Post by matt on Dec 2, 2021 8:58:51 GMT -6
==========
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
==========
It had been a month since The British Bombshell paid a visit to her Charlotte, North Carolina headquarters. And there everyone was happy with a sense of jubilance, a feeling of a brighter future ahead for them and everyone at the Glorious Golden Enterprise. But Glory Braddock is not in Charlotte. Today she finds herself in her smaller Miami offices and the feeling here is far different. The air is thick with tension, the mood is quite somber, which is a far different from the mood felt a month ago when Glory Braddock walked through her company’s Charlotte office. The change in scenery as well as the change in mood comes with a good reason; namely the looming threat of none other than rival Ronald D. Kennedy. RDK had once done everything within his power to sabotage Glory’s company during a time when they were attempting to dip their toe into the modeling industry. Braddock’s cousin, Kayla Jones, ran a modeling agency that was going through a difficult financial time and Glory wanted to help her through it by funding the agency. But RDK wanted the agency all for himself. Braddock thought that she had rid herself of RDK through a deceptive tactic of continuing to fund the modeling agency under an assumed name in order to throw Kennedy off the trail. But now he is back and causing more trouble.
RDK isn’t the only problem. There is also the issue of Thomas Gage, Glory’s ex-boyfriend. Glory suspected that he was the one behind RDK’s return. Glory still suspects Thomas despite Thomas’s insistence that it was not him. But what concerns The British Bombshell is what Gage said; he ominously warned that he would stop all of her enemies, including RDK. What does he mean by that? How far will Thomas go to protect a woman that he may still love, a woman he may still believe belongs to him?
The blonde haired British Bombshell walks through the empty offices of her Miami, Florida corporate headquarters. Glory is dressed in a floral print yellow sun dress, sandals, and her long blonde hair hangs straight and unrestrained to past the shoulders. She has sunglasses sitting up on her head. This is a one story building, small, and on this day empty due to Braddock allowing her employees to have the day off. The day off isn’t necessarily earned, nor is it because Braddock is feeling generous. She just needs this place for an important meeting today with her business partners.
Braddock walks down the empty hallway and spots a room with a light on inside. Glory approaches the room. She steps through the door and into the room. Inside she spots that her business partners have already arrived. Sitting at one end of an oval shaped desk is her cousin, president of the modeling agency Kayla Jones. Sitting at the other end of the oval shaped desk is Francis Taylor, president of the Glorious Golden Enterprises. Despite the tense circumstances behind this particular meeting, Glory does manage to force a polite grin on her face as she greets them both.
“Thanks for being here. I’m glad you both got here early. Maybe we can get this started and over with, eh?” Glory says as she approaches Kayla. Her cousin stands up and embraces Glory in a tight hug. Braddock then turns to Francis, who stands up and shakes Glory’s hand. Francis and Kayla sit back down at the table. The British Bombshell goes over to a smaller table nearby where coffee is being made. She takes three small mugs passes them over to the bigger oval desk. She turns off the coffee pot and takes the coffee over to the table.
“Coffee?” She offers Kayla. Her cousin nods and Glory pours her a cup. She goes over to Francis.
“Coffee, mate?” Francis nods her head. Glory pours her a cup. Braddock then goes over and pours herself a cup of coffee as well. Braddock drops the coffee pot back off at the smaller table and then walks back over and finds her seat at the oval table in between Kayla and Francis. Glory sips her coffee before speaking.
“As you both know, we wanted Glorious Golden Enterprises to get involved in the modeling business. It was Francis’s idea to increase our profit margin but for me it was just about helping a family member keep her dreams alive.” She looks across at Kayla and sighs. “But RDK kept causing problems. He used my own reputation against me to try and run the modeling agency into the ground. And his plan was succeeding. So I had to do the only thing I could do…I had to bow out. I had to make certain that the name ‘Glory Braddock’ was in no way associated to your modeling agency, Kayla.”
Kayla nods her head. “Right, and you decided instead to keep funding the agency under an assumed name.”
“It was a risky move but the plan was working.” Francis points out. “Kennedy had backed off. He had no proof that you were still involved, Glory. We are able to continue funding the agency, even if we were not officially the owners, and we made a good profit off of it.”
“Unfortunately RDK is back.” Glory says with a sigh of disgust. “And I want to know why? After all this time why is he back? What the hell has the bloke learned?”
“Well he hired some real good private investigators.” Kayla points out as she sips on her coffee. Glory rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, I know. My attorney told me about that. Bloody private investigators…”
“You used one before.” Kayla remarks.
“Yeah, that was a mistake I won’t make again.”
“But what did his investigators find out?” Francis asks.
“They found out who has been paying me and my modeling agency.” Kayla says with a somber frown. “They found out that Lindsey Noel has been the name behind the agency’s funding. And they even made the connection between that name and you, Glory.”
Glory’s face goes white as a sheet. “You mean…”
“I’m afraid so. They found out that Lindsey Noel and Glory Braddock are on and the same. So Kennedy knows that you have still been funding me all along and that you still technically own the agency.”
“Bloody hell,” an exasperated sigh escapes her lips “so what kind of damage are we talking about?”
“Well, RDK has been ramping up the propaganda.” Kayla says. “He has been telling every one of my models that you’re still the owner. All of the same garbage he has been trying to spread about you and your reputation, he’s at it again.” A grin forms on Kayla’s face. “But the good news is that so far NONE of the models are buying any of his crap.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. RDK is tempting them, tempting them with some nice offers at that, but they aren’t believing his lies and they aren’t tempted by his offers. They are sticking with us.”
Braddock turns her attention to Francis. “What about the main Glorious Golden Enterprise? Has RDK gone after us?”
“Of course. He has tried accusing us of dirty business, white collar crimes, and the like, but none of it is working. Nothing he is saying sticks. Our advertisers are sticking with us. Our profits are still up. We’re in a good shape.”
A sigh of relief escapes Glory Braddock’s lips. Maybe things are not as bad as she thought they were? Or maybe Thomas Gage is working his own magic behind the scenes? He did promise to protect her, to defend her against her enemies? Is all of this his doing? Either way, The British Bombshell is happy that things seem to be going her way, regardless of who is responsible.
“That’s wonderful news. So RDK isn’t a problem?”
“No, he isn’t, but there is a new problem that I just learned about this morning.” Francis states with a stoic, emotionless gaze on her face. “And that’s the real reason we need to meet today.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Meagan.”
Glory frowns. The Meagan that she is referencing is none other than Meagan Collins. Glory at one time had utilized Meagan Collins’s unique skills in dirty backroom politics and connections within the criminal underworld to remove any and all potential threats to her power from with in her company. Federal authorities got wind of what was happening. They FBI got too close and Glory threw Meagan under the bus, claiming no knowledge of what had happened and blaming everything on Meagan. This name is a demon from Glory’s past, it is one of her many sins that she had hoped would not catch up to her.
“What about Meagan?”
“Her legal team has received a huge monetary donation from an anonymous donor.” Francis says with a wry grin. “Sounding familiar, Gloria?”
Braddock nods her head. “Unfortunately it does. Clyde Sutter receives help from an anonymous help to fund a legal battle against me, RDK receives anonymous tips that convinces him to harass me again, and now Meagan Collins, another threat to me, is receiving anonymous help.”
“In my line of business that is NOT a coincidence.” Francis states. “You have an enemy.”
“I have many enemies, Francis. But which one is behind this?”
“I don’t know. But whoever it is has proven to be a godsend for Collins. Her legal team is filing an appeal to her prison sentence. She may get released soon.” Francis leans forward. “Let’s not beat around the bush, Gloria. Everyone here in this room knows you had something to do with a lot of the crimes from last year. The Board members being blackmailed into submission or bullied into quitting. The shooting of the Alan family home.”
“I did NOT ask Meagan to do that!” Glory snaps back angrily at Francis. Seeing her reaction causes Francis to back off a little.
“Maybe Meagan did go into business for herself? But the fact is the Alan family were your chief enemies. They founded this company that you happened to buy out from under them. They wanted it back and they had powerful allies on the Board of Directors. Those Board members were bullied and intimidated, right before the Alan family themselves were attacked at Meagan’s request.”
“That’s right, MEAGAN’S request, not mine!”
“And you threw her under the bus.” Francis points out. “Meagan will want revenge.”
“She’s right.” Kayla chimes in. “I know Meagan better than either of you, she is one vindictive bitch, and if she gets out, she will come after you.”
“She has no evidence.” Glory says, shaking her head. “I used Meagan as a lobbyist, to convince the Board members to side with me. Lobbying is not illegal.”
“Meagan doesn’t care about the law.” Kayla points out. “She will come after you illegally if she has to.”
Glory is beyond frustrated at this point. She stands up and starts pacing the floor. “Bloody hell, first Sutter, then RDK, now Meagan! All of this is coming too soon!”
“What should we do about this then?” Francis asks.
“For starters, Sutter is being dealt with by my attorney. As much as I hate it we’ll have to settle but at least that will get him off of our back and he will no longer be a problem. Meagan is more of a long term problem. She has to get out of prison first. I suggest we focus on RDK.”
“If that’s how you want to handle it, I could potentially arrange a meeting between you and RDK. We are still friendly with one another, even if we work for rival companies now.”
Braddock shakes her head. “I don’t trust that wanker.”
“What option do you have?” Francis asks. Glory shrugs her shoulders.
“None I suppose. Ok, make it so. Arrange the meeting. I’ll talk to the piece of crap and see what he wants.”
“Excellent.” Francis stands up and produces her cell phone. “I’ll go call him right now.”
Glory stares a hole through Francis as she walks out of the room, dialing the number on her cell phone. Once Francis is out of the room Kayla walks over and shuts the door. The concerned cousin turns and looks at Glory.
“You’re definitely not ok. What’s wrong?”
“Sutter hurt my daughter. He hurt Melinda. He sexually assaulted her. That’s why I have been using every bit of influence I have in wrestling to blackball him, to keep him from being hired. Now I have to let him go free.”
“Glory, as a mother myself I can only imagine how angry it made you to learn about Melinda and Sutter. But I have to ask…what if you’re wrong? Doesn’t Melinda herself admit that it was consensual?”
Braddock nods her head. “Yes. And don’t you think that bothers me too?! Don’t you think it bothers me somewhere in the back of my mind that maybe, just maybe, Sutter is innocent?” She shakes her head vehemently. “That’s why I try not to think about it. But that’s just the beginning of my problems. I hired Meagan to do my dirty work for me, so that my hands would stay clean. Now she took the fall for me and she’s potentially coming back for revenge. And RDK…” Braddock wipes tears from her eyes “...RDK may know all of this…because who knows what his private investigators have found out about me?!”
“Come here, Glory.” Kayla embraces Braddock in a tight hug. “It’ll be ok. You’ll get through it.”
“I made this mess. My sins are coming back to haunt me. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Thomas.”
“Your ex-boyfriend? I thought you suspected him of being behind all of this.”
“Maybe he is.” Braddock sighs. “But he did promise he could stop all of it. He promised he could stop all of my enemies. He promised to protect me.”
“Don’t do it, Glory.” Kayla says, shaking her head. “Do not take the easy way out. The easy way out is what got you into this mess. Using Meagan to do your dirty work and regain power in your company by force was the easy way out. Blackballing Clyde Sutter so as to avoid him forever was taking the easy way out. Now all of that is coming back to bite you in the ass because you took the easy way out. Using Thomas Gage to help you out of your problems would be taking the easy way out.”
“So what should I do, mate?” Glory asks with frustration and tears on her face.
“Just face the music. It’ll be tough, it will be challenging, but you will get through it and be a stronger, wiser person because of it.”
Braddock thinks on this proposal for a moment. Kayla is right, she has taken the easy way out for far too long and it has only brought disaster. Glory nods her head. “You’re right, mate. I can’t keep doing this forever. I’ll fight this myself.”
Just then Francis Taylor enters the room. “Good news. RDK has agreed to meet.”
“Where?”
“In Massachusetts. At the modeling agency.”
Kayla looks over at Glory. “Are you ready for this?”
“Yeah, I am.” Braddock says with a shaky voice. “It won’t be easy but it is the only way. I need to get that sod off my back once and for all.”
“I’m warning you ahead of time, Glory; he still wants that modeling agency. He knows that as long as you’re involved with it he won’t get his hands on it. If you ever turn loose of Kayla’s modeling agency then he will be able to worm his way into taking control. So that’s what he’ll try to do. He’ll try to bully you and intimidate you into backing off and backing down.”
“Yeah? Well I don’t intimidate so easily.”
“Maybe you should take one of us with you.” Francis suggests. “I am his friend. Maybe if I…”
“No.” Glory says, shaking her head. “This is between me and him. I will deal with him myself.”
“Even if you do manage to get rid of him, there is still one other problem. What about this mysterious donor who has been financing all of these attacks against you lately? If you do stop RDK, who is to say they won’t keep coming after you with more intense attacks?” Kayla asks curiously.
“I can only deal with one problem at a time. And unfortunately that is one particular enemy who remains a mystery. At least I know that Sutter, Meagan, and RDK are enemies. I can deal with them. And I will deal with RDK.”
Kayla nods her head, reluctantly agreeing to Glory’s request. The British Bombshell knows that this is something she alone can deal with, she alone must confront Ronald Kennedy. Three attacks against her came up all at once, and potentially with one person behind it all. Is Thomas Gage behind it or could he be the solution to the problem?
==========
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
A triple threat of problems all have risen their ugly heads all at once to threaten Glory Braddock’s personal and professional livelihood. First there is Clyde Sutter, who has been granted quite a substantial amount of money from an anonymous source so he could sue Braddock over defamation of character. She can get the lawsuit off of her back by settling but that would also mean Sutter would be free to torment her anywhere she pleased, she would no longer be able to use her influence to blackball him from wrestling organizations that she is a part of. Then she learned that her former associate, a woman with criminal connections known as Meagan Collins, has also received some financial help from the same anonymous source and is now filing an appeal to her criminal conviction. Glory fears that Meagan will target her if she manages to get out of prison. Finally there is the renewed threat of an old corporate rival named Ronald D. Kennedy, or RDK for short. RDK had always wanted to take over the modeling agency ran and operated by Glory’s cousin Kayla Jones. Glory had used her financial influence to keep Kayla’s agency afloat but RDK tried to run Glory out of the picture by ruining Braddock’s reputation. Glory thought she had thrown RDK off the trail by funding Kayla under an assumed name but now he has renewed his attack on the modeling agency and has had private investigators dig into the background of Glory Braddock.
Then there is Thomas Gage, Glory’s ex-boyfriend and the biological father of Glory’s oldest daughter Melinda Braddock. Thomas has promised to take care of all of her problems for her. He says he can get rid of any and all threats to Glory. But she doesn’t yet trust Thomas; not completely, at least. And she doesn’t want to take the easy way out by having someone bully her enemies into submission. She tried that before and it has already bitten her in the ass. This time Glory intends to do things differently, this time she intends to take care of it herself. There is little Glory can do legally about Clyde Sutter or Meagan Collins. But she can at least attempt to do something about RDK. Glory’s corporate president, Francis Taylor, has a close connection to Ronald Kennedy. So she has had Francis set up a meeting between The British Bombshell and RDK. Braddock hopes that she can find out what RDK wants and how to stop him from interfering in her life.
The setting for this meeting is Boston, Massachusetts. RDK has his own small time modeling agency set up here in Boston, conveniently in the same vicinity where Kayla’s modeling agency is set up. Once he realized Glory would not let him take over Kayla’s agency, RDK planned to start his own and run Kayla out of business. Braddock herself is sitting inside of a rental car in the parking lot of her cousin’s modeling agency. The British Bombshell is dressed in denim jeans, black boots, and a royal purple silk blouse. Her long blonde hair is pulled into a ponytail in the back. This meeting itself was already an anxious one for Braddock but the fact that RDK is late doesn’t help matters. Glory has been watching the clock and has been getting more and more irritated with each passing minute that Kennedy is late.
Just then she spots some movement off in the distance. Is this RDK? Braddock exits the vehicle to get a closer look. She spots what appear to be a human shaped shadow figure, but it easily could just be a trick of the light. Night has fallen and the street lamps are creating some rather unique shapes with the shadows. Glory considers going towards the shadows to see if this is indeed Ronald but then she stops when two large lights shine upon her. She turns towards the source of the light…two headlights from another vehicle. The vehicle slowly comes to a stop next to Glory’s car. It shuts off and the driver exits…it is Ronald D. Kennedy. Braddock immediately forgets all about the shadows she saw. This figure is real. This is her real target. Now is the time to get to business and find out what RDK wants.
“It’s about time you showed up, wanker.” Braddock says with a sneer. Ronald just chuckles, scoffing at her frustration over the wait.
“Was I really that late, Gloria?”
“You were an hour late!” Braddock exclaims angrily. “I almost left!”
“You’re lying.” He says with a knowing smirk. “You need me.”
“I don’t need you.”
“Then why, pray tell, would you have our mutual friend and the president of your company Francis Taylor arrange this meeting between the two of us?” He shrugs his shoulders. “It is my charm? Is it my boyish good looks?”
“You wish.” Braddock rolls her eyes.
“Then tell me, why are we here? What does the great Glory Braddock want from me?”
“I think the question should be turned around on you, mate.” She points an accusatory finger at Kennedy. “What the hell do you want from me?”
“Whatever do you mean?” He says, feigning innocence, but Braddock isn’t buying it. “I’m just an average guy going about my own business.”
“Bullshit, RDK. My cousin has informed me about how you’ve been trying to steal her models. She’s told me about how you’re trying to ruin her agency’s reputation.”
“So what if I did?” He sneers. “I thought you weren’t involved in the modeling agency?”
Glory spots her mistake and backtracks. “I’m not involved with it, but I do care about my cousin.”
“Who cares?” He asks again. “I’m not harassing you. Let your cousin deal with me. She’s a big girl. Yes, I am harassing your cousin and her agency, but I haven’t done anything to you.”
“Again, I cry bullshit on that. Let’s be completely honest here, RDK…well, that may be hard for you since you don’t have an honest bone in your body. But let’s try to be honest. You have been harassing me. I know that you’ve had private investigators stalk me, look into my background.”
There is a silent, thick tension in the air as RDK stares coldly at Braddock. Then he chuckles and nods his head. “Clever girl.”
“So now that we have finally been honest with one another, let’s get back to the real question; what the hell do you want, Kennedy?”
The smirk, the confident grin, all of it fades away into an angry scowl. “I want the same thing I have wanted since day one.” He motions to the building before them, the small building that plays host to the headquarters for Kayla’s modeling agency. “I want this! I want this modeling agency!”
He points a finger at Glory Braddock. “And yes, I have hired some private investigators to look into your background. They dug into your past and they found out some very juicy information about you. For instance, I found out that the Glorious Golden Enterprises Board of Directors removed your decision making authority due to your questionable mental stability.”
“What?” Glory’s face grows white as a sheet as she sees where this is going. RDK nods his head.
“Yes, and I learned that you had your decision making authority returned to you after you assured the Board that you were seeing a psychiatrist. But what you failed to mention to the Board was that you quit seeing the psychiatrist rather abruptly. I’d be willing to bet that the Board of Directors still believe that you are seeing the psychiatrist and you are still lying to them. Am I right?” RDK waits for an answer but Glory doesn’t respond. He chuckles. “That’s what I thought.”
“Kennedy…”
“I’m NOT finished!” He snaps angrily. “See, what I didn’t know was why you needed to see a psychiatrist? Why would the Board make you do that? But then my private investigators found out something else. They found out that the person funneling money to Kayla Jones and her modeling agency was none other than Lindsey Noel. Now I knew this already, but what I did not know, what the investigators told me, was that Lindsey Noel and Glory Braddock were the same damn person.”
He cackles nastily. “It makes sense now. Your sister publicly embraces her identity as a daughter of Aphrodite Noel. And that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. But you distanced yourself from it, you have been denying it for well over a year now, because the Board of Directors told you to; they even went as far as to force you to go to a psychiatrist hoping the quack would screw with your mind enough to make you drop it. But you dropped it publicly, just to appease the Board of Directors. What my private investigators have found is that in private you still view yourself as a daughter of Aphrodite Noel. You are just as caught up in that fantasy act as your sister. And again, that’s fine. But it isn’t fine with your Board of Directors, and if they ever found out you would be out of power yet again.”
“You have no proof.” Glory says, shaking her head vehemently.
“I don’t have hard evidence but I have tons of circumstantial evidence. But you have to ask yourself are you confident that your Board will believe you over me? Because I will release every bit of evidence I have to the Board members…many of whom are friends of mine, by the way.”
“What do you want?” Glory growls angrily.
“Quit the modeling business. Quit funneling money to your cousin. That’s the only way you get me to back off.”
Braddock is trying to assess the situation. She has few options. If she agrees to quit funneling money to her cousin’s modeling agency then she knows that RDK will quickly swallow up the modeling agency. Kayla cannot match RDK dollar for dollar without Glory’s help. But if she keeps helping she could be humiliated and once again lose control of her company, possibly for good. Just as Glory is about to respond another voice echoes out in the darkness.
“It shall be you who backs off, Ronald, and you will back off this very instant!” Glory and RDK are both taken by surprise. They turn towards the sound of the voice. This is where Glory saw the shadow figure earlier, the one she had dismissed as being nothing. The same shadow then steps out into the light and she sees that this is definitely something, or rather SOMEONE…
…it is her ex-boyfriend, Thomas Gage. Thomas has a furious look of rage etched across his face as he approaches the pair. He steps in between Glory and RDK. He gets nose to nose with RDK.
“Tommy?!” RDK says, sounding shocked. It takes Glory a moment to recall from weeks ago that RDK and Thomas Gage are acquainted with one another. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Kennedy would seem to know him so personally. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Thomas!” He growls angrily. “My name is Thomas to you, fiend! And I am here because you are threatening my lady!” Thomas wraps his arm around Glory’s shoulders.
“Your lady?!” Kennedy repeats. He is almost as shocked by the sound of this as Glory is. Braddock is silently fuming inside about the fact that Kennedy is claiming that she is ‘his lady’ but she knows better than to speak up right now. Gage nods his head.
“Do not threaten my woman, Kennedy. Do you understand me?”
RDK sighs and nods his head. “Fine, yeah, I get it. But you gotta understand that I didn’t know you two were a thing.”
“We have been an item since we were both teenagers, Ronald. We have a daughter together. And I will defend my daughter and my daughter’s mother to my dying breath.”
RDK shakes his head. He is frustrated about this clearly but does appear ready to back off. He turns to face Glory. “Look, I had no idea you were seeing Tom on the side. He’s definitely a step up from that lousy Kurt, that’s for sure. Tommy is good people, and if you are his girl then I’ll back off.”
With that Glory watches with an angry glare as RDK walks back over to his car. He gets inside and the cars turns on. Braddock and Thomas watch on as the car pulls out of the parking lot. Once the car is gone Braddock turns her rage towards Thomas. He may have caused RDK to back off but she didn’t appreciate the tactics he used.
“What the bloody hell was that?!”
“That was me saving you, my sweet princess.”
“Bloody hell,” Glory rolls her eyes “look, how long have you been there? Were you in the shadows the entire time? Watching me the entire time?”
“I’ve been there long enough.” Gage admits, nodding his head. “Francis Taylor thought that you may need some assistance with RDK so she told me to come help.”
“Oh so this is Francis’s idea? Remind me to fire her.”
“She only wanted to help.”
“Help?! You mean like how you helped?! You just stood there and told him that we were seeing each other! That’s a bold faced lie! I told you that I am married, Thomas! Kurt is my husband, I am committed to him!”
Gage nods his head. “I understand but as you said, I lied. None of what I said was true. I have no delusions that you and I are an item. I merely told Ronald that we were seeing one another because I knew his respect for me would cause him to back off and leave you alone. Now he is no longer a threat.”
“Maybe…” she sighs and shakes her head, unsure of what just happened and whether this was a good idea “...but I still don’t like the way you handled this.”
Thomas runs a hand through her long blonde hair. “I understand your cause for concern, my darling. But try to believe that I only want what is best for you and for our daughter. I meant it when I told Ronald that I would defend you with my dying breath. Just give me a chance. Let me help you.”
“I wanted to handle this on my own.”
“But I can help you.”
She sighs and nods her head. “Fine. If you want to help, then maybe you can just make sure RDK stays out of my business. You are his friend, you are close to him, make sure he stays away. Better yet, if you can get a hold of whatever bloody information he has on me, that’d be great.”
Thomas smiles. “Your wish is my command, my love.” He kisses her on the cheek. “It shall be done.”
Thomas turns and walks away, returning back to the darkness where he had come. As Glory watches she begins to question whether she has made the right decision. Should she have really involved Thomas?
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
==========
It had been a month since The British Bombshell paid a visit to her Charlotte, North Carolina headquarters. And there everyone was happy with a sense of jubilance, a feeling of a brighter future ahead for them and everyone at the Glorious Golden Enterprise. But Glory Braddock is not in Charlotte. Today she finds herself in her smaller Miami offices and the feeling here is far different. The air is thick with tension, the mood is quite somber, which is a far different from the mood felt a month ago when Glory Braddock walked through her company’s Charlotte office. The change in scenery as well as the change in mood comes with a good reason; namely the looming threat of none other than rival Ronald D. Kennedy. RDK had once done everything within his power to sabotage Glory’s company during a time when they were attempting to dip their toe into the modeling industry. Braddock’s cousin, Kayla Jones, ran a modeling agency that was going through a difficult financial time and Glory wanted to help her through it by funding the agency. But RDK wanted the agency all for himself. Braddock thought that she had rid herself of RDK through a deceptive tactic of continuing to fund the modeling agency under an assumed name in order to throw Kennedy off the trail. But now he is back and causing more trouble.
RDK isn’t the only problem. There is also the issue of Thomas Gage, Glory’s ex-boyfriend. Glory suspected that he was the one behind RDK’s return. Glory still suspects Thomas despite Thomas’s insistence that it was not him. But what concerns The British Bombshell is what Gage said; he ominously warned that he would stop all of her enemies, including RDK. What does he mean by that? How far will Thomas go to protect a woman that he may still love, a woman he may still believe belongs to him?
The blonde haired British Bombshell walks through the empty offices of her Miami, Florida corporate headquarters. Glory is dressed in a floral print yellow sun dress, sandals, and her long blonde hair hangs straight and unrestrained to past the shoulders. She has sunglasses sitting up on her head. This is a one story building, small, and on this day empty due to Braddock allowing her employees to have the day off. The day off isn’t necessarily earned, nor is it because Braddock is feeling generous. She just needs this place for an important meeting today with her business partners.
Braddock walks down the empty hallway and spots a room with a light on inside. Glory approaches the room. She steps through the door and into the room. Inside she spots that her business partners have already arrived. Sitting at one end of an oval shaped desk is her cousin, president of the modeling agency Kayla Jones. Sitting at the other end of the oval shaped desk is Francis Taylor, president of the Glorious Golden Enterprises. Despite the tense circumstances behind this particular meeting, Glory does manage to force a polite grin on her face as she greets them both.
“Thanks for being here. I’m glad you both got here early. Maybe we can get this started and over with, eh?” Glory says as she approaches Kayla. Her cousin stands up and embraces Glory in a tight hug. Braddock then turns to Francis, who stands up and shakes Glory’s hand. Francis and Kayla sit back down at the table. The British Bombshell goes over to a smaller table nearby where coffee is being made. She takes three small mugs passes them over to the bigger oval desk. She turns off the coffee pot and takes the coffee over to the table.
“Coffee?” She offers Kayla. Her cousin nods and Glory pours her a cup. She goes over to Francis.
“Coffee, mate?” Francis nods her head. Glory pours her a cup. Braddock then goes over and pours herself a cup of coffee as well. Braddock drops the coffee pot back off at the smaller table and then walks back over and finds her seat at the oval table in between Kayla and Francis. Glory sips her coffee before speaking.
“As you both know, we wanted Glorious Golden Enterprises to get involved in the modeling business. It was Francis’s idea to increase our profit margin but for me it was just about helping a family member keep her dreams alive.” She looks across at Kayla and sighs. “But RDK kept causing problems. He used my own reputation against me to try and run the modeling agency into the ground. And his plan was succeeding. So I had to do the only thing I could do…I had to bow out. I had to make certain that the name ‘Glory Braddock’ was in no way associated to your modeling agency, Kayla.”
Kayla nods her head. “Right, and you decided instead to keep funding the agency under an assumed name.”
“It was a risky move but the plan was working.” Francis points out. “Kennedy had backed off. He had no proof that you were still involved, Glory. We are able to continue funding the agency, even if we were not officially the owners, and we made a good profit off of it.”
“Unfortunately RDK is back.” Glory says with a sigh of disgust. “And I want to know why? After all this time why is he back? What the hell has the bloke learned?”
“Well he hired some real good private investigators.” Kayla points out as she sips on her coffee. Glory rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, I know. My attorney told me about that. Bloody private investigators…”
“You used one before.” Kayla remarks.
“Yeah, that was a mistake I won’t make again.”
“But what did his investigators find out?” Francis asks.
“They found out who has been paying me and my modeling agency.” Kayla says with a somber frown. “They found out that Lindsey Noel has been the name behind the agency’s funding. And they even made the connection between that name and you, Glory.”
Glory’s face goes white as a sheet. “You mean…”
“I’m afraid so. They found out that Lindsey Noel and Glory Braddock are on and the same. So Kennedy knows that you have still been funding me all along and that you still technically own the agency.”
“Bloody hell,” an exasperated sigh escapes her lips “so what kind of damage are we talking about?”
“Well, RDK has been ramping up the propaganda.” Kayla says. “He has been telling every one of my models that you’re still the owner. All of the same garbage he has been trying to spread about you and your reputation, he’s at it again.” A grin forms on Kayla’s face. “But the good news is that so far NONE of the models are buying any of his crap.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. RDK is tempting them, tempting them with some nice offers at that, but they aren’t believing his lies and they aren’t tempted by his offers. They are sticking with us.”
Braddock turns her attention to Francis. “What about the main Glorious Golden Enterprise? Has RDK gone after us?”
“Of course. He has tried accusing us of dirty business, white collar crimes, and the like, but none of it is working. Nothing he is saying sticks. Our advertisers are sticking with us. Our profits are still up. We’re in a good shape.”
A sigh of relief escapes Glory Braddock’s lips. Maybe things are not as bad as she thought they were? Or maybe Thomas Gage is working his own magic behind the scenes? He did promise to protect her, to defend her against her enemies? Is all of this his doing? Either way, The British Bombshell is happy that things seem to be going her way, regardless of who is responsible.
“That’s wonderful news. So RDK isn’t a problem?”
“No, he isn’t, but there is a new problem that I just learned about this morning.” Francis states with a stoic, emotionless gaze on her face. “And that’s the real reason we need to meet today.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Meagan.”
Glory frowns. The Meagan that she is referencing is none other than Meagan Collins. Glory at one time had utilized Meagan Collins’s unique skills in dirty backroom politics and connections within the criminal underworld to remove any and all potential threats to her power from with in her company. Federal authorities got wind of what was happening. They FBI got too close and Glory threw Meagan under the bus, claiming no knowledge of what had happened and blaming everything on Meagan. This name is a demon from Glory’s past, it is one of her many sins that she had hoped would not catch up to her.
“What about Meagan?”
“Her legal team has received a huge monetary donation from an anonymous donor.” Francis says with a wry grin. “Sounding familiar, Gloria?”
Braddock nods her head. “Unfortunately it does. Clyde Sutter receives help from an anonymous help to fund a legal battle against me, RDK receives anonymous tips that convinces him to harass me again, and now Meagan Collins, another threat to me, is receiving anonymous help.”
“In my line of business that is NOT a coincidence.” Francis states. “You have an enemy.”
“I have many enemies, Francis. But which one is behind this?”
“I don’t know. But whoever it is has proven to be a godsend for Collins. Her legal team is filing an appeal to her prison sentence. She may get released soon.” Francis leans forward. “Let’s not beat around the bush, Gloria. Everyone here in this room knows you had something to do with a lot of the crimes from last year. The Board members being blackmailed into submission or bullied into quitting. The shooting of the Alan family home.”
“I did NOT ask Meagan to do that!” Glory snaps back angrily at Francis. Seeing her reaction causes Francis to back off a little.
“Maybe Meagan did go into business for herself? But the fact is the Alan family were your chief enemies. They founded this company that you happened to buy out from under them. They wanted it back and they had powerful allies on the Board of Directors. Those Board members were bullied and intimidated, right before the Alan family themselves were attacked at Meagan’s request.”
“That’s right, MEAGAN’S request, not mine!”
“And you threw her under the bus.” Francis points out. “Meagan will want revenge.”
“She’s right.” Kayla chimes in. “I know Meagan better than either of you, she is one vindictive bitch, and if she gets out, she will come after you.”
“She has no evidence.” Glory says, shaking her head. “I used Meagan as a lobbyist, to convince the Board members to side with me. Lobbying is not illegal.”
“Meagan doesn’t care about the law.” Kayla points out. “She will come after you illegally if she has to.”
Glory is beyond frustrated at this point. She stands up and starts pacing the floor. “Bloody hell, first Sutter, then RDK, now Meagan! All of this is coming too soon!”
“What should we do about this then?” Francis asks.
“For starters, Sutter is being dealt with by my attorney. As much as I hate it we’ll have to settle but at least that will get him off of our back and he will no longer be a problem. Meagan is more of a long term problem. She has to get out of prison first. I suggest we focus on RDK.”
“If that’s how you want to handle it, I could potentially arrange a meeting between you and RDK. We are still friendly with one another, even if we work for rival companies now.”
Braddock shakes her head. “I don’t trust that wanker.”
“What option do you have?” Francis asks. Glory shrugs her shoulders.
“None I suppose. Ok, make it so. Arrange the meeting. I’ll talk to the piece of crap and see what he wants.”
“Excellent.” Francis stands up and produces her cell phone. “I’ll go call him right now.”
Glory stares a hole through Francis as she walks out of the room, dialing the number on her cell phone. Once Francis is out of the room Kayla walks over and shuts the door. The concerned cousin turns and looks at Glory.
“You’re definitely not ok. What’s wrong?”
“Sutter hurt my daughter. He hurt Melinda. He sexually assaulted her. That’s why I have been using every bit of influence I have in wrestling to blackball him, to keep him from being hired. Now I have to let him go free.”
“Glory, as a mother myself I can only imagine how angry it made you to learn about Melinda and Sutter. But I have to ask…what if you’re wrong? Doesn’t Melinda herself admit that it was consensual?”
Braddock nods her head. “Yes. And don’t you think that bothers me too?! Don’t you think it bothers me somewhere in the back of my mind that maybe, just maybe, Sutter is innocent?” She shakes her head vehemently. “That’s why I try not to think about it. But that’s just the beginning of my problems. I hired Meagan to do my dirty work for me, so that my hands would stay clean. Now she took the fall for me and she’s potentially coming back for revenge. And RDK…” Braddock wipes tears from her eyes “...RDK may know all of this…because who knows what his private investigators have found out about me?!”
“Come here, Glory.” Kayla embraces Braddock in a tight hug. “It’ll be ok. You’ll get through it.”
“I made this mess. My sins are coming back to haunt me. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Thomas.”
“Your ex-boyfriend? I thought you suspected him of being behind all of this.”
“Maybe he is.” Braddock sighs. “But he did promise he could stop all of it. He promised he could stop all of my enemies. He promised to protect me.”
“Don’t do it, Glory.” Kayla says, shaking her head. “Do not take the easy way out. The easy way out is what got you into this mess. Using Meagan to do your dirty work and regain power in your company by force was the easy way out. Blackballing Clyde Sutter so as to avoid him forever was taking the easy way out. Now all of that is coming back to bite you in the ass because you took the easy way out. Using Thomas Gage to help you out of your problems would be taking the easy way out.”
“So what should I do, mate?” Glory asks with frustration and tears on her face.
“Just face the music. It’ll be tough, it will be challenging, but you will get through it and be a stronger, wiser person because of it.”
Braddock thinks on this proposal for a moment. Kayla is right, she has taken the easy way out for far too long and it has only brought disaster. Glory nods her head. “You’re right, mate. I can’t keep doing this forever. I’ll fight this myself.”
Just then Francis Taylor enters the room. “Good news. RDK has agreed to meet.”
“Where?”
“In Massachusetts. At the modeling agency.”
Kayla looks over at Glory. “Are you ready for this?”
“Yeah, I am.” Braddock says with a shaky voice. “It won’t be easy but it is the only way. I need to get that sod off my back once and for all.”
“I’m warning you ahead of time, Glory; he still wants that modeling agency. He knows that as long as you’re involved with it he won’t get his hands on it. If you ever turn loose of Kayla’s modeling agency then he will be able to worm his way into taking control. So that’s what he’ll try to do. He’ll try to bully you and intimidate you into backing off and backing down.”
“Yeah? Well I don’t intimidate so easily.”
“Maybe you should take one of us with you.” Francis suggests. “I am his friend. Maybe if I…”
“No.” Glory says, shaking her head. “This is between me and him. I will deal with him myself.”
“Even if you do manage to get rid of him, there is still one other problem. What about this mysterious donor who has been financing all of these attacks against you lately? If you do stop RDK, who is to say they won’t keep coming after you with more intense attacks?” Kayla asks curiously.
“I can only deal with one problem at a time. And unfortunately that is one particular enemy who remains a mystery. At least I know that Sutter, Meagan, and RDK are enemies. I can deal with them. And I will deal with RDK.”
Kayla nods her head, reluctantly agreeing to Glory’s request. The British Bombshell knows that this is something she alone can deal with, she alone must confront Ronald Kennedy. Three attacks against her came up all at once, and potentially with one person behind it all. Is Thomas Gage behind it or could he be the solution to the problem?
==========
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
A triple threat of problems all have risen their ugly heads all at once to threaten Glory Braddock’s personal and professional livelihood. First there is Clyde Sutter, who has been granted quite a substantial amount of money from an anonymous source so he could sue Braddock over defamation of character. She can get the lawsuit off of her back by settling but that would also mean Sutter would be free to torment her anywhere she pleased, she would no longer be able to use her influence to blackball him from wrestling organizations that she is a part of. Then she learned that her former associate, a woman with criminal connections known as Meagan Collins, has also received some financial help from the same anonymous source and is now filing an appeal to her criminal conviction. Glory fears that Meagan will target her if she manages to get out of prison. Finally there is the renewed threat of an old corporate rival named Ronald D. Kennedy, or RDK for short. RDK had always wanted to take over the modeling agency ran and operated by Glory’s cousin Kayla Jones. Glory had used her financial influence to keep Kayla’s agency afloat but RDK tried to run Glory out of the picture by ruining Braddock’s reputation. Glory thought she had thrown RDK off the trail by funding Kayla under an assumed name but now he has renewed his attack on the modeling agency and has had private investigators dig into the background of Glory Braddock.
Then there is Thomas Gage, Glory’s ex-boyfriend and the biological father of Glory’s oldest daughter Melinda Braddock. Thomas has promised to take care of all of her problems for her. He says he can get rid of any and all threats to Glory. But she doesn’t yet trust Thomas; not completely, at least. And she doesn’t want to take the easy way out by having someone bully her enemies into submission. She tried that before and it has already bitten her in the ass. This time Glory intends to do things differently, this time she intends to take care of it herself. There is little Glory can do legally about Clyde Sutter or Meagan Collins. But she can at least attempt to do something about RDK. Glory’s corporate president, Francis Taylor, has a close connection to Ronald Kennedy. So she has had Francis set up a meeting between The British Bombshell and RDK. Braddock hopes that she can find out what RDK wants and how to stop him from interfering in her life.
The setting for this meeting is Boston, Massachusetts. RDK has his own small time modeling agency set up here in Boston, conveniently in the same vicinity where Kayla’s modeling agency is set up. Once he realized Glory would not let him take over Kayla’s agency, RDK planned to start his own and run Kayla out of business. Braddock herself is sitting inside of a rental car in the parking lot of her cousin’s modeling agency. The British Bombshell is dressed in denim jeans, black boots, and a royal purple silk blouse. Her long blonde hair is pulled into a ponytail in the back. This meeting itself was already an anxious one for Braddock but the fact that RDK is late doesn’t help matters. Glory has been watching the clock and has been getting more and more irritated with each passing minute that Kennedy is late.
Just then she spots some movement off in the distance. Is this RDK? Braddock exits the vehicle to get a closer look. She spots what appear to be a human shaped shadow figure, but it easily could just be a trick of the light. Night has fallen and the street lamps are creating some rather unique shapes with the shadows. Glory considers going towards the shadows to see if this is indeed Ronald but then she stops when two large lights shine upon her. She turns towards the source of the light…two headlights from another vehicle. The vehicle slowly comes to a stop next to Glory’s car. It shuts off and the driver exits…it is Ronald D. Kennedy. Braddock immediately forgets all about the shadows she saw. This figure is real. This is her real target. Now is the time to get to business and find out what RDK wants.
“It’s about time you showed up, wanker.” Braddock says with a sneer. Ronald just chuckles, scoffing at her frustration over the wait.
“Was I really that late, Gloria?”
“You were an hour late!” Braddock exclaims angrily. “I almost left!”
“You’re lying.” He says with a knowing smirk. “You need me.”
“I don’t need you.”
“Then why, pray tell, would you have our mutual friend and the president of your company Francis Taylor arrange this meeting between the two of us?” He shrugs his shoulders. “It is my charm? Is it my boyish good looks?”
“You wish.” Braddock rolls her eyes.
“Then tell me, why are we here? What does the great Glory Braddock want from me?”
“I think the question should be turned around on you, mate.” She points an accusatory finger at Kennedy. “What the hell do you want from me?”
“Whatever do you mean?” He says, feigning innocence, but Braddock isn’t buying it. “I’m just an average guy going about my own business.”
“Bullshit, RDK. My cousin has informed me about how you’ve been trying to steal her models. She’s told me about how you’re trying to ruin her agency’s reputation.”
“So what if I did?” He sneers. “I thought you weren’t involved in the modeling agency?”
Glory spots her mistake and backtracks. “I’m not involved with it, but I do care about my cousin.”
“Who cares?” He asks again. “I’m not harassing you. Let your cousin deal with me. She’s a big girl. Yes, I am harassing your cousin and her agency, but I haven’t done anything to you.”
“Again, I cry bullshit on that. Let’s be completely honest here, RDK…well, that may be hard for you since you don’t have an honest bone in your body. But let’s try to be honest. You have been harassing me. I know that you’ve had private investigators stalk me, look into my background.”
There is a silent, thick tension in the air as RDK stares coldly at Braddock. Then he chuckles and nods his head. “Clever girl.”
“So now that we have finally been honest with one another, let’s get back to the real question; what the hell do you want, Kennedy?”
The smirk, the confident grin, all of it fades away into an angry scowl. “I want the same thing I have wanted since day one.” He motions to the building before them, the small building that plays host to the headquarters for Kayla’s modeling agency. “I want this! I want this modeling agency!”
He points a finger at Glory Braddock. “And yes, I have hired some private investigators to look into your background. They dug into your past and they found out some very juicy information about you. For instance, I found out that the Glorious Golden Enterprises Board of Directors removed your decision making authority due to your questionable mental stability.”
“What?” Glory’s face grows white as a sheet as she sees where this is going. RDK nods his head.
“Yes, and I learned that you had your decision making authority returned to you after you assured the Board that you were seeing a psychiatrist. But what you failed to mention to the Board was that you quit seeing the psychiatrist rather abruptly. I’d be willing to bet that the Board of Directors still believe that you are seeing the psychiatrist and you are still lying to them. Am I right?” RDK waits for an answer but Glory doesn’t respond. He chuckles. “That’s what I thought.”
“Kennedy…”
“I’m NOT finished!” He snaps angrily. “See, what I didn’t know was why you needed to see a psychiatrist? Why would the Board make you do that? But then my private investigators found out something else. They found out that the person funneling money to Kayla Jones and her modeling agency was none other than Lindsey Noel. Now I knew this already, but what I did not know, what the investigators told me, was that Lindsey Noel and Glory Braddock were the same damn person.”
He cackles nastily. “It makes sense now. Your sister publicly embraces her identity as a daughter of Aphrodite Noel. And that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. But you distanced yourself from it, you have been denying it for well over a year now, because the Board of Directors told you to; they even went as far as to force you to go to a psychiatrist hoping the quack would screw with your mind enough to make you drop it. But you dropped it publicly, just to appease the Board of Directors. What my private investigators have found is that in private you still view yourself as a daughter of Aphrodite Noel. You are just as caught up in that fantasy act as your sister. And again, that’s fine. But it isn’t fine with your Board of Directors, and if they ever found out you would be out of power yet again.”
“You have no proof.” Glory says, shaking her head vehemently.
“I don’t have hard evidence but I have tons of circumstantial evidence. But you have to ask yourself are you confident that your Board will believe you over me? Because I will release every bit of evidence I have to the Board members…many of whom are friends of mine, by the way.”
“What do you want?” Glory growls angrily.
“Quit the modeling business. Quit funneling money to your cousin. That’s the only way you get me to back off.”
Braddock is trying to assess the situation. She has few options. If she agrees to quit funneling money to her cousin’s modeling agency then she knows that RDK will quickly swallow up the modeling agency. Kayla cannot match RDK dollar for dollar without Glory’s help. But if she keeps helping she could be humiliated and once again lose control of her company, possibly for good. Just as Glory is about to respond another voice echoes out in the darkness.
“It shall be you who backs off, Ronald, and you will back off this very instant!” Glory and RDK are both taken by surprise. They turn towards the sound of the voice. This is where Glory saw the shadow figure earlier, the one she had dismissed as being nothing. The same shadow then steps out into the light and she sees that this is definitely something, or rather SOMEONE…
…it is her ex-boyfriend, Thomas Gage. Thomas has a furious look of rage etched across his face as he approaches the pair. He steps in between Glory and RDK. He gets nose to nose with RDK.
“Tommy?!” RDK says, sounding shocked. It takes Glory a moment to recall from weeks ago that RDK and Thomas Gage are acquainted with one another. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Kennedy would seem to know him so personally. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Thomas!” He growls angrily. “My name is Thomas to you, fiend! And I am here because you are threatening my lady!” Thomas wraps his arm around Glory’s shoulders.
“Your lady?!” Kennedy repeats. He is almost as shocked by the sound of this as Glory is. Braddock is silently fuming inside about the fact that Kennedy is claiming that she is ‘his lady’ but she knows better than to speak up right now. Gage nods his head.
“Do not threaten my woman, Kennedy. Do you understand me?”
RDK sighs and nods his head. “Fine, yeah, I get it. But you gotta understand that I didn’t know you two were a thing.”
“We have been an item since we were both teenagers, Ronald. We have a daughter together. And I will defend my daughter and my daughter’s mother to my dying breath.”
RDK shakes his head. He is frustrated about this clearly but does appear ready to back off. He turns to face Glory. “Look, I had no idea you were seeing Tom on the side. He’s definitely a step up from that lousy Kurt, that’s for sure. Tommy is good people, and if you are his girl then I’ll back off.”
With that Glory watches with an angry glare as RDK walks back over to his car. He gets inside and the cars turns on. Braddock and Thomas watch on as the car pulls out of the parking lot. Once the car is gone Braddock turns her rage towards Thomas. He may have caused RDK to back off but she didn’t appreciate the tactics he used.
“What the bloody hell was that?!”
“That was me saving you, my sweet princess.”
“Bloody hell,” Glory rolls her eyes “look, how long have you been there? Were you in the shadows the entire time? Watching me the entire time?”
“I’ve been there long enough.” Gage admits, nodding his head. “Francis Taylor thought that you may need some assistance with RDK so she told me to come help.”
“Oh so this is Francis’s idea? Remind me to fire her.”
“She only wanted to help.”
“Help?! You mean like how you helped?! You just stood there and told him that we were seeing each other! That’s a bold faced lie! I told you that I am married, Thomas! Kurt is my husband, I am committed to him!”
Gage nods his head. “I understand but as you said, I lied. None of what I said was true. I have no delusions that you and I are an item. I merely told Ronald that we were seeing one another because I knew his respect for me would cause him to back off and leave you alone. Now he is no longer a threat.”
“Maybe…” she sighs and shakes her head, unsure of what just happened and whether this was a good idea “...but I still don’t like the way you handled this.”
Thomas runs a hand through her long blonde hair. “I understand your cause for concern, my darling. But try to believe that I only want what is best for you and for our daughter. I meant it when I told Ronald that I would defend you with my dying breath. Just give me a chance. Let me help you.”
“I wanted to handle this on my own.”
“But I can help you.”
She sighs and nods her head. “Fine. If you want to help, then maybe you can just make sure RDK stays out of my business. You are his friend, you are close to him, make sure he stays away. Better yet, if you can get a hold of whatever bloody information he has on me, that’d be great.”
Thomas smiles. “Your wish is my command, my love.” He kisses her on the cheek. “It shall be done.”
Thomas turns and walks away, returning back to the darkness where he had come. As Glory watches she begins to question whether she has made the right decision. Should she have really involved Thomas?