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!
