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November 25th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
The Panza is a traditional Italian restaurant in
Boston, Massachusetts. Marie Jones, together with her identical twin
sister Kimberly Williams and Marie’s good friend Julianne Buchanan, are
standing just inside the entrance of the restaurant, gazing at the dining
area. The restaurant was full of action; an old couple eating side by
side, one glass of wine each, studiously bent over their meals. A group of
young women in their thirties collapsing with helpless giggles as a stern woman
dining alone nearby looked on and frowned, businessmen in their grey suits
lighting up cigars, tourists, trying to decipher the menu, A family and their
teenage children. The noise level was high and the trio of ladies, who have
come here for a purpose, are finding it difficult to focus on their objective.
Being “objective” is another problem for these
three ladies. Julianne isn’t exactly thrilled with what they are planning
for this evening; it was difficult to convince her to come with them to see
Brandon Buchanan, her brother who is convinced that this Inner Peace
Enlightenment Retreat is nothing more than a cult. It was difficult for
Kimberly to convince Marie as well but for Marie this is about proving her
identical twin sister wrong. She is
convinced that there is nothing wrong with the retreat, she is convinced that
Kimberly is just overreacting to a bunch of nonsense and perhaps this is the
only way she can get her sister to drop this issue once and for all?
“Where is he?”
Julianne asks. Her usual happy, jovial demeanor seems to be gone,
replaced by an irritated, impatient tone. One can expect this,
considering she is seeing her brother for the first time in a long time. Kimberly scans the room and shakes her head.
“I don’t see anyone, but I’m sure he’ll be here.”
“I hope so.”
Julianne remarks. “I don’t want this to be a waste of my time.”
“It won’t be.” Marie
assures her friend with a wide grin and a shake of her head. “If anything,
Kimberly is always good to come through on her word. If she says your
brother will be here then he’ll be here.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis.”
Kimberly says with a wink. The Woman Scorned continues to scan the restaurant,
looking for Julianne’s brother Brandon. Eventually she spots a hand
waving clearly in the air. She focuses
on that hand and notices the familiar face of Brandon Buchanan.
“Excuse me?” The
trio of ladies look up and notice the maître d', a tall lanky young man,
standing there. “Do you have a reservation?”
“Oh, no reservation!” Kimberly
exclaims, motioning to Brandon. “We’re just meeting our friend over there!”
“Very well.” The
young man steps aside and allows Kimberly to lead Marie and Julianne further
into the restaurant, past other tables of customers and patrons, and finally to
the table where Brandon is seated. Kimberly sits down across from Brandon
and Marie sits down next to her twin sister.
This forces Julianne to sit next to her brother, whether she wants to or
not. It is abundantly clear that there
is a tension there, Julianne not sure if she can truly trust Brandon and
Brandon, not sure how he should approach his sister who he has not seen in a
long time.
“Brandon!”
Kimberly exclaims, breaking the ice finally after an awkward few moments of
silence. “Glad you could make it! Sorry we’re a little late!”
“It’s ok, I’m just glad you and Marie could help
make this happen.” Brandon says, turning awkwardly and
staring at Julianne. “Didn’t think I’d ever see you again, Julie.”
“You had every opportunity to see me, Brandon.” Julianne
snaps back at her brother with venom in her voice. Things could not have
gotten off to a worse start, Marie and Kim can both see this. A nice
distraction would be good; almost as if on cue, a cheerful waitress approaches
their table with what appears to be an electronic tablet in hand.
“Welcome to Panza! What may I get you to
drink?”
“Chianti Toscolo.”
Kimberly rolls her eyes at her sister’s wine
choice.
“Get me a Sam Adams.”
“Water for me.” Julianne
answers simply. Brandon nods his head.
“Water for me, as well.”
Marie can’t help but chuckle, as the waitress plugs
the orders in on her tablet. “I’ll be back later to get your meal order.”
With that the waitress walks off. Brandon is
still trying his best to break the tension between himself and his sister.
“You look good, Julie.”
“Cut the crap, Brandon.”
This is definitely out of the ordinary for Julianne and Marie notices it, as
does Kimberly. “If you wanted to see me you could have a long time ago.”
“I tried.” He
insists. “You did get my letters, didn’t you?”
“What letters?” Julianne
asks sounding more and more irritated but also sounding rather confused at the
same time. “What are you talking about, Brandon?”
“I sent you letters. I even tried to call the
retreat but no one ever picked up. I kept getting a busy signal.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Julianne
declares loudly, shaking her head in disbelief. “I never got any letters and
I never got any phone calls from anyone!”
With that, Julianne gets up and storms away from
the table. Brandon shoots up. “Julie, wait…”
He goes after her. This leaves Marie and Kim
alone at the table when the waitress returns with the drink orders. She
places the two waters next to where Brandon and Julianne were sitting. Then she passes a Sam Adams to Kimberly and a
wine to Marie.
“Do you two ladies know what you want to eat?”
Marie nods her head.
“I want a chicken panza, please.”
“And I want the braised beef short rib.”
The waitress deftly tapped the screen to transmit
the order straight to the kitchen, then she beamed at Kimberly and Marie with
the enthusiasm of someone new to the job before walking off to take care of her
other tables. Once she is out of sight, Kim turns to face Marie and
speaks…
“Don’t you find this suspicious?”
“What do you mean, the service?” Marie
asks curiously. “I mean, it is odd that she didn’t wait and take Julianne
and Brandon’s orders too.”
“Don’t play dumb, Marie.” Kimberly
shakes her head. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“Kim, look…”
“No, I’m not going to just sit idly by and watch
you and Julianne go down this dark path.” Kimberly
declares. “Brandon is right, this Inner Peace crap is nothing but a
cult. You heard it himself, he tried to send her letters and they never
got delivered. He tried to call but he never got through. That has to be suspicious, doesn’t it?”
“You’re assuming he’s telling the truth.”
“Oh I’m fairly certain he’s telling the
truth. He seems a hell of a lot more trustworthy than that Raul
character.” A devilish smirk spreads across the
face of The Woman Scorned. “Though I gotta admit, he’s good in bed.”
Marie’s eyes grow wide with shock. “Oh Kim you
didn’t…”
“I did!”
Kimberly nods her head enthusiastically. “I wasn’t gonna say anything but
clearly you’re not going to believe anything else or anyone else so may as well
throw it out there; I traded places with you. One night when Tommy took
you out, I went dressed as you to the retreat.
And your pal Raul came onto me. I
didn’t even have to provoke it or anything.
He wanted nothing more than my...well, your sweet ass in bed. And
he thinks he got it…”
“Oh my God…” Marie
shakes her head, her face grows red in pure embarrassment.
“Marie, sis, I hate to be the one to tell you this,
but Raul just wants you and Julianne for the sex. That’s it.”
“You invaded my privacy…” Marie’s
voice trails off as she shakes her head in disbelief “...I can’t believe you
didn’t trust me enough…”
“I trust you, Marie. It’s them I don’t
trust.” Kim insists. “I know a con when I see it and
turns out this is more than just a con. Your friend Raul is creating
himself a sex cult, nothing more and if you don’t believe me, ask him
yourself. But don’t say that I didn’t try to warn you.”
==========
November 26th, 2019
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
==========
The rather cryptic warning from Kimberly was enough
to shake Marie to her core. That still didn’t change the fact that she
was upset with her twin sister invading her privacy by sneaking into the Inner
Peace Enlightenment Retreat, fooling everyone, including Raul and Julianne,
into thinking she was Marie. Still, the mere possibility that Kimberly
could be right, that Raul is indeed a monster, a sexual predator, is enough to
make Marie at least confront this possibility head on. Convincing Julianne to do the same was
difficult, for she still refuses to believe anything bad, anything negative
about Raul Alfaro, the affable leader of this movement. Still, she trusts
Marie enough to follow the ginger down the hall towards Raul’s office in order
to confront him about these rather vile allegations.
“I’m not sure this is a good idea, Marie.” Julianne
says, her voice full of nerves and uncertainty. The Phoenix can
understand, as she has her own doubts, but she does want answers, one way or
the other.
“I’m not too fond of this idea, either, but what my
sister accused Raul of is despicable to say the least.”
“And you believe her?” Julianne
asks flatly. Marie responds with a nod of her head.
“Let’s just say that my sister would not lie to
me.”
“Yet she lied to everyone here at this retreat when
she took your place. This is the same sister who kidnapped you and took
your place once upon a time, am I right?”
As much as she hates to admit it, Julianne raises a
pretty valid point. Kimberly has a reputation for being sneaky and
conniving. Yet Kimberly has been trying
to improve herself and Marie knows this as well. “I know my sister has
a history, not a very good one either, but if what she is saying has the
tiniest kernel of truth about it, then I want to know.” Jones sighs.
“And if Kimberly is flat out lying, I want to know that as well.”
Julianne nods her head. “Fair enough.”
The Phoenix shrugs as she stands up and follows her
blonde friend further down the hall. A few moments later they come to a
black door with “Alfaro” engraved on the front.
Clearly this is the office of the owner and so-called leader of this
organization, Raul Alfaro. Jones doesn’t hesitate as she immediately
knocks on the door.
“Mr. Alfaro! It’s Marie and Julianne!
We need to talk!” Marie stands there and waits for
several moments but no response comes. She knocks again. The Phoenix notices that her blonde friend
Julianne seems to be a little more worried and nervous now.
“Maybe we should go,”
she says “we’re probably disturbing him.”
“No, we’re not leaving until we get answers.”
Marie insists.
A few moments later and the door opens. Raul
Alfaro is standing there in a clean white suit and black button up shirt
underneath. He smiles warmly at the two ladies standing in front of him. “Ah,
Marie, and Julianne, how lovely of you to come visit with me!”
“We’re not bothering you, are we?”
Marie asks nervously. Raul shakes his head.
“Oh of course not,”
he reaches out and runs his hand through Marie’s long red hair “I always
have time for my two special girls.”
Immediately warning flags are raised for
Marie. This seems to match with what Kimberly had told her. “Uh, Mr.
Alfaro, we met Julianne’s brother yesterday. According to him he’s been
trying to contact Julianne through calls and letters but nothing has come
through. Do you know anything about that?”
“Now Marie, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions…”
Julianne insists. Raul, though, shakes his head.
“It’s ok, Julianne. It is perfectly
understandable for young Ms. Jones to be curious.”
He leans over and kisses Marie on her cheek. “I like that in my girls…”
“You know I have a boyfriend, Mr. Alfaro.”
Marie points out, backing away from him. Raul approaches her
threateningly with a sick grin on his face. Julianne rushes up to jump in
between them.
“She said no!” Without
warning Raul grabs Julianne by her throat and shoves her to the floor. Jones
uses this momentary distraction to grab Raul and hip toss him to the
floor. Jones points an accusatory finger down at him.
“Kimberly was right about you! You monster!”
“Monster?” Raul
forces himself up. An angry sneer forms across his face. “I offered
you inner peace and I ask for so little in return.”
“Little? You want us, you want our bodies!” Marie
exclaims loudly.
“So what?!” He
points angrily towards the door. “Get out! Both of you get out!”
Julianne struggles to her feet. Tears are
flowing freely down her cheek as she rushes out of the room. Marie
doesn’t wait to confront Raul any longer.
She knows that her time is better spent with her friend now. Jones
catches up with her just outside of Raul’s office.
“This wasn’t supposed to end like this…”
Julianne’s voice fades off as she wipes tears from her eyes. Marie wraps
a comforting arm around her friend’s shoulders.
“You do realize that this was unavoidable, don’t
you? You saw what he was doing.”
“Yeah…” Julianne
sniffles “...it still hurts…”
“But you’re not alone.” Marie
embraces her in a tight hug. “I will always be there for you.”
==========
On Camera
==========
We open in front of an SCW Clarity pay per view
logo backdrop. “The Phoenix” Marie Jones enters from stage right and “The
Woman Scorned” Kimberly Williams enters from stage left. The identical
twins turn to face the camera and it is Marie who speaks up first.
“You know, Clarity is the name of this event but
I’m not sure it is an appropriate name. After all, considering the events
of the past several weeks, do you really believe that this clusterfuck of a
ladder match will settle anything?”
She points a long slender finger at the camera. “And
this is all squarely on the shoulders of Infamous, Ravyn and Christy and Autumn
and Ryan and…” Kimberly leans over and whispers something into Marie’s ear.
“Oh, right, thanks Kim. I forgot that Ryan and
Autumn weren’t part of Infamous.” Marie
winks playfully. “Yes, lets go along with that just for the sake of the
story!”
Kimberly and Marie both share a giggle. “You
have successfully managed to piss off everyone else in this match, including
Jordan and Starr, who just simply want to beat some revenge out of you.
And then there’s Kandis and Tommy, the only two outside of Kim and myself who
actually have a legitimate claim to a tag team title match. And then you guys go on and pull this stupid
little stunt at the live events? Trade the tag titles back and
forth. Oh but we’re not supposed to
think you four are aligned. Right…”
Jones winks and Kimberly laughs nastily.
“Evidence? There doesn’t need to be any further evidence of you four
being in bed together like a bunch of cheap whores. But then again,
that’s an insult to cheap whores.
Between the four of you it’s Ryan Watson and three sluts. And you think you’re so damn smart, you think
you’re so fucking wise but you are truly the stupidest of people I have ever
run into. Especially you, Christy...”
Kimberly shakes her head “...you are one dumb
little bitch. ‘Oh look at me! I
was tag champion for twenty four hours but at least it counts!
Yipeee!’ What a dumb little bitch. But that’s not the only evidence for your
stupidity.” She points to her sister Marie. “Because you just had to
target my sister. You had to go after Marie. What little control I had
just went out the fucking window.”
The Phoenix nods her head in agreement with her
identical twin. “And I am in full agreement with Kimberly. The time to
play by any kind of moral code or standard has ended. This is a ladder
match, after all, and that makes absolutely anything legal. Everything is
legal. All you have to do is climb that
ladder and secure the tag team championship.” Marie points to Kimberly who
waves jovially at the camera. “So when my fun-loving sister decides to maim
any of the four of you at Clarity, I will let it happen; because karma is a
bitch and so is Kimberly when you piss her off and trust me when I say that you
have royally pissed her off.”
“Then there’s Jordan and Jakey,”
Kimberly shrugs her shoulders “you know, I think we all want to see Infamous
get maimed. But know that when those four…”
“Two, Kim.” Marie
says jokingly.
“Oh, right,”
Kimberly slaps herself on the forehead “two, silly me, how could I
forget? Anyway, when those two sluts are maimed, and when it comes down
to it, you still stand in the way of me and Marie getting back what we want,
what we never should have lost. And I know that would be a great feel
good story, you two winning, but that isn’t going to happen.”
Marie steps forward. “The tag titles are coming
home with us, with Twin Magic. And there’s nothing anyone can do about
it.”
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