Off-Camera

Saturday, March 2, 2019
Laguna Beach, California
Home of Kate Bass and Eavan Maloney
9:45 PM PST



For nearly a week now, Seleana Zdunich had called this house her home away from home. Her “sisters,” Kate and Eavan, had invited her to stay here when they had found out about her rather spartan living conditions following her wife’s attack upon her at Climax Control some weeks back. The picture of her cot in her nearly empty office back at the Zdunich Zoological Gardens had almost gotten her yelled at, both Eavan and Kate staring at it in utter disbelief. How could she live like that?

Seleana had just shrugged and mumbled something quickly about the animals making her feel at home and, to an extent, that was the truth. Being amongst the animals at the zoo was soothing to her and did make her feel like she was at home in Christchurch again but it was not the whole truth. What she had not pointed out, what she had somehow managed to leave out when discussing the zoo and her office was the pair of photos sitting on her desk that had been visible in the picture she had shown Kate and Eavan. The photos that were the only real decoration in the entire office. The photos that were both sitting in cheap frames that read “Mi familia” on them.

On the right sat one that showed Seleana’s side of the family all together at her youngest sister’s wedding in December. It showed Seleana, her wife, Christina, her parents, Fredrik and Jannicke, her middle sister, Zenna, Zenna’s longtime fiancée, Linnéa Lacroix, Linnea’s younger sister, Alissa Lacroix, Alissa’s fiancée, Kelly Taylor, the bride, Katra, Katra’s wife, Adriana, Adriana’s father, Joey Nitro, her now late mother, Chloe Nitro, Seleana’s cousin, Maja Lindström, Maja’s boyfriend, Matthias Lindeman, another cousin, former wrestler Alexi Priest, Alexi’s husband, Robbie Priest, Alexi’s mother, Scarlett Zdunich, Robbie’s younger brother, Scotty Valentine and Scotty’s wife, Angelica Valentine. Down in front of the group are the children of the Priests and Valentines, seven-year-old Scarlett Priest, six-year-old Amber Priest, six-year-old Kaari Valentine and the three-year-old triplets, Jesse, Elias and Eric Priest.

On the left sat one that had only four people in it. Seleana and her wife Christina standing behind and hugging the younger couple, Christina’s daughter Brittany Williams, and Brittany’s girlfriend, Haylie Jo “Halo” Annis, Seleana with her arms around Halo, Christina’s around Brittany and all four wearing joyous smiles as if everything was perfect with the world.  

The photo on the right was the only photo with everyone in it, and likely the last photo to include Chloe Nitro before her death a little over three weeks later and thus, held a special place in Seleana’s heart. The photo on the left had been from a random moment on a trip out the little family had gone out for a dinner where the original destination had been too crowded and they had ended up at Pizza Hut instead.

Now, Seleana stares at the photo of her office on her cell phone as she sits on the bed in the guestroom she had been set up in, her long black Ohana Park t-shirt covering the shorts she was sporting and nods slowly, a smile coming over her face.

Seleana Zdunich: Hemma…

Just as she starts to set the phone down, it chimes at ehr alerting her to a new message’s arrival. Moving the phone back up closer so she can better read the screen, she nods and taps for the message’s origin and sees the name of the sender staring back at her.

Christina Zdunich.        

Seleana nods again and taps for the message.

“Hi hun.”

Seleana frowns. Was this going to be a random “hello” message or the start of another round of trying to get her to do something again? The phone chimes and Seleana sighs.

Seleana Zdunich: Skit också!

She nods to herself and taps for the new message.

“Its me Crystal I hate discussing feelings but I fucking love you so there I said it”

Seleana’s mouth falls open in surprise. What was this and what was her wife playing at now? Before she can ask herself another the question, the phone chimes again and Seleana taps for the new message.

“Big bad crystal loves you”

Looking down at her feet, Seleana inhales and closes her eyes. Why was this so confusing to her? Why did it seem like neither of them really understood what all was going on here? Opening her eyes, she stares at the message and finally taps out n answer.

“Jag älskar dig.”

She presses the send button and waits for the reaction. That was one phrase in Swedish that Christina should be familiar with by now given how often Seleana had said it at this point in their relationship. Almost like clockwork, the phone chimes again. Seleana nods and taps for the answer.

“I love everything about you”

The phone chimes almost immediately with yet another message and Seleana taps before she thinks better of doing so.

“And the reason i push you away is because whenever ppl get too close to me they end hurting me so i come out and push them away so they dont have a chance to do. So”

Seleana frown at the seeming cliffhanger ending only for the phoento chime again.

“Every reltaionship i have been in i have always been hurt in some shape or form”

Seleana frowns, almost glaring back at the phone as she taps back her answer.

“How you see me?”

She presses send and then glares at the phone, almost grinding her teeth as she waits for this answer, hoping beyond hope that Christina will not pick this as a time to run away without explanation. The phone chimes to assuage those fears.  

“Someone im jealous of. Friends with everyone and ppl dont see me like that so it hurts and i get mad”

Seleana’s glare takes on an air of confusion as she taps back her own answer.

“How you see you?”

She presses end and the answer chimes back almost as if Christina had it ready to go before the question was even asked.

“Me im worthless”

Seleana almost wants to scream at the sight of the word “worthless.” She shakes her head and quickly types out an answer, sending it off as quickly as she can.

“Why you worthless?”

The answer comes back faster than Seleana was prepared for it to.

“I just am”

Seleana glares in stunned disbelief, shaking her head as she does so. What was this answer and what was Christina doing with it? Seleana quickly taps out her own answer and sends it off.

“That is not a reason.”

Shaking her head again, Seleana lets the phone lower to the bed. She knew the entire Crystal persona was a defense mechanism for Christina’s seemingly hardwired self-hatred but was it really that deeply ingrained in her?

And had it been passed on to Brittany as well?  

Seleana closes her eyes, not really wanting to dwell on that second question even as the phone chimes at her again. She raises the phone up and looks at the new message.  

“Because no matter what i do its never good enough”

Shaking her head, the phone chimes at ehr again and she taps to see the next one.

“Nobody will ever like me so i have to act tough to be something special”

Seleana snagrily types out her answer.

“You stop that! You were always good enough for me! All you ever had to do to make me happy was wake up in the morning!”

As her hands shake with anger, the phone chimes back at her.  

“But this is me Crystal speaking so you know Christina is estactic about you”

Sighing heavily, sadness joining the anger, Seleana taps out her response.

“So, you hit me?”

Her eyes close, knowing no matter what the answer is, it will not stop the anger and hurt coursing through her body right now. Truth be told, she almost did not want Christina to answer this one. The chime that signals the answer’s arrival makes her shake just a little bit more. What would this answer be and how much was it going to make things worse? Opening her eyes, Seleana stares at the phone and accepts the new message.

“I...I told you when people get to close they usually betray me”

Before she can even fully take it in, the phone chimes again.

“Im sorry”

Seleana’s eyes almost bug clean out of her head. Was she seriously saying what it looked like she was saying? Resisting the urge to just throw the phone and scream, Seleana taps out an answer.

“I did not.”

She stares at the phone and looks away in anger.

Seleana Zdunich: För fan i helvete!  Din jävla…

Her free hand balls into a fist and punches the mattress. The phone chimes nsd she looks at the new message.

“I know but its just a defense mechanism”

Seleana almost can’t believe her eyes.

Seleana Zdunich: Och det ska göra det bättre?

She shakes her head incredulously wishing Christina could hear her right now as she screams at her inside her head.  

Seleana Zdunich: Din jävla…

She looks away and pounds the bed with her fist again.

Seleana Zdunich: Skojar du med mig?

Almost as if she actually could hear her wife screaming in anger, the phone chimes with another message from Christina.

“sel?”

Glaring at the phone, Seleana swallows the bile she really wants to spew and answers.

“Ja?”

The phone chimes back at her.

“after super card win lose or draw we talk?”

Seleana gawks, gritting her teeth as the phone chimes again.  

“i been alone, no one wants to be around me”

Seleana Zdunich: Och vars fel är det?

Seleana swallows her bile again and taps out an answer.

“Ja, okej.”

Not waiting for anything else, Seleana turns her phone off and sits it down. A second later, Eavan appears at the doorway.

Eavan Maloney: Whose fault is what?

Seleana looks over at the small blonde woman as she stands there in wearing a black American Murder Log t-shirt that’s so big on her that it extends to her knees.

Seleana Zdunich: I…  sorry, did not mean to make noise.

Seleana bows her head in shame and Eavan nods to the phone.

Eavan Maloney: Crystal?

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: She was trying to give apology, explanation.

Eavan nods slowly.

Eavan Maloney: And since you screamed out, “Are you kidding me,” at one point, I’d assume it did not go well?

Knowing that Eavan had heard everything, Seleana looks up in a panic.

Seleana Zdunich:  ävla fan… did I wake little one?

Eavan shakes her head with a reassuring smile.

Eavan Maloney: No, I only heard you because I was in the hallway.

Eavan makes her way over to Seleana and sits down next to her on the bed.

Eavan Maloney: How are you?

Seleana sighs heavily.

Seleana Zdunich: Why will she not just… let have time?

Eavan leans in, embracing Seleana. After a couple of minutes, Eavan manages an answer that will not just be her piling on Crystal no matter how much she really wants to knowing that will only make things worse.  

Eavan Maloney: You’ll figure it out, Sarabi. I have faith in you.

Seleana smiles and embraces Eavan back.

Seleana Zdunich: Tack…  

The two blonde women separate and nod to each other.

Seleana Zdunich: Systrar alltid.

Eavan smiles.

Eavan Maloney: Systrar alltid.  


Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Zdunich Zoological Gardens
9:41 AM PST



This was it, this was the day Seleana had been waiting for now since Christina had told her it would happen and she had confirmed it was not just some kind of hyperbolic story that her estranged wife was spinning to try and get back into her good graces again. Sarabi the lioness from Christchurch, the lioness Seleana had raised and bottle fed as a baby was coming to the Zdunich Zoological Gardens to live permanently and Seleana couldn’t be more excited for this. There had always been a special relationship between Seleana and this lioness going back to when the poor thing had been rejected as a cub by her mother in the wild. Sarabi had been rescued when she found by activists that were working against poachers in the area and Ohana Park had agreed to take her. Seleana had made her a personal project and by the time she had left Ohana Park, Sarabi had been a thriving juvenile with no real problems integrating into captivity. As she looks over the paperwork, her assistant from the quarantine area, Dr. Michelle Chavez, better known to everyone else in the zoo as “Chavy” arrives.

Dr. Michelle Chavez: Mufasa passed his check-up and is being taken to his habitat. We are ready for Sarabi in quarantine now.

Seleana nods happily. This was very good news as no one there ahd wanted Mufasa and sarabi to meet in the quarantine area simply because they could smell each other’s pheromones.

Seleana Zdunich: Is the area being washed thoroughly?

Dr. Chavez nods.

Dr. Michelle Chavez: It’s being given it’s second treatment now to make sure if we bring in Sarabi or the tigers we might get soon into there, Mufasa’s smell will not affect them at all.

Seleana smiles broadly again.

Seleana Zdunich: You are doing wonderful work, Chavy. Thank you for everything you do.

Dr. Chavez smiles even more brightly, her eyes moistening as she blushes.

Dr. Michelle Chavez: Is it true you met this lioness as a cub?

Seleana nods excitedly.

Seleana Zdunich: She was so small, Chavy, other places had said it was worth the time and resources to transport her from where she was found. They bring her to us at Ohana Park and others could not believe she was so small. I feed her with baby bottle.

Dr. Chavez’ hands pull in to her chest.

DMZ: Awwww, that’s adorable!

Seleana nods as the chief of security, a large black man that had played football in college and then become a police officer, comes to her office door.  

Security Chief Clay Jones: Mrs. Zdunich?

Seleana and Dr. Chavez turn to face him, Seleana nodding in acknowledgement.

Seleana Zdunich: Yes, Clay?

She pauses and then frowns in momentary confusion.

Seleana Zdunich: Or, should I call you Officer Jones?

The man smiles.

Security Chief Clay Jones: You’re the boss, if you wanna call me Clay, you can call me Clay.

Seleana nods, visibly touched.

Seleana Zdunich: Thank you, Clay, what is it you need?

He nods behind him.

Security Chief Clay Jones: There’s two blonde women here, one pushing the other in a wheelchair and with a small child. They said they were here to see you and are family?

Seleana smiles.

Seleana Zdunich: is the woman in the wheelchair pregnant?    

The officer nods.

Security Chief Clay Jones: Yes, Ma’am, she is.

Seleana nods happily.

Seleana Zdunich: Chavy, I’ll meet you in a few minutes in quarantine for the in-take for Sarabi.

Dr. Chavez nods.

Dr. Michelle Chavez: Yes, Ma’am.

Seleana turns to face the officer as Dr. Chavez takes her leave of the room.

Seleana Zdunich: Okej, Clay, take me to these women.

The officer nod and the two walk to the side entrance to find exactly who Seleana had been expecting, Eavan Maloney, Kate Bass and little Trinity.

Seleana Zdunich: They are family, Clay, please allow them inside.

The officer nods, smiling happily.

Security Chief Clay Jones: Yes, Ma’am.

He opens the door and Eavan pushes Kate through the entryway, Clay closing the door behind them. Seleana moves and hugs all three girls.

Seleana Zdunich: It is so good to see you! Clay, do we have someone available to walk with us in case there is a problem with Kate?

The officer nods.

Security Chief Clay Jones: Yes, Ma’am, I can do that myself.

Seleana’s smile somehow manages to brighten even more than it already was.

Seleana Zdunich: Tack, Clay.

Eavan and Kate both nod gratefully to the big man and he nods back in kind.

Seleana Zdunich: So, did you see much before you come here?

Eavan shrugs.

Eavan Maloney: We saw what you can see from the path to the door?

Seleana nods and leads them further into the catacombs as it were, leading them through to her office for a second as she steps inside to gather some paperwork. As she does so, Eavan and Kate glance inside and see the cot sitting against the wall and just shake their heads. They had hoped that was an exaggeration. Seleana finds the paper she is looking for and turns to face them, smiling like a giddy child.

Seleana Zdunich: I cannot believe the day is here!

Eavan and Kate both smile, little Trinity gurgling on Eavan’s back in her babybjorn. Seleana leads the group down the hallway and around a couple of turns before they find Dr. Chavez waiting with a small crew of five or six other people.

Seleana Zdunich: Are we ready, Chavy?

Dr. Chavez nods as a truck starts to back into the slot that leads into the holding pens. The crew of six other people spring into action as Seleana, Dr. Chavez, Kate, Eavan and Clay watch through the big clear windows. The crate clearly carrying a live animal is pulled from the truck and placed so that it can only be opened into the holding pen area. Commands are called out, hands are placed on doors so they spring the animal loose into the pens and remove the crate before escape can be made.

Seleana Zdunich: They look ready.

Dr. Chavez nods in agreement.

DC: They will check to make sure this is the proper crate and everything is set…

The lead crewman nods back to Dr. Chavez.  

DC: We have the everything is go signal.

Seleana nods and they all watch as the door to the crate is slid up and out of the way revealing the lioness inside. For a second, it looks like she won’t leave the crate, content to stay there and not be moved any further. Seleana walks over to the door into the holding pen and leans down to the lioness can see her.

Seleana Zdunich: Hej, Sarabi! Jag älskar dig, söt tjej!

The lioness looks up and springs from the crate, moving over and staring at Seleana in the doorway. Seleana stands up and waves to the lioness even as the crew men close the crate, slide it out of the way and close the door to the pen behind Sarabi.  

Seleana Zdunich: Min vackra tjej!

Sarabi jumps up and paws at the door, looking like a child begging for its mother.

Eavan Maloney: Aw, she’s beautiful…

Kate nods her agreement as do both Clay and Dr. Chavez. Seleana nods to sarabi and places her hand against the glass of the door. Sarabi places her paw on her side directly opposite the hand.

Seleana Zdunich: Hej…

Eavan and Kate look at Seleana and both of them just star beaming.

Eavan Maloney: Look at that…

Clay and Dr. Chavez both smile at the sight as well.

Dr. Michelle Chavez: I’ve never seen her smile like that before.

Eavan nods to the big cat.

Eavan Maloney: It’s her baby…

Clay nods his agreement.

Security Chief Clay Jones: Sure looks like that to me too, Ma’am.

Dr. Chavez nods as well.

Dr. Michelle Chavez: It’s beautiful…

Sarabi paws at the glass for another second and then drops down to look at her surroundings some. Seleana takes the opportunity to step away from the door and come back around to her friends.

Seleana Zdunich: It is real…  she is really here…

Eavan nods, Kate, Clay and Dr. Chavez joining.

Eavan Maloney: She’s beautiful!

Kate nods her agreement.

Kate Bass: She is…

Clay nods his own agreement.

Security Chief Clay Jones: You have a rather beautiful girl there, Mrs. Zdunich.

Seleana can’t stop smiling like a kid on Christmas morning.

Seleana Zdunich: Tack…

She turns from them and stares out at the lioness, watching her inspect her new temporary home from corner to corner.

Seleana Zdunich: I cannot believe she is here…

Dr. Chavez nods, almost crying herself.

Dr. Michelle Chavez: I promise, we will take special care with her, Mrs. Zdunich.

Seleana turns to face Dr. Chavez and hugs her.

Seleana Zdunich: Tack, Chavy. I trust you with my girl.

Separating herself from Dr. Chavez, Seleana turns back to watching Sarabi checking her place out. The lioness sens the next fifteen minutes looking around before finding what she decides is comfortable spot and laying down there. It i then that Trinity starts to register her restlessness. Seleana nods, still smiling and turn to her friends.

Seleana Zdunich: Come, I should show you more before the little one decides my zoo is the worst place on earth!  

Dr. Chavez nods understandingly as Seleana leads her friends out to the zoo and spends the rest of the day showing them around.



On-Camera

Friday, March 8, 2019
Laguna Beach, California
Home of Kate Bass and Eavan Maloney
5:01 PM PST



The camera opens on Seleana Zdunich standing in a driveway, a black Italian sports car sitting not two feet away from her and a duffel bag sitting next to it with the SCW World Bombshell Championship belt peeking out of the bag. The car and bag both seem to match the long sleeved black leather mini dress she’s wearing as do her black heels and Seleana nods, allowing her blonde hair to cascade down her shoulders in the light. She nods to the bag and stares down at the shiny prize inside.      

Seleana Zdunich: There it sits…

She walks over and gently nudges bag with ehr foot to try and show the big shiny belt sitting on top of the other stuff inside.  

Seleana Zdunich: The Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Championship…

Seleana gently opens the bag slightly more so the camera can get a good, full view of the championship belt in question even as it gleams in the light from the outside of the house behind her.

Seleana Zdunich: That belt has not left my bag since I came into possession of it. Others have looked at it, others have seen and even touched it but it was inside my bag as they did so.

Stepping back from the bag, Seleana looks into the camera and nods again.

Seleana Zdunich: And do you know why this is? Do you know why I have not taken the belt out and held aloft? Why I haven no held it above my head in triumph and screamed to the hills? Why I have not strapped it to the top of my car and driven around the streets of Los Angeles for all to see? Why, whether I’m at the Zdunich Zoological Gardens in Los Angeles, cruising by what I should call home in the Hollywood Hills, coming back here to Laguna Beach or anywhere else i might be lately, it has remained out of view unless I am asked about it?

She nods as the camera zooms in tightly.

Seleana Zdunich: Do you?    

The camera pulls back out wide and gets a shot of Seleana, the car and the bag all at once.

Seleana Zdunich: Alicia Lukas should because she said it out loud. Dani Weston should because she said similar near two weeks ago when that belt came to me and changed the dynamic of the upcoming match. Crystal Hilton should because she is who made it so…

She nods, looking mildly upset and borderline angry.

Seleana Zdunich: Why is that belt in my bag and not parading around on my shoulder or around my waist or acting as a special glossy hood ornament or as a special way to bling my ride?

She bites her bottom lip and looks to the sky for a second before shaking her head and looking back into the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: I have had this conversation with several people already and I will have it again now even if I am the only one speaking! It is because this is when Christian Underwood gest to both laugh and cry at the same time! He will cry because he still has not broken and defeated me. In fact, I have not lost since I break his face and he made a point of trying to do my career harm. I should be singing that song from the hills as well. The man who runs this company and tried to terminate my contract and then took special interest in ending my career…

She ndos to the bag and the shiny gold belt now glistening in the light.

Seleana Zdunich: I stand before you, the Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Champion and it is a place I worked a year to even get the opportunity to look at it here in SCW. I came in as Crystal Hilton’s Swedish Barbie Hood Ornament and now I am the one in possession of THE Championship, about to main event an event with a Roman numeral in the title and yet… still..

Both of her hands rise up, ball into fists and she throws her head back in exasperation.

Seleana Zdunich: I have been in the ring with the likes of Delia Darling, Cat Riley, Trinity Jones, Mercedes Vargas, Dani Weston, Aviana Faith, Portia Alexander, Apple Coren, Jessie Salco, Kate Steele, Evie Baang, Brittany Williams, Crystal Hilton, Alicia Lukas, Amy Marshal, Parand Ara and The Metal Maniacs and whether they said it or not, every one of them had that look in their eyes that I was not really invited to the party. I was not one of them…

Her head snaps back into position allowing ehr to glare into the camera, her left hand falling to her side while her right hand opens to point accusingly into the camera’s lens.

Seleana Zdunich: No, I was nothing but a tall zookeeper at best and at worst, I was nothing but Crystal Hilton’s blonde trophy, used to match the shiny belt she held last year. They all saw me as an accessory Crystal would eventually get tired of and toss aside like I was just another bracelet she had bought on some spree to make herself feel better this week when something else went badly for her. Even after we were married last June, the company we work for did not notice any changed and referred to me as her fiancée as if that was the whole of my identity in this world! I was known not as a wrestler, not as a competitor, not as a championship contender, not as a sister, wife, stepmother, cousin, daughter or even a zookeeper nicknamed Sarabi…

Her pointing hand swings out towards the car.

Seleana Zdunich: Nej, I was known only as Crystal Hilton’s armpiece and I was treated as such by everyone right up until I walked out of that building in Long Beach with that belt in MY bag!

She points down at the belt.

Seleana Zdunich: And instead of changing that perception, instead of making everyone finally look at me as my own person with actual abilities, all that did was make them look down upon me even more…

Seleana looks down at the ground, shaking her head in seeming shame.

Seleana Zdunich: Dani Weston and Alicia Lukas both looked at me as a usurper and all but called me a thief. They see me as a blight on their golden championship that needs to be cleaned off. Alicia says she likes me and thinks I worked to get here and yet, when she was done talking, I still had not earned anything! I am still nothing to her but something Crystal Hilton had imported in to make herself look good!

She looks up, her hands going to her hips as she looks off into the distance.

Seleana Zdunich: Dani Weston thinks so little of me, she cannot even bring herself to say anything towards me or much of anyone else. Alicia looked down on her for not coming off like a champion and yet she is still closer to one than I am and I am the one who has the belt!

Her hand raises up again to point into the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: They both understand why the belt stays in my bag but the one who should understand better than anyone is the reason it stays there, my wonderful… beautiful…

She claps her hands and looks away, almost laughing a cold, mirthless laugh.

Seleana Zdunich: Backstabber of a wife, Crystal Hilton, because she is the one who made sure with her interference that no one would come out of Long Beach talking about Dani Weston, no one would come out talking that much about Alicia Lukas and they would not really be talking about me either, they would all come out talking about you and even if it was not good…

She shrugs angrily.

Seleana Zdunich: Even bad publicity is good publicity, ja?    

Seleana moves her glare back to the camera, seemingly trying to burn through it with her eyes.

Seleana Zdunich: You made sure that all eyes and more importantly, the spotlight, was all on you. Anaheim brings a four-way match for the Sin City Wrestling World Bombshell Championship between four women who have all held the championship in the last year and yet all anyone speaks of is which of us will be the one to knock the purple out of your hair so badly that the front row of fans looks as if they were extras in a remake of Purple Rain!

She turns and faces the car.  

Seleana Zdunich: And as much as you claim otherwise behind closed doors, or in text messages or whatever else, the truth is you are loving every second of this because it is what you have always really wanted! You worked for a singular goal and unlike Alicia Lukas, who wants to make this championship mean more than anything else on the planet, unlike Dani Weston who wants to prove she is the best she can be and the best SCW has to offer and unlike me, where I want to prove I am capable and worthy of the respect everyone else freely gets, you want everyone to just look at you so that you can tell yourself that everyone is jealous and wishes they were you even if they say otherwise because, come on, you are Crystal Hilton and it has to be true, ja?

She turns and nods to the camera knowingly.  

Seleana Zdunich: And look at where you were before I punched Christian Underwood…

Her gaze moves back to the car.

Seleana Zdunich: You were nowhere. No one was talking about you anymore. Brittany had suffered an injury and taken some time off. I was working to improve but we were all standing on the outside looking in when it came to championship standing. Alicia Lukas was coming in as a Champion of such standing none one questioned her abilities and Dani Weston was THE Champion with the spotlight on her here in SCW and you…

Seleana shrugs dismissively.

Seleana Zdunich: You were somebody who used to be that and it drove you crazy. I know because you talked about it often. Then I punch Christian Underwood and the spotlight comes to me because he fired me and Mark Ward bring me back. Christian decides he needs to give me his full attention and you…

Again, Seleana shrugs dismissively.

Seleana Zdunich: You were still nowhere. Alicia and Dani put on duels  that will be talked about for years to come to prove who was the best and who should carry the banner into the future and thus rightfully claimed the spotlight and I had it thrust upon me and you could not stand it so you waited until an opportunity presented itself to get yourself back there and all you had to do was assault ME!    

She turn and glares angrily into the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: I am your wife, the one you pledged to love and honor above all others last year and barely six months into our marriage, attack me and leave me laying for the promise of one more trip into the spotlight!

She waves her hand dismissively to the right.

Seleana Zdunich: Let’s not pretend this is really about a championship for you because it was never about that. The only reason you want that championship is because it means everyone has to pay homage to you as the ne sitting on the throne until somebody else comes and knocks you off of it! You want the attention that comes with the belt, not the belt itself. It is a useless trinket to you and that is why Alicia and Dani are so offended by your presence in this match and why they will do everything in their power to make sure Jessie Salco has not talked her way into never challenging for it ever again!  

She pauses, shaking her right hand and index finger as she turns away from the camera and faces the car again.

Seleana Zdunich: But that was not good enough for you, was it?

She shakes her head some more, almost pointing accusingly at the car as if it was her wife made metal.

Seleana Zdunich: No, you are Crystal Hilton and the spotlight was not bright enough just being in the match that would main event Blaze of Glory VII, you needed more and that was why you came down and robbed me of something all over again at Climax Control!

She nods to herself and then turns to face the camera, her index finger still extended, still pointing in an accusatory manner.

Seleana Zdunich: And it is what that represents to me that hurts the most, Estrellita. It means you did not trust me to get us there on my own. You did not trust me to bring the championship home where you could walk around and act like one of those mothers with the “My child is an honor student at” bumper stickers as if their child’s achievement is really their achievement and claim my championship standing as yours because you trained and married me. You had no faith in me…

Her hand drops and then sweeps to the right as if brushing a load of peprs off a desk that isn’t there.  

Seleana Zdunich: And that means that just like everyone else I mentioned earlier, you STILL do not see me as one of you yet!

She points angrily into the camera again.

Seleana Zdunich: YOU still do not see me as somebody worthy of respect! You, MY own wife, do not see me as somebody who is worthy of burning in your light even as you speak to me of things we were supposed to do like the Hollywood Angels!

Looking back down to the bag, she stares at the championship and then nods firmly.

Seleana Zdunich: On Sunday in Anaheim, that belt will finally leave my bag. It will walk to that ring at Blaze of Glory VII and it will then sit ringside as Alicia, Dani and I take turns playing let’s shatter the Crystal and, as you mentioned, this is the perfect place to do that because it is YOUR town. You claim Los Angeles as your town even though you are no more from here than the rest of us are. Dani is from Florida, Alicia is from Georgia and I am from another country and we all come to where this daughter of Detroit became just as plastic and overly shiny and calculated for attention as everything else that comes from the Hollywood area! On Sunday, Alicia, Dani and you all get your chance to take that away from me and get what you want…

She nods knowingly and then points to herself.

Seleana Zdunich: But I also get the chance at what I want and what I want is to knock you all off of your high horses, knock you out of the spotlight you so crave, and knock the respect out of Alicia and Dani and finally take my place as my own and prove I deserved to not just be in the ring with all of you, but I deserved my place on that poster, in this match and on that list of champions that my name is on now! I get my chance to prove that belt sitting down there is mine and I have the right to call myself Champion!

She nods and points to herself one more time.

Seleana Zdunich: This is my chance and none of you are taking that away from me!    

 Off-Camera

Sunday, February 10, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Zdunich Zoological Gardens
11:57 PM PST


Climax Control had finished earlier and Seleana Zdunich’s team had won with Seleana getting the victory personally over her wife, Christina “Crystal Hilton” Zdunich while their respective partners, Kate Steele and Jessie Salco, had each done their parts to try to win as well. As Seleana sits down at her desk wondering what she should do next, her phone chimes at her with a message. Seleana glances down and sees the namer at the top.

Christina Zdunich

She nods and clicks on the message to see what the woman could possibly want now. Two weeks on from the assault pushed on by Christian Underwood and one week from Seleana’s own retaliation, the match seemed to have helped pushed the toll on their relationship.  

“...you beat me.”

Seleana stares at the message and frowns in confusion. Was this Crystal being upset and staggered that she had lost to her own student/wife or was this her having some other realization? Should Seleana be worried? Should she be angered? Before she can decide one way or the other, another message chime alerts her to a follow-up.    

“go ahead rub it in tell me im worthless”

Seleana’s mouth falls open in shock. The real Christina was bleeding through the Crystal Hilton veneer. For all of Crystal’s supposed Hollywood trappings, for all of her supposed glamor, for all of her bravado, here was proof that it was all as painted on as the make-up she wore in her movies to change her appearance for a character. Seleana shakes her head as the chime goes of a third time.  

“tell me i suck”

Seleana’s lips curl, annoyance creeping into the worry already there. This was Crystal trying to reassert her dominance and find a way to put the mask of arrogance back on. If Seleana told her what she was asking to hear, one of two things would happen and neither of them was good. Either Crystal would not, smirk and wave it around to show the world that she was not the bad guy because her wife, this supposedly sweet and loving thing that everyone thought of Seleana, was just as much of an arrogant bitch as she was and she could proudly proclaim herself the wounded party to the world while braying loudly about her impending title shot that Christian Underwood was paying her as a favor for attacking Seleana and giving him a way to actually hurt her for breaking his face all those weeks ago.

The other option was equally unappealing as it meant Christina would take the words to heart and do something drastic, opening up another Pandora’s box of questions no one would really wish to deal with. Seleana shakes her head and stares at her phone.  What should she say to that? She pauses and looks up at the ceiling, pondering it all. What did she really think of her wife right now? She continues to think on this question for another couple of minutes, starting and then stopping and deleting a response three times before she finally settles on one and sends it off.  

“And why would I do that?”  

She sets her phone down knowing full well that the response will either wait for hours or there will not be one, per se, and the next message will just come in and act like nothing has happened in the interim. This was a favorite tactic though Seleana was unsure if it was really a tactic or just Christina being Christina about things.

Seleana Zdunich: Vad ska du göra nästa stjärna?

She sighs and sits down into her rather basic office chair. The others who worked here had been surprised that she had opted for the cheapest option instead of getting herself what amounted to an overstuffed leather throne of sorts but Seleana had thought all she needed was a small chair that could move slightly so why bother getting the big ostentatious showpiece when she wasn’t planning on showing anyone anything when it came to her office? She nods to the phone and then glances over to the small cot she’s called home for the last week and nods slowly.

Seleana Zdunich: Jag kommer att bli bra.

Slowly, she moves her gaze back over to her phone. There was no real surprise that there was no response to what she’d sent. This was normal operating procedure for Christina no matter what persona she was trying to put on for everyone else, especially when she knew she’d made a mistake. Sighing sadly, Seleana nods to herself.  

Seleana Zdunich: Vi kommer att bli bra.

Her eyes close and she sits back in her chair, wondering how long it would be until she actually felt the truth of that statement. Would they really be alright? Would she?  Or would Christian Underwood finally have his victorious bit of revenge and manage to break their marriage just for spite’s sake? Again, she nods to herself.

Seleana Zdunich: Så småningom…

How long would “eventually” be?

 

Monday, February 11, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Zdunich Zoological Gardens
10:11 AM PST


Seleana had been up for about an hour, making use of the shower facilities and making a morning meeting that none of her employees had expected her to be at. She had smiles for them and taken a seat in the back corner, remaining quiet as the meeting went on around her for the better part of forty minutes. She was pleased to see how well everything seemed to be running, not bothering to interrupt anyone and only lingering for a few minutes after to talk with the supervisor she had in charge of most of the day to day operations. The woman, an experienced operations manager named Tanya Marsh, was married to the snake handler and seemed to know ehr stuff. She’d quickly managed to cover her thoughts and questions with Tanya before returning to her home away from home to contemplate what she would do next. Not being booked on the next Climax Control and being on an off week in Galactic Women’s Wrestling as well was giving her almost what felt like too much time to sit and think on her current situation. Just as she takes her place in her office chair, her phone chimes at her. She looks down, hopeful it’ll either be zoo business or one of her two sisters, Zenna or Katra, or maybe even her stepdaughter, Brittany Williams, messaging to say hello as they all tended to do with regularity.

Christina Zdunich.

Seleana nods to the name and then pulls up the message to see which direction this would take. Would her wife try to pick up where they had left off the night before after Seleana’s victory over her or would she just act like they hadn’t left off in an awkward place at all?    

“Haiiii hon its me CHRISTINA”

The answer actually made Seleana smile even as she shakes her head in slight disbelief. Even after a year of this, it still managed to somewhat surprise her when her wife just started a whole new conversation. The chime  goes off again.

“Can I take you out for Valentine’s Day?”

Seleana’s jaw drops just as it had the previous evening. Was she serious? Seleana’s head flies back as she looks to the ceiling. What was she supposed to say to that, of all things? Before she can devise an answer, the phone chimes again. Seleana glances down and shakes her head again in stunned disbelief.

“?”

Was Christina seriously trying to push this now? What did she expect Seleana to say after what had happened? To attack your own wife just to get a title shot you have already proven you can get without extra help and then two weeks later act like they should be like the bad commercials for cards, flowers and candy on television was almost unthinkable and yet, here it was happening. Seleana stares at the phone, unsure of what to say back in response.

Seleana Zdunich: Jag…

She sighs heavily, still staring at the phone.

Seleana Zdunich: Vad säger jag?

Before she can answer her own question, the phone chimes with yet another message from Christina. Seleana looks down and cannot believe her eyes.  

“Hey you love you i realize i got nothing left.”

Her jaw clenches as she almost throws the phone.

Seleana Zdunich: För fan i helvete! Din jävla idiot! Varför tänkte du inte på detta innan du angrep mig? Varför tänker du aldrig på sådana saker?

She drops the phone from only an inch above her desk and kicks the floor.

Seleana Zdunich: Skit också! Du jävla slog mig! Du vet att jag inte skulle ha gjort det mot dig!

She turns away, angry tears in her eyes.

Seleana Zdunich: Jag slog honom för dig!

As she sits there shaking her head sobbing, the phone chimes again. Seleana tries to pull herself together as she slowly turns around. She picks up her phone and stares at the fresh message.

“I dont know where to go from here but i wont hurt you no more… be safe.”

Seleana drops the phone and starts sobbing all over again, visions of what all that could mean dancing in her head. What could possibly happen next?


Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Zdunich Zoological Gardens
10:02 AM PST


Seleana steps into her office and glances at the cot she had not used the night before. After spending several hours crying to herself in this very office, she had gotten herself up and gone over to a bar called Broken Promises run by friends of hers named Shay Kenyon and Lena Theras. The married couple lived in an apartment above the bar with their two nearly four-month-old twin daughters, Jami Hope and Destiny Joy, and Seleana had crashed there for the night when Shay had thought it a bad idea to drive back to the zoo in her emotional state despite being dead sober. As she sits down, her phone chimes and Seleana braces herself for another round. She glances down and sees it’s just a spam email about male enhancement products and deletes it, enjoying marking it as something the email host should take a look at as a phishing scam. A second later, she nods to herself and answers her wife.  

“If Brittany and HayJo will be there, I will meet you all somewhere.”

The message ahd only be gone for a second before an answer comes back almost as if Christina had been sitting and staring at her own phone constantly since the previous morning.

“Thats not how a private v day works”

Seleana sighs. So now it was back to this. Seleana swallows hard. What should she say to this? She almost felt like this was an ultimatum without making the actual ultimatum.  Her phone chimes again and Seleana looks at her wife’s new message.

“I need you”

Seleana sets the phone down and just stares at it. Christina was not going to do this to her today, not again. A second later, Seleana walks out of the room leaving the phone on the desk and marching out to the fresh air outside. Fifteen minutes later, she comes back to find a message left on her voicemail. Seeing it’s from Christina, Seleana contemplates erasing it for a second only to stare at the phone, seemingly unable to move a finger.

Seleana Zdunich: Vad har du att säga?

Her finger continues to hesitate. Did she really want to know what Christina had to say? Finally, she presses the button and the message plays, the unmistakable sound of her wife’s voice comes back, crying as she does so.

Christina Zdunich: Please…

Christina’s voice stumbles, clearly sobbing as she does this.

Christina Zdunich: I’m sorry, ok! I fucked up and I know it! Is that what you want to hear? I NEED you! I don’t know what…

She trails off and sobs some more and Seleana closes her own eyes. This was no acting job. She’d heard a speech like this before when Crystal was just putting on a show and this was not that at all. This sounded like a broken child desperately searching for a hand to cling to.

Christina Zdunich: You know what…

Suddenly, the sound of Christina’s voice changes completely.

Christina Zdunich: Fine, don’t talk to me! Just… whatever!  I’ll… whatever!

The message ends and Seleana shakes her head  nearly throwing the phone again.

Seleana Zdunich: För fan i helvete!

She sets the phone down and just stares at it, anger creeping into her eyes.

Seleana Zdunich: Vad är fel med dig?

Stepping back, Seleana turns, shaking her head, and heads for the doorway again knowing full well she’s going back to Broken Promises tonight and this time she might even have a beer or two.      

Seleana Zdunich: Din jävla…
 
A couple of hours later, Seleana is sitting at her desk when her phone chimes back at her again. Her jaw drops as she sees the name of her wife staring back at her. This was a change, especially after the message she’d left earlier that had sounded so final.

“I been contemplating suicide but farrah talked me out of it”

Farrah was Farrah Cornett, Crystal’s stablemate back in L.A.W. in the Boardwalk Angels. Seleana always called Farrah “Mama Red” as she was very nearly Seleana’s mother-in-law in the months before she’d been introduced to Christina by a mutual friend, another former Boardwalk Angel, current Hybrid Wrestling Unleashed Grand Champion Stacy Jones.  Seleana knew given how Mama Red had reacted to the news of Christina’s betrayal that if she had actually called Farrah then this was not some idle threat. Seleana stares at the words and ponders what to do next. The chime interrupts her and she nods to the phone.  

“i want to have a night with you is that so much to ask?”

Seleana’s head droops, her chin nearly colliding with her chest. This was Christina fighting through all the Crystal smoke and mirrors.

The REAL Christina.

Seleana exhales heavily and the chime greets her again.  

“Please”

Knowing how proud Christina liked everyone to think she was, this was a major effort being made. Seleana stares at the phone and nods to herself.

“¿Dónde?”

With that one word, Seleana knew she’d taken a shot in the dark that could very easily blow up in her face. If she were wrong, this could lead to another trap and leave her in a position where the entire world would either be laughing at her for being so incredibly stupid or demanding answers for the exact same reason. It was a chance that people like Christian Underwood and Alicia Lukas would relish and probably use to tapdance all over her and yet, it was something else she’d heard another friend say that made her decide to trust her instincts even in the face of almost everybody else screaming that this was a Admiral Ackbar meme come roaring to life. Eavan Maloney, once Seleana’s sister-in-law and still somebody she considered a sister, had said that she had learned that Zdunich Women do not give up on people and this would be no exception, even if it turned out to be a mistake all over again. The chime sounds and Seleana looks down.    

“ Wherever i need you and im so sorry”

Seleana nods. She would have to get in touch with Christina again tomorrow because this was likely to be the last word on the matter for today. She nods, hoping above hope that she hasn’t just made the biggest mistake of her life.



Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Zdunich Zoological Gardens
10:59 PM PST


Seleana had spent the day waiting to hear back from Christina and was actually somewhat surprised she had not yet. Knowing the previous night had very nearly ended with her going to get drunk, she had decided to stay in tonight to get ready for Valentine’s Day tomorrow.  Getting drunk was not a habit she wanted to pick up. Her younger sister, Zenna, had managed to remind her of this fact several times as had Zenna’s fellow recovering addicts, Eavan Maloney, Zenna’s fiancée Linnéa Lacroix, and her cousin Alexi’s former tag team partner, Raevyn Lilja. She’d seen them all in New York City recently during the celebration for the birthday of the youngest Zdunich sister, Katra. , and they had all said the same thing to her: do not allow this thing with Christian and Christina to push you into habits like that, especially given the prevalence of drugs in Hollywood. In the year she had lived here, she had seen a fair amount of pills, powders and all manner of alcoholic beverages and she knew exactly how easy it would be to find a poison and lose herself into it the same way they all had and, in deed, the way Christina had herself earlier in her life. It had been no secret when Seleana had started dating Christina that alcohol had wormed its way into her as if she was a walking tequila bottle just begging for a refill and Seleana did not relish the idea of becoming that herself. Now, after putting in a full day’s work at the zoo and hearing nothing back, she checks her phone to make sure it has not had a problem. Satisfied that the device in working order, she nods and sends off a message to Christina.  

“¿Dónde mañana?”

An answer comes back quickly, as if Christina had also waited all day for Seleana to make the first move this time.

“Sel you dont have to speak in spanish”

Seleana stares at the screen in momentary disbelief. Did she really think she was doing that just to be patronizing? Seleana had enjoyed learning Spanish and had always thought of it as something they shared. A further chime quickly interrupts her worry.

“Do you wanna sPend the day with me yes or no”

Seleana shakes her head, almost laughing now. The absurdity at times was always a little endearing even if Christina tended to go a little over the top at times with it. She nods and answers before anything further can really happen.

“Where do you wish to meet up?”

She stares at the phone hoping beyond hope Christina does not try and more Crystal approach and start making elaborate plans for surprise trips or something. That would not be a good idea and would be the fastest way to make Seleana regret answering this plea. The chime quickly kills the worried anticipation.

“Do you trust me”

Oh, this was not a good start. This sounded very, very Crystal and not in a good way. This sounded like something she would say before showing up in a limo and trying to start this private evening early. Another chime quickly edges up Seleana’s anxiety level.

“Sel?”

Seleana stares at her phone. Should she back out now or was that not an option anymore? Was this proof that everyone had been right to tell her to cut and run two weeks ago? Was there really nothing else to it than this?  After standing in silence for a few minutes, Seleana tries a response.

“?”

She shakes her head, hoping the next message is not Crystal announcing she’s outside and wants this reunion to start now before it’s even really Valentine’s Day. Seleana could not imagine a worse idea than that. The chime announces she no longer has to wonder and she slowly glances down, holding out hope Crystal will not be as stupid as others have said she is.

“Happy V Day”

Seleana stares at her phone, the look on her face now as if this is the single strangest message she has ever received. Slowly she glances up and sees the time.

12:02 AM…

A small smile crosses Seleana’s face. Maybe there was hope for everything yet.

“Glad alla hjärtans dag.”



Thursday, February 14, 2019
Valentine’s Day
Los Angeles, California
Zdunich Zoological Gardens
9:15 AM PST


Seleana walks back into her office from the shower facilities and looks at her phone. The time was quickly approaching to answer which of them would make the first move. Would it be Christina?  Or would it be Seleana? The answer would come even as Seleana was pondering what to do with herself while this question rattled around inside her brain with a message chime.

Christina Zdunich.

Seleana nods and quickly checks the message.  

“Happy V Day”

A small smile crosses her face and she quickly punches in her answer.

“Glad alla hjärtans dag.”

She sits down on the office chair and quickly glances down ehr list of thing she needed to do and then punches in another message. No need to leave things hanging today. If they were going to go bad, best to get it over with quickly.  

“What we do today?”

The answer comes back quicker than Seleana had anticipated.

“Romantic dinner”

Seleana nods slowly. If this was all Christina was going to go for, this might not be too bad after all. So long as she did not overreach, this might be…

A chime interrupts her train of thought.  

“Massage session for two”

Seleana stares and the smile starts to fall slightly. She would have to inquire about whether this was to be therapeutic or the happy ending type usually bandied about in their neighborhood. That would definitely qualify as an overreach on Crystal’s part and torpedo things before they had a chance to even start to come back. Another chime quickly grabs her attention.

“Sel do you love me”

Seleana just stares in white-eyed wonder at this question.

Seleana Zdunich: För fan i helvete! Vilken typ av fråga är det här?

Shaking her head, Seleana regains her composure and tests the waters.

“When and where?”

The answer comes back and Seleana just stares again.

“Do you trrust me”

Now another alarm was going off inside Seleana’s head. What was Crystal planning with this? Before she can say anything, the chime tells her Christina must have had a moment of clarity as well.

“The limo will get you”

Seleana nods, knowing full well this could still be a major mistake but could she really take the chance the other way? Her instincts had served her well enough lately to get her on the company radar in Sin City Wrestling after nearly a year of trying. Was this really that different when it basically boiled down to business on some level anyway?

“Okej”

The message had barely been gone for a second when a chime announces an answer.

“DO YOU LOVE ME”

Seleana wastes no time in firing her answer back.

“Would I be upset at what you did if the answer was no?”

She stands in her office, glaring at her phone, fully expecting this to now turn into an argument that should not happen but will anyway because of Crystal’s self-described level of being high maintenance. A second later, an answer comes back.

“Ok.”

Seleana nods and sets about getting ready, not knowing what was really in store for her for the rest of the night.



Saturday, February 16, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Zdunich Zoological Gardens
11:30AM PST


Seleana walks into her office. The morning had been filled with getting ready to go to the next Climax Control even though she was not booked and was not even sure Christian would allow her into the building under those circumstances. She was going anyway just in case somebody asked her to do something else on the show. She did not want to give Christian the satisfaction of saying she had breached her contract by not showing up for work. If he sent her away, well, then it would be on him and she would simply chalk that up to his own level of enmity for her. As she set her gym bag down, her phone chimes at her and she glances to see who it could be.

Christina Zdunich.

She nods and then checks the message.

“hey youyuu”

She stares at the screen in stunned silence. It had been a full day since they had woken up next to each at the hotel and Seleana had watched Christina argue with herself before dumping out nearly an entire prescription of her medication and then threaten herself with a knife. Christina had then argued with herself some more before running out, apologizing as she went leaving Seleana standing there alone and confused. There had been no communication since then aside from Brittany telling her over the phone that her mother had returned home and seemed to be in a good mood. Another che and Seleana looks down trying not to remember how that particular meeting had ended.  

“Enjoy Valentines Day”

Seleana shakes her head. She knew this was more a question than a statement and that this was Christina testing to see how far the previous morning had pushed things especially after there had been no sex involved to cap off Valentine’s Day. Cuddling yes, but no sex and that had been Seleana’s call, one that Christina had actually accepted without any kind of protest for once. Seleana nods to the phone and punches in an answer.  

“Ja.”

She pauses, considering her next words carefully before punching in more of an answer.

“Until you pull knife.”

An answer chimes back quickly.

“Ty for coming.”

Before Seleana can even contemplate an answer, the phone itself rings. Seleana sees her wife’s picture and answers.

Seleana Zdunich: Ja?

Christina’s voice comes back, this time without sobbing being involved.

Christina Zdunich: When are you coming home?

Seleana can’t believe her ears. Were they really having this conversation?

Seleana Zdunich: I do not know.

Seleana can hear annoyance creep into Christina’s voice.

Christina Zdunich: Why not?

Seleana considers just hanging up but decides not to.

Seleana Zdunich: You need ask?

Christina almost scoffs. This would be Crystal talking more than Christina now.

Crystal Hilton: You can’t be mad at me forever, Babe…

Knowing this means she will be more combatice now, Seleana once again considers just hanging up.

Seleana Zdunich: You attack me for a title shot, tell the world I am weak and then try to guilt me into things by telling me you are suicidal and you have to ask why I am upset with you?

She pauses and then glares ahead at the wall of her office.

Seleana Zdunich: Look in mirror, Crystal!

For a split second there is silence between them. Then Crystal’s voice comes back again.

Crystal Hilton: Oh, come on! You know that was all business! That was all…

Seleana cuts her off.

Seleana Zdunich: All acting?

She can almost see her wife nod arrogantly in response.

Crystal Hilton: Damn good acting too! I should have won a fucking Oscar!

Knowing what’s coming, Seleana looks to the floor.

Seleana Zdunich: For acting like you are this or for acting like you actually care about something other than yourself?

Crystal’s voice returns, her level of annoyance audibly escalating.

Crystal Hilton: Are you serious right now, Babe? What the hell kind of…

Seleana cuts her off again.

Seleana Zdunich: Nej! Sluta prata! Du har pratat tillräckligt!

Crystal sighs in annoyance.

Crystal Hilton: English, Babe…

Seleana pounds her free hand on the desk.

Seleana Zdunich: ¡Hablaré cualquier idioma que quiera hablar!

Crystal’s voice comes back with slightly less bass in it.

Christina Zdunich: Ok… I’m… I’m sorry… I…  

Seleana stares at the wall, not sure if she should punch it or run out of the place screaming as the voice on the other end suddenly transforms as if a mask has just been shattered into a million pieces.

Christina Zdunich: Please… come home…

Seleana steps back at the sound of Christina talking again.

Seleana Zdunich: Why would I want to do that when we will be scheduled to fight? Both Sin City and Galactic seem to enjoy exploiting our rather public spat.

Christian goes quiet for a second.

Christina Zdunich: Where… have you… been…

She stops short of finishing her question as if she is truly afraid of the answer. Taking pity on her, Seleana nods to the wall.

Seleana Zdunich: I have been sleeping mostly at the zoo.

Christina’s voice takes on a new sound of terror.

Christina Zdunich: Mostly?

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: I spent two nights over at Shay and Lena’s. I have not found somebody else to go and share my nights with that way. I know you worry of such things.

Christina’s voice starts to waver.

Christina Zdunich: Please?  Come home?

Seleana looks to the floor again.

Seleana Zdunich: I…

Christina can’t take the possibility of the answer coming now.

Christina Zdunich: Please?  We don’t even have to share a room! You shouldn’t need to go crash on friends’ couches to save money! I know you’ve been avoiding that, Sel, I’ve seen the credit statements!  This is your house too, just…

She trails off, clearly about to break.

Christina Zdunich: Take one of the other…

Seleana takes this in and listens as her wife starts to quietly cry.

Seleana Zdunich: I will consider… there are others who are involved as well.  

Christina's voice wavers more.

Christina Zdunich: I missed you... do you want us to get counseling?

Seleana shrugs.

Seleana Zdunich: You think will do good or you think Crystal stop it from helping?

Christina’s voice comes back sounding like she’s been punched in the gut repeatedly.

Christina Zdunich: I... Let’s do it.

Seleana nods slowly.

Seleana Zdunich: I will see you at the show tomorrow and we will discuss it then.

Christina Zdunich: Ok…

The call ends and Seleana shakes her head. What else could be coming now?


On-Camera

Friday, February 22, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Zdunich Zoological Gardens
Office of Seleana Zdunich
6:30 PM PST


The camera opens to find Seleana Zdunich standing by her cot near the edge of the left wall in her office only a foot away from the bare desk that is covered in paperwork, a laptop computer perched on it and the small cheap office chair sitting in front of it. Seleana nods as the camera takes in her complete visage complete with blue jeans and a black American Murder Log t-shirt that reads,  “Everything Burns” in stark white lettering over what looks like a growing anthropomorphic fireball.

Seleana Zdunich: Heya, how’s it?

She glances down to her shirt and then shrugs slightly even before she brings her gaze back to the camera. She nods slowly, still looking down.

Seleana Zdunich: This is an appropriate shirt for the situation, ja?

Looking up, Seleana can’t help but smile slightly.

Seleana Zdunich: Alicia speak of vindication and I know that taste well.

She nods slowly and then glances down at her shirt again, seemingly fixating on the fireball.

Seleana Zdunich: I thought I was standing up for my wife and Christian Underwood saw fit to send me away. I was brought back and he threw several plans at me and I thought I had achieved vindication when he was unable to beat me or break me or put me down like the dog he think I am.  He call my wife much worse and he treat me like how he speak of my wife and yet…

She looks back up to the camera and nods pointedly.

Seleana Zdunich: I am still here. I am still employed by Sin City Wrestling and not only has he not crushed me like the angry fist of God, but he has seemingly accomplished the opposite as I have risen in the ranks because of his attempts to punish me.

She pauses to shrug, looking just off to the right of the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: I would call that vindication, ja?        

She nods as she brings her gaze back to the camera’s lens.

Seleana Zdunich: But that sweet taste, and it did taste sweet in the moment, it turn to ashes as fast as it come. Plan C reared its head and all that sweet vindication went crashing to the floor in a matter of seconds and I know there are some who would say I should have considered Crystal Hilton assaulting me as yet more vindication because Christian had to stoop to calling my own wife and someone he does tend to get along with to get to me and even that has not worked completely but…

She trails off, looking down to the floor again.

Seleana Zdunich: I would be lying if I said it did not get to me.

Looking down, she starts ton nod slowly.

Seleana Zdunich: It is is true, it got to me just as it is true that, as Alicia said, I have not done well in my previous championship opportunities. I have had several and I have yet to win one which, vindication for her, I suppose, ja?

Looking back up, Seleana nods some more, her head moving ever so slightly as if she can hear the voices from outside saying certain things.

Seleana Zdunich: I had one championship opportunity in L.A.W. alongside Christina against what was the best tag team in the world at the time, the Boardwalk Angels. They were on a winning streak the likes of which Alicia can relate to because it was like hers in Honor Wrestling. Christina and I were given an opportunity, one I admit I was not ready for as my career was mere months old at the time. I expected to be destroyed by Farrah Cornett and Zoey Madigan-Star as they both had far more experience than I and they were an incredible team with more chemistry than I had ever had with anyone. They should have destroyed us…

Seleana’s head stops moving as she looks dead into the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: Vindication visited me that night when we were not only not destroyed, but nearly dethroned the undefeatable that night. The taste was sweet but then turned bitter because while it was a moral victory, as many will point out, moral victories do not pay bills.

A small smile graces her features for a moment and then fades away.

Seleana Zdunich: L.A.W. closed and Christina asked me to join her here and in the year or so that I have been here, I have been afforded multiple opportunities to become Bombshell Roulette Champion. I was not ready for those in the same way i was not ready for the match with the Boardwalk Angels. Many dismissed me as being someone who was only treading as far as my more famous family members’ names could take me. Crystal Hilton, Brittany Williams, Robbie Priest, Linnéa Lacroix, Haylie Jo Annis, Amy Rae Annis, Kendra Goganious, they are all related to me or will be sometime in the future as things appear and they have all been champions. Some took longer than others to attain that status and some have done it more often than others, but they have all achieved championship standing and I…

Trailing off again, she shakes her head sadly.

Seleana Zdunich: I have not been so fortunate. I will admit right now, the first nine months or so of my career, I was not so focused on anything but being able to step into the ring and not get myself killed. I did not seek the glory and honor of being a champion despite being given the opportunity several times and perhaps that was a mistake but it is one I can freely say was my own and no one else’s. I was not ready and I did not believe myself ready to challenge another in the ring. I was happy to be there and I was happy to not embarrass myself as I learned and now I suppose vindication comes to me in the form of this championship opportunity. Alicia Lukas says I deserve it because of my hard work and because of all I bring to the table and I suppose that stands as vindication for me as well given how many others have said quite the opposite over my relatively short career in this sport.

She nods to herself and looks to the ground again.

Seleana Zdunich: Vindication does taste sweet, ja Alicia?

She nods again and continues to look down before looking at the fireball on her shirt again.

Seleana Zdunich: You have stated you wish to make that Bombshell Championship something more than the others who have held it and treated it poorly. I say that is a worthy aspiration to carry. You are a worthy champion and one I will not denigrate for taking more than one attempt to capture it because it is the journey that makes the championship worthwhile. You say I choke away championship opportunities while all you do is win and I cannot argue with that assessment aside from I still managed to get them even as a rookie who did not know what she was doing. Despite taking the lumps and losses I did, I still managed to stay around and grow and now I stand in airt I have never breathed before.

She looks up and nods to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: I have never before gained an opportunity at your championship, Alicia, and had I done so before now, I know I would not have been ready because I had not yet been tested the way I have been now. Before I punched Christian Underwood, I had never tasted true danger in that ring. I had never really been placed in a situation where someone wanted to do to me what he wanted done. Maria Salvatore was the closest to that ever before and even then she was more angry at Christina than she was at me and so did not come at me the way Christian’s hired thugs did.

She nods to the camera and raises her hand with her index finger raised.

Seleana Zdunich: The Metal Maniacs in a hardcore rules handicap match with my family banned from the building.

Her index finger is joined by a second finger.

Seleana Zdunich: Delia Darling’s grand return.

A third finger rises to join its brethren.

Seleana Zdunich: Jessie Salco trying to get herself back into the title pictures.  

A fourth finger joins the others.

Seleana Zdunich: And now my wife attacking me just to try and get the chance at you that she could have gotten all by herself any time she wanted to as she has many times before. I cannot tell you why she did not believe in herself enough to trust her own abilities but I know I do and I always have but now I stand here before you have faced those four trials and I have come out the other side.

The hand closes into a fist.

Seleana Zdunich: Christian threw his fire at me and all it did was harden me up and make me ready to stand in against you for the Bombshells World Championship. I walk into that ring with you, Alicia, ready to go toe to toe with the best in the world and I am no longer simply trying to not get myself killed! I am no longer just happy to be there and just happy to avoid embarrassment.

She shakes her head, the fist seemingly clenching harder.

Seleana Zdunich: Christian and Christina have made sure we are passed embarrassment and now I wish to ram that vindication right back up where it came from with them. I will show you, Christian, Christina and everyone else that vindication is not the only thing tastes sweet and if you are not careful, I will show that I am ready to make that vindication turn to ashes in your mouth!

She nods, the first finally lowering as the shot tightens to frame her face.

Seleana Zdunich: My name is Seleana Zdunich and I am coming to claim my place, the place that everyone has always said I had no business even being in the same area as before. I am coming to to give you what you said you wanted and I am coming to show that sometimes, you should be careful what you ask for!  

She nods grimly.

Seleana Zdunich: Kia kaha, Chickie, now let us go make Christian choke on those ashes together!    

 
Monday, January 21, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Hollywood Hills
Home of Crystal & Seleana Zdunich
8:25 PM PST


Off-Camera

Seleana Zdunich nods happily as she watches her wife, Christina “Crystal Hilton” Zdunich,  tackling a video game. This was a normal activity in the house once everyone had come home from the office during the day. Which game was up for debate since there seemed to be several favorites of late, none of which made sense to Seleana since that was one activity nobody had managed to rope her into yet. She grins as Crystal gives another loud exclamation, her sister, Maia Lopez, sitting next to her for the moment. The two were showing off their competitive streak, something Crystal’s daughter, Brittany “B-Brat” Williams, had picked up in spades. B-Brat was off with a couple of friends and was due to return any second now from this little business trip she’d been on.

She’d called it market research but Seleana knew from experience it usually meant something closer to retail therapy in some form and B-Brat would, no doubt, return with several bags and a smile on her face that the “research” had been a success.  

Making her way around the corner and u the hallway, Seleana hears a voice actively talking from the room only two doors away. This was surprising since the others who lived in the house, Crystal’s old friends, the Sullivan Sisters, were supposed to be off on what amounted to what Americans called grocery shopping. Back in New Zealand, she’d always just heard people call it “popping to dairy,” but this was one of many changes she’d had to acclimate to upon making the move full time to the States. Truth be told, she still struggled with this sometimes, especially when it came to driving, something she had needed to do precious little of in New Zealand. She’d done even less of that back in Sweden but here, it seemed like a serious necessity.      

As she approaches the door, it becomes clear to her that the voices belong to B-Brat’s live-in girlfriend, Haylie Jo “Halo” Annis and her twin sister, Amy “Rain” Annis. Rain was a wrestler who lived in Asheville and worked as a tag team with her childhood friend, Kendra “GoGo” Goganious. Having just completed her first year as a professional, Rain was somebody Halo tried to talk to often to get insight into what she had now gotten herself into right along with Seleana, Crystal and B-Brat.  

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: What am I gonna do, Amy?

The tone of Halo’s voice was concerning to Seleana, even if it was not particularly surprising to hear. Halo had always sounded anxious since the first day she’d come to this house back in May and that had never really dissipated for her. Seleana stops at the door and listens for a minute.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Seriously, what am I gonna do, Amy?

Seleana can see Halo is talking to her computer screen where the smiling face of Rain is visibly confused by the question.

Amy "Rain" Annis: About what?

Halo, sitting on her bed, smashes both fists onto either side of herself on the mattress, clearly annoyed by her twin’s confusion and lack of understanding.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Ames!

Rain just shakes her head on the screen.

Amy "Rain" Annis: Y’all worry too much, HayJo. Look at where y’all is!

Halo sighs heavily.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: On the edge of…

Rain cuts her off.

Amy "Rain" Annis: Girl, you in a loving house!

Halo nods pointedly to the screen.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: That could decide I should be sent away any second now!

Seleana stares at Halo in shock. It had been eight months since the young woman had been added to the menagerie of people who lived in this house and it hadn’t taken that long for everyone else to just accept that the tall blonde woman from Tullahoma, Tennessee was here to stay.

Amy "Rain" Annis: HayJo, I’m tellin’ y’all, everything’s gonna be fine.

Halo nods sarcastically.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Easy for you to say, you and Goldi have had each other for years!

Rain stares at her sister, visibly slightly cowed

Amy "Rain" Annis: We hasn’t always been together...

Helo crosses her arms.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: What would you call it?

Rain shrugs, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

Amy "Rain" Annis: Up until D-Man, I’d call it me and Goldi bein’ silly about things.

Halo’s arms drop down, her fists pounding the mattress again.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I want what y’all have had! I want me and B-Brat to last!

Rain nods.

Amy "Rain" Annis: You been there for a while now.

Halo stares at the screen, her entire body starting to shake now. As she watches, Seleana can’t help but wonder, “What is going on here?”

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I was at Logan’s for a while too.

Rain can’t believe her ears and neither can Seleana.

Amy "Rain" Annis: She ain’t gonna do that, HayJo.

Halo leaps out of her seat and almost looks like she’s gonna lash out at her twin’s image on the screen. Seleana watches, unable to believe her eyes or her ears.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: How do you know that? Huh? How do you know that?

Rain just stares back, seemingly searching for a response.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: You’ve said that so many times, I don’t understand how you keep that kind of outlook on things, Amy!  First you said they wouldn’t send me away in school, and they did. Then you said Mama wasn’t gonna die and leave us and she did! Then you said Daddy wasn’t gonna lose the house and make us homeless and he did right as you were leaving me to go off to wrestling school with Goldi!  

Rain stares at her sister, her own jaw starting to quiver now.

Amy "Rain" Annis: I…

Halo shakes her head, marches voer to the computer and reaches for the mouse.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Nevermind, sorry to bother you.

Amy "Rain" Annis: HayJo, wait…

Before another word can be said, Halo disconnects from the internet and steps back. She stares at the computer for a second and then pounds on quadriceps.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Dammit!

As she starts to fall onto the bed, Seleana hurries into the room.

Seleana Zdunich: Det blir okej, sötnos.

She catches Halo, who promptly bursts into tears. Seleana holds onto the younger woman as Halo clamps onto her looking very much the child.

Seleana Zdunich: Det är okej…

Halo holds on to Seleana and starts to shake her head.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: What am I gonna do, Miss Seleana?

Seleana strokes the younger blonde woman’s hair and nods soothingly.

Seleana Zdunich: It’s alright, Chickie.

Seleana cradles her and then sits her up on the bed.

Seleana Zdunich: What is wrong?

Halo shakes her head.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I…

Her hands ball into fists and she starts to look away but Seleana simply cocks her own head.

Seleana Zdunich: What is it?

Halo looks back and then nods to the computer.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: How much did you hear?    

Seleana nods slowly.

Seleana Zdunich: Do you really worry you will be sent away?

Halo nods quickly.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Don’t you?

Seleana stares into the young woman’s eyes and then shakes her head.

Seleana Zdunich: Oh, Chickie…

Halo sits there looking like she’s waiting to be yelled at but Seleana simply stands up, cross over to the doorway and closes the door. She walks back to the bed and sits down across from Halo.

Seleana Zdunich: I know what it is to lose someone suddenly but no one can know what it is to have had what happened to you happen. I do not worry about being sent away because I love and trust Christina. We are married and she loves me. I know she does things that seem unexplainable to some people but she is truly a good person. She is not the monster she is portrayed to be by those who simply wish her out of the way for their own professional gain. Does she give reason to be worried sometimes, yes, but I have faith in her. She is a loving, beautiful woman and I know she worries that others are right about her. You understand that worry, ja?

Halo nods sadly.

Seleana Zdunich: I know you worry you will not measure up to Amy. She worked to get into wrestling school and then worked to make the roster within only a few months. She then worked to make herself a champion in six months and now you start nearly a year behind her but you also have the drive she has displayed. You fight for everything because you know what it is to have nothing. It is why you won your first two matches and how you got to be in the main event for your next match amongst some very tough competition.

Halo nods.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: What if I’m not good enough? What if I let B-Brat and the rest of y’all down?

Seleana shakes her head and takes Halo’s hand into her own.

Seleana Zdunich: Chickie, the only way you could let us down is if you just did not try. You make us proud every time you wake up in the morning. We love you, Haylie Jo, we are happy to have you in our family.

Halo stares at Seleana.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: But… what if I…

Seleana shakes her head.

Seleana Zdunich: No what if. You walk into that ring this week and do what you do. No matter outcome, we love you. There is no what if.        

Seleana leans forward and kisses Halo on the forehead as the younger woman hugs her again.

Seleana Zdunich: There is no what if. Just like B-Brat, I love you as you were my own.

Halo nods as they embrace.

Seleana Zdunich: You should call you sister back. She look worry.

Halo nods.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Ok…

She manages a smile and then nods as Seleana stands up.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Miss Seleana?

Seleana turns back to her.

Seleana Zdunich: Ja?  

Halo nods again.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Thank you.

Seleana smiles, nodding happily.

Seleana Zdunich: I hear Brit coming back so I leave you to it, Chickie.

Seleana opens the door and steps into the hallway just as Brittany arrives, almost like they’d planned this. As she watches the door close again, Seleana can’t help but nod and smile again. Brittany would help assuage whatever lingering doubts Halo had for the night and they could all get ready for their next matches.  





Friday, January 25, 2019
Detroit, Michigan
10:05 PM CST


On-Camera


The camera opens upon Seleana as she stands against the wall of a hallway in a hotel wearing a black American Murder Log t-shirt and blue jeans that look like they were painted onto her body. A pair of well worn black Chuck Taylor high tops completes her ensemble as she nods to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: I wonder…

She looks off to the distance behind the camera as if a great answer will materialize from nothing there at any moment.

Seleana Zdunich: I wonder, is there no teaching you, Christian?

She moves her gaze down to the camera’s lens and nods slowly, almost beggingly.

Seleana Zdunich: Is there no learning for you?  

Nodding slowly again she steps away from the wall and cocks her head to the right as if seeing if a new angle will open everything to new answers.

Seleana Zdunich: I know Jessie Salco say you are world champion at holding grudge but is there no room for anything else inside of you? Is the grudge all there is?

Her head moves to the straight upright posture and then slowly cocks to the left instead.

Seleana Zdunich: She is unable to challenge for championships unless she defeats me in Henderson and has been this way for nearly a year. I do not know how long you have held grudge against my wife but I would bet money none of us have it has lasted longer than my career.

Her right hand raises up showing three raised fingers.

Seleana Zdunich: This is the third time you have sent someone for me since you asked that question of me in front of the world and did not like the answer.

The second and third fingers fall to leave only the index finger remaining in the raised position.

Seleana Zdunich: First you send the Metal Maniacs after me and they bring help. You stack rules in their favor so that there were very few of them so they not have to worry about disqualification or count out. You set stipulation so they can do whatever they want before they go for pin or submit and the referee can do nothing but ask if I quit or count pin. You make it so I have no help in building by banning my wife and daughter from even stepping foot through door and tell the Metal Maniacs to simply enjoy themselves, indulge themselves before finishing me off.

She nods grimly.

Seleana Zdunich: That was supposed to be my end. Two raving lunatics who admit they care nothing for actual wrestling or winning or anything other than inflicting pain and suffering and they were allowed to bring others of like mind to help. They set up to burn me beyond recognition and allow you to laugh and show that anyone foolish enough to step to you was making grave error.

A small smirk crosses her face.

Seleana Zdunich: But they fail. It might be kluck, it might be their own stupidity, it might be anything but at end of day, they fail and it was one of them that ended up in hospital with burns, not me.    

A second finger joins the first in the raised position.

Seleana Zdunich: So then, we come to next plan, Delia Darling coming from whatever rock she had been under to show the world she still dominant and that it was grave error for me to stand against you. She is a former World Champion and again, this was to be my end. Everyone look at this on paper asd a huge mismatch because she is a champion and i am not and coming off a hardcore match where the Metal Maniacs were allowed to try and injure me just for fun, this should be no problem. Delia would take me out, possibly humiliate me in the process and you would have what you wanted.

The smirk fades away.

Seleana Zdunich: Only she fail too and not only did she not humiliate me, she tap out to me. As Jessie said before, you can call it luck, you can call it Delia’s hubris, arrogance or whatever other failing you wish to ascribe to her but in the end, none of it mattered because it was me making her submit!

A third finger joins its brethren in the raised position.

Seleana Zdunich: So now, it is Jessie Salco, a woman who thinks nothing of me outside of my choice of marital partners and what is in the match for her. Jessie salco is a woman that SHOULD get along famously with me. We both enjoy the same kind of music, in fact, my sisters play that kind of music professionally. We are both wrestlers who work hard to make sure everyone sees what we can do in the ring and we both no care much for you and have found ourselves on the wrong end of your grudges.

The hand lowers out of the shot.

Seleana Zdunich: Jessie say she is nothing like the Metal Maniacs and I say she is correct because she is not nearly as reckless or careless as those two are. She DOES care about winning and she does a pretty good job of going for that whenever she steps into the ring. She also says she is nothing like Delia Darling and in this I say she is partially correct again because she is not coming out from under rock to step in on the whim of a boss that only wishes to see destruction.

She pauses and then nods slowly.

Seleana Zdunich: But now I ask you a question, Jessie?

Her hand raises and flashes the three fingers again.

Seleana Zdunich: What if you are like them and you fail as they did?

The hand lowers as Seleana nods slowly to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: What if you step in the ring with me and dumb luck happen and you do not get your championship ban lifted? What if you look across the ring at somebody you have no respect for and fall to them the same way the Metal Maniacs and Delia Darling did?

Her eyes flash as she nods to the camera knowingly.

Seleana Zdunich: What if you fail Christian Underwood again?

The hand raises, the three fingers still on full display.

Seleana Zdunich: And Christian, I ask you the same thing.  What if… ?

She shakes the three fingers at the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: What if you send three at me seeking my pnishment, suffering and end and three times they are turned back and I still live? What if you send Jessie here to finish me and all that happens is you have to look in the mirror and realize that yet again, you asked me what I was going to do about it and I punched you in the face?

She nods as she flashes the three fingers even closer to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: What if you cannot break me, Jessie?  What if you cannot break me, Christian?

The three fingers finally lower into the fist.

Seleana Zdunich: What if I am nothing and you still could not flush me away?

The hand lowerras out of the shot as Seleana leans.

Seleana Zdunich: I am coming to Henderson and I am walking out the same way I walked in. You will not break me, you will not destroy me and you will not end me so one last time I ask…

The camera zooms in tightly on Seleana’s face.

Seleana Zdunich: What if?

Seleana steps back and nods grimly just as before.

Seleana Zdunich: And what will you do about it when you fail again?



   

 On-Air

Friday, January 5, 2019
Las Vegas, Nevada
The Pleasure Dome
9:25 AM PST

The camera opens upon a small radio studio with a guy sitting behind the microphone in a black KKMA t-shirt and a pair of black shorts with the Pleasure Dome logo down the seams.    

The Host: KKMA, Kiss My Ass Radio, coming to you live from the Pleasure Dome in Las Vegas. Hey, don’t forget to come down and see the talents that will be taking the stage here later on tonight. The ever popular Ivy Storm, Quinn Rains and Holly Dagger will be dancing at 9:15 tonight and that is always a show you don’t wanna miss! Tomorrow night it’ll be the one, the only, Misty Rains making that stage sizzle like no other and if we’re lucky there will be a bonus show this week with our resident Sirens, so stay tuned for full details from right here in the Silver Baron’s House of the Rising Sun!

He pauses to let a station ID play.  

The Host: So right now, let’s bring her in. One of the hottest names on the wrestling scene today after she punched her boss in the face, “The Cat” Seleana Zdunich!  

Seleana steps into view of the camera wearing a Crystal Hilton t-shirt with a pair of tight blue jeans and prototype crystal high top athletic shoes.

Seleana Zdunich: Tack…

The host takes in the sight before him and nods as if he’s died and gone to heaven with this job.

The Host: Seleana,. As you all no doubt remember, works for Sin City Wrestling and they will be having a major pay-per-view extravaganza coming to you live from the Gold Coast here in Las Vegas next weekend called Inception and Seleana here will be taking on Delia Darling and her wife will face off with Cat Riley and Seleana, I have to ask you, how do you do it?

Seleana frowns in confusion.

Seleana Zdunich: I am sorry?

The host readily, repeatedly as if the question should be obvious.

The Host: How do you do it?

Seleana’s frown deepens.

Seleana Zdunich: I do not follow?

The host simply continues nodding excitedly.

The Host: How do you manage to stay centered and humble with everything that’s being thrown at you on an hourly basis? I mean, you have Delia By God Darling coming in just to fight you for Christian Underwood. This was after you had a handicap hardcore match with the Metal maniacs where they got two have whatever help, fun and toys they wanted involved while you had your wife and stepdaughter banned from the building. You’ve had offers to wrestle for other promotions thrown at you, at least two of which I know you accepted and that doesn’t even start to talk about the opportunities that have to be coming your way in Hollywood!

Seleana shrugs.

Seleana Zdunich: There are some, ja.

The host nods enthusiastically.

The Host: So how do you do it?

Once again, Seleana shrugs, a small smile gracing her face as she does so.

Seleana Zdunich: I do not know any other way to do things. I moved halfway around the world for a job straight out of University. I worked through several positions at Orana Park in Christchurch. Saw my way through the earthquakes, fourth September, 2010, Twenty-second February, 2011 and then thirteenth June, 2011 and all the accompanying challenges because of the damage. We started saying “Kia kaha” then to each other to remind those of us that were left that we had to stay strong and keep going.

The Host: Kia Kaha?

Seleana nods again.

Seleana Zdunich: It is Maori and means “Stay strong.” It became the motto of Christchurch and it is how I live as well. I say it even when i know those who hear will not understand right away.

The host nods slowly.

The Host: So you’d already made one gigantic move and then you made another one?

Seleana smiles.

Seleana Zdunich: Ja, I had grown weary of things in Christchurch and came to the States for a birthday and never leave because I like being around family and I met someone. That did not last long but then Stacy Jones set me up with Christina.

The host nods excitedly, his eyes going wide at the mentioning of Crystal Hilton’s name.

The Host: Crystal Hilton!

Seleana smiles broadly.

The Host: Oh wow, now that is a smile! You look like a schoolgirl right now!

Seleana blushes.

Seleana Zdunich: Tack… Jag tror?              

The host just stares at her for a minute.

The Host: My God, she has to love that accent…

Seleana blushes again.

Seleana Zdunich: I like to think so?

The host ad Seleana share a laugh.

The Host: So, talk about your matches at Inception next weekend. Crystal faces Cat Riley and you face Delia Darling.

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: Both are directly Christian Underwood’s fault. He enjoys poking fun at my wife and I do not know why. First he could not stop himself at any chance he got and then he seemed to enjoy stirring Cat Riley up and making her wait for a match that he knew would not happen right away. At the same time he felt the need to continue to rain on my wife in public in ways that make me question his motives sometimes.

The Host: In what way?

Seleana shrugs.

Seleana Zdunich: I wonder what he gets out of it sometimes. Maybe he gets gratification from manipulating others’ lives because he is unhappy in his own?

The host nods slightly.

The Host: So he caused both of your matches to happen?

Seleana nods in response.

Seleana Zdunich: Cat wanted to face Christina a long time ago but could not because Christina was bust facing another on the show Cat wanted. Now Christina is given the opportunity to show Cat why she must wait for Crystal F**king Hilton, not the other way around.

The Host can’t help but smile at this.

The Host: And he set yours up?

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: He was not pleased with me so he is setting obstacles to attempt to make my life difficult.

The host giggles knowingly.

The Host: Because you broke his face?

Seleana nods and the host can’t help but laugh.

The Host: Folks, I’m telling you right now! If you can see that clip, it is priceless! The guy starts talking, Seleana barges out, barks at him to stop. He smirks, asks her what she is going to do about it if he doesn’t, gets right up in her grill and Seleana belts him with a right cross that made him ruin his outfit! So he fires you…

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: Ja…

The Host: And then “Hot Stuff” Mark Ward hires you back the next week and in between, you’ve got NCW making an offer, you’ve got GWW making hay out of it, you’ve got several other companies making overtures to you…

Seleana nods again.

Seleana Zdunich: Ja.    

The Host: Then you walk back in and Christian starts coming for you?

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: Ja, he put me in match where Christian and Brittany were not even allowed in the building. It was supposed to be two on one but it was also under hardcore rules.

The host grins.

The Host: No rules.

Seleana nods again, shrugging slightly.

Seleana Zdunich: So the Metal Maniacs bring weapons, they bring numbers, they bring fire and they bring all they can and they cannot break me! Now he go and get big name Bombshell. Incredible list of credentials just to come in and out me down.

The host nods slowly.

The Host: I cannot wait to see this match! Seleana Zdunich, Delia Darling, SCW Inception, January 13th, The Gold Coast here in Las Vegas! You also get Crystal Hilton versus Cat Riley, which is an incredible grudge fight that’s been waiting to happen for months and a championship unification match between Dani Weston and Alicia Lukas that is gonna be off the hook! Seleana, thank you for being here.

Seleana nods happily.

Seleana Zdunich: Of course, thank you for having me on your show.

The Host: That’s Seleana Zdunich everyone and we’ll be right back with the Bishop of Blood and Carnage himself, the Silver Baron, stop starin! Catch you on the flip side of this breaks, pimps and playas, we out!    


Off-Camera

Seleana stands up, shakes the hosts hand and steps out the door into the hallway that leads back to the main area of the Pleasure Dome. As she steps out and looks at the stairs that lead up to the second level, Seleana nods, taking it all in. The Pleasure Dome had a reputation even in Las Vegas. It was run by a half-Canadian, half-Mexican wrestler/pimp named Vega Knight that everyone called the Silver Baron. His security staff was headed by fellow professional wrestlers Warrick Craven and Fraser Freeman, though the Englishman, Freeman, was on an extended leave of absence to deal with an alcohol and anger management problem that had led to several run-ins with various local entities. Somehow, Craven had always managed to soothe things over in the nick of time to keep the place running. As Seleana decides how much longer she should stay here, a dark haired woman wearing an American flag bikini comes walking up to her, a smile apparent on her face even as her pale skin seems to almost glow here.

Seleana Zdunich: Miranda?

The dark-haired woman nods. Seleana had known this woman by name only. She was Miranda Raines, an exotic dancer who happened to eb the cousin of milti-time world champion wrestler, Robbie Priest, and Robbie just happened to be married to Seleana’s cousin, Alexi Zdunich-Priest.

Miranda Raines: Nobody has called me that in years.

The two shake hands and then a quick hug.  

Seleana Zdunich: No, what do they call you then, Chickie?

Miranda grins.

Miranda Raines: Misty Rains, though Robbie still calls me Mandy sometimes. Guess he just can’t break old habits sometimes.

Seleana nods knowingly.

Seleana Zdunich: So, you are attraction here?

Miranda shrugs.

Miranda Raines: One of them, I spose. I’ve worked upstairs before, not as often. Never worked the back rooms though. I’m not into cameras like that.

Seleana frowns.

Seleana Zdunich: Cameras?

Miranda nods.

Miranda Raines: Baron started making movies with the girls a couple of years ago right before that company the Knights wrestled for closed.

Seleana nods slowly. The Knights were the Sin City Knights, the tag team the Silver Baron had formed with Freeman and Craven.

Seleana Zdunich: So, you do not simply dance here? I thought this was just big bar and party place?

Miranda nods slowly.

Miranda Raines: It is but…

She cocks her head for a second.

Miranda Raines: Oh God, you don’t know, do you?

Seleana’s frown deepens still.

Seleana Zdunich: I do not know… what?

Miranda glances around the place and then moves her to here fewer people can see her.  

Miranda Raines: This is bar, strip club, brothel, porn studio, radio station…

She pauses and ticks off the list in her own head.

Miranda Raines: Baron’s even put in a regular television production studio too. He’s expanded to opening one down in mexico and is gone down there a lot. I heard he was gonna have Freeman open one somewhere basically on his own too. Ricky would basically run this one. “Baron’s Plan For World Domination” he called it. I think if he could find a way to get this place licensed as a dispensary, he would jump on that in a heartbeat.

Seleana looks around and takes the place in.

Seleana Zdunich: I am in a…

Comprehension dawns and she shakes her head.

Seleana Zdunich: I heard stories but I thought they were exaggerated.

Miranda shrugs.

Miranda Raines: You hear about all the drugs too?

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: I hear stories.

Miranda nods almost apologetically.

Miranda Raines: They’re probably all true to some extent, I’m afraid. There’s a lot of us who enjoy a bit of something and this place practically pays us to party however we want to.

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: I will have to tell Christina all about this then. It is possible she will be angry with me for coming here.

Miranda frowns.

Miranda Raines: Christina… ?

Seleana nods to her shirt and Miranda’s eyes go wide.

Miranda Raines: Oh, right, your wife!

Miranda stares at the shirt for a few minutes and then smirks.

Miranda Raines: She is one hot bitch!

Seleana shrugs.

Seleana Zdunich: She is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

Miranda can’t help but smile.

Miranda Raines: You’re married and you still think that about her?

Seleana nods, smiling broadly.

Miranda Raines: Goddamn, give me some of whatever you’re on because that is awesome!

Seleana shrugs.

Seleana Zdunich: I know she hears others say she is aging, she is fading, she is whatever else you can say for somebody on the wrong end of their career, but they are all wrong. She is none of those things. She is a wonderful competitor, teacher, partner…

Seleana stares into the distance going starry-eyed for a second.

Seleana Zdunich: She is everything I could ever ask for!

Miranda smiles and then hugs the Swedish Bombshell.

Miranda Raines: I hope you never lose that. Tell Alexi and Robbie I said hi.

Seleana nods and the two part, Seleana heading out the door and making her way to the parking lot where she pauses to stare at the car sitting there just waiting for her to make the drive back to Los Angeles, a brand new jet black 2019 Maserati Quattroporte still wearing its showroom shine.

Seleana Zdunich: How did I get so lucky?

She stares at the car and just shakes her head.

Seleana Zdunich: And that jävla fan…

She shakes her head and quickly gets her selfie stick from the car’s backseat. Within seconds, the camera is on and ready to go.


ON-Camera

Seleana nods as she stands in front of the car.

Seleana Zdunich: I stand here and I marvel at where I am when a year ago, I was quaking in my boots worried about how I would do getting into a wrestling ring. I had seen my cousin, Alexi, do it years ago when she was a tag team wrestler and calling herself Storm. I watched her win a few tag team championships with her partner, Raevyn Lilja, and I watched her win a hardcore championship. I cringed watching her have to enter the steel cage for wargames matches alongside her husband and I watched her get hurt badly when someone wanted to send a message to her husband through her.

She pauses to watch as a happy couple walk passed her.

Seleana Zdunich: I wondered…

Shrugging, she looks back into the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: Is this for me?

She looks down and then nods to herself.

Seleana Zdunich: I watched my sister, Zenna, just a year younger than me, and I watched her climb into the ring and have to deal with a man who got nicknamed “Little Rapey” because of an incident that happened at a company function at the Hard Rock in Florida. I watched her have to deal with the fallout as that man was run out of the company and the sport on a rail. I watched her compete and get caught in a love triangle that eventually turned so violent that both she and her soon to be wife suffered ankle injuries and then ended up leaving the sport for several years because of alcohol and drug problems that crippled them both. I watched her fall into the abyss, climb out only to fall back in and have to climb out all over again and while it gave me joy to see her triumph over her demons and it gave me hope that we would one day stand in a ring together, it also made me wonder…

Seleana looks back up to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: Is this worth it?  

She nods and walks over by the driver’s side door of the car.

Seleana Zdunich: I climbed into the ring, knowing all the horrible things that could happen. I had many horrible things thrown at me by people who decided before i ever walked in the door that I was not worthy of being there either because they had decided i no pay dues enough or because they already hated me due to who my wife is. They have decided that all of the things she might have done before…

Seleana leans back against the car and nods to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: And I admit, I am ignorant to her full history. I do not know everything she has done for every second of every day for the entirety of her life so, ja, it is possible that she has done some things to not be proud of in her life. But she also has five rings on her fingers that say she has done many others things that are things to be quite proud of. She has four Hall of Fame rings that say she is one of the best to ever lace up a pair of boots and she has a ring on her other hand that says she took my name even though hers had more cache in the entertainment business!

She pauses, and again, nods to herself.

Seleana Zdunich: But it also made me wonder, what is in this match for Delia Darling?    

Her head cocks slightly to the ring.

Seleana Zdunich: What is there that Christian Underwood can give you that you cannot have gotten yourself, Delia?

She nods as if begging the question.

Seleana Zdunich: Money?

She shakes her head.

Seleana Zdunich: You are Delia Fucking Darling, you have a name that means something in this sport and you could gain a high paying position anywhere you wanted any time you wanted.

Seleana Zdunich: Championship standing then?

Again, Seleana shakes her head dismissively.

Seleana Zdunich: You have such a name that you could walk into any company, including this one and challenge for a championship with no one giving a  second look. In deed, you could say you wish to face the winner of Dasni Weston and Alicia Lukas and everyone would think this was a splendid idea. So, what then?

She shrugs questioningly.

Seleana Zdunich: Power?

Once again, she shakes her head in dismissal of the idea.

Seleana Zdunich: Again, you already have such standing that you could call together the proper resources and make your own company of anything you wished and thus gain whatever power you desired all by yourself, so what can Christian promise you that you could not get yourself?

She shrugs interrogatively one more time.

Seleana Zdunich: The chance to cut something off before it starts and have yourself a little fun while you do it?

She nods.

Seleana Zdunich: That sounds about right and it also sounds like something Christian would go for. Go find himself the biggest naem he can find and offer her the chance to destroy something before it truly gets started.

She changes hands with the stick and then looks up into the camera definitely.

Seleana Zdunich: I look forward to the challenge and I will enjoy every second of this no matter what happens because I already know that you cannot accomplish what Christian wants. You cannot break me!

She glares up, her defiance increasing in intensity.

Seleana Zdunich: Christian tried to rid himself of me on his own and he failed! He tried to get the Metal maniacs to do it, even stacked the odds and let them do whatever they wished and they failed!

She pauses and chuckles slightly.

Seleana Zdunich: One even ended up burned in the process. And now it is you…

She nods in respect.

Seleana Zdunich: You will not break me, Delia, no matter what you do. You will not because you cannot! I have been through too much, seen too much, eaten too much shit from too many people to allow you to walk back into Sin City Wrestling working for that skit and go down the way he wants me to!

She nods sternly.

Seleana Zdunich: You will not break me, Delia, and when you fail at your mission, what will Christian do to you in retribution?

Sher shrugs, smirking slightly.

Seleana Zdunich: I do not know, but it will be fun to see. Enjoy the ride, it’s going to get bumpy!






   

 Off-Camera

Friday, November 23, 2018
Buffalo, New York

Weekends tended to be an almost bipolar event in the Zdunich household in Los Angeles. Sometimes they would be great things that tended to start with an LFL game on Friday for her wife’s team, the Detroit Rampage. Then there was usually a show in Hybrid Wrestling for Seleana’s sister, cousin, and sister-in-law-to-be could all be in action. The fact that the show could either be on Friday night or Saturday night made watching it interesting depending on which week it was. Sunday would bring the show and a match in Sin City Wrestling, possibly involving her wife and stepdaughter.  

This weekend, she finds herself in a Buffalo area hotel having already played the game today against the Buffalo Blizzard. She’d had a good game with a hundred yards and two receiving touchdowns and the team had won, 40-7. Now, she was checking on the show her sister, Zenna Zdunich was main eventing in Spokane for Hybrid in a fatal fourway that had championship implications for the winner. She checks and sees that her sister is not involved in the fall and then is attacked by the maniacal Sylvia Lopez.  

Seleana Zdunich:Den jävla…

She shakes her head, almost throwing her phone even as she sees Zenna get saved by the Hybrid Honor Champion, Zenna’s fiancée, Linnéa Lacroix.

Seleana Zdunich:För fan i helvete!

The unusual screaming draws the attention of Seleana’s wife, Christina, also known as Crystal Hilton. Christina walks into the room from the hallway and frowns as she sees Seleana squeezing her phone in impotent outrage.  

Christina Zdunich: Babe?

Seleana looks up and nods apologetically. She knew how this must have sounded since Christina spoke no Swedish and probably thought it sounded like angry gibberish.

Seleana Zdunich:Zenna was attacked tonight.

Her right hand balls into a fist and, without thinking, another burst comes flying out of her mouth.

Seleana Zdunich:Den jävla fitta!

Christina barely nods, looking simultaneously concerned, amused and annoyed by the enraged chittering coming from her wife’s mouth.

Christina Zdunich: English Babe!

Seleana swallows hard and shakes her head both sadly and angrily.

Seleana Zdunich:Sorry… I…

Seleana shakes her head again, setting her phone down and sighing heavily.

Seleana Zdunich:Why am I never there for the people I love when bad thing happen to them?

Christina frowns but Seleana just looks up at the wall.

Seleana Zdunich:Back in LAW, Brittany grabbed and I do nothing. Sin City, Brittany have arm hurt, I do nothing. You get attacked and hurt, I do nothing. Tonight, Zenna get attacked in Spokane, I do nothing. Not even see her until Monday, maybe.

Christina puts her hand on Seleana’s shoulder and nods reassuringly as Seleana looks at her feet in shame.  

Seleana Zdunich:You, Brittany, Zenna…

Christina nods slowly, obviously trying to think of what she should say to her wife as Seleana’s thoughts seemingly start to run wild inside her head.  

Seleana Zdunich:Eavan get hurt other place, I do nothing! She out for several weeks, I do nothing!

Seleana turns and looks up into Christina’s eyes.

Seleana Zdunich:People in Sin City target you through me, I do nothing. People run Sin City not know we married in June, show world they not pay attention to me at all and I do nothing!  

She turns away, as much in shame as in angry resentment.

Seleana Zdunich:I am sick of doing nothing!

She hangs her head down, her hands clasping together behind her neck as she sits back up, shaking her head to herself as Christina watches on.

Seleana Zdunich:I don’t even know what I am doing anymore.

She draws in a deep breath and sharply lets it out.

Seleana Zdunich:Last match here, I’m in the ring with whiny brat that is fucking the boss and the only reason I’m there is because she couldn’t have who she was really keen to fight. She barely mentioned me at all, the whole company demonstrated to me where I stand with them and still, I…

Her jaw clenches, her teeth grinding together as Seleana starts shaking.

Seleana Zdunich:Do…

Her eyes snap shut.

Seleana Zdunich:NOTHING!

Christina shakes her head.

Christina Zdunich: You did not do nothing…

Seleana nods pointedly.

Seleana Zdunich:I lost…

Christina shrugs.

Christina Zdunich: So?

Seleana looks back at her wife in shock.

Seleana Zdunich:You hate losing!

Christina nods as if this is the single most obvious thing anyone has ever uttered in the history mankind.

Christina Zdunich: Yeah… so? I’m me, you’re you…

Seleana shakes her head.

Seleana Zdunich:I am nothing…

Christina shrugs, looking matter-of-fact about things.  

Christina Zdunich: Then do something about it.

Seleana stands up and turns to face her wife.

Seleana Zdunich:Like what?

Christina shrugs yet again.

Christina Zdunich: Like pull your head out?  

Seleana cocks her head.

Seleana Zdunich:What?

Christina rolls her eyes.

Christina Zdunich: Ugh, you heard me…

She nods with annoyance on every one of her next few words.

Christina Zdunich: Pull…

Nod.

Christina Zdunich: Your…

Nod.

Christina Zdunich: Head…

Nod.

Christina Zdunich: Out!

Seleana’s jaw drops.

Seleana Zdunich:Is that why I’m not good enough for you?

Now it’s Christina’s turn to have her drop.

Christina Zdunich: Excuse me?

Seleana nods knowingly.

Seleana Zdunich:You hear me!

Christina’s head almost falls over even as her hand stays up, her elbow pulled in tight as if she had just been about to blow on her nails.

Christina Zdunich: How do you figure that one?

Seleana shrugs as if the answer should be obvious.

Seleana Zdunich:Are we team?

Christina nods incredulously.

Christina Zdunich: Yes.

Seleana’s eyes almost bug out of her head.

Seleana Zdunich:Hollywood Angels team?

Christina almost laughs.

Christina Zdunich: Babe, Sin City has no Bombshells Tag Team Division, there are no…

Seleana cuts her off.

Seleana Zdunich:Other places!

Christina still seemingly can’t believe her ears.

Christina Zdunich: You only wrestle one other place and you team with somebody else there.

Seleana nods, pointing accusingly.

Seleana Zdunich:So do you!

Christina nods in return.

Christina Zdunich: Because you went without asking me first! How am I supposed to team with you there when you went with your sister?

Seleana is unbowed.

Seleana Zdunich:What about other places? You bring me to LAW, we team once…

Christina’s jaw falls open again.

Christina Zdunich: So it’s my fault they didn’t book us as a team?

Seleana nods pointedly.

Seleana Zdunich:You bring me to Sin City and we can’t be a team. What about Honor before the merge? What about WWA? What all other places you work? Why weren’t you keen to bring me to those places? I would bring up the team and you would tell me we would someday but someday never come!  

Christina just shakes her head in near dumbfounded shock.

Christina Zdunich: You didn’t need to be mixed up in those other places. You have enough trouble where we’ve been already!

Seleana swallows hard, her voice becoming small and almost childlike.

Seleana Zdunich:So I’m not good enough for you…

Christina marches up to Seleana and grabs her by the shoulders.

Christina Zdunich: Seleana Valentina Zdunich, you knock that off this instant! You have always been good enough for me! I married you, didn’t I?

Her hands drop from Seleana’s shoulders.

Christina Zdunich: I taught you! I trained you! There is no way possible you can’t be good enough for me! I am Crystal Fucking Hilton and it’s time you started acting like my wife!

Seleana stares at Christina for a second and then latches onto her, Christina hugging her back as the two women begin to kiss passionately.

Seleana Zdunich:I love you, Estrellita!  

Christina smirks and kisses Seleana again.

Christina Zdunich: I love you too, Babe.

Christina leads Seleana over to the bed and proceeds to prove it repeatedly for the rest of the night.


On-Camera

The camera opens upon Seleana Zdunich standing seemingly alone in the short hallway that leads to the doorway of her hotel room in Buffalo. Dressed in tight jeans and a Detroit Rampage t-shirt, she nods to her bare feet and finally looks up to the lens staring back at her.

Seleana Zdunich:We are nothing.

She shrugs, looking somewhere between apologetic and sadly matter-of-fact.

Seleana Zdunich:It’s the truth, Trinity. You and I are nothing here in Sin City Wrestling. We are the people that show up for the Bombshell Division matches and people have to think of ways to sell our matches to the public because we always have “a good showing” but we never quite…

She shrugs, more to herself than anyone else.

Seleana Zdunich:“Get there.”

She looks down to her feet and just shakes her head exasperatedly.

Seleana Zdunich:The sad truth is we are the people everyone else thinks of as the charity cases. The ones they keep on the roster because there is really no reason to get rid of us but there’s no reason to really give us anything either.

Looking back up, Seleana shrugs slowly.

Seleana Zdunich:We are not the chosen heroes to lead the way and we are not the hated villains they can sell the public on wanting to see die for their amusement either.

Looking off, she ticks off a list as if her hand is a notebook with bullet points on it.

Seleana Zdunich:We’re not their hero, we’re not their villain, we’re not in the mixed tag teams they seem to have fallen in love with here, we’re not either of us really the up-and-comer that people can’t wait to see what happens when they mature into their abilities.

Nodding matter-of-factly, Seleana looks dead into the camera.

Seleana Zdunich:I’m the Swedish trophy wife of a woman people call many things and most of them aren’t good no matter how many championships she wins or how many Halls of Fame she earns berths in and you…

Seleans shrugs sadly again.

Seleana Zdunich:You’re somebody who came here before, did not set the world on fire, left and came back seeking redemption that was not readily available.

Looking back to her feet, Seleana frowns.

Seleana Zdunich:We have both been given chances to shake these labels off and we have managed to become…

She nods pointedly.

Seleana Zdunich:Nothing.  

She nods a couple of times and then looks back into the camera.

Seleana Zdunich:But we have been given another chance, Trinity. We have been given this chance to prove the whole world wrong! We have been given this chance to show the world that the Dragon and the Cat are not just cheap marketing ploys thrown on us to hide the fact that we have less than desirable records. We have been given the opportunity to show Sin City Wrestling and everyone else that they are wrong about us!

She nods pointedly.

Seleana Zdunich:We are NOT nothing!

She stares coldly into the camera as the shot tightens on her slightly.

Seleana Zdunich:You are not nothing. I am not nothing and we both deserve better than to be the afterthoughts thrown together while everyone else pays attention to the two championships and their two contenders.  

She nods pointedly again.

Seleana Zdunich:This is our opportunity to prove to Mark Ward, to Christian Underwood, to anyone else paying attention, that the Bombshells deserve better than to have two slots and then whatever else they can force us to take as charity cases alongside then men in the mixed tag team stuff. This…

She nods as she pointed hard to the ground.

Seleana Zdunich:This is our opportunity to steal the show and prove to everyone that WE!!!

She nods, pointing to herself.

Seleana Zdunich:We can do better and we will do better!

The camera zooms in to frame her face.

Seleana Zdunich:I’m tired of being nothing, Trinity, and I am going to prove I’m the opposite even if I have to drag you along with me kicking and screaming. I’ll see you in Las Vegas, Dragon, where we set the world on fire!  








 

 Off-Camera



11/3/18
Staples Center
Los Angeles, California
10:34  AM  PDT


Seleana Zdunich stares into the ring set up for the coming Hybrid Wrestling Ascension Brand Pay-Per-View Unstoppable and smiles. Her sister-in-law-to-be, Linnéa Lacroix, was scheduled to be in the main event defending the Honor Championship against a woman called Lilith and Seleana was not going to miss this, especially not when it was scheduled to be right in her own backyard like this. Considering Linnéa and her own sister, Zenna Zdunich, had been in town with their band for a little over a week, this had been like a family reunion that had started with Seleana and Zenna getting to tag team together for the first time for a company called Galactic Women’s Wrestling on Monday.  

Linnéa and Zenna had brought the rest of their band, bassist Alissa Lacroix, drummer Kelly Taylor and guitarist Katra Zdunich, with them so that the band, American Murder Log, could play a Halloween party for Katra’s ex-wife, fellow wrestler Eavan Maloney.

With both of Seleana’s sisters in town, and her wife, Crystal Hilton, trying to go all out to make things up to her lately, she’d gotten to enjoy Halloween like no other year. Now, with the holiday firmly in the rearview mirror, Seleana was standing at ringside as her stepdaughter’s live-in girlfriend of sorts, Haylie Jo “Halo” Annis was trying her hand at a training session with several other members of the Hybrid Wrestling roster that Seleana would call family, her cousin Maja Lindström, and the woman who had introduced Seleana to her wife and stood bridesmaid for her at the wedding, Stacy Jones.

Seleana Zdunich:  You’re doing awesome, Halo!

Halo and Maja roll into a sparring session as Seleana stands on the floor next to Stacy, both of them waiting to see who all else might arrive for this get together.

Seleana Zdunich:  It is amazing to me, how more… naturally… she move than me in the ring.  Is her sister the same?

At first, Stacy doesn’t respond as she keeps her focus on the sparring session.

Stacy Jones: C’mon, Halo! Your movement is good… but you need to work on your technique more!

Eventually she turns to Sel with a slight look of frustration on her face.

Stacy Jones: Oh, sorry… yeah… she is…

Now turning back to the sparring session, she shakes her head.

Stacy Jones: Halo! Move your arm up to her chin! You’re applying a headlock not a damn choke hold!

Seleana Zdunich:  She almost look afraid of her power… like she know she bigger than Maja and is afraid to use leverage.

Stacy Jones: Well she’s gonna need to learn to utilize that power effectively… simple as that.

Seleana nods slowly.

Seleana Zdunich:  I had to learn the same. It never came easy to me. Christina used to get so frustrated with me for that.

Stacy’s fists ball up suddenly as she pounds her fists onto the apron.

Stacy Jones: Halo?! Pay attention to what I’m saying to you!

Inside the ring, Halo tries to move her arm and Maja uses the opening to score a double leg takedown on the taller woman.

Seleana Zdunich:  Maja knows how to push…

Stacy shakes her head before finally sliding into the ring.

Stacy Jones: Okay, both of you get up…

Maja and Halo both stand to their feet either side of Stacy, Halo looking rather sheepish, as if she’s done something wrong and is about to get a telling off from her mother.

Stacy Jones: Halo, if you choke the poor woman, you could kill her! We’re trying to beat our opponents, not murder them. Watch. Maja, let me apply a headlock on you.

Maja nods and leans forward as Stacy wraps her arm around her head, clasping her hands together and wrenches on it a little.

Stacy Jones: You see where my hands are positioned, Halo?

The young blonde woman nods.

Halo:  Ye-yes…

Stacy now releases the hold and nods.

Stacy Jones: Good. Now do it again.

Almost in a storming off fashion, Stacy leaves the ring and drops down back beside Sel and sighs.

Seleana Zdunich:  Are you ok, Chickie?

Stacy Jones: Peaches and fucking cream, Cat. Sometimes you gotta be tough in this business in training, coz it ain’t easy, and I need to know this is something Halo really wants and that she can deal.

Seleana nods as they watch Halo grabs Maja exactly as Stacy had demonstrated.

Seleana Zdunich:  It took her so long to ask for this. I think she was afraid we would all say no and that she wouldn’t be as good as Rain. She heard someone mention a baseball player, I think… called Ozzie Canseco, and the story terrified her.

Stacy Jones: I don’t follow baseball, and this ain’t baseball. What matters now is we’re helping her. I just hope that I don’t end up having this help thrown back in my fucking face.

Seleana frowns in confusion.

Seleana Zdunich:  Thrown back in your face?  By who, Chickie?

Stacy Jones: You know exactly who, Cat. You know her very well… don’t make me say her name because I don’t know what I’ll do as a result.

Seleana nods slowly.

Seleana Zdunich:  You are angry with Estrellita.

Stacy Jones: You’re damn right I’m angry with her, Cat! You know, she had the audacity to ask me if I hated her the other day? I fucking told her straight, I don’t give a damn if things have been worked out between you two, it doesn’t make what she did right! That kind of thing pisses me off beyond belief and then… she was like, ‘c’mon, you’re one of my closest friends’, like that was going to make things better? The fact that she is one of my closest friends makes it even fucking worse! I wanted to do something special for two people I cared about, and then she goes and throws it back into my fucking face and expects me to just accept that and pretend like nothing happened!

Stacy slams her fists onto the apron again, letting out an angry scream that catches Halo and Maja off-guard.

Seleana Zdunich:  It is not you…

Maja and Halo nod and go back to what they were doing while Seleana turns to face Stacy.

Seleana Zdunich:  I thought I had lost her. I came home and she did not. Eavan wanted to tear her apart at first because they were already fighting each other in WWA and this just added fuel to that fire. Shenzi asked if they should form lynch mob. Kattunge called and we cry together. Brittany went home to Houston. I had several offers to not be left alone in Los Angeles when I came home. Shay Shay call, offer. Reya offer. Others.

She sighs heavily.

Seleana Zdunich:  I sat and asked why I was not good enough for her.

Stacy Jones: You are good enough for her! She’s the one who isn’t good enough for you!

Stacy shakes her head.

Stacy Jones: I’m sorry, I can’t talk about this… I’m gonna end up blowing a fucking blood vessel. Tell Halo that I’m sorry for being so hard on her today and I’ll make sure to help her some more when I’ve got a cooler head.

Seleana nods and hugs Stacy tightly.

Seleana Zdunich:  Tack för allt. Jag älskar dig, Simba. Kom ihåg vem du är!

Stacy nods and takes her leave. Just as Stacy leaves the room, Seleana’s wife, Crystal Hilton, walks into the room. Crystal walks over and nods as she watches Halo and Maja working in the ring. Seleana steps over closer and leans her head against her wife’s shoulder.

Seleana Zdunich:  Thank you for coming, Estrellita.  

Crystal nods as if it’s nothing.

Crystal Hilton: Of course.

They continue to stand against each other even as a loud screech goes up from the entryway. They turn to see Halo’s twin sister, Hybrid Ascension wrestler Amy “Rain” Annis, dropping her beg to start running excitedly towards the ring. Next to Rain is a much smaller woman in her tag team partner and girlfriend, Kendra “GoGo” Goganious, who also drops her bags and takes off running. GoGo gets to the ring first where Halo and Maja have stopped and slides in udner the bottom rope. Rain dives in after and the team known as Natural Resources all but tackles Halo.

Seleana Zdunich: Förtjusande!

Crystal Hilton: Babe, English…

Seleana shrugs.

Seleana Zdunich: Adorable!

Crystal looks at the three in the ring and then nods.

Crystal Hilton: Yes, they are.

Seleana nods to Maja.

Seleana Zdunich: Tag Team?

Maja glances back at them and then shrugs.

Maja Lindström: Varför inte?

She nods to the three women on the mat who are all now looking up in confusion.

Maja Lindström: Okej, Halo och jag mot Rain och GoGo?

Halo’s eyes go wide in near dread as her twin and GoGo’s eyes go wide in excitement!!

GoGo: Let’s do it, let’s do it, let’s do it!!!!

Rain nods her agreement.

Rain: Damn right, Goldi!  Let’s do it!

GoGo: This is gonna be so… AWESOME!!!!!

The four stand up and Halo whispers to Maja before taking their places. As they start, Maja’s boyfriend, Matthias Lindeman slides in as a referee and Seleana sounds the bell, Crystal standing next to her ready to coach Halo at any second.  

Seleana Zdunich: She looks even more afraid than I was.

Crystal shrugs.

Crystal Hilton: She’ll get over it. Everybody does, especially a Crystal Hilton Student!

Seleana nods as they watch the action unfold.

Seleana Zdunich: I love you, Estrellita.

Crystal Hilton: I love you too.  



On-Camera

11/3/18
Staples Center
Los Angeles, California
12:34  PM  PDT



The camera opens upon Seleana Zdunich as leans against the Hybrid Ascension branded ring scanning the arena in her ensemble of Detroit Rampage track pants and a black sleeveless top.

Seleana Zdunich: Cat vs Cat…

Seleana shrugs.

Seleana Zdunich: On paper, not a bad idea, ja?

She can’t help but smile slightly.

Seleana Zdunich: We see which of us really has nine lives, which of us has the claws and the will to sink our teeth into the other’s throat?

Nodding, Seleana pats the edge of the ring.

Seleana Zdunich: I am certain that is what the people in charge of Sin City Wrestling are hoping for with Cat Riley vs Seleana “The Cat” Zdunich.

She starts to stand up and say something else when suddenly, a look comes over her face that changes her entire attitude. The smile fades off and she shakes her head in the negative.

Seleana Zdunich: Actually, no, that’s not what they are hoping for and I…

She shakes her head slightly disgustedly.

Seleana Zdunich: According to their own released information, we are fighting because you demanded a match that you could not have and because my wife…

She pauses to look directly into the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: Yes, SCW, Christian Underwood, Mark Ward, whoever else needs to start paying attention to their own employees, Crystal Hilton, Christina Rose, whatever you wish to call her…

She leans forward, nodding pointedly again as she does so.  

Seleana Zdunich: I am not her fiancé, I am her wife! We got married here in Los Angeles in a  rather large affair five months ago. Thank you for noticing…  

Leaning back against the ring, Seleana shakes her head again.

Seleana Zdunich: And no, it does not make it any better than whoever messed up my marital status in an official company release then added that the match might steal the show since in calling me that word, they also used the wrong form and called me a man. What galactic idiot paid so little attention to this document?

Suddenly, her right arm shoots out, her right holding up, palm out to the camera as she looks away in revulsion.

Seleana Zdunich: No, do not bother making the excuse, I do not really want to know because you have already said right there what the problem is. I am in this match because I am the only one that does not complain.

Her hand drops as she looks back to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: So I am basically being used as a speedbump for Cat Riley while she waits her turn to try and kill Kate Steele and since you had two divas throwing hissy fits and one had been in line longer, you decided to try and placate the second one by giving her me for reasons passing understanding.

Her gaze falls to the floor as she sighs heavily.

Seleana Zdunich: So here we are, Cat Riley wanted a piece of Kate Steele but could not have her because…

Looking back up to the camera, Seleana shrugs.

Seleana Zdunich: I don’t know, Christian Underwood could not be arsed to just book a simple match before the pay-per-view because the card was sacrosanct…

She pauses pointedly and then nods in acknowledgement.

Seleana Zdunich: And yet, it was not so sacred that he could threaten to change it by booking my wife vs Cat with the winner getting Kate on this show.

She shakes her head as she turns to the right to wave a hand in that direction.

Seleana Zdunich: So Cat threw a tantrum to try and force a change you were loathe to make.

She turns to the left.

Seleana Zdunich: Then you threw a tantrum over it…

And back to the right.

Seleana Zdunich:  Causing my wife to throw a tantrum over it in protest…

Back to the left again.

Seleana Zdunich:  and then you threw a tantrum at me because of what they were doing and you have no balls and thus decided to fire on you considered both the most expendable and the most helpless.

She turns back to the canter, looking into the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: You have no spine at all Mister Underwood or you would have simply told Cat Riley to wait her turn from the start.

She gaze moves up and slightly to the right as her arms cross in front of her chest.

Seleana Zdunich: Even a modicum of backbone would have meant you simply book her in a match on a Climax Control but you thought so little of Kate Steele…

Her hands drop as she looks to the camera in exasperation.

Seleana Zdunich: Why am I even bothering, all you’re going to do in response is one of two things. You will either ignore me completely as you have already shown you are quite capable of doing or you will threaten to punish me in some way thinking you actually have power over me in some manner.  

She pauses and then looks down and to the left.

Seleana Zdunich: I would say you have less power over me than you do balls but since you have none of either, I guess it comes out to be equal on that fight.

Seleana scoffs and looks back to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: You have no power over me sir because there is nothing you can do to me that will hurt me. You have already forced me to fight both my wife and my stepdaughter and you have tried to feed me to Evie Baang. You have also already threatened my employment and since we already know you have no…

Trailing off, Seleana stares off into the distance.

Seleana Zdunich: What did Christina’s family call them?

She pauses to contemplate this, pondering the answer in her head before nodding as the answer comes to her.

Seleana Zdunich: Huevos…

Looking back to the camera, Seleana’s glare comes into focus.

Seleana Zdunich: Since we know you have no huevos, you would have fired me already if you were going to. Your threats are empty, devoid of all meaning and thus…

She waves her hand dismissively.

Seleana Zdunich: So here we are, in a match meant to be a speed bump for cat Riley because we all know the truth here is that i do not care about you, cat and you do not care about me at all. You never did and you never will because I am not Kate Steele and I am not my wife who was standing in your way to get to Kate Steele. In truth, if you were in the ring with Kate Steele I would wish you luck and even offer to stand at ringside to make sure she could not escape the vengeance you would unleash upon her as she deserves every scrap of that she can possibly feel from anyone who knows her. Kate Steele is an ignorant scoundrel and I disapprove of her very existence. I would consider ending it myself but the line is so long i would never be allowed the opportunity for self control to get the better of me on her.

Seleana looks to the ground and laughs to herself, shaking her head in disgusted disbelief.

Seleana Zdunich: So we are stuck with one another in a match neither of us asked for and neither of us particularly want and what does this mean?

She looks back up to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: It means we are two cats about to be thrown into a canvas bag and held over a river for everyone else's amusement and this is when we decide we are going to have to fight it out or die and I, for one, am tired of being the one that dies. I am coming to High Stakes and I am going to prove that this Cat has the claws to be reckoned with. I suggest you do the same and may the best Cat win!        

 Sunday
10/14/18
Scottsdale, Arizona
11:15 PM MST

Following the events of Climax Control, Seleana Zdunich finds herself in an unfamiliar place in an even more unfamiliar condition. She sits in the hotel room she was supposed to be sharing with her wife, Christina Zdunich, staring at the walls as they almost seem to close on in her. Silence fills the room as she looks from the door to the bathroom and just shakes her head.

Climax Control had been over for a good two hours and the room was as empty now as it had been during the show when the occupants had been down at the arena. Following the revelations shown on the big screen by Kate Steele, Seleana’s family had all been devastated and scattered. Her injured stepdaughter, Brittany Williams, had yelled at her mother and then vanished into the wind. Christina had followed a few seconds later leaving Seleana sitting alone on a bench in the dressing room wondering what she was supposed to do now.

Staring at her phone, Seleana closes her eyes and fires up her Twitter app to look and see if either had mentioned anything. Since this would be the first thing she’d heard or seen after the show, it would be a relief just to see they were at least alive on some level. She quickly scans her timeline and sees Christina has made a couple of posts. Her jaw clenches and she shakes her head.

Seleana Zdunich: Estrellita… varför?

After making a post herself, she fires off a text into the night at Brittany.

“Where are you?”

She stares hopefully at her phone and then nods knowing this will take a second for an answer to even think about coming back. Quickly, she tries a text to Christina as well.

“Where are you?”

A second later, an answer appears.

“Why?”

Seleana stares at it and can almost hear the cross between attitude and fear in the word. Seleana bites her lip as she tries not to burst into tears again and sends a response.

“You have not come back to the room.”

She exhales heavily, hoping both that this is a bad dream and that they can at least agree to talk, even if it would be exceptionally painful to confront whatever truth there was to confront. Christina’s answer chimes back.

“I’m ashamed.”

And just like that, Seleana cannot hold back the torrent any longer. Her worst fears had been realized. She sets her phone down and then squeezes her hands into fists. This was why Brittany had disappeared. She knew the odds were good that it was exactly as was shown and that her mother had likely found a way to destroy things. Swallowing hard, Seleana picks up her phone and messages Brittany again.    

“I just want to know if you are alright and if you are going to see Jordan?”

She stares at her phone and starts to ponder things. What should she do in this situation? Calling her sisters would probably not be a good idea considering this very same thing had happened to her youngest sister, Katra, around this time last year and bringing up the memory would not be a good idea. Their middle sister, Zenna, would be angry and reminded of what had happened to her with a male ex of her own almost seven years ago and since that had led Zenna down the rabbit hole of drugs and alcohol abuse, it was not a wound Seleana wanted to reopen any time soon. She exhales forcefully and then tries Brittany again.  

“I love you, I want to know you are safe.”

She glances at her timeline again to see messages from Eavan Maloney and Reya Sera Cornett, managing a small smile at their generosity. She answers both of them and then tries another text message to Brittany.

“Please?”

Was this wrong to try and force the issue with her? Teenagers were a strange thing and having one to call her own was still a concept that Seleana was trying to wrap her head around. What had Brittany thought when she’d seen the video depicting her parents getting back together? Was she secretly happy to see this reunion? Was Seleana that bad a parent? Did Brittany really want her to go away and get out of the way of her family? Was she angry at what little family she had was being torn apart again? She had heard Brittany talk of this idea many times before. Seleana nods to herself, hoping beyond hope and tries one last time.    

“I love you Brittany, I am sorry this happened.”

What of Brittany ahd discovered the road Christina had once run down herself? What if Brittany was lying somewhere, drunk and fading into the abyss of unconsciousness? What if it was worse? How would they go on if Brittany had…

Her train of thought is broken by  chiem from her phone. Seleana looks down to see Brittany has answered.

“Hai”

Seleana smiles broadly through her tears and fires an answer back.

“How are you?”

Before she can really even stop herself, she fires off another one.

“Are you safe?

With no answer coming and realizing she’s just sent off two in a row after Brittany had finally made the effort to do exactly as she’d asked, Seleana wipes the tears from her eyes and fires off a quick message.

“I am sorry. I do not mean to nag.”  

She swallows hard and switches over to Christina. What should she do now? What if Christina wasn’t coming back? What if she was? What did Seleana want and which was actually the worse choice tonight? After a few minutes, she nods to herself and sends another message to Christina.

“Do you know where Brittany is?”

An answer comes back almost too quickly, as if Christina was staring at her phone the same way Seleana was.

“No.”

Seleana stares at it and shakes her head.

“Do you think she do something rash?”

When no answer comes back this time, Seleana grips her phone a little tighter.

“Stjärna, please?”

This time an answer comes back quickly.

“I am embarrassed I hurt you, and no Brittany won’t do anything. She’s probably flying to be with her boyfriend.”

Seleana stares at her phone and plays the words over in her head. Was this Christina being snippy or was this her just being in pain?

“You come back to hotel tonight or should I go home and wait for you there?

The phone seemingly goes dead for a minute and then chimes back with an answer from Christina.

“Look it’s not what it seems. One thing led to another. Christina let me back, she wanted me to surface to deal with Kate because she knew she was weak. And well, seeing Todd just gave me memories, that arrogance, one thing led to another…”

Seleana stares at her phone and the tears start to come again.

“You come back to room or need time away from me?”

She closes her eyes and tries not to give in to the ideas in her head. Does my wife hate me? Does she not love me? Should I go drown my sorrows? Should I just go find some of those favors that have been offered in Hollywood at times? Is my life over right now?

Opening her eyes, Seleana looks down and sees no answer has come back from her wife yet. She nods sadly and fires off another text.

“I do not hate you.”

She stands up and starts to look around to see how quickly she can pack up her stuff. It wouldn’t take long since she had not unpacked much at all upon arrival. As she starts to move, her phone chimes with an answer from Christina.

“What Sel”  

Seleana stops dead in her tracks and stares at the words. Without punctuation, context or even a complete thought, what does this mean? Was she being snide? Was she being drunk? Was she simply asking a question? If she was drunk, what would she do?

Seleana nods slowly and then fires back a message.

“Ok. I understand. I will fly home and I will be there when you are ready. Please try to find Brittany. She has not answered me.”

Before she can move, an answer chimes back.

“Why aren’t you yelling at me?”

Seleana stands there feeling like she’s been punched in the gut. How do you answer that one?

“Why do you want me to yell?”

Again, an answer comes right off.

“Because you are supposed to be mad and upset.”

Seleana nods.

“I am upset. I am scared. I am worried.”

When no further answer comes over the next fifteen minutes, Seleana sadly gathers her stuff and takes her leave, booking a flight home to Los Angeles and just hoping that there is still a home to go back to.


Friday
10/19/18
Los Angeles, California


The camera opens upon Seleana Zdunich sitting on a couch somewhere, using the camera on her smartphone to broadcast.  

Seleana Zdunich: It is a funny thing, focus…

Looking down, Seleana stares at her feet.  

Seleana Zdunich: Everyone say you need it, everyone always says few have it and yet, this is not really the case. Everyone has a focus. Everyone is focused on something, it is only when you ask everyone to focus on the same that one can start to say a person has either no focus or has lost their old focus.

She nods slowly, sadly.

Seleana Zdunich: My wife is a perfect example.

Swallowing hard, Seleana takes a deep breath and lets it out, giving life to the melancholy she is feeling.

Seleana Zdunich: People have said Christina lacks her former focus from when she was Crystal Hilton all the time. They say she is not as driven as she was before. They say she lacks killer instinct and even she has said she is weak and not what she was.

Seleana shakes her head forcefully before looking up.

Seleana Zdunich: They are all wrong. Christina is still as focused as ever, her focus has simply shifted. She allows people to continue to shift her focus from what she thinks she wants and therefore she…

Seleana trails off just long enough to raise her free hand to make air quotation marks.

Seleana Zdunich: “Comes up short.”

Her free hand drops.

Seleana Zdunich: Christina is still every bit the talent she was before, no matter what name she uses. If she were to choose to point her focus onto attaining a certain thing and does not split it away from that one certain thing, she will do like she always has. She is still a rose by any other name and still smells twice as sweet!

Shrugging, Seleana looks back to her feet.

Seleana Zdunich: I know some of you are laughing right now. You are saying, “Silly woman, you know nothing. You do not even really know your own wife! You do not know what she will do in five minutes, much less what she will do when she tries to be her former self again.”  

She looks up again into the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: You are wrong. I do her and I know that there is a very good reason you all try to split her focus as you do. You know that if you do not manage such a thing, she will take you down and you will have to listen to Crystal Hilton crow about how she beat you until you cannot stand it any longer and it makes you all sick and scared! My wife will be back on top if she chooses to dedicate herself to it as will her daughter. They are both too talented to stay down for long no matter what you do to them.

She nods and then looks down to her feet once again.

Seleana Zdunich: So now, I come to a match where focus will be split because it is a foruway for a title shot and so, how should it be otherwise?

Seleana shrugs, her focus remaining on her shoes.

Seleana Zdunich: There will be four of us vying for a chance to face Evie Baang and all of us wish to attain this status as we have all had our chances previously.

She pauses and seemingly switches to a spot on the floor instead of her shoes.

Seleana Zdunich: Trinity Jones focuses on her past, her perceived shortcomings in a run prior to stepping away. She speaks as if her record speaks more against her than for her and focuses on things she cannot control. Things she cannot change. Things…

Seleana looks up and shrugs almost sadly.

Seleana Zdunich: That do not matter.  

She nods knowingly, understandingly.

Seleana Zdunich: Who you were in that former run is not who you are now, Trinity. I never see how you were before and it does not matter because you are a different animal now. You can be whatever you want if you just focus on now instead of then. You are capable of greatness, all you have to do is get out of your own way and you can achieve it!

Sighing heavily, she moves her gaze back to the floor.

Seleana Zdunich: Amy Marshall focuses on her closing window of time for success. She acts as if her entire career is a failure if she does not cash in on opportunities right now. She also focuses on something she can neither control nor change and that is the number next to ehr name in the box marked “age.”

She shrugs again sadly.

Seleana Zdunich: I do not know why you think you are on borrowed time, Amy. Your window is just as open now as it was when you started.

She looks up again, nodding pointedly to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: Everyone’s window of opportunity is open so long as they are able to walk away from the ring after their last match. If you are breathing and walking, and they allow you into that ring, your window is not moving at all. You have always been capable of greatness, Amy, and that has not been diminished by that number changing. If your focus is pointed at the championship the way it has always been before, that number will not matter. It did not matter before and it will not now unless you allow it to, unless you allow it to consume you and allow yourself to be defeated before you ever enter the ring.

She nods again, even more pointedly.

Seleana Zdunich: You are better than that, Amy. You always have been.      

Her gaze slips down and finds her shoes all over again.

Seleana Zdunich: Sam Marlowe focuses on career and her lessons outside of the ring. In some ways this is a thing to be praised. You maintain a level of excellence in both and thus inspire and empower those who take notice. You do yourself credit that way.

She looks up into the camera and nods once again.

Seleana Zdunich: This could also cause you problems as your focus is split. Rest assured, I am not telling you to forsake all other things. That would be foolish and pointless.

She nods even as she shrugs apologetically.

Seleana Zdunich: But if your focus is put in place, you will be unstoppable. You are the talent that can transcend and make little girls everywhere stand up and say, “Ja, I can do anything!” You can be the face that lights the way. The light upon the path that shows everyone how to be.

She swallows hard barely looking down.

Seleana Zdunich: And what of me?

Seleana shrugs, almost laughing at herself.

Seleana Zdunich: Lately my focus has been..

She shrugs again, this time knowingly.

Seleana Zdunich: All over the place. I looked at my shoulder. My stepdaughter and her arm. My wife and her myriad of problems and then last week, I was given a new...  

She shakes her head.

Seleana Zdunich: My focus was on everything but a match so good job I had none for the last two weeks. This past week, I have been unable to focus on anything other than what will become of my marriage, my family…

Her gaze returns to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: But then I saw those I would be facing, the stakes at hand and I realized, I must focus on the match at hand. Forget about my problems and give you three the match you deserve. You all want to face Evie Baang again and so do I. I have stepped into the ring with her twice and both times she has attempted to injure me only to fall short of achieving that. I do not know why she wishes to hurt me…

Shrugging, Seleana glares straight through the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: maybe she dislikes my wife. Maybe she is insulted by my presence in ehr company. I do not know and at this moment, i do not care. I just know she has tried to injure me twice and in order to get back to facing her and proving her wrong i must focus on this match, on you three and I must focus on getting through you.

She stands and nods forcefully.

Seleana Zdunich: I must stand up, walk into that ring and show that this Cat has claws and she is focused on using them for one thing! I will see you three in the ring and we will see who achieves the needed focus this week. I will do my best to show that it is me and put this whole sordid week behind me!

She nods and starts to walk away.

Seleana Zdunich: That… is my focus…    

 Saturday, September 8, 2018
Los Angeles, California
Hollywood Hills
The Home of Christina Zdunich
8:44 AM PDT


Seleana Zdunich walks across the living room, sitting down on the couch as her phone chimes at her to signal an incoming call. She nods to the phone and puts it on speaker.

Seleana Zdunich: Hej, Z!  (Hi, Z!)

Her middle sister’s voice greets her ears.

Zenna Zdunich: Hej, Sarabi! (Hi, Sarabi!)

Zenna’s face pops up on the screen of Seleana’s phone, smiling at her older sister.

Seleana Zdunich: Du är hemma? (You are home?)

Zenna nods.

Zenna Zdunich: Ja, vi är hemma. Stormen visade sig inte vara dålig. (Yes, we're home. The storm did not turn out to be bad.)

Seleana nods happily, relief visible in her eyes.

Seleana Zdunich: Hur är Kattunge? (How is Kattunge?)

Zenna shrugs.

Zenna Zdunich: Det är inte henne vi behöver oroa oss för. (It’s not her we need to worry about.)

Seleana frowns.

Seleana Zdunich: Varför är det så? (Why is that?)

Zenna nods grimly.

Zenna Zdunich: Adriana mamma är sjuk. (Adriana’s mother is ill.)

Seleana nods, her head drooping slightly.

Seleana Zdunich: Jag förstår. Brittany har en trasig ärm. (I understand, Brittany has a broken arm.)

Zenna shrugs.

Zenna Zdunich: Det har varit ett dåligt par veckor för vår familj, eller hur? (It has been a bad couple of weeks for our family, hasn’t it?)

Seleana nods her agreement.

Seleana Zdunich: En trasig ärm, en dålig sjukdom och en orkan på samma gång. (A broken arm, a bad illness, and a hurricane all at the same time.)

Zenna shrugs.

Zenna Zdunich: Det var inte riktigt en orkan men det var nära nog. (It was not quite a hurricane but it was close enough.)

Seleana manages a small smile.

Seleana Zdunich: Gudskelov!  (Thank God!)

Zenna nods on the screen.

Zenna Zdunich: Ja, det trodde jag också. Linnea och Alissa var inte nöjda överallt för att se ens en liten som kom. (Yes, I thought this too. Linnea and Alissa were not happy at all to see even a small one coming.)

Seleana exhales heavily.

Seleana Zdunich: En orkan dödade sina föräldrar, ja? (A hurricane killed their parents, yes?)

Zenna nods affirmatively.

Zenna Zdunich: Ja, det är en sorglig sak. (Yes, it is a sad thing.)

Seleana glances at a noise behind her and sees her step-daughter, Brittany Williams, heading towards the bathroom.

Seleana Zdunich: Var det inte bara årsdagen för det? (Wasn’t it just the anniversary of that?)

Zenna nods.

Zenna Zdunich: Ja det var det. (Yes, it was.)

Seleana nods back pointedly.

Seleana Zdunich: Påverkar det Lis kamp för mästerskapet? (Has it affected Li’s fight for the championship?)

Zenna shakes her head.

Zenna Zdunich: Nej. (No.)

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: Bra. (Good.)

She pauses, nodding again.

Seleana Zdunich: Vi fortsätter också kampen. Vi har bestämt att Brittany ärm inte hindrar oss. Det kommer bara att göra B-Brat pressa hårdare när hon är frisk. (We will also continue the fight. We have decided that’s arm does not hinder us. It will only make B-Brat press harder when she is healthy.)

Zenna smiles.

Zenna Zdunich: Jag är glad för det här. (I am happy for this.)

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: Jag är också. (I am too.)


Several hours later…

The camera opens on Seleana sitting on the couch in their home, looking at the floor.

Seleana Zdunich: So, we come to a supercard and I am tasked with welcoming back someone who was here and left. A woman I have only vaguely heard of and know next to nothing about aside from very basics. I am tasked with welcoming back Trinity Jones…

She pauses, nodding to herself, her gaze remaining on the floor.

Seleana Zdunich: I am grateful for the opportunity to step into the ring with a gifted competitor. Every time I step into the ring, it is both a gift and an opportunity.  

She looks up to the camera, a sadness in her eyes.

Seleana Zdunich: One that I cannot help but think I am unworthy of and yet, there it is.

Nodding slowly, Seleana sits back on the couch slightly.

Seleana Zdunich: I will step into the ring with a woman I am told…

She pauses to nod knowingly to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: And will no doubt tell me, as everyone does, that I am beneath her and that I should not be in the ring with her. She might even invoke my wife’s name as a strike against me as many have in the past. I even had one on twitter last week call me an obscenity for stupid even though I have never met her simply because the person wished to disrespect my wife and anyone connected to her.

She raises a hand to slow down the reaction she knows is coming.

Seleana Zdunich: I understand, I get it. My wife has a reputation because of things she has done in the past. Things I am ignorant of, things that are probably quite horrific depending on one’s point of view. I do not know what all Christina has done before. I have not asked and she has not volunteered everything because it is not possible to recount an entire lifetime’s worth of mistakes in the short time we have known each other. She may have wronged you in the past. She may be wronging you now but none of that has anything to do with me. I do not know all of her business dealings and I do not know her entire career in detail. I have enough trouble keeping up with the places she is wrestling currently including this one.

She stands, nodding slowly.

Seleana Zdunich: If I must fight for the respect you all refuse to show me, then I will and I will start with this Trinity Jones. She is the feared striker and submissionist that I must welcome back because, why not, ja?

She nods.

Seleana Zdunich: She will show me very little respect and then we will fight. By the time our fight is over, I will claim the respect I am due and then I will start on everyone else who thinks I am nothing but an extension of everything that is supposedly bad about my wife.

She shakes her head.

Seleana Zdunich: I am so much more than just another part of my wife and I will show you all the truth of this! I am Seleana “The Cat” Zdunich and there is a reason she took MY name!        

 Friday, August 17, 2018
Los Angeles, California
Hollywood Hills
The Home of Christina Zdunich
9:04 AM PDT


Seleana Zdunich sits on the couch aimlessly flipping through channels as she waits to see what the day’s plans end up being. The week had already been eventful with both her wife and herself going to the doctor to see how their respective injuries were doing. The doctor had told Seleana her nose should be fine while Christina had told her that the doctor’s said the arm attack wasn’t that bad and that she would be fine as well. Now, as she sits here hoping for some quiet, Seleana’s wife, the owner of the house, Christina Zdunich, walks in and sits down next to her on the couch.  

Christina Zdunich: Hey, Chickie!

Seleana smiles at her wife as she mutes the television.

Seleana Zdunich: Hej Chickie!

Christina nods approvingly at the now silent screen.

Christina Zdunich: Hey, Honey Bun, how are you?

Seleana shrugs as she sets the remote down.

Seleana Zdunich: Okej, how are you?

Christina nods slightly impatiently and yet, nothing out of the ordinary for her.

Christina Zdunich: I’m well.

Seleana can’t help but smile broadly. She always loved to hear that her wife was feeling well even when she had a distinct reason to believe it might not be the whole picture of truth.

Seleana Zdunich: How is arm?

Christina nods.

Christina Zdunich: It’s good…

She shrugs, a playful smirk crossing her beautiful face.

Christina Zdunich: Good enough to please you.

Seleana’s eyes flash as Christina gives her a knowing grin.

Seleana Zdunich: I am glad neither of us was hurt that badly.

Christina leans over and kisses Seleana passionately.

Christina Zdunich: I love you, Babe!

Seleana can’t help but bask in the afterglow of the kiss, that warm feeling she can’t get enough of just flowing over her as they sit there together.

Seleana Zdunich: I love you.

Her hand finds Christina’s and they fold together.

Seleana Zdunich: So, will you explain football to me some time?

Christina almost laughs as she nods.

Christina Zdunich: Yeah, I know you will be good. You are tall.

Seleana snickers.

Seleana Zdunich: You said that before basketball too.

Christian frowns at this mention.

Christina Zdunich: Basketball?

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: On the cruise.

Christina nods, her free hand coming over to pat Selean’s as she continues to hold onto it.

Christina Zdunich: Just trust in me.

Seleana leans over and kisses Christina again just as Christina ahd kissed her earlier.

Seleana Zdunich: I am. That’s why I played on the cruise and why I play now. Is really like rugby?

Christina nods, barely considering the question.

Christina Zdunich: Yeah a bit.

She squeezes Seleana’s hand encouragingly.

Christina Zdunich: So what do you wanna do today, my lovely wife?

Seleana smirks back the way Christina usually smirks at her.

Seleana Zdunich: Beside you?

Christina sits back in mock surprise.

Christina Zdunich: Oh you wanna fuck me?

Seleana smiles, clearly loving this.

Seleana Zdunich: ¡Cómo no!  

Christina moves in and the two get to business.  


Friday, August 17, 2018
Los Angeles, California
Hollywood Hills
The Home of Christina Zdunich
3:01 PM PDT


Seleana walks around the living room of the house, pacing as she considers what to do next. The announcement of her next match in Sin City Wrestling against Amy Santino in the Gold Rush Tournament had left her practically sweating bullets whenever she had time to actually focus on the match. Amy Santino’s résumé spoke for itself, especially when placed next to Selerana’s, a fact that was more than  little disheartening when she looked at the two on paper next to each other. Finally, after a good twenty minutes, Seleana stops pacing and dials a number to the apartment of her cousin in New York City, Alexi “Storm Zdunich-Priest and Alexi’s husband, Robbie Priest. With both having been active in wrestling for years, Robbie being a multi-time champion himself, one of them would be able to give her some advice.  

Robbie Priest: Priest residence, Robbie speaking.

Seleana closes her eyes at the sound of Robbie’s voice. This was going to be better than she’d hoped.

Seleana Zdunich: Robbie!

Robbie’s surprised voice answers her almost immediately.

Robbie Priest: Sel?

Seleana nods slowly.

Seleana Zdunich: Ja!

The surprise is quickly replaced by happiness.

Robbie Priest: Are you calling for Alexi or Scarlett, Love?

Seleana bites her bottom lip for a second and then nods to nothing in particular, hoping this won’t come off as awkward as she feared it would.

Seleana Zdunich: I… you.

The surprise in his voice returns with a vengeance.

Robbie Priest: Me?

Seleana nods, again to nothing in particular.

Seleana Zdunich: Ja.

Robbie pauses for a second and then his voice comes back, audibly curious.

Robbie Priest: I must confess to being intrigued. To what do I owe the pleasure?

Seleana steels herself.

Seleana Zdunich: I have a match…

Robbie Priest: Right… ?

She sighs heavily.

Seleana Zdunich: It’s another opportunity…

Trailing off, she knew she needed a better explanation for how she was feeling, but what would do?

Seleana Zdunich: And it’s against someone who has literally done it all here in Sin City Wrestling. She’s a legend and she’s back…

She starts to trail off again but Robbie is able to fill in the blanks himself.

Robbie Priest: And you don’t know how to handle this?

Slightly relieved, Seleana nods vacantly.

Seleana Zdunich: I’m honored, I’m…

Again, she starts to trail off and Robbie fills in a blank for her.

Robbie Priest: Starstruck?

Seleana shrugs. Was this what she was really feeling?

Seleana Zdunich: Maybe…

As she goes quiet, Robbie sighs in almost fatherly fashion.

Robbie Priest: What’s really wrong, Love?

Seleana looks up to the ceiling, fear and shame filling her mind.

Seleana Zdunich: I…

She shakes her head, biting her lip again.

Seleana Zdunich: I feel like I’m…

Unable to find the words for ehr admission, she shakes her head again, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Robbie Priest: It’s alright, Love…

She can’t help but smile at Robbie’s reassurance. This was one of the many reasons the entire Zdunich clan had taken to him when he’d married Alexi nearly a decade ago.

Seleana Zdunich: I feel like I’m letting Christina and Brittany down. I mean, Christina has been a champion I don’t know how many times including here not long ago. Brittany was just the Bombshell Roulette Champion here as well and I…

Again, Robbie is able to fill in the blanks for her before she even finds the blank is there.

Robbie Priest: And you’re still trying to play catch-up?

Seleana nods, grateful for his insight.

Seleana Zdunich: Yeah…

Robbie lets out a soft snicker as he continues.

Robbie Priest: Sel, you’re only been wrestling for what, eight months’ time?

Seleana nods again.

Seleana Zdunich: Ja…

Another small snicker escapes Robbie’s lips.

Robbie Priest: And you trained what, two months before that?

Seleana barely moves.

Seleana Zdunich: One.

Robbie lets out a full-fledged laugh.

Robbie Priest: Sel, for someone who’s only barely even been in this country for a year and only been working as an athlete in a professional sense for eight months, you’ve done splendidly! No one is a world champion right off, especially not after they spend ten years working overseas in an animal preserve beforehand. When first got to the States, you were looking at working at places like the Georgia Aquarium and Busch Gardens, were you not?

Seleana nods as she takes this all in.

Seleana Zdunich: Ja.

Robbie Priest: Stop beating yourself up for things beyond your control. You’ve found that you’re talented and very good at this. You’ve even achieved championship opportunities despite being targeted because of who your wife is, yes?

Seleana shrugs, nodding yet again.

Seleana Zdunich: Ja…

Robbie Priest: Hold your head up, Lass. You’ve done more in your first eight months than I did and look at how I turned out once I knew what i was doing.

Seleana manages a small smile.

Seleana Zdunich: Four world championships?

Robbie Priest: Five with a chance at a sixth this weekend in Toronto.

Seleana starts to nod slowly.

Seleana Zdunich: So, you are saying I…

Robbie Priest: I’m saying you shouldn’t worry about your exact win/loss record, Lass. Look at what you’ve accomplished. You walked into one company with no experience and did well enough that when that company closed on you another had a job practically waiting for you and you’re still there, earning opportunities that others would kill for. Just continue to do what you are doing, learning and improving as you go and everything will work out fine for you.

The smile expands and intensifies.

Seleana Zdunich: This is what I was calling you for, Robbie. Tack…

Robbie Priest: My pleasure, Love. Good luck in your upcoming match.

Seleana Zdunich: And you in yours.

She ends the call and then ponders this as she walks into the next room, smiling as she goes.


Friday, August 17, 2018
Los Angeles, California
Hollywood Hills
The Home of Christina Zdunich
5:00 PM PDT

The camera opens to show Seleana Zdunich standing in the living room of the home, the signal coming from a phone on the end of a selfie stick. Seleana nods to the camera respefully.

Seleana Zdunich: Amy Santino…

She nods in acknowledgement to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: First, I want to thank you for actually talking to me instead of Christina. That seems to be a common tact no matter where I go, that people decide they will take pot shots at my wife and that’s all that needs to be said.

She looks down and then back to the camera, nodding again just as she had before.

Seleana Zdunich: So thank you for not going that route this time. You are a legend and you hardly need to go after somebody you are not even fighting in order to do this.

Considering her thoughts carefully, Seleana switches hands with the selfie stick, her free one  extending up as if it will start counting soon.  

Seleana Zdunich: Second, you are correct in saying I have had an opportunity already. In, fact, I have had three since entering Sin City Wrestling.

The index finger of the free hand stands up.

Seleana Zdunich: The first was in a match with my step-daughter and several others who don’t matter in the end for a chance at the Bombshell Roulette Championship. Brittany won and went on to win that championship.

A second finger joins its mate.

Seleana Zdunich: My second one was in that Ultimate X match you referred to but Dani Weston did not win that match.

She pauses, her head dropping almost in shame.

Seleana Zdunich: Christina did.

A third finger joins the others.

Seleana Zdunich: Then I was afforded a chance at the Bombshell Roulette Championship and we spun First Blood rules. The Champion retained when she attempted to break my face with a kendo stick and managed to make me bleed from the nose some feared was broken at the time.

Hee free hand absently moves to rub at her face, particularly the bridge of her nose. As soon as she realizes what she’s doing, her hand pulls away.

Seleana Zdunich: Thankfully, I was not injured as badly as was feared but now, here we are, in this Gold Rush Tournament where I am fortunate enough to draw you in the first round.

Sher nods respectfully again.

Seleana Zdunich: I am fortunate because, no matter what anyone else says, I am still a rookie in this sport and any chance I am allowed to step into the ring with someone on your level is a win/win situation for me. No matter what, I learn and get better just for having the chance to wrestle you and if i win…

She shrugs.

Seleana Zdunich: Then I’ve earned a victory over a legend and done more to prove I’m more than just Crystal Hilton’s Swedish trophy wife the way so many seem to think is the absolute gospel truth.

Sighing heavily, Seleana shakes her head.

Seleana Zdunich: I have tried and tried to prove to these people that I am my own woman but so many seem to only focus on things i know nothing of that happened when I was still in New Zealand. They do not care that nothing Christina has ever done is a reflection on me, especially what happened before I ever met her last autumn when we were both coming off…

Looking back up to the camera, she shrugs, hoping not to have to explain further.

Seleana Zdunich: Well, we were both alone…

She looks away momentarily, coming back only after she’s managed to regain herself.        

Seleana Zdunich: I am looking forward to this match, Amy. Win and I move on in the Gold Rush Tournament. Win, and I take one more step to showing the world I belong but more importantly, win and I’ve defeated a legend in this company.

A smile forms on her face as she thinks of the whole situation.

Seleana Zdunich: But even if I lose, I know i will be better than when I walked into the match, so thank you, Amy. Thank you for coming back and thank you for giving me this golden opportunity.

She nods pointedly.

Seleana Zdunich: let us make the most of this, ja?

 On-Camera

The camera opens on the Atrium of the Sun Princess with a young woman dressed in a blue suit jacket and matching skirt with a white shirt underneath and heels that she really doesn’t seem to enjoy wearing at the moment. She flings her black, curly hair off her shoulders, her chocolate skin almost glowing in the lights.

I: Got to be someone…

She starts to turn from her cameraman and catches sight of Seleana Zdunich starting across the room, looking up at the grand staircases. Almost immediately upon seeing Seleana, the woman starts waving frantically to get the Swedish woman’s attention.  

I: Hey, Seleana? Seleana Zdunich?  

Seleana starts looking around the source of the sound and the woman continues to wave her down.

I: Seleana Zdunich!

Seleana turns and spots her, nodding to, visibly questioning from where she’s standing. The woman nods back and waves her over.

I: Can we have a word?

Seleana smiles and walks over to her, pleased as punch to be asked to do something like this here.

Seleana Zdunich: Sure!

She gets in closer and the woman nods to her cameraman. He nods, and gives he he thumbs up sign when he gets the shot focused on both of them.

I: Rosana Coleman, Wrestlegeeks.com, I’m here with Sin City Wrestling competitor, Seleana “The Cat” Zdunich, in the atrium of the Sun Princess for Sin City Wrestling’s Summer XXXTreme 6 and Seleana, what do you think of the Sun Princess so far?

Seleana can’t hide the ear to ear grin that is all but welded to her face at the moment.

Seleana Zdunich: Oh goodness, this is beautiful! I’ve never been on one of these and it really is quite extraordinary! This place has everything one could possibly want for a holiday. I don’t feel like I’m at work at all for this, I really feel like I’m on holiday and since this is the first week after my wedding, it’s quite the honeymoon trip. What more could I ask for?

Rosana nods and the two look around to take in the full scope of the scene.

Rosana Coleman: How is married life treating you?

Somehow, Seleana’s smile actually manages to increase in both intensity and luminosity.

Seleana Zdunich: It’s been just awesome! Christina is everything I have ever dreamed of. She’s made me so happy…

She pauses and just shakes her head, entire body kind of going with it for a second as she quickly searches for a proper description.

Seleana Zdunich: I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s the greatest feeling in the world when the one person who means more to you than the world says she feels the same back to you and proclaims it to and in front of the world. The fact that Brittany and I get on so well…

She clasps her hands together and shakes her head in awed disbelief before swinging her arms out wide.  

Seleana Zdunich: I didn’t think life could get any better than what I already had and they’ve proven me wrong. Now I just look at them both and think, “Det här är min familj! This is MY family! How did I get so lucky?”

Pausing, she points around the atrium.

Seleana Zdunich: I ask the same thing about even being here. How did I get so lucky that a person like me, a person who is not a natural athlete in terms of I did not grow up playing all of them the way my wife did or even just concentrating on this one as a young woman the way my cousin, Alexi, did or the way my cousin, Maja Lindström, is…

She trails off, her eyes going a little vacant as she stares off into the distance, taking in the majesty of the room they are standing in.

Seleana Zdunich: How did the woman who so obsessed with animals that I went across the world to work at a place like Orana Park in New Zealand, who was looking at working at places like Busch Gardens in Tampa or the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, how did that woman end up here? How did that woman end up in L.A.W. before that right away and then have a job offer basically waiting for her when L.A.W. closed despite the fact that I was an over aged rookie that has never accomplished anything when it comes to championships get this lucky?

Rosana shrugs.

Rosana Coleman: What do you mean by that?

Seleana smiles like a small child that’s been caught red-handed doing something they know they’re not supposed to be doing but love it anyway.      

Seleana Zdunich: Competitors like me aren’t supposed to get things like that. You’re supposed to have to kill yourself to get into the sport and then kill yourself some more to prove you belong and then,  maybe, you get an opportunity to try out for a company and then hope you don’t get lost in the shuffle.

She shrugs and then smiles as she sees her wife, Christina Zdunich, making her way towards them.

Seleana Zdunich: And here she comes now…

Christina walks up and embraces her wife, kissing her lovingly.

Christina Zdunich: Are you ready to come back over there and do this?

Seleana can’t help but smile.

Seleana Zdunich: Are we going to the gym then?

Christina shakes her head.

Christina Zdunich: No…

She pauses and then shrugs.

Christina Zdunich: Well, sort of, but not really.

Seleana nods to the camera.

Seleana Zdunich: So, shall we tell the world what we are to do now?

Christina turns, sees the camera and brightens immediately.

Christina Zdunich: Of course, you see, preceding the wonders that you will all behold when we have our Ultimate X Battle Royal for the right to challenge Mikah for the Bombshell Championship…

She pauses and leans in, grinning half-playfully.

Christina Zdunich: Which, of course, I will be winning…

Seleana’s smile stays right where it is, visibly pleased to see and hear her wife talking like this.

Christina Zdunich: Yeah, sorry, Dani, Aviana, Apple, Portia…

Christian nods back to Seleana.  

Christina Zdunich: And my wife, who will turn some heads as we do that!

Seleana nods gratefully.

Christina Zdunich: And then I go on to defeat Mikah and become the four-time champion we all know I should be! But…

She nods to the camera knowingly.

Christina Zdunich: First, the Hollywood Angels, myself and my wife, will team up with Team Hero, the hosts of Summer XXXTreme 6, Roxi and Keira Johnson, to take on the UConn girls in basketball here in re-match, double or nothing! We’re coming for you, Lady Huskies, and this time, we WILL get you!

Rosana stares at the two of them with her mouth open.

Rosana Coleman: What’s the double or nothing?

Christina smirks.

Christina Zdunich: It just means we would have lost of assistants for the weekend!

Seleana nods.

Seleana Zdunich: And if we lose, we’d owe them auto…

Christina shakes her head, cutting off her wife and raising a hand towards the camera.

Christina Zdunich: It doesn’t matter because we are not losing this one! You guys just follow my lead, we use you to post up and everything will work out fine! We’re even gonna find a couple of others so we can rotate players because there’s actually six of them here and the other two wanna play this time! And then after we win, we go on to the Ultimate X Battle Royal and we show the world that I’m still Crystal Hilton and it’s on like Donkey Kong!

Rosana nods cheerily.

Rosana Coleman: You heard it here first folks, high stakes on the high seas!

The camera nods a cut and starts away.


Off-Camera

Rosana Coleman: Thanks for the exclusive and good luck with everything!

She wanders off and Seleana just stares at Christina, who is busy watching Rosana leave. After a few seconds, Christina turn back around.

Christina Zdunich: we are not losing!

Seleana nods slowly.

Seleana Zdunich: When are playing again?

Christina shrugs.

Christina Zdunich: Couple of hours. We had to reserve the court and give everybody a chance to be warmed up and stuff. Now, I gotta go tell Rox and Keira, you go find us a couple of more players.

Seleana’s jaw drops.

Seleana Zdunich: You didn’t tell them first?

Christina shakes her head.

Christina Zdunich: Always better to ask for forgiveness than permission on something like this. If you want something like this bad enough, you just gotta go for it.

Seleana frowns, confusion written all over her face.

Seleana Zdunich: What if they say no?

Christian nods to the camera crew walking away.

Christina Zdunich: Well, I kinda just got to say on TV that they were doing it so it’ll look like they backed out. Don’t worry, they won’t back out. They’re competitive just like me, so it’ll be on. We just need you to find us two more.

Seleana’s confusion grows.

Seleana Zdunich: Why me?

Christian can’t help but smile.

Christina Zdunich: Because I’m gonna be busy giving Roxi and keira the pep talk to end all pep talks! Besides, you’re really good at making friends fast so you’ll find them no problem!  

Christina leans forward and kisses her wife.

Christina Zdunich: You’re gonna do great, I gotta go tell Rox and Keira that we’re gonna kick some ass!

Christina heads off in the opposite direction, leaving Seleana standing there in stunned silence. She allows her head to fall back so that she’s looking at the ceiling, her arms outstretched as if begging the heavens for answers.

Seleana Zdunich: För fan i helvete!  

Shaking her head, Seleana is startled by the return of Rosana and the camera.


On-Camera

Rosana Coleman: What does that mean?  

Seleana looks Rosana in the eyes and frowns in confusion all over again.

Seleana Zdunich: I’m sorry?

Rosana nods to her.

Rosana Coleman: What you just said, what does it mean?

Seleana replays the last few minutes in her head and then nods, looking ashamed.

Seleana Zdunich: It means I have said something I should not have said in public where a camera can see and hear me do so. I am sorry, I should not have said it.

Rosana nods, now even more eager than before.

Rosana Coleman: So what does it mean?

Seleana exhales.

Seleana Zdunich: It is a Swedish saying, “For the devil in hell!” It is a popular phrase for use when one has nothing else to say.

Rosana nods slowly.

Rosana Coleman: You don’t look happy with this turn of events.

Seleana shrugs.

Seleana Zdunich: It is a surprise, one I was not expecting.

She pauses and nods in acknowledgement.

Seleana Zdunich: Yes, I know that is definition of surprise but this was not what i was expecting to be worried about. I was expecting to be thinking of our Ultimate X Battle Royal match with a shot at Mikah as the prize. I thought we would be thinking about one of us would be the one to win and prove Mikah wrong because she holds no respect for any of us. She calls my wife psycho, she talks down to Dani and Aviana. She talks down to me. Apple and Portia are both too new for her to care about either of them so no matter who wins, she will expect that none of us have the slightest prayer because so many of us are new or inexperienced, or both and because she feels my wife is now beneath her. She does not think of any of us capable of so much as hanging with her, much less defeating her and yet…

She sighs heavily.

Seleana Zdunich: Now I must focus on a basketball game where should we lose we will owe them so many autographs, memorabilia and VIP treatment that I do not know where it will even start, much elss where it will end. We already played them once and we played poorly as a team and thus we owe them many, many things already. Now we must fix what went wrong and find two others players and discover chemistry and do it all in only a few hours’ time. This will not be easy but we must try, the same way both Christina and I must try in our match and as our daughter must try in her match. People are all looking at us and expecting us to fail, expecting su to be humiliated in the attempt and subsequent failure and that this will end us but they have no found a way to kill the rooster yet! They have come for Christina many times. They have come for Brittany and they have come for me and yet we are still here, we are all still fighting for championships and standing despite what most say about us! So f you will excuse me, thank you for time and attention, but I must excuse myself to go do my part for the game today.  

She nods and walks off.


Off-Camera.

Seleana heads up towards the suite she is sharing with her new wife when she finds a young but tall blonde woman standing by the door, barefoot, in blue jeans and a slashed black In This Moment t-shirt. Seleana stares at her and then walks up.

Seleana Zdunich: Halo?

The woman, Haylie Jo “Halo” Annis nods sheepishly.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Hi.

Seleana frowns deeply.

Seleana Zdunich: What are you doing here, Sweetheart?

Halo shrugs, looking nervous.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I’m B-Brat’s plus one… I…

She bites her lip, looking as if she might lose her mind any second now.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I was looking for her. I was trying to leave a tray outside the room and kinda locked myself out. She said she had an interview or somethin’ to do so I came lookin’ for her, got lost and then found myself near the only other room number I know of on here cause she told me.  She’s gonna be so mad at me…

Seleana takes the young woman into her arms and hugs her tightly.

Seleana Zdunich: Sssh, it’s alright. Come into the suite. I will text Brittany to come get you. Everything will be fine, you’ve done nothing wrong.

Seleana opens her suite and Halo walks inside. Seleana closes the door behind them and the two women sit on the bed.

Seleana Zdunich: How long have you been… together?

Halo’s eyes go wide terror but Seleana quickly raises her hands to calm the young lady.

Seleana Zdunich: As I said, it is alright, you’ve done nothing wrong.

Seleana cocks her head interrogatively.

Seleana Zdunich: Why are you so worried?

Halo slumps forward slightly.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I wasn’t supposed to leave the room much. We’re supposed to be DL and all. Sort of like her and Jordan…

Her hands snap up to cover her mouth in shock, her eyes moistening as she sits there stewing in her own fears and worries.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Oh God, please don’t tell her you know or that…

Her hans fall away from her mouth and she smacks herself in the face.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I’m such an idiot! I knew better and got myself locked out and now I might lose it all!

As Halo looks as if she might start bawling right there, Seleana confused curiosity only heightens. What could possibly be causing such a reaction in this young woman?

Seleana Zdunich: Lose it all?

Halo barely nods, her entire body seemingly gripping hard on the bed.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: My last relationship… didn’t end so wonderful, ok? I’m, not supposed to get stuff like this, ok? I’m from the middle of nowhere in Tennessee. My Mama’s dead, my Daddy’s a useless gambler and I’m a homeless vagrant that probably should be a drug addict but for the fact that I can’t afford it! I never finished high school because I was stupid and liked to go out, the name is supposed to one of those bad ironic jokes… like when you call a big fat guy, “Tiny.” My parents tried to send me to a convent to straight me out and I got thrown out of there too because I was still an unholy terror. The only time I’ve tried not to be, was with Logan and with Brittany. I love Logan and now I’m gonna lose her, I just know it!    

Seleana can’t believe what she’s hearing.

Seleana Zdunich: Honey…

Halo shakes her head, the tears starting now.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I’m not supposed to know about Jordan but, come on, we’re teenagers, subtlety isn’t exactly our greatest thing, you know? I know I wasn’t supposed to tell you… I…

She falls forward, looking like she might retch right there.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: God help me….I love her and I’m so gonna…

Seleana stares at the younger woman in shock.

Seleana Zdunich: Does she know?

Halo sits up, trying not to sob uncontrollably.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Know?

Seleana nods to her.

Seleana Zdunich: Does Brittany know you love her?

Halo stares at her, suddenly looking confused as well as scared.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I.. don’t… know?

Seleana nods and then starts punching buttons on her phone.

Seleana Zdunich: You don’t think you deserve her, do you?

Halo’s bottom lip starts quivering.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I…

Seleana nods, finishes off her message and sends off the text. Setting the phone down, she hugs Halo.

Seleana Zdunich: Sssh, I know… it’s alright. You just need to tell Brittany how you feel and what you want. You said you know about Jordan, what do you know?

Halo looks Seleana dead in her eyes.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: That she’s still dating him some too… and I don’t care. I’ll wait. I’m not gonna put her on the spot. I love her and she’s worth waiting for!

Seleana nods and presses a button on her phone. Halo looks over at it and then back to Seleana.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: What???

Before an answer can come, a knock on the door sounds. Seleana stands up, walks over and opens the door to show Brittany Williams standing there.

Seleana Zdunich: Come on in, Brittany. I think you’ve misplaced something in the hallway.

Brittany sees Halo sitting there and starts to raise a hand but Seleana waves it off.

Seleana Zdunich: It is alright. One, I’m sure your mother knows, she is not as self-absorbed and neglectful as everyone else seems to think she is. Two, We will tell her…

She motions to Brittany and Halo.

Seleana Zdunich: When and if you are ready.

Halo nods while Brittany hugs her. Seleana smiles and then nods to the door.

Seleana Zdunich: Now, I need to know one thing, Haylie Jo…

Halo looks up at her, her new fright in the younger blonde woman’s eyes.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Have you ever played basketball before?

Halo mods tentatively.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: In high school.

Seleana nods, smiling.

Seleana Zdunich: And you are five foot ten as well?

Halo nods almost blindly.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: Yes’m.

Seleana can’t smile broadly enough.

Seleana Zdunich: Ok, you take a second with each other, then we need to go get your shoes.

Halo stares at Seleana in confusion. Brittany looks the same way for a second before nodding knowingly.

Brittany Williams: Mom wants to go double or nothing, doesn’t she?

Seleana nods and Brittany just shakes her head.

Brittany Williams: And she expects us to bail her out?

Seleana shakes her head.

Seleana Zdunich: No, she expects me to find two other players and I’m asking the two of you to be those players. Let us go have some family fun here.

She smirks playfully, knowingly.

Seleana Zdunich: Besides, do you know how crazy it will drive your mother… while also making her take great pride… if you help her and she owes you one?

Brittany’s mouth falls open as she stares at her step-mother.

Brittany Williams: You little genius…  

Seleana smiles as Halo starts to look between them.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: I… don’t…

Brittany turns to her and kisses her.

Brittany Williams: Come on, we need to get your shoes. We got a game to win!

Halo cocks her head.

Haylie Jo "Halo" Annis: We do?

Brittany nods.

Brittany Williams: We do.

Seleana walks over and hugs them both.

Seleana Zdunich: Let us go, ja?

Both girls nod and stand up off the bed. They follow Seleana out and over the course of the next hour, they make a pit stop at their room ro get the proper shoes and then follow Seleana to the basketball court. After warming up, Christina, Roxi and Keira show up as well as the UConn ladies. This time, it’s the UConn ladies who play poorly, throwing the ball away in their overconfidence. After the game is over, Christina walks over to her bag and produces the autographs the ladies had all wanted.

Christina Zdunich: Here you go.

Pictures are taken and as they start off the court, Seleana leans in to her wife.

Seleana Zdunich: You had those all along, didn’t you?

Christina nods.

Christina Zdunich: Today, yes.

Seleana smiles and Christina nods to Brittany and Halo.

Christina Zdunich: What’s the story there?

Seleana shrugs.

Seleana Zdunich: I don’t know yet. Could be nothing…

Christina nods understandingly.

Christina Zdunich: Thank you, Babe, knew i could lead us to victory if you all did your parts.

Seleana smiles and kisses her wife.

Seleana Zdunich: I love you.

Christina Zdunich: I love you too.