Over the past few months, one subject that Aaron Helms found himself continuously going back to was the issue of morality. His moral compass had shifted, there was no getting away from that fact; in terms of his career at the very least, Aaron was one hundred percent a different person to who he had been twelve months earlier and it showed in every way imaginable when the cameras were rolling on Wednesday nights, as well as the house show schedule that followed Thursday through Saturday... but how much had he changed away from the ring, if any? That was an interesting question for Aaron, interesting because while he was sure others may say he had changed considerably, he wasn’t so sure that he had. He was still the same loving father and boyfriend he had been before the changes in his professional life had taken place, he still helped out at his father David’s wrestling school, but if anything his relationship with his mother Regan had gone from strength to strength. There had been a time where things between the two of them were rather strained and it had caused a fair amount of friction in the Helms family... but over the last eight or nine months, the pair had grown a lot closer and that had improved their professional relationship too. If that wasn’t a positive then Aaron wasn’t sure what would be. And okay, so maybe his relationship with his uncle had suffered as a result, but how much of that was Aaron’s fault, anyway? Jason had made his choices, he’d made his bed to use a popular idium and now he was having to lay down in it... though Aaron suspected he didn’t do a great deal of sleeping anyway, not with two different women to keep happy now. He still didn’t understand that, he didn’t get how someone could love more than one person at a time, but it wasn’t his problem so he didn’t spare it that much thought anymore. He wasn’t keeping Jason’s secrets any longer, there was no secret to keep, and in truth that had been a real weight off of the twenty one year old’s mind to say the least.
If Aaron was a different person though, then to him it could only be a positive change. His empowerment at work, for lack of a more appropriate word, had opened his eyes to the fact that he didn’t try and make things better for himself and that he would often let life happen to him. But why?
How could he possibly ever expect his life to improve if he simply sat back and allowed himself to simply be a victim of circumstance at every turn? Perhaps that was being melodramatic; Aaron was more than aware of the fact that he didn’t have a bad life in comparison to so many in the world, even if he had been through plenty of rough patches over his twenty one years on the planet… but the stuff with Lexi Von Aaron or anything that Blake Mason did to screw with his life, would any of that happened had he been the same person he was now? He didn’t think so. It shouldn’t have happened anyway, he should have put a stop to it straight away and nipped both issues in the bud early instead of allowing it all to fester on… but he’d learned from those mistakes, that much he was sure about. And he had to concede that there was a small part of him that was even slightly thankful that he’d been through a lot of what he had been, even if he would never admit that publicly. He didn’t want to encourage the victim mentality any more than he already had in the past. And if anything, at least he could take away the fact that he was now sure it wouldn’t happen to him again anyway, which was something at least? An important lesson for him to have learned, more or less…
But now things were different. Aaron Helms was no longer a guy that people could just push around and he was roll with the punches. If anything, he wanted to be the person dealing out the punches… and perhaps it was that attitude that led him to discuss a certain plan with Bella Downing after learning about their mutual acquaintance, Foster Willard. He wasn’t sure if it was his own experiences with Foster or whether it was because of Bella’s own connection to the high powered agent, but something had set the cogs turning in Aaron’s mind, and it was going to be big, not just in terms of what he may gain out of it personally, but a huge step towards leaving the old Aaron well and truly in the past too!
“You realise what you’re talking about is illegal, right?” Bella had asked when Aaron first brought up the idea he’d had with her. After all, without her involvement, he wouldn’t actually be able to pull the plan off, so it was key that she should want to be involved. “I’m not just in an underage drinking kind of sense but as in you could get your ass locked up in jail for it… we both could, if I agree to this. It’s blackmail at the very least, extortion even. You realise how serious that is, right?” She asked, not sure Aaron was aware of the serious nature of what he was suggesting. “And sure, maybe your dads lawyers can get you off if you get caught, but what about me? If we do this and he goes to the cops, I’m fucked. I have a record, I’m already on my last chance; one more arrest and I’m going away for a long time dude!”
“It won’t come to that,” he told her with a shake of his head when she’d raised those concerns. He knew the stakes for Bella, and that was why he wanted to keep her out of the actual plan as much as possible, other than the obvious. “Look, I’m not saying that I want you to be involved in everything, you can’t afford to do that anyway… but this asshole is married, he had kids! He’s a partner in that agency he runs, a well respected guy… if it got out that he slept with escorts behind his wife’s back, his reputation would be ruined. We should make use of that!” He told her, almost seeing the cash signs in his eyes, like something out of an old cartoon. “And obviously I’m gonna split everything with you fifty-fifty… but I’ll keep you out of the other stuff. All you need to do is agree to meet him again and then let me know where it’s going down, that’s all…”
It was obvious that Bella was skeptical. He couldn’t blame her, not when she was already under the scrutiny of the cops… but Aaron hoped that she could see how easy this score could be if she played along. She wouldn’t have to worry about earning enough money to live, Willard would be their damn cash cow! “Like he’s gonna believe that I have nothing to do with it,” Bella had protested, frowning at him. “The minute you burst in, he’s gonna know I’m involved… and when he goes to the cops, which he will do, he’ll give them my name and that’s it, I’m screwed!”
“And if he does, I’ll tell them he’s full of shit,” Aaron told her flatly, not even hesitating. “I’ve already got it figured out… we tell them he was pressuring you into meeting him. You already have the text messages that can back that up; how many times has he messaged you about meeting him now?”
“Plenty,” Bella admitted, casting a glance at her phone on the coffee table in front of them.
“Exactly,” Aaron said with a smirk. “We tell the cops that he was pressuring you into meeting him for sex, playing on the fact that you needed money and your history, our word against his. There’s no way they’re gonna ignore that, not when I’m on tv every damn week,” he said, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees. “We tell the cops that I bust in there to confront him and warn him off or we’d tell his wife about his extramarital activities, nothing more. They’ll assume he’s making the blackmail shit up just to try and cover his tracks!”
Aaron could tell that Bella was coming around to the idea, though she didn’t appear completely convinced yet. He couldn’t blame her for that. There was a part of him that still wasn’t sure it was the kind of thing he should be getting involved with... but how could he pass up on the chance to use this to his advantage, after all the mistakes Foster Willard had made in relation to his career? He had to ask himself the question of whether it was worth it to take such a risk, to take advantage of the opportunity in front of him... and the ‘new’ Aaron thought that it definitely was. “I dunno dude,” Bella said, sounding as if she was trying to talk herself or maybe talk him out of it. “I swore, after getting busted the last time, that I wasn’t going to do that stuff anymore... and this isn’t just taking money for letting him fuck me this time, it’s a whole new level of fucked up!” she added, and that didn’t help the guilt that Aaron felt about asking her. “Okay, so it’d be nice to not have to worry about making rent or affording groceries, but--”
“I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do Bella,” Aaron told her softly; while the two of them definitely had a shaky start to their friendship, Aaron was shocked at how close the two of them had come. Of course, it helped that there was no attraction there at all, because that always managed to make things messy between two people, but to say that the two of them had become extremely close as friends wouldn’t quite do it justice. And because of that, if she decided she didn’t want anything to do with his scheme then he would accept her wishes... but that that didn’t mean he wasn’t keen on selling her on the idea either. “But if you are serious about actually making changes to your life, then wouldn’t this be a great way to get out? I mean, this guy is worth a fuck ton of money, I know that much for fact... you should have seen the deal he was offering me when he was trying to get me to sign with his company, just as a palm greaser. This could be the big payday that lets you put all the other stuff behind you...” he said, sounding like a damn salesman rather than a friend. Didn’t change the fact he was sure he was onto something though.
“Yeah, but to do that, I have to do something worse than anything I’ve done up to now, which makes it all worse in the long run,” Bella told him, frowning. She had a point.
“I guess you’re right,” Aaron admitted, defeat clear to hear in his voice as he sat back in his chair. “Was a great thought though... seeing the look on his face when he realized he was getting played...”
“Hey, I didn’t say no,” Bella said, shooting Aaron a crooked smile as he straightened up and looked at her in slight surprise. “I mean, technically I didn’t... I just pointed out the reasons why it’s probably a horrible idea to even consider it. But given my disastrous life choices are the only reason we even met... I guess I can afford to make one more, right? Plus, you know, easy and hopefully big payday?” she told him, smirking a little and Aaron brought his hands together, rubbing them excitedly, happy that a plan was coming together.
That conversation had taken place a few weeks ago now, and while things hadn’t moved on as quickly as Aaron had originally hoped, he knew that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The one thing he had stressed to Bella was that they shouldn’t contact Willard, but wait for him to contact her again. He knew it would happen; he’d seen the texts that Foster had sent to Bella after their chance meeting in that café that first gave Aaron the idea and it was clear to see that the agent desperately wanted to meet up for another night with Aaron’s new friend, so he knew that they’d only have to bide their time. And he’d been right about that too, even if it perhaps took longer than Aaron had anticipated; Foster had eventually contacted Bella once again, and this time she didn’t blow him off but told him she’d be in touch later to make concrete arrangements as she couldn’t really talk. The delay was simply to allow her to discuss the plan with Aaron though, and after learning about how things had been arranged previously, Aaron didn’t even have to make new plans, he just had to follow Willard’s own blueprint! Bella had told him about how things worked previously, Willard booking a hotel room for one night under an assumed name of Mr and Mrs Fosters... original, huh? The room was always paid for in advance through a company credit card and Bella would check them in and collect the key... only this time, Aaron told her to get two keys, granting him access to the hotel room as well as Bella, for his surprise cameo later in the evening...
And so Bella made the arrangements and Foster did his part with surprising speed, leaving everything arranged. Arriving at the Continental at six p.m, Aaron made his way into the bar and ordered a coffee, watching as Bella made her way to reception and did the necessary to check in. She had no issues signing for the keys, having used the same assumed name on several occasions in the past, and then it was simply a case of waiting. Waiting for the slimeball to show up and make his way to the room for what he assumed would be a couple hours of fun and games... and he wasn’t wrong about that... it just wouldn’t be of the kind that he was expected. But Aaron? Oh, he was going to have a lot of fun, no doubt about that!
The clock moved slowly, or at least it felt that way for Aaron. He’d positioned himself into a seat in the bar which half-hid him from view of the lobby but gave him a good view of it in turn, looking through the branches of some kind of large potted plant by the entrance to the bar and he exchanged texts with Bella as they both waited for show time. Luckily, Bella was able to update him that way when Foster told her he was on his way, so Aaron could be on the lookout and it was slightly before eight p.m when Aaron spotted the agent confidently making his way towards the elevators. Aaron of course already knew the room number so didn’t need to follow closely behind his one-time potential agent, and he had to leave them a little time to start things up too; rattling off a text to Bella to tell her that Foster was on his way up in the elevator, Aaron sat back and finished off his third cappuccino, sliding it across the table form him with a few dregs left in the bottom as he wondered how long he should leave it before following Willard up to the third floor. He hadn’t even got them a suite... for someone with such a large bank balance, he sure was a tight son of a bitch with his money. But that would change, that much he was sure about. Giving it another fifteen minutes, which he passed with a few rounds of some dumb game on his phone, he eventually grabbed his stuff and headed for the stairs to make the trip up to the third floor. He could have taken the elevator, but he figured the extra time it took to walk up to the right floor would allow things inside of the room to progress just a little further. Aaron found himself wondering whether Foster would question how Aaron gained access to the room or whether he’d simply understand that Bella and Aaron were in on this together... though he brushed the thought aside as he reached room three of six and slide the keycard from his pocket, ready to unlock the door. He couldn’t be sure how far things had progressed inside, but given everything Bella had told him and the amount of time he had left it before arriving, he was confident that there’d be enough for the camera to see when he got inside. Pulling out his phone, he unlocked the screen and tapped the camera icon, setting it to video and pressing record before he slid the keycard into the lock as quietly as he could. The click of the lock was barely audible from his side of the door and he teased the handle down as slowly as he could before sidling into the room.
True to his expectations, the noise in the room wasn’t loud, but it was obvious that things were going well; he could hear Willard speaking from around the corner, the en-suite blocking his view of the bed but Aaron quietly inched along the wall on tiptoe, phone held up to film every step of his progress into the room. It wasn’t his regular phone, it was a contract-free phone he’d paid for in cash while on the road, making it harder to trace should Willard call their bluff and go right to the police... they could take his phone and go through it all they wanted, they’d find nothing but pictures of Elysia on there, with maybe one or two photos of Scarlett if they managed to gain access to his photo vault app, but he wasn’t concerned about them looking at anything on his own handset, and this one would be handled carefully, hidden well away from anyone who may come looking.
Edging towards the end of the wall, Aaron peeked around the corner to finally get a view of the bed and what the camera filmed would be virtually impossible to deny; Foster was actually standing on the bed, leaning one arm against the wall as Bella knelt down in front of him, 
his penis deep inside her mouth and Willard wasn’t bothering to hide his pleasure at her work. “Fuck baby doll, I almost forgot how good you are with that pretty little mouth of yours,” he said, lowering his head to look down at her, and while Aaron or his camera couldn’t see Bella’s face, he could tell she was looking up at him as she continued to do her thing. He grunted a little in pleasure, and at first Aaron thought he might have finished already, though it became clear that wasn’t the case as he looked back up at the ceiling and continued to moan slightly, the slurping and suction sounds from Bella’s mouth making it more than obvious that she wasn’t getting away that easy. Sliding him out of her mouth, she leant back a little to give the camera a better view as she slid her hand up and down the length of his shaft, the camera seeing everything in detail and Aaron had to wonder if she had heard the lock click that Willard hadn’t; was she doing her best to give the camera a better view or was it just a happy coincidence. “Oh come on baby doll, you’re not telling me your jaw hurts already, are you?” Foster asked, looking down at Bella and she turned away from him, and Aaron could see her face now, a frown sat on her face as she turned and kind of looked towards the camera without obviously doing so. “Mmm, that’s it baby,” he said in delight as she regretfully lowered her mouth back around the tip of his cock, positioning her head and brushing aside her hair just enough to give the camera a good view of what she was doing. Aaron was actually impressed... chick had game.
“Definitely seems like you missed me,” Bella said, popping him from her mouth and grabbing his cock hard with her hand to shake it a little and Foster let out a small gasp of pain but his face split into a grin as Bella spat on him and used her hand to spread the spit along his shaft. “Hope you’ve left me plenty of time for seconds... doesn’t seem like you’re gonna last much longer if I keep this up,” she went on as his cock twitched in her hand, a sure fire sign that he probably wasn’t far from climax. Aaron wondered just how long he should keep filming before interrupting... no woman liked the taste of that stuff and he was convinced that Willard would either be the kind of asshole that expected the chick to swallow or worse still, he’d act like a pornstar and unload it on her. He wasn’t sure he could do that to Bella, not when she was already going above and beyond in order for them to pull of this little scam of theirs...
“You know me better than that baby doll,” Willard said as he brought his hand down to run a finger across Bella’s cheek before slipping his hand around the rear of her head to encourage it back down to the task at hand. “The first is a warmup... then it’s on to the main workout,” he said, his hand moving to his shirt as he started to pop open the buttons of his dress shirt. “That’s it baby, with the tongue, just like that... daddy isn’t far off,” Willard said and Aaron decided enough was enough.
“Looks like you’re having fun bro!” Aaron said, stepping out from around the corner of the wall, his phone held up to capture every horrifying moment of Willard’s reaction as his face lost all color and he fell back into the wall, his cock actually making a popping sound as he slipped from Bella’s mouth and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she backed away quickly, getting out of the shot. “Oh come on, you’re not finished already at you, dude? Strapping guy like you, you should have stamina for days, right? And you looked like you were enjoying yourself so much bro, don’t let me interrupt!” he went on, smirking as he stepped towards the bed, overjoyed at the fear that sat on Willard’s pale face. The agent swallowed heavily, Aaron actually saw his adam’s apple bob as he tried to use his shirt to cover his modesty... too little too late though, too little too late...
“A-Aaron? W-what the hell are... why the hell... fuck...” Willard stammered, unable to process what was going on at first as he slid down the wall and sat slumped against the headboard, using one of the pillows to finally cover himself up. “Fuck, you both p-planned this, didn’t you?!” the agent asked, finally pulling himself together but Aaron shook his head.
“No idea what the fuck you’re talking about bro,” Aaron made sure to say before thumbing the stop button to end the video so that the rest of the conversation would be just between the three of them. Plausible deniability was the most important thing, especially if they did have to tell the cops that this was all an attempt to get him to leave her the fuck alone. “Planned what, Foster? What could you possibly think this is, other than you going behind your wife’s back to score with a young chick?!” he asked, making sure to control the direction of the conversation by bringing his wife into things. “I mean, Christ bro, you’ve been married for how long? I know your eldest is in grade school now, and you were married before your kids were born, so that’s a good few years Foster... you dirty bastard,” Aaron teased, actually enjoying the power that he felt like he had in the moment, watching Willard squirm. It was quite the shift in power, when all was considered; this guy thought of himself as a power player, someone who was used to being in control, making deals and negotiating contracts and now he was completely exposed, literally and metaphorically, and powerless with it.
“Don’t you bring my family into this,” Willard said, a touch of defiance cutting through the fear that was still more than evident on his face... but it was false bravado, Aaron knew that. He was in no position to be making demands, now with the footage that Aaron had on his phone. “So I’m screwing around, big fucking whoop... it’s twenty eighteen, it happens!”
“Funny,” Aaron said, rubbing the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. “I mean, I’m half your age... I’m the right age to not think that monogamy is important... yet I’ve not once thought about screwing around behind Scarlett’s back, you know?” he asked, as if they were just having a nice talk, a chat between friends. “But maybe that’s because I’m not lowlife scum that takes advantage of young girls in shitty situations in order to get my rocks off in hotels and feel like I’m young again, huh bro?! She’s nineteen, Willard... how can you even think about trying to justify paying her to fuck you when your eldest kid isn’t that much younger?!”
“And I’ve seen the photos of his wife in his wallet; she could be a model... you’d never believe she’s given birth twice with her figure,” Bella added, opening the mini bar to take out one of the small bottles of vodka which she took a drink from, grimacing as she swallowed. “Talk about wanting to have your cake and eat it...”
“Oh yeah?” Aaron asked, genuinely interested. He looked at Bella for a moment before turning back to Willard with a childish smile on his face. “Well whadda you know, huh? A worldy at home and here you are getting some in a hotel... what’s a matter bro, things fizzled out at home, huh?”
“I told you not to talk about my family you little prick!” Willard said, his temper flaring again but Aaron raised a finger, waggling it at the agent and tutted.
“Ah ah ah bro, you’re in no position to be telling anyone what to do right now,” Aaron said, still smiling. “I mean, look at you; cock and balls hidden by a damn hotel pillow, possibly about to go viral on porn hub if you keep the attitude going... sure your friends and associates would love to check out the competition in other ways than the board right, and man, your wife! You think she’d be pissed off or aroused by watching Bella blowing you in ten eighty? Love the iPhone X for that bro, full HD resolution...” he said, letting the threat hang in the air, and what little color Willard had left drained and took his fight with it. He seemed to deflate in front of both Aaron and Bella, and not just in a euphemistic way. He was beaten and he knew it.
“So what do you want huh? Money? Sounds about right...” Willard said, grinding his teeth together as he clenched his jaw tightly. “Look, just--”
“I thought he just said you weren’t in any position to be telling anyone what to do!” Bella said, snarling back at Willard. “You’re a sick sack of shit, you know that?! You knew the position I’ve been in, you know the trouble I’ve had and you took advantage of that!” she said through clenched teeth of her own, taking half a step towards the bed and Aaron was convinced she was going to go for Willard, lunge at him, and he stepped around the bed to put a hand on the small of her back. Not holding her, not putting any pressure on, but making sure she knew he needed her to keep her cool.
“You see what your bullshit does to people bro?” Aaron said, shaking his head sadly. “You screw people over in your professional life and you screw them over in your personal life too... metaphorically in some case,” he added, motioning towards Bella with his head. “And you do it without even thinking about the consequenes, that’s the kicker... did you even think about whether Bella wanted to do the things she did when you were handing over the readies for her services? And don’t get me started on the shit you put me through for a few months last year... getting me to work with the woman who was stalking me?! Fuck, that was idiotic... but hey, don’t worry alright bro? We’re all friends here, right Bella?” he asked and she nodded her head, though the look on her face made it painfully obvious that she believed anything but. “We’re gonna get going now okay... you just think about what we’ve said, alright? Finish up here, do whatever you gotta do. Don’t want you going home with blue balls, do we? Maybe look at those photos of your wife Bella said you have in your wallet, that might help. Or maybe not, who knows. Have a good night Foster... we’ll catch up real soon,” he finished and without hesitation he started to guide Bella from the room. They heard foster yelling the word asshole at him as the door swung shut behind them, Aaron dropping the spare room key by the door on the way out and they didn’t wait for the elevator, instead heading straight down the stairs and out through the lobby. They were two blocks over before they slowed down to catch their breath...
“Holy fucking shit, did you see the look on his face?!” Bella said, cracking up; perhaps it was that her temper had broken, or maybe it was that her nerves had worn off, but she laughed right from the pit of her stomach, and Aaron couldn’t help but crack up too. “I thought he was gonna have a heart attack at first... or pass out, one of the two! Fuck, we’ve got him by the balls!” she said and Aaron smirked.
“Literally in your case... or a close approximation anyway,” Aaron said and Bella slapped him playfully on the arm. “Fuck though, he really is ours for the taking... he’s fucking shitting himself, did you see how pale he went?!”
“Like a ghost!” Bella said with a huge grin on her face. “Casper would have looked like he had a tan in comparison! I know I was worried he’d go to the cops, but the way you kept mentioning his wife and kids? There’s no fucking way he’ll risk that, you could see it in his face!” she said with such glee that Aaron couldn’t remember ever seeing her happier in the short few months they’d known one another. “So what next? I mean, I assume we leave him to worry for a while, but...”
“That’s exactly what we do,” Aaron said with a nod. “Leave him to panic for a while, a few days, a week maybe. Then just happen to be in the area at some point, call in for a visit. See how grateful he is that we’d agree to not share his exploits with the world,” Aaron said, starting to walk up the sidewalk towards an empty bench a few yards away. “And if he’s not that grateful, maybe I’ll call on him at home. He gave me the address last year, I’m sure his wife would be happy to welcome a prospective client into their home for a little chat with him, don’t you think?”
Bella’s face split into a grin that went from ear to ear, and she nodded her head enthusiastically. “Oh, I’m sure she would...” she agreed. “Show us round, give us the tour... maybe introduce us to the kids, invite us to stay for dinner, the whole nine yards... I’m sure she’s the kind of wife that goes out of her way to help her husband with his deals in any way possible...” she suggested and Aaron nodded his head just as enthusiastically as she had moments earlier.
“Oh absolutely! I mean, I’d like to think so, anyway!” he said, grinning. And it was a real grin too, he was incredibly happy about how the whole thing had gone, and okay, so maybe this was a world away from the kid that Aaron used to be... but while he was a Helms now, and while he had trained under his father at AnteUp, it wasn’t David Helms that was the biggest influence in his life anymore, but Regan Helms. And Regan took no prisoners in life, she didn’t let anyone get the better of her and took every opportunity to get the upper hand over those who wronged her. He liked to think he was doing her proud with this one, even if he wasn’t planning on running home to tell her any time soon... he couldn’t implicate anyone that may be at risk of getting dragged into things if it did go south. Which meant he couldn’t tell Scarlett either... though he suspected that she wouldn’t find the whole thing all that amusing if he did anyway, so maybe that was for the best. But one thing that he was sure about, was that Aaron finally felt like he was free for the first time in months. If not years. He’s shaken off the burden of trying to be the best he could be, free of trying too hard to be Mr. Nice Guy... and that was refreshing. It felt good. And this... well, it was only the start. He hadn’t even begun to turn the screws yet... and that was the real exciting part, wasn’t it?!
“So tell me again how the fuck this is meant to work?” Bella asked Aaron, her face scrunches up with an expression of confusion as Aaron adjusted one of the standing studio lights slightly on its tripod. The lighting had been slightly off in his opinion in his last video and he wanted to work out the kinks early on now that he had his own little studio up and running. “I mean, I get the basic concept, matches drawn at random and you find out on the night or whatever... but how the fuck does that work in like, I dunno, a mentality kind of way? That’s gotta fuck with your head, talking about a match now that could not be for another two weeks and could be absolutely anything, all based on some random draw?” she said, and Aaron nodded his head at her comment despite having his back turned to her.
“It’s not the easiest thing in the world,” he said, stepping to the side of the light and switching it back on to check the new angle and Bella blinked animatedly, her eyes unfortunately looking right at it as Aaron had turned it on.
“Fuck dude, give me some warning next time?!” the brunette said, shielding her eyes with a hand as she stepped out of its direct line of sight. “So do you know what you’re going to say then? I can’t imagine how you’d even begin talking about something like this, under the circumstances... I know you tend to come off a little not-giving-a-shit-y when it comes to talking about your matches, but at least you know what they are beforehand... this is completely different!”
“It is and it isn’t,” Aaron said with a shrug as he zipped up his hooded top and slid his hands into the pockets. “I mean, okay, it kind of takes a different mentality, but at the same time, these videos are about getting our internal thoughts across, right?” he said, and Bella shrugged before nodding a little. “And when all’s said and done, as long as I still do that, it’s not really any different when you think about it... I’m not exactly shy at saying how I feel, I guess I picked that up from Regs, so I’ll just do the same here. Pretty simple really,” he concluded, shrugging himself as Bella seemed to consider his viewpoint.
It didn’t seem like she was all that convinced by his explanation, his shrugging off of the issue, but she wasn’t in the business either, so maybe it was something that she couldn’t understand quite as well as he could? “I guess I can see that,” she conceded, though she sounded less than convinced. “But at the same time, it seems like something that can really throw you off too... I mean, you could go in expecting to get screwed over by the draw and be in some shitty pointless match and then end up with a world title match that you’re not prepared for... and at the same time, you could be hoping for some amazing match that sets your career on fire and you end up with an enchilada on a pole match against that sexually transmitted disease guy...”
“Sammy Thomas Davies,” Aaron offered, but Bella frowned and shook her head.
“Nah, not him,” she said, looking thoughtful for a minute before she remembered the name of the guy she was talking about. “Blake Mason, that’s the guy...” she said, and Aaron legitimately snorted with laughter as Bella smirked. “Come on, guy’s been around a bit... you’re not telling me he’s completely and utterly clean and always has been?!”
“I try not to even consider his exploits if I can help it,” Aaron said, still chuckling to himself. “As for the other stuff... I get where you’re coming from, but honestly? I’m not even gonna worry about what my match is, I’m just gonna do my usual thing and then see what happens. If my match is bogus, then hey, I’m still getting paid... if it’s an epic opportunity then sweet, time to take advantage and get to where I wanna be. What I won’t do is worry about it and end up looking like an idiot because I read far too much into things...” he says, shrugging. “Just gonna roll with it like usual and we’ll see what happens...”
Bella looks skeptical but then shrugs. “Alright,” she says, starting to walk towards the door that led to the control booth. “Well, you’re the boss... I’ll go make sure everything’s read to go, you just do your thing I guess?” she said playfully before disappearing through the door, leaving Aaron to roll his eyes before walking over to his usual mark on the floor.
“All set?” he asked through the window to the booth a couple minutes later as Bella made some final adjustments and looked up to give him a thumbs up through the glass. “Alright, ready when you are,” he said and Bella nodded before going back to the console. Aaron waiting for the red light to illuminate above the window to the booth to tell him the camera was rolling before finally getting the video underway.
[[RECORDING UNDERWAY]]
“Twitter...” Aaron says, slipping his hands into his pockets as he looks down at his feet for a moment before looking back up at the camera. “The home of the internet troll and the keyboard warrior, nothing knew there I guess, because as long as there’s been internet, there’s been people who love to hide behind it,” he says, shrugging his shoulders a little. “And nah, this isn’t gonna turn into another rant about social media before you start assuming that’s where I’m heading... at least not in the way you’d probably be thinking, anyway. See, as much as I may rip on that thing, I do see the benefits of twitter; gives you idiots at home a way to contact us that doesn’t leave us having to breathe the same air, something I’m a huge proponent of believe me... but it’s also a nice way of selling your brand or products or whatever you want to peddle. Plus, ya know, occasionally sharing thoughts as intended works too, so there’s that,” Aaron says with a chuckle to himself before turning his attention back to the task at hand. “But the problem with social media is that while it could have all the uses in the world and have the best of intentions... it leaves everything up to the fuck nugget using it to decide how it works for them. And that’s kind of a problem bro, because some people are dumber than a bag of hammers and that’s when you end up with a situation I like to think of as cannon fodder. You know what I’m talking about, right? Those stupid assholes that talk the biggest game in the world on social media, running their mouth and flapping their fingers across keys to score cheap points only to get their asses handed to them when it comes time to back it up... kind of the opposite to me in that respect, who barely bothers to use his twitter and doesn’t waste his time trying to score cheap points because I’m actually fucking smart,” he says with a smirk. “But sometimes it can feel like your opponent or some random asshole in general is just giving you gold, you know what I mean? And right now, well, it’s not like I didn’t say everything I wanted to say on Breakdown last week, but Datura is just the perfect example of that, isn’t she?”
Aaron’s face splits into a grin again as he nods his head very slowly, in a belittling way. “I don’t know the bitch, other than name value anyway... I know pops whooped her ass three years ago, and I know she was in Majestic when he was before that too, but honestly, when you’re only claim to fame in a company is that you got your ass kicked in your one and only match there, should you actually be running your mouth the way this dumb fuck does, huh?! Let me answer that one for you guys, because the answer is one hundred percent no on each and every fucking front,” he says emphatically, shaking his head as he brings a finger up to wag it at the camera. “No, you should not tweet up a storm making broad sweeping threats about busting necks or fucking shit up or whatever she it was that the flapped her metaphorical gums about in the lead up to our little ‘spat’, when the only reason you fucks at home know her is because she tried to get under my old man’s skin three years ago and ate the canvas for her troubles! And I know, I know, you don’t have to point out that there’s life outside of SCW or that other companies exist, that she’s done this that or the other in other companies she’s been a part of... but fuck that, why should I care about what she’s done in other wrestling companies, huh?! Eric fucking Herrera claimed to be something like a fifty time world champion across various companies over the course of his career, but when it came down to it, what the fuck did he achieve here, huh? Nada. He still rage quit and ran away like a little bitch because the roster and you fucks at home didn’t give a damn about his sixteen backyard wrestling title wins and his reign as United States Felching Champion,” he continues, rolling his eyes at the memory of Herrera’s last run in SCW. “Oh, and Liz? Datura? Shit, what the fuck do I even call her? I mean, dad calls her Liz, which I assume is her name, but that’s not her brand, huh? Guess I’d better tow the company line, given SCW will probably be selling her appearances under her assumed name, the one already in the record books here, ya know? So Datura? Just so you know sweetheart, I’m now at three hundred forty five thousand six hundred and eighty two Mississippi... in case you wanted an update on where I’m at while waiting for you to actually turn up and start doing anything that you’ve alluded to so far on your social media platform of choice. I’ll keep you updated as I go on, just so you’ve got a running record of how unworried I am about your bullshit bravado, okay sweet cheeks?”
Laughing to himself, Aaron takes his hands and runs one through his hair before cracking his neck one way then the other. “Won’t bother wasting much more time on her, because in all honesty I said practically everything I wanted to say to the trampy goth bitch last Wednesday on Breakdown, but I’m starting to think that I got in line at the right time because something tells me there’s gonna be quite the queue forming up soon enough to want to kick Datura’s ass if she actually has the stones to show up in SCW rather than hiding behind her keyboard and it’ll be interesting how she stacks up when it’s not just her coming in to face my old man in a one off match,” he says, his face looking thoughtful for a moment. “I mean, sure, Quinne got in there first with accepting the open challenge laid out by our own intern on her behalf, but I know for a fact that mom wants a chance to whoop her butt from one side of the ring to the other after that wedding dress stunt and the rest of the bullshit... she can’t be the only one either. But we’ll save that for when we find out if she actually has the nerve to show up... and as for my uncle? Well, Dylan, good luck dealing with mom, that’s all I’m gonna say on that... got more than just a feeling that you’re gonna fucking need it bro, but hey, more power to you if that’s really what you want dude. Crazy is as crazy does as they say...” Aaron says to himself, chuckling to himself before he waves a dismissive hand to the camera. “Anyway, not the point... kind of getting sidetracked talking about idiots here, and if I keep doing that I’ll be here all fucking day bro, because idiocy and professional wrestling go fucking hand in hand at times, they really do... but idiocy can wait until any matches get booked, because I’m here for something else completely and that something starts this Wednesday night Buffalo and culminates next Wednesday in Milwaukee... Fatal Fortunes!” he says, looking up at the camera for a second before actually turning away to start pacing back and forth across the room.
Never quite leaving the view of the camera, he goes from one side to the other and back again before Aaron begins to muse out loud while walking. “I imagine there’s a fair few people thinking this is gonna be the making of them if they can get a run of good luck... and in truth, it can be if things do go well for them. I’ve been in this thing before, I’m coming up to my third anniversary in the company so of course I’ve been here before... and given the opportunity I got last year, I know all too well that this whole thing can be a huge deal for someone if the odds are in their favor... not that it did me any favors really, getting my ass handed to me by Kelcey Wallace for the world title but there we go. Not that I’m still salty or anything,” he says, smirking to himself again. “That doesn’t change the fact that this whole deal can change lives though, or careers at the very least... all it takes is three seconds to completely change the way your career is going, and the directions it takes next. And isn’t that the hope? You cling to the hope that fortune favors you, that lady luck doesn’t just shine a light on you but squirts her liquid luck right in your face and you get that match that your lazy, poor-performing ass doesn’t deserve so you can choke on a much bigger stage... and okay, maybe that’s a little too salty, but you get my point. These two shows can be the golden ticket for some lucky bastard, and until the matches are revealed on Wednesday and the week after, you just won’t know who is getting that rub! Can’t say I’m not curious myself about what the draw is gonna have,” he muses, pausing to look up thoughtfully before he scoffs and goes back to his pacing. “Or I would be if I wasn’t questioning just how legitimate the true random nature of this thing really is, anyway...” he says, coming to a stop right on the mark on the floor where he stood at the beginning of the video, rounding on the camera and looking straight down the lens with such a resentful expression on his face that it’s clear he doesn’t trust the board one iota. “Think about it for a minute, you idiot... if the board of directors only care about profits as I’ve protested they do, instead of caring about its own talent, then what the fuck is to stop those jackasses from playing god by changing some of the matches in order to suit their own ends, huh?! Oh, so the intern said on twitter that the matches are drawn and locked away in a safe somewhere? Okay, cool... who’s safe? Locked away where? Are they in a safe in head office? Who has access to it? Who knows what the draw is? Do they have someone to vouchsafe that the line up that comes out is the same as the one that went in and if they do, how much can they be trusted?! SO MANY FUCKING QUESTIONS bro, and that’s just based off that one little fucking announcement from the SCW twitter account... and given my distrust of the bastards that run this company, and my distrust of Mr. Douche, you can probably guess how much faith I have to place on anyone that sits on that board that this truly is completely random!”
“Think on that,” he says, throwing his arms open wide in a shrug as he shakes his head ever so slightly. “This is a board led by a guy that willingly forces his own roster to do his dirty work against their will. A man who blackmails his roster into doing his bidding instead of thinking of the benefit of the whole roster. A board of directors that allow sexual harassment at a time where Me Too is taking off faster than Stormy Daniels could tweet about President Fart’s mushroom dick! With everything I’ve seen from the SCW board of directors, it wouldn’t shock me one bit to discover that they’ve tailored the draw for Fatal Fortunes to suit their own needs rather than actually letting fate decide the entire card for two shows consecutively! I mean, can you imagine it?” he says, before his posture changes and he sweeps his hair back before holding on to a fictional lapel with one hand as he pretends to read a piece of paper in his other hand, speaking in a voice that sounds far more formal and particularly stuck up. “What’s this? Regan Street is to be awarded a world title opportunity? Oh no, we can’t have that. We can’t have one of the most dominant wrestlers of the last two years getting an opportunity, no... let’s just scribble her name out and hand Selena Frost that opportunity instead. Think of the merchandise sales, the children will all want a new believe shirt won’t they? Capital!” he says, before suddenly turning to snarl at the camera as he pretends to punch someone he has in a pretend headlock. “That is exactly the kind of fucking attitude this company has; where’s Regan’s rematch for the U.S title, huh? Fair enough, Regan and Bree are on the same wavelength and all, but if anything, Regan deserves a rematch for that belt more than Jason does, given he only held the fucking thing in the first place because Regan got herself disqualified! But no, instead she’s insulted by having to face – and I mean no offence here bro – but she’s insulted by having to face Owen Cruze, when she could be main eventing pay per views and fucking should be! The SCW board are not above screwing anyone over, so why the fuck should I believe that they wouldn’t screw the entire roster in order to create a ‘random’ card that suits their own needs while still managing to appear to be actually random?!” he asks, his nostrils flaring a little in anger as he just shakes his head.
“And maybe I’m overreacting here... but I remember thinking about Fatal Fortunes just as I described it earlier in this video when I was waiting to find out what my match was last year,” he says, shaking his head in disappointment at himself. “I remember sitting back stage wondering if I was gonna be the guy that got humped by the lucky Leprechaun, the guy that lucked out and got the huge opportunity... and I did. AJ Helms versus Kelcey Wallace for the SCW World Heavyweight Championship... but given everything I know about the board now, given how my eyes are open at least, even that has a whole new seedy fucking meaning for me, and not just because I failed that not and lost to Kelcey... how do I know that wasn’t orchestrated, huh?! No, seriously, think about that...” he says, stepping a little closer to the camera which tracks up as Bella adjusts it electronically from inside the control booth. “Back then, I was still something of a name, or a potential future name anyway... the son of David Helms, a kid with name value and someone that they thought they could mould and shape into what they envision as a top star to truly represent this company; how the fuck do we know that they didn’t ‘randomly’ draw my name out of the hat to face her that night, huh?! Makes you question everything about Fatal Fortunes and not just in a conspiracy nut, nine eleven is an inside job, lizard people run the country kind of way but in a logical way that actually makes a whole load of fucking sense! In the last twelve months alone we’ve seen it time after time after time, either Mr. Douche or the rest of the board going into business for themselves and fuck whoever gets screwed over in the wake of them bringing their size nines down as they try and stamp their authority on the company! So how can I stand here now and talk about whether this will finally be the night where I get the opportunity I deserve?” he asks, scoffing again as he shakes his head in disgust. “How can I stand here in front of this camera and talk about possibly getting what I deserve in this dump at long last when the board and Ol’ Douchewych done nothing but screw with me, force my hand, hold me back and deny me what I deserve for the past nine months, minimum?! And I’m not saying I want to face people I actually consider allies in this shit-show, because unlike some I wouldn’t screw over my own friends or family in order to get ahead – Hi Selena, how ya doing sweetheart? – but at the same time, if this thing truly is random instead of the fix that I expect it to be then if I have to go against Sienna or Bree or Josh, hell, even Andrew Raynes, then we go out there and put on the best show you fucks will ever see in your life and who knows, maybe you’ll get your money’s worth for a change around here... but if that does happen then at least I’ll know there’s no fix, because right now, Past Present Future and our associates, we control almost every title in this dive, and there’s no way the board would give one of us a shot at another because that doesn’t suit their needs, does it?!”
Asking his question, Aaron steps even closer to the camera, which tracks up to follow him so that only his head and shoulders are framed in the shot. “So I won’t hold my breath,” he says, smiling humorlessly into the camera, the smile not making it as far as his eyes. “I won’t hold my breath that Fatal Fortunes will rectify the unfair bias booking of the board of assclowns or Mr. Douche... but maybe that doesn’t matter? Maybe that doesn’t put me in a position any different to anyone else on this roster, it’s just approaching things from the opposite side. Some poor fuck will be sat back their crossing fingers, toes and balls that they’re the one chosen for a shot at infamy... or crossing labia, I don’t want to discriminate... whereas I’ll be sat back there expecting the opposite, expecting to get some bullshit match that means nothing, probably against Konrad Raab in a pacifier on a pole match or some equally inane bullshit... but the only way to find out is to turn up, right?” he asks, shrugging his shoulders before finally smirking properly, this time reaching his eyes which glint mischievously. “Suck it and see... that’s the t-l-d-r version; and god fucking help whoever I do end up facing, that’s all I’ll say. It’s about damn time I stopped fucking around on the cusp and actually forced myself into the upper echelon of this company. I’m a member of Past Present Future, I’m a member of the Helms Dynasty for fuck sake. Why the hell am I still fucking around with those beneath me just by token of not being a part of the greatest wrestling family this company has seen in the last decade?! So while fortune may favor the brave... I think this week or next, whenever my name is drawn, I think I’ll just stick to the first part of the name, and leave someone else’s career here in a fatal condition... because it’s time to put up or shut the fuck up. And does anything I’ve done in recent months make you think I plan on keeping my mouth shut, huh?” he asks, smirking again before bringing things to a close as he does in every video. “BANG!” he shouts, smirking before simply stepping out of the shot and the video comes to an end.
[[/RECORDING STOPPED]]
“You really think they’d do that?” Bella asked a few seconds later, having hit the stop button inside the control room before making her way back into the studio. “I mean, isn’t that kind of a bullshit thing to do, not to you guys who work for them, but to the fans? People expect something to be true and it’s actually far from it?”
“Have you paid attention to anything I’ve been saying since you started helping me film these videos?” Aaron asked as he unzipped his hooded top and slipped it off, tossing it onto the floor by the wall.
“I have,” Bella told him with a nod. “But at the same time, I never know how much is just spin and how much is the truth... I mean, it’s not like I’ve been an avid SCW fan until recently, dude. If I wasn’t made to go to AnteUp, I wouldn’t have ever found my own way there, you know?”
“Yeah, I do,” he replied with a sigh before looking at her; sometimes he forgot that Bella wasn’t there by choice and that it was all part of keeping her out of jail instead. “And honestly? A lot of what I say is probably spin... but some of that shit is true. I’m not joking when I talk about them ignoring sexual harassment, or the stuff with the board or D. in particular trying to blackmail me into doing his bidding... that shit is all true!” he told her, not even a shred of doubt in his voice. “And I meant every word about not trusting the board to the point where it wouldn’t shock me if I found out they’d fucked with the draw in order to make it fit their purposes...”
“Don’t you worry about your mouth getting you into trouble though?” she asked. It was an honest question and it wasn’t as if Aaron hadn’t asked himself whether he was going too far on occasion when he was filming his promos.
“Honestly? I don’t care anymore,” he replied, which was the same answer he’d come up with whenever he questioned himself on those same occasions. “I’m speaking my mind and saying what I actually want to say now, instead of saying what I think people want me to say... if it gets me in trouble or gets me fired then so be it. I’ve already come to the conclusion that I’d rather go out on my terms than continue to have a job by someone else’s... and if the board or D or anyone else takes exception to what I say and decides it’s time to get rid of me to save them the hassle then it is what it is...”
“You’re braver than I am,” Bella told him, shrugging. “I don’t think I’d want to take the risk of getting fired when I pulled in the money you do a year... not worth the risk...”
“Yeah well, money is fine,” he told her, walking over to the lighting rig he’d adjusted earlier to shut it off. “But there comes a point when you have to decide if money is worth pretending to be something or someone you’re not... and I’d rather not keep pretending I’m somebody else and keep my mouth shut for the sake of a paycheque. Besides, it’s worked out alright so far, so why pull my punches?” he asked as he walked over to the second light rig to shut that off too. “That’s something you’ll have to get used to if you ever decide to try and enter the business, Bella... be yourself, because it’s sure as fuck not worth the headache trying to be someone else...”
Bella thought about that for a moment, and after a while she simply smirked back at him. “I’ve never really known how to be anyone but me, dude... that’s kind of what got me in trouble in the first place, remember?” she told him with a smirk and after a second, Aaron returned it with one of his own. Fair point... and that was probably why he got on so well with her. She was a trouble maker... and after two years of being a do-gooder, that was exactly what he needed in a friend... exactly what he needed...
