Post by Kathleen Conway on Apr 17, 2013 12:17:46 GMT -6
Tiffany Jones stands in the hall way of the luxurious Conway home Las Vegas, Nevada in her scarlet robe, with her hair wrapped up in a pink towel,having just taken her morning shower. She scoops up the morning mail, mostly junk, and finds a letter addressed to her. She opens it and holds onto the envelope in one hand along with the junk mail, whilst reading the letter in the other. As her eyes scan down, her smile only widens and she excitedly turns around and breezes into the family room.
Tiffany: Caleb! Have I got some news for -
Tiffany looks up and sees that it isn't her boyfriend who is sat spread out on the couch, wearing a red Hall Of FameAcer T-shirt, it is Jake's younger brother Richard. He offers a grin to Tiffany as he looks up from the carrot juice he is drinking.
Richard: So where's the fire?
Tiffany: Where's Caleb?
Richard shrugs.
Richard: Dunno. Maybe he's gone to train with Jake and Kathy, he has some sort of big match this week, right?
Tiffany nods.
Tiffany: Two actually...he's been really pushing himself lately, he wants to leave his mark on NCW before its too late, kinda sucks that time is against him.
Tiffany then goes over to sit on the couch as Richard shifts over. She collapses with the letter in her hand. Richard raise an eyebrow, in a mannerism which clearly reminded her of Jake.
Richard: What's that?
Tiffany: A job offer from the company Jake and Kathy have been negotiating with...
Richard: I didn't know you'd applied for any.
Tiffany: I didn't, Kay said she'd put a good word in for me. Looks like it paid off.
Richard: That was remarkably charitable of her.
Richard takes a few gulps to finish off his juice.
Tiffany: Yes, isn't it? Almost suspiciously so...
Richard: I'm sure she's just looking out for you. After all you can't stay here all your life, especially if one day you and Caleb decide to start a family of your own...
Tiffany sighs almost longingly at the thought.
Tiffany: Yeah, maybe...
Richard finally puts the empty glass to one side.
Richard: What do you see in him anyway?
Tiffany shrugs.
Tiffany: He's cute.
Richard: That simple, huh?
Tiffany: Yeah, sometimes it is.
Richard: Maybe it isn't my place to say, but from what I've seen in the short time I've been here it doesn't seem like he's as taken with the idea of starting a family as you are. He just strikes me as a puppy more in love with the idea of dating you because of who you are related to...
Tiffany: You know what? You're right, it isn't your place. Besides who are you to criticise? You've been single for how long?
Richard: Hey, I'm not single. I'm married to my job, there's a difference you know...
Tiffany giggles.
Richard: All I'm saying is I think you could do much better...
Tiffany: What? You mean like you?
Richard: Well, now that you mention it, yes, why not? At least I have my own house and New York is great.
Tiffany: Wow, you're unbelievable. That was low even for you.
Richard: Hey, just calling it as I see it.
Tiffany: Even if I was tempted, which I'm not saying I am by the way, I still remember how your brother treated me.
Richard: Yes, so do I and I still think he's an idiot for it.
Tiffany: Nice recovery.
Richard: It's true.
Tiffany: Maybe.
Richard: Don't you think its about time a man put you first for once?
Tiffany: It'd be nice, but that's just the nature of his job I guess. I can't be selfish and deny him his place in the spotlight for me.
Richard: So is that why you want to share it with him? Is that your compromise?
Tiffany: If it has to be, yes...
Richard: Tell me Tiff, honestly? Do you love him?
Tiffany: I think I do.
Richard: But you don't know for certain?
Tiffany: That's not a fair question. Who honestly knows when they're really in love?
Richard: Your sister for one, my brother for another.
Tiffany: Yeah, well, they're just lucky I guess, I never have been. I've just tried to make the best of what I have.
Richard: That's no way to treat your heart, Tiff...you can't just settle for Caleb because he is there.
Tiffany: What other choice do I have? I don't want to die alone, if Caleb Lockwood is the best I can do, I'm okay with it...
Caleb: I'm not...
Tiffany snaps her head to one side to see Caleb standing there.
Tiffany: Caleb?! How long have you been standing there?
Caleb: Long enough...
Richard: Well, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll leave the two of you alone...
Richard gets up and walks past Caleb who is just stood still looking at Tiffany, who herself looks guilty.
Jasmine, I don't care if you believe me or not, and the smart money says you won't, but I was just as surprised as you to see my name across from yours this week in a second chance match, a second opportunity to seize the day, and that is just what I intend to do this Sunday. I intend to make the most of my opportunity Jazz...just like you.
Last week you made a lot of presumptions about me because by your own admission, you never watched what I had to say. Well, for your sake I hope you're watching right now Jasmine because I'm about to set you straight on a few things, including what you think I'm all about, and where you think I come from. I've got news for you, I don't have to have grown up in the hood or lived on the streets to know tragedy. I've had to deal with my fair share of tragedy believe me, I've seen my fair share of dead bodies, I've seen people close to me pass away before their time and just because I don't broadcast every gruesome detail of everything I've lived through in some heart-wrenching emotional plea whilst I make my bid for the Starlets World Championship, you feel entitled to sit there and tell me that I just wouldn't understand.
But that's just it, Jasmine. I do understand. I understand all too well. I left my former career in law enforcement not because I fell in love with a professional wrestler and thought oh gee, um, ah I could do that, but because I wanted to escape the spectre of death, and I wanted to escape it precisely because I couldn't be like you Jasmine, I couldn't anaesthetise myself to it. I couldn't brush it off, there were nights I'd be awoken by the smell of gun smoke or freshly spilled blood especially when I'd been forced to pull the trigger, to take a life. I felt the dead weight of every corpse as it threatened to bury me with it.
Your problem Jasmine is that you think you're the only one who's felt pain, you think you're the only one who's seen the ugliness of this world and you think you're the only one who has lived her life. I am not the silver spoon princess that you and all my critics think I am, if I was I wouldn't be facing you this week. It was well within my power to say screw it, I deserve to face Zelda at the final Pay Per View of the company and just announce myself as the number one contender for her title this week on Collision, but I didn't do that. If I have another match against Zelda next month, I want to earn it, just like I have earned everything in my life and in this business.
The fact is Jasmine, whatever you may think of me on a personal level, you cannot deny that five of us lost that Coliseum last week, and of those five, it was the two of us that earned the right to be in this match for another chance to leave this company as its final Starlets World Champion, and after what I saw with my own eyes at Sovereign, the heart, the determination and the drive you carried yourself with throughout that match, I wasn't surprised one bit when Jake turned around and told me you know, Zelda may have won, but by God, Jasmine deserves another chance. I couldn't agree more, I was willing to step aside and give you the spotlight one more time and just announce you as the final number one contender. I was ready to go back to my life as a loving wife and mother first. I'm a wrestler second, just as always have been.
This match is just another example of the kinds of opportunities my husband and I have given you in recent months, and for you to still think I expect to be handed anything quite frankly is insulting. I don't want the world or your head on a silver platter Jasmine, not unless I earn it, and if I cannot earn it against you this Sunday, I wish you luck on the rest of your journey to Zelda and I hope you get the ending you deserve. Will you say the same if I beat you in the middle of the ring? I guess we'll find out soon enough.
What you call my arrogance, I call my pride and apparently it makes you so sick that last week you saw fit to throw a half-hearted threat of ending my in-ring career at Sovereign, but hey, the fact that you never managed it and that I'm still here, ready willing and able to face you for my shot at redemption, must mean ultimately that half-hearted threats are all you have towards me, and for a Starlet of your talent and ability between those ropes, that's disappointing Jazz. As disappointing as it all is however, it is perhaps not surprising, especially when you consider the fact that I've beaten you twice, once with my soul mate and once with a woman I wouldn't trust with a bottle opener. Quite the contrast, isn't it? Now before you cross your ample cups and remind me about how those victories were in a tag match and this isn't a tag match even with my husband in my corner, you'd do well to remember that on both occasions I made it quite the point to make sure it was your peachy ass that ended up on the mat looking up at the lights at the end of the match.
I've pinned you and I've watched you pass out in my grip, perhaps for the sake of variety, however the fact remains that, rather ironically, you gave up on me long before I ever gave up on you. I've given you your opportunities, because frankly that's all I've ever been about, and all I ask in return is that you don't begrudge me if this Sunday I end up clawing one back from you, not because I want to shatter your World Championship dreams and not because I necessarily need to realise my own, but rather because you owe me. I've been more than charitable to you and the entire division, and perhaps you believe I should institute one final act of charity towards you, and I could, quite easily in fact. But by the same token, who could really blame me if I decided that this Sunday was the day this charity finally came to collect?
Kathy is throwing stiff kicks and punches at a bag as her husband watches, grinning and it is not entirely clear whether he is enjoying the view or the passion on display or whether it was actually some combination of the two.
Jake: COME ON BABY!
Kathy: Is there any real point?
Jake: What do you mean?
Kathy: Come on, honey, we both know what they'll say about this match. That I only got it because of who I'm married to...
Jake: Perhaps, but you and I know you more than deserve this chance after your performance last Sunday in the Coliseum, the way I saw it it really was a three horse race between you, Zelda and Jasmine...and this match seemed like the fairest way to decide a contender...
Kathy: I hope Jasmine sees it that way...
Jake: Who cares what Jasmine thinks?
Kathy: I do. She's made all these unfair assumptions about me and my motives. She's questioned my integrity. I can't just let it stand...
Jake: Then don't.
Kathy suddenly stops and brings the swinging back to a halt with her hands before turning to face her husband.
Kathy: What if I'm just not meant to win the big one?
Jake: Babe, you can't allow yourself to think like that. It's thoughts like that which cost me so many of my matches against Adam...
Kathy: And it still bugs you, huh?
Jake: Of course it does, at this point its a matter of professional pride. I may not get my chance at redemption against Adam Knite, but at least I can give you a shot at yours. One of us at least deserves the chance to silence our critics who say we'll never achieve something.
Kathy: I just hope I don't let you down...
Jake: You never have...
Kathy walks over to her husband and puts her arms around his neck.
Kathy: Thank you.
Jake: What for?
Kathy: For oh so many things. For being you. For giving me this chance. For believing in me when nobody else would. For putting in a good word for my sister before we begin the next chapter of our adventure together...
Jake: Yeah, well, Caleb and Tiffany deserve to have a chance to build their own lives together, just like we did and if helping to make them more self sufficient and secure then when they leave our house, I can finally convert one of the spare rooms into a Batcave with a TV, a Playstation,,,it'll be great....
Kathy smiles.
Kathy: You mean nursery...
Jake: Domino's a bit old for that now, don't you think?
Kathy: Maybe she is...
Kathy has a twinkle in her eye as she grins.
Jake: *** damn Kelly, getting pregnant...
Kathy: Stop it, you know its not her fault. We've talked about this before, her pregnancy has just got me thinking about it again.
Jake: I know, I know...so you wont settle for a chance to be the final NCW Starlets Champion instead then?
Kathy: Honey, I wouldn't settle even if I WAS the final Starlets Champion...
Jake: Well, it would be cool to have a son.
Kathy: Yes, a baby boy would be wonderful to have...
The couple smile at each other and at the thought of having a son together, as Jake has his arms around Kathy's waist and she has hers around his neck.
Tiffany: Caleb! Have I got some news for -
Tiffany looks up and sees that it isn't her boyfriend who is sat spread out on the couch, wearing a red Hall Of FameAcer T-shirt, it is Jake's younger brother Richard. He offers a grin to Tiffany as he looks up from the carrot juice he is drinking.
Richard: So where's the fire?
Tiffany: Where's Caleb?
Richard shrugs.
Richard: Dunno. Maybe he's gone to train with Jake and Kathy, he has some sort of big match this week, right?
Tiffany nods.
Tiffany: Two actually...he's been really pushing himself lately, he wants to leave his mark on NCW before its too late, kinda sucks that time is against him.
Tiffany then goes over to sit on the couch as Richard shifts over. She collapses with the letter in her hand. Richard raise an eyebrow, in a mannerism which clearly reminded her of Jake.
Richard: What's that?
Tiffany: A job offer from the company Jake and Kathy have been negotiating with...
Richard: I didn't know you'd applied for any.
Tiffany: I didn't, Kay said she'd put a good word in for me. Looks like it paid off.
Richard: That was remarkably charitable of her.
Richard takes a few gulps to finish off his juice.
Tiffany: Yes, isn't it? Almost suspiciously so...
Richard: I'm sure she's just looking out for you. After all you can't stay here all your life, especially if one day you and Caleb decide to start a family of your own...
Tiffany sighs almost longingly at the thought.
Tiffany: Yeah, maybe...
Richard finally puts the empty glass to one side.
Richard: What do you see in him anyway?
Tiffany shrugs.
Tiffany: He's cute.
Richard: That simple, huh?
Tiffany: Yeah, sometimes it is.
Richard: Maybe it isn't my place to say, but from what I've seen in the short time I've been here it doesn't seem like he's as taken with the idea of starting a family as you are. He just strikes me as a puppy more in love with the idea of dating you because of who you are related to...
Tiffany: You know what? You're right, it isn't your place. Besides who are you to criticise? You've been single for how long?
Richard: Hey, I'm not single. I'm married to my job, there's a difference you know...
Tiffany giggles.
Richard: All I'm saying is I think you could do much better...
Tiffany: What? You mean like you?
Richard: Well, now that you mention it, yes, why not? At least I have my own house and New York is great.
Tiffany: Wow, you're unbelievable. That was low even for you.
Richard: Hey, just calling it as I see it.
Tiffany: Even if I was tempted, which I'm not saying I am by the way, I still remember how your brother treated me.
Richard: Yes, so do I and I still think he's an idiot for it.
Tiffany: Nice recovery.
Richard: It's true.
Tiffany: Maybe.
Richard: Don't you think its about time a man put you first for once?
Tiffany: It'd be nice, but that's just the nature of his job I guess. I can't be selfish and deny him his place in the spotlight for me.
Richard: So is that why you want to share it with him? Is that your compromise?
Tiffany: If it has to be, yes...
Richard: Tell me Tiff, honestly? Do you love him?
Tiffany: I think I do.
Richard: But you don't know for certain?
Tiffany: That's not a fair question. Who honestly knows when they're really in love?
Richard: Your sister for one, my brother for another.
Tiffany: Yeah, well, they're just lucky I guess, I never have been. I've just tried to make the best of what I have.
Richard: That's no way to treat your heart, Tiff...you can't just settle for Caleb because he is there.
Tiffany: What other choice do I have? I don't want to die alone, if Caleb Lockwood is the best I can do, I'm okay with it...
Caleb: I'm not...
Tiffany snaps her head to one side to see Caleb standing there.
Tiffany: Caleb?! How long have you been standing there?
Caleb: Long enough...
Richard: Well, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll leave the two of you alone...
Richard gets up and walks past Caleb who is just stood still looking at Tiffany, who herself looks guilty.
Jasmine, I don't care if you believe me or not, and the smart money says you won't, but I was just as surprised as you to see my name across from yours this week in a second chance match, a second opportunity to seize the day, and that is just what I intend to do this Sunday. I intend to make the most of my opportunity Jazz...just like you.
Last week you made a lot of presumptions about me because by your own admission, you never watched what I had to say. Well, for your sake I hope you're watching right now Jasmine because I'm about to set you straight on a few things, including what you think I'm all about, and where you think I come from. I've got news for you, I don't have to have grown up in the hood or lived on the streets to know tragedy. I've had to deal with my fair share of tragedy believe me, I've seen my fair share of dead bodies, I've seen people close to me pass away before their time and just because I don't broadcast every gruesome detail of everything I've lived through in some heart-wrenching emotional plea whilst I make my bid for the Starlets World Championship, you feel entitled to sit there and tell me that I just wouldn't understand.
But that's just it, Jasmine. I do understand. I understand all too well. I left my former career in law enforcement not because I fell in love with a professional wrestler and thought oh gee, um, ah I could do that, but because I wanted to escape the spectre of death, and I wanted to escape it precisely because I couldn't be like you Jasmine, I couldn't anaesthetise myself to it. I couldn't brush it off, there were nights I'd be awoken by the smell of gun smoke or freshly spilled blood especially when I'd been forced to pull the trigger, to take a life. I felt the dead weight of every corpse as it threatened to bury me with it.
Your problem Jasmine is that you think you're the only one who's felt pain, you think you're the only one who's seen the ugliness of this world and you think you're the only one who has lived her life. I am not the silver spoon princess that you and all my critics think I am, if I was I wouldn't be facing you this week. It was well within my power to say screw it, I deserve to face Zelda at the final Pay Per View of the company and just announce myself as the number one contender for her title this week on Collision, but I didn't do that. If I have another match against Zelda next month, I want to earn it, just like I have earned everything in my life and in this business.
The fact is Jasmine, whatever you may think of me on a personal level, you cannot deny that five of us lost that Coliseum last week, and of those five, it was the two of us that earned the right to be in this match for another chance to leave this company as its final Starlets World Champion, and after what I saw with my own eyes at Sovereign, the heart, the determination and the drive you carried yourself with throughout that match, I wasn't surprised one bit when Jake turned around and told me you know, Zelda may have won, but by God, Jasmine deserves another chance. I couldn't agree more, I was willing to step aside and give you the spotlight one more time and just announce you as the final number one contender. I was ready to go back to my life as a loving wife and mother first. I'm a wrestler second, just as always have been.
This match is just another example of the kinds of opportunities my husband and I have given you in recent months, and for you to still think I expect to be handed anything quite frankly is insulting. I don't want the world or your head on a silver platter Jasmine, not unless I earn it, and if I cannot earn it against you this Sunday, I wish you luck on the rest of your journey to Zelda and I hope you get the ending you deserve. Will you say the same if I beat you in the middle of the ring? I guess we'll find out soon enough.
What you call my arrogance, I call my pride and apparently it makes you so sick that last week you saw fit to throw a half-hearted threat of ending my in-ring career at Sovereign, but hey, the fact that you never managed it and that I'm still here, ready willing and able to face you for my shot at redemption, must mean ultimately that half-hearted threats are all you have towards me, and for a Starlet of your talent and ability between those ropes, that's disappointing Jazz. As disappointing as it all is however, it is perhaps not surprising, especially when you consider the fact that I've beaten you twice, once with my soul mate and once with a woman I wouldn't trust with a bottle opener. Quite the contrast, isn't it? Now before you cross your ample cups and remind me about how those victories were in a tag match and this isn't a tag match even with my husband in my corner, you'd do well to remember that on both occasions I made it quite the point to make sure it was your peachy ass that ended up on the mat looking up at the lights at the end of the match.
I've pinned you and I've watched you pass out in my grip, perhaps for the sake of variety, however the fact remains that, rather ironically, you gave up on me long before I ever gave up on you. I've given you your opportunities, because frankly that's all I've ever been about, and all I ask in return is that you don't begrudge me if this Sunday I end up clawing one back from you, not because I want to shatter your World Championship dreams and not because I necessarily need to realise my own, but rather because you owe me. I've been more than charitable to you and the entire division, and perhaps you believe I should institute one final act of charity towards you, and I could, quite easily in fact. But by the same token, who could really blame me if I decided that this Sunday was the day this charity finally came to collect?
Kathy is throwing stiff kicks and punches at a bag as her husband watches, grinning and it is not entirely clear whether he is enjoying the view or the passion on display or whether it was actually some combination of the two.
Jake: COME ON BABY!
Kathy: Is there any real point?
Jake: What do you mean?
Kathy: Come on, honey, we both know what they'll say about this match. That I only got it because of who I'm married to...
Jake: Perhaps, but you and I know you more than deserve this chance after your performance last Sunday in the Coliseum, the way I saw it it really was a three horse race between you, Zelda and Jasmine...and this match seemed like the fairest way to decide a contender...
Kathy: I hope Jasmine sees it that way...
Jake: Who cares what Jasmine thinks?
Kathy: I do. She's made all these unfair assumptions about me and my motives. She's questioned my integrity. I can't just let it stand...
Jake: Then don't.
Kathy suddenly stops and brings the swinging back to a halt with her hands before turning to face her husband.
Kathy: What if I'm just not meant to win the big one?
Jake: Babe, you can't allow yourself to think like that. It's thoughts like that which cost me so many of my matches against Adam...
Kathy: And it still bugs you, huh?
Jake: Of course it does, at this point its a matter of professional pride. I may not get my chance at redemption against Adam Knite, but at least I can give you a shot at yours. One of us at least deserves the chance to silence our critics who say we'll never achieve something.
Kathy: I just hope I don't let you down...
Jake: You never have...
Kathy walks over to her husband and puts her arms around his neck.
Kathy: Thank you.
Jake: What for?
Kathy: For oh so many things. For being you. For giving me this chance. For believing in me when nobody else would. For putting in a good word for my sister before we begin the next chapter of our adventure together...
Jake: Yeah, well, Caleb and Tiffany deserve to have a chance to build their own lives together, just like we did and if helping to make them more self sufficient and secure then when they leave our house, I can finally convert one of the spare rooms into a Batcave with a TV, a Playstation,,,it'll be great....
Kathy smiles.
Kathy: You mean nursery...
Jake: Domino's a bit old for that now, don't you think?
Kathy: Maybe she is...
Kathy has a twinkle in her eye as she grins.
Jake: *** damn Kelly, getting pregnant...
Kathy: Stop it, you know its not her fault. We've talked about this before, her pregnancy has just got me thinking about it again.
Jake: I know, I know...so you wont settle for a chance to be the final NCW Starlets Champion instead then?
Kathy: Honey, I wouldn't settle even if I WAS the final Starlets Champion...
Jake: Well, it would be cool to have a son.
Kathy: Yes, a baby boy would be wonderful to have...
The couple smile at each other and at the thought of having a son together, as Jake has his arms around Kathy's waist and she has hers around his neck.