There She Goes Again

Shelley Silver was probably on her fifth cigarette in a row when her manager, Sloane Cameron walked into the bedroom of the suite where Shelley was standing out on the balcony, crying.

"Uh, Shel..." Sloane started, walking up to her friend cautiously.

"I know that she's probably responded by now," Shelley groaned. "Clueless as fucking ever. You know, I'm surprised she's not even shorter than she is," she scoffed. "Everything just keeps flying right over her head."

"What doesn't really help matters is that everyone is butting in and believes that they are trying to help," Sloane stated in an empathetic tone.

"I'm actually starting to think that Lara actually doesn't want to be happy," Shelley sighed as she put out her current cigarette. "Because it's not like I turned her down," she looked up as she looked around the room for something to change into. "I just told her that it wasn't as simple as me jumping into her arms. I fell hard for Ace, I loved him extremely hard. So hard that it still fuckin' scares me. I just knew that our relationship had gone stagnant, and the engagement was just for show. I thought that me fisting her in the back of an Uber after her public declaration of love actually told her something. Because seriously, knowing that I really, truly loved him and all that. She really should have known that I couldn't have just gone from one relationship to another."

Sloane nodded, trying to remain calm for Shelley, "it wouldn't be fair for her for you to go straight to her after ending things with him. That would basically guarantee that she would just be a rebound."

Shelley picked up her phone, tapping and swiping as she nodded in return, deleting her Twitter app from her phone (but not her account). "Exactly! I just don't understand how she couldn't see that. It wasn't even just that, either."

Sloane raised an eyebrow, "oh?"

Shelley shook her head, taking a deep breath as she sat her phone down. "Back when I first joined N*FW, I did it because she had been stabbed in the back by her best friend and tag team partner. I was going to stand by her side as she got revenge. I was going to be her new tag partner," she frowned, looking down as she found her overnight bag. "I've never once tagged with her, and I don't even remember who that friend was, because I am fairly sure that revenge never happened. I was doing her a big favor back then, too. I was filming a fuckin' movie at the time. Yet, I went out of my way to schedule in appearances and matches around that. I don't know how many times I told her that I wanted to be her tag partner or that I was interested in joining the Dominion. Over and over until..." she finishing packing her back and zipped it shut. "I see someone else's name never to her's when it came time for the Women's Tag Titles." She slung her back over her shoulder, "that still stings. It's not even remotely LeeAnn's fault, either. She probably has no idea that I had been working with Lara for months. We just hadn't picked a tag name or theme. It's probably my own fault for not checking with booking before the card went up, but I trusted with my heart that the girl I loved was on the same page as I was. Shame on me, I guess." She walked over to the door, "I just don't know what to do anymore." She shook her head, "I'll be back. Don't worry."

TWO HOURS LATER...

Sloane walked to the door after someone knocked on it and was shocked to see Kyle Smalls on the other side. "Hey kiddo, what's up?"

"I'm here to see Shelley," he shrugged a little. "We have a video game date."

"She must have forgotten," Sloane frowned, stepping aside to let him in.

Kyle's face turned pale, having been caught up with the tweets that had been sent out. "What happened? Where is she?"

"She ranted about how much Lara has hurt her, then she left," Sloane started.

"For drinks... to see Ace?" Kyle asked in a pleading tone.

Sloane shook her head, "she didn't take her phone and I am fairly sure that she's been off of her meds for a while. Ever since Lara started in with this new shit."

"And you just let her go?" Kyle snapped.

"What was I supposed to do, Kyle?" Sloane sighed. "She will be there for her match on Monday."

"Are you forgetting what happened last time? What Alyssa did? The countless others who more than likely took advantage of her state?" he waved his arms in the air for dramatic effect. "She still doesn't know whose bed she woke up in when she finally came out of it."

"No, I haven't forgotten," Sloane sat down with a frown. "I just... I'm sort of hoping that she didn't break as much this time, and maybe Lara can bring her out of it."

"Are you really banking on Lara Blackheart right now?" Kyle deadpanned as he leaned against the table. "The same girl that couldn't take it when Shelley didn't say 'OMG, yes! I will totally be your Valentine, baby!'? Aren't you the one who told me that Shelley has refused to celebrate the holiday ever since high school?"

Sloane nodded slowly, "she came close to celebrating again before the truth came out about what had happened to Jennifer while they were together. It was... a lot for Shelley to take in. Then ever since her death, Shelley hasn't been the same. Horrible truths just keep trickling out. It keeps wearing on our poor girl."

Kyle looked down, sighing heavily, "I knew it had to be more than just Luke Wolfe that caused Shelley to break down like that. Blackouts that go for weeks aren't exactly common. I'm honestly surprised she isn't just a shell of her former self after that."

"Shelley is very strong," Sloane reminded him. "I'm just giving her some time to cool off. Hopefully, she won't get into too much trouble before her match."

"Well, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to worry and casually go looking for her," Kyle stated as he pushed himself off of the table and walked back over to the door. "I don't want her to get hurt again."