Hostile Work Environment: Ashley Morgan and Alice Evans

[Afterhoursclub]

LAW Administrative Offices

"The fuck you mean I'm out!" Ashley's voice echoed through the service tunnels, even from inside the locker room. The redhead was not pleased, holding the poster with the line-up for the next PPV card, almost tearing it in half right on the spot. "This is fucking unbelievable!"

Ashley was never one to seek exposure or bring attention to herself. For her, wrestling was just about beating up some unfortunate soul inside the ring; this was her escape from boring day-to-day life... this was what she enjoyed the most about it.

If a title shot came along the way, perfect! -She would take joy in beating up any champion who stood in front of her, but if it didn't come? Perfectly all the same, she would certainly not lose any sleep over it. However, this time, it felt different —almost like a personal attack.

Ashley had already participated in a few encounters by now, and despite a bumpy start to her career here at LAW, she had managed to rack up a few wins. Enough to get some eyes looking in her direction. With a few bookers talking about including her in a match for the next big event. This wasn't about popularity; it was about recognition of her work and her dominance in the ring. When the Red Menace laid her eyes on the upcoming event's card, she saw her name was missing... some other unknown girl was taking her place instead. "What the hell is Gart's Pub?!"

The Brit couldn't help but feel insulted; she gritted her teeth and crumpled the poster into a ball of paper. Throwing it into the nearest trash bin. The ball hit the edge and fell right on the floor, but Ashley never saw this. She stormed out of the locker room right away.

"Calm down, Ash... this must clearly be a mistake..." she began to talk to herself, trying to mitigate her anger a little. "You just need to head to the offices... AND BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF ANYONE RESPONSIBLE!"

It hadn't been too long since Ashley had finished signing all of her paperwork for the company, so she was pretty familiar with the location of the administrative offices. The Red Menace wasn't participating in any matches that night, so she had plenty of time on her hands to "speak her mind" about this issue. She reached the desired door and opened it abruptly. Bursting into the office like a wild panther, preparing to pounce at the first unlucky prey that crossed her sight.

Sadly for her, that night's show was just about to start, so most of the administrative personnel had already gone home for the day; only the production crew remained downstairs in the backstage area. There was almost no one present... except for one... secretary, seemingly organizing some documents into a few drawers. That's all Ashley needed to see...

"YOU!" she called her out, "We need to talk!"

Ashley Casual

[Hagen-Autem]

Alice had been alone in the offices for about 30 minutes. Most of the managers had left with their factions, others were attending to other business, and some were chasing after members of The Board to beg for a reconsideration of some plan. She, on the other hand, was reviewing the latest details of the new promises acquired for her faction, the plans involving L.A.W at the pub, the itineraries of her wrestlers, and organising her plans for the coming month.

She was leaning her elbow on the table, propping up her face as she leafed through pages and pages. Some were even contracts or notices from L.A.W regarding certain requests. Some made her look up, very interested; others were mere concerns about how the venue was being run or the type of wrestlers they were promoting there.

Sometimes Alice wanted to punch Angie Dafoe. That woman was always involved in most of the managers' headaches. Maybe one day she would find her in the ring and fulfil that dream. But now? Now she would rub her eyes under her glasses and get ready to leave the office to find a gym where she could punch a sandbag before going to sleep. However, before she could get up from her seat, a panther would come crashing through the door.

Silence reigned; she didn't move, but her eyes remained fixed on that redhead.

Ashley Morgan, one of the wildest redheads around today.

Maintaining her false indifference, Alice leaned back in her chair, adjusted her glasses, refracting the light in the room as she moistened her lips, then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at her intently.

"Yes, how can I help you?"

She said modestly, putting the rest of her things in her tiny handbag. Others went into her briefcase. Even with a visitor like this, she wasn't going to put things aside. Also, she put some papers away in her desk drawers. Others were pushed into the box next to her labelled Things I won't deal with today.

She already knew that nothing good could come of it if a Morgan entered in that manner, let alone if she spoke to her like that. So, if she can prepare for the worst or simply nip the problem in the bud, or delegate it to someone else, she will do so to get out of it without getting her hands dirty.

[Afterhoursclub]

Like a wild animal, Ashley set her eyes on her soon-to-be prey, the one unfortunate soul who had the bad luck of finding herself in the redhead's path during one of her angered rampages. Gritting her teeth, Ashley began marching toward the girl with glasses, sitting on a desk a few meters ahead. Halfway through, Ashley tried to calm herself, repeating in her mind the same words from before, "This is clearly a mistake... no need to kill anyone...

-yet..."

She took a deep breath and attempted to remain as civilized as she could. The last thing she needed was another incident backstage. Her monthly check had already suffered the results of her previous “arguments” with work colleagues. So, brute forcing her way into getting what she wanted should preferably not be her first option going into this.

Reaching the desk, Ashley spoke with as much clarity and composure as a caged wildcat. "Yes... I certainly HOPE that you can help me..." Placing both hands on the wood cover and leaning right in front of the girl's face, Ashley continued: "I was promised a spot on the next Pay Per View event."

"The promoters told me that, the bookers told me the same.. Yet my name cannot be seen in any of the matches for the upcoming card." Ashley was getting mad once again just by recalling the issue. The seemingly uninterested attitude of her new acquaintance was not helping to smooth things out either.

"Instead, some other unknown girl is taking what was supposed to be my spot!" She poked her index finger on the desk to accentuate her words, her long crimson nail producing a loud "clacking" noise that echoed in the empty office every time. "And that girl doesn't seem to even be in the LAW roster!" What little calm Ashley had gathered before starting the conversation had been completely lost; the redhead was back where she started.

"So, YOU..." now poking the secretary girl with her finger "are going to tell me that this is a mistake!"

"And, YOU... are going to fix said mistake!"

[Hagen-Autem]

Alice listened attentively. Every relevant document had already been shoved away, and the last inconvenience she had to deal with came on two legs, seeing red and on the verge of salivating with frustration. The brunette was already an expert at dealing with situations like this, of course. She just had to stand her ground until death, not make any defiant moves, not interrupt the other person, and not irritate her with any micro-gestures that could be considered rude.

Doing nothing that might offend the aggrieved party was simple; even the most inexperienced member of her team could do it. However, when Ashley mentioned the madness of throwing an unknown girl in as a surprise for the PPV viewers, and as a prize for the wrestler involved in that match, a crooked smile appeared on her lips.

She snapped out of it, bit her lip, and looked away towards the desk, breaking eye contact for a good while.

"Y-Yes, that was crazy. A good idea, actually."

She defended itself, adjusting her glasses, about to overcome her hesitation and resume eye contact, but Ashley's finger fell on her desk and tapped so hard that her nail resonated like a clenched fist into the wood. Exasperating the manager.

With every word Ashley said before and after, the frustration was no longer hers alone, but also that of those watching her, and just as her finger challenged the hardness of the wood, she pushed it against the centre of the young lady's chest, making her point clear.

Each ‘You’ from the wrestler was a signal, a trigger for Alice to take it seriously, a mark that made the brunette frown more and more, and that touch of her finger was the final straw.

I'm sorry, your problem is with The Board, not with the faction managers."

With an elegant backhand, she removed that finger from herself, then leaned towards the redhead's face, the desk resonating as she stood up forcefully with both hands. Her chair slid until it hit the wall, and she just adjusted her glasses in front of her twin Morgan, as she picked up the dossier. Her dossier.

The Event Managers will be back next week. Go and find them next Monday. Good luck with your problem."

She was about to leave the office, turning her back on this dilemma that was none of her concern.

[Afterhoursclub]

"A good idea?..

A good...fucking... idea?!"

Ashley's eyes twitched as she replayed the brunette's words in her mind. "Taking her name from the card to include another random -nobody- was a good idea to this woman's eyes?!" Now, Ashley was convinced that the glasses on her face were just for show, finding her lack of judgment just as notorious as her lack of interest in solving her problem, dismissing her issue as "someone else's" to fix.

The brunette stood up, facing Ashley and giving the redhead some sorry excuse to be rid of her as soon as she could. Her hand was shoved away by the secretary girl. This last gesture aggravated Ashley more than it should have; however, at this point, even a mosquito bite would have made Ashley explode in anger.

"Listen to me...

Now, you listen to me..." the redhead shot back at the girl.

"I don't care about any Board or any damn faction!" gritting her teeth the whole time. Sporting a gaze so heavy it could shatter glass. "I care about results! So you are going to take your administrative ass back, and you are going to do your job until I see some of those!" Ashley circled the desk, cutting off the way for Alice, who was seemingly about ot leave for the day. The redhead grabbed the desk phone and shoved it into the secretary's chest. "And you will call whoever the fuck you need to call to fix this!"

[Hagen-Autem]

Alice sighed, pressing her lips together. She placed two fingers on Ashley's hand.

"I'm sorry, girl."

She understood the outrage. But she pushed the phone away from her chest.

"...But there's nothing I can do."

Unfortunately, that was the way it was. Her team wasn't to blame—they were only asked about how their club operated and how they kept things running. The idea of putting a no-name wrestler in so that the well-known wrestler would get even more attention had nothing to do with them; however, if they admit that it's something they themselves would do, and perhaps that led to this situation, but they would never do it at the expense of their own girls, and they made that clear to the Event Managers.

So, if anything harmed or harms Morgan, it is the fault of her manager, not the faction that was asked for its opinion, nor would it even be their responsibility for accepting the task of finding a woman willing to participate in that ‘squash’. But Alice was not saying any of this; she was just repeating it to herself mentally to ease her conscience. This really wasn't her fault, even though she wanted to help Ashley.

It would be wiser not to get involved with a woman who had nothing to do with them...

She hesitated for a moment, holding her dossier tightly in one hand before placing it between them to mark the distance and surround Morgan with security, ready to leave her in this office, alone, to process her dilemma and find a more efficient and less inconvenient solution for the rest. After all, the best she could do for her was to give her information to fix things. Although she herself knows that it will lead to nothing now that the decision has been made...

[Afterhoursclub]

For a brief moment, Ashley stood still...with a thousand-yard look on her face.

Her hand, still holding the phone, was pushed aside by Alice, who seemed to look uninterested in doing anything to help her...

No! It was more than that! She seemed uninterested in Ashley in a general sense, trying to be rid of her and firing excuses at each one of her inquiries. Not even reacting to her provocations. It was like talking to a wall- A wall that seemed to have an answer for everything, none of which favored the redhead in the least. This was a new feeling for her... And she would soon discover that this new feeling brought her as much anger as any other...

The moment Alice walked by her side, apparently ready to leave the office, leaving Ashley alone in the darkness, something snapped inside the redhead.

"Yeah... screw this month's paycheck too, I can survive eating noodle soup"

The Brit turned abruptly and quickly grabbed the secretary girl by her waist. Ashley seized one of Alice's arms and placed it behind her head, then, using all of her back muscles, she lifted Alice in the air and dropped her backward, slamming the brunette girl right on top of the desk with a hefty backdrop suplex. The impact echoed throughout the empty office, sending papers and pens flying.

After taking a mere few moments to recover from the maneuver, Ashley would brush her hands and look down at the stunned secretary.

"Sorry, there was nothing I could do!" She would fire at the downed girl in the most sarcastic tone she could muster.

[Hagen-Autem]

Alice had no qualms about leaving someone of the Morgans behind. No matter how dangerous she might be, showing fear would be to prove her right, and she herself had only been genuine and frank. That was the best sign of respect she could give. However, Alice was stopped in her tracks when someone hugged her from behind, pulling her away from the floor. Instinctively, she kicked, struggling to break free. She even dropped her dossier and tried to find the lock on the grip, but whoever it was had already taken the initiative: they spun Alice around like a wheel to carry her backwards, where the top of the secretary's back would meet her own desk in an impact that the furniture could not withstand.

The plastic desk bent under the woman's weight, bringing her to the floor. The objets scattered and papers floated scattered in the air as the elegant British woman bent over her shoulders, curving her back like a spring, looking at the office ceiling between her legs.

"Ugh..."

She groaned, numb. The ceiling lights hit her dazed face, blinded her a little as crossed between her open legs. They. Her glasses were crooked after that suplex, her knees fell on her own chest, a sigh escaped her lips. Gravity immediately unwrapped her body, spreading her out on her back.

One of her arms tried to lift itself, but collapsed onto half of her desk. She wasn't prepared, so it hurt much more than usual. Although her attacker's words, full of satisfaction, gave her an idea of why they did this to her, and now the woman on the floor was no longer so numb.

Ashley turned her back on her, vindicated now that she had given her a taste of her own medicine, finishing her off with the same phrase the secretary had used. Unaware of how the secretary herself was slowly rising behind her.

Her glasses fell to the floor.

Ashley was perhaps heading for the exit, but the secretary grabbed her by the shoulder, squeezing her collarbone hard before turning her abruptly to face her, to deliver a knee to her groin!

The young lady's skirt would tear, but she didn't even notice, she just wanted to even the score! So then, the young lady grabbed her by the head, wrapped her arms around Ashley's neck, holding her in a headlock to deliver a second knee strike. If this worked, the blow would go straight to her stomach. However, she was so vengeful that the blow could have knocked the famous wrestler's legs off the floor with a rebound, and she didn't care if this ignited Morgan's fire—Alice followed up with a third knee strike before teaching her how things are done in the United Kingdom: she would put Morgan's head between her legs, hug her back and lift her with a somersault to sit her on her shoulders! Then she would walk to the left, approaching a colleague's desk, and there she threw Ashley's back to complete a powerbomb!

If this worked, Alice would go to pick up her dossier and head for the door, but glancing sideways, she would assess what she had to do: she would lock the door, leave her dossier to one side, along with her heels, and begin to take off her jacket to reveal a black strappy top. She would keep her torn skirt on, simply because she didn't care what happened to it from then on. If Ashley was already standing, she had only one thing to say to her.

"You chose this path. Don't complain about what's going to happen to you. Or about the damage I'm going to send you the bill for later."

[Afterhoursclub]

The visual of Alice surrounded by debris brought a feeling of satisfaction to Ashley; it might do nothing to solve her current problem... but it definitely felt good! Slamming the secretary girl onto the desk, watching all those papers, pens, and other office equipment fly into the air. Yeah... a good job indeed. "Try keeping that long face up now, bitch!" Ashley thought, dusting herself off and preparing to head to the door.

Her intention in coming here tonight wasn't to fight anyone; she was looking for answers, but sometimes, trouble seemed to follow her wherever she went. And the Red Menace wasn't one to sit idly by. Especially not when the person with the power to help her showed little interest in doing so.

Ashley glanced sideways at the slumped figure and finally headed for the exit. Management would surely send her another memo, but to hell with it! It wasn't the first time, and the redhead doubted it would be the last. She let out a long sigh. Almost at the door, when suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder with a strong grip, hard enough to make her flinch a little.

He clenched her teeth and turned her head to the side, and an expression of surprise formed on her face the moment her eyes met the figure of Alice standing just behind her.

"What? How?" Ashley was confused; she was convinced it would take at least half an hour, or so, for this girl to even come back to the living world, let alone stand back on two feet. However, Ashley had no chance to analyze the situation, a hard knee hit her right in between her legs.

"Ughh!" An instantaneous shock of pain shot right through her whole body. Ashley peeled her eyes, and her mouth opened up in a silent scream. Both hands went directly to the impacted zone, as she hunched over, trying to keep herself from falling. Then, an arm coiled around her neck, squeezing her head tightly against the torso of her attacker.

"Graahh!" she grunted, but soon... another knee hit, straight onto her gut. A burst of spit and air escaped her mouth, her cheeks puffed and Ashley felt the world around her suddenly blur. A third knee on the same spot left her winded, her arms hanging at her sides. Drawing short breaths, only Alice's grip kept her from crashing to the floor.

"Guh... fuck..." she had lost control, underestimating her foe, and now that mistake was coming back to bite her, but how the well did a mere secretary packed such a punch. Ashley's surprise only grew when said secretary hoisted her high up in the air, carrying her in a powerbomb position. She was still feeling too weak to counterattack. Ashley could only watch as the office suddenly shifted in front of her eyes; she was abruptly dropped onto another desk.

-CRASH!- a hard impact that sent ripples through the air. Ashley lay a mess on the floor, both halves of the desk at her sides, covered in paperclips and sticky notes. Both hands on her head, trying to stop the world from spinning in front of her eyes. When her vision finally focused properly, she saw Alice's figure standing in front of her, locking the door and looking right at her.

Everything turned red for the Brit... her blood boiling in just a second... she struggled to get back on her feet, slowly... keeping her eyes fixed on Alice..., one hand on her aching back.

"You... fucking, disrespectful... insufferable... Bitch!" Each word carried the weight of her rage.

"I... am going... to end you!" pushing the rubble of the desk violently to the side. Ashley would grab a piece of the broken desk and throw it in Alice's direction with tremendous force.

[Hagen-Autem]

Alice's first instinct was to stand to attention as soon as she saw Morgan the viper stand up. There was no turning back now. She would teach this woman not to involve others in her problems for good!

She dodged the flying piece of desk, which crashed into the door instead of her, denting it slightly and smashing the rectangular window, but the pub faction secretary didn't care. She was determined that Ashley would pay for all the damage in this section, even if it cost the fighter three months' wages! The brunette grabbed a plant pot next to her, spun on her feet and threw it at Ashley as she ran towards her. She didn't know if her projectile would reach her, but it didn't matter; she just threw it to even the odds.

The Brit jumped when she was close enough, hoping to hit her in the abdomen with her shoulder and ram her into a filing cabinet behind her, where she could repeat the shoulder thrust until the poor piece of furniture was bent around the back of this bad-tempered punk wrestler.