Off-Camera
Friday October 9, 2020
Den Area
Apartment of Christina and Seleana Zdunich
Las Vegas, Nevada
11:11 PM PDT
Having just finished watching a movie together, Seleana hugs little ten-year-old Aurora Martinez.
Seleana Zdunich: It is time for bed now, ja?
Aurora grins.
Aurora Martinez: What if I’m not tired?
Seleana smiles knowingly at her.
Seleana Zdunich: Then maybe we will need to find something to read?
Aurora’s face lights up.
Aurora Martinez: Together?
Seeing the look on the little girl’s face, Seleana nods approvingly.
Seleana Zdunich: If you’re keen…
Aurora’s mother, Angelica, appears at the edge of the hallway, a smile on her face that mirrors the other two faces.
Angelica Martinez: Sounds like I missed a good time.
Aurora bounds up and runs to her mother, hugging her.
Aurora Martinez: We watched Aladdin and it was awesome! The tiger is so pretty and she showed me pictures of the two tigers back at the Gardens again!
Angelica chuckles slightly.
Angelica Martinez: They are?
Aurora nods and then runs back to get Seleana’s phone. She quickly brings it over to her mother, the pictures still on the screen.
Aurora Martinez: See!
Angelica looks at the tigers and nods.
Angelica Martinez: They really are.
Aurora nods enthusiastically.
Aurora Martinez: You should come see them sometime!
Angelica smiles and hands the phone back to her daughter.
Angelica Martinez: Maybe someday, but right now I think you need to go find a book and get ready for that.
Aurora nods and gives the phone back to Seleana. She hugs the Swedish women and then runs to her mother and hugs her as well.
Aurora Martinez: I love you, Mommy!
Angelica smiles and hugs her daughter.
Angelica Martinez: I love you too, Sweetheart.
Aurora hurries off to find the perfect thing to read and Angelica moves to sit on the couch next to Seleana.
Angelica Martinez: I can’t thank you enough for how happy you make her.
Seleana nods, taking Angelica’s hand into hers and squeezing it.
Seleana Zdunich: How are you?
Angelica shrugs, glancing back to make sure Aurora can’t hear her answer.
Angelica Martinez: Trying to forget about that as much as possible.
Seleana nods apologetically.
Seleana Zdunich: Jag är ledsen för det.
Even without knowing what Seleana said, Angelica can see the apologetic look on the Swedish woman’s face and know basically what it means. Angelica squeezes Selean’s hand in return.
Angelica Martinez: You did nothing wrong, thank you for caring.
Seleana nods slowly.
Seleana Zdunich: Ja… of course…
Angelica sighs heavily.
Angelica Martinez: How come Christina isn’t with you?
Seleana shrugs.
Seleana Zdunich: I came in from a show in Pittsburgh. She is not cleared to be on them yet so she was not there. She will come tomorrow.
Angelica nods, smiling hopefully.
Angelica Martinez: That’s good.
Seleana nods to the hallway.
Seleana Zdunich: If she picks what she normally picks, would you be keen to share the voices?
Angelica’s face brightens immediately.
Angelica Martinez: Absolutely!
As Seleana nods, Aurora runs back into the room clutching her favorite storybook.
Aurora Martinez: This one?
Seleana and Angelica nod knowingly to each other.
Seleana Zdunich: Would you be keen for your mum and I to share the voices?
Aurora’s eyes almost start to dance.
Aurora Martinez: Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we?
Seleana slides over on the couch and pats the space between herself and Angelica.
Seleana Zdunich: Climb up and let’s have a go, ja?
Aurora climbs onto the couch and sits between them, happy as she can possibly be to be sitting there right now.
On-Camera
Friday October 9, 2020
Parking Lot
Apartment of Christina and Seleana Zdunich
Las Vegas, Nevada
11:58 PM PDT
The camera opens upon Seleana Zdunich standing in the parking lot area of her apartment in Las Vegas under a light post, looking off into the distance to see the lights of the Strip.
Seleana Zdunich: The streets of Las Vegas…
She nods, staring off into the distance.
Seleana Zdunich: I was never that keen about coming here. Christina was always the one who wanted to give it a go when she was having her time of guilt after she thought she had destroyed us financially by losing her company.
She nods and slowly turns to face the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: She came here, took a real job and it led her to other things that turned out brilliant.
Glancing back at the apartment building, Seleana nods, allowing herself a small smile before turning back to face the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: Now, here we stand and let us not make mistake, this is not wrestling match.
She shakes her head.
Seleana Zdunich: My wife suffered three concussions in eight days. The first one was an accident and happened during the course of a regular match action. The third happened because she defied doctor’s orders and attempted to save a sister that had betrayed her earlier in the night and got knocked back into place again. But this is not about those so much as the second…
Rage enters Seleana’s eyes as she glares into the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: Andrea Hernandez…
Her hand balls into a fist.
Seleana Zdunich: I do not understand why she was trying to help you in the first place. You have never done anything to ingratiate yourself to much of anyone and now you have proven yourself the two-faced, ungrateful skit that many think my wife to be. All she did was try to be your friend and because you have fallen out of championship contention you now feel the need to destroy things?
Seleana shakes her head in confusion.
Seleana Zdunich: Many of us have lost championships before Andrea, but those of us that got back did not blame everyone else for our own losses! We looked at what happened, we rededicated ourselves to getting back and then we fought for it!
She points to herself.
Seleana Zdunich: I was keen to return to that mountaintop after I lost to Alicia Lukas and I blamed no one but myself for that loss. She was better than me and it told me I simply needed to work more, harder and better than I had before and thus I got back there of my own accord and when she beat me again, I went back to working and I went back again and again and again and I became the Roulette Champion whether anyone else was keen about it or not!
Her hand moves from pointing to herself to point in the direction of the Strip.
Seleana Zdunich: Alicia Lukas lost the championship after seemingly holding it for an age and did she blame others for the loss?
She shakes her head emphatically, her hand waving in an almost violently dismissive manner.
Seleana Zdunich: No, she blamed herself, she went back into training and she fought until she had the championship again whether anyone else was keen to see her do it!
Her hand moves to indicate both things she has been pointing at.
Seleana Zdunich: She and I are the shining examples of what to do when you get a bit of a knock off your perch but that’s too much for you, isn’t it, Andrea?
She nods knowingly.
Seleana Zdunich: You could not stand the idea of having to start all over again. You were not keen to put in the work that would be required so you took the shortcut of attacking the low-hanging fruit of an already injured Christina and you were keen to end her only you did not manage to complete the task!
She points accusingly into the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: You failed again, and now you are no doubt keen to try that on me. You get to “end” another former champion and rid the company of an unworthy competitor to boot, ja?
She nods as if she already knows the answer.
Seleana Zdunich: But you will fail there as well, Andrea, because no matter how much skit you sling, no matter what you try, you cannot and will not break me! You cannot and will not end me and I am one phoenix you will not extinguish no matter how hard you try!
She points even more accusingly into the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: I know you’re keen and you see this street fight as a brilliant opportunity but so do I! This is my opportunity to say för fan i helvete, i helvete med jävla regler, och dra åt helvete din jävla idiot!
Her hand slices through the air violently again.
Seleana Zdunich: I do not care what the referee thinks his job is or what he is keen to allow, I am going to beat your ass in this match, Andrea! I will make you pay for what you did to Christina and for what you are going to try to do to me! There is a phoenix rising in the desert but it is not you! It will be me and then it will be Christina when she comes back and we both prove that so long as you are unwilling to put in the work, a sad former champion is all you will ever be!
She points to herself again.
Seleana Zdunich: I am coming to the Cox Pavilion and I am coming there to make you bleed until we have painted the barricades as red as possible and then I’m going to make your voice rise to the rafters! I will make you sing like the angel you wish you were and then scream like the devil you really are! Keep it burning, Andrea, this night, we enter the crucible and burn it all away to see what you really are under it all!
The camera zooms in for a close-up.
Seleana Zdunich: Välkommen till djungeln!
