The soft glow of morning light illuminated the edges of the curtains, and Mitch was still awake. He found that he wasn’t even tired, just numb in mind, body, and soul.
Maybe he’d be OK. Maybe he already accepted this foregone conclusion so long ago that now that the shockwaves passed, he’d take some time to decompress and then everything would be fine. There were a lot of positives to take away from this, he was sure of it.
“Hey stud,” Jodie croaked, interrupting his thoughts.
“Morning,” Mitch replied.
“Can you hand me my meds? They’re on the nightstand.” She gestured in their general direction, and he obliged, handing her a blister package of estrogen tablets and an orange vial of anti-depressants. “Thanks.”
“Do you need water?” he asked.
“Like hell I do! I ain’t no bitch,” Jodie asserted before taking a pill out from each container and swallowed them. After, she put them down next to her side of the bed and asked, “Dumb question, but how are you doing right now?”
“I’m alright,” he absently nodded. Everything was static and nothing felt real. Jodie probably got that, though.
“Great. I need to head over to the school today. You wanna tag along? Get out of my dead grandma’s place?” Unsurprisingly, she was already up and getting dressed, constantly in a state of motion. Pulling a fistful of hair into a ponytail, she simultaneously slipped on a pair of black Vans. “I think everyone might wanna see that you’re not, y’know. Dead.”
“That might be nice.” Mitch was not nearly as hurried, and languidly stretched his good arm above his head.
“Things have been super busy, so Dad hired a new trainer. And I think he’s onboard with being in Monster Mash? I’m meeting with him later.” While she gave the briefing, she tossed Mitch’s jeans in his direction, but they landed on the floor a few feet in front of him. “Hurry up, dude!”
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“Who is it? Do I know him?” With one foot, he dragged the crumpled pile of jeans towards himself, then maneuvered pulling them up and buttoning them without the help of his right hand. Beaming with pride, he declared, “Hey, I think I’m getting good at this!”
“That’s super neat,” Jodie responded sardonically, then continued in a much more excited tone. “So, obviously don’t tell anyone yet, but it’s Avi.”
“Wait, Avi? Avi Sher?” Mitch asked for clarification, only to realize how stupid he sounded. There was only one Avi in their sphere that she could have been referencing, but in Mitch’s defense, this wasn’t someone that you casually approached with a job offer for your small business.
Avi was a well-seasoned industry veteran of nearly 20 years, seeming to be everywhere all at once, but definitely never in Monument, Massachusetts. He popped up on national television sometimes and had a Wikipedia article, and every big name wrestler had pictures with him on their Instagram with captions like “this guy’s the best!“. The idea of working with him was something on everyone’s bucket list, sure, but personally Mitch filed that under being a pipe dream and left it alone otherwise. “Hasn’t he been in Mexico, or…maybe somewhere else in Central America?”
“His most recent tour was in the Caribbean. Anyway, Dad and him go way back, I guess. They met up recently in Santo Domingo and had a few matches.” She continued to explain as they migrated to her car. The transition from indoors to the outdoors was blinding, and Mitch instinctively shielded his eyes. “Anyway, Avi mentioned possibly coming back to the States on a more full-time basis, so Dad offered him a job at the school. And like, you know Dad. He’s a persuasive sonuvabitch when he wants something.“
“Yeah, but-” Mitch struggled with how to respond, opening his mouth a few times only to close it. “Damn. That’s…”
“I know.” Jodie’s giddiness and lack of cynicism made it seem as though she’d been swapped out for an alternate dimension version of herself. This was obviously great news for the school, but an even bigger deal for her as a promoter, since she was in desperate need of a big name draw to offer. Someone like Avi Sher could fulfill that role.
And if nothing else, Jodie’s enthusiasm was downright infectious. For a moment, the issues that Mitch struggled with melted away on her behalf. He matched her nervous smile, and she broke into a wide grin.