Distracted

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Off Camera

January 14^th, 2014

Boston, Massachusetts

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Marie finds herself in a slight dilemma.  Whenever she wanted to go out with her boyfriend, Damian Daniel Toole, for the past several months she has always managed to get her sister Jessica or their aunt Kayla to watch over her son, Sean.  Tonight, though, Kayla is busy doing who knows what and Jessica declined because she is going out with her own boyfriend, Steven Bauer.  Thus Marie is stuck looking after Sean herself.  She is certain her boyfriend, Damian Daniel Toole, who competes in an indy league under the moniker “Mr. DDT”, will understand.  At least, she hopes he will understand. 

With no one to watch Sean, Marie has to stay home, and Damian will have to settle for hanging out with her at her place in Boston, Massachusetts.

Marie is in her bedroom, checking herself out in the mirror.  She is making sure everything looks perfect for her man.  Her long sleeve black sweater fits nicely and is warm in this cold northeastern weather.  Her knee length black leather skirt with black flats completes the outfit.

“Mommy!”

The high pitched sound of her son’s voice echoes throughout the home.  Marie quickly drops what she is doing and exits the bedroom and makes a beeline down the hall, towards her son’s room.  The pushes the door open and finds her son sitting on the floor playing with his train set.

“Is something wrong, sweetie?”

“No.”

“Then why’d you call me?”

“I just wanna know if Auntie Jessica is gonna come over.”

“No, darling.  Auntie Jessica is busy tonight.”

“Oh…does that mean Kayla is coming?”

Again Marie shakes her head.  “No, sweetie, she’s busy too.”

“Who’s gonna be with me tonight then?  You going out, right?”

Marie has to admit that she is impressed by how observant young Sean Connor Jones really is.  For a three year old to pick up that quickly the patterns of his mother, for him to know, almost instinctively, what is going on, that speaks of how intelligent he is.  That intelligence definitely will prove useful when he grows into an adult.

“Not exactly.  Damian is coming over here tonight to hang out with mommy.”

“Oh.” Sean responds, sounding kind of disappointed.

“What’s wrong, Sean?” Marie asks as she kneels down so that she is eye level with her son.  She pats him on his head, ruffling his hair.  “Don’t you like Damian?”

“I…uh…I guess…”

“Great!” She leans over and kisses him on his cheek. “Then we’ll all be fine, right?”

“Right.”

Marie stands back up.  “You stay up here and play, Sean.  I bet you won’t even notice Damian here.”

“….kay.”

“I love you, Sean.”

“I love you too, mommy.”

A warm, motherly smile slides across her face as Marie turns and makes her way out of her son’s bedroom, shutting the door behind her.  Seeing Sean in there playing is a reminder of how much of a blessing having Damian around truly is.

Sean is the result of Marie being raped.  The only ones who know this are those closest to Marie.  Her deep seeded religious convictions could not allow her to terminate the pregnancy that resulted from it.  It wasn’t her son’s fault that she was raped.  Why take it out on him by not giving him a chance to live his life?  Some women think otherwise and that’s their choice.  Marie respects that choice.  But she had her choice as well and she chose to keep Sean.

But because a rapist was the child’s father, a rapist who since has been killed, Sean has grown up all three of these years without a real father figure in his life.  Marie feels her son needs a father figure in his life to teach him how to be a man, something she has a mother feels she cannot do.  She hopes this relationship with Damian will continue to grow, will continue to blossom.  Damian may be just the person Sean needs in his life right now, just as Marie needs him.

Just as she starts back down the hallway she hears the doorbell ringing.  Her eyes light up like a Christmas tree as she turns towards the stairs and bolts towards them.  She heads down the stairs, sometimes going two or three steps at a time, excited to see her man.

Once she gets to the bottom of the steps she quickly heads to the door.  And swings it open.  She smiles broadly upon seeing Damian Toole standing there, dressed only in a pair of jeans, a white wife-beater, black boots, and a black leather jacket.  Marie doesn’t seem to notice, or care, about the angry glare that seems to be etched across his rough exterior.

“Hi, Damian!” Marie greets him cheerfully, leaning in with a kiss on his cheek.

“Yeah, whatever.” He pushes on past her, not even bothering to reciprocate the show of affection as he enters the home.

“Is something wrong?” She asks curiously, finally beginning to notice that something may not be right with Damian.

“Is something wrong?” Damian repeats.  “I mean, there’s a lot that’s wrong with this situation, babe.  Where do you want me to fucking start?”

Marie takes him by his arm and leads him into the living room.  “Come on, Damian, let’s sit down.”

She leads him to a plush black leather sofa.  Damian sighs as he sits down first and then she sits down next to him. “Talk to me, Damian.  What’s wrong?”

“A lot.”  He growls. “But first thing is why do we have to be here?”

She was hoping he’d be a bit more understanding.  Unfortunately it didn’t turn out like that.  Damian had his heart set on going out dancing with Marie and then spending the night together at his place.  That did not come to be when both Kayla and Jessica said they couldn’t watch after Sean.

“I’m sorry, but Jessica and Kayla couldn’t watch Sean.”

“Damn!” He exclaims.  “Jessica AGAIN is ruining things for us!”

He glowers at Marie.  “Why the hell can’t you stand up to your own sister?  Are you fucking scared?”

“Jessica just wants some time to herself.”

“Yeah, well what about OUR time to OURSELVES?” Damian demands. “You’re worthless, you know that?”

“I’m sorry.” Marie says, lowering her head in shame.  “I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“Right, you didn’t think.”

“Huh?” Marie’s head shoots up.  “What was that?”

“Nothing.” He grunts. He then looks her up and down and shakes her head. “And why did you have to wear THAT sweater?”

She looks down at herself.  “Is something wrong with it?”

“Yeah, it covers up ALL my favorite parts.”

“Oh…” her voice trails off.

“Look, I don’t know what’s gotten into you today, this isn’t my thing.  You and me, just hanging out,” he shakes his head “it’s not cool, babe.  I mean, was that little peck on the cheek at the door the best you can do?”

“Um…”

He chuckles, shaking his head.  “No, it’s not the best you can do.  I’ve experienced the best you can do and when you are at your best…”

He whistles.  “Oh MAN are you great when you are at your best.”

He reaches down with his right hand underneath her skirt and directly to her crotch. “Why don’t you and me just get undressed right now and you can show me how good you are when you are at your best?”

Marie wriggles uncomfortably.  This situation isn’t exactly what she was expecting today.  She was expecting Damian to be acting like this.  And as much as she enjoys making love to Damian, she certainly doesn’t want to do anything right now with Sean in the house.

“But Damian, Sean is in the house and…”

“So?  YOU let your damn sister ruined this night for us.  The least you can do is make it up to me by doing what I know you’re oh so good at.”

Damian places his strong hands on her shoulders.  “You know I love you, right Marie?”

“I love you too, Damian.”

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On Camera

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No one is perfect.  We all have our flaws but that isn’t something to be ashamed of; it’s what makes us human.  If we were all perfect, it would be quite a boring world to live in.  I have come a long way in my professional wrestling career and, hell, even my whole life.  I have come a long way from the little girl looking on at her mother with awe-struck eyes at what she could do in the squared circle to the woman I am today, the athlete that I am today who can do just as much inside the ring as her mother could; some would go as far as to say that I can do MORE than what my mother could do.

That being said, I would not a change a damn thing about how I got to this point.  I’ve learned a great deal, I’ve gained much experience from the mistakes I have made.  My flaws make me stronger.  And I will keep those mistakes and those flaws close to my heart as I proceed through this Best of Five Series with Katelyn Buehler.

Katelyn knows better than most about some of the mistakes I’ve made.  But as she said, I’ve grown since then and I have become a better, tougher person as a result.  Now I’m in a member of the roster of Supreme Championship Wrestling and I am a former Television and United States Champion.  And I am already one match ahead of Katelyn Buehler in the Best of Five Series.

Two more wins and it is over.  Will it be a clean sweep?  I won’t guarantee that.  But what I can guarantee is that at the end of the day, The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling will still be the most sparking diamond of them all, even if it isn’t a flawless diamond.

See you at Unflawed, Katelyn.

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Off Camera

April 4^th, 2018

Post-Breakdown

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The clicking of heels on asphalt is heard off in the distance.  The two silhouettes of a male and figure can be seen.  Light from tall lampposts shined own on them and one could see that this is SCW Superstar Marie Annabelle Jones and her husband, Arthur Pond.  Like the gentleman that he is, Arthur is carrying his wife’s bags.  Marie is dressed in a knee length black skirt, black patent leather pumps, a red blouse, and her signature black leather jacket.  Arthur, for his part, is wearing khaki dress pants, brown loafers, and a Carolina blue button up shirt.  Looking into the eyes of The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling you would notice that she is distant.  The red headed Boston native is clearly distracted by something.  And it doesn’t make sense, no sense at all, because tonight she got a big win over Katelyn Buehler to kick off their Best of Five Series.

Only Arthur is close enough to Marie to know the truth and yet even he isn’t sure right now as to what is going on behind the eyes of his lovely wife.  The truth is that Marie’s personal life is, yet again, coming back to haunt her.  Or in this case, it’s a demon from her past that is coming back to haunt her.  A demon she thought she had gotten rid of; Damian Daniel Toole.

Toole was Marie’s good friend in school and later on boyfriend.  It was the same sad story that we hear all too often; Toole was abusive, both physically and emotionally, towards Marie.  But Jones put up with the abuse.  She kept taking it week in and week out because she was desperate to give her son, Sean Jones, a father figure.  After many other failed relationships, Marie felt that Toole might be her only hope.

Damian Toole was not interested in being a father.  He wanted Marie for little more than a fucktoy and nothing else.  It took Jessica, Marie’s sister, to convince Marie that Damian was no good for her.  And it took a great deal of convincing.  It was no easy feat on Jessica’s part.  But Marie does owe a great deal to Jessica.  It was Jessica who convinced Marie to finally stand up to Damian and dump him.  Marie felt invigorated and free after dumping Damian.  She had no idea what being with Damian had done to her psyche.  She felt liberated.

But now all of those terrible thoughts and feelings are coming rushing right back to the surface.  Damian Toole recently attacked Marie’s husband Arthur.  Damian is back and Marie has an idea what he wants.

Marie has remained silent for the entire walk from the arena back through the parking lot.  It is Arthur who breaks the ice, looking over to his lovely wife with a warm smile on his face.

“You did good tonight, Marie.” He says as he leans over and gives her a kiss on the cheek. “You really took down Kate.”

“Sure.” Marie says, sounding somewhat absent-minded.

“That Ave Maria you delivered was a pure thing of beauty!” He exclaims as he tries to sound excited and tries, unsuccessfully, to pump up his wife. “Two more of those in a row and you have a clean sweep, babe.”

“I guess.”

Clearly Marie is not in the right mindset right now and anyone could see it, even if they were clueless to the circumstances.  Arthur definitely has an idea of what is going on but he decides to pressure her for more details.

“You guess?!” Arthur exclaims.  “You were coming off losing the SCW Television Championship to Beard.  Your critics thought you were down and out but what did you do?  You bounced back after beating Katelyn Buehler, your old sparring partner from IWC and former World Champion.”

Arthur smirks knowingly and winks at his wife, who still doesn’t look his direction. “I’d say this was definitely a good start to this best of five series.”

“Yeah, I suppose it is if you look at it like that.”

Marie sighs and nods her head.  Clearly she is not as enthusiastic as Arthur is.  To be perfectly honest, Arthur never was big on his wife’s wrestling career.  He hates seeing her get hurt for a living. But if it’s what she loves to do, if that’s her passion, then he’s willing to support her until the end.  That’s why this is so troublesome.  Marie is always passionate about the sport.  The fact that she is disinterested and disconnected means that there is a problem.

“Ok, stop right there.” Arthur stops walking and sets down Marie’s bags.  He turns Marie around to face him, placing his hands on her shoulders.  They gaze into one another’s eyes.  “You won tonight. You’re always on cloud nine when you win a match, whether it’s a dark match, house show, or a main event championship match.  That’s just who you are.  So I know that you should be excited, Marie, especially after beating someone the caliber of Katelyn Buehler.  Beating her was something you’ve always wanted.  Wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Marie sighs and nods her head “it was one of my goals.  Ever since our rivalry in IWC when I was with Silas World, I wanted a chance to face Buehler one more time, just the two of us, no shenanigans.  I wanted to prove that I could beat her.   Tonight I did beat her.”

“Exactly.” Arthur points out.  “You should be thrilled right now.  But you’re not.  At least you don’t look it.”

“Looks can be deceiving.”

“Tell me what’s wrong.” Arthur asks sternly.  “Tell me what’s bothering you.”

An uneasy grin forms on Marie’s face, but it is a sad grin; no happiness is on this face.  She runs a hand through her long ginger locks of hair.

“Am I that obvious?”

“Marie, you’re my wife.  We’ve known each other for a damn long time now.” He kisses her on the lips. “You can’t get anything by me.  So tell me what’s bothering you.”

“Well, I suppose you’re right...I guess I am a little distracted…”

“Distracted by what?” Arthur asks with an arched brow.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Arthur Pond.”Marie says with a frown. “I think you know what’s distracting me…or rather, who is distracting me…”

“Damian Toole.” Arthur answers her question with a stoic voice.  Marie nods her head. Arthur rolls his eyes. “Not him again…Marie, don’t worry about that asshole.  You have no need to worry about him any longer.”

“It’s easy for you to say!” She exclaims. “I mean, what else do you expect from me but to be distracted when my abusive ex-boyfriend shows up out of nowhere?”

“But he’s not a part of your life anymore.  You dumped him.  He’s gone.”

“Is he?  He got pretty damn close to me by attacking you in Hyde Park.  What if I’m next, Arthur?”

“Then get a restraining order.” Arthur suggests quickly. “It’s that simple.”

“It ISN’T that simple!” Marie shakes her head as tears well up in her eyes.  “Damian WANTS to be in my life…”

Her voice trails off as she fights to keep from breaking down emotionally.  The last time she felt this weak and vulnerable was when she was dating Damian.  She hates this feeling.  Marie Jones reaches up and wipes some of the tears out of her eyes.  Arthur embraces her in a tight hug in an attempt to comfort her.

“I’m sorry, Marie.  I’m sorry.”

“You don’t know what it was like, Arthur.  How could you know what it was like?  Damian Toole was a very possessive and very jealous human being.  He told me I was worthless, pathetic, and that I was only good for giving him blowjobs and being his personal fucktoy.  And I…” she buries her face in her hands “…I believed him…”

“He lied to you, babe.” Arthur embraces her tightly. “You are a wonderful human being and you are so much more than the horrible things he said about you.”

Marie looks back up at Arthur.  Her eyes are red from the tears.

“He didn’t want me getting close to any other man.  Any male friend I had was subject to being targeted by Damian.”After breaking the embrace, Marie gasps and points a finger at Arthur.  “That’s why he went after you!”

“Marie, wait second…” Arthur’s voice trails off.

“He’s jealous, he’s possessive of me, and he wants me back!  I just know it because I know him!  I’m the reason you were attacked!” She buries her face in her hands and again starts crying. “It’s all my fault!”

“Stop with that ridiculous talk, Marie Annabelle Pond!” Marie is stunned to hear her married name called out, one of the few times it is ever utilized and it is enough to shock her back to reality as she stares into Arthur’s intense eyes. “It isn’t your fault that maniac attacked you.  Do not blame yourself for that.”

“But it’s true…he wants me back…”

“No it isn’t.  And for the record, he can want all he wants but he will never ever have you.  Understand?”

“I guess…” Marie wipes some tears out of her eyes and embraces her husband.  She suddenly gasps as she sees a familiar male figure step out of the darkness from behind one of the vehicles and out into the light of the lamppost. “…Damian!”

Damian Toole is wearing torn denim jeans, black boots, and a white wife beater.  He slowly and cautiously approaches Marie and Arthur.  For his part, Arthur Pond immediately steps between Marie and Damian to ensure that if Damian wants, he’d have to go through Arthur first.

“Marie, can we talk?” Damian, the rough around the edges abusive ex attempts to sound calm and collected as he makes his approach.  Marie, on the other hand, is not so calm as she backs away quickly.

“No!” She shakes her head vehemently.  “Absolutely not!  Go away!”

“Get away from her, Damian!” Arthur snaps back with venom as he gets up in Damian’s face. “She is not your girl anymore, you sick bastard!”

“Oh so he does have a voice.” Damian chuckles. “Last I saw you, I was pummeling you so bad we didn’t get a chance to talk.”

“Leave him alone, Damian!” Marie shouts.

“I’ll get to you in a moment, sexy-thing.”

“You have no right to call her that anymore, asshole!”

“Did someone say you could talk?” Damian demands angrily.  “This is between her and me, loser.”

He pushes Arthur down to the ground.  He hits with a thud.  Damian then gets up close to Marie, backing her up against the side of a nearby car so that she can’t get away.

“Leave me alone!” Marie shouts. “HELP!”

“Look, I know I was a fucked up mess awhile back but I changed.” Damian insists, despite the fact that Marie isn’t exactly listening through her screaming.  “I got help.  Just give me a chance to prove myself!”

“HEY!” Arthur scrambles back to his feet and charges Damian. “I said get away from her!”

Arthur tackles Damian to the ground and the two begin to roll around on the ground, throwing punches.  Security by this time has heard the commotion and immediately swarms the scene.  Marie can only watch in horror as her husband and ex-boyfriend both are dealt with by security.

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On Camera

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So the Best of Five Series between Katelyn Buehler and The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling is well under way and after Breakdown in London I went up one to nothing over Buehler and in doing so I exorcised some demons from my past.  I proved to myself and all of my doubters and critics out there that I am a major player, a future SCW World Champion, and that I am damn sure not the whiny little diva of the Independent Wrestling Cartel.  I am The Phoenix of Supreme Championship Wrestling!

Oh it felt good, damn good, to exorcise those demons and shut those doubters up for good.  But there is another advantage beyond that; or at least, people claim there is an advantage.  Whether it’s a playoff series in the NBA, NHL, or Major League Baseball, commentators and so-called “experts” will always comment on the importance of winning the first game of a playoff series, the implication being that winning the first game of a series gives a team some sort of psychological advantage.

Objectively, there is some advantage to winning the first game or match of a series. After all, you're up 1-0 in the series instead of being down 1-0, and you now only have to win two out of the remaining four in order to win the series.

And therein lies your dilemma, Katelyn.  Do the math and you’ll see that you have to beat me three out of the next four matches if you hope to win it all. I just need two more wins.  Advantage Phoenix.  But if you think I’m going to let this advantage go to my head, if you think I’m going to sit back and take it easy because I am ahead in the series then you’re still thinking of the OLD Marie Jones.  If you think I’m not going to take this match just as seriously as I took our last encounter then you still don’t understand just how much I’ve changed, even though you claim you have.

I don’t care about any advantages I have from being up one match to nothing.  Hell, I’m treating this match as if it’s still nothing to nothing.  So why do I bring up the advantage at all?  Because I am determined to shock the world in this series.  I am determined to make the ultimate impact in this series and prove to everyone in Supreme Championship Wrestling that Marie Annabelle Jones is FOR REAL!

No one will look past me and no one will ever doubt my world title credentials here in SCW when this series is over, because I am going to do everything within my power to beat you three straight matches and end this damn thing on a clean sweep.

Am I going to guarantee a clean sweep?  No, I’m not that arrogant.  But you can expect that I will bring every ounce of effort and energy within my body in an attempt to make it happen!  And if you hope to drag this out beyond match three, Buehler, then you’re going to have to really earn it.  You’re going to have to go to places you haven’t been to in a long time, because that’s exactly where I’m going to take you and where I’m going to take myself.

I’m taking my game to a whole new level at Unflawed.  You told me via social media that I was better than when we last fought in IWC?  I’m glad to hear you say that, but watch now as I raise my game and raise my performance level in each proceeding match in this series.  You’re going to get a new and improved Marie Jones with each match in this series.

Fact is that seeing the same old same old Marie Jones for five matches in a row doesn’t mean a damn thing in the grand scheme of things, even if I were to win the series that way.  I’m going to shock the world, entertain the fans, blow the roof off of arenas, and raise the bar of greatness each and every time I set foot inside that ring in this series between you and me, Buehler; because I’m not looking for a mediocre performance, I’m not even looking for a good performance.

I’m looking to have the best damn performance anyone could possibly have at Unflawed, at Breakdown, at each and every SCW event until this has ended and my arm is raised in victory, until all of the eyes of the SCW universe are opened and recognize that Marie Annabelle Jones is The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling.

Any loss at all, any stumble along the way, means I’ve failed in that quest.

Am I setting a high bar?  Damn right I am setting a high bar, because that’s who I am.  The Jones Family seeks only greatness.  We reach for the highest of the highs because we are competitors and we are all passionate about competition.

You are one of the best competitors I’ve been in the ring with, Katelyn.  That’s why I wanted this Best of Five Series.  I know this series could do wonders for either one of our careers.  Unfortunately for you, the spoiler alert is that I am going to win this series.

You’re already in the hole, Katelyn.  Now that hole is going to be dug deeper when I beat you at Unflawed and go up two matches to none.  Are you prepared for that inevitability?  Are you ready for what will happen next?  You told me after I beat you in London that it was “Game On”…will it still be “game on” after I beat you at Unflawed?  Are you still going to be that confident?

I hope you are.  I truly hope you are.  I want the best Katelyn Buehler has to offer.  I want the former IWC World Champion.  So if I do end up with a clean sweep, I want to know that I did it against the absolute best there is.  This series is my opportunity to prove that I have a legitimate claim to being among the best in this company.  By earning a decisive victory in this series, I will be able to make that case.

That’s what this Best of Five Series is about to me.  It’s about making that next big step in my career.  It means taking one more step closer to the main event.  And more than anything, it means proving that I belong.  Thus I cannot sit idly by and relax just because I have a one to nothing lead.  In fact, if anything, it means I have to fight even harder than before.

The pressure is on me, Katelyn, not you.  I won that all important first match and while that feels good, I know that the rug can easily be jerked out from under you, just as it was when I lost the Television Championship in my first title defense and how I lost the United States Championship in Puerto Rico.

I look back at those losses as learning experiences.  I realize how important it is to never ever rest on your laurels.  I rested on my laurels before and it bit me in the ass.  I swear to you that I will not rest on my laurels at Unflawed.  I will win because I have to win, Katelyn.  I have no other options.

We will bring down the house, just as we did in London, and if by chance you do win, know that you beat me at my best. But also know that I will retool, refocus, and learn from my mistakes.  Understand that even if you do manage to drag this out beyond match three, I will still be the one standing victorious with my hand raised when the series is over.

Whether it takes three matches or all five matches, the spoiler alert is that Marie Annabelle Jones will be your winner.