’t know you two were back together. You looked happy.“
“I was! I’m glad to be back with Buster. I missed him and you and the kids so much last week and you too!”
“We missed you too. Is Buster treating you ok?”
“So far he is. I know he… cares about me. He just makes bad decisions once in a while. Ya know?”
“He gets that from me.”
“So he often tells me.”
“No.”
“On the next show, we’re in a tag team together! Like old times.”
“Oh Lord.”
“Hush You! This is so totally exciting!. We’re going against some chick named Sonya. She’s awful. She harshes my mellow. I don’t get why she’s so mean and not just mean but royal bitch mean Pops!”
“Maybe she has Daddy issues. Or mommy issues!”
“...”
“lol”
“That’s literally her problem.”
“Oh shoot. I was just goofing on you because you’re using your boyfriend’s Dad as your therapist.”
“You’re lucky I like you, Pop.”
“Lol”
“So anyway, Sonya needs more hugs I think, Maybe I’ll give her one after the match..With my fist!”
“Why can’t we all just get along? lol.”
Not sure if the text conversation is over, Emily brings her face close to the glass wall, one arm propped up on the horizontal window frame, eyes focused on the cars moving below. “It never rains here.” She says out loud to no one. She turnss, plops down in a cup shaped chair, and crosses her legs. She spends some time thinking about what has happened in the last few weeks.
The last time Emily had spoken to Buster's dad was a couple weeks ago. They were close. Much closer than Buster would like them to be, but I guess that’s a good problem to have. She was close with her own dad but he is over in Europe and it’s not always easy to get a hold of him because of the time difference depending on which country he is in. Emily, whose heart knows no bounds, had become quite attached to the old fart, almost as attached as she was to Buster’s two teenage sons, Dalton and Swayze. But Buster had screwed that up pretty good and his mistakes were driving a wedge between everybody.
Her boyfriend Buster Gloves is a recovering alcoholic. All alcoholics are in some kind of recovery, but his specific journey had recently seen the end of five years of sobriety, followed by a couple arrests, and a quiet break up. Rather than to confront him about his problems, Emily had chosen the way of pacifism. She made sure his kids were ok, she shot a few text messages to Buster’s Dad, then she packed up her things and got on an airplane back to California. It’s not what she wanted to do, but she has a history of losing people to alcohol and she would not allow herself to stick around and see it happen again.
The time she had spent apart from Buster had been hard on her but she was glad that she had her best friend Eric Winters and his boyfriend Evan to talk with as well. She really didn’t want to leave him. He needed her and she needed him, and may or may not love the guy, but her fight or flight response kicked in quite literally. It was hard on those nights, alone in her bedroom in her grandmother’s house in sunny southern California, when she just wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else. In a way, it was a greater punishment for her, losing 4 people at once, than it was for Buster, but she believed that it was the right thing to do. Either Buster would choose her, and they could all be happy for a while, or he could get lost in a bottle.
She missed him. The way he smells. The way he walks. She missed how he ate her terrible food without ever complaining about the taste, or the sight of it. She missed the boys, they were building a real bond. Not a mother-son type bond, but something different. Their mother had been deceased for a very long time. They needed a positive female influence in her life and it made her feel good to provide that. Besides, there were some things about Emily that they understood more than Buster did. The age gap was a real challenge sometimes. It made her feel useful, helping them get ready for practice, taking them to the doctor, sharing a pizza. She missed all of that. And wondered if the boys did too.
Not knowing what else to say or who else to text, Emily just scrolled and scrolled on her phone. Watching useless Tiktok videos and checking the analytics of her own social media channel. Months ago, after she started dating Buster, he and his kids had helped Emily set up her social media pages and she had developed a huge following. The instagram page drew a lot of attention. The Tiktoks and the Youtube videos were followed by millions. People knew Emily Simms from Level Up Wrestling, but the endorsement deal from Pepsi was the thing that made her massively popular. People would stop her in the mall, at the grocery store, in the airport and ask her “Hey, are you the Pepsi girl?” and Emily would say “I sure am. Would you like to take a picture?” And they would, because Emily is infectious… in a good way.
There’s a knock on the door. Thinking that it may be Buster and that he may be in trouble again, she sprints through the modest apartment. After a couple locks and a slide chain, she opens the door to reveal a bellhop with a fancy cart. Three fair sized boxes sit on the cart.
“Are those for Buster? I can take them.” she says.
“Actually they’re for you, Ms. Simms.” says the twenty something boy.
Emily is flattered. Buster must have gone shopping without her and had presents sent back to his room where he knew she’d be waiting for him. Her birthday isn’t until Halloween, how sweet is this guy. Damn him for screwing up the curve.
“They are? Thank you!” She says and slips the young man ten dollars after he unloads the packages onto the counter. Emily almost pushes him out the door before running back to her presents. “Buster… you shouldn’t have.” She asks out loud as she carries the boxes over to the kitchen table and grabs a knife to cut the strings off the packages. Then she takes a look at the shipping labels.
The first box was shipped from Spain. “Fancy!” She slices the tape from the box and spreads the cardboard flaps to each side. Tissue paper flies in the air and then a bounty of Italian snacks and chocolates reveal themself. Also in the box is a plastic envelope with a blue cloth inside it. Curious, she pulls the item from its packaging to reveal that it’s a cobalt blue bucket hat with the word “Pepsi” written on it and a packing slip written in Italian.
“Delicious AND refreshing” Emily exclaims as she puts the bucket hat on. It’s a perfect fit. She’s so happy she almost misses the card in the bottom of the box. The deep blue envelope holds a plain white greeting card. She read it out loud. “I’ve enjoyed your Twitch channel so far Miss Emily. I hope to hear more from you soon, please enjoy the bucket hat and snacks! Much love. -L”
The card gives her pause. It’s a little strange isn’t it? The package isn’t from Buster. He wasn’t thinking about her. And this isn’t an early birthday present. Furthermore, someone else sent this package to Buster’s new home for about 4 weeks, and this person knows that Emily Simms is staying there. She calls the front desk.
“Yeh. Hi. My name is Emily. Someone just delivered some boxes to my room and it’s kind of freaking me out. Do you know where they came from?”
“Oh, yeh Ms. Simms. Mr. Gloves had mentioned to us to expect some deliveries.”
“So he knows about this?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Alright. Good enough for me. I guess he’s got some explaining to do later.”
She gently lays the plastic phone back into its cradle.
With some hesitation, Emily opens the second box, hoping a human head isn’t inside. It is Halloween after all. The second one is smaller, but prettier, coming all the way from British Columbia, Canada. The card inside said it is from a couple who had been following Emily’s career and were huge fans. Wrapped in protective green bubble wrap is Emily’s first action figure, from Level Up Wrestling, as well as some other Pepsi merchandise.
The third box was less ornate and impressive, but the contents were more meaningful. The card said it was from a family in Kansas who were fans of her Twitch Channel. Inside the box was a framed drawing, in crayon, that showed a blond stick figure in a blue outfit with a championship belt over its head. “Awww. How sweet is that?”
Her stomach starts to rumble. Despite her small stature, Emily can EAT. She lets out the world’s cutest soda burp and starts to miss Buster again. “He should be back by now, where could he be? This is my first ever fanmail. How much longer are you going to be Buster?”
Emily sends Buster more text messages. Asking about dinner. Asking about room service. Flirting. Getting impatient. Sending selfies with the boxes. Being passive aggressive. It took way longer than she wanted before he texted her back. And when he did, it was short and cold.
“Meet in the lobby restaurant in 30 minutes.”
No flirting back. No emojis. No selfies. Why is he always so serious?
Emily tries on one of the Pepsi t-shirts from the box, and fixes her bucket hat (all the way from Italy) while winking at herself in the mirror. She may have an unhealthy relationship with Pepsi cola, but she is the cutest damn thing west of the Mississippi. Sandals slide onto her feet and the wrinkles are smoother out of her clothes. Just a phone, a clutch, and a bit of lip gloss and she’s out the door and on the elevator.
10 minutes and a Pepsi cola later and she’s reunited with the WORLDS GREATEST boyfriend, her WGBF.