Alone with his Thoughts and a Drink

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The Limoncello Ristorante. It wasn’t his normal type of establishment but the pickings for high end dining in West Chester, Pennsylvania were slim. So Joshua Samson, Esquire had to settle for this quaint Italian restuarant that his client, Astrid Sedin, and he would frequent on occasion when they were back in her hometown. Being the Executive Representative of the local hometown hero afforded Samson a level of fame himself as such he was being catered in a fashion he was more accustomed. Management had secured a private area away from the public eye in order for Samson to enjoy his meal.

The Anarchy General Manager Extraordinaire swirls the glass filled with brown liquid, cherries, and ice cubes before taking a long sip. It had been a good weekend for him, for the Samson Family, for Iconic Sports Management. All of his business plans were maturing according to schedule. Preliminary reports from this weekend’s two house shows and the Anarchy broadcast had come in and the numbers were high. Extremely high. High enough that he knew that the numbers were going to impress Rissi and his Board of Sponsors, because if anything impressed high powered executives it was their coffers filling up with even more currency.

”I am the goddamn man!”

He chuckled after swallowing the strong libation. It was common knowledge Samson was full of himself and current affairs did nothing to diminish that.

”What in the hell is a Corporate Republic Army anyway?!

Astrid and The Mongrel not only captured the Challenge Championship but also exterminated any lasting remnants of Ryan Morgan’s Corporate Republic Army. The first wave of solidified attacks against the Samson Family was successfully thwarted, entrenching his group into the fabric of the company.

”Thankfully we’ll never know.”

He takes a much longer sip from the glass causing him to slightly wince due to the strength of the potent fluid.

”It’s going to take more than a half-assed Hall of Famer and his two-bit lackeys to rid EHWF of the Samson Family.”

Finally securing the services of Brooklyn had paid off instant dividends. Not that Samson didn’t know it wouldn’t as he had been courting the Red-Haired Menace almost from the moment he walked into the company. Brooklyn had stood tall when the rest of the family made their unsolicited appearance at Mayhem as well as exact a measure of revenge against Jason Dave by attacking the two time Hall of Famer backstage in the parking lot during Anarchy.

”Who the hell does Jason Dave think he is anyway?! The guy has two freakin’ first names! I’m going to have to really find a reward befitting for Brooklyn. No one destroys my car, even if it was a rental, and gets away with it. With the trade coming up maybe it would be best to bring him into the fold with the rest of us? Hmmm...”

Another long sip...another wince.

”Aftermath can’t get here fast enough so that Bill can put this ’legend’ out to pasture once and for all. There’ll be no fairytale ending of capturing the Heavyweight title for JayDee’s career. I’ll make damn sure of that.”

Banging the glass back, Samson empties the alcohol down his throat. He fishes into the glass with two fingers and pincers out a cherry after placing the glass on the table. Popping it into his mouth, he peers at the overly expensive timepiece strapped to his wrist.

”Where in the world is this woman? All she had to do was go home and change clothes!”

Shaking his head, he hand gestures for another drink to the attending waiter. He then reaches into his inside breast pocket of his suit jacket to produce his cell phone. Clicking on an unseen application icon, he begins to type but pauses after typing a few characters.

”Why am I even bothering texting her when I know damn well it’s easier to just hit her up on Twitter. At least then I know I’ll get a prompt response.”

With a few finger strokes upon the phone he apparently gets to the social media app and begins to furiously thumb typing bringing the scene to a close.

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The subdued scene re-emerges from its dark slumber to reveal Joshua Samson Esquire, leader and founder of The Samson Family, still furiously slamming away at his phones keypad, waiting for any glimmer of response from the companion he so eagerly awaits. By now another drink of the same brown liquid, this time however with two cherries and a few less ice cubes has been retrieved and placed before him. Although the drink before him lies full and potent, Joshua is more concerned with the lack of response he was getting from his phone. Staring at the dark blank screen, just waiting for it to 'come to life' and glow a vibrant color was all that he could hope for at this present time.

His focus remained prominent with his head titled downward, not giving a damn about the surrounding environment. That was until the char oak chair stationed directly before him was pulled from underneath the table that it sat, which snapped the trans of the Samson Family leader. Joshua's eyes darted from his screen, readjusting to the lightly dimmed restaurant. Half expecting to see his companion before him, a half cocked smile drew to his face. Not mere moments had gone by however before his smile turned to a startled gaze, not because he was scared, but because he had not clue who was sitting before him.

"I see that look upon your face. I don't blame you Mr. Samson. You have no idea who I am and I just rudely sat at your table. But, no need to be alarmed for you and I have never met. Let me introduce myself. My name is Norman D. Gates, star of the upcoming return serious of Storming The Gates with Norman D."

Mister Samson did not look impressed or willing to play along with Normans enthusiasm. Norman, sporting a blue sports coat with gold plated buttons, brown pressed dress pants that were pleated to the seams and a pair or Gucci brown dress shoes, looked almost as sharp as Mr. Samson himself. With a flip of his hair that had fallen over his left eye, Norman continued to address the leader of 'The Family.'

"No need to get up Mr. Samson, the pleasure is all mine. And may I say, you are one hard man to find. The digging I had to do just to meet you...well you get the point. Down to business shall we?"

Norman did not let Joshua intervene or reject the request for Norman to continue speaking.

"Listen, we can skip the pleasantries and get down to why I am here. I know you are a busy man and time equals money. You may have heard of me, I am sort of a big deal and I have heard of you. My show, Storming The Gates with Norman D will be debuting its very first Live edition in the coming week before Aftermath. Basically what I do is run down the show, do some obscene jokes, butcher some names and give my two thoughts on the state of the EHWF and the product. That is what I do, now lets talk about what you can do for me.

I love what your doing with Anarchy, really I do, but the thing is, what would make it even better is to feature my show as a prominent flag ship product of Anarchy exclusively. I am business man now above all else and this would put Anarchy over the top. Just think about. Me not running my show for Mayhem. Having your very own recap show or pre show for the brand that above all others will rise to the top.

There has been a lot of speculation that Mayhem is the better brand and that Anarchy's ratings have been dipping. Quite frankly from what I have been hearing, people just don't like you. But I can change all of that. I can bring your brand the recondition and fame it needs. I can make Anarchy the number one show for this place. Now, I must be frank with you. I have already offered the same deal to Thor and the Mayhem brand. Like I said I am a business man just like yourself and I need to make the most I can out of this situation. Ever since I stopped working for Black Man, well the finances have been tumbling. So the question I have for you is, how much can you offer and how much do you want Anarchy to reign supreme over Mayhem?"

Norman leans back on the chair, the feet lifting from the tiled floor. Putting his hands behind his head and smiling towards Joshua, he waits for a response from the most powerful man on Anarchy.

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Samson sipped from the drink while keeping his eyes on the man that sat in front of him across the table. He made a mental note to chastise the management for allowing this disturbance and to ensure them that Astrid Sedin, hometown hero, would hear of this transgression. Placing the glass back down, Samson sat back in his chair.

"Norman Gates is it? I appreciate that flattery because if there is one way to get in my good graces it is with flattery, but you know there are proper channels to go through for this, correct? This isn't just some run of the mill backyard indy wrestling promotion. I work for Extreme Hardcore Wrestling Federation...a multimillion-dollar international wrestling conglomerate. Of course, you know all this because as you said you were associated with the company one time in the past."

The Anarchy General Manager Extraordinaire gives Gates a raised eyebrow.

"But to me, that's not even the worse of it, Hormone. What gets me is that as a businessman you've failed to do your due diligence when it comes to me. You think I care if anyone likes me? Do you think I appear on television or in front of the thousands of fans that attend our shows in order for them to cheer for me? I've learned a long time ago that I'm the bad guy, Hormone. People LOVE to hate me. And I'm cool with that. Hell, I wouldn't want it any other way."

He chuckles before taking a quick sip from the glass.

"I'm not in this for me though. As the Executive Representative of The Samson Family, it was my job to put them in the most advantageous position possible. I did that. Now as the Anarchy General Manager Extraordinaire it is my job to put Anarchy in that same position."

He leans forward to the table, resting his arms on it.

"I would love to stick it to Mayhem anyway possible but you've put me in a situation where I'm at pause to accept your 'exclusive' offer. If you really wanted to bring your talents solely to Anarchy and help it reach heights not seen before, why didn't you come to me FIRST before giving the same offer to Mayhem and Thor?"