Posted by BSE on 9/25/2004, 12:31 am.

 

Locker Room Postfight

 

Kaley is sitting quietly on hedgehog an exam table while BSE Trainers and Amy Davidson check her over, packing ice on bruises, sponging her down. A gentle tap on the steel door, and as it slowly creaks open, Jenn O’Dell gingerly pokes her head into the room. “Do you guys mind if Kaley and I have a minute here?” Jenn asks softly. The trainer nod and head for the door. Amy hangs back and asks Kaley if she should stay, a stone-faced Kaley shakes her head “No”. Amy silently nudges past Kenn and into the dimly lit corridor.

 

Jenn slowly walks over to Kaley, places her taped hands on her stablemate’s thighs, peers into her downcast eyes and asks pleadingly, “Kaley, are you OK?…Are we OK?”

 

Kaley starts silently at the floor as Jenn’s eyes anxiously search for an answer. Slowly, Kaley raises her head and meets Jenn’s probing gaze. Kaley hesitates a moment, then speaks, “I…so HAD you” and breaks into a smile. Jenn bursts into laughter and flings her arms around Kaley’s neck, Kaley responds in kind as the two touch their foreheads together. They hold still, forehead leaning against forehead until the laughter subsides and converts to tears.

 

“You really did have me there, Lid.” Jenn gulps. “If I hadn’t been lucky enough to get that punch through, it’s be you visiting my dressing room. I can’t believe how terrifically you fought out there. You’ve been holding back on me in practice. I can’t wait to learn some of those moves of yours!”

 

“And you’ve been holding back ion me, up until now anyway,” Kaley responds with a grin. “I’m glad you came out fast and put the pressure on me. I had to know that I could take it.”

 

“Take it? Take it?” Jenn retorts, “hell, you gave it back to me in spades!”

 

“Nan,” Kaley counters, “I think you let up a bit after that first round and so I upped it a bit.”

 

“A bit?” Jenn laughs. “You were kicking my butt.”

 

“Maybe,” Kaley says with a smirk, “but if it had been anyone other than me out there, they wouldn’t have gotten away with that for a minute. That whole situation was pretty weird.”

 

“Yeah definitely,” Jenn concurs. “So, when are we going to do this again so I can redeem myself?”

 

Kaley laughs, then squints from the slight jab of pain that results. “As soon as I deal with Jennifer Connelly, we’ll set up our rematch. Next time, I’m not letting you off the hook,” Kaley teases.

 

“You’ll surprise the hell out of Connelly if you fight anywhere near as well as you did tonight. You’d better fight her tough, or I’ll really come out to kick your butt next time,” Jenn admonishes.

 

“Speaking of butt kicking,” Kaley picks up Jenn’s thread, “that Jessica Alba sure tried to stir the pot. She’s really got a grudge with BSE, doesn’t she? Why would she try to drive a wedge between you and me and Britney?”

 

“She’s just playing head games, Kaley,” Jenn replies. “She’s trying to bank some psyche for later. And all that crap about how she coulod handle me wirh her fancy moves and big power…I think I’d better set her straight and challenge her to fight…next up, O’Dell vs. Alba!”

 

“Jenn, don’t you think you’d better jump back into taking on the other ranked lightweights, you know, make sure you kinda keep your place in line?” Kaley asks with concern. “you always said you needed to settle things with Biel and Dunning and Bell.”

 

“You mean Bile, Dumbing and Bell-Bottom?” Jenn quips. “They’ll keep till I school Alba in the finer points of crashing face first into the canvas.”

 

“She definitely has a strong mind about who she’s going to fight next, doesn’t she?” a voice queries from the darkened hallway as the door again slowly creaks open.

 

“Can’t you see we’re having a private conversation here, please?” Kaley responds.

 

“Ah, Ummm, that would be our boss, Kaley,” Jenn advises. “Aristide, are you comin’ in or are you going to mount a verbal assault from the hall?”

 

As he steps into the room, Aristide removes his hat and wig combination, then slowly peels the beards from his face. “Nice to see you moving freely about in public, Chief.” Jenn laughs. “I thought you’d be watching via satellite as usual.”

 

“This was too big an event to not attend personally,” Aristide explains as he removes his bulky overcoat. “The disguise was necessary for a few reasons, mostly to avoid any of those pesky Archer News Service reporters. I think they might have an old photo of me and could figure out who I am. I hate impromptu interviews.”

 

Kaley has been sitting silently, mouth slightly ajar, “Whooops!” Jenn declares, “I forgot you two haven’t officially met. Kaley, this is Aristide….Aristide, Kaley,” Jenn informs with a wave of her arm.

 

“Jenn, I know who Kaley is. Remember, I run the stable?” Aristide laughs. Looking at Kaley inquisitively, Aristide asks “What’s wrong Kaley? Cat got your tongue?”

 

“I’m…just…a little…surprised…” Kaley stammers.

 

“What? Am I that much more dashing and debonair than Jen had described?” Aristide inquires with a giant sweep of his arm. Jenn begins laughing uncontrollably and falls to the floor, rocking back and firth as tears begin to firm. “And I can’t believe I actually pay you people for this kind of abuse,” Aristide grins as he observes a smile begin to appear on Kaley’s face.

“We’re the ones who take the abuse,” Kaley points out with a gesture towards her slightly swollen and scuffled face. “And Jenn had never really discussed you,” Kaley continues with a smirk.

 

“Nice cover for your colleague, Kaley.. And I meant verbal, not physical, abuse. But point well taken,” Aristide laughs, “By the way, nice to meet you.”

 

“I wondered if it was ever gong t happen,” Kaley responds. “Nice to meet you too,” as she extends her taped hand to greet Aristide’s. She pulls back her with two envelopes. “What are these?” Kaley inquires slowly. “You haven’t sold us to some to her stable or signed a contract for me to fight Britney, have you?”

 

“Don’t let Jessica Alba get into your head, Kaley,” Aristide smiles. “I don’t see you and Brit fighting unless for some reason you really wanted to and the atmosphere was right. You and Brit may not come away from a fight on as good a terms as you and Jenn. The only way I could possibly see a match would be if the stable holding the bantam title insisted they would only take the winner of a Spears-Cuoco bout for a shot at their champ. And even then, it would be up to you, as well as the consent of the rest of us. But, that’s long-shot conjecture.”

 

“Yeah, he’s good at that,” quips Jenn. “He kinda gets ahead of himself, and everyone else for that matter.”

 

“They’re some kind of tickets,” Kaley extolling as she opens the envelopes.

 

“I’ve got a chartered plane waiting to take you two to Tahoe for the weekend. A friend of mine has a mountain lodge with a chef, masseuse, driver, the works. I want you two to go there and take it easy for a couple of days,” Aristide informs his charges.

 

Both fighters’ puffy faces light up as they exclaim “Cool.” “Can Amy come, too?” Kaley blurts out.

 

“I thought it might be a good idea for just you and Jenn to spend some time there,” Aristide replies in half answer, half question.

“No, we’re really OK,” Jenn jumps in. “This fight was actually good for both of us. I knew Kaley was good, but I know she’s really good. And I learned a few things about myself, too.”

 

“Same here,” Kaley claims as she wraps her arm around Jenn’s shoulder.

 

“OK, fine, Amy can go, too. You two may need a referee before the weekend’s over anyway,” Aristide said with a grin.

 

“Is there a gym with a ring/” Jenn asks excitedly.

 

“Yes, there’s a gym, no ring…and no boxing this weekend,” Aristide commands.

 

“Gee, then, I guess we’ll just have to catfight,” Jenn states with her most evil of grins.

 

“Naked,” Kaley chirps in.

 

“Hmmmmm, in that event, my friend has a couple of nice camcorders at the lodge. And if you two don’t provide me with a tape of that catfight, you’ll both be stuck boxing Paris Hilton for the rest of your careers. Sort of boxing Purgatory.” Aristide laughs, Kaley and Jenn break into laughter with him.

 

As Aristide pulls on his coat and prepares to depart, Kaley rubs some smudges from her hand as she inquires, “what’s that black stuff on your hands, anyway, Aristide? it’s all over these envelopes, too.”

 

“Your car had a flat tire?” Jenn questions.

 

“No, the referee had four flat tires,” Aristide states as he turns to depart.

 

“What, the ref from our fight had four flat tires and you helped him change them?” Jenn persists.

 

“I wouldn’t say that I exactly helped him,” Aristide replies.

 

“You didn’t flatten that man’s tires, did you, Aristide?” Jenn laughs. “Gawd, he was bad.”

 

“Yah,” Kaley interjects, “he shoulda stopped the fight a lot earlier when I had Jenn on the roppes.” To which jenn makes a threatening fist at Kaley, and the two erupt into laughter.

 

“I’m going to check on Charisma whole you two reminisce,” Aristide calls from the hall.

 

“Gee, I wonder if she’s actually going to meet him?” Kaley speculates.

 

“I doubt it,” Jenn advises. “Aristide will inquire anonymously, Mariska handles the face-to-face stuff.. Charisma had a great fight. Quite the bruising battle between she and Krista. No way through that Allen was going to lose another match. She’s had a few too many disappointing ones lately. I kinda know how she feels…I came close to losing the same way she did to Jennie Garth.”

 

“Not really that close,” Kaley quips, “but next time you will.” And the two stablemates extend their clenched fists toward each other, touching them together while proclaiming “Next time.”

 

Reposted by Archer 12/4/12.