8th July 2010
I never thought I’d see this so soon, my house, a family house. It’s 7:06AM, and the Arnold house is buzzing once again. However the last two months have provided a different kind of buzz, because sat in my kitchen, staring at me over his mother’s shoulder, is my two-month-old son, Michael Christopher Arnold. On the face of things, we’re all so happy, and today is my last official day of leave before I head back to work on Monday. I puled some strings to get some extended time off, frankly after all the stress of February I thought it would be best to get everything settled back at home before I went back into that cooking pot.
Today however, I had other things to do of importance. I throw on my jacket, black with white pinstripes. I always refer to it as my favorite jacket and also my best jacket, yet this suit isn’t flashy, costing only £600, which for a man of my position is small for a suit. The thing about this suit is that it has been with me for years, probably close to five years now, and it has only been worn on a handful of occasions, you could count them with your fingers. As I look in the mirror and check all is in order, I turn to Sharon and smile.
"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?" She asks me.
"It just feels right Shar." I say with a shrug. "End of the day it’s nothing official, as far as I’m concerned it’s a casual meeting with my best friend."
"In your best suit? Your special occasion suit?" She asks with a large hint of smugness.
"Yes, well…" I stutter slightly. "…I have to keep up appearances, don’t I? Plus it’s a hell of a lot more fun to make people talk, don’t you think?" I return with a smirk. Sharon looks back at me and shakes her head.
"Just stay out of trouble, I never like it when you two get together like this, you always seem to come home with some crazy scheme of world domination. Seriously, are you Pinky or are you Brain?" Her face is deadpan as ever.
"Oh, Brain, every time!" I smirk again, and kiss her on the cheek. "I’ll see you both a bit later, I shouldn’t be much later than two or three."
I head out towards the front door, as I open it I hear a cheeky "I mean it Pinky!" coming from the kitchen. I just laugh and carry on. I get in the car and head out. I was of course heading to see a very good friend of mine, however it wasn’t really for just a general get together as I had suggested to my wife, nor was it for renewed plans of world domination. There was much more going on than that.
The drive to Bristol from my Wells home was proving so uneventful it allowed me to really consider the situation I’m finding myself in. You see, what happened in February generally didn’t cause me too much hassle, the marketing strategy was a success, Chris Harker resigned from his position, and I had two new members of staff on my team who played ball with the old guard. There was a problem however, Webber wasn’t playing up to his side of the bargain, or so it seemed. I gave him a small payoff when he quit as a token of my appreciation if you will. It turns out he wasn’t so appreciative after about three weeks. Rumor has it that somewhere in Bristol there was a man getting leathered from time to time at a local bar and claiming that he was bullied out of a job at JJB. Of course at the moment this wasn’t getting too much attention from anybody, the man was so drunk when he’d come out with these comments you could barely make out what he was saying. Still, I have to be wary of this, I don’t want a net suddenly appearing around me.
So that’s why I was heading up to Bristol, if a man knew how to cover up a scandal it was Alex Reid’s PR man, Brad Smith. People talk about Max Clifford being one of the best PR guys, or Peter Mandleson being a king of spin doctoring, however neither of them had a candle on Smith, because he knew how do deal with the murkier side of life. He also knew Alex and me very well, so I knew I could trust him. The man was nothing short of genius, and between the three of us, any problems would be ironed out. You could say that this guy was like my safety blanket.
When I arrive at Vortex tower, I feel immediately more at home than I know I ever will with JJB. This was a very different kind of homecoming though. For starters, the car went into the visitor section, I don’t think I’ve ever been parked this far away from the building. I step out of the car and take a deep breath, before heading towards the entrance.
Upon entry I approach the receptionist’s desk, again this is hugely alien to me. I notice that the receptionist is new, so I best make it known I’m here.
"Hi there, I’m Rob Arnold, I’m here to…"
"See Mr Reid? Yes I’ve been informed you were on your way, I’ve heard a lot about you Mr Arnold." She smiles coyly. "I’m Michelle, by the way."
I know exactly where this is heading, and I’m not really in the mood to have to deal with this.
"Michelle, lovely to meet you, however I have to make this appointment, so I will no doubt catch up with you in no time." I smile at her to keep her happy. Clearly, whilst my appeal to women is still apparent, I really don’t care for it any more. "I’ll see myself up if that’s okay."
She blushes and smiles as I head to the lift. As I enter and close the door I faintly hear her informing the staff on the top floor of my arrival and I was "as dishy as they mentioned" which made me laugh, because if my predictions were right, Alex’s secretary was up for a bit of banter. As I head up towards the top of the thirty floors of Vortex Tower, I notice to my left the latest Vortex advert and what strikes me is the music…
"So what’s the craziest thing you’ve done lately?"
The chords of "Crazy Angel" by Kill Hannah fronts the advert, it catches me off guard somewhat. This was Alex Reid’s entrance music for years before he walked away from the business. I’m shocked he’ll so openly use this part of his past he says he never wishes to return to. I almost wonder if this was planted just to uproot me before this meeting, but I realise that I’m just being stupid and relax as the door opens to top floor I once called a second home.
I stroll out with hands in pockets, a familiar posture for whenever I’ve been here. I scan around and spot my target straight away.
"Time passes but Gemma, I still find you here like the foundations of this tower." I casually walk over, it’s just like I’ve never been gone. Gemma King, Alex’s personal receptionist has been at the company for years, almost as many as Alex and myself. I’ve always piled the charm on her because she loves it, and I enjoy the banter. It’s no secret she’s always had a thing for me, but we both know we’d never be each other’s type.
"Oh Robert please, you make me feel old!" She laughs as she looks up from her desk, taking her glasses off to talk to me.
"And you make me feel…oh what was it…dishy?" I produce a cheeky grin and immediately see her blush at me. "Oh yes, I heard you. It made me laugh, a lot. Don’t worry, I really should be used to this by now…"
"As fun as it is watching you harass my secretary. I’m no longer paying you to do it, so shall we get on with this?" I turn from being interrupted and look at the lavish office entrance that belongs to Alex Reid, who has a smirk to match mine on his face. I approach him and give him a hug, he then tells me to head into the office, where Brad is waiting.
"Smithy! How are you mate?" I open with as I take a seat.
"Rob, there will be other times where can exchange pleasantries but I don’t think now is the time, do you?" He smirks. "For once we actually have some serious business to attend to, am I right?"
This doesn’t bother me, he’s actually got a fair point. We all take our seats around the large table and I make a point of leaning back in my chair to show that I’m still generally relaxed.
"Okay chaps, let’s be honest, I fucked up slightly a few months ago. You’ve both had the details, other than Webber, and ourselves, nobody else knows the truth. What ideas do we have?"
Then there was something I didn’t expect, there was silence. There was a lot of silence in fact. This immediately put me in a state of unease. I looked at Alex first, who was emotionless, then at Brad, and he gave me nothing more than Alex just did. I run my hand through my beard and wait for something to be said.
"Do you guys actually have anything?" I ask with some worry now.
"Look Rob, we know this is a serious matter..." Begins Brad.
"You are wearing your best suit, which always means you're serious, so we get it's a big thing we're talking about here." Adds Reid. "The thing is though Rob, we’ve always been able to deal with you easier when you were part of Vortex, this time you’ve left yourself a lot more exposed. If the guy is trying to rumble you for bullying him, then you’re going to have to deal with this one yourself. It’s pretty obvious to me a couple of options are available, and you know pretty much what they are."
There is another pause. The problem is I do, I can either pay him a bung he cant refuse, or I finish what I started. Then again…
"There is a third option guys, and I’ve been thinking about it for a couple weeks now." I stand up and walk towards the window, looking out, before I can continue, I’m interrupted.
"I know what you’re thinking Rob, and the answer is no, you’re not coming back to Vortex." Alex says bluntly.
"What?" I spin round, eyes widened.
"You heard me, you’re not coming back here Rob. You’re not required back here. You’re value has dropped when you stopped wrestling. You’re not a star any more, you’re a good marketer yes, but nothing I haven’t already got. You’re better off trying to fix your own mess and when something comes up, you can come back."
"You have to be joking guys, you genuinely have nothing for me?"
"Sorry buddy, this is your battle, you will just have to deal with this yourself. Now listen, we have to go to another meeting, I’ll call you on the weekend, alright?" He stands up and heads for the door, businesslike as ever.
"Listen, Rob…If you need anything just let me know, okay?" Brad walks over to me and pats me on the shoulder, before following Alex out the door. I turn back to the window to assess what’s just happened.
I actually stand there in the office for best part of thirty minutes mainly to hide the fact that my anger was at it’s highest for a while. Once I’ve calmed I quietly leave, saying rough pleasantries to the staff as I go, my swagger gone and my expression much less confident. I’m feeling pretty low, my safety blanket it seems has gone.
The trip home was filled with wondering what to do if indeed Webber decided to make a case of this, and all of it made me angrier, the fact that nobody had my back, the fact people dare challenge me.
I get home pretty much on time and decide its best to continue to hide these problems from Sharon. I have no reason to worry her at this point. Fortunately her and the baby have gone to visit family, so I have the house to myself to have a bit of a think. It’s amazing what happens when you allow your mind to wander and let your feet follow your wandering mind. I suddenly find myself in the study, which is more of a trophy room now, and I start staring at the pictures hung up on the wall. I see images of me at my most angry, and I get an idea, a risky idea but something to at least keep me from facing another Webber incident.
I take my phone from my pocket and search through the numbers, before ringing one under the name of "Tom".
"Tom? It’s Rob. Yeah man I’m well. Listen, are you still running the gym? I’ve got a few hours to kill, how about I come and give some of your latest recruits a work out? Thought you may say that," I laugh. "What’s changed? Well, you know how some people when they grow up still have to hold onto something, like a safety blanket? Well, I think I’ve found my safety blanket." I hang up and smile, and grab a holdall from behind the door, and start to grab some old gear.
That was the truth of things. My wife, my son, they were my motivation. My work was my pride, but when it really comes down to things, my safety blanket, the one thing I can always rely on, was the ring. Besides, next time it should mean I’ll punch a rookie rather than somebody who will possibly sue me.
There’s just one problem…Sharon will not like this, still, what she doesn’t know…right?
Subject: How We Got Here (Part 4 - Safety Blanket) 
Mon Feb 14, 2011 5:43 pm
