First time poster so not quite sure where to put this story. It's more of a cat fight than many of my stories but less of a cat fight than some that get posted in this section. Anyway, here's the preamble to the action. If you like it I'll post more:
Ellen was sitting alone at the counter of her small shop. It was quiet but then it always was this time of year. It nearly noon and she hadn’t had a single customer all morning. Never mind, she thought, plenty of time to reflect and catch up on her reading. Sales weren’t great but something was bound to turn up sooner or later. Say what you like about Ellen, she was nothing if not an optimist. Suddenly the phone rang.
“Good morning, ‘Dream Catchers’ – how can I help you?”
“Hi, is that Ellen?” a cheerful woman’s voice asked.
“Yes, how can I help?”
“Hi Ellen, you don’t know me. My name’s Janet, Jan, and a mutual acquaintance suggested I call you. I need your help with something – I’ll pay you of course.”
“Go on.”
“It’s a bit delicate so please hear me out.”
The woman suddenly sounded a bit coy, as if she was working out how to ask a question without getting an immediate “no” for an answer. After a few seconds she said:
“I understand you used to wrestle at the ‘Amazon Club’?”
“Used to but I gave it up years ago, why?” said Ellen, warily.
“My boyfriend is a big female fight fan and he’s got a big birthday coming up soon. I was wondering if you’d be willing to fight me…”
“…in front of him so he can get his rocks off watching us tear each other’s hair – no way sister!” Ellen was outraged – who was this woman calling her and asking her to disport herself to please some guy she’d never met?
“Calm down, Ellen. I was going to say fight me in private so I can film it and give him the movie to watch as a present.”
“That’s almost as bad, perhaps worse, because he can watch it over and over again.”
“So? You used to fight at the “Amazon Club”, there are movies of most of your 40 matches in their catalogue and plenty of fans buy them.”
“But that was years ago when I was young, fit and worth watching. I’m the wrong side of 45 you know.” Ellen was starting to calm down again.
“So am I – that’s why I’ve come to you. I don’t want to be facing some twenty-something bimbo who’ll not only look better than me but would probably run rings around me too. I’m almost a year older than you.”
“Look Jan, I’m sorry, you sound sweet and sincere and you’ve clearly done your homework but you’ve got the wrong woman – I don’t fight any more, I haven’t done for years.”
Jan wasn’t about to give up and played her trump card:
“I’ll pay you £2,000 – win, lose or draw you walk away the winner. Come on Ellen, that’s more than you earn in a month, I know you need the money and all I’m asking for is 30 minutes.”
Despite herself Ellen was warming to the woman and Jan was right, two grand was money she desperately needed. Besides it would be a one off, wouldn’t it? After a long pause she said: “OK – tell me more.”
Ellen could sense the relief in Jan’s voice as she went into a clearly rehearsed pitch: “We’ll meet at a venue I have permission to use, late one evening. We’ll fight for 30 minutes. It’ll be my rules, which are a bit different to the ones you were used to. We’ll be completely alone apart from two other women, one to referee and one to film the match.”
“Have you fought before?”
“Yes, a few times, but my style is a bit more ‘cat fight’ than you’re used to…”
“So, what are your rules Jan?”
“We’ll wear bikinis and fight on open mats…”
“No ring then?”
“No, just mats on the floor. We’ll fight for 30 minutes. No scratching, biting, gouging or hair pulling – everything else goes including punching. It’s submissions only or a 10 count for a knock out. Whoever has the most falls wins the match.”
“You know I won’t pull my punches or take a dive?”
“Yes, I know, neither will I.”
“And it will just be us and two other women?”
“Yes, my friend Jill will do the filming and my daughter will referee.”
“Your daughter?!”
“Don’t worry – she’ll be completely impartial; she’s done it for me before.”
“OK – I’ll think about it. Now, I don’t want to sound funny but how can I be sure you’ll pay me?”
“I guess we’ll just have to trust each other on that.” Jan seemed to think for a moment and then added: “I’ll tell you what, I’ll send you a cheque for £200 along with the address and time for the match. If you cash the cheque, I’ll expect to see you there. Have a think about it Ellen, it’s not every day someone offers you £2000 for 30 minutes work.”
“OK, let me think about it – if I cash your cheque you can be sure I’ll honour my part of the bargain.”
“Great – I hope we’ll meet soon. Bye sweetie.”
With that Jan hung up. Ellen put the phone down and took a deep breath – she had some thinking to do.
As Jan had promised, the next morning there was a letter in Ellen’s post containing a cheque £200 drawn on the account of a Ms. Janet Somerville and a slightly scented card which read: “Next Thursday, The College gym on Thomas Street, be there at 8:30pm for an 9:00pm start.”
Ellen walked across the road to the bank and paid the cheque into her account.
