"Keep Your Chin Up, Cricket."

Sun Nov 29, 2020 6:30 am

Sept. 19
Tampa, Florida

She hated this. She hated the soreness and stiffness in her elbow every morning. She hated the itchy sling she was forced to wear to keep her arm stabilized while it healed. But mostly, she hated that she was so careless and reckless in her match that she allowed it to happen in the first place.

Of course, anyone who’s ever stepped foot into the wrestling world would say that injuries are never predicted, they’re always accidents waiting to happen, but Kasey knew better. She had just been so hell-bent on doing whatever it took to finally get her moment in the sun, she threw all caution to the wind in the hopes that something - anything - would give her the advantage in the match and help her to become the inaugural Grand Champion.

All it got her was a broken elbow and a pit of despair in her stomach.

That had been three weeks ago. She hadn’t even been able to work her other job at the bar because of her injury. So all she could do was mope around her condo, wishing for time to hurry up so the next four to eight weeks would pass quickly and she could get back to doing what she loved. Of course, she only moped openly when she was alone, since the first week she was home she drove Darrell completely up the wall with her incessant negativity, to the point where her roommate threatened to move out and live in the bar until she was healed. That had shamed her, as she knew that she wasn’t normally the type to be so emotional and upset. They had patched up their little spat, and things had been (mostly) good between them.

Currently, the artificial redhead was seen sitting in the living room, struggling with a controller in her hands as she attempted to play a video game. Every time she made a particularly aggressive press of a button, she would wince in pain as the shockwaves of pain traveled up her arm into her elbow. Finally, after nearly dropping the controller for the third time, she threw it beside her on the couch and pouted slightly. “This sucks,” she sighed. “Can’t wrestle, can’t work at the bar, and I can’t even play video games. What the hell am I supposed to do while I wait for this stupid elbow to heal?”

Walking into the living room from the kitchen, Darrell gave her a pointed look as he set down a tray of assorted meats, cheeses and crackers along with a pitcher of what appeared to be sangria. “You could start with changing your negative-ass attitude. Or did you already forget my threat?”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. It’s just that...I’m trying to find things that I can do with this bum elbow, and the list is getting shorter and shorter.” She reached over to the table and picked up a cube of cheddar, popping it in her mouth. “At least I meet with the doctor on Monday, and she’ll determine if I’m ready to do physiotherapy.”

“Hey, it’s a step in the right direction. Just don’t push too hard and reinjure yourself to try and make it back faster,” Darrell said, just as a buzzer sounded in their condo. He got up off the couch and walked over to the entranceway, pressing a button and conferring with the person waiting downstairs. He walked back into the living room. “Well, one of us is getting a flower delivery.”

Kasey quirked an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

They looked at each other with a shrug, as a knock sounded at the door. Once again, Darrell rose from his seat and walked to the front door, checking the peephole before opening the door. Kasey heard some quiet talking before two sets of footsteps walked towards the living room, and when she looked back up she nearly dropped the controller she had just picked back up as her dark brown eyes went wide and her jaw fell open in shock.

“...Nolan?” she asked incredulously.

Sure enough, there was her ex-fiance Nolan Rowe standing in her living room holding an enormous vase filled with various types of flowers in every colour of the rainbow. He gave her a little shy smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Heya, Kase,” he said. “Heard you got pretty banged up a while ago, so I wanted to bring these to cheer you up.”

She rose up from the couch and crossed the living room towards him, as Darrell took the vase from Nolan and disappeared into the kitchen to give them some privacy. Nolan slid his hands into his pockets and looked at her a bit sheepishly. “Hope it’s OK that I just dropped by like this. I kinda wanted it to be a surprise.”

Finally, a warm smile broke out on Kasey’s face as she reached over with her good arm and pulled him into a hug. “Yeah, it’s OK. Just...it was definitely a surprise, that’s all.”

Nolan gently hugged her back with both arms, and they stepped apart. “You look good. Well, besides the, uh…” he gestured to her sling.

She grimaced down at it. “Yeah, it’s a real pain in the butt. Not really painful anymore, but certainly not helping my career any.” She looked back up to him. “So, when did you get back to the States?”

“Just last week. Japan was great, but I actually got a better job offer over here. I start next week, but I wanted to come back early to see some old friends. And then, I heard what happened to you a few weeks back, and...well, I figured I should come by and check in on you.” He stuck his hands back into his pockets, rocking on the heels of his sneakers almost shyly. “Uh, do you...do you wanna go for a walk? Maybe get a coffee or something?”

“Uh, yeah, sure. That sounds great,” she replied, the smile on her face getting a little bigger. Nolan’s own face lit up as they both made their way to the door. As Kasey was sliding on her shoes, she caught sight of Darrell in the kitchen. He was pumping his fist in the air and mouthing “GET IT GIRL!” in a very obnoxious way behind Nolan’s back. Kasey just rolled her eyes, grabbed her bag and headed out the door with Nolan.

A little while later…

“...and do you remember the popcorn butter?” Nolan let out a wheezing laugh, doubling over on the bench and clutching his sides.

“OH MY GOD!” Kasey wiped a stream of tears from her eyes as her own laughter shook her body. “That hallway smelled like a movie theater for HOURS! I thought those poor janitors were gonna fall and break their poor backs, the way they kept sliding across the floor trying to mop up that mess!”

The two of them laughed for a good solid five minutes, before they were able to catch their breath. They had ended up heading down to the boardwalk along McKay Bay, stopping at Kasey’s favourite cafe and getting a couple of iced coffee drinks before finding a bench with a view of the marina, where they had been sitting and reminiscing about their past for a half-hour as they watched the boats glide around the glassy water.

“Too bad that place ended up being shady as eff. We made some pretty good memories there,” Kasey said, sipping on her drink with a fond smile.

“Yeah…” Nolan gazed out across the water, his face taking on a thoughtful expression. Before Kasey could comment on it though, he had turned back to her with a sunny smile across his face. “So, you raring to get back to the ring? You seemed like you were on quite the little hot streak before this unfortunate event.”

That question made her hesitate for a moment. She toyed with her straw as she looked down at her lap, her easy smile falling slightly into a little frown. “Can I be honest with you, Nolan?”

“Of course.”

“I’m...not really sure. I feel like maybe this was the universe’s way of telling me that I should just give this all up. I’ve been in this now for ten years, and what do I have to show for it? A laundry list of injuries, that’s it. The only thing people really know me for is being the forever underdog. The perpetual silver medalist, at best. I threw everything I had into that match, and I still walked out empty handed.” She felt the hot burn of unshed tears welling up behind her eyes, and she tried to hold them back. “I just don’t know how much more disappointment I can take.”

There was a quiet moment, before she felt a pair of strong arms encircling her gently and pulling her into a warm body. At first, she stiffened up out of shock, but eventually relaxed into Nolan’s careful hug. “Hey, listen to me,” he started, and she felt his voice reverberating against her cheek where it was pressed against his chest. “I know you’re disappointed, and that’s perfectly fine. Your feelings are totally valid, and you take as long as you need to deal with them. But the one thing I don’t want you to do is to give up on yourself. This has been your dream since you were a little kid, it’s all you ever wanted to do. At least, that’s what you used to tell me.” He loosened his grip on her, bringing one hand under her chin to tilt her face up to look straight into his eyes. “And as long as I’ve known you, you have never been the type to just roll over and give up. I know it seems like a lot right now, but this elbow will heal, and before you know it, you’ll be back in the ring putting fools in their place and getting back into that championship chase, where you belong. And this time...you’ll get the gold. You just gotta keep your chin up, Cricket.”

This time, the tears that welled up in Kasey’s brown eyes weren’t from frustration, but rather hope and happiness. She gave him a smile as she wiped at her face with the back of her hand. “I should hire you as my own personal motivational speaker,” she joked.

“Hey, I’ll do it for free. Or, maybe the occasional burrito,” he said with a little smile, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Then suddenly, as if he realized how familiar he was getting, he cleared his throat and put a bit of space between them. “Uh, I guess I should get you back to your roommate. Don’t want to give him any ideas about what we’re up to.”

“Oh, trust me. He doesn’t need any help with that,” she laughed as they got up from the bench and began walking down the boardwalk.

Later on…

Kasey unlocked the door to the condo and stepped inside, taking a deep breath as she slid her shoes off and hung her bag up on the rack in the corner. She wandered into the kitchen, where Darrell was standing at the stove. By the smell in the air, she guessed he was making tacos as she took a seat at the breakfast bar.

“Well, how did it go?” Darrell asked, shooting her a sly smile as he stirred around the ground beef sizzling in the pan.

“It went...well,” she said, leaning over to smell at one of the flowers from the bouquet Nolan had brought over. “In fact, we made plans to go for dinner tomorrow night.” She could feel Darrell’s eyes boring into her, and she smiled without looking at him. “You’re gonna burn the taco meat.”

“Alright, little miss sassafras, you are gonna sit there while I cook and you are going to give me every. Little. Detail!” He emphasized his point with a bang of the spatula on the counter, and Kasey laughed as she started recounting the afternoon...