Booking Glory-Chapter 42: Todd’s Request

"I am bored here," Diana smiled. "Get me out there. Seeing these women tear it up there is making me anxious. I am worried that I will be forgotten soon if I don’t show my face."

Diana chuckled causing the others to laugh.

"Don’t worry about that. Next week you will have your moment to shine. Not a big moment, but you will have the right atmosphere and the right crowd. Your return would be a sensation," Rob assured her.

"Then, I am relieved," Diana chuckled.

"Just be ready for the promo off between you and Dacey the week after. We have already discussed what to go over. Just don’t cross the line. You are the good guy. You need to show you respect Dacey but you aren’t intimidated by her."

"So, Dacey gets to shoot her mouth off, huh?" Diana asked a little aggrievedly.

"That’s Dacey’s character. She needs to come off as someone really repugnant so that people will pay to see you beat her up," Rob explained patiently.

"Why are you keen on vilifying me? You are way too keen on getting people eager to see me get beaten up," Dacey groused from the side. "I can barely get out of my apartment these days."

"Didn’t I ask you to change to a secure location?" Rob asked frowning.

"You did, and I have already found a good place. I am waiting for my big paycheck to move in," Dacey replied.

"It wouldn’t be until <Last Stand>" Diana consoled her.

"I won’t be so sure about that," Rob said smiling. "Guess how much your new T-shirt sold?"

"How much!?" Dacey and Diana both asked eagerly.

"Well, it is sufficient to say that Dacey’s new shirt has set a record for LWC. She sold around 2000 just tonight," Rob said proudly.

"What!!!"

Several surprised voices echoed throughout the locker room.

"Not just her, Diana’s merchandise also sold pretty good. It is somewhere in the middle, but she outsold Marshall Jones," Rob said causing the locker room to erupt in a frenzy.

They really couldn’t believe that the women’s division merchandise was selling that much. Earlier, only Diana’s merchandise was selling well. Even then, she was in the middle of the pack in LWC. Now they were outselling veterans like Marshall Jones.

"Is that why Marshall Jones tried to find trouble with you?" Dacey asked sharply.

This caused the entire locker room to stop their discussion and look at Rob.

"I really don’t know why he is angry with me. It might even be because I called him a washed-up geezer during commentary," Rob shrugged.

No one had any answer to that.

"Yeah, Rob, you are very mean when you are in commentary," Alanna said pouting. "You called me a high schooler."

"Hey, I can’t help it. I am supposed to say mean things out there. I am like Dacey is to Diana. The other side of the people. And you did really look like a high schooler," Rob said raising his hands in surrender.

"You!" Alanna stamped her foot angrily and looked away causing the others to chuckle.

"Well, jokes aside, I need you all to understand this. On commentary, I will pick sides and insult one of you. Don’t take what I say out there to heart. You need to understand why I do that."

"By repetitively saying mean things, I am creating a group of fans who will loathe me. So, when I start badmouthing someone, these fans will start supporting them. So, you get a set of readymade fans for you. And if you can capitalize on that, it would be easy for you to make it."

"What about the ones you support like Dacey and Evelyn?" Diana asked curiously.

"Ya, you even call Dacey a Goddess!!!" Alanna complained from the side.

Rob chuckled at that. Dacey was shooting Alanna a death glare which was responded to with a tongue sticking out. Dacey’s face was entirely red by now. The other wrestlers also chuckled seeing Dacey in such a spot.

"Well, I am 21. It is normal for guys my age to lavish attention on a hot woman. I took that aspect and tried to create a brand for Dacey. If that works, we can create the same for others as well."

"But not the ones used for me," Dacey interrupted in a hurry causing others to chuckle.

"Sure, sure, you have made it clear when we last discussed it. No calling anyone else Goddess or Queen," Rob chuckled along.

"Ooohhh! Queen huh?" Alanna crooned side eyeing Dacey, who was very embarrassed by her outburst.

"I am positioning Evelyn as a no-nonsense fighter. So, when her program with Selena ends, I will be calling her something akin to that. This will be like an epithet. Diana too will soon get a name. I just haven’t come up with the right one for her," Rob said looking anywhere else but at Dacey.

His heart lightly hitched seeing Dacey’s red face. He knew that his hormones were acting up and he couldn’t fault his body either. Dacey was a sexy woman. And due to her daily workouts, she looked stunning as well.

"You better come up with something nice for me," Diana mock warned causing Rob to smile.

"Well, if that is all, we need to move on to next week’s program. Next week, there will be a match between Dacey and Joselyn, Diana’s return, and a backstage segment between Alanna and Leia."

"Leia, I hope you are back to a hundred percent," Leia nodded in reply. "So, the segment would basically be about you not liking Alanna’s new outfit and thinking it silly. Alanna fires back and you both go back and forth. In the end, you walk off saying Alanna is acting like a child. Alanna will watch you go angrily. This will set up a match between you two in the future."

"See, even now, he is booking me like this goofy baboon," Alanna complained from the side.

"Exactly," Rob replied causing everyone to turn toward him. "Alanna, your target demographic is children. None of the other wrestlers have targeted the kids demographic till now. I want you to try and get into their hearts. So, you need to be relatable and likable to them."

"Oh," Alanna said stunned.

"Indeed, I want you to be as goofy and friendly as possible. Be entertaining. You don’t need to do much. Just be your normal self and let it shine. We shall see how it pans out. Kids are great spenders. Once you get them, your merchandise sales will fly through the roof," Rob explained to her.

Alanna looked thoughtful as he processed what Rob said. Rob turned his attention away from her and started explaining how the other programs would go about as well.

*****

"Hello, this is Rob Williams," Rob answered his phone trying to juggle the documents in his hand.

It was Friday morning, and Rob was as usual at work in LWC. He reviewed last week’s progress with Mr. Gibson and the others yesterday. They all were satisfied with LWC’s continuous uptick in ratings and merchandise sales.

The meeting had come to an end pretty quickly before Rob could even address his concern about Marshall Jones. But, Rob wasn’t bothered about it much. As Dallas said, it was pretty common for there to be heat between people in a wrestling promotion.

So, he didn’t think about it much and immersed himself in his regular work.

"Hey Rob, this is Brent. Brent Walker," Brent’s voice came from the other end.

"Oh, hey Brent! How is it going?"

"I am fine, I am fine. Are you dropping by this week?"

"Not sure man, currently I am a little busy with work. I can only tell when I am done here."

"Oh," Brent sounded a little deflated hearing that.

"What’s the matter? Just say it, I will see if I can help," Rob said putting the documents down. He had a pretty good impression of Brent.

"It’s just... hmmm... you know...."

"Spit it out, man."

"You work in LWC, right? Can you get me one of Dacey’s T-shirts?" Brent asked a little hesitantly.

"No problem, I will pick it up on my way out on Saturday. Even if I can’t spend much time, I can drop by and give it to you," Rob said not taking it seriously.

"No, no, no... I didn’t mean that... I meant... you know... those Original 500s. Can you swing me one?" Brent asked a little hesitant.

"Oh," Rob said catching on to Brent’s intentions.

No wonder the guy sounded so hesitant. The Original 500s were in deep demand as of now. People knew that LWC printed a few more T-shirts before Dacey Surestone got it banned. So, a lot of them were trying to get their hands on it using their connections.

Even though Rob hadn’t interacted with Brent much, Rob had a favorable impression of him. And Rob needed him to get in touch with the people in the computer industry.

Gifting him one of those T-shirts would surely ease their relationship a lot. Rob might even call in this favor sometime in the future. Rob looked at the bunch of black and white T-shirts cluttered around his office and smiled.

"Listen, a lot of people have called in to ask for that. I will see if I can swing it, but I am not that senior in management to get one of those. I will see what I can do," Rob said with a smile palming one of those said T-shirts.

"Thanks a lot, man. I will owe you one. I really need to get my hands on that. It will be great if it has Dacey’s signature. But, she might just burn it off," Brent joked trying to lighten the mood.

Rob rolled his eyes. If he knew Dacey, she would jump in joy and sign it without a moment’s hesitation. But, her character was one that hated the T-shirt. So, that can’t be done.

Rob had to expressly forbid Dacey from signing any of those <Why Dacey Why!?> T-shirts. Dacey was a little putout, but she understood where Rob was coming from.

"Don’t even think about it," Rob replied. "I will see if it is possible to get you one first."

"Sure man. Drop by anytime you want. I don’t want to disturb you any further. I will hang up," Brent prattled excitedly and cut the call.

Rob shook his head in bemusement and kept his phone away.

*****

Rob’s phone rang for the fifth time in the last hour causing Rob to let out an exasperated huff. The previous four calls all have been from Brent. He had been calling every fifteen minutes or so trying to talk about some random stuff and then reminding Rob that he shouldn’t forget about the T-shirt.

Initially, Rob had been amused privately seeing Brent be this anxious. It was very clear that he was a die-hard fan of Dacey and was hell-bent on acquiring one of those limited-edition original design.

Rob actually felt a little elated to see something he had a hand in creating was eliciting such a fervent response. But, the elation later turned into annoyance when Rob realized that Brent was way too eager and was even obsessive about that T-shirt.

Repeated calls almost made Rob feel that he should just say to Brent that nothing was in stock. That petty part of him was raring to go at this moment vehemently.

With an irritated sigh, Rob picked up his phone and answered it without actually seeing whose number it was.

"I am telling you this last time, Brent. If you call me again regarding that T-shirt, I will never get you one," Rob said in annoyance not taking his eyes off the document in front of him.

"Ahem..." a different voice coughed bringing Rob’s attention to the phone. "I am sure my name didn’t change since I last checked."

The voice joked with amusement.

Rob checked the caller id and found it was Todd, a wrestling reporter he met in Top Slam bar when he went to discuss the merchandise deal with Nelson, the owner.

"Oh Todd," Rob said putting his document down. "I am sorry. I have been fielding enquiries about Dacey’s limited edition T-shirt for the past hour."

"And it looks like you are using your influence to smuggle some as well," Todd joked.

"And who was it that was proudly wearing a gifted T-shirt when we first met?" Rob shot back with a smile.

"Ha ha haha... anyways, I currently called you for another reason. But I wouldn’t say no to one of those T-shirts as well," Todd said.

"You and everyone else in this damned city," Rob chuckled.

"Jokes apart, listen, I am doing a running series on the best bookers present in this industry. And I would really like to interview for it. Do you think you are up to it?"

"Don’t joke Todd. As much as I would like to claim the title, I would not dare to do it."

Rob laughed it off treating it as a joke from Todd.

"Rob, I am being serious. You are one of the best bookers out there. Look at your track record till now. You have booked around 6 weekly shows and 1 PPV. Every one of them had garnered interest in the circle."

"Todd, you can’t be serious right?"

"I am dead serious. So, how about it? Want to see your name along with the likes of Steven Rush?"

"Gosh! Todd this is too much. Look, I appreciate where you are coming from. And I am immensely grateful for it. But, I don’t think I should be in that conversation without at least a year under my belt."

"Come on Rob, I definitely think you should be included," Todd tried to persuade.

"No," Rob shook his head in reply with a small smile on his face. "Look, you do that series. I personally would like to read about it. And I am sure there are a lot of people out there who would want to read that as well. Just don’t include my name."

"Then, how about an interview?"

Rob mulled it for a while before replying.

"Not yet, wait for this year to end. If Breeze TV renews the contract with LWC, I will do it," Rob said after thinking for a while.

"Damn, that’s a long wait," Todd groused.

"I just don’t want to toot my own horn and end up getting faceplanted," Rob chuckled. "Don’t worry, it is not as if I am going to run away. I will be here next year as well. Meanwhile, you go do that awesome report."

"Hmmm, then fine. But, remember this, you owe me your first interview," Todd said demandingly.

"Sure, sure, who knows if you might be even willing to interview me after one year," Rob chuckled.

"I definitely will be, your brain is abnormal. I would like to see how it ticks," Todd snorted.

"Ha ha ha," Rob laughed. "Hey, how about you do a piece on Dacey-Diana’s story? I am sure many readers will be interested in it."

"Already on it, it will be released a few days before the PPV. Mr. Gibson already spoke to me about it. Look at it, it should have been your job. See how neglectful you are," Todd japed.

"Alright, alright. You can eviscerate me with your pen on Sunday. I need to finish this paperwork soon."

"Ah! Paperwork – the bane of every working man."

"Don’t get me started," Rob snorted.

"Get going then. The devil is waiting for you."

"Smartass," Rob chuckled cutting his phone and turning his attention to the document in front of him.

While he was inwardly jubilant that Todd considered him to be one of the best bookers, he knew that the tree that rises tall shall be the first to be cut down. Right now, things were progressing smoothly. So, he didn’t want to jeopardize that by giving an interview like that.

Whether he liked it or not, he has not even spent a year in the wrestling industry. To be mentioned along with the legends present today would surely invite some backlash or anger. Rob didn’t need that at this moment.

When Breeze TV confirms the deal with LWC and extends it, then he could come out comfortably and claim the title. At that time, he would have accomplished something and had a good standing in the circle.

Rob just didn’t want to be one of the best. He wanted to be the Greatest Booker of All Time. His ambitions wouldn’t let him stop being the best. He would never stop at the same level as Steven Rush. He would overtake him and overshadow him.

And he wouldn’t settle for anything less...

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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