Post by Hannah Reed on Dec 2, 2012 3:41:11 GMT -6
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Roberto and Hannah sit side by side, the latter cuddled up against Verona as a fire crackles away warmly a few feet away, sending a pleasant glow around the room. Neith say a word until Verona suddenly begins to shuffle nervously, reaching into his jacket to check his phone after seemingly feeling it vibrate. A little confused, Hannah looks up at her boyfriend with quizzical eyes.
Are you OK?
Verona shakes off the mental isolation, snapping back to reality.
Yes, sorry, I just had this strange feeling Adam was trying to call me…
Hannah rolls her eyes.
You two have become creepily inseparable after beating each other up, it’s seriously worrying.
Didn’t you see what he did to Nathan Webb? It’s impossible to not enjoy that.
Men are weird.
Roberto suddenly cocks an eyebrow.
Oh really? How many pairs of shoes did you bring home from your shopping trip with Kelly?
That’s different, nobody got hurt in the pursuit of those shoes….well, except this one girl who got between Kelly and a pair of Louis Vuittons.
Yeah, men are weird.
Hannah shoots Roberto a look which forces him to concede defeat and change the subject.
So where is Jessica?
Hannah shrugs.
She said she was grabbing a bite to eat, depending on how she felt about herself this morning she could be back any moment or she could be a while.
What did you tell her exactly?
That we had to talk about her living arrangements.
Don’t you think that’d make her comfort eat more?
Suddenly the pair are interrupted by the sound of Jessica entering the front door, looking a little downtrodden as her heart sinks when she sees the pair sat waiting for her in the living room. Composing herself she takes a deep breath and walks defiantly towards them.
Look, before you guys say anything I have a few things I wanted to say.
Erm, Jess, we just wanted to…
Jessica raises a finger to halt Verona.
Please, let me finish. I just wanted to say thank you so very much for letting me stay here on and off so often the past few months it really is appreciated and it helped me so much after I left home…
Jess…
And I know I haven’t always been the easiest person to live with but I just wasn’t used to living away from Dad and I guess I got a little concerned when you weren’t shouting at me every five minutes…
Will you just….
I really was sorry about bringing that guy home who stole the kettle, I didn’t have any idea it was actually valuable and in my defence I can’t do a criminal check on every man I meet…
Please stop…
If you really need me to leave then I will find somewhere as soon as possible, there was this little place in town, it was going cheap because somebody was murdered there but I figured I could just buy a few more locks…
Yes?
Can you let us get a word in?
I just wanted to tell you how much the last few months meant to me…
And if you just listened instead of digging a grave you’d realise you’ve got this all wrong.
Wrong? How do you mean…
We’re not asking you to move out.
A sudden wave of relief washes over Jess before suddenly curiosity reheats her anxiety.
Then why did you want to talk about my living arrangements?
Because we wanted to ask you to move in permanently, but after you reminded me about the burglar you brought home…
Move in!? You really mean it?
Yes, we’re not messing you around, we think it’d be good for you to have some stability for once.
Tears begin to well up in Jessica’s eyes as the does her best to hold back her emotions, but to no avail.
I don’t know what to say…
Yes?
Jessica tries to speak but instead, she simply opts to run forward and leap on top of Roberto who is taken aback by the outburst of affection, before becoming visibly irritated by it as Hannah stands at his side holding back laughter as best she can.
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Roberto and Hannah sit side by side, the latter cuddled up against Verona as a fire crackles away warmly a few feet away, sending a pleasant glow around the room. Neith say a word until Verona suddenly begins to shuffle nervously, reaching into his jacket to check his phone after seemingly feeling it vibrate. A little confused, Hannah looks up at her boyfriend with quizzical eyes.
Are you OK?
Verona shakes off the mental isolation, snapping back to reality.
Yes, sorry, I just had this strange feeling Adam was trying to call me…
Hannah rolls her eyes.
You two have become creepily inseparable after beating each other up, it’s seriously worrying.
Didn’t you see what he did to Nathan Webb? It’s impossible to not enjoy that.
Men are weird.
Roberto suddenly cocks an eyebrow.
Oh really? How many pairs of shoes did you bring home from your shopping trip with Kelly?
That’s different, nobody got hurt in the pursuit of those shoes….well, except this one girl who got between Kelly and a pair of Louis Vuittons.
Yeah, men are weird.
Hannah shoots Roberto a look which forces him to concede defeat and change the subject.
So where is Jessica?
Hannah shrugs.
She said she was grabbing a bite to eat, depending on how she felt about herself this morning she could be back any moment or she could be a while.
What did you tell her exactly?
That we had to talk about her living arrangements.
Don’t you think that’d make her comfort eat more?
Suddenly the pair are interrupted by the sound of Jessica entering the front door, looking a little downtrodden as her heart sinks when she sees the pair sat waiting for her in the living room. Composing herself she takes a deep breath and walks defiantly towards them.
Look, before you guys say anything I have a few things I wanted to say.
Erm, Jess, we just wanted to…
Jessica raises a finger to halt Verona.
Please, let me finish. I just wanted to say thank you so very much for letting me stay here on and off so often the past few months it really is appreciated and it helped me so much after I left home…
Jess…
And I know I haven’t always been the easiest person to live with but I just wasn’t used to living away from Dad and I guess I got a little concerned when you weren’t shouting at me every five minutes…
Will you just….
I really was sorry about bringing that guy home who stole the kettle, I didn’t have any idea it was actually valuable and in my defence I can’t do a criminal check on every man I meet…
Please stop…
If you really need me to leave then I will find somewhere as soon as possible, there was this little place in town, it was going cheap because somebody was murdered there but I figured I could just buy a few more locks…
Yes?
Can you let us get a word in?
I just wanted to tell you how much the last few months meant to me…
And if you just listened instead of digging a grave you’d realise you’ve got this all wrong.
Wrong? How do you mean…
We’re not asking you to move out.
A sudden wave of relief washes over Jess before suddenly curiosity reheats her anxiety.
Then why did you want to talk about my living arrangements?
Because we wanted to ask you to move in permanently, but after you reminded me about the burglar you brought home…
Move in!? You really mean it?
Yes, we’re not messing you around, we think it’d be good for you to have some stability for once.
Tears begin to well up in Jessica’s eyes as the does her best to hold back her emotions, but to no avail.
I don’t know what to say…
Yes?
Jessica tries to speak but instead, she simply opts to run forward and leap on top of Roberto who is taken aback by the outburst of affection, before becoming visibly irritated by it as Hannah stands at his side holding back laughter as best she can.
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It’s been a month since I shocked the world and shook hands with my arch-nemesis, the object of everybody’s hate and disgust, Kelly Fox.
And damn it still feels as good now as it did then to know I’d pulled the wool over everybody’s eyes.
Why?
Because it means I am doing my job properly. I promised to revolutionise this business and make it interesting again and at the Road to the Gold I took everyone by surprise and threw a curve ball that nobody had expected. By one simple act I changed the face of the game and drew back viewers who had long since given up on this product who were desperate to find out why I had turned my back on all my ideals to get into bed with the devil.
In 1 minute I did more for this company than 90% of the roster has done in their entire careers. Including you, Mike.
You see, I didn’t get into this business to be adored universally, it’s a fallacy that is best left for the spot monkeys breaking their bodies for the adulation of people who soon forget about them until they read their obituary. I got into this business to change it, to create moments that would bring back those who had grown tired of the status quo and the tired old clichés that riddled this company for far too long.
And I’ve brought change.
More importantly, I’ve brought the entertainment back to a company that was founded with the motive of providing the biggest show in the world for wrestling fans. Does it matter to me that I have to play the role of the villain? No, far from it, it’s far more enjoyable finding ways to draw your pure hatred than simply saying a few bad things about Kelly Fox to get you all to cheer. Slithering out of your grasp for weeks on end Laszlo is exactly what this company needed, because now everybody wants to see you kick my ass.
Granted, you’re going to lose still, but people actually give a **** about this title again.
And that is all thanks to me. You see, people like you Mike should be grateful for everything I have done to raise the profile of NCW and its flagship belt because now it means men like you get to share the spotlight with me and the riches that it brings. People don’t look at the World Champion and think to themselves “This guy doesn’t care about that belt, he’s just in it for himself”.
And that means being truly grateful, none of this insincere platitudes you lay at my feet in an attempt to demean me and set up a catchy promo finish.
They see a man who is proud to be NCW World Champion, who showed the man he beat for it more respect in a week than the rest of you did through his entire reign.
Everyone knows how much I respect this belt and that rubs off on the prestige it has in the eyes of the fans, who are desperate to see it return to being the beacon of this company. Sure, the fact that I walk around with an arrogance only matched by your own makes people think I only care about how to improve my own lot, but the reality is that everything I do, I do it for the future of NCW, even if it may appear to be detrimental.
Now, this weekend, they have a match they actually want to see.
Before you get ahead of yourself, it isn’t because you’re in it, so settle yourself down there sport. No, they want to tune in this weekend to see how I will emerge as the NCW World Champion and to watch history in the making as I defend my title for the first time. You’re just a bit part player with a semi-legitimate reason for being there so people can buy into you as the hero of the piece.
Maybe you cannot accept that, but it is what it is.
Two victories over me or not, people simply don’t see you as a real threat and realistically deep down they realise the best they can hope for is that you manage to give me a bit of an ass kicking before I inevitably pin you.
But more importantly, I don’t see you as a threat. It didn’t take a lot of convincing or dictionary reading to reach that conclusion either.
And, quite honestly, why should I? You’ve offered nothing new to the table, instead you’ve mocked me for being repetitive only to resort to the usual tired old nonsense you trot out every time you talk about me with an extra sprinkle of hypocritical nonsense.
Here’s a tip, Mike, if you’re going to call me boring, it’s your duty to provide some entertainment value yourself, not just repeat every promo you’ve aired for the past month.
A week after I defeated you in the Road to the Gold you told the world there was no shame in losing to me and I was a hell of a competitor, now you’re out with the same old clichés about it being a fluke and nothing more, yet when you win matches they are titanic displays of brute strength and pure power. Then it’s how I am a brilliant wrestler, just not as good as you.
Make up your mind.
You’re a politician, Mike, you twist things to your advantage for whatever purpose you’re looking to serve that week and you concoct these wild theories in an attempt seem like you’ve got the verbal edge, this week it’s about being under my skin, next week it’ll no doubt be about how despite being beaten by me I still suck because you lost count of the officials hand hitting the mat.
That way of handling yourself has its merits, but only if you have to make a career out of inventing excuses for defeats. Yet, real champions don’t need excuses.
See, I don’t fall over myself trying to dream up ways to decrease the collateral in my defeats, I just accept them and move on. Sure, your victories over me were meaningless and earned you nothing, these aren’t lies, yet I’ve never stated you didn’t deserve to beat me when you did. When Ricky beat me at Reborn I didn’t deserve to win either. You see, even though losing is a rare occurrence for me, when I do lose I don’t need to make up reasons for my failings, all I do is sit down and privately formulate ways to ensure that they don’t happen again.
If you beat me this weekend somehow, I will hold my hands up and admit that on the night you deserved to win, but can you bring yourself to do the same?
When I beat you, again, can you accept that your pattern of keeping meticulous records to one up your opponents will be rendered useless in my case? Will you be able to look down that camera lens and accept that you were beaten by a better man for more than a week or will you complete another turnabout face and go back to finding flimsy notions as to why you’re better than me despite your career paling in comparison?
Sometimes you learn more about a man when they are at their lowest, in my case I hit breaking point and sunk into a month of malaise before I picked myself up and defy all the odds to become NCW World Champion.
What will we learn about Mike Laszlo when he has his bravado shoved down his throat this weekend? Will you sink under the enormous weight of that ego of yourself or will you take the lesson you richly need from this experience and use it to follow in my footsteps?
I have to admit Mike, I have very little faith in the latter. When I look at you I don’t see a man who has the ability to evolve and learn from his mistakes, in fact I just see a man who is doomed to repeat them. Your mouth is getting you into more trouble than you can handle and I seriously doubt defeat this weekend will quench your thirst for self-aggrandisement, it will merely dampen the effect your rhetoric has on those who care to listen.
Maybe one day, you’ll fulfil an inch of the potential you see in yourself.
But not this Sunday.
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Jessica clings tightly around Roberto’s neck, squeezing him as hard as she can through pure delight as the Italian continues to look visibly uncomfortable, trying his best to remove the twin sister of his girlfriend. After a few moments more of the awkward embrace Jessica loosens her grip a little bit as Hannah simply stands back and watches the pair in amusement.
How can I ever repay you?
You can start by letting me go.
Realising how long she has been hugging him Jessica is startled and drops off of him immediately, her cheeks glowing with mebrassment.
I’m sorry…
Listen, this isn’t going to be a free ride here, we need to lay a few ground rules before you start moving all of your stuff in.
That seems fair enough.
Firstly, I will be taking your rent directly from PWF when they pay you, you don’t get to live here for nothing.
As long as there is something left…
Secondly, no more bringing strangers back home, this isn’t a brothel and I don’t want people I don’t know lurking around my house after I get back from work every Monday.
Well I suppose I can always rent a motel if I have to…
Thirdly, you keep on attending your wrestling classes and you make sure you don’t miss any shows, I don’t care if you’re ill or in pain, if you want to be serious about building a career you need to work for it.
Even if I have a cold?
Finally, this is still my home and what I say goes, I don’t care if you’re paying to live here, this isn’t a holiday camp. Treat me with a little respect and we won’t have any problems, if me and Hannah want a nigh to ourselves then I expect you to accommodate.
As long as you keep the noise down, you have a deal.
We’re not promising anything.
Hannah giggles and burys her head in Verona’s neck as Jessica rolls her eyes.
I am willing to do my fair share, don’t worry about that, I appreciate the opportunity you’re giving me.
Good. It isn’t all bad, now you’re staying her permanently I can pass on some of my wisdom about the business to try and help you improve.
Jessica is a little taken aback by the World Champion’s offer.
Really?
Yes. They can teach you everything you need to know in that ring, but there’s plenty they don’t teach you, things that will give you an edge later in your career as everybody else falls over themselves to get up the ladder.
Well, if you’re sure…
Well, somebody should benefit from my experience, it may as well be you. Besides, you can’t use it to beat me in a few years.
Jessica smiles.
Fair point.
Verona suddenly looks at his watch, his mind prompting him to recall the time.
Listen, I have some business that needs attending to, why don’t you two ladies start moving your stuff in and have a little bit of time to get settled in, I’ll see you both later.
Hannah kisses Roberto on the cheek as he nods to Jessica who mouths the words “Thank You” as he heads out of the room and down to his study. After a few moments of silence, Jess turns towards her twin sister.
You could have given me a heads up, I was ****ting myself the whole way here.
I never said we were asking you to move out…
A hint may have helped!
Maybe it is more fun watching your squirm a little.
Hannah pokes her tongue out at her sister and giggles as Jess just shakes her head.
What did you do to make him come to this decision?
Nothing.
You mean this was his idea?
Contrary to popular belief, Roberto does care about you Jess, he knows what Dad put your through.
Well, yeah I know, I just didn’t think he cared that much…
There’s a lot you and everybody else don’t know about him.
Jessica smiles.
I guess he really is full of surprises after all.
Before you start falling head over heels for my boyfriend, maybe we should get back to the matter at hand.
Which is?
Hannah rolls her eyes and shakes her head.
Celebrating your moving in your idiot, honestly I don’t know how I am the blonde twin sometimes.
The pair share a laugh before turning and walking out of the house and towards Jess’ car, ready to collect her belongings for the start of her new life but as the pair leaves Verona re-emerges, his mobile phone placed up against his ear.
Kelly, we need to talk about this weekend.
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Jessica clings tightly around Roberto’s neck, squeezing him as hard as she can through pure delight as the Italian continues to look visibly uncomfortable, trying his best to remove the twin sister of his girlfriend. After a few moments more of the awkward embrace Jessica loosens her grip a little bit as Hannah simply stands back and watches the pair in amusement.
How can I ever repay you?
You can start by letting me go.
Realising how long she has been hugging him Jessica is startled and drops off of him immediately, her cheeks glowing with mebrassment.
I’m sorry…
Listen, this isn’t going to be a free ride here, we need to lay a few ground rules before you start moving all of your stuff in.
That seems fair enough.
Firstly, I will be taking your rent directly from PWF when they pay you, you don’t get to live here for nothing.
As long as there is something left…
Secondly, no more bringing strangers back home, this isn’t a brothel and I don’t want people I don’t know lurking around my house after I get back from work every Monday.
Well I suppose I can always rent a motel if I have to…
Thirdly, you keep on attending your wrestling classes and you make sure you don’t miss any shows, I don’t care if you’re ill or in pain, if you want to be serious about building a career you need to work for it.
Even if I have a cold?
Finally, this is still my home and what I say goes, I don’t care if you’re paying to live here, this isn’t a holiday camp. Treat me with a little respect and we won’t have any problems, if me and Hannah want a nigh to ourselves then I expect you to accommodate.
As long as you keep the noise down, you have a deal.
We’re not promising anything.
Hannah giggles and burys her head in Verona’s neck as Jessica rolls her eyes.
I am willing to do my fair share, don’t worry about that, I appreciate the opportunity you’re giving me.
Good. It isn’t all bad, now you’re staying her permanently I can pass on some of my wisdom about the business to try and help you improve.
Jessica is a little taken aback by the World Champion’s offer.
Really?
Yes. They can teach you everything you need to know in that ring, but there’s plenty they don’t teach you, things that will give you an edge later in your career as everybody else falls over themselves to get up the ladder.
Well, if you’re sure…
Well, somebody should benefit from my experience, it may as well be you. Besides, you can’t use it to beat me in a few years.
Jessica smiles.
Fair point.
Verona suddenly looks at his watch, his mind prompting him to recall the time.
Listen, I have some business that needs attending to, why don’t you two ladies start moving your stuff in and have a little bit of time to get settled in, I’ll see you both later.
Hannah kisses Roberto on the cheek as he nods to Jessica who mouths the words “Thank You” as he heads out of the room and down to his study. After a few moments of silence, Jess turns towards her twin sister.
You could have given me a heads up, I was ****ting myself the whole way here.
I never said we were asking you to move out…
A hint may have helped!
Maybe it is more fun watching your squirm a little.
Hannah pokes her tongue out at her sister and giggles as Jess just shakes her head.
What did you do to make him come to this decision?
Nothing.
You mean this was his idea?
Contrary to popular belief, Roberto does care about you Jess, he knows what Dad put your through.
Well, yeah I know, I just didn’t think he cared that much…
There’s a lot you and everybody else don’t know about him.
Jessica smiles.
I guess he really is full of surprises after all.
Before you start falling head over heels for my boyfriend, maybe we should get back to the matter at hand.
Which is?
Hannah rolls her eyes and shakes her head.
Celebrating your moving in your idiot, honestly I don’t know how I am the blonde twin sometimes.
The pair share a laugh before turning and walking out of the house and towards Jess’ car, ready to collect her belongings for the start of her new life but as the pair leaves Verona re-emerges, his mobile phone placed up against his ear.
Kelly, we need to talk about this weekend.
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Let me put all of my cards on the table here.
I don’t like you, Mike.
Maybe it is your smug sense of accomplishment that vastly outweighs the reality of your accolades or your innate ability to weasel some form of supposed superiority out of any situation regardless of logic, or perhaps it’s the fact that people genuinely view you as some sort of threat to my title reign this weekend rather than a martyr for stupidity.
I am not sure.
One thing I am sure about is that this will be the last time you ever grace a ring with me for a prize as valuable as the NCW World Championship. I am sure in Laszlo Land that is some sort of acceptance that you’ll tear this from me and I will disappear, never to enter this spotlight again.
Thankfully for everybody else, we know that isn’t what I mean.
You see, you’ve earned absolutely nothing Laszlo, all you’ve done is run your mouth off and forced me and Kelly to silence you to prove a point to the rest of the roster. This isn’t a fairytale where you have roused the villain into action and will emerge victorious, this is your swansong.
Once Breaking Away is over, you’re going to go back to the midcard where you belong and even if you do go back to talking your usual brand of bull****, nobody is going to listen to you anymore.
Right now you have the respect of the federation because you’ve trotted out a few naughty words about me, the current focus of everybody’s ire. They’re all behind you because they just want to see me humbled and knocked off my perch because that’s how this business works, there’s a jerk like me at the top who winds you all up on a weekly basis and then there’s you, the unlikely hero who we all hope will usurp me of my position of power.
Once I’ve beaten you, nobody will care about Mike Laszlo. Again.
Just like they didn’t before I plucked you from obscurity.
You’ll just be yet another in a long line of failures who thought they were capable of the step up to the big stage but in reality you’re just not ready for it, and perhaps you never will be. A lot of people like to wax lyrical about you, as if you’re the second coming of Jesus himself but all I see is a man with a overhyped title reign under his belt and very little else to back up these illusions of grandeur.
You’ve not done anything in this company that screams “break out star”. Trust me, I belittle your title reign purely because of the calibre of men you defeated to prolong it, anybody can run with a belt if they face Jackhammer and Nathan Webb.
However much you try to write it off, your performance in the Road to the Gold was nothing short of lacklustre and your attempt to even win the consolation tag team tournament was pitiful, even if you do blame Ortega for your collective failure. In the Riot you failed to even eliminate a single competitor, bowing out with not even a whimper.
If anything your career screams “Indy Darling” and nothing more than that at this point.
You simply haven’t achieved anything here that makes me see the potential everybody else does. The dual title reign masks a career which has stagnated, not thrived, and a large part is no doubt the huge ego you have weighing you down. Like 90% of this roster Mike, you think you’re better than you really are.
I’m full of myself, I will happily admit that, but I continually back my arrogance up.
You? You just earn the occasional scalp, win a few meaningless matches and then start parading around backstage like you’re a first ballot hall of famer when even guys like Joe Everyman and Todd Williams have achieved more with their careers than you ever have.
I’m sure all of this will be like water off a duck’s back, I mean you’re used to having people belittle you, right? It’s what we do on a weekly basis to one another simply because that is what people want to see, two guys who hate each other just tear each other apart.
But I’m deadly serious.
You want to be considered on my level?
You need to do a damn sight more than you have been doing in your time here to date. Nobody cares about you beating a few of the better guys in matches that have no bearing on the trajectory of your career, people have off days and upsets happen, the fact is you may well beat guys like me and Adam Knite every once in a while but until you stop dropping the ball against nobodies a few weeks later you’ll never reach the dizzy heights you aspire to.
This weekend you have the opportunity to make a statement, by simply not laying down for me like so many others would. There isn’t a hope in hell that you will take this belt from me, but you can finally show people that you’re not just a walking mouthpiece and possess some ability to back it all up.
We all need to have moments that propel us forward and if you drop the ego at the door for one night, perhaps this is your opportunity to really announce your arrival in this company.
I don’t just list my achievement to blow my own trumpet, I do it to illustrate a point. Beating Xander, being a two time champion within 5 months and winning the Road to the Gold and breaking records in the Riot all illustrate why I am viewed in such a positive light when people discuss who the best in the world really is.
I’ve backed everything up, I’ve done it when they’ve cheered my name and I’ve done it when they’ve cursed it.
I know how to play the system, how to avoid being lost in the shuffle and I know that to make sure I was never buried beneath the weight of the backstage veterans I needed to do things to get myself noticed. I could never live on one achievement; I always had to have my eyes on more.
All you’ve got is your run as a belt unifier that is it.
If you want to stand out from the rest of the pack you need to up your game and keep giving people a reason to give a **** about you, not just resting on meagre achievements and plumping them up to look more impressive than they really are.
When you look at the Adam Knites, the Spike Kanes, the Xander Famularos, Steve Awesomes and Lance Ryans they all have defining moments in their career that separated them from the rest of the pack, moments which immortalised their legacies. They never rested on their laurels and kept demanding things after one achievement, they went out and made more until people had to step up and take notice.
You have a choice.
You can be remembered as the guy who squeezed a title shot out of a tired administration by running your mouth constantly until you had to be made an example of, or you can be the guy who took that shot, showed the world what he could do despite getting humbled by the better man and then you can dust yourself down, lock your sights on another target and go out there and make people care about you.
Talking a big game will only ever get you so far, sooner or later you need to do something more than just have the gift of the gab, that is what separates men like me from men like you. As long as you’re satisfied with being this pompous little asswipe who just runs his mouth off about whoever he wants you’re never going to take that step up that you so drastically require.
Sooner or later, people will start to ask you to back up your words and that starts this weekend.
Put up or shut up, Mike.
