Kehlani Garcia, aka "The Jobber"

“Kehlani, please, Kehlani.”

Kehlani let out a sigh, pulling the walkie off of her belt.

“Go for Kehlani.”

“Go to three.”

Kehlani rolls her eyes. It’s barely been three hours into her eight-hour shift, yet she’s already wanting to go back home and crash. Instead, two clicks on the walkie sound off, as Kehlani begrudgingly complies once more.

“On three.” Kehlani meekly responds, silently trudging her empty cart back to the backrooms of the store.

“Hey, we need you to pick at least two standards before you take your meal, okay?” Her manager calls out, causing Kehlani to groan internally.

Returning to the backrooms, Kehlani abandons her cart by the entrance, knowing someone else is going to take it for themselves by the time she’s done with this new task of hers.

“Sure thing.” Kehlani responds, using her best customer service tone, before clicking back over to channel one, and groaning externally.

Kehlani was sick of this. Working retail, being on-call whenever needed, being dragged around so many different departments because this was somehow the one store of its kind in the state where corporate couldn’t hire enough people to keep things running smoothly. It was exhausting. “But what other choice do I really have?” She was already pushing thirty, and it isn’t as if opportunities would suddenly be falling from the sky, raining on Kehlani to make her life magically improve.

Briskly walking towards the packing station, Kehlani can only imagine how different things would’ve been had her training gone just a bit differently. If she was more physically gifted, or just a little bit taller, maybe then her trainer wouldn’t have told her that she was simply too small to make it in the business.

“Then again, it’s not like I was the only one who got cut off like that…” Kehlani sighs once more, reminding herself again of all the drama that surrounded that class of hers in general, what with how many people wound up dropping out, over time. It wasn’t entirely surprising, save for a select few. But it was definitely disappointing when it finally came to be her turn. She was one of the last few to go, and she still vividly remembers how disappointed both she and her parents were at how she received such an off-handed dismissal from her trainer. Her parents even threatened legal action against the school, but in the end, it was Kehlani who ended up talking them down, as she decided to keep moving forward, rather than trying to change her own future for the worse.

“That’s how it’s always been, though. Meek, adorable little Kehlani, doing exactly as she’s told, letting opportunities slip by because other people want it more badly than I do.” Kehlani mentally complains, her hands balling up into fists made of deep sepia. The rest of her body shakes as she feels herself getting worked up. Kehlani tries taking deep breaths, only to look around, checking for anyone in the nearby vicinity. After finding nobody there, Kehlani finally lets loose.

“I’m just so freaking tired of this!” Kehlani calls out, before instantly clasping a hand over her mouth, looking around once more to make sure nobody had heard her. Luckily for her, the backrooms of the store seem to be surprisingly empty, and so she continues along the same path she always takes, silently complaining to herself all the while.

“If I could just go back in time, and tell myself not to give up on that dream… Would things have turned out to be any better for me? Would anything have gone differently?” Kehlani asks herself, lifting her head up to see the packing station which awaits. “I mean, it’s not like he was wrong. I… Am a bit small, compared to most of the people that make it onto TV. And, not to mention they’re all so much prettier, too…”

Kehlani stops for a brief moment, staring at her reflection in one of the full-body mirrors laid up against the shelving, having not been put away yet for one reason or another. Letting her dark brown eyes wander over her uniform-clad figure, she pouts at the figure, or lack thereof, on display. While not exactly ‘childish’, there’s certainly a lot left to be desired in her own mind. The lack of curves on either end sees Kehlani’s pout deepen, before a red-violet blush comes over her warm sepia skin.

Shaking off her bout with insecurity, Kehlani makes it to the packing station, only to find that most of the carts that are used for the department have either already been filled with orders to be packed, or have been taken by others, leaving her with the ones that nobody - herself included - ever want to be stuck working with. It’s the ones that are missing the dividers, or have barcodes that are so worn down it makes them nearly impossible to scan, or have wheels that are on the verge of falling off completely, but aren’t too broken to be fully replaced. But it’s not just that, though; They’re also the carts that she’s always left using, no matter how annoying it is for her to deal with.

“Ughhhhhhh, just my freaking luck…” Kehlani whines once more, still feeling too shy from her earlier outburst to try something like that out loud. “Can nothing go right for me? Like… Ever? God, sometimes, it feels like I’d almost be better off just… Vanishing, or something! At least then, people might notice I’m gone, or something.”

As she goes to brush a stray brown hair out from her eyes, Kehlani chuckles humorlessly. “Yeah, right. As if people would actually remember me for more than just a call on this dumb walkie.” With her own inner rambling/vent session complete, Kehlani huffs, and starts setting up the first of two standards that have been thrust upon her.

Right as she goes to leave, however, a sudden wave of nausea crashes through her entire body, almost knocking her down right then and there. Kehlani’s body sways, and she stumbles forward, letting go of her cart in the process. Dropping to her knees, she tries to gather her bearings, but finds that the world is spinning too much for her to even be able to look straight ahead.

Attempting to rise to her feet, Kehlani groans, before she falls once more, the nausea intensifying. Shutting her eyes, she tries to reach down for her walkie, looking to at least call in her sickness to avoid getting punished for this sudden bout of illness. Unfortunately, she doesn’t get the chance, as the world goes dark, and the strength is sapped away from her.

Vanishing without a trace, Kehlani’s cart rolls to a stop, colliding into one of the bay doors in order to halt its barely-there momentum. On the floor where Kehlani once was, her walkie and PDA system remain untouched, not even a call being sent her way. Elsewhere in the store, the manager silently hoped Kehlani was enjoying her vacation time, limited as it might be…

“...She is another former classmate of Christian Wheeler, and a fellow dropout as well, Miss Kehlani Garcia!”

In comparison to Willow before her, Kehlani’s walk onto the stage is a lot more coherent, if a bit abrupt. However, once she is able to take in everything that surrounds her, the look of wonder in her eyes is not lost upon those in the ring. It becomes especially apparent once the compulsion kicks in.

With her bodily autonomy briefly stripped away, Kehlani can only look around in a mixture of shock and awe. The lack of any theme music, in comparison to the other contestants, only serves to heighten this response even more. So too does the more muted reaction from the 'fans', and her jogging pace down to the ring.

As Kehlani makes it into the ring, stepping under the middle rope to enter, her ability to move around freely returns, yet upon entering the ring, all that she’s able to do is stare in disbelief. Her eyes fill with wonder and amazement, as she spends the next couple of moments simply gazing at her surroundings with a dream-like expression. Her eyes sparkle as she comes to terms with where she’s currently standing, but it doesn’t seem to sink in just how real this is until Serenity steps towards her.

“Hello? Yoo hoo, Earth to Kehlani?” Serenity calls out gently, jolting her from her reverie.

“Oh! Uh, h-hi…” Kehlani waves awkwardly at the host, still coming down from the overwhelming sense of wonder. “W-Where am I?”

“Miss Kehlani, you, my dear, are on Harem Hotel!” This time, the applause is in full ****, giving Kehlani pause, as the others simply accept having to hear the dreaded sound once more. “Kehlani, you are one rather lucky girl, you know that? I mean, to get a full on-camera entrance, in your position? Why, I had half a mind to not even introduce you, and just wait until the seventh person came in before revealing that you were already joining us here in the ring!”

With Serenity laughing at what is clearly meant to be a hilarious joke, Kehlani lets out a slightly **** chuckle. Her eyes wander to the others that are seated in the ring, and while she feels a vague sense of unfamiliarity with the rose-skinned girl in the dress, as her eyes reach the figure of the blonde, she breaks out into a smile, and races over towards her.

“Woah! What a minute, is that… You’re Penelope Serrano!” Kehlani gushes, throwing herself into a hug with the superstar among them. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, it’s such an honor to meet you! Oh my god, this is like, been such a huge dream of mine! I always wanted to meet you, ever since I first saw you on that developmental show you were part of! I mean, you’re not exactly my favorite or anything, but like, you’re still one of them! And to be able to share a ring with you, it’s-”

Penelope, smiling, pulls Kehlani away from her, patting her on the head like she would one of her younger fans. “Y-Yeah, it’s me. Haha, glad to meet you. Uh, could you maybe…?” Penelope squirms in Kehlani’s grip, causing her to realize what she’s done, and who she’s done it to.

“O-Oh! Oh, god I am so, so sorry, Miss Serrano!” Kehlani breaks the hug, and her face turns a deep shade of red-violet. “I-I didn’t mean to invade your personal space like that, I just-”

Penelope places a finger to Kehlani’s lips, cutting off her incoming ramble. “Hey, no worries. It’s quite alright, uh… Kehlani, was it?. It’s just, there’s been a lot to take in today. So… Y’know.”

Kehlani nods, and looks away, only to find herself experiencing a whole different sense of recognition entirely. “Wait… Willow? Is that you?!” Kehlani looks away, and finds herself facing another bout of recognition. “A-And Christian?! Oh my god, it’s been FOREVER! How have the two of you been?”

Before Kehlani’s able to launch into another ramble, Serenity summons another chair, and gently guides Kehlani into it, silencing her mind for just a brief moment, before letting her thoughts get themselves back in working order.

“Okay, so uhm… What’s going on here?” Kehlani finally asks.

“What’s going on, Kehlani? It’s just as I said - you’re on Harem Hotel! The show where you, these three fine, young ladies, and four other beauties will all battle it out for the sake of claiming a spot in Master Christian’s harem!”

Upon hearing the host’s explanation, Kehlani’s face bursts out in another blushing storm. “M-M-Master…?” She tries to respond to her own query, but fails to find the words, instead opting to bury her face deeply into her own hands.

“Hey, hey, it’s not all that bad, though.” Serenity offers, placing a hand on Kehlani’s shoulder - this time without any calming factor to it. “After all, those who win are also given a guaranteed roster spot in the promotion that Christian now also holds serfdom over.”

Kehlani’s breath hitches. She pulls her face out of her hands, and gives a hopeful glance towards the host. “You… Y-You’re serious? This isn’t a…A weird, r-really messed-up dream, or something like that?”

Serenity shakes her head. “Nope, this is the real deal, honey. You’ve got the chance of a lifetime! Get yourself a win, and your main event dreams will almost certainly come true!”

Kehlani takes a couple seconds, processing this information. She goes completely silent, her face still blushing as thoughts begin racing through her mind. The edges of her lips curl upwards, but nothing more is added. At least, not by her.

“Of course, it might be a bit difficult for you to be winning anything, given your role to play-”

“Huh? W-What?” Kehlani snaps out of her own mind, only to be ignored by Serenity once more.

“BUT, sometimes even a person like you can pick up a victory, Kehlani! Especially when you have someone, like our next contestant, helping you out at ringside.” Serenity continues on. “Whether they be the captain of a team, an all-powerful wiseman, or simply a conniving, scheming little weasel, these performers can be what make or break another wrestler’s career, either by carrying them to new heights they could have never reached on their own, or by showcasing exactly why some in-ring combatants just aren’t ready for the big time.”

Serenity turns towards the stage once again.

“Joining our cast, and playing the role of ‘The Manager’, please welcome…”