I have another complete series coming soon - just need some help wit the write ups (in progress now).
I recently got around to checking out WWE online.
Holy crap - since this Diva's revolution thing they are doing some of the *best* women's pro wrestling I've ever seen (I have seen a little bit).
Let's hope that keeps up!
In the meantime...
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Eloise was very much the tomboy growing up. Track and field, swimming, cross country, rowing, even some weights.
Then it's college and suddenly there are some real bills to face.
So it's off to wait tables. Not every place is the same. A diner doesn't tend to tip as well as a cafe oddly enough. A restaurant seems to be better than a cafe. Some restaurants are definitely better than others.
One night a customer offers her something better than a cash tip.
She has her own place, higher end. She needs staff that are charming, polite, good at their job.
They also need to be really good looking in a tight short dress.
And now Eloise is doing well enough off tips that she wonders how much use the degree would be.
With money to spend there's a bit of partying.
College lapses.
It becomes a lot of partying.
One day it's suddenly a lot harder to fit back into that little black number. The legs sticking out the bottom of the dress have lost a of tone and very obviously picked up some flab.
The manager notices and Eloise is called into the office.
Four weeks off.
Unpaid.
Come back in shape or go back to busing tables in some greasy little diner.
And now Eloise has two problems.
It's not like she ever saved any money and having paid rent yesterday she's broke and needs to survive four weeks...
Eloise has been decent and cool with the people at work. One of the security guys finds out what just happened and tells her there's a front counter job at a gym he knows. They are looking for a woman on front desk and it's free use of the gym.
But because it's a gym, don't they want someone who already looks super-fit?
The security guy assures her he'll put in a word. Sure enough she gets the gig.
Pay isn't great but it's a port in a storm for four weeks.
The first surprise is first day.
It's a fighter's gym.
Sure they have cardio gear and weights.
What they mostly have is rings, a chain link cage, heavy bags, and tackling dummies.
Really it makes sense. Who wants a bouncer that only does spin class?
The second surprise is that there are quite a few women on the mats also. They come and go happily and, sometimes, even walk out of the place with a black eye or a puffy lip from practice only to come back and go again.
The third surprise is the fifth day. It's quiet out front Eloise is doing some tidy up out back.
She stops to watch a woman her size take on a guy who looks like an NFL linebacker on the mats.
And four minutes later the linebacker is tapping out.
And three minutes after that he taps again.
Eloise asks the woman when she leaves the ring - "Was that fake?"
The answer is very chilly; everyone notices. "No"
Everyone notices except Eloise that is...
"Can I learn how to do that?!?!"
Her voice even squeaks a bit when she asks.
Three weeks later she's working fit at the restaurant again.
After a few months a new sense of discipline sets in. She goes back to college to resume her degree.
After a few years she's not working service at the restaurant. She's assistant manager.
Completely qualified. Eloise has her bachelor's in commerce and an MBA after that.
Looks are still important. No-one who meets Eloise seems to worry about that.
Oddly her expertise in covering bruises with makeup may help with that.
One day one of the wealthier customers is getting aggressive and obnoxious. He's really drunk.
Eloise is closer, so when the drunk grabs the waitresses arm it's Eloise who gets there first.
The floor security is moving quickly now. Not remotely quickly enough.
Even Eloise is caught off guard when the guy throws a punch.
The drunk is linebacker size. He actually has some technique.
He hits Eloise solid on the cheek and she experiences a flash of black and bright lights in her head.
Which may be why the next thing she remembers is the security guy grabbing her and shouting "Let him GO!!!".
The drunk is purple in the face and making some very unusual gurgling sounds.
Looks like he's lost control of his bowels and bladder also.
She lets go very quickly indeed once she figures out what the smell is.
Where his right arm used to be there's a thick string of spaghetti with two spiral fractures and a dislocated shoulder.
The only person charged with anything is the linebacker.
Once he sobers up he also at least has the decency to pay for the replacement of a torn dress and repair of a broken shoe heel.
Eloise knows how to cover the bruise under and around her eye. The puffiness goes down in a few days. None of her teeth got loosened.
She had her eye on a new dress anyway so she's happy with how this all worked out.
Eloise never saw the woman in that original gym again. One day she quite literally runs into on a street corner and says hello.
The other woman remembers Eloise, introduces herself properly, and explains that after a lot of travel she's going to a different place these days.
And Eloise ends up at Kimiko's new gym.
Checking the place out she runs into Violet.
Violet makes the mistake of thinking Eloise probably isn't that good and offers the challenge.
Eloise is actually rather shy, which affects the way she replies to a stranger.
Violet becomes more certain she's picked an easy mark.
After pulling guard and scoring a quick tap with a simple scissor hold (Violet has very strong legs) she thinks this will be a fun bit of exercise tormenting the newcomer.
Except Eloise now knows to avoid Violet's guard.
Violet figures out pretty quickly this won't be easy after all.
Eloise quit the front counter job at the gym after a year and became a regular paying customer instead.
Seven years since she first started going.
Three times a week, doing Brazilian Ju-Jistu classes without fail.
Got her brown belt last week. She's hoping to move onto black in a couple years more.
Violet can also tell you what it feels like to be run over by a car.
What it feels like for the car to reverse back over you.
And what it feels like to be run over again...
