Standing Up

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Scene 1

Off Camera

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Marie Annabelle Jones has been through a great deal in her life.  There have been ups and there have been downs.  There have been struggles and there have been celebrations.  The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling has had quite the roller coaster ride during the course of her life, both personal and professional.  Jones has tried awfully hard, however, to keep the two lives separate.  Whatever personal issues she may be dealing with, she’d rather deal with them outside of the public eye.  She’d rather keep outside issues outside and inside the ring issues inside of the ring.  In her ideal world, Marie’s personal problems and professional problems would never cross over.

Unfortunately, Damian Daniel Toole was one issue that blurred the lines a great deal and to this day still blurs the lines for Marie Jones.

From the very beginning when they met in school until they trained together to be professional wrestlers their destinies seemed to be intertwined.  Their relationship appeared to be a rock solid one but that came to a crashing halt once Toole became too abusive and very possessive; thus Marie dumped him.

Possessive individuals don’t usually take rejection very well and yet it turned out to be many years without a word from Damian Toole.  Marie thought he was gone from her life forever.  But those hopes were dashed until he recently popped back up, showing up at SCW events in a fashion not unlike a stalker looking for his next victim.

Damian Toole claims he just wants to be friends again.  Marie, however, is unsure of this.  As a matter of fact, she really doesn’t want to have to deal with this at all.  She wishes he would go away, that this whole issue would just go away.  Granted, Damian claims he will go away if he is not wanted, but Marie somewhat doubts his honesty.

Marie just needs to get Damian out of her head.  And there is one surefire way of doing just that…her favorite local café…

The cafe lies ahead, its royal blue paint glistening in the first golden rays of the day.  Outside the sidewalk is surprisingly quiet despite the bustling and moving to and fro of the various pedestrians out and about on this day in Boston, Massachusetts.  The cafe itself looks inviting to Marie Annabelle Jones; on the other side of those café doors is warmth and soft jazz music playing inside.

A good cup of coffee is just what she needs to start the day off right.  It can help get her mind off of her personal matters as well as get her body ready for the training regimen that she faces in advance of Taking Hold of the Flame, a night in which she hopes to not only finish the series with Katelyn Buehler by defeating her in match four.

The series itself has been a back and forth struggle between Marie and Katelyn.  Marie won the first match after a devastating Ave Maria.  Katelyn bounced back in match two with a victory over Marie.  Then Marie took the lead after submitting Katelyn to the Angel’s Arch at WTF Wednesday in a submissions match.  Marie could end it here at Taking Hold of the Flame if she manages to put Katelyn away one more time.  But she’ll have to beat her for a third time, and that’ll be easier said than done.

Jones approaches the front doors and pushes them open.  She steps inside and immediately beholds the square tables with glass tops, chairs with a slight rustic design, a terracotta rustic tiled floor, large windows, and small vases of yellow carnation flowers on each table.  She turns to face the cashier, and to her delight there is no one in line to order at this point.  With a warm grin on her face, Marie walks up to the cashier…a brown haired woman who looks to either still be in high school or just started college…

“May I take your order, ma’am?”

“You’re new aren’t you?” Marie asks with a knowing but friendly grin.

“Uh, yeah; I just started the other day.”

“Thought so.” Marie responds, nodding her head. “You don’t look familiar AND you don’t know my usual order.”

“Sorry?” The woman answers with a sheepish grin of her own.

“Oh don’t worry, I’m just giving you a hard time.  I’m sure you’ll do great here.” Marie answers back. “Now as for my order, I’d like a French Vanilla Mocha Latte.”

“That’ll be five dollars and eighty-five cents, please.” The cashier informs Marie after punching the order in.  Marie quickly passes her a five dollar bill with a one dollar bill.

“Keep the change; consider it my apology for teasing you.” Marie answers with a wink.

“Thank you ma’am!  Your order will be right up…”

The cashier passes her a receipt.  Marie nods her head and goes to find a seat.  It is rather full and very few tables are empty but she does find one in the back corner.  But just as she is walking in that direction she hears an all too familiar voice.

“Marie…”

It can’t be….but after casting a gaze in the direction of the voice she confirms that her fears are true.  Damian Toole is here in this café…

“Funny seeing you here, Marie.” He says, speaking up again after Marie remains in a stunned silence for several moments. Finally, after regaining her bearings, she slowly starts to back away.

“No, no, no!” She shakes her head. “Not here!”

“Please don’t cause a scene, Marie.” He says softly.

“You are stalking me!  How did you know to come to THIS café?!”

“I didn’t.” He shrugs his shoulders. “This just happens to be MY favorite café.  Or did you forget?”

Marie sighs and shakes her head. As much as it pains her to admit, this is Damian’s favorite place; or one of them, at least.  That’s how she got started coming here.  This was one of their favorite hang outs.  It’s a wonder that she actually continued to come here and yet never bumped into him until today. Jones stares at him skeptically, still not believing what he’s telling her.

“We’ve been separated for several years now, Damian.  During that time we’ve never once happened to bump into each other, and yet here you are, at the same café as me, at the same time.”

“Dumb luck, I guess.” He announces, shrugging his shoulders.

“I don’t believe in luck.”

“Marie, please, just get your coffee and sit down with me.  I’d like to talk.”

“You want me to sit down and talk?” She shakes her head. “Not going to happen.”

“It’s a public place.  What am I going to do?”

As much as she hates to admit it, he does raise a good point.  If they are to have a good one on one conversation, this would be the place to do it; a public place where there are plenty of witnesses to keep Damian in line.  Marie just has to be careful.  Her identical twin sister, Kimberly Williams, already had a conversation with him once before while posing as Marie.  She can’t let on that the twin sisters pulled a switch on him.

“Fine, I’ll be right back.”

Marie goes back to the counter where the cashier is ready with the French Vanilla Mocha Latte.  Marie takes the cup from her and then turns and walks back over to Damian’s table.  Reluctantly she sits down across from Damian at the table.  He looks at her cup of coffee and smirks.

“French Vanilla Mocha Latte.”

“Of course.” She nods her head. “You know it’s my favorite.”

“You never change, Marie.”

“I’m not sure you change either, Damian.” She responds with some venom in her voice.  “Look Damian, I already heard you pour out your heart and soul once.  But those are just words and words mean nothing unless they are backed up by action.”

“I agree, that’s why I went to anger management classes.”

“Right, anger management.” She rolls her eyes. “Like that alone means anything, and that’s IF it’s true in the first place, because you could’ve just made that up like you made up so many other lies you told me when we were together.”

“I’M NOT LYING!”

His voice is raised just a little bit above normal.  It is certainly loud enough that most of those here at the café quiet down and turn to stare momentarily.  Normally Marie would have been embarrassed by this outburst but she remains calm and stoic.  She is completely in control of the situation as she folds her arms over her chest and glares across the table at Damian.

“Sure, of course you are not lying.  And that right there is a perfect example of your anger management classes working to perfection.”

“Look, I’m sorry,” he says, breathing slightly heavier than usual “it’s just that I’ve worked so hard to change and I’ve done it all for you, Marie!  I was hoping you’d appreciate the effort I made!”

Marie almost jumps out of her seat at the sound of those words…“for you”…so many times he used that same line to make her feel guilty and thus rope her back into his spell, back into his trap; but not this time.  Jones immediately shakes her head.

“No, this isn’t for me.  None of this is for me.” She points a finger at Damian. “This is for you, because you want me back.  You’re sick, Damian, and you think you can just go to some classes, getting a psychiatrist to sign off on it, and then you expect to get me back?”

“Marie…”

“Shut up.” She stands up with her coffee in hand. “You have to get one thing in your head, buster; it is over between you and I.  We are through.  I am happily married to Arthur Pond and there is no future for us.  Are we clear, Damian?”

Finally, Damian’s temper gets out of control and he bangs his fist on the table as he glares hatefully up at Marie.

“This isn’t over!”

“Oh it is over.”

Marie turns to walk away.  Damian stands up as well.  “Rethink this, Marie!”

“There’s nothing to think about.”

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Scene 2

Off Camera

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It felt good for Marie to finally say what she did to Damian.  Only one other time had she stood up so firmly to him and that was when she had dumped him.  She didn’t think she could ever muster up that kind of courage again but she managed it.  She stood up to him and told him it was over between them.

And yet, as much as she did not want to have to confront him, looking back she is really glad that she did confront him.  Meeting him face to face confirmed in her mind exactly what she had suspected from the very beginning; Damian had not changed at all.  He was still the same old temperamental, abusive, possessive person he had always been.  That fact alone means that friendship between them is out of the question.

Hell, as far as Marie is concerned, Damian is dead to her and that’s the end of that horrible chapter of her story.  She can now focus on other matters in her life, such as her family, more specifically her lovely sister Kimberly, who, unlike Damian, has grown, matured, and changed a great deal over time.  Kimberly even has a legitimate boyfriend now…

…well, legitimate may be stretching things ever so slightly.  Marie isn’t quite sure she approves of Kimberly’s boyfriend, a man named John Diaz.  But then again, Marie hasn’t met John yet.  And tonight seems like the perfect time to do just that.

Marie has been to Kimberly’s home before and, well, she’s not very impressed by the living conditions.  Marie will never tell Kimberly that.  But then again, that’s always been Kimberly’s style.  She never has been one to live the lap of luxury that the rest of the Jones family enjoys.  Kimberly prefers it rough and rugged.  The new home she purchased a few months ago is evidence of that.

The curtains at the window are thick with over a decade of grime. The light that struggles through fails to reflect from the once beige carpet that is more like a forest floor in both color and texture. The walls could be any shade at all, it’s just hard to tell, really, as dirty as they are and with as much paint that is peeling this very moment.  The furniture leaves a great deal to be desired but it is functional, nevertheless, with an old, rather uncomfortable looking ratty green sofa and matching equally ratty cushioned chair.

Marie is currently occupying the chair while Kimberly and her boyfriend John occupy the sofa.

“So, tell me John, what is it that you do for a living?”

“Oh nothing much, Marie.” He says with a sick grin on his face. “I just find men and women living rather successful and contented lives and I proceed to ruin those lives to the greatest extent.”

Marie’s eyes grow wide with shock as she turns to face Kimberly, who is laughing hysterically.

“Isn’t he great, sis?”

“Uh, well, he is something, that’s for sure, but I’m not sure ‘great’ is the appropriate word.”

“Uncomfortable with my answer, Ms. Jones?”

“Duh…” Marie answers, nodding her head.

“You asked the wrong question.  You asked what I do for a living and thus what I told you is what makes me feel ALIVE…” he winks.

“Ok, well, what do you do to make an income?” Marie asks, a little unsure if she got the question right this time.

“I’m a mechanic, among other small ‘part time jobs’ if you catch my drift.”

“I don’t think I want to catch your drift.” Marie says, sounding even more uncomfortable.  At this point Kimberly hops up off of the sofa and approaches her sister.  Kimberly sits on Marie’s lap.

“Don’t let Johnny boy here fool you, sis.  He likes to tease, don’t you babe?”

“Don’t give away my trade secrets, Kimberly.”

“Well that’s comforting…” Marie’s voice trails off slightly “…I think.”

“I knew you’d love him!” Kimberly leans over and hugs her sister’s neck briefly before getting up off of her lap. “But enough about us, how was your day, sis?”

“It was a good day for a workout, I can tell you that.” Marie says with a smile, gaining some measure of comfort in talking about wrestling, a subject she’s much more confident about than Kimberly’s new and strange boyfriend.

“That’s right, you got a Best of Five Series to finish off, don’t you?  Against Katelyn Buehler’s Day Off?”

“I hope to finish it off, and it’s just Katelyn Buehler.  The puns aren’t necessary, Kim.”

“Oh they aren’t?” Kim turns to John and looks at him inquisitively. “Are the puns necessary?”

“Most definitely.” He remarks, nodding his head. “And I must say, Katelyn Buehler’s Day Off is a wonderful pun, my dear.”

“See, we outvote you.” Kim turns back to face Marie with a confident grin on her face.

“Right…” Marie sighs and shakes her head.

“What’s wrong, sis?  Normally you like my terrible humor. Or at least you pretend to for the sake of not making me sad.” She sits back down on Marie’s lap. “So tell me what’s wrong, sis?”

“It’s nothing, Kim.” She shakes her head. “Seriously, it’s nothing.”

“You’re lying, Marie.” Kimberly frowns, staring at Marie stoically. “Never lie to a master liar, like me, especially not when you yourself are a terrible liar.”

John chuckles in response to Kimberly’s almost lecturing tone directed at Marie.  For her part Marie just rolls her eyes.

“It was nothing, Kim.  I mean it.”

“You saw him, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Marie says, shaking her head.

“What did I just tell you about being a terrible liar?”

“Fine!” Marie nods her head. “Yes, I saw him.  I saw Damian today.”

“You did?” Kimberly’s stoic gaze turns into a smirk. “How did that go?”

“It went great!” Marie exclaims with a happy grin of her own. “He tried to convince me he just wanted to be friends…”

“I hope you didn’t believe him.” John remarks.

“Of course not.” Marie shakes her head. “He made it painfully clear that he hadn’t changed at all.  He even lost his temper and made himself look like a damn fool in front of God and everybody.”

“Oh really?” Kimberly raises an eyebrow.

“Yes, and then I told him to buzz off.  I told him we were done.”

“Good for you, Marie.” Kimberly gets up out of her sister’s lap and then pulls Marie up to her feet.  She embraces Marie in a tight hug. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, Kim. It felt good to finally end this once and for all.  It felt good to finally stand up to him.”

The siblings continue to share in their tight hug but what Marie misses due to the hug is the evil glare that enters into the eyes of her identical twin sister.

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On Camera

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Well Katelyn, it certainly has been quite the Best of Series, hasn’t it?  You could literally say it’s been back and forth.  I beat you, you beat me, and then I went back on top after making you submit to the Angel’s Arch.  Now it’s match four at Taking Hold of the Flame.  I could end it all right here.  With one Ave Maria, or maybe another Angel’s Arch, or hell, a simple roll-up could end the series with me as the winner at three matches to one.

I warned you about this inevitability, Katelyn.  I told you it was coming.  I told you that no matter how good you are…and you are good, you have pushed me to my physical limits each time we have battled…that you would end up in this situation.  I spoke of the time when you would end up with your back against the wall and it would be win or go home.

I told you that I wasn’t ready to go home and what happened?  I battled back and put you down in the submissions match.  You still have one win against me and I have two against you. You need to beat me twice back to back in order to win this series and up until now you have not been able to do that.  All I need to do is beat you one more time and I win the series.

I have two opportunities to beat you, Katelyn.  But you have no further chances to waste.  You have to win or go home.

Spoiler alert…you’re going home.

You are not the 2016 Chicago Cubs who rallied from behind a deficit to win the World Series.  You are the 2003 Chicago Cubs who squandered a three to one series lead to lose the series.  You are not LaBron James in 2016.  You are the Golden State Warriors who squandered a three to one series lead to lose the series.

You want to know who and what I am?  I am smart enough not to underestimate you.  I smart enough not to walk into this thinking that I already have this in the bag.  I haven’t won anything yet and I know that full well.  I still have to beat you…

…but I have to beat you just one more time.  I know I can do it because I have both pinned you AND made you tap out.  All I have to do now is finish the job.  I have to beat you one final time and I know it.

I also know that you have the potential to be the LaBron James of this series, you have the skill and ability to come back from a deficit like this.  The thing is you can’t do it on your own.  You need just a little something extra to come back from behind and get the job done.  Do you know what that little something extra is?

Help from me.

That’s right, Katelyn.  The only way you’re winning this is if I get lazy and allow you to come back and beat me in this series.  And if that happens I won’t make excuses.  I will blame myself for the loss.

But that is just a hypothetical future, one that will not come to pass.  The reality that you face is a very determined Marie Annabelle Jones who wants to shut down this series, who wants to end this series, and stand victoriously as its winner; because I remember, Katelyn.  I remember why we started this series in the first place.

You were down and out.  So was I.  You had lost a few of your recent matches, I had just lost the SCW Television Championship.  We both wanted to bounce back and remind the world of how good we really were.  Over the course of these last three matches we’ve done exactly that.  We have proven why we are both former world champions and why we are threats to one day become world champion again.

And this fourth match in the Best of Five Series couldn’t be taking place at a better time.  Taking Hold of the Flame kicks off Rise To Greatness season.  Winning this series will provide one of us a lot of momentum heading into that event.

Key phrase: ONE OF US.

It’s been a long time since I had a world championship match, Katelyn, and beating you in a decisive three to one route would set me up for a championship match in the future.  And just imagine the momentum I would have if I beat you at Taking Hold of the Flame AND won the battle royal?

I can imagine it, Katelyn.  I can see it now; I was down and out at the start of this series, but after winning the series and winning Taking Hold of the Flame I’ll be on top of the whole damn world.  Once again I will be The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling and I’ll have all of the momentum in the world at my back pushing me up that metaphorical mountaintop towards that one goal all wrestlers strive for...

…greatness.