Post by Emma Danielson on Feb 23, 2013 20:19:50 GMT -6
”I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything different. After lecturing Mercedes for so long on how Jake and Kathleen Conway were inseparable, you thought that you had an opening she didn’t? You thought that a few stray words meant he was going to shower with you with some sort of affection? Of course not. That’s what you were supposed to think, but all this has ever been is a business arrangement. You’re a queen in name only. They see you as a pitbull, Emma. A hitwoman on a leash, taking orders and keeping her mouth shut. And you’ve burnt all your bridges now. This is the path you chose…you have to walk it.”
“So that means I have to learn to put up with her smug arrogance. I have to put up with her mocking me and then diving behind her husband the moment it looks like I won’t put up with it any more. I may have cleaned myself up, but I just traded one form of captivity for another. You want to keep me on a chain, Kathy? Congratulations. I was willing to be your partner, I was willing to learn. But you couldn’t get off your high horse long enough to take that opportunity. So let me make this crystal clear: I’m not in this for you. I’m in this for me. And if that means I’ve got to take a few orders from Callie or Ace, then so be it. But you? You’re an ally of convenience. I don’t like you. I don’t think I ever will. But I need to be able to count on you…so be there.”
“Speaking of Crystal…you got me. Bravo. And you were right. Bravo as well. I know you’ve got the big bad Zelda Knite in your corner, but do you honestly think I give a damn anymore? Do you think that I’m going to start cowering in fear because of who she is? Who you are? I’m done being intimidated, I’m through being belittled, and I’m sick of being overlooked. Tell me something, Crystal, and be honest: how did you feel after our match? Did you feel good? No. Of course you didn’t. You were bruised, you were hurting. You won, but at what cost? That’s what nobody acknowledges about me: you can beat me, but you have to leave a part of you behind to do it.”
“Even you, Zelda. I know that you like to make everything out to be an effortless task, pretend that nothing’s ever a real obstacle, just like the rest of your family. But I know that it takes more out of you than you want to admit. You’re slowly deteriorating. It’s what humans do. And every time you step in the ring with someone like me, it just gets a bit faster. Every time I hit, a crack forms in the impenetrable image of Zelda Knite. And one of these days, it’ll shatter. I don’t care if it takes months, years, whatever. I can be patient. I can bide my time. Just know that I’ll always be chipping away.”
“I was ready to be one among equals…to have respect, to have loyalty…to have the power to do something. But with a whispered promise and a knowing smile, I was reminded of a bitter truth: I’m a second-class citizen. We all are in this division. As long as Jake Conway is King…he may pay lip service to the idea of equality, but I know in my gut he’ll only ever have one real Queen. The question is, then…how do I live? How do I make my way in a land where my only allies owe fealty to someone else?”
“I guess I have no choice. I’ll trust you, Kathleen. I’ll fight with you. And you got lucky. Because while I might not like you…I like the two across from us even less. They represent more than just two skilled competitors, they are a legacy. My legacy. My failures. The unstoppable champion…and the woman of a thousand faces. Kathy, you’re refreshing in that sense. You’re reliable. I only need to expect one way of acting out of you, and that’s what benefits Kathleen Conway. And right now, I can tell you that it’s worth more to focus on torturing them than me. I’ve got questions. But they can wait. Right now…we have a fantasy to shatter.”
We open on Emma pacing back and forth outside the Conway family home. She holds her hands behind her back, clearly getting antsy as she waits. She pauses in front of the door and knocks. After a few seconds, it's answered by a familiar, yet seldom-seen face: that of Caleb Lockwood. Emma blinks, surprised to see him, but Caleb just stares her down levelly. He steps to the side, gesturing her inside.
“Mr. Conway's in his office. I'm assuming that's why you're here. Didn't seem too busy last I spoke with him, so head on up.”
Emma nods, running a hand through her hair. She takes a step inside, but pauses as she enters the house proper. Caleb closes the door behind her, shaking his head as he turns to walk away. Emma reaches out after him, grabbing him by the shoulder, albeit gently. He shrugs her off, but looks back at her in acknowledgement of her gesture. She hesitates for a moment before speaking.
”Scale of one to ten...how pissed is he?”
Caleb just shrugs, shaking his head as he resumes his walk away.
”Tread softly. That's all I'm saying.”
Emma nods, sighing, and turns back around, walking up the stairs. She walks down the hall towards the office, suddenly feeling very aware of how long the hall actually is. She reaches the office door, taking a deep breath and exhaling before knocking on the door.
”Come in…”
Emma opens the door, stepping in cautiously. The Ace puts the photo of Kathy cradling a newborn Solitaire back on his antique mahogany desk, and clears his throat as he stands up to greet Emma. She nods back to him, standing with her hands clasped behind her back as he rises.
”J—Mr. Conway.”
”Ah, Miss Danielson, please have a seat. You wanted to see me? What was so urgent?”
Emma nods, taking a deep breath as she sits down.
”I wanted to start with an apology. The way I behaved last week was conduct unbecoming of an employee of this company. I'd like to formally apologize to you...and to Kathy, when I get the chance.”
”Well I'm sure you understand that my wife is not here right now, she's at the gym training for her match, she doesn't trust you and I can't say I blame her...the best way to apologise would be to watch her back this Sunday and dare I say...win the match...”
Emma nods, closing her eyes and biting her lower lip momentarily. She opens them again, looking back up to him.
”Sir...I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but no matter how much...your wife...irritates me at times, I'm nowhere near willing to throw this match because of it. I want to win just as much as she does. That's why I wanted to clear the air before the match.”
The Ace raises an eyebrow at Emma’s admission and chuckles. Emma pauses, taking a moment before continuing to speak.
”I don't want lingering resentments screwing up our chance to win. I feel like we can be as effective a team as anyone on the roster based on raw ability. But that's only half of being a team. You don't just have to be good, your partner doesn't just have to be good...”
She looks up at Ace again, staring him in the eyes.
”You have to trust them.”
”I can't say I've ever found her particularly irritating....headstrong, certainly, impulsive definitely, she knows what she wants and how to get it.....if she even suspected you were going to screw her, you wouldn't make it out from behind the curtain on Sunday, but then I guess that's why they say love is blind…”
The Ace pauses.
”As cliché as it might be, it is nonetheless true that trust is earned, not given. You want her trust, earn it…the same way I had to.”
Emma nods, pausing again and fighting the overwhelming urge to look away out of shame.
”She's not the only one whose trust I want to earn.”
”You almost had me Miss Danielson, then Kathy reminded me of the kinds of games women will play to get ahead in this business...the last thing I need on my hands is another unfounded harassment complaint just because you want to be Starlets World Champion again...I don't want another ungrateful Mercedes Vargas on my hands.”
Emma jumps from her chair, rage boiling in her veins. She forces herself to mentally de-escalate, nevertheless speaking through gritted teeth.
”If you think for a heartbeat that I would ever be that kind of person, I have to question your famed powers of observation. I'm here to fight my way to the top, not sleep my way there. Besides, that might have worked with Steve Awesome...but you're Jake Conway. Everyone with half a brain knows that you'd never do that to Kathy.”
The Ace smiles.
”Do you want to know why Kathy and I work so well in business and in life? It’s because we expect treachery…but demand loyalty.”
”Seems like a miserable way to live.”
”Some might see it that way. Others might realise that our hearts only thaw for one another once the job is done.”
Emma nods slowly, glancing back to the door.
”I wouldn't know what that's like...well, I'm not sure how much more we're getting out of this meeting. Kathy's not here and you've made your attitude towards me QUITE clear. I just hope that after Sunday you might reevaluate me. Find me a little less...lacking.”
The Ace then stands up and walks around to his desk to Emma, and lowers his voice into a whisper.
”What were you expecting to get out of this meeting, Miss Danielson...you can't expect to probe the devil for his heart and then flinch when it beats slower than you might like...”
Emma replies in as even of a tone as she can, but even she can't manage to completely suppress the nerves that shoot through her body.
”I...I don't know. Maybe I wasn't sure whether I'd get the devil...or just a man.”
The Ace then reaches out to stroke Emma's face, she flinches and turns away, but he snaps her back and forces her to look into his eyes, and they seemed darker than she remembered them.
”Oh Miss Danielson...”
Emma's breath catches in her throat, and the words come haltingly, her blood running cold as she realizes just who she's staring down.
”M-Mr. Conway...j-just what are you doing? Jake?”
”You are the Queen of Hearts, aren't you? I can see I chose well...and to think I almost picked Vargas...that would have been a mistake, her heart didn't beat quite as fast under my touch, her eyes didn't burn quite so bright with a fire...my little butterfly, we shall make a woman out of you yet...”
That fire flares in her eyes, and she steps back from him, pulling herself free.
”I'm the Queen of Hearts? Alright then...just keep an eye out on Collision, because I promise you heads will roll.”
The Ace grins.
”Show me the woman you are and you just might see the man you came here to see once again...”
Emma regards him cautiously before nodding again.
”…good night, Mr. Conway.”
”Sweet dreams, my Queen.”
A barely suppressed shiver threatens to travel up her spine as Emma turns around, walking to the office door. She opens it, hesitating a moment before walking into the hall and closing it behind her. The Ace smiles as he walks back around to his desk and picks up the photo of Kathy and Solitaire again, seeing the warm smile and the sparkle captured in his wife's eyes, his heart thaws and begins to beat just that bit quicker as we fade away.
“So that means I have to learn to put up with her smug arrogance. I have to put up with her mocking me and then diving behind her husband the moment it looks like I won’t put up with it any more. I may have cleaned myself up, but I just traded one form of captivity for another. You want to keep me on a chain, Kathy? Congratulations. I was willing to be your partner, I was willing to learn. But you couldn’t get off your high horse long enough to take that opportunity. So let me make this crystal clear: I’m not in this for you. I’m in this for me. And if that means I’ve got to take a few orders from Callie or Ace, then so be it. But you? You’re an ally of convenience. I don’t like you. I don’t think I ever will. But I need to be able to count on you…so be there.”
“Speaking of Crystal…you got me. Bravo. And you were right. Bravo as well. I know you’ve got the big bad Zelda Knite in your corner, but do you honestly think I give a damn anymore? Do you think that I’m going to start cowering in fear because of who she is? Who you are? I’m done being intimidated, I’m through being belittled, and I’m sick of being overlooked. Tell me something, Crystal, and be honest: how did you feel after our match? Did you feel good? No. Of course you didn’t. You were bruised, you were hurting. You won, but at what cost? That’s what nobody acknowledges about me: you can beat me, but you have to leave a part of you behind to do it.”
“Even you, Zelda. I know that you like to make everything out to be an effortless task, pretend that nothing’s ever a real obstacle, just like the rest of your family. But I know that it takes more out of you than you want to admit. You’re slowly deteriorating. It’s what humans do. And every time you step in the ring with someone like me, it just gets a bit faster. Every time I hit, a crack forms in the impenetrable image of Zelda Knite. And one of these days, it’ll shatter. I don’t care if it takes months, years, whatever. I can be patient. I can bide my time. Just know that I’ll always be chipping away.”
“I was ready to be one among equals…to have respect, to have loyalty…to have the power to do something. But with a whispered promise and a knowing smile, I was reminded of a bitter truth: I’m a second-class citizen. We all are in this division. As long as Jake Conway is King…he may pay lip service to the idea of equality, but I know in my gut he’ll only ever have one real Queen. The question is, then…how do I live? How do I make my way in a land where my only allies owe fealty to someone else?”
“I guess I have no choice. I’ll trust you, Kathleen. I’ll fight with you. And you got lucky. Because while I might not like you…I like the two across from us even less. They represent more than just two skilled competitors, they are a legacy. My legacy. My failures. The unstoppable champion…and the woman of a thousand faces. Kathy, you’re refreshing in that sense. You’re reliable. I only need to expect one way of acting out of you, and that’s what benefits Kathleen Conway. And right now, I can tell you that it’s worth more to focus on torturing them than me. I’ve got questions. But they can wait. Right now…we have a fantasy to shatter.”
We open on Emma pacing back and forth outside the Conway family home. She holds her hands behind her back, clearly getting antsy as she waits. She pauses in front of the door and knocks. After a few seconds, it's answered by a familiar, yet seldom-seen face: that of Caleb Lockwood. Emma blinks, surprised to see him, but Caleb just stares her down levelly. He steps to the side, gesturing her inside.
“Mr. Conway's in his office. I'm assuming that's why you're here. Didn't seem too busy last I spoke with him, so head on up.”
Emma nods, running a hand through her hair. She takes a step inside, but pauses as she enters the house proper. Caleb closes the door behind her, shaking his head as he turns to walk away. Emma reaches out after him, grabbing him by the shoulder, albeit gently. He shrugs her off, but looks back at her in acknowledgement of her gesture. She hesitates for a moment before speaking.
”Scale of one to ten...how pissed is he?”
Caleb just shrugs, shaking his head as he resumes his walk away.
”Tread softly. That's all I'm saying.”
Emma nods, sighing, and turns back around, walking up the stairs. She walks down the hall towards the office, suddenly feeling very aware of how long the hall actually is. She reaches the office door, taking a deep breath and exhaling before knocking on the door.
”Come in…”
Emma opens the door, stepping in cautiously. The Ace puts the photo of Kathy cradling a newborn Solitaire back on his antique mahogany desk, and clears his throat as he stands up to greet Emma. She nods back to him, standing with her hands clasped behind her back as he rises.
”J—Mr. Conway.”
”Ah, Miss Danielson, please have a seat. You wanted to see me? What was so urgent?”
Emma nods, taking a deep breath as she sits down.
”I wanted to start with an apology. The way I behaved last week was conduct unbecoming of an employee of this company. I'd like to formally apologize to you...and to Kathy, when I get the chance.”
”Well I'm sure you understand that my wife is not here right now, she's at the gym training for her match, she doesn't trust you and I can't say I blame her...the best way to apologise would be to watch her back this Sunday and dare I say...win the match...”
Emma nods, closing her eyes and biting her lower lip momentarily. She opens them again, looking back up to him.
”Sir...I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but no matter how much...your wife...irritates me at times, I'm nowhere near willing to throw this match because of it. I want to win just as much as she does. That's why I wanted to clear the air before the match.”
The Ace raises an eyebrow at Emma’s admission and chuckles. Emma pauses, taking a moment before continuing to speak.
”I don't want lingering resentments screwing up our chance to win. I feel like we can be as effective a team as anyone on the roster based on raw ability. But that's only half of being a team. You don't just have to be good, your partner doesn't just have to be good...”
She looks up at Ace again, staring him in the eyes.
”You have to trust them.”
”I can't say I've ever found her particularly irritating....headstrong, certainly, impulsive definitely, she knows what she wants and how to get it.....if she even suspected you were going to screw her, you wouldn't make it out from behind the curtain on Sunday, but then I guess that's why they say love is blind…”
The Ace pauses.
”As cliché as it might be, it is nonetheless true that trust is earned, not given. You want her trust, earn it…the same way I had to.”
Emma nods, pausing again and fighting the overwhelming urge to look away out of shame.
”She's not the only one whose trust I want to earn.”
”You almost had me Miss Danielson, then Kathy reminded me of the kinds of games women will play to get ahead in this business...the last thing I need on my hands is another unfounded harassment complaint just because you want to be Starlets World Champion again...I don't want another ungrateful Mercedes Vargas on my hands.”
Emma jumps from her chair, rage boiling in her veins. She forces herself to mentally de-escalate, nevertheless speaking through gritted teeth.
”If you think for a heartbeat that I would ever be that kind of person, I have to question your famed powers of observation. I'm here to fight my way to the top, not sleep my way there. Besides, that might have worked with Steve Awesome...but you're Jake Conway. Everyone with half a brain knows that you'd never do that to Kathy.”
The Ace smiles.
”Do you want to know why Kathy and I work so well in business and in life? It’s because we expect treachery…but demand loyalty.”
”Seems like a miserable way to live.”
”Some might see it that way. Others might realise that our hearts only thaw for one another once the job is done.”
Emma nods slowly, glancing back to the door.
”I wouldn't know what that's like...well, I'm not sure how much more we're getting out of this meeting. Kathy's not here and you've made your attitude towards me QUITE clear. I just hope that after Sunday you might reevaluate me. Find me a little less...lacking.”
The Ace then stands up and walks around to his desk to Emma, and lowers his voice into a whisper.
”What were you expecting to get out of this meeting, Miss Danielson...you can't expect to probe the devil for his heart and then flinch when it beats slower than you might like...”
Emma replies in as even of a tone as she can, but even she can't manage to completely suppress the nerves that shoot through her body.
”I...I don't know. Maybe I wasn't sure whether I'd get the devil...or just a man.”
The Ace then reaches out to stroke Emma's face, she flinches and turns away, but he snaps her back and forces her to look into his eyes, and they seemed darker than she remembered them.
”Oh Miss Danielson...”
Emma's breath catches in her throat, and the words come haltingly, her blood running cold as she realizes just who she's staring down.
”M-Mr. Conway...j-just what are you doing? Jake?”
”You are the Queen of Hearts, aren't you? I can see I chose well...and to think I almost picked Vargas...that would have been a mistake, her heart didn't beat quite as fast under my touch, her eyes didn't burn quite so bright with a fire...my little butterfly, we shall make a woman out of you yet...”
That fire flares in her eyes, and she steps back from him, pulling herself free.
”I'm the Queen of Hearts? Alright then...just keep an eye out on Collision, because I promise you heads will roll.”
The Ace grins.
”Show me the woman you are and you just might see the man you came here to see once again...”
Emma regards him cautiously before nodding again.
”…good night, Mr. Conway.”
”Sweet dreams, my Queen.”
A barely suppressed shiver threatens to travel up her spine as Emma turns around, walking to the office door. She opens it, hesitating a moment before walking into the hall and closing it behind her. The Ace smiles as he walks back around to his desk and picks up the photo of Kathy and Solitaire again, seeing the warm smile and the sparkle captured in his wife's eyes, his heart thaws and begins to beat just that bit quicker as we fade away.