[Simon Jones]

 Sunday 4th August

The scene opens to show the inside of a locker room in San Diego Ice Arena, in which three people are visible: they are - from left to right - Rick O'Shea, Jason O'Neil, and Simon Jones. Rick and Jason are both sat on a bench, and both of them are leaning forward, examining copies of the programme from the night's SCW show; Rick is wearing a pair of black shoes, black trousers, and a plain white shirt, whereas Jason is wearing a pair of black trainers, black jeans, and a green and gold Kerry GAA jersey.

Simon, who, unlike the other pair, is stood up, is wearing a pair of black socks, black trousers, and a currently-unbuttoned-and-untucked plain purple shirt. As Simon begins to do up the buttons on his shirt, Jason turns the page in his programme; he then takes his right hand away from the programme and sits up straight, quickly glances at Simon, then looks back to the programme, which he points at with his right hand before breaking the silence.

Jason: 'Here they are.'

Rick turns his head to look at Jason, whilst Simon continues to button his shirt.

Simon: 'Who?'

Jason: 'The duo that you defeated earlier: Nick Jones and Jordan Williams.'

Jason smiles and then turns to look at Simon again, as he starts to sing, to the tune of "Sloop John B" by The Beach Boys.

Jason: 'He won a tag match, he won a tag match; how shit must you be, he won a tag match.'

Rick and Simon both laugh; Rick then turns his attention back to his programme. Simon, who by now has done up all of the buttons on his shirt except for the top one, turns to look at Jason.

Simon: 'I can't take all of the credit for the win - Kevin Carter did his fair share of the work out there.'

Jason: 'Yes, but he's a former tag team champion - he's used to experiencing success in tag team matches. Unlike you.'

Simon tucks his shirt into his trousers.

Simon: 'It did make a pleasant change, to win a tag team match for once.'

Simon turns to face away from the camera and removes a pair of black shoes from his locker; he then turns back towards the camera and sits down on the bench alongside Jason, who he again turns to look at.

Simon: 'As well as having Kevin Carter as my tag team partner for the night, it also helped that Gabriel took it upon himself to perform a fast count - come Summer XXXTreme, I doubt that I'll be able to rely on such assistance from the referee.'

Simon turns his head to look at the pair of shoes that he has in his hands, and places the shoe that is in his left hand on the floor; he then lifts his right foot up off the floor, to slip on the shoe that he still has a grasp of.

Jason: 'Questionable officiating or not, two weeks from tonight, I'm certain that you'll have what it takes to retain the title.'

Simon reaches down to pick the other shoe up off the floor, which he then puts onto his left foot.

Simon: 'I hope so.'

Suddenly, the sound of a door being opened can be heard, and into view, from the left of the shot, walks Sylvia Jones, who is wearing a pair of black court shoes, a navy blue skirt and matching jacket; each of the three men look in the direction of the new arrival.

Sylvia: 'Simon, may I have a word with you, please?'

Simon: 'Of course.'

Sylvia: 'Alone?'

Jason turns to look at Rick.

Jason: 'Come on Rick, let's take a walk over to the Tomcat Bar & Grill.'

As Jason gets to his feet, Rick turns to look at him, before then also standing up.

Rick: 'Let's go. I think it's my round, anyway.'

Rick looks to Sylvia, then to Simon.

Rick: 'Bye you two.'

Jason does likewise.

Jason: 'See you later.'

Rick and Jason turn and walk towards the left of the shot, soon disappearing from view, followed by the sound of the door being closed.

Simon: 'Have a seat and tell me what's on your mind.'

Sylvia walks towards Simon and sits down next to him, on the bench; Simon looks at Sylvia, and she turns to face him. Syvlia then opens her mouth, but before saying anything, she glances over to the left of the shot, and then looks back to Simon.

Sylvia: 'I'm sure I know that Rick O'Shea from somewhere.'

Simon: 'He was my partner in the tag team turmoil match in ACW in February. And now he acts as my agent.'

Sylvia: 'I know that, but I think I recognise him from somewhere else, although I can't remember where.'

Sylvia frowns momentarily and then shakes her head.

Sylvia: 'Never mind, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about.'

Simon: 'Then what do you want to talk to me about?'

Sylvia: 'As you're well aware, after you won the SCW heavyweight title, my boss gave me the task of conducting an interview with you. Well, the next issue of Power Slam will be going to print within the next week, so if I'm going to do an interview with you, time is running out.'

Simon: 'Doesn't the next issue go on sale just three days prior to Summer XXXTreme? By the time the vast majority of people buy the magazine, I might not even be the SCW Heavyweight Champion any more. Why don't you wait until after Summer XXXTreme, to see who emerges from the six pack challenge with the title, and then do an interview with whomever the champion is?'

Sylvia: 'Because my boss wants me to interview my brother, and you're the only brother I have, so I'll have to settle for you - if I return to the UK, without having done this interview, my boss will probably go ballistic.'

Sylvia smiles and then speaks with a slightly sarcastic tone of voice.

Sylvia: 'Besides, I need to interview you now, while you're still relevant.'

Simon responds with a mock-angry tone.

Simon: 'Relevant? Relevant?! Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis.'

Sylvia: 'You know I think you'll still be the champion following Summer XXXTreme.'

Simon: 'Yeah, we'll see.'

Simon glances around the room, before looking back to Sylvia.

Simon: 'Alright Syl, I'll do the interview - I don't want to be responsible for you getting in trouble at work.'

As the two Jones siblings look at one another, the scene fades to black.


Monday 26th August

The scene opens to show Jacqueline Jones in the kitchen of the home that she shares with her husband, Simon. Jacqueline is sat on a wooden chair, to the left of a circular table, which is in the centre of the foreground of the shot; she is wearing a pair of jade green jeans, and a red t-shirt that has the words "HANDS OFF THE BUMP" printed on it in white.

In the background, also to the left of the shot, it can be seen that the back door is open. And stood gazing out into the back garden is Jason O'Neil, who is wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a plain shamrock green t-shirt. It is he that is the first to speak.

Jason: 'What's he reading?'

Jacqueline: 'Another book by Martina Cole - this one is called "Faceless."'

Jason: 'How long has he been sat out there for?'

Jacqueline: 'Not long today; an hour or so, perhaps. But since we got home from the cruise, he's been spending more time in the garden than he normally does.'

Jason turns to look at Jacqueline.

Jason: 'I guess that's part of his way of coping with the loss at Summer XXXTreme.'

Jacqueline: '"Coping?" You make it sound like he's lost a family member.'

Jason: 'I didn't intend to imply that - I wouldn't go as far as paraphrasing Bill Shankly, and saying that wrestling is more important than life and death. What I meant by coping is that, well...'

Jason trails off and then briefly glances outside again, before looking back to Jacqueline.

Jason: 'Jacqui, you've been with Simon long enough to know that losing a title affects him worse than losing a regular, run-of-the-mill match does.'

Jacqueline: 'I know that. But isn't that the same for every wrestler - wasn't it the same for you?'

Jason: 'I can't speak on behalf of every wrestler, but in the majority of cases, I suppose that's probably true. Simon though, his confidence is brittle even at the best of times, so a loss like the one that he suffered eight days ago has a much greater effect on him than it would on most people.'

Jason walks towards the table, takes a seat in a chair directly opposite the camera, and turns to face Jacqueline.

Jason: 'This is why I waited a few days - why I waited until now - before coming round here, because I knew that this was how Simon would react.'

Jacqueline: 'React how?'

Jason: 'By shutting himself off from the rest of the world. Well, the rest of the world except for you, of course.'

Jacqueline: 'I'm not sure how well it's working: Simon is still finding reminders of what happened at Summer XXXTreme, just in unexpected places.'

Jason: 'Such as?'

Jacqueline: 'That book that he's reading: there's a character in it called Kevin Carter.'

Jason raises his eyebrows, a look of surprise on his face.

Jason: 'Seriously?'

Jacqueline nods her head.

Jacqueline: 'I swear, I'm not making this up.'

Jason: 'That's an unfortunate coincidence.'

Jacqueline turns her head to look over her left shoulder, towards the open door; after a couple of seconds, she turns back to Jason.

Jacqueline: 'Simon told me earlier that the Carter family's house had been petrol bombed. In the book, I mean.'

Jason: 'I hope that book isn't giving him any ideas.'

Jacqueline: 'I don't think you need to worry about Simon committing such an act.'

Jason chuckles to himself.

Jason: 'I was only joking. Besides, a petrol bombing is more in keeping with a mob war than a wrestling rivalry. And Joanne Canelli is the only mafioso in SCW.'

Jacqueline: 'Anyway, Simon hasn't shut himself off from the rest of the world completely - he's re-watched the events of Summer XXXTreme, and has been thinking about what he did when he was preparing for the match, thinking about what he could have done differently, about what he should do differently next time that would put him in a better position to be successful.'

Jason smiles and nods approvingly.

Jason: 'Now that's one way to make constructive use of his time off, at least.'

Jacqueline: 'You're the expert, so usually I'd agree, but on this occasion, I'm not so sure.'

Jason's smile is replaced by a frown.

Jason: 'Why not?'

Jacqueline: 'Because he also re-watched what his five opponents had to say in the lead up to the match. And something that one of them said has put further doubts into Simon's mind.'

Jason: 'What was the comment and who was it that said it?'

Jacqueline: 'It was that man again, Kevin Carter - and I don't mean the fictional character; he said that Simon had walked into SCW, and had everything handed to him.'

Jason: 'Carter isn't the only member of the SCW roster to have made a remark along those lines.'

Jacqueline: 'Indeed, but he took it a step further: he questioned whether that's how it's been throughout Simon's career. After hearing that, Simon then thought about each of the titles that he's won over the course of his career, and after some consideration, he's come to the conclusion that Kevin Carter may well be right.'

Jason shakes his head.

Jason: 'I can't believe what I'm hearing - it sounds like his confidence has imploded worse than it ever has done before.'

Jason sighs.

Jason: 'Go on then, take me through the logic behind Simon's "conclusion."'

Jacqueline: 'He says that the first title he won, he was only in the match because the former champion selected him to be in it.'

Jason: 'That's true, but he's left out the fact that the title was vacant, and that the other three men that were in the match were also given the opportunity to compete for the it by the former champion. Plus, Simon had won every match that he'd had in the promotion to that point, including wins against some of the same men that he then defeated to win that title.'

Jacqueline: 'He says the second title that he won, he only got the shot at the title because the owner of the promotion used it as an incentive to get him to sign a contract.'

Jason: 'Again, that's true, but he's failed to mention that it was his second match for that particular title, and that the first match in which he competed for the title - which was the final of a tournament that featured every member of the roster in that promotion - was marred by interference. And it was because of that interference that the owner of the promotion - I believe his name was Vern Wheeler - was keen to give Simon a rematch for the title.'

Jason shakes his head again and speaks with an incredulous tone of voice.

Jason: 'I don't believe this. What about the cruiserweight title that he won in Ricochet Wrestling? Surely Simon can't claim that he had that opportunity handed to him - he can't deny that he worked his way up to being the number one contender for the title.'

Jacqueline: 'He did acknowledge that, somewhat begrudgingly, but he countered it by pointing out that the other cruiserweight title that he has won - the one he won earlier this year in the place that we don't mention in polite conversation - followed on from Ben Jordan relinquishing his own opportunity to compete for that title, and then handpicking Simon as his replacement.'

Jason: 'There's no refuting that, but even so, Simon still had to defeat Vixen to win the title. And everyone in SCW should be well aware of what sort of a competitor Vixen is.'

Jason sighs again.

Jason: 'What about the SCW heavyweight title? To get that title, Simon had to win a gauntlet battle royal - which he entered first - and then he had to beat Jordan Williams; he won the heavyweight title in what was just his second match in the promotion - no-one can take that achievement away from him.'

Jacqueline: 'I reminded him of that, but he played down the accomplishment, saying that Nessa Wall won the Women's Championship in her first match in ACW, and then won the Bombshell Roulette Championship in her first match in SCW.'

Jason shakes his head once more.

Jason: 'From what you've told me, it really does sound as though Simon's confidence may be at an all-time low.'

Jason gets up from his chair and walks towards the open back door, stopping to again stare out into the garden.

Jason: 'He'll get another shot at the heavyweight title, you know - especially being a former champion.'

Jacqueline: 'I told him that was a possibility, but he said that he doesn't want to be given a title shot by virtue of him having been the champion previously - he said that he wants to have to earn his next title shot.'

Jason tuns to look at Jacqueline.

Jason: 'He earned the first shot that he got at the title, at Into The Void.'

Jacqueline: 'I know, but right now, he doesn't see it that way.'

Jason: 'Well, if he wants to be seen to have earned his next match for the heavyweight title, he can start by getting a win against Gabriel at Climax Control, next Sunday.'

Jacqueline: 'Simon has already as good as written off his chances of winning that match.'

Jason frowns again.

Jason: 'Why?'

Jacqueline: 'Because Gabriel has already beaten him before.'

Jason: 'But that was in a mixed tag team match, not a...'

Jason trails off and then waves his hands dismissively.

Jason: 'You know what, never mind; with the frame of mind that Simon is currently in, I shouldn't be surprised by that.'

Jason puts his hands on his hips.

Jason: 'Please tell me that he has at least been going to the gym.'

Jacqueline nods her head.

Jacqueline: 'Yes, since we got home from the cruise, that's the one part of his normal routine that he's maintained.'

Jason: 'At least his fitness shouldn't be an issue then; time for me to get to work on his confidence.'

As Jason turns, and walks out of the kitchen and into the garden, the scene fades to black.