The Path Of A Thousand Apologies Begins With A Single Step
Nov 25, 2015 0:50:19 GMT -6
Lady Munin likes this
Post by Kolic on Nov 25, 2015 0:50:19 GMT -6
7 AM in Ottawa. Arctic Blast was past, and Aftermath was still to come. Two remained behind for now; one reluctant to go back, and the other not leaving until he does. The first is still asleep as the second waits with only a small amount of patience. Though she holds his hand as he sleeps, it seems she's tired of sitting around.
Kate: Look, I know you've been through a lot, both at the show and over the past year. But it's been three days...
She leans back with a more serious look on her face.
Kate: All righty. Get up!
She makes sure he does by kicking him sharply in the side. He startles awake and asks groggily:
Kolic: Where am I?
Kate: Ottawa. Still.
Kolic: And...wait, how'd you-
Kate: It's not hard to get a spare room key as your wife.
Kolic: Oh, my head...
Kate: Your back, chest, and everywhere else they hit you with chairs. They got you good. Does any of that seem familiar?
He's still in one quarter sleep mode, which means his cognitive functions are only starting to kick in.
Kolic: I...maybe you could just say what you mean and not make me guess?
Kate huffs very audibly.
Kate: Do I really have to spell this out for you? Anniversary Armageddon. You and Tamer. Does that make it any clearer?
Kolic: Oh...yeah.
Kate: I'm not one to buy into karma or retributive justice, but you've had this coming for a while. Maybe now you'll finally wake up and see where your actions have brought you.
Kolic: I get it, turning myself into a war machine turned everyone against me and I became the villain. That's obvious. I also know it's too late to salvage my reputation. Not that I care what people think of me, but I'm not going to have them cheer me again just by an apology and promise to do better. It's a hard path I chose and I'll walk it to the end.
Kate facepalms so hard she almost gives herself a concussion.
Kate: See, I knew you were going to be this stubborn. That's part of the reason I broke off contact all this time, so maybe you'd realize how much your decisions have cost you and maybe, just maybe, you'd try to fix things. But no! You're just going to keep on going until you completely self-destruct. You're willing to throw away everything you have just for this twisted goal of take down GZW. You're smarter than this...at least, I thought you were.
Kolic: So that's why you came back? To throw the last nine months in my face? I...
He clenches in frustration...then relaxes and lies back in resignation.
Kolic: I have no idea what I've been doing. Yeah, there it is. I had such a clear goal at first: use the Mayhem guys to break down GZW's stalwart defenders, let them eat their fill, and clean up the rest. Once I found out Raze brought them in to give GZW a common enemy, I felt pretty stupid, but thought there was a way to salvage the situation. Eva and Leon, the king and queen of this company left. I thought it would be easy to topple this Jenga tower. But...darn it, GZW just won't die. Instead of killing it, I committed career suicide slowly and painfully. So how do I pull out of this nose dive?
Several seconds pass as they look at each other.
Kolic: That was a real question, I don't see an easy way out of this.
Kate: That's because there isn't one. Trust is something that's hard to earn and easy to lose. Think about Eva, you're one of the few she's let in to her personal life and she really expected you never to turn on her. Aside from me, you probably hurt her the worst. Joshua comes in a close third, but at least he's managed to turn your betrayal into something positive. I could keep going down the list but I'm sure you have a dozen times already. You want to start turning things around? Begin by at least having them not expect you to brain them with a chair. Then you go from there.
Kolic stays silent; instead he sits hunched over on the bed, thinking about the truth in her words even though the path she laid out couldn't be much harder.
Kate: Look...I still love you, and always will. That's why I'm not going to sugarcoat this. You screwed up majorly, and it'll take a lot of work to attempt to undo it. But I wouldn't tell you what to do if I didn't know you couldn't. And I know God wouldn't put you here if you weren't able. Come back to Atlanta when you're ready, I'll be there this time. Then we can start working on reclaiming your career.
Kolic: Yeah...okay. I'll see you there soon.
He rubs his neck, which only brings back the soreness that sleep had masked. He grimaces in pain, and when he opens his eyes, he sees that Kate has already gone.
Kolic: ...love you too...
Fade
Kate: Look, I know you've been through a lot, both at the show and over the past year. But it's been three days...
She leans back with a more serious look on her face.
Kate: All righty. Get up!
She makes sure he does by kicking him sharply in the side. He startles awake and asks groggily:
Kolic: Where am I?
Kate: Ottawa. Still.
Kolic: And...wait, how'd you-
Kate: It's not hard to get a spare room key as your wife.
Kolic: Oh, my head...
Kate: Your back, chest, and everywhere else they hit you with chairs. They got you good. Does any of that seem familiar?
He's still in one quarter sleep mode, which means his cognitive functions are only starting to kick in.
Kolic: I...maybe you could just say what you mean and not make me guess?
Kate huffs very audibly.
Kate: Do I really have to spell this out for you? Anniversary Armageddon. You and Tamer. Does that make it any clearer?
Kolic: Oh...yeah.
Kate: I'm not one to buy into karma or retributive justice, but you've had this coming for a while. Maybe now you'll finally wake up and see where your actions have brought you.
Kolic: I get it, turning myself into a war machine turned everyone against me and I became the villain. That's obvious. I also know it's too late to salvage my reputation. Not that I care what people think of me, but I'm not going to have them cheer me again just by an apology and promise to do better. It's a hard path I chose and I'll walk it to the end.
Kate facepalms so hard she almost gives herself a concussion.
Kate: See, I knew you were going to be this stubborn. That's part of the reason I broke off contact all this time, so maybe you'd realize how much your decisions have cost you and maybe, just maybe, you'd try to fix things. But no! You're just going to keep on going until you completely self-destruct. You're willing to throw away everything you have just for this twisted goal of take down GZW. You're smarter than this...at least, I thought you were.
Kolic: So that's why you came back? To throw the last nine months in my face? I...
He clenches in frustration...then relaxes and lies back in resignation.
Kolic: I have no idea what I've been doing. Yeah, there it is. I had such a clear goal at first: use the Mayhem guys to break down GZW's stalwart defenders, let them eat their fill, and clean up the rest. Once I found out Raze brought them in to give GZW a common enemy, I felt pretty stupid, but thought there was a way to salvage the situation. Eva and Leon, the king and queen of this company left. I thought it would be easy to topple this Jenga tower. But...darn it, GZW just won't die. Instead of killing it, I committed career suicide slowly and painfully. So how do I pull out of this nose dive?
Several seconds pass as they look at each other.
Kolic: That was a real question, I don't see an easy way out of this.
Kate: That's because there isn't one. Trust is something that's hard to earn and easy to lose. Think about Eva, you're one of the few she's let in to her personal life and she really expected you never to turn on her. Aside from me, you probably hurt her the worst. Joshua comes in a close third, but at least he's managed to turn your betrayal into something positive. I could keep going down the list but I'm sure you have a dozen times already. You want to start turning things around? Begin by at least having them not expect you to brain them with a chair. Then you go from there.
Kolic stays silent; instead he sits hunched over on the bed, thinking about the truth in her words even though the path she laid out couldn't be much harder.
Kate: Look...I still love you, and always will. That's why I'm not going to sugarcoat this. You screwed up majorly, and it'll take a lot of work to attempt to undo it. But I wouldn't tell you what to do if I didn't know you couldn't. And I know God wouldn't put you here if you weren't able. Come back to Atlanta when you're ready, I'll be there this time. Then we can start working on reclaiming your career.
Kolic: Yeah...okay. I'll see you there soon.
He rubs his neck, which only brings back the soreness that sleep had masked. He grimaces in pain, and when he opens his eyes, he sees that Kate has already gone.
Kolic: ...love you too...
Fade
