Booking Glory-Chapter 114: Troubles At The Doorstep 3

"Is there no way for LWC to survive?" Dacey asked anxiously.

Rob thought for a while and shook his head. Rob knew that if LWC reacted quickly and prepared itself early there was a chance for survival.

But for that, they need to recognize that the Breeze deal wasn’t going to come through. If they realized that, they can make preparations to cut off unwanted baggages and keep the core intact.

LWC needs to reduce expenses, cut off losses and restrain itself to being relegated to low tier promotion status once more. That way, AWF wouldn’t pay too much attention to them and they can slip through cracks.

Rob knew that AWF and Steven are only part of the equation. There are three other top tier promotions out there who wouldn’t want another top tier promotion to rise. Once they start to move, things will become complicated as well.

In that chaos, LWC can find a way to survive.

However, with Mr.Gibson’s eyes now firmly fixed on securing the Breeze deal, he wouldn’t entertain such thoughts. He would try to get the top draws to stay and finish the extreme PPV successfully, in the hopes of getting the Breeze deal.

That would be like a slippery slope. More expenditures, but the promised reward will be absent. From then on, it will be hard for LWC to make ends meet.

"It will be tough," Rob said after a while. "But, if right measures are taken, LWC will become a low tier promotion but survive, provided that no other issues occur in the next few weeks."

"What measures?"

"Simple, once Mr. Gibson realizes that no matter what he does, Breeze is not going to renew their deal, he will be able to take appropriate measures to save the company. However, I don’t think he will realize it before it is too late. He really wants this deal. Sometimes, our desires can blind us to reality."

"Oh!"

"Think about it, Dacey. Do you think Mr. Gibson can outquote AWF when it comes to contracts? No, he can’t. But, he will try desperately to keep his top draws stay. So, he will offer exorbitant amount of money to keep the wrestler from walking away, all in the hopes that Breeze deal will help things later."

"But, the Breeze deal will not come. Now, he has a bunch of wrestlers who are getting paid a lot more than they are actually worth. These wrestlers will not be able to draw enough crowd to do justice to their contracts. So, it will become a loss making deal. Week by week this losses will keep piling up and in the end the company will go bankrupt."

"That’s..."

"So basic? It is basic stuff we ignore when we are in a hurry. Right now, Mr. Gibson will be in a hurry to renew the contracts with these wrestlers. So, he will not think about the what ifs. That is where the danger is. I can see it because I am outside. But he is inside the circle..."

Just then, Dacey’s phone began to ring interrupting Rob’s monologue. Rob paused and looked over.

"It is Andy. I don’t know why he is calling me at this time," Dacey spoke in confusion.

"Well, talk to him. We have nothing to hide," Rob shrugged and relaxed back in his chair.

"I will take the call outside," Dacey smiled and walked outside to attend the call.

Once Dacey left, Rob turned to look at the reports. His eyes flickered with unknown thoughts. For a moment, there was a sharp look in his eyes when he looked at Steven Rush’s picture. Then it passed as if it was never there.

Dacey came in after a few minutes with a worried look on his face.

"Andy sounds anxious," Dacey said with a small frown. "He wants to meet me in his office. He asked me to come in as soon as possible."

"Did he ask about me?" Rob asked curiously.

"He did," Dacey replied frankly. "I told him we are together and you are laying low to avoid the spotlight."

"Hmmm, do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I will drop by and see what he wants. You better remain indoors until all this hubbub passes. I will also urge Andy to deal with things quickly, so that you can step out without being hounded by the reporters."

"Fine then, come back for lunch. I will cook something for you," Rob replied with a smile.

"Hah, I will."

Rob watched Dacey leave with a small smile. He knew that Dacey would most likely inform Mr. Gibson of his analysis of the situation. Her loyalty to LWC and Mr. Gibson would compel her to speak.

It was clear from her reaction that Dacey wanted LWC to survive. So, she would indeed warn Mr. Gibson of the pitfalls involved.

Rob didn’t mind it.

Mr. Gibson had given him a platform to try out his ideas. Rob was grateful for the opportunity. If possible, he would call Mr. Gibson himself to inform these things. But, their relationship was not what it used to be these days. So, he can consider Dacey to be his messenger.

But, the big question was whether Mr. Gibson would listen to it. Rob hoped that this warning was timely. Because, if LWC went under, it would be hard for him as well.

He didn’t want to join Steven. And AWF would never welcome him. Even if Roger and Steven were out, Gary Osmon, the man who nitpicked Rob’s attire during his first interview, would be the one in-charge. That place wasn’t ideal for him. That meant, he wouldn’t get many opportunities to shine there.

It was not just in AWF, most other promotions would not give him opportunities to shine. And his desired booking position will not be available everywhere he goes as well.

So, leaving LWC was not an option for him. Granted, he wasn’t in dire need of cash now like he was initially. So, he wasn’t entirely dependent on LWC either.

But, it would still be better for him if LWC remained standing. Without LWC, his booking career will be in jeopardy. Then, it would really be hard for him to realize his dreams. If that happened...

"If the worst possibility arises, then I will buy LWC from Mr. Gibson and run it myself. I’m a freaking millionaire after all. But, being a owner of a wrestling promotion is not a small thing. I still need more experience. Unless forced, I will not take that step," Rob gritted his teeth and muttered.

After saying that thought aloud, Rob felt a big weight lift off his shoulders. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and rested for a bit. He felt drained out after thinking about stuff ever since Dacey came in.

Resting for bit, Rob opened his eyes and focused his thoughts on the one man who had outplayed everyone in this game so far.

Steven Rush’s pot-bellied figure smiled amicably out at him from the newspaper. Steven was the true epitome of the quote appearances can be deceiving.

Who would have thought this smiling, pot-bellied man had so much tricks up his sleeve?

This was the man who brought him into this industry. It was his recommendation that offered him a chance. And the same man was the one poised to destroy his booking career before it could bloom.

Rob shook his head to clear away such messy thoughts. Steven did him a favor. He would one day return it. Apart from that, they had no intersection. That’s how Rob saw things.

Still, he had to admit that Steven Rush’s series of operations had impressed him a lot. This man was truly dangerous. If his enemies underestimated him even a bit, he would give them a killer blow.

Rob was sure that Steven wasn’t done with AWF. To a man like Steven, being booted out of AWF will be a sore pill to swallow. The bombs he left in AWF’s backyard are truly going to be lethal.

Suddenly, Rob’s eyes shrank. He sat up straight and stared at Steven Rush’s smiling face. He felt as if he had overlooked something.

Rob’s gaze roved over the article about Steven’s departure from AWF and quickly diacarded it. His eyes roved over the article about Willy Wagner’s entry into pro wrestling world. But, he didn’t find anything different in this read around either.

Still, that vague tickle in his mind persisted.

Finally, his eyes fell on the article about LWC’s trouble with contracts. Still, nothing clicked in his mind. But that sense of missing something crucial persisted even stronger when his eyes landed on this article.

"What is it? What am I overlooking? Something about this article is important. I just don’t know what it is," Rob mumbled to himself and looked at the article in a daze.

Several scanthroughs yielded nothing. Rob threw the paper away angrily. After it landed on the ground, he looked at it sullenly. The entire article fell in his eyes along with the bold title.

Rob’s eyes shrank. Several thoughts flashed through his mind. The dots connected. His memories confirmed his conjecture. And everything became clear.

"Robin..."

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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