Friday February 4, 2011
The RV- Master Bedroom
Santa Monica, California
9:00 AM Local Time
Whatever dreams I had been having were shattered by the high pitched shrieking of my alarm clock. Squinting my eyes against the morning light pouring through the window on the other side of the cabin, I rolled over, and slammed my hand onto the snooze button, being rewarded by the blissful sounds of silence. My first instinct was to take advantage of the nine-minute reprieve that the snooze button gave me, but then again, it was already nine o’clock. I had allowed myself to sleep in this morning, but it wouldn’t do me any good to abuse it.
I felt around for the switch that shut the alarm off for good, clicked it, then rolled back over to face my husband. He too was just waking up, lying on his side, but his brown eyes were open. He broke into a soft smile when he saw me looking at him. “Morning.”
“Morning,” I replied, giving him a quick kiss, then sat up. I grabbed my elastic from my bedside table, and quickly tied my hair back, then sat at the edge of the bed, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. Terrence rose too, with a stretch and a yawn, and quickly rose to his feet, stumbling over to the small closet at the back of the bedroom. He quickly slid on a pair of jeans and a plain blue t-shirt, then set about hunting for his shoes. Smoothing out my nightgown, I went to the closet myself, and began perusing my wardrobe, trying to figure out what I should wear.
“So I was thinking,” Terrence was saying as he slipped on his tennis shoes, “After we finish training today, what do you say we take Theresa and the three of us hit the pier?”
Considering that we almost always stayed in Santa Monica when we traveled to Los Angeles, it was almost surprising that we had yet to go to the renowned Santa Monica Pier, home of the Pacific Park amusement fair, and several other attractions to boot. I smiled at the thought of spending a fun family day there. “That sounds great. But you know they won’t allow Theresa on the roller coaster. She’s not tall enough.”
That news was obviously disappointing to my husband, but he managed to shrug it off. “I’m sure there’s other rides we can go on. Sides, can’t be much of a roller-coaster if they’ve managed to fit it on a pier.”
I smiled at his sour grapes, and selected a pale pink blouse and a black pair of capris from the closet. I paused, however, when something lying on the floor caught my eye.
Terrence’s race helmet, tucked away in the corner of the closet. He kept it in the RV as a ‘good-luck charm’, a memory from his days as an auto-racer. But apparently, over the past week, he had found another, more conventional use for it.
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” I said as I slipped off my nightgown, and quickly replaced it with the blouse. “Why’d you do it?”
“Do what?” Terrence asked, stifling another yawn.
I couldn’t quite hide my irritation. My phrasing may have been vague, but there was little doubt in my mind that Terrence knew exactly what I was talking about.
“Wreck Madman’s car,” I replied as I sat down on the bed to pull on my pants.
Terrence chuckled, which only heightened my irritation, then stood up. “Did you see the face of the person who did that? How did you know it was me?”
I shot him a severe look. “Don’t you dare play dumb with me, Terrence Thompson.”
That only inspired another chuckle from my husband. “Alright, fine. I did it because it seemed like fun, and Madman Szalinski’s a piece of shit. He cost you a match against Keebler, well, turnabouts fair play. Besides, you heard ‘em. The fans loved it. I bet your colleagues did too. No one likes the guy.”
“That doesn’t make it right, Terry.” I replied, shooting Terrence another severe look. “Bullying Szalinski isn’t going to change anything.”
“Bullying? So suddenly you’re feeling sorry for the little masked freak?”
I paused for a second. “Yeah, in a way, I am,” I finally said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of happiness in that man’s life.. But I also asked you to let me fight my own battles. Isn’t that why I joined X3W in the first place?”
“To be fair, I didn’t exactly fight the guy...” Terrence was trying to joke, but one look from me and he realized that it was a bad idea. Finally, he sighed. “Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry. I should have at least talked to you first.”
“Thank you,” I replied, turning and heading towards the bedroom door. As I reached for the handle to enter the main cabin of the RV, I heard my husband’s voice interrupting me.
“Hey.”
I turned around. “What is it?”
Terrence shrugged, and took a step towards me. “You okay, hon? You look... stressed.”
My first impulse was to tell Terrence that I was fine, just a bit annoyed over the car-wrecking. But then again, Terrence tended to be a lot quicker on the uptake than he normally let on, and after five years of marriage, he could generally tell when I was lying.
“I am stressed.” I finally said, walking away from the door and sitting back down on the bed. “Revelations, and the biggest match of my career, is now less than two weeks away. I just keep thinking about... well, about a lot of things, actually.”
“Its only natural.” Terrence replied with a shrug. “Everyone gets the jitters before the big matches. No matter how confident you are in your abilities, there’s always that little nagging voice in the back of your mind wondering if you’re gonna fuck up. But I’ll tell you what, hon. The moment you walk into that ring, and the bell rings, what you gotta do becomes that much more clear. You don’t have time to think about what happens if you don’t, you just know you have to do it. The biggest difference between you now, and you five years ago, is that you’re way more confident in yourself. Don’t lose that confidence just because your name on the poster’s in a larger font.”
“Thanks,” I said, as Terrence plopped down on the bed next to me. “But that’s not even what I’m worried about. I’ve been in big matches before. I know how to deal with nerves. I’m not even really that concerned about whether or not I’m going to draw anymore- ticket sales are proceeding nicely, from what I’ve seen, and I’m sure the buyrates will too.”
“Then what’s your problem, hon?”
I paused for a while, and looked out the window. “I punched Szalinski at the last Shatterpoint.”
“Yeah,” Terrence started laughing. “That was awesome.”
I didn’t exactly share his mirth. “I’m not proud of it. It’s just, when he called me... THAT... I lost my temper.”
“No one’s gonna blame you for that, hon.” Terrence said gently.
“No, but that means this thing between me and Szalinski’s gotten personal. This isn’t just about winning the X3W Championship anymore, to either of us. I’ve seen it in his eyes whenever I run into him backstage. I’m not just the woman standing between him and the championship, Terry. I’m an enemy, someone who needs to be completely destroyed. It’s kind of... unsettling.”
“Well, stop the presses,” Terrence remarked with a snort. “Because I think this is the first wrestling match in history where the two competitors didn’t like each other.” He grinned as I shot him another glare. “Besides, weren’t you just telling me you felt sorry for the guy?”
“I do. But that doesn’t mean I like him. On the contrary. I can’t stand him. I want to... well, I don’t know about destroying him, but I’d sure like to give him a few good lumps to think about.”
“Yeah, well, maybe spiking him on his head will improve his disposition a bit.” Terrence remarked.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’d be something we can all hope for.”
Terrence grinned, then stood up, reaching out to help me to my feet. “You’ll be fine, hon. You’ve had personal issues with plenty of people before. Stephen Greer... Misty Xiao... Victor Mandrake...”
“I know,” I replied, accepting the offer as Terrence pulled me to my feet. “But something about Szalinski makes it all seem... I don’t know. Different. More intense. More ominous, even.”
“More ominous than a guy locking you in a dungeon for two weeks?” Terrence replied, arching his eyebrows.
I snorted at the ludicrousness of it, then paused. “Looking back at that, and knowing what I know now, in a way, yeah, it is. Mandrake’s evil through and through, and he did some pretty bad things to me, but there was a line that he wouldn’t cross.” I looked over at Terrence. “I don’t know if Szalinski has a line, and if he does, who knows where it is?”
For the first time all morning, Terrence actually looked somewhat concerned, and I immediately felt bad for worrying my husband so. “I’m sorry to bother you with all this,” I said. “Guess I’m just antsy this morning.”
“Ah, don’t mention it,” Terrence replied. “And you’ll be fine, Wendy. You know how to take care of yourself. Now let’s get going, we got a busy day ahead of us.”
Terrence was the first to the door and flung it open, and together we entered the main cabin of the RV. I could tell that Terry and I were the last to arise. The hide-a-bed was folded up, but Cassie was nowhere to be seen, probably off enjoying some personal time to herself. Theresa sat on the couch, where the bed had been, watching Nickelodeon.
“Oy!” Pollaski had been sitting at the table, looking over a small stack of papers, but he rose when he saw his two wrestlers enter. Terrence rolled his eyes, and headed towards the cabinet to grab a box of cereal, while, I went to kiss my daughter good morning.
“You two are NOT the early Birdz,” Pollaski scolded. “So you don’t get the worm. Unless you were drinking a bottle of tequila in there.” he finished with a grin.
“Har, har,” I said sarcastically. “I’m up earlier than you 99% of the time, Dan.”
“Lucky Charms, hon?” Terrence asked, waving a box of the General Mills cereal.
“Please,” I affirmed, yawning and stretching before grabbing a seat at the table. “So what’s the news, Dan?”
“Oh, not much. Egyptians are still rioting, the east coast is still freezing, and the Steelers still suck,” Pollaski said with a grin. Then his eyes went wide. “Oh, X3W lineup just got released this morning. You’re rematched against Rockwell.”
“Really?” I was surprised and confused. It seemed odd that my last match before Revelations would be the same person I faced in the first round. I looked at a small stack of papers on the table. “Is this the lineup?”
Pollaski nodded, and I looked at the page carefully, surprised to find myself in the main event spot again- my third in the first eight shows. As usual with X3W lineup announcements, there was a bit of a blurb underneath the billing giving a moderate amount of buildup to the match. I read it carefully, then read it again just to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
I looked up at Pollaski. “Talinsdale’s letting Rockwell go at me because you’ve put his girlfriend into a nervous breakdown? This is a joke, right?”
“Apparently not.” Pollaski chuckled. “Its like I’m some sort of a monster or something. Ah well, at least this means I’ll get to see Veronika again. Maybe I can set the record straight. I’m not that bad of a guy, really.”
A wistful smile came over my manager, and I could only stare at him, barely noticing the bowl of cereal Terrence slid in front of me. “Set what straight? She tried to interfere, and you emotionally scarred her for life. There’s really nothing else that needs to be said.”
“Yeah, but I really didn’t mean to rub it in with that advertisement. I just thought it would be kinda funny.”
Terrence sat down next to me, a bowl of Lucky Charms in front of him as well. He suddenly burst out laughing. “Dude, I can’t believe this. You actually LIKE her. I thought you were just screwing with her.”
Pollaski shrugged. “I was at first. But we were enemies at the time. And the more I think about it, the more I’m wondering, maybe she’s not that bad of a girl. Maybe she’s like that because she’s with a chauvinistic pig who don’t treat her right. She deserves better.”
“And that better is you.” I deadpanned.
Pollaski actually looked offended. “Why not? I’m strong. I’m caring. I’m sensitive. I’m-”
“The guy who once sat at a convention for vegan feminists eating a steak and reading Barely Legal?” I interrupted, having heard enough. “And who once wrote a parody of ‘Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer’ about one of our opponents beating his girlfriend into a coma?”
“And we can’t forget about that ad you did back in NGWA. You know, ‘Jenna N’ Kandy’s Discount Carpet Warehouse?’” Terrrence added.
“Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that one.” Pollaski said, a fond smile on his face.
“I wish I had...” I muttered
“Well, to be fair, they DID sleep with like half the locker room.” Pollaski replied. “The point is, those were all like eight years ago. I’ve matured since then. I now admire the female for not just her curves, but for her brains, and her personality.”
“And Veronika’s got one outta three,” Terrence snorted, which turned into a wince as I sharply elbowed him in his side.
“Have a care what you say about the lady, sir.” Pollaski said stiffly, then looked down at his clothes. “You know, if I’m going to impress someone, I should probably get some new threads. Don’t get up though, I’ll take the bus. See you at the gym. Ring’s at eleven!”
Pollaski quickly got up from the table, and left the RV, leaving Terrence and I alone at the table, with Theresa still watching cartoons on the couch. Terrence and I looked at each other.
“You do realize this is only going to end in disaster, right?” I asked quietly.
Terrence shrugged. “What’s the harm in it? Pollaski’s smart enough to not let his newfound crush cost you a match or anything.”
“Its a hopeless fantasy, Terrence. There’s no way that-”
“Hey!” Terrence interrupted, and I glanced at him. He was grinning, and he put his arm around me, pulling me close into him. “A lot of guys like girls they logically have no shot at. But sometimes, a guys lucky enough to where he gets one anyways.”
I giggled, and smiled at the obvious compliment. “You really think he has a chance?”
“No way in hell,” Terrence started laughing. “The only question about this is how big a crater he’s gonna make when he hits.”
“Wonderful,” I muttered, pulling away from Terrence, and turning my attention to finishing my cereal.
===========================================
Saturday February 5, 2011
The RV- Main Cabin
Santa Monica, California
7:10 PM Local Time
[Here’s a bit of WhirlyBirdz parenting advice.]
[If you ever plan to take your little child on the carousel, try not to do it within a week of them watching the movie “Mary Poppins”. Apparently poor Theresa thought that the horses really did escape and go to cartoon lands filled with penguins pretending to be waiters, and, judging by the screaming when Terrence and Wendy tried to get her to ride, she wasn’t quite up for the journey. Oops.]
[On a side note, much to Terrence’s pleasure, she LOVED the bumper cars. Could the Thompson family have another demolition derby driver in the making?]
[Anyways, we’re back from the Pier, and it’s early evening of the next day in the WhirlyBirdz RV. Wendy sits on the couch in the main cabin, dressed in a dark green sweater and a pair of jeans. She seems to have the place for herself, as the rest of the family have gone for a nice twilight walk on the beach.]
“Well, first of all, I never got a chance to say it last week, but I guess I owe a bit of congratulations to Kris Keebler for his victory over me at Shatterpoint 6. I know neither of us are particularly happy about the outcome, thanks to Szalinski’s interference, but it is what it is. I also owe you an apology for interference coming from my own camp last week. My husband, he gets a little... overprotective of me sometimes, and sometimes acts without thinking things completely through. I know he did it out of love for me, but that doesn’t change the fact that you ended up getting tainted wins two weeks in a row.”
[Wendy flashes an apologetic smile, and shrugs]
“Nevertheless, I heard your comments from earlier in the week last week, and I’m glad to see that match gave you some modicum of respect for me. I’m sure the rematch between you and I will be inevitable, and I hope this time we can give it the proper conclusion it deserves.”
“In the mean time, I’m glad to hear that you will soon be reunited with Kristi. I don’t know what Victoria’s motives were for what she did, nor do I particularily care. Kidnapping is an evil and cowardly trick, and I hope you manage to give her everything she has coming to her at Revelations.”
[Wendy pauses for just a second, and sighs. As mentioned before, considering she’s been down that road, kidnapping has a profound effect on her. Also, she’s about to go to an unpleasant topic.]
“As for me, my road curves in an entirely different direction this week. We’re one week away from Revelations. One week away from deciding the first ever X3W champion between Madman Szalinski and myself. Now, considering I’m coming off a loss, I sure as heck don’t want to be entering the biggest match of my career on a losing streak. It’s interesting, my final match before the pay-per-view is the very same person I made my debut against in X3W. I guess you can say I’ve come full-circle, so to speak.”
[A really unpleasant topic]
“And of course, I’m completely thrilled over the prospect of facing the ‘great’ Kenneth X. Rockwell again.”
[There may be just a bit of sarcasm there.]
“Rockwell, at least we can agree on one thing. The last time we faced, I did get a bit lucky.”
“At least that’s what I can say. You, on the other hand, have absolutely no one to blame but yourself. After all, you were the one who hit your Check Mark on me, then tried to pin me when I was lying next to the ropes.”
[Wendy laughs softly, but the expression on her face shows very little mirth]
“You know, for being someone who incessantly proclaims himself the greatest wrestler there is, you sure have a lousy sense of ring presence”
[Small sigh, and Wendy shakes her head in disgust with herself.]
“I made a horrible mistake in that match- I lost my concentration and allowed myself to be distracted. Luckily, a moment that could have been disastrous for me wasn’t, and I managed to battle back and pull out the win. Rest assured though, Kenneth, whether my mistakes cost me or not, I do learn from them, and you can bet that I won’t be making the same error again, regardless of what happens on the outside.”
[Wendy shakes her head again, although this time its more out of bemusement]
“Because honestly, what’s going on between my manager and your valet actually has little to do with me. But just think for a second, and realize that perhaps you two brought this problem on yourselves. Before we faced back at the second Shatterpoint, I warned you. I warned the both of you, that if Veronika attempted in anyway to disrupt this match, there would be consequences. You ignored me, to your own ultimate demise.”
[A small shrug]
“I can’t exactly condone what’s been done since then... in fact, I’ve found some of it downright nauseating. But it seems that, whatever was going on at first, Daniel’s actually developed some sort of...”
[Wendy pauses for a second, as if she can’t bring herself to say what she’s about to. Finally, she sighs, rolling her eyes.]
“You know what? Forget it. For the sake of my own sanity, I’m not even going to TRY to figure out what’s going through my manager’s head. Pollaski will be in my corner, just like he always is, and he’ll have the exact same instructions he always does- prevent any interference from disrupting this match. If that doesn’t suit you, Kenneth, then leave Veronika back in the locker room. Lock the door even, if it makes you feel more comfortable.”
[Wendy pauses for just a second, then puts on the most sarcastic tone she can muster]
“It’s probably best that you do, anyways. After all, we wouldn’t want Veronika to be jealous of the ‘special thing’ that’s about to happen between us, would we?”
[Wendy’s posture’s gone completely rigid, and there’s a flame in her emerald green eyes. Moreso than the determination she normally shows, here, Wendy’s actually looking a little on the angry side]
“Kenneth, I thought you were an arrogant pig the first time I’ve met you, but somehow, over the last couple months you have managed to become even dirtier, and squeal even louder. If your goal was to offend me, well, rest assured- you succeeded.”
[Wendy snorts derisively, and rolls her eyes]
“But after five years in this business, competing against men and women from all walks of life, do you honestly think its anything I haven’t heard before? You honestly think that you’re the first chauvinist pig I’ve had the misfortune of facing? Whatever high opinion you may hold of yourself, there are plenty of sexist pigs dotting the wrestling landscape who have little more than a foul-mouth and some deranged deluded ego that makes them think they’re special.”
[If anything, she’s even angrier now. Her voice is clipped, and her composure is completely stiff, as if she’d like nothing more than to grab the camera and start calling Rockwell every name she can think of. She manages to keep it under control though.]
“You made a pretty disgusting threat in your diatribe there, Rockwell. But considering that you’d have to hold me down for a far longer period than you’ve managed to keep anyone down in this company to date, its a threat that’s hard to take seriously.”
[Despite yet another sarcastic joke, Wendy conveys absolutely no amusement whatsoever]
“Nevertheless, I will warn you. As strong as my honor is in wrestling matches, it PALES in comparison to my own personal honor. So know that if you get it in your tiny little Neanderthal brain to try ANYTHING, rest assured that when I’m done with you, Veronika, and supposedly the rest of us females, will be VERY disappointed.”
[Wendy snorts again, and shakes her head in disgust, only this time, that disgust is directed purely at the object of her monologue]
“Seriously, Rockwell. All this filth you’re uttering has you losing credibility by the second. So after I finally thrash you for good at Shatterpoint this week, do us all a favor, and take your misogyny, take your horrifically appalling sense of fashion, and especially take your idiotic pseudo-mohawk of a hairstyle, and go join the cast of the Jersey Shore where at least you’ll blend in.”
[For just a second, Wendy’s lips twitch up, and the fire in her eyes dims somewhat. Wendy sighs, and shakes her head again. The anger’s mostly gone now, replaced by a sense of exasperation.]
“I’m tired of your disrespect, Kenneth, but I’ve long ago learned that its impossible to beat respect into someone. True respect only comes voluntary, and I doubt that I’ll be getting that from you anytime soon. Still, you obviously could use a bit of an attitude adjustment. Perhaps getting your head spiked to the mat by a Vortexinator or spending a couple minutes in the Banshee would be an enlightening experience for you.”
“At the very least, I’m sure tearing you apart will be somewhat of a therapeutic experience for me. Just a shame I’m actually going to have to bring myself to touch you again.”
[A small grim smile, and a shrug]
“Ah well, I guess we all have to make some sacrifices, right?”
[Fade]
