4 way match

Jessica Lasiewicz emerges from the bedroom wearing a long, flowing, glittering black gown that hugs every curve and makes her look elegant for a night out on the town.  She has grown a few inches due to being perched atop high heeled sandals.  Her long black hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.  Her boyfriend, Kyle Butler, looks up at her with wide-eyed awe.

”How do I look?” Jessica asks, twirling around on her heel to give Kyle a good view.

“Gorgeous as usual, babe.” Kyle said emphatically.  

“London is a beautiful city.” Jessica muses out loud. “I’m not sure why my Aunt Mags detests it so; the only reason I can come up with is that she’s French.”

She smirks. “The French have always hated the English.  It’s a way of life.”

“Same with us southern folk hating the North. How me and Neil (Newman) still manage to get along baffles me. Kidding. He’s a great guy. The only blemish he has is going to Boston College. Roll tide.” Kyle smirks.

“Go Duke.” Jessica winks knowingly at Kyle.

“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” Kyle wraps his arms around Jessica. “I agree, London is a beautiful city. Lets enjoy ourselves. We deserve that much.”

Jessica kisses him on the cheek. “Yes, we deserve it, especially after everything we have been through.  I mean, you with Myra Lynwood.  Me with Malcolm Cross and Jazmyn in GCW and that’s not to mention my SCW issues, me fighting my mother’s and aunt’s battles for them against guys like Jake Starr and Dylan Howell.”

Jessica chuckles and shakes her head. “I shouldn’t complain.  This is a great time to tour Europe, even if it will be spent in SCW fighting Sisterhood’s battles.”

“When duty calls. You’ll get back in the championship hunt. Don’t worry. The 11th is a great opportunity.”

“Right, a four way elimination with Stacy Kissinger, Dylan Howell, and Collin Cole.” Jessica rolls her eyes. “I don’t even deserve the opportunity, Kyle.  I’ve done nothing but fight other people’s battles since I’ve been in SCW and when I did get a shot of my own I failed against Dawn Lohan.  And if I do win, I get to face Snow White!”

Kyle chuckles. “Selena is a little unique, but she’s on a roll. I don’t understand how the things that go on in SCW and how the decision makers decide contenders. I remember a smart girl who once said she competes for the thrill of it, not the prize.”

Kyle lovingly pokes Jessica’s nose. “Focus on that. Wrestle your ass off. Give the fans of London a good show. Whatever happens, happens.”

“It’s hard to do that when my personal life is distracting me, Kyle.” Jessica remarks quietly.

Kyle looks worried. “Did I do something wrong?”

Jessica smiles sheepishly and shakes her head. “No...you’re perfect.”

The young woman walks over to the edge of the love seat and sits down upon it.  She motions for Kyle to join her.  When he does she sighs.

“You know, people love to laud the Street family, the Chase family, and so on and so forth.  What people don’t realize is that it is difficult to be raised in a famous wrestling family.  But it is even more difficult to be raised by TWO famous wrestling families.”

She holds up two fingers. “The Lasiewicz and the Jones families.  Incredible wrestlers.  Both have their quirks.”

“Don’t we all?”

“True, but does any family have psychotic tendencies like my mother?  Or even like my father?  Name a family with as psychotic and violent tendencies as my mother and father?”

Kyle nods. “Fair point.”

“There ARE families like that.  The Lohans...Cindy Todd...I could go on and on...but am I like that?” Jessica takes Kyle by his hands. “Tell me, am I like my mother and my father?”

Tears form in her eyes, showing the grief and difficulty she is having with this right now.

“My mother has done dastardly things during her pro-wrestling career.  She has ended careers, set people on fire, all in the name of being the best.  My father claims to fight the villains, the bad guys, but look at the tactics he uses.  At what cost does he fight the bad guys?  So tell me Kyle.  Am I really like them?”

He wraps his arm around his girlfriend. “With all due respect to your parents, for reasons I won’t pretend to understand, Angelica and Andreas made choices in their lives. Some of those choices would land them in prison or an asylum in the real world. No matter their reasoning, both of them chose to give into their darker impulses, whether for justice, defending the sanctity of the business or to give into their bloodlust. We all have these impulses. The choices we make define us. I can sit here and tell you you’re not like them. I am not going to tell you what you want to here. I’m going to tell you the truth. And the truth is you are the only one who can determine if you are not like your parents. Best way you can not be like them, make difference choices.”

Jessica shuts her eyes and chuckles lightly. “It’s funny…”

Her voice trails off as she reopens her eyes “...I’ve been trying so hard to redeem my sister, Marie, and yet Marie is the one who claimed she would make different choices and be a better person than our mother.  But Marie is no better than her.”

She looks up at Kyle. “You say the choices my mother and father have made would land them in prison or an asylum.  My mother spent time in an asylum.  Have I told you this?”

“Not in any great detail. Doesn’t matter to me. She’s in a better place now. The past is the past.”

Jessica shakes her head. “I don’t want to end up like her, Kyle.  My father should have already spent time in prison already and I don’t want that for me, either.”

She nods her head. “And you’re right...the choices I have made in my life thus far have made me different from them.  So much so that I begin to question whether I really am a Jones?  Am I really a Lasiewicz?”

Kyle kisses her. “Can’t you just be Jessica? We don’t need to let our family's reputation define us. I was the only member of my family to graduate college. The Butler family isn’t famous for education. My mother, father, grandfather on down, most of my family didn’t graduate high school. I made the right choices. Graduated high school. Passed college with flying colors. We will always possess the positive and negative from our family's bloodline. Up to us to determine whether we overcome it or not.”  

“It’s not just about my family, Kyle.” Jessica says, shaking her head. “I am having an identity crisis.  I don’t know who I am.  Used to I could identify with my mother, then my father came back into my life and I identified strongly with him.  I befriended Candi and we helped each other.”

A genuine smile forms across her face. “Of all the titles I have won, that one small token of friendship trumps all of them.  I am more proud of that than anything else.  But even then, identified as Candi’s friend, then I am just a cheerleader, but I don’t view myself as just that either.   So who am I?  That’s the identity crisis I’m having right now.”

“I can’t answer that for you, babe. I promise you, we’ll figure it out together. Ok?” Kyle smiles.

Jessica kisses him on the lips.. “Ok, together.  But promise me one thing, ok?”

“What’s that?”

“I am just Jessica.  Not Jones.  Not Lasiewicz.  Until I figure out who the hell I am, I am just Jessica.  Ok?”

Kyle nods. “Deal.”