Post by Andrew Jacobsen on Mar 3, 2012 3:12:47 GMT -6
Open on Andrew in the gym, headphones in his ears as he lays back and does bench presses. He’s staring straight up at the ceiling intently, the faintly audible sounds of Judas Priest blaring from his headphones. One of the other gym patrons, a stockily muscled Latino man, is spotting him, and he silently notes each rep as beads of sweat roll down his face. After about ten or fifteen, his spotter takes the barbell from him, apparently surprising Andrew, as he sits up, pulling the headphones out of his ears.
“What the heck, Luis? I’m still good for at least another twenty reps.”
The other man shakes his head, racking the barbell.
“I can’t. You’ve been going flat-out for hours now, homes. You’re gonna hurt yourself.”
Andrew shakes his head, exhaling and grabbing his water bottle. He takes a swig before setting it back down.
“Nah, I got this. I need to be in top shape. I have a match at this week’s pay-per-view…funny, I haven’t gotten an e-mail from management yet. Must have been a server error…I know Danielle said I was getting a match, but she didn’t know who it’d be against.”
Luis shrugs, as Andrew towels off his hands.
“Why haven’t you asked her? Isn’t she your manager and stuff? She should know if you don’t.”
Andrew sighs, sitting down on the bench and shaking his head.
“She’s been busy all week. Some family reunion thing, out of the country. I didn’t want to bug her. Besides, she gets back into town today, so I can ask her then…”
As if on cue, his phone begins ringing. Andrew holds up a finger, pulling it out of his pocket and answering.
“Hello?”
Andrew nods, pausing for the person on the other end. His face lights up with a grin.
“Great. Who is it?”
Another pause. His expression goes from one of eager anticipation to a much more determined one, the excitement almost draining from his voice as he listens.
“…all I can say is thank God. I’ll talk to you when I get finished here. Sorry…I gotta double-time it now. Later.”
He hangs up, pocketing the phone and beginning to walk towards a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. Luis follows him, confused.
“Hey man, you know who you’re up against this week?”
Andrew nods, taking a deep breath as he stops before the bag. He squares up, cracking his neck.
“Yeah. And it’s about damn time.”
He fires a right into the bag as we cut to black.
”Will…thank you. Thank you for doing whatever you did to get this match. I know you’ve already run your mouth about this match, but I’m not going to know what you said until this is out there. Why? Because I don’t want to hear your excuses. I don’t want to hear what you’re going to say about me, because I already know this script. It’s the same one you’ve brought up every single time you’ve opened your mouth in the last month. You’re here for my sake. You think that I’m too soft, that I’m not going to get where I want to be with my attitude. Save the breath, save the energy, and save the audience…just don’t bother.”
“Will, I get what you’re saying. And there’s a kernel of truth to it. Maybe I am too much of a nice guy. But not everything has to be dark and gritty. Not everyone has to be a shades-of-grey antihero at best and a complete blackheart at worst. I refuse to believe that’s how things need to be. Call it naïve or foolish or whatever you want. You want me to embrace the darkness, embrace the hate? Screw that and screw you.”
“I made my mistakes. I’ve changed myself because people told me to, because they told me it’d get me far. I betrayed my ideals and my friends. Ander Carvetti was my friend. Remember Ander? Amy Marshall was my friend. I stabbed them in the back because I thought it was the right thing to do for my career. For once in my life, I wasn’t the boy scout, I wasn’t the guy who did the right thing no matter what. I was selfish, dammit. And you know how that worked out? I got the Young Guns dropped into my lap and promptly got dope-slapped around nCw. I kept up a pretense because I thought it was what I needed to do for me, and I suffered for it.”
“I’ve seen what happens when I give people room to breathe. I showed Doc mercy. I showed him that I was a human being, that I didn’t want to cripple him, and it emboldened him. When push came to shove, he tried everything he could to put me down, but I had had enough. He did the same thing as you: he talked about me like he knew who I was, how my mind worked…what was best for me. He acted like I should just turn into another one of the jackasses and vultures that roam the wrestling world these days…and I shut him down. He’s GONE. Even the people that hate me have sat up and taken notice of what I’ve done. Congratulations to you, Will. You lit a fire under my ass. But that fire is going to burn you to the ground.”
“Will, this isn’t just any match. It’s not just a pay-per-view match. Hell, this isn’t even just Will Washington’s return match, as much of an event as that would be. This is you putting your ass on the line. You’ve sat behind the commentary desk and insulted me, you’ve taken the mic and insulted me, you have done everything you can to provoke me except stepping in between these ropes. And I’m glad you’re taking that step. Anyone can say something. It takes a real man to back it up.”
“I’m not perfect, Will. I admit that. But I’ll take my brand of flawed over your brand any day. I’m done compromising myself. I’m finished with bowing to pressure. If you want to snipe at me, you had better bring me down with the first shot, because if you give me a moment to react I will cut you down. That’s your only warning. See you on Sunday…prepare for war.”[/i]
Fade back in on Andrew walking up the steps to his home with his gym bag over his shoulder, the sun dipping below the horizon in the distance. He cracks his neck as he walks in, tossing the bag to the side and looking around as he calls out.
“Hey Dani? I’m home!”
No response. He blinks, looking around, and walks towards the living room, calling out again.
"Helloooo, anyone home?"
He walks into the living room, seeing Danielle sprawled out on the couch. Andrew walks over, sitting down on the other end from her, and watches her. He speaks softly.
“Hey…you awake?”
She looks over at him, yawning and nodding blearily. Danielle shakes her head, sitting up and brushing some of her hair out of her face.
“Yeah…long flight, ‘s all…why the hell did we have to have the family reunion in Blackpool…I get it, Great-Grandma was sick, and it was good to see her, but it’s such a long flight…”
Danielle slumps back again, rubbing her eyes. Andrew shakes his head, standing up.
“Come on, I’ll get the guest room ready…I don’t want you hurting your neck because you passed out funny on the couch or anything…”
Danielle nods, standing up groggily. She takes a few steps forward before abruptly collapsing, totally drained. Andrew darts forward and catches her. She smiles up at him sleepily, mumbling in an almost drunk voice.
“Hello there, Mr. Man…thank you for catching me before I went bonk on the floor…”
Andrew shakes his head, picking up Chase’s legs with one arm and cradling her head in the crook of the other. He picks her up, eliciting a giggle from Danielle, and begins walking up the stairs with her. She closes her eyes, smiling, and Andrew smiles back, a bit embarrassed.
“Hey…sorry I didn’t talk more earlier…I need to work on that whole communication thing.”
Danielle nods at this, and Andrew winces.
“Mmhmm. It’s okay. Nobody’s perfect. Even me, an’ I’m pretty damn good.”
Andrew grins, walking down the hall and taking a left into the guest bedroom. He sets Danielle down on the bed and tries to walk away, but she clutches onto his arm, pulling and shaking her head. Andrew blinks, turning back to her and kneeling down. She smiles at him softly, opening her eyes.
“Andy? Would you, uhm…would you stay with me? I don’t wanna be cold, and you’re really warm…”
Andrew nods, smiling back at her, and steps around, rolling onto the bed from the other side. Danielle snuggles up to Andrew, smiling, and yawns, closing her eyes.
“Mm. Night-night, Andy.”
He grins down at her, ruffling her hair.
“Night, Dani.”
She takes his hand with one of hers, squeezing. He squeezes back lightly and lays back, looking up at the ceiling as we fade to black.
“What the heck, Luis? I’m still good for at least another twenty reps.”
The other man shakes his head, racking the barbell.
“I can’t. You’ve been going flat-out for hours now, homes. You’re gonna hurt yourself.”
Andrew shakes his head, exhaling and grabbing his water bottle. He takes a swig before setting it back down.
“Nah, I got this. I need to be in top shape. I have a match at this week’s pay-per-view…funny, I haven’t gotten an e-mail from management yet. Must have been a server error…I know Danielle said I was getting a match, but she didn’t know who it’d be against.”
Luis shrugs, as Andrew towels off his hands.
“Why haven’t you asked her? Isn’t she your manager and stuff? She should know if you don’t.”
Andrew sighs, sitting down on the bench and shaking his head.
“She’s been busy all week. Some family reunion thing, out of the country. I didn’t want to bug her. Besides, she gets back into town today, so I can ask her then…”
As if on cue, his phone begins ringing. Andrew holds up a finger, pulling it out of his pocket and answering.
“Hello?”
Andrew nods, pausing for the person on the other end. His face lights up with a grin.
“Great. Who is it?”
Another pause. His expression goes from one of eager anticipation to a much more determined one, the excitement almost draining from his voice as he listens.
“…all I can say is thank God. I’ll talk to you when I get finished here. Sorry…I gotta double-time it now. Later.”
He hangs up, pocketing the phone and beginning to walk towards a punching bag hanging from the ceiling. Luis follows him, confused.
“Hey man, you know who you’re up against this week?”
Andrew nods, taking a deep breath as he stops before the bag. He squares up, cracking his neck.
“Yeah. And it’s about damn time.”
He fires a right into the bag as we cut to black.
”Will…thank you. Thank you for doing whatever you did to get this match. I know you’ve already run your mouth about this match, but I’m not going to know what you said until this is out there. Why? Because I don’t want to hear your excuses. I don’t want to hear what you’re going to say about me, because I already know this script. It’s the same one you’ve brought up every single time you’ve opened your mouth in the last month. You’re here for my sake. You think that I’m too soft, that I’m not going to get where I want to be with my attitude. Save the breath, save the energy, and save the audience…just don’t bother.”
“Will, I get what you’re saying. And there’s a kernel of truth to it. Maybe I am too much of a nice guy. But not everything has to be dark and gritty. Not everyone has to be a shades-of-grey antihero at best and a complete blackheart at worst. I refuse to believe that’s how things need to be. Call it naïve or foolish or whatever you want. You want me to embrace the darkness, embrace the hate? Screw that and screw you.”
“I made my mistakes. I’ve changed myself because people told me to, because they told me it’d get me far. I betrayed my ideals and my friends. Ander Carvetti was my friend. Remember Ander? Amy Marshall was my friend. I stabbed them in the back because I thought it was the right thing to do for my career. For once in my life, I wasn’t the boy scout, I wasn’t the guy who did the right thing no matter what. I was selfish, dammit. And you know how that worked out? I got the Young Guns dropped into my lap and promptly got dope-slapped around nCw. I kept up a pretense because I thought it was what I needed to do for me, and I suffered for it.”
“I’ve seen what happens when I give people room to breathe. I showed Doc mercy. I showed him that I was a human being, that I didn’t want to cripple him, and it emboldened him. When push came to shove, he tried everything he could to put me down, but I had had enough. He did the same thing as you: he talked about me like he knew who I was, how my mind worked…what was best for me. He acted like I should just turn into another one of the jackasses and vultures that roam the wrestling world these days…and I shut him down. He’s GONE. Even the people that hate me have sat up and taken notice of what I’ve done. Congratulations to you, Will. You lit a fire under my ass. But that fire is going to burn you to the ground.”
“Will, this isn’t just any match. It’s not just a pay-per-view match. Hell, this isn’t even just Will Washington’s return match, as much of an event as that would be. This is you putting your ass on the line. You’ve sat behind the commentary desk and insulted me, you’ve taken the mic and insulted me, you have done everything you can to provoke me except stepping in between these ropes. And I’m glad you’re taking that step. Anyone can say something. It takes a real man to back it up.”
“I’m not perfect, Will. I admit that. But I’ll take my brand of flawed over your brand any day. I’m done compromising myself. I’m finished with bowing to pressure. If you want to snipe at me, you had better bring me down with the first shot, because if you give me a moment to react I will cut you down. That’s your only warning. See you on Sunday…prepare for war.”[/i]
Fade back in on Andrew walking up the steps to his home with his gym bag over his shoulder, the sun dipping below the horizon in the distance. He cracks his neck as he walks in, tossing the bag to the side and looking around as he calls out.
“Hey Dani? I’m home!”
No response. He blinks, looking around, and walks towards the living room, calling out again.
"Helloooo, anyone home?"
He walks into the living room, seeing Danielle sprawled out on the couch. Andrew walks over, sitting down on the other end from her, and watches her. He speaks softly.
“Hey…you awake?”
She looks over at him, yawning and nodding blearily. Danielle shakes her head, sitting up and brushing some of her hair out of her face.
“Yeah…long flight, ‘s all…why the hell did we have to have the family reunion in Blackpool…I get it, Great-Grandma was sick, and it was good to see her, but it’s such a long flight…”
Danielle slumps back again, rubbing her eyes. Andrew shakes his head, standing up.
“Come on, I’ll get the guest room ready…I don’t want you hurting your neck because you passed out funny on the couch or anything…”
Danielle nods, standing up groggily. She takes a few steps forward before abruptly collapsing, totally drained. Andrew darts forward and catches her. She smiles up at him sleepily, mumbling in an almost drunk voice.
“Hello there, Mr. Man…thank you for catching me before I went bonk on the floor…”
Andrew shakes his head, picking up Chase’s legs with one arm and cradling her head in the crook of the other. He picks her up, eliciting a giggle from Danielle, and begins walking up the stairs with her. She closes her eyes, smiling, and Andrew smiles back, a bit embarrassed.
“Hey…sorry I didn’t talk more earlier…I need to work on that whole communication thing.”
Danielle nods at this, and Andrew winces.
“Mmhmm. It’s okay. Nobody’s perfect. Even me, an’ I’m pretty damn good.”
Andrew grins, walking down the hall and taking a left into the guest bedroom. He sets Danielle down on the bed and tries to walk away, but she clutches onto his arm, pulling and shaking her head. Andrew blinks, turning back to her and kneeling down. She smiles at him softly, opening her eyes.
“Andy? Would you, uhm…would you stay with me? I don’t wanna be cold, and you’re really warm…”
Andrew nods, smiling back at her, and steps around, rolling onto the bed from the other side. Danielle snuggles up to Andrew, smiling, and yawns, closing her eyes.
“Mm. Night-night, Andy.”
He grins down at her, ruffling her hair.
“Night, Dani.”
She takes his hand with one of hers, squeezing. He squeezes back lightly and lays back, looking up at the ceiling as we fade to black.
