Post by matt on Sept 25, 2021 5:16:05 GMT -6
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Off Camera
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Landmark, life changing, and life altering events have occurred in human history that have forever changed the landscape of human history. On a smaller scale, certain big events can disrupt a family in its entire and force them to accept change, force them to accept a new normal. The challenge everyone seems to have these days is adjusting to a new normal. Normalcy is what everyone wants but will the normal we are used to ever return? For Glory Braddock, she has experienced many life altering events that have shaped her life and changed her life forever, forcing her to adjust to new normals. Yet nothing quite measures up to the life changing event she had to endure just over one month ago.
It started out as a wondrous change, a change that should have been celebrated; her daughter, Melinda Braddock, was engaged to Archie Van Stanton, and that coming wedding in turn brought to an end the bitter rivalry between Glory Braddock and her family and the Van Stanton family. One of her most bitter and toughest of rivals, both in the ring and in business, would become an ally as the two families made peace and joyfully celebrated the marriage of their children. It should have been a happy, wonderful moment. Instead the joy was quickly turned into grief as a home invasion and subsequent gunfire extinguished the life of Archie Van Stanton. Melinda Braddock may have survived but she will have to live with this terrible memory for the rest of her young life.
The current vibe given off by Glory Braddock is that of a confident businesswoman as she stands there staring at herself in the full length mirror in her and her husband Kurt Logan’s bedroom. Braddock is wearing a purple skirt suit and standing perched atop matching purple high heeled pumps. Her long blonde flows unrestrained to past her shoulders. Her husband, Kurt Logan, walks in from behind. He is wearing khaki dress pants, brown dress shoes, and a white polo shirt. He smirks knowingly as he leans over and kisses her on the cheek.
“I feel underdressed.” He says with a small chuckle. “Maybe I should break out a three piece suit, huh?”
“You look fine, love.” Glory’s voice sounds distant and her husband detects it, noting that something is wrong. He gently spins her around so that she is facing him. The couple lock eyes.
“Are you fine?”
“I think I look great. Unless you think I should go with the pink outfit instead?”
“I am not talking about your outfit.” Kurt pokes her on the head. “I’m talking about up here. Are you fine? Are you ready for this?”
“Yes, I am ready.”
“Look, Glory, I know it has been over a month since the shooting. And I know how terrified you were when you found out Melinda was involved. You and I got real lucky that she survived that night.”
“I know.” Braddock says, slowly nodding her head and fighting back tears.
“So what I’m saying is, if you still need more time before you jump back into the swing of your wild and crazy schedule, then take the time. Take all of the time you need. No one will blame you for taking a step back to clear your head and recover from that.”
“I know all that, Kurt. I know that not a soul will blame me for taking time off. But I have taken time off, I took over a month off from the day to day operations at Glorious Golden Enterprise. I was lucky to have Francis Taylor, Aurora Alan, and Tabitha Silverstone to maintain things while I took a much needed vacation.”
“Yes, you took a vacation from part of your work. But your OTHER work, well…” Kurt’s voice trails off. Glory sighs with frustration.
“If you mean wrestling then no, I did not take a break. I competed at SCW Rise To Greatness. I still plan to continue competing for MWE. That’s just who I am. I am a wrestler and I will work every single show if I am booked.”
“Working hectic schedules like this cannot be healthy, especially after such a traumatic event. It cannot be good for your mental health. You just got a full bill of mental health from your psychiatrist. Those days of psychiatric sessions are over and behind you. Do you really want to risk setting yourself back?”
“I know what I’m doing, love. Trust me, getting back into my normal routine is the best way I can handle this.”
“You do realize that the normal we remember no longer exists, right? After what happened that night, nothing will ever be the same.”
“I know.” Glory says, nodding her head. “But this way I can at least maintain some sense of sanity.”
Kurt Logan still doesn’t buy the goods that his wife is trying to sell. He opens his mouth to respond but is interrupted when he hears the door opening. He and Glory turn to watch as Melinda Braddock enters the room. She is wearing a floral print sun dress and low heeled sandals. Seeing his step-daughter, Glory’s daughter, there makes Kurt rethink his decision to speak up...for now.
“Hi, Kurt. I just wanted to let you and mom know that the guy from Forbes is here.”
“Sounds good. I’ll go get Dawn and then we can meet him downstairs in the living room.” Kurt suggests. Glory shakes her head.
“No, I want to talk to Melinda first. We’ll meet you down there.”
“Ok…” Kurt kisses Glory. Then he walks over to Melinda and kisses her on the cheek. Kurt then exits the room and shuts the door behind him. Glory approaches her daughter and embraces her in a tight hug.
“You look lovely, Mel! Absolutely lovely!”
“Thanks, mom.”
“You know something Mel, looking at you right now is enough to bring a tear to my eye. You remind me so much of myself when I was your age.”
“Bullshit, mom.” Melinda says with a sly grin on her face. “At my age you wouldn’t have been caught dead in a dress.”
“This is true. I have changed a great deal in my life and I have made many mistakes in my life. There are many things about my life I regret. But you are not one of those regrets. Despite everything that has happened to you, even mistakes I have made that hurt you, you still overcame it and became a strong, powerful, and beautiful young lady. You make me so proud with how strong you are but…” she sighs and runs her hand through her daughter’s hair “...I know you must still be grieving. How couldn’t you be? So, are you ready for this? You don’t have to be there if you don’t want to.”
“You’re right, mom, it does still hurt. But I know I must move on. I cannot continue to live in grief.”
“That’s brave of you to say, but you don’t have to be a part of this if you’re not ready.”
“I know but I want to be a part of it. Besides, this Forbes guy is doing a special on you and your family. Well, last I checked I am part of your family! So I’m pretty sure that means I’m mandated to attend whether I want to or not.” Melinda says this with a smirk on her face. Glory cannot tell if she is faking the enthusiasm or not but still nods her head, holding back her reservations.
“Ok, Mel, lets go.”
Glory Braddock and her daughter Melinda turn and exit the bedroom. As they walk down the stairs Glory cannot help but think about how much of herself she sees in Melinda. Both were very vibrant, enthusiastic, and even rebellious. Both were naturals when it came to professional wrestling and were eager to learn new things about the sport. And like Glory, Melinda is also very good at hiding her pain and grief. The British Bombshell is certain that her daughter is still hurting. She just hopes that she is still good enough for this interview. Forbes Magazine wants to do a special on Glory Braddock as a woman who is successful at balancing so many aspects of her life from a corporate life, a life of a professional wrestler, and the life of a mother. Yet deep down inside, Glory still doubts her own success as a mother. She hides those doubts well, and she is certain that Melinda is good at hiding her own doubts.
Mother and daughter get to the bottom of the stairs and then turn to go down another, shorter hallway. They turn and enter the living room where they find Kurt Logan and Dawn Logan sitting together on the sofa. Seated in the recliner is a stranger in a button up white silk shirt and khaki pants. This is more than likely the journalist. The man gets up and approaches Glory with an outstretched hand.
“Hello, Ms. Braddock. I am Lee Seymour from Forbes Magazine.”
“Hi, Mr. Seymour.”
“Oh don’t be so darn formal. Call me Lee.”
Glory nods her head. “And please, call me Glory.” She and Melinda approach the sofa and sit down on the sofa next to Kurt and Dawn. Melinda and Dawn are sandwiched in between their parents, Kurt and Glory. Lee Seymour sits back down in the recliner he had been sitting in. He produces a small modern camera and sets it down on the coffee table.
“Do you mind if I record this? It will help me recall certain details when writing the article and plus we at Forbes can also publish small clips on our YouTube Channel and other social media sites. We won’t show the entire thing but our tech savvy people can tweak it and edit it to show only the good stuff. And anything we decide to post online we will make sure you view it first, does that sound good?”
“Sure, go right ahead.” Glory answers politely.
“Great!” He presses the play button on the camera. Lee reaches into his shirt pocket and produces a pen and notepad. “I want to thank you for taking the time to let me into your home, Glory. You do have a very lovely home and a wonderful family here. Do you mind introducing me to everyone?”
“Not at all. Over there at the far end of the sofa is my husband Kurt, and to his left is our daughter Dawn Aphrodite Logan, and next to me is my oldest daughter Melinda Alexis Braddock.”
“It is nice to meet you all. And you, Glory, it is fascinating to see you here with such a lovely family, living here in Miami, especially when we consider how you got started. You were born in London, right?”
“Southampton to be more precise, but I grew up and spent my entire childhood in London, yes. The memories of that place were grand, absolutely grand. My sister and I had fun pranking people, playing games, and of course trying to mimic our dad, the great European wrestler Glenn Braddock. We would wrestle each other all the time. Our mum didn’t like it too much, mind, but dad loved it. Then again, mum didn’t like dad wrestling very much, either. But there was no way she was going to get him to stop. Ultimately an injury forced him to stop, and even that didn’t stop him from being involved in wrestling.”
“I assume you are referring to when you dad started training you and your sister to follow in his footsteps?”
“That’s right, although I must admit that my sister probably had the smarter idea in waiting a couple of years. I did not wait. I jumped right into the business. I began training with my father the very moment he was well enough to begin working with me. That period of my life was nothing but wrestling. Every waking second of my life was spent on wrestling. I missed out on many things that kids normally would get to experience at that age, but I didn’t care. I had my eyes on one goal and that was to be a wrestler and make my father proud. Obviously I did achieve that goal. I debuted in Global Division of Wrestling in 2008. I have been wrestling non stop ever since in promotions such as GDW, Motor City Wrestling, Future Wrestling Alliance, Millennium Wrestling Alliance, Millennium Wrestling Enterprise and now Supreme Championship Wrestling; but I always stuck true to the place that gave me my start. I stayed true to GDW until its bitter end. In late 2011 it was suffering from bad financial difficulties so I bought all of its trademarks, licenses, and other properties associated with Global Championship Wrestling, a wrestling promotion that GDW had at one time itself owned. I took GCW and decided to start my own promotion. I brought GCW back from the dead, so to speak.”
“So you went above and beyond even what your own father had envisioned. What made you decide to transition from being a wrestler to being a promoter and businesswoman?”
“Well you have to understand that I grew up in the wrestling business. I grew up going to shows and watching my dad compete. And I grew up with my dad teaching me, even when I was a little girl about Dawn’s age he was teaching me about respect for tradition and respect for the business he loved. Now as a wrestler I had always seen dirty politics ruin a competitor’s career or ridiculous clowns turn a serious sport into a three ring circus. Wrestling had given so much to me and my family, I wanted to return the favor and do what I could to give back to wrestling by promoting what I felt wrestling should be. That’s why I ultimately decided to make the transition. But that transition…” Braddock chuckles and shakes her head “...well, it wasn’t exactly an easy one.”
“Do you care to elaborate?”
“Well I knew next to nothing about running a business. I had to surround myself with people who did in order to help me. Some of them were honestly trying to help while others tried to stab me in the back and still others tried to run me out of business. I was constantly fighting in the early years to keep my business afloat amid attempts at a hostile takeover. Then I met Aphrodite Noel.” a smile crosses Glory’s face. “Aphrodite and I did not get along at first but the more time I spent with her, the more time I got to know her, I finally saw things from her perspective. She took me under her wing and taught me everything I know today about business. For a long time I was her protege...at least when it came to business. We grew close, Aphrodite and I. In fact, I consider her like a mother figure, considering all of the wisdom she imparted upon me. And I used that wisdom to expand my business. No longer is it just about promoting wrestling. We operate a wrestling school in London, England and we even are beginning to dip our toes in modeling.”
“And that gets me to what this whole piece is about. I mean, how do you do all of this? You are a wrestler, a businesswoman, and a mother. How do you do it?”
“I have more than my fair share of headaches and sleepless nights, let’s just leave it at that.” Braddock says chuckling.
“Fair enough. But let’s focus now on that third piece of your identity. Talk about your family, if you don’t mind.”
“One thing I am grateful for is my family. We are strong and we always have each other’s back. I know that I can always count on my sister and she knows if she ever needs anything that she can just ask. As for Kurt,” Glory shuts her eyes and sighs with a sense of pleasure “he has been my rock. He has been a solid supporter of me, through the tough times and the good times. And he really is a great father to the girls. I’m not around as much as I wish I could be, but that comes with the territory when you are involved in this kind of business. But Kurt here has more than picked up the slack. He has been a terrific father for both Dawn and Melinda.”
“Speaking of your children…” Lee’s voice trails off a little, it is clear that he isn’t sure if he wants to ask this question.
“Yes?”
“Well, and we can edit this part out if you’re not comfortable talking about it, but it is public record that you and Kurt only have the one child together; Dawn. Melinda is his step-daughter, correct?”
“Yes, that is true. But Kurt loves her as if she were his very own.”
“Is Melinda’s biological father in the picture at all?” Lee asks curiously. Glory shakes her head immediately and answers equally as emphatically.
“No.”
“Well I have plenty to work with here, Ms. Braddock…” he catches himself and chuckles “...I’m sorry, Glory. How about we take a break while I set up some equipment outside by your pool so we can snap some photos of you?”
“Sounds good, Lee.”
“Do we have to keep wearing these itchy clothes?” Dawn whines. Glory laughs a little as she rubs her daughter’s head.
“Well I’m not sure, sweetie. Mr. Seymour may want to take photos of you and your sister too, and your dad.”
“It’s ok, Glory.” Lee responds. “This article is primarily about you, anyway. If you children don’t feel like being a part of it anymore that’s fine.”
Braddock turns and looks at Dawn and Melinda. “Well, the ball is in your court.”
“I wanna go to my room and watch tv.” Dawn declares. Melinda sighs and nods her head.
“Yeah, I think I’ll skip out on the photo session too.”
“Fair enough. You and your sister can run off then.” Glory tells them. Melinda then takes Dawn and guides her sister away from the sofa and then out of the living room. Once they are gone Lee Seymour takes his video camera and notepad and makes his own exit from the living room. This leaves The British Bombshell alone with her husband Kurt, who scoots closer to his wife on the sofa. He wraps his arm around her shoulder and kisses her on the cheek.
“You did good.”
“I told you that I was ready for this, Kurt.”
“Still, what happened was traumatizing. Archie and Melinda were shot. Melinda was damn lucky to have recovered as fast as she did. But Archie…” Kurt’s voice trails off. Glory sighs and shakes her head. The painful memory returns.
“Yes, poor Archie.”
“His parents can’t be taking it too well.”
“I haven’t heard from Henry since it all happened. Henry had been helping Chastity on her project, The Julia Foundation, in England but he has taken a leave of absence from the project to grieve.”
“Can you blame him, Glory? His only son died.”
“No, I can’t blame him. But he hasn’t contacted Chastity, either. It is almost like he has gone completely off of the grid. I can’t help but think sometimes what would have happened if Melinda had been the one to die and Archie survived? Would I have sunk into that much grief and depression that I would disappear?”
“You don’t have to think about that, babe. We got lucky. Melinda is safe.”
“Yes, she is safe. Thankfully she is safe. And I am not going to take that for granted. I am not going to take her for granted. I will enjoy every precious second I can with her because I now realize that at any given moment I could lose her.”
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Off Camera
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It is late in the evening in Miami, Florida. The night now rules over the day but the lights still shine on in the Braddock household. “The British Bombshell” Glory Braddock finds herself sitting in the kitchen drinking a glass of red wine, still thinking of where she goes from here.
A few days ago when she was preparing for an interview with Forbes Magazine, her husband Kurt Logan had cautioned her that she was trying to return to a normal schedule too quickly, that perhaps she needed more time off or maybe she needed to see a therapist to help her overcome the shock of the shooting death of Archie Van Stanton and shooting injury of her daughter Melinda Braddock in late July. Braddock has been insistent that the best treatment she can have is to return to a normal day-to-day routine. She is hopeful that a normal routine will be the best for her psyche. That has not worked out. But she is certain that taking any sort of break is a bad idea. It will show too much vulnerability and weakness. And despite what Kurt may say, she doesn't want to resume therapy. She does not want to go back to seeing a psychiatrist. She wants to put that dark part of her life behind her.
Since seeing a therapist is out of the question, the best way she knows how to deal with the loss and the grief is to keep busy.The British Bombshell cannot wait to get back into the ring and keep busy.
“You are Melinda are so much alike.” It is the voice of her husband, Kurt Logan. But Glory was not expecting it and it startles her. She turns and spots Kurt walking into the kitchen from a side door. “Did I scare you?”
“No, you just startled me a little. That’s all.”
“You should come to bed. Melinda too.”
“What is she still doing up?”
“She told me she was studying. But when I looked at what she was studying it turned out to be one of your matches.”
Braddock rolls her eyes. “I see. Yes, she is a lot like me. She spends all day and night studying other wrestlers, doing her homework, trying to hone her skills. She can’t slow down.”
“And I do recall that a dashingly handsome devil told you that you needed to slow down.” Kurt says with a knowing grin on her face. Glory Braddock kisses him on the cheek.
“I know. But going full speed ahead is what I’m used to; I just can’t do anything else. And it helps me cope, you know?”
“I understand.” Kurt says, nodding his head. “It helps you forget about what happened.”
“Exactly.”
“It isn’t always a healthy coping mechanism, though. You should at least consider therapy.”
“You keep saying that and I keep telling you that it won’t happen.”
“Will you at least consider it?”
Braddock rolls her eyes. “If I say yes will you shut up about it?”
“For tonight I will, yes.”
“That’s good enough for me.” Braddock kisses him on the cheek one more time. “Now go get Dawn and put her to bed. I’ll retrieve Melinda.”
“Will do.”
Braddock takes one final sip of wine as she watches her husband walk out of the door that he had previously entered through. The British Bombshell finishes off the wine in the glass and then gets up, walks over to the sink, and places the glass in the sink. She turns and exits the kitchen from a different door. Immediately she finds herself in the living room. There she spots her daughter, Melinda Braddock, sitting on the sofa in her pajamas, watching a tape of Glory’s last match. It was one she lost.
“It’s time for bed, Mel.”
“I know, Kurt already reminded me.”
“Kurt?” Glory furrows her brow out of curiosity. “Why not dad?”
“He’s technically not my dad.”
Braddock shrugs her shoulders. Sometimes it is best to pick your battles and this is a battle she does not want to fight right now. She walks over to the sofa and joins Melinda, sitting down next to her.
“So you’re watching one of my matches?”
“Yup.”
“Not my best work.”
“I know. But still, there’s a lot that I can learn from this.”
“Fair enough. But will you at least come to bed after the match is over? It is getting late.”
“I will, mom. Promise. I just want to watch this one last match. That’s it.”
“You have been watching tons of tape today. Any particular reason?”
“I just want to be good and ready when I return to action. It has been a long time since I have been competing. You remember what grandpa always said about ring rust?”
Braddock chuckles. “Most of what he said about ring rust would have to be censored.”
“I know, right?! Well I’m not going to be stopped by ring rust. I’ve been training and working out at your home gym here in Miami. And I have been studying tape. I will be ready when I return to London tomorrow.”
“You’re returning tomorrow?” This is news to Glory. The expression on her face shows it.
“Yes. I need to get back into the swing of things, mom. I already have matches scheduled in Ireland, Scotland, and France. I can’t wait to travel and see more of Europe.”
Braddock can’t help but remember the words of warning from her husband Kurt as she listens to Melinda’s words ab out wanting to quickly get back to a normal and active schedule of wrestling. Mother and daughter truly are very much alike. The British Bombshell sighs and hugs Melinda tightly.
“And I can’t wait to watch you. You finish up and come to bed when you’re ready.”
“Thanks, mom. I will.”
“Thank you.” Glory stands up and is about to leave but Melinda then speaks up…
“Mom, wait…”
“Yes?” Glory stops and turns to face her daughter.
“The other day when that reporter was here...what was his name again…?”
“Lee Seymour?”
“Yeah, him. He asked about my real father and you said he wasn’t around. Uh, it got me to thinking; who is my father? You never told me anything about him.”
This is one question that takes Glory Braddock by complete surprise. She was not expecting her daughter to ask about her father and Glory definitely was not prepared for it. The British Bombshell takes a moment to compose herself. Then she sits back down next to her daughter on the sofa. She gazes deep and lovingly into her eyes.
“Your father was a young man named Tommy Gage. I met him in secondary school.”
“Secondary school?” Melinda is confused by the term. Melinda, having grown up in America as an American, doesn’t know much of the cultural differences. She is only now getting used to living in England having lived there during her time training to be a wrestler. Glory chuckles.
“What you Americans call high school. He was very handsome. I was young and impressionable.”
“Wow, your very first love! Even before Randall?” Melinda says with a smirk. Glory nods her head.
“Yes, even before Randall.”
“Well what was he like?”
“He treated me like royalty. He worshipped the ground I walked on. Around your grandfather I was treated like the son he never got but always wanted. But around Tommy I was treated like a princess. It was a nice escape. That and the fact that he was a bloody looker didn’t hurt anything.”
“So what happened? If you two were so great together why isn’t he still part of your life?”
This is the tough part. Braddock sighs. “Like I said, I was young and impressionable. I can sit here and tell you that we were in love but the truth is Tommy and I were just kids. We couldn’t tell the difference between love and lust. We LUSTED after one another, kind of like how you and Clyde [Sutter] lusted after one another.”
“Oh…” Melinda’s voice trails off. She can now see where this is going.
“But don’t mistake Tommy for Clyde. He wasn’t anything like him. Tommy at least respected me that much. What we did was consensual. And we did it a lot.”
“Ok, mom! You don’t need to go into detail about your sex life!” Melinda seems disgusted. Glory smirks and rubs her daughter’s head and ruffles her hair.
“How do you think you and your sister got here? The stork drop you two off at my doorstep?”
“Let me pretend!
“Fair enough. Point is, after I got pregnant with you I had hopes that Tommy would just love me even more, that he would love the idea of being a father, and that sometimes, when we were old enough, we would get married.”
“Granddad Glenn didn’t want to kill him?”
“Shockingly no. But when Tommy disappeared off the face of the earth after I told him I was pregnant, when Tommy shirked his responsibilities as your father, then yes, your grandfather did want to kill him.”
“What about you?”
“It broke my heart.” Glory says with a tear rolling down her cheek. “It broke me. It was then that I decided that once you were born, I would fully embrace your grandfather’s vision for my life. Your grandfather had no problem helping raise you while I was training. And he got the son he always wanted.” Braddock chuckles sarcastically. “At least your grandfather got something out of it.”
“Did you ever hear from dad?”
“No.” Glory shakes her head. “Tommy has never once tried to reach out to contact me.” Glory embraces Melinda in a tight hug. “Melinda, sometimes the ones we think we love actually never really cared about us at all. And sometimes those who do not appear to care really are the ones who care about us the most. But I can promise you this, Kurt loves you and Kurt will always be there for you and for your sister. He would die for you two. Do you believe that?”
“Yeah, I believe it.” Melinda says, slowly nodding her head.
“Good.” She kisses Melinda on the forehead. “I love you, Mel.”
“I love you too, mom.”
Glory Braddock stands up and turns to walk away. When she gets to the door she turns and looks back at her daughter one more time, still on the sofa. Braddock hopes that she got through to her. Braddock then turns and exits the living room.
Off Camera
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Landmark, life changing, and life altering events have occurred in human history that have forever changed the landscape of human history. On a smaller scale, certain big events can disrupt a family in its entire and force them to accept change, force them to accept a new normal. The challenge everyone seems to have these days is adjusting to a new normal. Normalcy is what everyone wants but will the normal we are used to ever return? For Glory Braddock, she has experienced many life altering events that have shaped her life and changed her life forever, forcing her to adjust to new normals. Yet nothing quite measures up to the life changing event she had to endure just over one month ago.
It started out as a wondrous change, a change that should have been celebrated; her daughter, Melinda Braddock, was engaged to Archie Van Stanton, and that coming wedding in turn brought to an end the bitter rivalry between Glory Braddock and her family and the Van Stanton family. One of her most bitter and toughest of rivals, both in the ring and in business, would become an ally as the two families made peace and joyfully celebrated the marriage of their children. It should have been a happy, wonderful moment. Instead the joy was quickly turned into grief as a home invasion and subsequent gunfire extinguished the life of Archie Van Stanton. Melinda Braddock may have survived but she will have to live with this terrible memory for the rest of her young life.
The current vibe given off by Glory Braddock is that of a confident businesswoman as she stands there staring at herself in the full length mirror in her and her husband Kurt Logan’s bedroom. Braddock is wearing a purple skirt suit and standing perched atop matching purple high heeled pumps. Her long blonde flows unrestrained to past her shoulders. Her husband, Kurt Logan, walks in from behind. He is wearing khaki dress pants, brown dress shoes, and a white polo shirt. He smirks knowingly as he leans over and kisses her on the cheek.
“I feel underdressed.” He says with a small chuckle. “Maybe I should break out a three piece suit, huh?”
“You look fine, love.” Glory’s voice sounds distant and her husband detects it, noting that something is wrong. He gently spins her around so that she is facing him. The couple lock eyes.
“Are you fine?”
“I think I look great. Unless you think I should go with the pink outfit instead?”
“I am not talking about your outfit.” Kurt pokes her on the head. “I’m talking about up here. Are you fine? Are you ready for this?”
“Yes, I am ready.”
“Look, Glory, I know it has been over a month since the shooting. And I know how terrified you were when you found out Melinda was involved. You and I got real lucky that she survived that night.”
“I know.” Braddock says, slowly nodding her head and fighting back tears.
“So what I’m saying is, if you still need more time before you jump back into the swing of your wild and crazy schedule, then take the time. Take all of the time you need. No one will blame you for taking a step back to clear your head and recover from that.”
“I know all that, Kurt. I know that not a soul will blame me for taking time off. But I have taken time off, I took over a month off from the day to day operations at Glorious Golden Enterprise. I was lucky to have Francis Taylor, Aurora Alan, and Tabitha Silverstone to maintain things while I took a much needed vacation.”
“Yes, you took a vacation from part of your work. But your OTHER work, well…” Kurt’s voice trails off. Glory sighs with frustration.
“If you mean wrestling then no, I did not take a break. I competed at SCW Rise To Greatness. I still plan to continue competing for MWE. That’s just who I am. I am a wrestler and I will work every single show if I am booked.”
“Working hectic schedules like this cannot be healthy, especially after such a traumatic event. It cannot be good for your mental health. You just got a full bill of mental health from your psychiatrist. Those days of psychiatric sessions are over and behind you. Do you really want to risk setting yourself back?”
“I know what I’m doing, love. Trust me, getting back into my normal routine is the best way I can handle this.”
“You do realize that the normal we remember no longer exists, right? After what happened that night, nothing will ever be the same.”
“I know.” Glory says, nodding her head. “But this way I can at least maintain some sense of sanity.”
Kurt Logan still doesn’t buy the goods that his wife is trying to sell. He opens his mouth to respond but is interrupted when he hears the door opening. He and Glory turn to watch as Melinda Braddock enters the room. She is wearing a floral print sun dress and low heeled sandals. Seeing his step-daughter, Glory’s daughter, there makes Kurt rethink his decision to speak up...for now.
“Hi, Kurt. I just wanted to let you and mom know that the guy from Forbes is here.”
“Sounds good. I’ll go get Dawn and then we can meet him downstairs in the living room.” Kurt suggests. Glory shakes her head.
“No, I want to talk to Melinda first. We’ll meet you down there.”
“Ok…” Kurt kisses Glory. Then he walks over to Melinda and kisses her on the cheek. Kurt then exits the room and shuts the door behind him. Glory approaches her daughter and embraces her in a tight hug.
“You look lovely, Mel! Absolutely lovely!”
“Thanks, mom.”
“You know something Mel, looking at you right now is enough to bring a tear to my eye. You remind me so much of myself when I was your age.”
“Bullshit, mom.” Melinda says with a sly grin on her face. “At my age you wouldn’t have been caught dead in a dress.”
“This is true. I have changed a great deal in my life and I have made many mistakes in my life. There are many things about my life I regret. But you are not one of those regrets. Despite everything that has happened to you, even mistakes I have made that hurt you, you still overcame it and became a strong, powerful, and beautiful young lady. You make me so proud with how strong you are but…” she sighs and runs her hand through her daughter’s hair “...I know you must still be grieving. How couldn’t you be? So, are you ready for this? You don’t have to be there if you don’t want to.”
“You’re right, mom, it does still hurt. But I know I must move on. I cannot continue to live in grief.”
“That’s brave of you to say, but you don’t have to be a part of this if you’re not ready.”
“I know but I want to be a part of it. Besides, this Forbes guy is doing a special on you and your family. Well, last I checked I am part of your family! So I’m pretty sure that means I’m mandated to attend whether I want to or not.” Melinda says this with a smirk on her face. Glory cannot tell if she is faking the enthusiasm or not but still nods her head, holding back her reservations.
“Ok, Mel, lets go.”
Glory Braddock and her daughter Melinda turn and exit the bedroom. As they walk down the stairs Glory cannot help but think about how much of herself she sees in Melinda. Both were very vibrant, enthusiastic, and even rebellious. Both were naturals when it came to professional wrestling and were eager to learn new things about the sport. And like Glory, Melinda is also very good at hiding her pain and grief. The British Bombshell is certain that her daughter is still hurting. She just hopes that she is still good enough for this interview. Forbes Magazine wants to do a special on Glory Braddock as a woman who is successful at balancing so many aspects of her life from a corporate life, a life of a professional wrestler, and the life of a mother. Yet deep down inside, Glory still doubts her own success as a mother. She hides those doubts well, and she is certain that Melinda is good at hiding her own doubts.
Mother and daughter get to the bottom of the stairs and then turn to go down another, shorter hallway. They turn and enter the living room where they find Kurt Logan and Dawn Logan sitting together on the sofa. Seated in the recliner is a stranger in a button up white silk shirt and khaki pants. This is more than likely the journalist. The man gets up and approaches Glory with an outstretched hand.
“Hello, Ms. Braddock. I am Lee Seymour from Forbes Magazine.”
“Hi, Mr. Seymour.”
“Oh don’t be so darn formal. Call me Lee.”
Glory nods her head. “And please, call me Glory.” She and Melinda approach the sofa and sit down on the sofa next to Kurt and Dawn. Melinda and Dawn are sandwiched in between their parents, Kurt and Glory. Lee Seymour sits back down in the recliner he had been sitting in. He produces a small modern camera and sets it down on the coffee table.
“Do you mind if I record this? It will help me recall certain details when writing the article and plus we at Forbes can also publish small clips on our YouTube Channel and other social media sites. We won’t show the entire thing but our tech savvy people can tweak it and edit it to show only the good stuff. And anything we decide to post online we will make sure you view it first, does that sound good?”
“Sure, go right ahead.” Glory answers politely.
“Great!” He presses the play button on the camera. Lee reaches into his shirt pocket and produces a pen and notepad. “I want to thank you for taking the time to let me into your home, Glory. You do have a very lovely home and a wonderful family here. Do you mind introducing me to everyone?”
“Not at all. Over there at the far end of the sofa is my husband Kurt, and to his left is our daughter Dawn Aphrodite Logan, and next to me is my oldest daughter Melinda Alexis Braddock.”
“It is nice to meet you all. And you, Glory, it is fascinating to see you here with such a lovely family, living here in Miami, especially when we consider how you got started. You were born in London, right?”
“Southampton to be more precise, but I grew up and spent my entire childhood in London, yes. The memories of that place were grand, absolutely grand. My sister and I had fun pranking people, playing games, and of course trying to mimic our dad, the great European wrestler Glenn Braddock. We would wrestle each other all the time. Our mum didn’t like it too much, mind, but dad loved it. Then again, mum didn’t like dad wrestling very much, either. But there was no way she was going to get him to stop. Ultimately an injury forced him to stop, and even that didn’t stop him from being involved in wrestling.”
“I assume you are referring to when you dad started training you and your sister to follow in his footsteps?”
“That’s right, although I must admit that my sister probably had the smarter idea in waiting a couple of years. I did not wait. I jumped right into the business. I began training with my father the very moment he was well enough to begin working with me. That period of my life was nothing but wrestling. Every waking second of my life was spent on wrestling. I missed out on many things that kids normally would get to experience at that age, but I didn’t care. I had my eyes on one goal and that was to be a wrestler and make my father proud. Obviously I did achieve that goal. I debuted in Global Division of Wrestling in 2008. I have been wrestling non stop ever since in promotions such as GDW, Motor City Wrestling, Future Wrestling Alliance, Millennium Wrestling Alliance, Millennium Wrestling Enterprise and now Supreme Championship Wrestling; but I always stuck true to the place that gave me my start. I stayed true to GDW until its bitter end. In late 2011 it was suffering from bad financial difficulties so I bought all of its trademarks, licenses, and other properties associated with Global Championship Wrestling, a wrestling promotion that GDW had at one time itself owned. I took GCW and decided to start my own promotion. I brought GCW back from the dead, so to speak.”
“So you went above and beyond even what your own father had envisioned. What made you decide to transition from being a wrestler to being a promoter and businesswoman?”
“Well you have to understand that I grew up in the wrestling business. I grew up going to shows and watching my dad compete. And I grew up with my dad teaching me, even when I was a little girl about Dawn’s age he was teaching me about respect for tradition and respect for the business he loved. Now as a wrestler I had always seen dirty politics ruin a competitor’s career or ridiculous clowns turn a serious sport into a three ring circus. Wrestling had given so much to me and my family, I wanted to return the favor and do what I could to give back to wrestling by promoting what I felt wrestling should be. That’s why I ultimately decided to make the transition. But that transition…” Braddock chuckles and shakes her head “...well, it wasn’t exactly an easy one.”
“Do you care to elaborate?”
“Well I knew next to nothing about running a business. I had to surround myself with people who did in order to help me. Some of them were honestly trying to help while others tried to stab me in the back and still others tried to run me out of business. I was constantly fighting in the early years to keep my business afloat amid attempts at a hostile takeover. Then I met Aphrodite Noel.” a smile crosses Glory’s face. “Aphrodite and I did not get along at first but the more time I spent with her, the more time I got to know her, I finally saw things from her perspective. She took me under her wing and taught me everything I know today about business. For a long time I was her protege...at least when it came to business. We grew close, Aphrodite and I. In fact, I consider her like a mother figure, considering all of the wisdom she imparted upon me. And I used that wisdom to expand my business. No longer is it just about promoting wrestling. We operate a wrestling school in London, England and we even are beginning to dip our toes in modeling.”
“And that gets me to what this whole piece is about. I mean, how do you do all of this? You are a wrestler, a businesswoman, and a mother. How do you do it?”
“I have more than my fair share of headaches and sleepless nights, let’s just leave it at that.” Braddock says chuckling.
“Fair enough. But let’s focus now on that third piece of your identity. Talk about your family, if you don’t mind.”
“One thing I am grateful for is my family. We are strong and we always have each other’s back. I know that I can always count on my sister and she knows if she ever needs anything that she can just ask. As for Kurt,” Glory shuts her eyes and sighs with a sense of pleasure “he has been my rock. He has been a solid supporter of me, through the tough times and the good times. And he really is a great father to the girls. I’m not around as much as I wish I could be, but that comes with the territory when you are involved in this kind of business. But Kurt here has more than picked up the slack. He has been a terrific father for both Dawn and Melinda.”
“Speaking of your children…” Lee’s voice trails off a little, it is clear that he isn’t sure if he wants to ask this question.
“Yes?”
“Well, and we can edit this part out if you’re not comfortable talking about it, but it is public record that you and Kurt only have the one child together; Dawn. Melinda is his step-daughter, correct?”
“Yes, that is true. But Kurt loves her as if she were his very own.”
“Is Melinda’s biological father in the picture at all?” Lee asks curiously. Glory shakes her head immediately and answers equally as emphatically.
“No.”
“Well I have plenty to work with here, Ms. Braddock…” he catches himself and chuckles “...I’m sorry, Glory. How about we take a break while I set up some equipment outside by your pool so we can snap some photos of you?”
“Sounds good, Lee.”
“Do we have to keep wearing these itchy clothes?” Dawn whines. Glory laughs a little as she rubs her daughter’s head.
“Well I’m not sure, sweetie. Mr. Seymour may want to take photos of you and your sister too, and your dad.”
“It’s ok, Glory.” Lee responds. “This article is primarily about you, anyway. If you children don’t feel like being a part of it anymore that’s fine.”
Braddock turns and looks at Dawn and Melinda. “Well, the ball is in your court.”
“I wanna go to my room and watch tv.” Dawn declares. Melinda sighs and nods her head.
“Yeah, I think I’ll skip out on the photo session too.”
“Fair enough. You and your sister can run off then.” Glory tells them. Melinda then takes Dawn and guides her sister away from the sofa and then out of the living room. Once they are gone Lee Seymour takes his video camera and notepad and makes his own exit from the living room. This leaves The British Bombshell alone with her husband Kurt, who scoots closer to his wife on the sofa. He wraps his arm around her shoulder and kisses her on the cheek.
“You did good.”
“I told you that I was ready for this, Kurt.”
“Still, what happened was traumatizing. Archie and Melinda were shot. Melinda was damn lucky to have recovered as fast as she did. But Archie…” Kurt’s voice trails off. Glory sighs and shakes her head. The painful memory returns.
“Yes, poor Archie.”
“His parents can’t be taking it too well.”
“I haven’t heard from Henry since it all happened. Henry had been helping Chastity on her project, The Julia Foundation, in England but he has taken a leave of absence from the project to grieve.”
“Can you blame him, Glory? His only son died.”
“No, I can’t blame him. But he hasn’t contacted Chastity, either. It is almost like he has gone completely off of the grid. I can’t help but think sometimes what would have happened if Melinda had been the one to die and Archie survived? Would I have sunk into that much grief and depression that I would disappear?”
“You don’t have to think about that, babe. We got lucky. Melinda is safe.”
“Yes, she is safe. Thankfully she is safe. And I am not going to take that for granted. I am not going to take her for granted. I will enjoy every precious second I can with her because I now realize that at any given moment I could lose her.”
==========
Off Camera
==========
It is late in the evening in Miami, Florida. The night now rules over the day but the lights still shine on in the Braddock household. “The British Bombshell” Glory Braddock finds herself sitting in the kitchen drinking a glass of red wine, still thinking of where she goes from here.
A few days ago when she was preparing for an interview with Forbes Magazine, her husband Kurt Logan had cautioned her that she was trying to return to a normal schedule too quickly, that perhaps she needed more time off or maybe she needed to see a therapist to help her overcome the shock of the shooting death of Archie Van Stanton and shooting injury of her daughter Melinda Braddock in late July. Braddock has been insistent that the best treatment she can have is to return to a normal day-to-day routine. She is hopeful that a normal routine will be the best for her psyche. That has not worked out. But she is certain that taking any sort of break is a bad idea. It will show too much vulnerability and weakness. And despite what Kurt may say, she doesn't want to resume therapy. She does not want to go back to seeing a psychiatrist. She wants to put that dark part of her life behind her.
Since seeing a therapist is out of the question, the best way she knows how to deal with the loss and the grief is to keep busy.The British Bombshell cannot wait to get back into the ring and keep busy.
“You are Melinda are so much alike.” It is the voice of her husband, Kurt Logan. But Glory was not expecting it and it startles her. She turns and spots Kurt walking into the kitchen from a side door. “Did I scare you?”
“No, you just startled me a little. That’s all.”
“You should come to bed. Melinda too.”
“What is she still doing up?”
“She told me she was studying. But when I looked at what she was studying it turned out to be one of your matches.”
Braddock rolls her eyes. “I see. Yes, she is a lot like me. She spends all day and night studying other wrestlers, doing her homework, trying to hone her skills. She can’t slow down.”
“And I do recall that a dashingly handsome devil told you that you needed to slow down.” Kurt says with a knowing grin on her face. Glory Braddock kisses him on the cheek.
“I know. But going full speed ahead is what I’m used to; I just can’t do anything else. And it helps me cope, you know?”
“I understand.” Kurt says, nodding his head. “It helps you forget about what happened.”
“Exactly.”
“It isn’t always a healthy coping mechanism, though. You should at least consider therapy.”
“You keep saying that and I keep telling you that it won’t happen.”
“Will you at least consider it?”
Braddock rolls her eyes. “If I say yes will you shut up about it?”
“For tonight I will, yes.”
“That’s good enough for me.” Braddock kisses him on the cheek one more time. “Now go get Dawn and put her to bed. I’ll retrieve Melinda.”
“Will do.”
Braddock takes one final sip of wine as she watches her husband walk out of the door that he had previously entered through. The British Bombshell finishes off the wine in the glass and then gets up, walks over to the sink, and places the glass in the sink. She turns and exits the kitchen from a different door. Immediately she finds herself in the living room. There she spots her daughter, Melinda Braddock, sitting on the sofa in her pajamas, watching a tape of Glory’s last match. It was one she lost.
“It’s time for bed, Mel.”
“I know, Kurt already reminded me.”
“Kurt?” Glory furrows her brow out of curiosity. “Why not dad?”
“He’s technically not my dad.”
Braddock shrugs her shoulders. Sometimes it is best to pick your battles and this is a battle she does not want to fight right now. She walks over to the sofa and joins Melinda, sitting down next to her.
“So you’re watching one of my matches?”
“Yup.”
“Not my best work.”
“I know. But still, there’s a lot that I can learn from this.”
“Fair enough. But will you at least come to bed after the match is over? It is getting late.”
“I will, mom. Promise. I just want to watch this one last match. That’s it.”
“You have been watching tons of tape today. Any particular reason?”
“I just want to be good and ready when I return to action. It has been a long time since I have been competing. You remember what grandpa always said about ring rust?”
Braddock chuckles. “Most of what he said about ring rust would have to be censored.”
“I know, right?! Well I’m not going to be stopped by ring rust. I’ve been training and working out at your home gym here in Miami. And I have been studying tape. I will be ready when I return to London tomorrow.”
“You’re returning tomorrow?” This is news to Glory. The expression on her face shows it.
“Yes. I need to get back into the swing of things, mom. I already have matches scheduled in Ireland, Scotland, and France. I can’t wait to travel and see more of Europe.”
Braddock can’t help but remember the words of warning from her husband Kurt as she listens to Melinda’s words ab out wanting to quickly get back to a normal and active schedule of wrestling. Mother and daughter truly are very much alike. The British Bombshell sighs and hugs Melinda tightly.
“And I can’t wait to watch you. You finish up and come to bed when you’re ready.”
“Thanks, mom. I will.”
“Thank you.” Glory stands up and is about to leave but Melinda then speaks up…
“Mom, wait…”
“Yes?” Glory stops and turns to face her daughter.
“The other day when that reporter was here...what was his name again…?”
“Lee Seymour?”
“Yeah, him. He asked about my real father and you said he wasn’t around. Uh, it got me to thinking; who is my father? You never told me anything about him.”
This is one question that takes Glory Braddock by complete surprise. She was not expecting her daughter to ask about her father and Glory definitely was not prepared for it. The British Bombshell takes a moment to compose herself. Then she sits back down next to her daughter on the sofa. She gazes deep and lovingly into her eyes.
“Your father was a young man named Tommy Gage. I met him in secondary school.”
“Secondary school?” Melinda is confused by the term. Melinda, having grown up in America as an American, doesn’t know much of the cultural differences. She is only now getting used to living in England having lived there during her time training to be a wrestler. Glory chuckles.
“What you Americans call high school. He was very handsome. I was young and impressionable.”
“Wow, your very first love! Even before Randall?” Melinda says with a smirk. Glory nods her head.
“Yes, even before Randall.”
“Well what was he like?”
“He treated me like royalty. He worshipped the ground I walked on. Around your grandfather I was treated like the son he never got but always wanted. But around Tommy I was treated like a princess. It was a nice escape. That and the fact that he was a bloody looker didn’t hurt anything.”
“So what happened? If you two were so great together why isn’t he still part of your life?”
This is the tough part. Braddock sighs. “Like I said, I was young and impressionable. I can sit here and tell you that we were in love but the truth is Tommy and I were just kids. We couldn’t tell the difference between love and lust. We LUSTED after one another, kind of like how you and Clyde [Sutter] lusted after one another.”
“Oh…” Melinda’s voice trails off. She can now see where this is going.
“But don’t mistake Tommy for Clyde. He wasn’t anything like him. Tommy at least respected me that much. What we did was consensual. And we did it a lot.”
“Ok, mom! You don’t need to go into detail about your sex life!” Melinda seems disgusted. Glory smirks and rubs her daughter’s head and ruffles her hair.
“How do you think you and your sister got here? The stork drop you two off at my doorstep?”
“Let me pretend!
“Fair enough. Point is, after I got pregnant with you I had hopes that Tommy would just love me even more, that he would love the idea of being a father, and that sometimes, when we were old enough, we would get married.”
“Granddad Glenn didn’t want to kill him?”
“Shockingly no. But when Tommy disappeared off the face of the earth after I told him I was pregnant, when Tommy shirked his responsibilities as your father, then yes, your grandfather did want to kill him.”
“What about you?”
“It broke my heart.” Glory says with a tear rolling down her cheek. “It broke me. It was then that I decided that once you were born, I would fully embrace your grandfather’s vision for my life. Your grandfather had no problem helping raise you while I was training. And he got the son he always wanted.” Braddock chuckles sarcastically. “At least your grandfather got something out of it.”
“Did you ever hear from dad?”
“No.” Glory shakes her head. “Tommy has never once tried to reach out to contact me.” Glory embraces Melinda in a tight hug. “Melinda, sometimes the ones we think we love actually never really cared about us at all. And sometimes those who do not appear to care really are the ones who care about us the most. But I can promise you this, Kurt loves you and Kurt will always be there for you and for your sister. He would die for you two. Do you believe that?”
“Yeah, I believe it.” Melinda says, slowly nodding her head.
“Good.” She kisses Melinda on the forehead. “I love you, Mel.”
“I love you too, mom.”
Glory Braddock stands up and turns to walk away. When she gets to the door she turns and looks back at her daughter one more time, still on the sofa. Braddock hopes that she got through to her. Braddock then turns and exits the living room.