People love to seem to get in my head lately. Right after Climax Control, someone tried. I'd lay money it got filmed and appears shortly if not already. That's gonna bite me in the arse without a shadow of a doubt, but my mood dropped beyond belief after that. To be fair, she saw my weakness and went for me, especially after what happened early. Is she pushing me in to the darkness and the darkness now sees it and is coming from me. Being pushed and pulled in the same direction, is that the way to go? Misty didn't see my smile after she turned her back, didn't really see anything after she walked away. I wonder what she would have made of that. Anyway, let's flip back to earlier that night. It was unreal.
Unreal? More like seriously unreal. I won my match at Climax Control, half way through, I see the woman who is still technically my girlfriend, I say technically, although she's clearly already taken to single life like she was in a relationship. Harsh? No, fair, anyway, I say technically cause she hasn't exactly told me to fuck off yet. Clearly its coming. I mean let's be honest, I couldn't stop her from getting attacked, I was wrestling and all of a sudden, Jordan is the hero cause his arse isn't on the card. I get told to leave. Don't my week of shit just get better and better. Might as well get cu.... mug tattooed on my forehead, cause that's the way I've been treated lately. Then I look on Twitter and see her message "Thank god for Jordan". Well don't that sound like a big fuck you. Yeah, thank God for Jordan, cause he had to listen to the shit when Misty took Melody, thank God for Jordan, cause he had to sit there through YOUR bad times while you didn't see his bad times... oh wait, that wasn't Jordan sitting there listening to that shit, it was me. Appreciation is dead people, commitment is a myth. Love is real? My arse! Oh old Gabriel, isn't it time you came back?
The camera moves on to my face.
"Yes it is."
Ok, so my outburst there was a little harsh, I'm sorry if you're offended but it's been a bit of a living hell lately. Well not all a living hell, I won the NWA tag team title with Despayre, brilliant. I got to work with Roxi Johnson, also brilliant. She's actually class in the ring. You see it, but when ya that close in the ring, she's just utter class. Very lucky to have been in the ring with her, confident we can win this thing. So two bright spots, over shadowed by the fact my own "girlfriend" is busy pissing around with another man. Instead of fixing us, she's in a club dancing with strangers. The over shadowing stuff really played on my mind this week and Casper Grey is a talent, nearly had me because my mind was elsewhere. I nearly let my partner down. I don't let people down, unlike others, ok, that was low. I know you can't see this, but I'm shrugging my shoulders. I won't let this distract me anymore, I need to get back to being me. I need to get back to being sinful. Got the heart of a sin, lets be a sin. Let's go be greedy, let's go be proud, let's go be angry, let's go be.... lusty
"Right, you miserable little fucker." Sxxxy Shane Boswell's English accent is heard saying. "It's time for you to cheer up."
I sit staring out of a hotel room window.
Why a hotel? Simple, I don't wanna go home, I don't wanna go to my penthouse at the Luxor, because they're just as happy to stick in the knife when I'm not looking to. No wonder they hired.... ohhhh, low again, but again, I don't really care. I turned down staying with Synn and Despayre, regardless of how many calls and texts I got. I turned down Shane and Fantasia's offer to stay with them. The thoughts of them humping like animals put me right off that one. I even got a call from Kittie. I know she's in an awkward position being a friend of Odette's, but she knows the Sins is not just a wrestling group, it's family. As tempting as Jamie's offer was of sitting around in my boxers all day, drinking beer and playing on an Xbox was, as well as being with the heavily pregnant Kittie, I couldn't do it. I needed to be alone. So I ended up in a crappy hotel room. With the cash I have, I coulda been in a much better place, we know this, but that's the first place people would look for me.
"Oi! Get out of your head will ya?" Shane orders me
"Piss off Shane" I quickly reply "Not in the mood for this bullshit. How did you even find me?"
"Tracking device in your shirt." Shane replies.
I spin around quickly, looking at Shane.
"Come again?" I say, curiosity dripping from my tone.
"I'm joking" Shane says with a laugh "You're Gabriel, you're known everywhere around here."
"Knew I should have pissed off to the Brazilian rain forest or something." I say with a serious look on my face.
"And do what?" Shane asks "Perform tricks for monkeys?"
"You're a laugh an hour today, aren't ya?" I reply to Shane.
"Look." Shane starts sternly "We gotta get you out of this slump. Fantasia prepared you well last week and you got sloppy. I know you, and you wouldn't let your partner down, but you nearly did."
I don't answer Shane
"Need to remind you who you are." Shane tells me "You Gabriel, you need to remember you are a sin. Me, you, Despy, Rage, Synn, Fantasia, Kittie. Family Gabriel, we are Sins. Look at me, I'm stunning."
"What's that got to do with anything?" I ask
"Nothing." Shane replies to me with a shrug "Just wanted to remind you I'm stunning and proud of it."
Sin of Pride, go figure
"So now, we need to go out there and be sinful." Shane tells me, putting his beefy hand on my shoulder.
I shake my head at Shane, but I knew it was pointless arguing. He'd give me a headache eventually.
"The Lusty Leopard?" I say, looking up at a neon sign "Really Shane?"
The pulsating beat of a heavy baseline can be heard, coming from behind the metal and glass doors, of a strip club, The Lusty Leopard. Shane looks at me with a smile on his face.
"Yeah." He says proudly "We're men, we like football, beer, and half naked chicks who dance around in thongs for money."
"Try telling that to Synn" I reply dryly.
"Yeah, Synn's never been a sports fan." Shane replies with a nod
"I was referring to..." I start, but quickly shake my head "Never mind."
Shane points at the door and leads the way in. Strobe lights instantly blind me for a few seconds. As my eyes adjust to the light, Shane points to an area marked "VIP".
"You booked ahead?" I ask Shane.
"Yep." He replies with a wide grin "I knew you couldn't say no to me."
I slowly shake my head as Shane leads me to the VIP area. He nods at the bouncer.
"Hello Bill." Shane says.
"You know the bouncers name?" I whisper towards Shane.
"He should do." The bouncer replies "He's down here about four times a week."
"Does Fantasia know?" I ask, a slight tone of shocked creeping from my voice.
"Of course she does." Shane says, with raised eyebrows. "She comes down here with me. We call it the pre-match warm up, know what I mean?"
Sadly, yes, I knew exactly what Shane meant.
Shane leads me past Bill and in to a room. Tables line the room, with a young lady at each table.
"Take your pick son." Shane tells me. "What woman do you fancy."
"Australian one that used to love me, used to tell me she loves me" I mumble to myself.
Shane stares at me, a stern look on his face.
"I heard that." Shane tells me "But for fifty bucks, they'll tell you what you wanna hear."
I quickly shake my head at Shane.
"This is bullshit Shane." I say loudly "I don't wanna be here."
"Nothing like getting over someone, like getting on top of someone." Shane tells me.
I sigh at Shane
"Nah." I start "Not having it."
I turn and walk away, walking towards the exit as the scene fades out.
Not my scene to be fair. Shane tried and failed to lift up a heavy heart, but I know how I feel and having some random chick rub her tits in my face, probably not gonna help. I know what I need, but she don't seem to need me. You should probably watch on to see if Rage had better luck.
"What the fuck is your problem?" I tell Rage.
Standing on the Las Vegas strip, I look up at the larger man. Rage takes a deep breath.
"Gabriel." he says, relatively calmly "Just because Synn has told me to come out here and cheer you up, doesn't mean I will let you do that."
"Fine." I reply, as I walk down the street "But you're doing a really shitty job of trying to cheer me up."
Rage sighs, another uncharacteristic move from the big man as I walk away further
"You're not driving my car!" Rage says loud enough for me to hear.
I stop in my tracks, turning to Rage.
"Than you're doing a really shitty job of cheering me up!" I shout back.
A jewelry store catches my eye, causing me to stop and look at something in the window, giving Rage time to catch up with me.
"Why are you stopping here?" Rage asks "Don't you have enough crap?"
"Bought a ring from here a while ago." I say slowly "Not sure I need it anymore."
Rage nods, and speaks in an almost caring tone.
"You don't know what's gonna happen until you talk to her." Rage says with sympathy.
"Wow!" I reply slightly stunned "Those anger management classes really are working for you."
A soft growl comes from Rage. He stops the growl and starts to mumble under his breath.
"The woman would rather get drunk and dance with strangers. If she wanted to fix this, she would have stopped me leaving Australia, to fix it. Fact is, she's probably been using me all along to get noticed, and now that she is, and those offers keep rolling in for her, I'm no longer needed." I tell Rage "If she wanted to talk, she could have by now. Instead she's thinking Jordan is so great and the time we spent together means nothing."
Rage looks a little disappointed at hearing this.
"Pretty sure she wasn't" Rage says quietly.
I'm so not used to this Rage. I'm used to this guy calling me a loved up pussy or something. Those classes are working miracles.
Something catches my attention through the window, a three finger ring, with the word PAIN across it, written in diamonds. I look up at Rage.
"You should buy that." I tell him
Rage looks down at me confused.
"Why?" He asks
"Because it says pain and you like breaking peoples faces." I reply.
Rage smiles and looks closer, but his head jolts back
"One hundred thousand dollars?!?!" Rage says shocked "I like it but fuck that."
"Treat yourself." I reply "You're gonna be heavyweight champion again soon. You should be craving gold"
Rage looks closer at the ring, a debate going on his mind.
"It does look good" Rage says slowly
Go for it Rage. I'm the angry bastard of the group now, you might as well be the greedy one.
"Ok" Rage concedes, slowly strolling in to the store.
"Hey" I shout after him "If I can get this cheaper, can I drive the Batmobile?"
Rage snaps his head around, looking at me.
"It's not a fuc..." Rage stops, taking a long deep breath "It's not a batmobile."
"Yes it is" I ask "Now if I can say, get fifteen percent off, can I drive it?"
"You've got no chance" Rage says confidently "Ok, if I win, can I drive the Veyron?"
I nod and smile. Rage reaches out, shaking my hand quickly. A big smile crosses his face.
"Waited a long time to drive your car." Rage says "but now I get to drive the new one."
"I don't have the new one." I reply
"Why not?" Rage asks.
"Because it was bought to distract me from what she's really doing." I say softly "I got the old one."
"Damn" Rage says firmly
Usually, he would have said fuck
"It will have to do" Rage says....
Half an hour later.
"Wooooooooooohooooooo" my voice is heard yelling.
"Slow down" Rage complains
Behind the wheel of the renamed Batmobile, in reality, a Hennessey Venom GT, I sit. My hands grip the steering wheel tight as the street blurs past.
"Seriously, slow the fu... hell down." Rage demands "Gonna get us both killed."
I shoot round a corner, spinning the wheel to the right, causing the tires to scream out in pain. Rage puts his hands on his head.
I should probably concentrate a bit here.
I swing the car to the left, kicking the tail out and firing the fast car off in a different direction. The car eats up the miles before coming to a screeching holt outside the house of Synn and Despayre. Rage breaths fast as I look at him from the drivers seat.
"What?" I ask him.
"You are never, EVER driving my car again, do you understand me?" Rage says with a growling undertone to his voice.
"But the batmobile is a lot of fun" I reply with a smile "Now I'm teaming with a superhero, I might need to buy one."
Rage shakes his head at me, but quickly remembers the goal for the day.
"So, have you cheered up yet?" He asks
"I still wanna smash certain people's faces in. I still want to ask questions, I am still pissed off" I reply firmly "But nice try."
I quickly step out of the car and move towards the door of Synn's house. Rage sighs.
"Maybe I should have just kicked his ass and told him to man up" Rage says to himself "Damn anger management!"
Rage quickly jumps out of the car and also moves towards the door.
Minutes later.
Sitting at the kitchen table, Synn's hand grips a cup of coffee. Rage walks in the room and sits opposite Synn, pulling out a chair backwards and spinning it around, staring at Synn. Synn lifts his head, looking at Rage. Rage puts his left hand over his right hand, covering the new ring.
"Where's Gabriel?" Synn asks quietly
"Despy cut him off as soon as he walked in the door." Rage replies
"Did it work?" Synn asks
Rage shakes his head.
"No." Rage says defeated. "He even drove my damn car and he's still a miserable bas.... man."
Synn arches an eyebrow at Rage.
"I see the anger management is working." Synn says with a chuckle.
Rage runs his hand over his head.
"So people keep telling me." Rage replies sarcastically.
Ever had the feeling you're walking in to something you just don't want to. Walking in that kitchen, that feeling was strong.
I lean outside the kitchen, door. Despayre standing next to me.
"What's it like teaming with a superhero?" Despayre asks excitedly, clutching Angel firmly between his fingers "Does she has a secret hideout and super fast car?"
"I haven't seen it if she does have those things." I inform Despayre "But she could have."
"That would be cool!" Despayre says, full of energy. "Wanna watch Twilight"
"Good God no!" I reply quickly
"Attaboy!" Despayre says, his hand hitting me on the back. "Angel says you're still a man!"
I walk in to the kitchen, instantly seeing the judging eyes of Synn and Rage burn a hole through me. Despayre follows and instantly sees the new ring on Rage's fingers.
"Holy moly Uncle Rage!" Despayre says "Where did that come from?"
Uncle Rage?
"I saw it, I wanted it, I got it." Rage says with a shrug.
"Gabriel." Synn starts
"Just don't" I quickly snap back "I'm not listening to this stuff anymore."
I stand up and storm out of the room as Fantasia walks in.
"Wow" Despayre says surprised
"What?" Synn says, his eyes flipping to his son.
Despayre points at Rage and then the door.
"Have you ever seen Freaky Friday?" Despayre asks
Synn raises an eyebrow
"It must have been a true story" Despayre adds.
Rage raises an eyebrow at Despayre.
"Cause you're spending money now like Gabriel did" Despayre explains "And Gabriel's all angry like you"
"Yeah" Rage says "I get that"
Oi, who's promo is this? Come on, come see what I'm doing.
Sitting outside on the back steps, looking at Synn's swimming pool, the phone pressed to my ear.
"Honestly Kittie, I'm ok." I try to reassure Kittie "This whole thing has dragged me down, it has dragged out my will to wrestle, it's broke me but nothing I can do. I appreciate the offer again, but you and Jamie will have a little Kittie appearing soon. I think if anything, I'll just disappear completely, just appear for matches. I think it's time to quit Twitter too. Even though digging little tweets keep breaking my soul a little more. I'm gonna go, I'll be in touch at some point. Take care of yourself."
I put the phone back in my pocket and stare at the water.
"You know she still loves you, right?" Fantasia's voice catches my attention.
I look around as Fantasia takes a seat on the steps next to me.
"Did she ever love me?" I ask "Cause if she did, why would she walk like this?"
"Of course she did." Fantasia says frowning "These guys think they can fix you by being all butch, but I think you needed someone to just listen."
"No." I reply "I need to know how she can replace me so easy with a married man. It's like the months meant nothing."
"You love her, I know you do" Fantasia says
Yep.
"So why aren't you fighting for her?" Fantasia asks.
"Because I was always told, don't fight for someone who wouldn't fight for you." I say, a tone of sadness "She's had a lot of time to prove she wanted to fight for me. Actions speak louder than words. Sadly, her actions seen more toward Jordan."
"You can't deny you don't love her." Fantasia says
"You can't confirm she loves me." I snap back "A few weeks ago, she was hinting at marrying me. Now I get kicked further back in a long list of priorities. What was a supposed to do? If I could have been back there, I would have. All this shit makes me wonder, if I woulda popped the big question a few weeks back, would she have still started favoring Jordan over me?"
"I can't answer that." Fantasia says "But don't you think she could be sitting at home feeling the same."
"I won't lie, I doubt she's even thought of me, when I've done nothing but think of her." I reply "The strip club, didn't wanna be there, wanted to have a normal time. Sofa, me, her and that's it. Driving Rage's Batmobile, fun, I wanted to be looking at her in the passenger seat. I left Australia because there was no point to me being there. She was busy, she could have stopped me. She could have stopped me and she never."
Fantasia puts her hand on my shoulder
"I wasn't walking out of her life" I say with a sigh "I was letting her do what she had to without me under her feet. It turned in to a shit storm. It turned in to more than it should have and pride or ego or whatever stopped her coming for me. Makes me feel like I wasn't that important to her after all. It's not pride stopping me from trying to fix it, it's that burning thought in my head that she never tried to fix it. She decided partying and rubbing my face in things was the way to go. On camera, off camera, Odette Ryder has broke me, with no sign she has any interest in me"
I let out a long sigh.
"I never gave up her, I love her, and it's pretty damn obvious that all this stuff, all this piss and vinegar in me, has been a front. Shit, if Shane could find me, she could if she wanted.
"Women have pride too Gabriel" Fantasia says "You can't expect her to come running, maybe you need to do some running"
"She just seemed to find other things to replace me." I say with a shrug "I dunno what I mean to her anymore."
"You can't be replaced." Despayre's voice say behind me.
Fantasia and I look around towards Despayre, standing in the doorway holding Angel. Behind him stands Shane, Rage and Synn. Despayre walks forward and sit the other side of me.
"I was talking to Angel" Despayre starts "And he knows you're not yourself, but he wanted me to tell you that even though you're turning in to Rage. It doesn't matter who else comes in and out of your life, we won't be leaving your side. Does anyone else really matter? We're family and family should be the most important thing to anyone. We're all different people, but we all know each other and will always have each other other's backs."
Where'd that come from?
"Joshua is right." Synn adds "When one of us falls, we all fall. When we come back, we come back stronger than before, together. Whatever may happen, you will never lose us. I don't believe for a second this will be the last you see of Odette, I think some things are just meant to be. With us, with Odette, come what may Gabriel, we will always be family."
I stand up and look at Synn, nodding
"Family." I quickly say.
Synn nods
"Family" Synn re-illiterates. "No more cheap hotels Gabriel, please stay with us."
I nod as the scene fades out.
Family... strength drawn from the people close to me. My focus shall lie there.
I stand next to the swimming pool, much time has passed since the interventions of my family. The moon shines down on the water. I look down the camera.
"I should have seen this revelation a little sooner than I actually did. I can't believe my utter blindness to this. They have been here all along, my family."
A determined look crosses my mind
"Well how about that, just knowing who is really in my corner, by seeing who is really supporting me, the weight of the world is lifting. I'm not saying everything is fine and dandy, but my focused is now realigned and I get the focus I need"
I flick the hair away from my eyes
"First off, I need to say thank you to my partner, Roxi Johnson. Roxi had to deal with a distracted me this past week, I'm sorry for that, but this week, you have my word that a newer, more focused me is here and ready to fight."
I wink at the camera
"I have a few friends in this tournament but well, Max Burke, you are not exactly one of them. I have nothing against you on any personal level at all, but I do have a professional bone to pick with you. Remember a certain tag title match not so long ago. Last week through all the drama, I heard Kain running his mouth about how Sinful Obsession wasn't good enough to beat him, he took our titles, blah, bah, blah but we know the truth, don't we Max? We know that Despayre and I never lost the titles, did we Max?"
I shake my head slowly and smile.
"Your tag team partner Max, he lost the damn match, he lost Sinful Obsession the titles. Next time you get up close to Kain, you go ahead and tell him that he lost that match, costing Despayre and I the titles. I'm not usually one to hold grudges but as you can work out, the last couple of weeks have been a little, you know, not the best in my life where I've already considered saying fuck SCW and going elsewhere. When I get to that point, as one of the four original SCW guys left that was on card one, you know things are bad. If it wasn't for you, and your partner, I'd be a double champion now and that just pisses me off that I'm not."
The rage starts to build in me, flowing to the top.
So this is what he feels like
"The simple fact of the matter that I could be a double champ now, when I was robbed by you and your partner Max, not Blood Omen, as much as Kain likes to fill his own ego, THEY didn't beat us. Hey Kain, how about fuck off, we can beat you any damn time we like."
I take a deep breath
"That came out of nowhere eh?"
I press my hands together, looking down.
"It's time to pay up Max, you stopped me from keeping my titles with Despayre, you stopped me from a double. Tell ya this though, between you and me, that has been Kain keeps flapping those lips, we will be going for him, by going through the Young Lions first. You also might wanna tell him to shut up too. Stopped my from keeping my tag gold, you will not stop me from winning the Blast From The Past tournament. Sorry Max, they put you against me on a very bad week. That's gotta suck, eh?"
I continue to look down
"And your tag team partner Max. Laura Jackson..."
I look up at the camera, looking slightly blank.
"You're not normal, are ya Laura? I know usually, I'd leave Roxi to absolutely ruin you, but I gotta say this while I get the chance. I really need to know things. First up, when Amanda says jump, do you ask how high? Are you really a lemming and just copy everything your mistress tells you? You're seriously a sandwich short of a picnic. I've seen a lot of weird people, but you are seriously up there on that list of odd people."
I shake my head slowly
"I give you credit for the fact you've done well in terms of winning titles, impressive stuff but I have a lot of faith in Roxi to deal with you without breaking a sweat. A whole difference in class really."
I stare deep in to the camera.
"Max, Laura, you are both on warning. You two are just a mere stepping stone on our way to the finals. For you two, the war is over."
I close my eyes for a few seconds. As I open them, the image of fire burning in my eyes is seen.
"Believe that!"
I turn and walk away as the scene fades out
