Grief. // Chapter VIII

“Great news Issak, you’ve got an offer! Two, actually!”

He stared back at the lady in the suit skirt and blazer, truthfully not understanding what she was going on about. She was smiling brightly as if it were a good thing though, so at first, Issak copied her by smiling and nodding his head. A few nods in and he was looking over at Carson, who didn’t seem to be having the same problem. He slowly stopped nodding, and a look of confusion ran across his face.

“An offer? What kind of offer?”

Carson Campbell, Issak’s best friend and at this point the person Issak was spending every day with, and urged him to come to the realtor’s office. Carson had agreed to help with the transaction of Otto’s Scottish ‘castle’, because quite frankly Issak knew nothing about it. This was further displayed by the realtor trying to explain a simple offer on his house, and Issak gave her a blank stare in the end.

“Oh. It means there is already someone who has contacted us about purchasing your house.”

She placed her hand across the desk, onto Issak’s. It was reassuring and warm, easing Issak for not knowing what she meant.

“Already?! Damn, this is going to be an easier gig than I thought. You hear that, Issak?”

“Well, it is just the first one and they are traditionally lowballers. Buyers probably trying to scoop it up for cheap before it gets shown, and then flip it themselves. You could take them up on their offer of course, but I personally believe you could get much more for it.”

She was now looking directly at Carson, seeing as how he was the one who took over the conversation. She made pointed to him, as if they were on the same wavelength.

“Oh hell yeah, we haven’t even had an Open House or anything yet, this is great.”

“I’d say it’s the best you could’ve hoped for in this market and the location. You won’t be sitting on it long, that’s for sure.”

Issak had tuned out the realtor as soon as she had explained that someone actually wanted to buy his house. Making the decision to sell it, after all he had been through with Kaia, and then Evolution Wrestling, was one of the hardest decisions he’s ever had to make. A part of him believed he only got there, because he thought he could still go back. It was entirely possible he’d be in escrow for months, years even, who knows. But hearing he already had two people wanting to purchase it from him, it made things more concrete, more real.

The death of his relationship was hard enough, but putting his hopes and dreams back into EW, just for things to end how they did was something else entirely. As these thoughts and more were running through his mind, he suddenly realized there was no background noise. To him, the background noise was the conversation between Carson and the realtor. He turned to see them both looking at him with questioning eyes.

“I’m sorry, did you two say something to me?”

“Yes Mr. Otto, I was asking if you wanted to go ahead with the Open House next week?”

He looked back at her for a few seconds, probably longer than anyone else would have thought it over. However, he wasn’t able to bring himself to decide. Instead, he turned to Carson.

“Is this something you can take care of?”

Carson looked back at him, nodding.

“Sure, Issak. I mean, I did tell you I’d stick around until the house is sold, and I say we should milk this thing. Let’s have the Open House and get some better offers!”

Otto looked back to the realtor, smiling as if he fully agreed with Carson. It was probably the best course of action in the long run, string things out as long as he could and maybe he’d be ready to let go by the time the keys changed hands. Still, saying he would love strangers in his home in hopes of selling would’ve been a lie. Not when he wasn’t ready to say goodbye just yet.

“Sounds like a plan. I trust things are in better shape than the first time I came around?”

“I’ve made sure those floors are good enough to eat off, ma’am. Issak here is a bit of a slob, but I made sure the rooms were presentable.”

Carson nudged Issak’s shoulder with his elbow, laughing at the joke he’d just made. Seconds later, he was joined in laughter by the realtor. Awkwardly enough, Issak had tuned them both out again, lost in thought. This meant it was Carson’s job again to hold the conversation.

“Alright, so I’ll talk to you in a few days about the food platters or whatever, and we’ll make sure this thing goes off without any issues. Thanks so much for your time, Linda. You helped me so much finding my place, I knew you were the one to help Issak sell his."

Carson grabbed Issak by his arm, and as he stood up he yanked Issak’s arm upwards, forcing him to stand as well. The realtor, Linda, turned a slight red and stood up as well.

“This will be my second Victory main event in a row, and the third overall, since coming to Professional Wrestling Excellence. That isn’t counting the multiple main event CALIBER matches I’ve had with the likes of Kanna Verger and Lachlan Kane. I’ve been on the top performer list every time I’ve gotten in an PWE ring. I’ve been one of the driving forces this Season, and I’ve shown up each and every show with my best foot forward. Not to mention, I am currently the number one contender to the Excellence Championship…

I’m not saying all of this to have any sort of gloating moment, and I’m certainly not saying any of this in order to shove it in the face of anyone. I’m not the kind of person. But occasionally I need to say it out loud, so that I remind myself of what I can accomplish when I put my mind to it. I came into PWE, and I wanted to put the company on my shoulders. I took one misstep, but since then I’ve been proving every two weeks that I meant business. I meant what I said during my first show, I’m here to stay, and more than that, I’ve made it so the PWE crowd know my name. I’ve proven myself over, and over again. Every now and then I need a reminder, because sometimes you can become your own worst critic.

Not this go around though, right? For this Victory, it seems the powers that be really took that, twisted it, and they said that your own worst critic shouldn’t be yourself – that’s dumb. It should be your PARTNER!

This week, Professional Wrestling Excellence has taken the strange bedfellows idea, tipped it’s on its head and twisted all up. I believe they’re calling it something of a Champions and Contenders Showcase, while also being a triple threat tag match. Such a wild idea. However, we all know this main even triple threat tag match means much more. Odds are we’re going to be paying very close attention to our partners, for some, rather than our opponents.

For instance, PWE knows I have history with Allen. We were involved in that gauntlet match when I first came in, a match I had to eliminate Kanna Verger in before ever going against Allen. The same match that saw him pin me and walk away with the Excellence Championship. I didn’t know him well enough then, but you better believe I do now. Not only have I taken the time to do my homework on our champion, the only man in PWE that has a win over the Class Act, but now I’m presented with this thought of getting an up close and personal look at how Chaney operates. I already have some experience, but this would simply allow me to watch from the apron. The turnabout is that Allen is given the same luxury. He can take as many mental notes on me as my partner and use them against me later. I haven’t even mentioned the tension we’ll feel, knowing we’re on a collision course for that title, and now we’re forced to be partners. Any friendship we may have is questionable at best, and quite frankly, Allen may be champion but where his head is as of late is a mystery. He fails again to beat the man he desperately desires to beat, disappears with injury, then comes back a month later like nothing happened. I have no clue where his head is…

And that’s just MY team. Each team has a very similar disadvantage heading into our match.

We’ve got someone’s idea of a sick joke by making Lachlan team with Angel. Like I said, I’ve done my homework on PWE, and I know very well about the history between these two. Terribly unfair that they have to share the same side of the ring. As opponents though, they are a team that we’ll need to watch. Angel is the Victory Champion, and she’s someone who has really shown this season that she’s here for blood. She’s the only person in this match that I haven’t been in the ring with, but I’m going to treat her the same way I treat every opponent. Acknowledging her strengths, but exploiting her weakness. If Chelsea Skye proved anything, it’s that Angel is not unbeatable. Lachlan is a competitor all his own, and as I said earlier, our match was main event caliber. Kane is gunning for Angel, and wants to be a second time champion. The only reason I don’t know if this team will work out, is because I don’t think they’ll be able to get on the same page even for a second.

Then we have Chelsea Skye teaming with Jason Long, who I don’t believe even know each other at all. Chelsea has been on a roll as of late, and even though she lost against me two weeks ago, I would never count her out. She continues gathering steam. Jason seems to be always starting and stopping, but I hope for his sake that he continues on the winning path this time around. After his loss to me, something lit inside of him, and it launched him into an impressive win against Wraith. Two weeks ago Jason was MIA again, but I’m hoping he can capitalize on the momentum, just not against me. These two are going to have a rough time, because they don’t know what to expect from one another and probably haven’t taken the time to get acquainted. With no beef between them, they could be a real threat, but their stubbornness keeps them from making a move that would benefit BOTH members of the team.

On the other hand, Allen and I may have our issues, but on my own, I have conquered everyone PWE put in front of me. Three out of the four opponents we have at Victory, I’ve proven myself against, and I will do so again!

I’ve got to admit that I am a bit confused at the idea of this match. We clearly know that Allen and Angel are the champions, which would make the rest of us challengers. Lachlan remains the top challenger of the Victory Championship, so where does that leave Chelsea and Jason? Are they considered to be the number two slots right behind myself and Lachlan, or are they hoping for a shot at JMot’s Impulse Championship? Honestly, I couldn’t tell ya, I’ve got no idea.

What I do know, is even though we’ve begun the Call Your Shot tournament, I’m still number one contender. Allen and I may not know how to work together yet, but you can bet that we’ll learn. What we have in common trumps our differences, and it trumps what the other teams are bringing to the table. Allen and I understand one another on a different level, we can look at one another and know we’re going to have a fair and standup match no matter what. Allen and I know that the pair of us are going to go out there and put it all on the line! We’re going to show the rest of PWE that we are the top of the food chain, but more than that, we’ll showcase WHY we deserve to be there. It’s what I’ve been doing ever since Victory XI: The Upside Down.

Allen and I both know what it takes, and at Victory XVII, champion and challenger will prevail. Then, when it’s just you and I in the ring again, Allen, we’ll see who the better man is."

The two had ridden in Carson’s truck together, in almost complete silence. It was obvious to Carson inside the realty office that Issak was feeling some type of way. Even if he had somehow missed it, Issak’s continued silence inside the car was much more of a tell. During the car ride, Carson had tried to make another joke, nudging Issak in laughter. Issak didn’t respond, almost as if he didn’t hear Carson. Campbell would turn on the music low in order to provide some kind of noise for the ride back to Otto’s place.

Carson pulled up to Issak’s, and the pair of them got out of the car. He thought for sure that Issak would be ecstatic. After all, it was Issak that asked him for help with selling this place, and now it felt like he had done something wrong by doing a good job. As they got into the house, things didn’t change much and Issak began to disappear down the hall.

“Hey, you alright bud? You’ve been acting really strange since that realty place.”

He looked over to Issak, who was still shuffling down the hall like a zombie.

“Issak!”

Carson shouted down the hall at Issak, who suddenly snapped out of the constant daze he had been in. Issak looked around frantically as if he had been woken up, even though he wasn’t sleeping. His eyes rested on Carson.

“What’s going on, man? Are you okay? I'm worried, bro.”

Thinking like himself again a little more, Issak shook his head from side to side in an attempt to shake out the cobwebs. He turned back down the hallway, walking towards Carson again.

“I’m sorry Carson, I’ve just had a lot on my plate lately and I think the stress is finally starting to get to me. It’s nothing.”

Carson moved closer, slinging his arm over the back of Issak’s shoulder. He pulled him in for a short hug.

“Listen man, I know your world has been a bit crazy this year more than anything. Plus, I know how you feel about Evolution, I went through the same thing and was put on the shelf months ago now. So imagine how I feel…”

“Of course, I’m sorry Carson-“

“I’m just saying I understand a big part of that, if that’s what’s hitting you. I know we all process things differently. But hey, we got each other, right? And I’m here to help make sure this whole thing goes smoothly.”

“Thanks again by the way. I’d probably still be at that office, trying my best to understand what that lady was trying to tell me.”

Issak put a hand up to his head in embarrassment, letting out a chuckle. Carson joined him, and the two were laughing again. Things felt easier already.

“I’m going to go for a little stroll, just to clear my head a little more.”

“Alright. You sure you’re good?”

“Yeah, yeah. Never better.”

Carson gave him an approving look before Issak disappeared out the front door. It was a cold late afternoon here in Scotland, and Issak’s hands quickly found his pockets as he walked the dirt path. Near enough to his homestead was a short embankment that he was headed for. He and Kaia had sat there together the day they had become homeowners. They had laughed, cried, and felt real joy in that moment. As he sat there alone, it was the opposite now true.

Day in and day out, Issak strived to be the best performer he could be. He has put his all into each company that he has had the pleasure of working for. You could see it now, here in PWE, as his pursuit for the PWE Excellence Championship never stops. He uses that determination to force his smile each day, to force himself to look towards the brighter side.

The truth is, you could be the most happy-go-lucky fella in the world, and even you need time to mourn. Time to mourn the death of a relationship once beloved, time to mourn the death of a company that helped shoot his name to new heights.

At first he found himself stuck, but once he got moving again, he couldn’t stop. It was like swapping one vice for another.

Issak put his head into his knees and peeking out just enough to see his ‘castle’. The place he was supposed to raise a family, supposed to see him as a champion of Scotland. In that moment, he silently said goodbye, to this place and everything it stood for. In result, no longer would be confined by one company, nor Scotland. He was free to be a true international talent, the way he always wanted to be. He knew what his future held, and it was something much greater than here and now. He believed in it now more than ever, and that’s why even he knew that he had to let it go.

Issak knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this place wasn’t good for him. He knew that breaking out of here, moving to the United States and continuing his career there was the best thing for him and his mental state. He knew the dream he had here once upon a time was dead and gone.

And while he knew all these things to be true, it didn’t make it hurt any less.