Promises In Crinoline

"Come on, dear boy, one more time." William dropped to a crouch, gesturing
at the young man to come towards him.

"But I'm hungry."

"Eugene, you have a world title match coming out. I just want you to be
prepared."

"I want ice cream." Eugene beamed.

William sighed and leaned against the ring post. "Not right now, Eugene.
You need to practice. I want you prepared for your match against Benoit."

"Benoit, January 2nd, Yuki Funaki." Eugene nodded, and grinned.

"Yes, that's right. Now come over here."

"I want ice cream."

"Eugene," William said, but his voice was dwarfed by Eric Bischoff's. Both
turned to face the Raw GM as he entered the gym. "William," he said. "I
think that's enough for the time being."

"Due respect, Mr. Bischoff."

"I'm going to have lunch with my nephew." He turned to the younger man.
"You still like peanut butter and jam right, Eugene?"

He nodded eagerly, clapping. "Strawberry?"

"Of course." Eric smiled a little and it was somewhat sad. "Come on.
We'll have lunch and then you can get back to training." He looked back to
Regal. "We should be back in half an hour."

Eugene looked over at William, who nodded. Grinning, Eugene stepped out of
the ring and walked out with his uncle; Regal noted they were heading back
to the General Manager's office. Glancing around the empty ring, William
sighed and climbed out as well. He draped a towel across his shoulders and
headed out, dabbing his brow, wondering where Molly was.


Eric sat in his desk, his own sandwich discarded after a few bites. He knew
he should have been doing paperwork, talking on the phone, eating, doing
anything except just sitting here. He had a hundred things he could have
been doing. But he had no motivation for any of them and he couldn't figure
out why. It was a mystery and he'd always liked mysteries.

Until he finally realized what was bothering him. Eugene kept his napkin
wrapped around his sandwich.

Just like his sister used to.

He cleared his throat and looked down at one of his closed files, reaching
for it. He might as well be doing something productive if he wasn't going
to be eating. But after a few moments, his hand dropped back down to the
armrest. Eric sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Not hungry, Uncle Eric?"

"No, no I guess not, Eugene."

Eugene unhesitatingly offered the uneaten part of his sandwich. Eric shook
his head politely. "Go ahead. You need it more than me, since you're
training for your big match. I bet you're excited." He tried, he really
tried to sound excited instead of tired. But it didn't really work.

The boy nodded eagerly, taking a huge bite out of his sandwich. "Uh huh!"
When he swallowed, he was quiet again, cocking his head a little. "Lunch is
important." He said as if reciting something he'd been told to memorize.
"Mom said."

Eric did his best not to wince. Still, he shrugged. "All right, all
right." Nitro had left a bowl of pretzels on the desk. Bischoff grabbed a
couple in his hand, popping them into his mouth. He was startled when
Eugene clapped. "What?"

"Nice shot. Reeked of awesome."

In spite of himself, Eric felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"It did, huh?" He reached for a few more, tossing two this time, getting
them both in, the smile finally breaking out at Eugene's excited clapping.
He tossed the next pretzel higher this time, catching it between his teeth.

Eugene was watching raptly, as if transfixed by the most remarkable of magic
tricks.

Neither of them noticed Molly Holly standing in the door, hand poised to
knock. She let her hand fall back, then headed away from the office, unable
to contain a little smile of her own.



Go On