Booking Glory-Chapter 117: Mr. Gibson’s Counterplan

"So, what are the initial feedbacks?" Mr. Gibson asked Mr. Wolfe while smoking his cigar.

"It is as we feared. Someone has instigated them to ask for exorbitant prices," Mr. Wolfe said grimly.

"All of them?" Mr. Gibson asked with his eyes narrowing.

"No, the women were straight forward. Diana and Marie had only one request and it wasn’t something hard. So, I promised. They will come in tomorrow to negotiate the amount and sign the contracts. Diana is open for multiple years, but Marie wants to see if things work out, so she will sign for a year first," Mr. Wolfe said a bit happily.

"What request?" Mr. Gibson asked curiously.

"They asked that Rob be the booker of the women’s division. After our discussion earlier, it was already fixed. So, I just promised them," Mr. Wolfe smirked.

"Good, at least that bit of headache is over with," Mr. Gibson sighed. "What about the men?"

"Mark was quite open. He didn’t want to sign a new contract. However, he told he will serve the current contract till the end and only then he would leave," Mr. Wolfe said in a resigned tone.

"At least he has some conscience," Mr. Gibson muttered softly. "Others?"

"Rictor might come around. He really wants a title run. I maybe able to talk him down a bit and convince him. Winning a championship would elevate his status in the circle as well, so there is hope in convincing him," Mr. Wolfe said after thinking for a bit.

"As for others, they all are asking high prices. Especially Luke, he has a lot of demands. From merchandise to card positioning, he is demanding a lot."

"Then, negotiate with them slowly. But, don’t commit. Let them think they are winning for a while, we will cut them loose later," Mr. Gibson said in a grim tone.

"Wouldn’t letting them all go affect our main event scene?" Mr. Wolfe asked hesitantly.

"Rather than rising this bunch of white eyed wolves, lets fish for some good prospect in the upcoming chaos," Mr. Gibson smirked.

"I don’t understand."

"Ha, Desmond, the next two months are going to be chaotic. Do you think Steven would be able to digest the entirety of all three promotions that Wagner has bought?" Mr. Gibson sneered.

"They will release some low level talents and mid level talents to make space for their incoming stars on the roster. We can see if we can get some bargain when that happens. Even in AWF not everyone liked Steven."

"Then I will keep an eye out," Mr. Wolfe nodded understanding Mr. Gibson’s thoughts.

"As for the main event scene being empty, that is not a worry. We don’t have to worry about TV ratings anymore. We can promote some guys up and cultivate our own stars slowly. We made the mistake of abandoning that approach six months after Robin joined."

"We might have to pinch our bellies for some time then," Mr. Wolfe sighed.

"Don’t worry, if things turn truly dire, we can give the main event to the women. The way that kid books will surely keep things entertaining. We can mix that in occasionally to keep things interesting," Mr. Gibson waved away Mr. Wolfe’s worries.

"About Robin..."

"I will be firing him for leaking sensitive information," Mr. Gibson said resolutely. "If he thinks he can walk away after putting us in a dire place, then he has another thing coming. I’m going to smear his reputation in this circle."

"Are you sure? I’m all for firing him. But, maybe we should keep things between closed doors. Also, as much as I hate to say this, this needs to be said as well. If he is really one of Steven’s men, then we will be tearing faces with Steven if we make this ugly," Mr. Wolfe cautioned.

"Hah, Steven, that old bastard, no wonder he was able to remain in that cesspit for this long," Mr. Gibson grumbled. "He is almost as bad as some of the bastards in AWF. I fucking hate all this conspiracy shit!"

"Still, you don’t need to worry. Does Steven dare to tear his face with us for Robin?" Mr. Gibson chuckled. "There are some things that can be done, but you can’t take credit. Just like how we can’t grab Steven by the collar and ask for an explanation, Steven can’t make a fuss either."

"But Steven will retaliate in other ways," Mr. Wolfe pointed out.

"Does he have time to bother with us? Right now, he is the target of the entire industry. He has his hands full. So, he can only take this punch silently."

"But, once he stabilizes, he will surely take action," Mr. Wolfe sighed. "Maybe we should deal with Robin in a low profile manner."

"That bastard has been stringing us along for all this time. Two and a half years, Desmond! Two and a half bloody years! I want his credibility questioned. I want everyone to know he is a snake that can’t be trusted. I’m not budging on this."

"Alright, but who is going to replace him?" Mr. Wolfe asked, nodding.

"I will take over for some time," Mr. Gibson grunted. "We can hire someone to take care of external affairs. I will book the men’s division for some time. We will see after that."

"What about the next PPV? Are we still going with the original plan?" Mr. Wolfe asked worriedly.

"The arena is already booked. We have also started advertising. We can’t back out now," Mr. Gibson said, gritting his teeth. "Anyway, the wrestlers are contracted till December end. And PPV is in the middle of December. Let’s try to make it a big one. We can make some big bucks and remain dormant for a while as we rebuild."

"That’s a risky gamble Andy. Are you sure about this?"

"What else can we do? We will lose the Breeze deal soon. It will hit our revenue badly. This is the last chance we have to make some big bucks for a while," Mr. Gibson shrugged.

"We will make the main event a Triple Threat street fight match. We can add Rictor to the match along with Mark and Marshall. If Rictor renews the contract with us, then we can put the belt on him. That way Mark’s side can be taken care of as well."

"Then, I will try to close the deal with Rictor as soon as possible. What if he doesn’t sign until the PPV?" Mr. Wolfe asked.

"Then Mark goes over," Mr. Gibson said grimly. "We will take the title away from him in the final show of the year."

*****

Rob reached LWC early the next morning.

After checking up on the Excel development in the afternoon at Brent’s office, Rob spent the rest of the day hanging out with Brent. Rob also threw a small party to Brent and his friends in the night as a reward for their tireless work.

After completing the creation of two software packages, Brent’s mind was quite matured. He no longer chased wild fancies and was more focused on creating practical stuff.

During the party, Brent revealed to Ron that he was waiting for the sales of the software packages to come in before truly celebrating his success. It was clear that Brent was not yet fully assured with the commercial success of his software products.

That was the reason he hurriedly finished the Excel software package. He wanted to use the launch party of Word software to unveil the next product of his company. This way, he would build momentum for Excel as well.

Rob assured him of the two software’s commercial success and told him to start brainstorming ideas. He asked Brent to talk to business people and see what their needs were in an office setting. Brent agreed to this proposition and assured him that he wouldn’t rest on his success.

Arriving at LWC, Rob found that the buzz from yesterday’s revelations was still present. Luckily, Mr. Gibson had made a statement yesterday evening addressing the contract situations of the wrestlers and refused to comment further. The satisfied reporters have left the area for now, so there was no trouble for Rob when he came in.

Inside LWC, things were a bit different.

Everyone knew that most top stars in the company were having their contract due dates coming soon. They didn’t know whether the company would be able to retain them. So, there was a high degree of nervousness present.

Mr. Gibson’s remarks might have pacified the reporters, but those who worked in LWC knew the situation better. They were all waiting for the updates to see if LWC would tide through the difficulties.

Lingering in the hallways, Rob also heard some vague mutters about big changes upcoming in LWC. Robin’s name was being cursed frequently in the hallways as well. Rob felt optimistic about his future from these discussions.

Rob didn’t head to his office directly. He made his way to Mr. Gibson’s office and entered after knocking.

Mr. Gibson sat covered in a haze of smoke. It was clear that the old man was smoking nonstop to relieve the stress he felt. His face looked haggard, but there was a glint of determination in his eyes.

"Rob, take the seat," Mr. Gibson gestured. "We need to have some serious discussion."

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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