Post by matt on May 1, 2020 11:47:47 GMT -6
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April 20th, 2020
Raleigh, North Carolina
Off Camera
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The British Bombshell has many other reasons to be pleased, and a few of those reasons bring her to Raleigh, North Carolina. It may be true that Braddock detests North Carolina and Raleigh in particular but as she has learned from years of studies, even the smallest of sacrifices will help you achieve your ends. Besides, it wasn’t that far to go from New Orleans to Raleigh once Cold Blooded had concluded and Glory wants to be here for her corporate business dealings and she is willing to make this trip to Raleigh, because it will be one of the few remaining trips to Raleigh that she will have to make.
Glory Braddock has been laying the groundwork to take full and total control of her company, Global Wrestling Enterprise, a company that puts on wrestling shows and trains future wrestlers. This has been her company since early 2012 but at one point lost control of the company when the Board of Directors cast a vote of no confidence in The British Bombshell. Years had passed before Braddock would regain the favor of enough Board members to retake control. Now she wants to ensure that the Board of Directors never again will cast a vote of no confidence against her.
Much like in wrestling, the corporate world creates factions. Certain individuals command loyalty and respect. Glory Braddock did not start this company. She bought it from a crooked, evil man named Matthew Alan who is now in trouble with the federal government over suspected white collar crimes. Yet there are many within Global Wrestling Enterprise who are still fiercely loyal to Matthew and his family and thus oppose Glory simply out of spite. There are an equal number of people fiercely supportive of Glory Braddock, simply for the fact that she was the one who brought the company back after it had been bankrupt for so long, she had brought it back to relevance, she had given it new life and new purpose.
Donald Bost, David Beaver, Joshua Hernandez, and John Webster are all fierce Matthew Alan loyalists. They are the gold guard who will always and forever be loyal to the man who started this company.
Alicia Lopez, Amy Frick, Connie Josey, and Clint Morgan are Glory Braddock loyalists. They will always be loyal to Glory Braddock because they came on board shortly after Braddock came into power in 2012.
Carl Conroy, the ninth member of this Board, has always been a swing vote. More often than not he would side against Braddock. He was the deciding vote in the vote of no confidence against Glory Braddock years ago. For a long time Braddock thought that the key was getting him onto her side, thus creating a 5 to 4 majority in her favor.
For a long time Braddock fought to create this 5 to 4 majority on the Board in her favor. The one sure fire way to protect herself is a step she did not want to take, one she was saving until the very end; disavowing any and all association with her former mentor Aphrodite Noel. The Matthew Alan loyalists hated the Noel influence and opposed Glory at every turn until she fully disassociated herself. Glory took some steps, and while it helped some it was not good enough, especially when her own blood, her own sister Julia Braddock changed her name to Chastity Noel, fully embracing Aphrodite as her mother. To disassociate herself fully from Aphrodite now means doing something about her own sister, but is she prepared to take those steps against family?
In hopes that she can avoid taking those steps, Glory has looked for other ways to gain favor with the Board of Directors. She has looked towards engaging in a secret attack against the Matthew Alan family itself. Using Meagan Collins and Seth Rogers as spies to dig up evidence, Glory now has the information she needs to blackmail a member of the Matthew Alan faction; namely, Joshua Hernandez.
If she can successfully blackmail Hernandez the way she has already blackmailed Meagan Collins, then Glory Braddock would have a guaranteed five vote majority on the Board. She could do whatever she wanted without question. No one could stop her.
The boardroom is tasteful in a corporate way - nothing interesting enough to cause offence no matter what a person's preferences might be. The walls were covered with grey and ivory wallpapers and motivational photography with silver frames. There was a long rectangular brown wood oak table with chairs lining all around it. Every line was straight, every corner sharp, and the chairs looking as comfortable as a train station bench.
The British Bombshell is sitting at the front of the long rectangular table inside the conference room. The beautiful blonde is wearing a black pencil skirt that flatters her curves, a matching black suit coat over a white silky blouse. Her feet are encased in black peep-toe high heeled pumps. Her long golden locks of hair hang to just below the shoulders. This is the room inside her corporate headquarters that hosts her Board of Directors meetings. This is where she has her many showdowns with the Matthew Alan faction. Unlike those many other times, today it is empty. The gorgeous blonde sits here alone, her legs crossed with a smile upon her face, staring off into space with an air of anticipation.
Braddock is ready.
BUZZZZZZ!
The buzzing sound from the door is heard. Glory turns in her swivel chair to look just as the door opens and in walks her secretary, a young brown haired female named Susan. “Yes, what is it Susan?”
“Mr. Hernandez is here to see you, Ms. Braddock.”
The confidence begins to grow. “Excellent. Send him in.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Susan turns and makes her exit. Glory Braddock turns around in her swivel chair with her back now once again facing the door. She does not wish to see Joshua Hernandez as he comes in. He can come to see her. The beautiful blonde waits patiently until she hears the door opening again. She hears footsteps entering and then she hears the door shut behind her. A few moments later she sees Joshua Hernandez emerge into her line of vision. The moment the two lock eyes Glory’s smile grows bigger. Joshua, however, remains stoic. Unmoved.
“What do you want, Braddock?”
“Bloody hell, Josh, I half-expected a ‘good afternoon’ or at least a bloody ‘hello’ from the likes of you. What you gave me was a mite rude.”
Joshua’s stoic attitude remains unchanged. “And I half-expected you to be on your way to Providence for some other company’s wrestling show. Don’t you have an appearance there?”
“Not until next week. I’m off this week and that leaves plenty of time for me to do business with you, Mr. Hernandez.” She motions to the long conference table. “Please, have a seat.”
There is some hesitation on Joshua’s part. He isn’t quite sure what to make of this meeting or of Glory Braddock’s attitude. He nods and sits down in a chair not far from Braddock. His eyes never leave hers. He doesn’t trust her at all. The feeling, to be perfectly frank, is mutual.
“So you seriously want to have some kinda meeting?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I find that odd. And why here?” He motions to the surroundings.
“Why not here?”
“We have Board meetings here, Ms. Braddock; if this is just you and me then why not your office? Or somewhere less formal like a restaurant or something?”
“What can I say? I enjoy formality. That’s why I am dressed professionally and you are dressed like a...well…” Braddock tries to find a better word but cannot think of one, she sighs and uses the only one that comes to her mind “...a slob.”
“Excuse me?!” Hernandez says, his stoic attitude suddenly drops as he does show emotion, anger; anger at being insulted.
“Look at you! Jeans, sneakers, a polo...surprised you didn’t come in wearing a t-shirt…”
“You said this wasn’t a formal meeting so I didn’t come dressed for one.” He snarls. Braddock nods her head in response.
“Still, you could have at least some respect for the OWNER of this company...MY company…”
“Your company?” Joshua scoffs. “It may be yours but you didn’t create it. It wasn’t your vision. You didn’t build this on your blood, sweat, and tears. Matthew Alan did and he…”
“And he’s a great man! Great visionary! Walked on water! Blah, blah, blah…” Glory rolls her eyes, she has heard Joshua’s speech before and is unwilling to hear it again “...I grant that Matthew Alan did build this place originally. He also got it bankrupt due to bad business practices. You know what else Matthew Alan did? He got himself in trouble with the FBI for tax fraud among other white collar crimes. I stepped in and rebuilt this company. I brought it back from the dead. I gave it new life and gave you and the other Matthew Alan cronies on this Board of Directors new purpose and new life. Had it not been for MY blood, sweat, and tears you and your pals on the Board of Directors would be out on the streets, Joshua. You’re welcome.”
“So that’s what this is? Is this just some shitty attempt at bullying me?” Joshua smirks arrogantly. He shakes his head. “Not gonna happen. You think you call the shots around here? You work for the Board of Directors. If you piss enough of us off we can take your power away. We did it once and you had better believe that we can do it again.”
“Unfortunately for you, Aurora Alan has yet to show any interest in your pathetic attempt at a hostile takeover.” Braddock’s statement causes silence from Hernandez. Joshua remains stoic for a brief moment before sighing and nodding his head. Glory then chuckles. “Yes, I found out about your plans. Are Donald, David, and John in on this too or is this just your plan?”
“None of your damn business, bitch.”
“Fair enough. It doesn’t really matter. Just know your plan won’t work. Aurora is clearly not a corporate snake like her brother.”
“Matthew Alan is anything but a corporate snake.” Joshua stands up. Not to be intimidated, Glory stands up as well, getting nose to nose with the Board member. “Did Matt do some wrong? Sure, but who hasn’t? He isn’t a saint but he gave people like me a chance. He gave me opportunities. You’re just riding off of his coattails.”
Glory chuckles under her breath. She shakes her head in disbelief at what she just heard coming from Joshua’s lips. “Do you really want to talk opportunities? That’s fine because Matthew only created opportunities for rich, white, men. That’s what this company was almost entirely composed of during Matthew Alan’s reign of terror when he founded this company. Since I took over more women and people of other ethnicities have been hired for well paying jobs. Just look at our Board of Directors...Alicia Lopez, Amy Frick, Connie Josey, and Clint Morgan, Clint being the first ever African American Board member in this company’s history. Oh but Matthew gave YOU an opportunity?” Glory points a long slender finger at Joshua, then goes as far as to poke him in the chest.
“He only gave you an opportunity because he knew of your connections to organized crime.”
Joshua had been boiling over in anger, defensive of the man he was most loyal to in Matthew Alan. But now after hearing this Joshua begins to slowly calm down. He is much more reserved and much of this is out of shock that Glory Braddock would say this. But is he shocked that she would accuse him or is he shocked that she found out that it is true? There is a long tense pause and Glory braces herself for an argument but, luckily for her, none comes. Joshua sighs and just nods his head, almost as if accepting his fate.
“How did you find out?”
“Someone in your tight knit group of Matthew Alan loyalists flipped.”
Upon hearing this Joshua sits back down in the chair. Glory does so as well. “You have no idea what it’s like, y’know that? Hell, even Matthew doesn’t know what it’s like, not really, but at least he gave me a chance. Point is, you have no idea what it’s like to be dealt a bad hand. That’s really what started it all. Life dealt me a very bad hand and all I had was organized crime to keep me up right. I got arrested a few times early on in my life and was tried as a minor but eventually I got arrested for something far more serious. I knew with my rap sheet I was done for, they were gonna throw the book at me.”
“The Alan family stepped in, I take it?”
Joshua nods his head. “Yeah, I mean, I had no idea who the hell paid for my legal team or how the hell I was lucky enough for the state to drop the charges, but at the time I didn’t care. Then I found out Matthew Alan paid for it all. He got me out of the trouble.”
“I have to admit that this is some story,” Glory begins with some surprise of her own “I wasn’t even aware of this information. How did a youth involved in petty street crimes become a member of my company’s Board of Directors?”
“Matthew Alan again.” Joshua answers. “He first convinced me to go to business school. I wasn’t sure what I’d do with it but then after I got the degree he put me in charge of one of his smaller companies. Wasn’t sure why at first but looking back I figure it was to build up my resume. He knew he wanted me on the Board of Directors and he knew I would need some kinda resume to get on.”
“Since you owed him his life he knew you’d be loyal no matter what.” Glory states. Joshua nods his head.
“Yeah...he also used my criminal past against me you might say...he wanted me to do all kinds of nasty stuff on his behalf. What the feds got him for? That’s nothing compared to some of the other crimes he masterminded. Horrible shit. But I’m sure you already know about that.”
Braddock nods her head. “Yes, I know. And yes, my source has plenty of evidence to prove your involvement…”
“But not his?” Joshua chuckles. “Matt was good about covering his tracks.”
“So answer this, Mr. Hernandez; are you willing to take the fall crimes that you and I both know Matthew is behind?”
“I told you once, Braddock, I owe him my life.” Joshua growls. “I won’t flip against Matt.”
“I understand loyalty, Mr. Hernandez, I really do. In fact, I respect that out of an individual like you. But are you really prepared to go down for Matthew Alan?” She waits for an answer but just as Joshua is about to speak Glory holds up her hand. “Wait...don’t answer yet...just think about it for a moment. You said that the government only knows about the minor, white collar crimes. You and I know about the worse crimes that the government does not yet know. I have evidence of murders, kidnappings, burglaries, all done in Matthew Alan’s name but he used you to do it.” She points a finger at Joshua.
“He used you, Joshua. He used your connections to the criminal underworld so that the authorities would never connect the dots back to him. He never cared about you, he was never loyal to you, so why be loyal to him and his family?”
“I guess you want me to be loyal to you instead? I’m not stupid, Braddock. I’ve been in this world longer than you. I know the end game here.” Joshua is belligerent but Braddock is determined. She shakes her head.
“I’m not going to use you the way Matthew Alan used you. I will never ask you to utilize your connections to the criminal underworld to organize a hit...you know, like the kind of hit you arranged against me and my family?” There is a long pause as Joshua’s eyes grow wide. Glory nods her head slowly. “Yes, I found about that too. But I’m willing to forget about that. I’m willing to forget about these other crimes you performed all in service of Matthew Alan. But in return I want your loyalty.”
“So I go from loyalty to a conman to loyalty to a conwoman?” Joshua asks. Braddock shakes her head.
“Not quite. Unlike Matthew I will not use you for criminal enterprise. All I ask is your support in all future Board meetings. I want to know that in all future Board meetings I will have your vote. That’s the deal.” Glory extends her hand. Joshua stares at it for a long time before finally...reluctantly...accepting the handshake.
“Hell, it’s a better deal than I had before…” he says quietly.
“Quite right, mate. Quite right.”
Joshua stands up and starts to walk out. Then he stops and turns back to face Glory. “Uh, Ms. Braddock...is there anything else we needed to discuss?”
“No, that’s all. Susan will see you out, Mr. Hernandez.”
Joshua nods his head and then makes his exit. Once Joshua is out of the room, Glory smirks victoriously. “Five votes...I win…”
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April 24th, 2020
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
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Several days have passed since the meeting monday with Joshua Hernandez in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a hallmark moment for The British Bombshell as she feels confident enough and secure enough in her grip upon the reigns of power in Global Wrestling Enterprise that she can finally relax. There is no one available to challenge her, no one who can stop her from doing whatever she wants with her company. It is her company now and with a five vote majority on a nine member Board of Directors in her favor, she has unquestionable control of this empire she has built. Why shouldn’t she be pleased with herself? And why shouldn’t she relax?
There is also a sense of relief for Glory Braddock, due in large part to the knowledge that she does not have to delve any deeper into her bag of tricks in order to achieve the full and total control she was seeking. The Board of Directors were the only ones capable of reigning her in and keeping her power in check. There were other plans in mind, plans she did not want to resort to, but now, thankfully, she does not have to resort to those plans.
One plan included engaging in a war with The Matthew Alan family, specifically Aurora Alan, Matthew’s sister. Aurora and her family are far more knowledgeable and experienced about the corporate world than Glory, and she did not wish to go to war with them unless she absolutely had to. The other plan included betraying her own sister in order to gain favor with the Matthew Alan loyalists on the Board of Directors. Glory wasn’t even certain she could stomach betraying her sister if it ever came to that point.
Lucky for her she does not have to worry about that. She convinced Matthew Alan loyalist Joshua Hernandez to flip and side with her. She now has five members of the nine member board of directors willing to support her with any and all of her actions. She has the votes necessary to do what she wants.
Glory Braddock feels safe. She is also happy, happy enough that she is ready to celebrate with the one woman who helped make this possible…
...Meagan Collins, the woman she had also blackmailed into supporting her.
The British Bombshell finds herself sitting in a chair out on the patio of her Miami, Florida home wearing a pink dress, black high heeled pumps, with sunglasses covering her eyes. Seated next to her is none other than the evil Meagan Collins, dressed in a black mini skirt, flip flops, and a white t-shirt with the word “evil” written on the front in purple lettering. The patio’s appearance is of an old rock, so much lichen has grown, dappling her regardless of any shade. Soil gathers between the stones, bringing slim wands of green each spring. It is an eclectic beauty, so much like the rest of the house. The patio stones made a mosaic of sorts, stones collected as left overs from renovations, sitting together as pretty as autumn leaves from different trees. There was an artistry to it too, a fluidity. Braddock and Collins sit there watching the garden, vegetables and wild flowers, birds playing and singing, butterflies visiting the blooms.
It is an oddity that these two women, one of whom is being blackmailed by the other, are sitting out here on this patio now drinking champagne in celebration of their accomplishment. There is an old saying about lying down with dogs and waking up with fleas; has some of Meagan Collins and her manipulative attitude rubbed off onto Glory Braddock? Is that why the two have become, in a strange unique way, friends?
The way these two women are laughing right now, you wouldn’t even know that a blackmail had occurred.
“I still can’t believe you did it, Glory!” Meagan says with a hearty laugh before taking a sip of her champagne. The British Bombshell is soaking up this praise and enjoying every minute of it. She smirks and nods her head.
“I have always said that I’m The Best in the World.”
“Yeah but that’s wrestling. That’s in the ring, in the corporate world you are an amateur. But you got Hernandez to flip!”
“That’s the thing, mate. No matter what the subject...wrestling, business, math, engineering, law…learning is the key. You must always know that you are not perfect. You must accept that no one is perfect and that you can always learn more and grow more. That’s one thing my father taught me. He would always say that those who claimed to be perfect were actually imperfect. The truly perfect were the ones who knew they were imperfect and sought out to learn more.”
“Smart man your father…” Meagan holds up her glass of champagne for a toast. Glory clinks her glass to Meagan’s and the two drink together in unison. They both lower their glasses and glory sighs.
“I guess that’s it then? We’ve succeeded. Thanks to you…” Glory now is the one offering a toast, this time in honor of Meagan Collins, the woman she is blackmailing. Meagan smiles devilishly back at her and clinks her glass with hers and they take another sip in unison of the champagne.
“Just doing my job...not that I had much of a choice…”
“And that reminds me of something.” Glory sets her champagne glass down and stares across at Meagan. “How much do you miss this life?”
“What? The corporate world, you mean?” Meagan asks. Glory nods her head in confirmation. Meagan pauses for a moment to ponder the question and then nods in affirmation. “I suppose I have missed it a little. I mean, my husband...Michael...is running the family business and now that I retired from active competition inside the ring I’ve become practically a trophy wife. I hated you at first when you blackmailed me but later, the more and more I got involved in helping you, I have to admit…” there is a slight pause as Meagan smirks devilishly
“...I kinda liked it.”
“How would you like to get back into the game?” Glory asks with a knowing grin of her own. Meagan’s interest is definitely peaked now.
“What is your plan?”
“The Board of Directors is a nine member body. I have five votes I can count on in favor, three who will definitely be against me, and then a swing vote who can go either way but lately has been opposing me.”
“Carl Conroy.” Meagan answers, referring to the aforementioned ‘swing vote.’ Glory nods her head.
“That’s still too close for comfort, don’t you agree? I mean, if even one of my five doesn’t make a meeting, votes could end in a tie and that means I lose. Do you get where I’m going with this?” Glory asks. Meagan nods her head.
“You want me to be on the Board of Directors.”
“Absolutely. And you have the qualifications, the resume; you would be perfect.”
“You’re right, I would be perfect, except for one problem; there’s no way to get me on the Board.”
“What do you mean?” Glory asks, now thoroughly confused. “I have the five votes right now to do whatever I want.”
“Like you said, five votes is still shaky ground. You’re not invincible yet, Glory. If you try to add me to the board, making it a ten person body instead of nine, you would be accused of trying for a power grab. Franklin Roosavelt is a beloved US President and even he was accused of a power grab when he tried to add justices to the US Supreme Court in order to keep the court in his back pocket. That tactic has been tried and it has failed. Your best option is to convince someone to step down.”
“Carl isn’t ready to retire yet…”
“No, he isn’t. And the other three members of the Matthew Alan loyalists would refuse to step down as they would suspect you were behind Joshua Hernandez flipping.”
Glory Braddock is thoroughly frustrated at this point and it shows through the contortions on her face. She thought that she had power. She thought that she had control. But as Meagan pointed out, she is not invincible yet. Glory takes a quick sip of her champagne and then angrily tosses the glass aside.
“Damn it!”
“I know, you were hoping that you had full control but you have five vote out of nine. That’s barely a majority and that’s not enough for you to just go ahead and do whatever you want. You still have much to learn about being a corporate powerhouse and I can help you. I can teach you.”
“I’m blackmailing you…” Glory says, her voice trailing off. Meagan nods her head.
“Yes, but I now see you and I as friends. I think if you’ll look in the mirror, you’ll see that I’m right and that we’re more similar than you’d think. We both want power.”
“I want power to do good…”
“And I want it for my own selfish needs!” Meagan exclaims with a creepy grin. “Point is we both want power. I do want to be on the Board of Directors and I would vote in your favor every time, but first you need more power to get me there and I can help you get that power. What you have right now is enough power to protect yourself from a vote of no confidence. You do not have what you truly desire; you do not have enough power to allow you to do whatever you want. You need more votes than just five for that.”
“How can I get anyone else to flip?” Glory asks.
“They’re all pretty solid. But not all. There are ways to convince one or two of the remaining four to become sympathetic to your cause. And you know that there are only two ways to do that…” Meagan’s voice trails off as she grins knowingly. Braddock shakes her head.
“I would rather not go up against Matthew Alan’s family.”
“You were certainly willing to a few months ago.”
“Things changed. Aurora isn’t interested in threatening me and besides, they have more experience and connections in the business world than me. Taking them on would be dangerous. Matthew Alan is going to be sent to prison on federal charges and that’s good enough for me.”
“Well if taking out the competition is out of the question then you know what you must do.”
Glory pauses momentarily as she ponders Meagan’s statement. It hits her what Meagan means. Glory shakes her head vehemently. “I will not betray my sister.”
“Don Bost, Dave Beaver, and Johnny Webster are opposing you only because they doubt your sanity. They remember very well, as I do, when you and your sister were mentored by Aphrodite Noel. But hell, it was more than that. You both literally became her daughters.”
“Yes and I took therapy just as they asked. I disavowed her and disassociated myself from her, just as they asked.” Glory is insistent but Meagan shakes her head.
“It isn’t good enough for them.”
“Why the hell not?!” Glory’s frustration and anger is growing to a boiling point.
“Simple; they have the same information that I have. They know that you left therapy earlier than they would have liked. You did not get a clean bill of mental health saying you were clear from your PTSD and they know it. They suspect that disavowing Aphrodite Noel hurt you inside and your sister showing back up on the scene, your sister who now sports Aphrodite’s name, by the way, just further cements that suspicion in their mind.”
There is a long tense pause. Glory stares down Meagan who doesn’t back down for a moment. But finally Glory breaks down. Tears begin to form in her eyes. “I don’t want to betray my sister…”
“Family is important to you, that’s sweet. But unfortunately it leaves you with a tough decision. What do you want more; the power you seek or a good relationship with your sister?”
Meagan reaches out and places a comforting hand on Glory’s back. Braddock, for her part, is having a tough time with this. Yet, this should not be a difficult decision to make. Isn’t family more important? That’s what her father always taught her. That’s what her mother, Mary Ford, always taught her. Family is important above all else. That isn’t what she learned from Aphrodite Noel…
Glory wipes the tears from her eyes and looks back up at Meagan. “Make a call to Mason Van Stanton. Tell him I’m ready to call in my favor.”
April 20th, 2020
Raleigh, North Carolina
Off Camera
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The British Bombshell has many other reasons to be pleased, and a few of those reasons bring her to Raleigh, North Carolina. It may be true that Braddock detests North Carolina and Raleigh in particular but as she has learned from years of studies, even the smallest of sacrifices will help you achieve your ends. Besides, it wasn’t that far to go from New Orleans to Raleigh once Cold Blooded had concluded and Glory wants to be here for her corporate business dealings and she is willing to make this trip to Raleigh, because it will be one of the few remaining trips to Raleigh that she will have to make.
Glory Braddock has been laying the groundwork to take full and total control of her company, Global Wrestling Enterprise, a company that puts on wrestling shows and trains future wrestlers. This has been her company since early 2012 but at one point lost control of the company when the Board of Directors cast a vote of no confidence in The British Bombshell. Years had passed before Braddock would regain the favor of enough Board members to retake control. Now she wants to ensure that the Board of Directors never again will cast a vote of no confidence against her.
Much like in wrestling, the corporate world creates factions. Certain individuals command loyalty and respect. Glory Braddock did not start this company. She bought it from a crooked, evil man named Matthew Alan who is now in trouble with the federal government over suspected white collar crimes. Yet there are many within Global Wrestling Enterprise who are still fiercely loyal to Matthew and his family and thus oppose Glory simply out of spite. There are an equal number of people fiercely supportive of Glory Braddock, simply for the fact that she was the one who brought the company back after it had been bankrupt for so long, she had brought it back to relevance, she had given it new life and new purpose.
Donald Bost, David Beaver, Joshua Hernandez, and John Webster are all fierce Matthew Alan loyalists. They are the gold guard who will always and forever be loyal to the man who started this company.
Alicia Lopez, Amy Frick, Connie Josey, and Clint Morgan are Glory Braddock loyalists. They will always be loyal to Glory Braddock because they came on board shortly after Braddock came into power in 2012.
Carl Conroy, the ninth member of this Board, has always been a swing vote. More often than not he would side against Braddock. He was the deciding vote in the vote of no confidence against Glory Braddock years ago. For a long time Braddock thought that the key was getting him onto her side, thus creating a 5 to 4 majority in her favor.
For a long time Braddock fought to create this 5 to 4 majority on the Board in her favor. The one sure fire way to protect herself is a step she did not want to take, one she was saving until the very end; disavowing any and all association with her former mentor Aphrodite Noel. The Matthew Alan loyalists hated the Noel influence and opposed Glory at every turn until she fully disassociated herself. Glory took some steps, and while it helped some it was not good enough, especially when her own blood, her own sister Julia Braddock changed her name to Chastity Noel, fully embracing Aphrodite as her mother. To disassociate herself fully from Aphrodite now means doing something about her own sister, but is she prepared to take those steps against family?
In hopes that she can avoid taking those steps, Glory has looked for other ways to gain favor with the Board of Directors. She has looked towards engaging in a secret attack against the Matthew Alan family itself. Using Meagan Collins and Seth Rogers as spies to dig up evidence, Glory now has the information she needs to blackmail a member of the Matthew Alan faction; namely, Joshua Hernandez.
If she can successfully blackmail Hernandez the way she has already blackmailed Meagan Collins, then Glory Braddock would have a guaranteed five vote majority on the Board. She could do whatever she wanted without question. No one could stop her.
The boardroom is tasteful in a corporate way - nothing interesting enough to cause offence no matter what a person's preferences might be. The walls were covered with grey and ivory wallpapers and motivational photography with silver frames. There was a long rectangular brown wood oak table with chairs lining all around it. Every line was straight, every corner sharp, and the chairs looking as comfortable as a train station bench.
The British Bombshell is sitting at the front of the long rectangular table inside the conference room. The beautiful blonde is wearing a black pencil skirt that flatters her curves, a matching black suit coat over a white silky blouse. Her feet are encased in black peep-toe high heeled pumps. Her long golden locks of hair hang to just below the shoulders. This is the room inside her corporate headquarters that hosts her Board of Directors meetings. This is where she has her many showdowns with the Matthew Alan faction. Unlike those many other times, today it is empty. The gorgeous blonde sits here alone, her legs crossed with a smile upon her face, staring off into space with an air of anticipation.
Braddock is ready.
BUZZZZZZ!
The buzzing sound from the door is heard. Glory turns in her swivel chair to look just as the door opens and in walks her secretary, a young brown haired female named Susan. “Yes, what is it Susan?”
“Mr. Hernandez is here to see you, Ms. Braddock.”
The confidence begins to grow. “Excellent. Send him in.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Susan turns and makes her exit. Glory Braddock turns around in her swivel chair with her back now once again facing the door. She does not wish to see Joshua Hernandez as he comes in. He can come to see her. The beautiful blonde waits patiently until she hears the door opening again. She hears footsteps entering and then she hears the door shut behind her. A few moments later she sees Joshua Hernandez emerge into her line of vision. The moment the two lock eyes Glory’s smile grows bigger. Joshua, however, remains stoic. Unmoved.
“What do you want, Braddock?”
“Bloody hell, Josh, I half-expected a ‘good afternoon’ or at least a bloody ‘hello’ from the likes of you. What you gave me was a mite rude.”
Joshua’s stoic attitude remains unchanged. “And I half-expected you to be on your way to Providence for some other company’s wrestling show. Don’t you have an appearance there?”
“Not until next week. I’m off this week and that leaves plenty of time for me to do business with you, Mr. Hernandez.” She motions to the long conference table. “Please, have a seat.”
There is some hesitation on Joshua’s part. He isn’t quite sure what to make of this meeting or of Glory Braddock’s attitude. He nods and sits down in a chair not far from Braddock. His eyes never leave hers. He doesn’t trust her at all. The feeling, to be perfectly frank, is mutual.
“So you seriously want to have some kinda meeting?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I find that odd. And why here?” He motions to the surroundings.
“Why not here?”
“We have Board meetings here, Ms. Braddock; if this is just you and me then why not your office? Or somewhere less formal like a restaurant or something?”
“What can I say? I enjoy formality. That’s why I am dressed professionally and you are dressed like a...well…” Braddock tries to find a better word but cannot think of one, she sighs and uses the only one that comes to her mind “...a slob.”
“Excuse me?!” Hernandez says, his stoic attitude suddenly drops as he does show emotion, anger; anger at being insulted.
“Look at you! Jeans, sneakers, a polo...surprised you didn’t come in wearing a t-shirt…”
“You said this wasn’t a formal meeting so I didn’t come dressed for one.” He snarls. Braddock nods her head in response.
“Still, you could have at least some respect for the OWNER of this company...MY company…”
“Your company?” Joshua scoffs. “It may be yours but you didn’t create it. It wasn’t your vision. You didn’t build this on your blood, sweat, and tears. Matthew Alan did and he…”
“And he’s a great man! Great visionary! Walked on water! Blah, blah, blah…” Glory rolls her eyes, she has heard Joshua’s speech before and is unwilling to hear it again “...I grant that Matthew Alan did build this place originally. He also got it bankrupt due to bad business practices. You know what else Matthew Alan did? He got himself in trouble with the FBI for tax fraud among other white collar crimes. I stepped in and rebuilt this company. I brought it back from the dead. I gave it new life and gave you and the other Matthew Alan cronies on this Board of Directors new purpose and new life. Had it not been for MY blood, sweat, and tears you and your pals on the Board of Directors would be out on the streets, Joshua. You’re welcome.”
“So that’s what this is? Is this just some shitty attempt at bullying me?” Joshua smirks arrogantly. He shakes his head. “Not gonna happen. You think you call the shots around here? You work for the Board of Directors. If you piss enough of us off we can take your power away. We did it once and you had better believe that we can do it again.”
“Unfortunately for you, Aurora Alan has yet to show any interest in your pathetic attempt at a hostile takeover.” Braddock’s statement causes silence from Hernandez. Joshua remains stoic for a brief moment before sighing and nodding his head. Glory then chuckles. “Yes, I found out about your plans. Are Donald, David, and John in on this too or is this just your plan?”
“None of your damn business, bitch.”
“Fair enough. It doesn’t really matter. Just know your plan won’t work. Aurora is clearly not a corporate snake like her brother.”
“Matthew Alan is anything but a corporate snake.” Joshua stands up. Not to be intimidated, Glory stands up as well, getting nose to nose with the Board member. “Did Matt do some wrong? Sure, but who hasn’t? He isn’t a saint but he gave people like me a chance. He gave me opportunities. You’re just riding off of his coattails.”
Glory chuckles under her breath. She shakes her head in disbelief at what she just heard coming from Joshua’s lips. “Do you really want to talk opportunities? That’s fine because Matthew only created opportunities for rich, white, men. That’s what this company was almost entirely composed of during Matthew Alan’s reign of terror when he founded this company. Since I took over more women and people of other ethnicities have been hired for well paying jobs. Just look at our Board of Directors...Alicia Lopez, Amy Frick, Connie Josey, and Clint Morgan, Clint being the first ever African American Board member in this company’s history. Oh but Matthew gave YOU an opportunity?” Glory points a long slender finger at Joshua, then goes as far as to poke him in the chest.
“He only gave you an opportunity because he knew of your connections to organized crime.”
Joshua had been boiling over in anger, defensive of the man he was most loyal to in Matthew Alan. But now after hearing this Joshua begins to slowly calm down. He is much more reserved and much of this is out of shock that Glory Braddock would say this. But is he shocked that she would accuse him or is he shocked that she found out that it is true? There is a long tense pause and Glory braces herself for an argument but, luckily for her, none comes. Joshua sighs and just nods his head, almost as if accepting his fate.
“How did you find out?”
“Someone in your tight knit group of Matthew Alan loyalists flipped.”
Upon hearing this Joshua sits back down in the chair. Glory does so as well. “You have no idea what it’s like, y’know that? Hell, even Matthew doesn’t know what it’s like, not really, but at least he gave me a chance. Point is, you have no idea what it’s like to be dealt a bad hand. That’s really what started it all. Life dealt me a very bad hand and all I had was organized crime to keep me up right. I got arrested a few times early on in my life and was tried as a minor but eventually I got arrested for something far more serious. I knew with my rap sheet I was done for, they were gonna throw the book at me.”
“The Alan family stepped in, I take it?”
Joshua nods his head. “Yeah, I mean, I had no idea who the hell paid for my legal team or how the hell I was lucky enough for the state to drop the charges, but at the time I didn’t care. Then I found out Matthew Alan paid for it all. He got me out of the trouble.”
“I have to admit that this is some story,” Glory begins with some surprise of her own “I wasn’t even aware of this information. How did a youth involved in petty street crimes become a member of my company’s Board of Directors?”
“Matthew Alan again.” Joshua answers. “He first convinced me to go to business school. I wasn’t sure what I’d do with it but then after I got the degree he put me in charge of one of his smaller companies. Wasn’t sure why at first but looking back I figure it was to build up my resume. He knew he wanted me on the Board of Directors and he knew I would need some kinda resume to get on.”
“Since you owed him his life he knew you’d be loyal no matter what.” Glory states. Joshua nods his head.
“Yeah...he also used my criminal past against me you might say...he wanted me to do all kinds of nasty stuff on his behalf. What the feds got him for? That’s nothing compared to some of the other crimes he masterminded. Horrible shit. But I’m sure you already know about that.”
Braddock nods her head. “Yes, I know. And yes, my source has plenty of evidence to prove your involvement…”
“But not his?” Joshua chuckles. “Matt was good about covering his tracks.”
“So answer this, Mr. Hernandez; are you willing to take the fall crimes that you and I both know Matthew is behind?”
“I told you once, Braddock, I owe him my life.” Joshua growls. “I won’t flip against Matt.”
“I understand loyalty, Mr. Hernandez, I really do. In fact, I respect that out of an individual like you. But are you really prepared to go down for Matthew Alan?” She waits for an answer but just as Joshua is about to speak Glory holds up her hand. “Wait...don’t answer yet...just think about it for a moment. You said that the government only knows about the minor, white collar crimes. You and I know about the worse crimes that the government does not yet know. I have evidence of murders, kidnappings, burglaries, all done in Matthew Alan’s name but he used you to do it.” She points a finger at Joshua.
“He used you, Joshua. He used your connections to the criminal underworld so that the authorities would never connect the dots back to him. He never cared about you, he was never loyal to you, so why be loyal to him and his family?”
“I guess you want me to be loyal to you instead? I’m not stupid, Braddock. I’ve been in this world longer than you. I know the end game here.” Joshua is belligerent but Braddock is determined. She shakes her head.
“I’m not going to use you the way Matthew Alan used you. I will never ask you to utilize your connections to the criminal underworld to organize a hit...you know, like the kind of hit you arranged against me and my family?” There is a long pause as Joshua’s eyes grow wide. Glory nods her head slowly. “Yes, I found about that too. But I’m willing to forget about that. I’m willing to forget about these other crimes you performed all in service of Matthew Alan. But in return I want your loyalty.”
“So I go from loyalty to a conman to loyalty to a conwoman?” Joshua asks. Braddock shakes her head.
“Not quite. Unlike Matthew I will not use you for criminal enterprise. All I ask is your support in all future Board meetings. I want to know that in all future Board meetings I will have your vote. That’s the deal.” Glory extends her hand. Joshua stares at it for a long time before finally...reluctantly...accepting the handshake.
“Hell, it’s a better deal than I had before…” he says quietly.
“Quite right, mate. Quite right.”
Joshua stands up and starts to walk out. Then he stops and turns back to face Glory. “Uh, Ms. Braddock...is there anything else we needed to discuss?”
“No, that’s all. Susan will see you out, Mr. Hernandez.”
Joshua nods his head and then makes his exit. Once Joshua is out of the room, Glory smirks victoriously. “Five votes...I win…”
==========
April 24th, 2020
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
==========
Several days have passed since the meeting monday with Joshua Hernandez in Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a hallmark moment for The British Bombshell as she feels confident enough and secure enough in her grip upon the reigns of power in Global Wrestling Enterprise that she can finally relax. There is no one available to challenge her, no one who can stop her from doing whatever she wants with her company. It is her company now and with a five vote majority on a nine member Board of Directors in her favor, she has unquestionable control of this empire she has built. Why shouldn’t she be pleased with herself? And why shouldn’t she relax?
There is also a sense of relief for Glory Braddock, due in large part to the knowledge that she does not have to delve any deeper into her bag of tricks in order to achieve the full and total control she was seeking. The Board of Directors were the only ones capable of reigning her in and keeping her power in check. There were other plans in mind, plans she did not want to resort to, but now, thankfully, she does not have to resort to those plans.
One plan included engaging in a war with The Matthew Alan family, specifically Aurora Alan, Matthew’s sister. Aurora and her family are far more knowledgeable and experienced about the corporate world than Glory, and she did not wish to go to war with them unless she absolutely had to. The other plan included betraying her own sister in order to gain favor with the Matthew Alan loyalists on the Board of Directors. Glory wasn’t even certain she could stomach betraying her sister if it ever came to that point.
Lucky for her she does not have to worry about that. She convinced Matthew Alan loyalist Joshua Hernandez to flip and side with her. She now has five members of the nine member board of directors willing to support her with any and all of her actions. She has the votes necessary to do what she wants.
Glory Braddock feels safe. She is also happy, happy enough that she is ready to celebrate with the one woman who helped make this possible…
...Meagan Collins, the woman she had also blackmailed into supporting her.
The British Bombshell finds herself sitting in a chair out on the patio of her Miami, Florida home wearing a pink dress, black high heeled pumps, with sunglasses covering her eyes. Seated next to her is none other than the evil Meagan Collins, dressed in a black mini skirt, flip flops, and a white t-shirt with the word “evil” written on the front in purple lettering. The patio’s appearance is of an old rock, so much lichen has grown, dappling her regardless of any shade. Soil gathers between the stones, bringing slim wands of green each spring. It is an eclectic beauty, so much like the rest of the house. The patio stones made a mosaic of sorts, stones collected as left overs from renovations, sitting together as pretty as autumn leaves from different trees. There was an artistry to it too, a fluidity. Braddock and Collins sit there watching the garden, vegetables and wild flowers, birds playing and singing, butterflies visiting the blooms.
It is an oddity that these two women, one of whom is being blackmailed by the other, are sitting out here on this patio now drinking champagne in celebration of their accomplishment. There is an old saying about lying down with dogs and waking up with fleas; has some of Meagan Collins and her manipulative attitude rubbed off onto Glory Braddock? Is that why the two have become, in a strange unique way, friends?
The way these two women are laughing right now, you wouldn’t even know that a blackmail had occurred.
“I still can’t believe you did it, Glory!” Meagan says with a hearty laugh before taking a sip of her champagne. The British Bombshell is soaking up this praise and enjoying every minute of it. She smirks and nods her head.
“I have always said that I’m The Best in the World.”
“Yeah but that’s wrestling. That’s in the ring, in the corporate world you are an amateur. But you got Hernandez to flip!”
“That’s the thing, mate. No matter what the subject...wrestling, business, math, engineering, law…learning is the key. You must always know that you are not perfect. You must accept that no one is perfect and that you can always learn more and grow more. That’s one thing my father taught me. He would always say that those who claimed to be perfect were actually imperfect. The truly perfect were the ones who knew they were imperfect and sought out to learn more.”
“Smart man your father…” Meagan holds up her glass of champagne for a toast. Glory clinks her glass to Meagan’s and the two drink together in unison. They both lower their glasses and glory sighs.
“I guess that’s it then? We’ve succeeded. Thanks to you…” Glory now is the one offering a toast, this time in honor of Meagan Collins, the woman she is blackmailing. Meagan smiles devilishly back at her and clinks her glass with hers and they take another sip in unison of the champagne.
“Just doing my job...not that I had much of a choice…”
“And that reminds me of something.” Glory sets her champagne glass down and stares across at Meagan. “How much do you miss this life?”
“What? The corporate world, you mean?” Meagan asks. Glory nods her head in confirmation. Meagan pauses for a moment to ponder the question and then nods in affirmation. “I suppose I have missed it a little. I mean, my husband...Michael...is running the family business and now that I retired from active competition inside the ring I’ve become practically a trophy wife. I hated you at first when you blackmailed me but later, the more and more I got involved in helping you, I have to admit…” there is a slight pause as Meagan smirks devilishly
“...I kinda liked it.”
“How would you like to get back into the game?” Glory asks with a knowing grin of her own. Meagan’s interest is definitely peaked now.
“What is your plan?”
“The Board of Directors is a nine member body. I have five votes I can count on in favor, three who will definitely be against me, and then a swing vote who can go either way but lately has been opposing me.”
“Carl Conroy.” Meagan answers, referring to the aforementioned ‘swing vote.’ Glory nods her head.
“That’s still too close for comfort, don’t you agree? I mean, if even one of my five doesn’t make a meeting, votes could end in a tie and that means I lose. Do you get where I’m going with this?” Glory asks. Meagan nods her head.
“You want me to be on the Board of Directors.”
“Absolutely. And you have the qualifications, the resume; you would be perfect.”
“You’re right, I would be perfect, except for one problem; there’s no way to get me on the Board.”
“What do you mean?” Glory asks, now thoroughly confused. “I have the five votes right now to do whatever I want.”
“Like you said, five votes is still shaky ground. You’re not invincible yet, Glory. If you try to add me to the board, making it a ten person body instead of nine, you would be accused of trying for a power grab. Franklin Roosavelt is a beloved US President and even he was accused of a power grab when he tried to add justices to the US Supreme Court in order to keep the court in his back pocket. That tactic has been tried and it has failed. Your best option is to convince someone to step down.”
“Carl isn’t ready to retire yet…”
“No, he isn’t. And the other three members of the Matthew Alan loyalists would refuse to step down as they would suspect you were behind Joshua Hernandez flipping.”
Glory Braddock is thoroughly frustrated at this point and it shows through the contortions on her face. She thought that she had power. She thought that she had control. But as Meagan pointed out, she is not invincible yet. Glory takes a quick sip of her champagne and then angrily tosses the glass aside.
“Damn it!”
“I know, you were hoping that you had full control but you have five vote out of nine. That’s barely a majority and that’s not enough for you to just go ahead and do whatever you want. You still have much to learn about being a corporate powerhouse and I can help you. I can teach you.”
“I’m blackmailing you…” Glory says, her voice trailing off. Meagan nods her head.
“Yes, but I now see you and I as friends. I think if you’ll look in the mirror, you’ll see that I’m right and that we’re more similar than you’d think. We both want power.”
“I want power to do good…”
“And I want it for my own selfish needs!” Meagan exclaims with a creepy grin. “Point is we both want power. I do want to be on the Board of Directors and I would vote in your favor every time, but first you need more power to get me there and I can help you get that power. What you have right now is enough power to protect yourself from a vote of no confidence. You do not have what you truly desire; you do not have enough power to allow you to do whatever you want. You need more votes than just five for that.”
“How can I get anyone else to flip?” Glory asks.
“They’re all pretty solid. But not all. There are ways to convince one or two of the remaining four to become sympathetic to your cause. And you know that there are only two ways to do that…” Meagan’s voice trails off as she grins knowingly. Braddock shakes her head.
“I would rather not go up against Matthew Alan’s family.”
“You were certainly willing to a few months ago.”
“Things changed. Aurora isn’t interested in threatening me and besides, they have more experience and connections in the business world than me. Taking them on would be dangerous. Matthew Alan is going to be sent to prison on federal charges and that’s good enough for me.”
“Well if taking out the competition is out of the question then you know what you must do.”
Glory pauses momentarily as she ponders Meagan’s statement. It hits her what Meagan means. Glory shakes her head vehemently. “I will not betray my sister.”
“Don Bost, Dave Beaver, and Johnny Webster are opposing you only because they doubt your sanity. They remember very well, as I do, when you and your sister were mentored by Aphrodite Noel. But hell, it was more than that. You both literally became her daughters.”
“Yes and I took therapy just as they asked. I disavowed her and disassociated myself from her, just as they asked.” Glory is insistent but Meagan shakes her head.
“It isn’t good enough for them.”
“Why the hell not?!” Glory’s frustration and anger is growing to a boiling point.
“Simple; they have the same information that I have. They know that you left therapy earlier than they would have liked. You did not get a clean bill of mental health saying you were clear from your PTSD and they know it. They suspect that disavowing Aphrodite Noel hurt you inside and your sister showing back up on the scene, your sister who now sports Aphrodite’s name, by the way, just further cements that suspicion in their mind.”
There is a long tense pause. Glory stares down Meagan who doesn’t back down for a moment. But finally Glory breaks down. Tears begin to form in her eyes. “I don’t want to betray my sister…”
“Family is important to you, that’s sweet. But unfortunately it leaves you with a tough decision. What do you want more; the power you seek or a good relationship with your sister?”
Meagan reaches out and places a comforting hand on Glory’s back. Braddock, for her part, is having a tough time with this. Yet, this should not be a difficult decision to make. Isn’t family more important? That’s what her father always taught her. That’s what her mother, Mary Ford, always taught her. Family is important above all else. That isn’t what she learned from Aphrodite Noel…
Glory wipes the tears from her eyes and looks back up at Meagan. “Make a call to Mason Van Stanton. Tell him I’m ready to call in my favor.”