Off-Camera
Monday January 28, 2019
New York, New York
Manhattan
Penthouse Apartment
8:25 AM EST
It had been a long plane ride for Seleana Zdunich to come here to New York. Following defeating Jessie Salco at Climax Control, Seleana’s own wife, Crystal Hilton, had been unveiled as “Plan C” for Christian Underwood and had attacked Seleana to the point that Crystal’s own daughter, fellow wrestler Brittany “B-Brat” Williams, had run down to beg her mother to stop and not continue on with the onslaught that had left Seleana battered and bloodied on the floor.
Now, she sits in the dwelling place of her youngest sister, Katra Zdunich, Katra’s wife, Adriana, and family friend Bethany Kenyon, her boyfriend, Brody Montgomery, and their girlfriend, Jayni Sullivan. The place had technically been gifted to Seleana’s middle sister, Zenna, seven years previously by a fellow wrestler called Xavier Magnus to make up for a misunderstanding regarding his attempts to woo both Zenna and Alissa Lacroix, the younger sister of Zenna’s current fiancée, Linnéa Lacroix, and current bassist in their band, American Murder Log. Zenna had kept it both as a northeastern base of operations during their wrestling careers and later for the band and it had morphed into a second home away from home for all of them plus several family friends from back in the band’s true home base of New Orleans. This had come in handy when Katra had dated her first wife, Eavan Maloney, and during her courtship with Adriana, since both of them lived in the northeastern corridor themselves, Eavan in Ocean City, New Jersey and Adriana in Connecticut.
Both women were to be in attendance this week for Katra’s birthday bash at the neighborhood bar known as Jonesy’s. Katra’s bandmates, Linnéa, Alissa, Zenna and Kelly Taylor were all coming into town as were the members of the punk band, the Linettis, since their drummer, Lexa Pellegrini, lives downstairs in the same building directly across the hall from Kelly’s elder sister, Jenni, and tended to have jam sessions multiple times a week with Katra, Adriana and her own sister, Maxine Pellegrini. Lexa’s roommate, Loti Nguyen, would also be attending along with Lexa’s Linettis bandmate Kelsey Spencer. Kelsey’s tag team partner, Rebecca Saint, and fellow wrestler Song were also rumored to be attending along with several other local family and friends. Seleana had traveled alone for this and was happy to be away from all of the madness swirling behind her back in Los Angeles. As she sits on the couch, Bethany brings her a cup of tea and sits down next to her.
Bethany KenyonHow are you doing, Sel?
Seleana tests the tea and then sits the cup down on the coffee table in front of them.
Seleana Zdunich: I… do not know…
Bethany nods and pats her hand softly.
Bethany KenyonHas she tried to contact you yet?
Seleana nods slowly.
Seleana Zdunich: Ja…
She gets her phone out and shows Bethany the message. Bethany frowns in confusion before looking up from the screen.
Bethany KenyonIsn’t she who…?
Seleana nods and Bethany;’s confusion deepens.
Bethany KenyonThen why does she need to ask if you’re ok?
Shrugging, Seleana looks back to the message and shakes her head sadly.
Seleana Zdunich: I do not know…
Bethany looks to the message again and starts to speak twice, cutting herself off before she starts both times. Seleana sets the phone down on the table next to the cup and nods slowly.
Seleana Zdunich: I do not know.
Bethany sits back on the couch and exhales heavily.
Bethany KenyonDoes she have any conditions?
Seleana looks at Bethany, now her turn to be confused.
Bethany KenyonMentally…
Seleana nods slowly.
Seleana Zdunich: Ja, she used to take meds for.
Bethany frowns heavier than before.
Bethany KenyonUsed to?
Seleana nods sadly.
Seleana Zdunich: She stopped last year. She thinks I did not know, that she had convinced me she was still taking them but she has not off and on for some months. She thought she needed to be “Crystal Fucking Hilton” again to defeat Kate Steele and did not want to…
Seleana trails off, shaking her head.
Bethany KenyonSo she took the shortcut rather than look for the strength inside?
Seleana nods sadly and Bethany shakes her head.
Bethany KenyonAre you sure she’s a grown ass woman?
Taken aback, Seleana sits up straighter than she had been.
Seleana Zdunich: Vad?
Bethany nods firmly, knowingly.
Bethany KenyonAre you sure she’s a grown ass woman in there and not some insecure, immature little girl still struggling to figure out who she is while she fakes until she does?
Seleana just stares at Bethany but Bethany is unmoved.
Bethany KenyonI mean, I know she has a teenage daughter but half the time it sounds like B-Brat there is the grown-up and Crystal is the teenager.
She pauses and then nods in acknowledgement.
Bethany KenyonThe other half it sounds like they both need a trip to the damn woodshed…
Seleana starts to retort but can’t find the words. As she struggles to think of a response, her phone chimes. Both women glance down to see another message from Seleana’s wife staring back at them.
Bethany KenyonGo on… see what she wants…
Seleana nods and checks her message. As she goes to answer, her hands won’t seem to move anymore and she starts to shake. The tears start to come and Seleana just shakes her head, unable to say or type anything back. Bethany quickly moves the hoen to the table and then takes the Swedish woman into her arms, allowing Seleana to sob uncontrollably into her friend’s shoulder.
Bethany KenyonIt’s alright, Sel… it’s alright…
Bethany starts to stroke Seleana’s hair and nods as the Sweded continues to weep openly.
Bethany KenyonYou’re safe… it’s gonna be alright…
Seleana cries uncontrollably for a few minutes, screaming into bethany’s shoulder so loudly that both Brody and Jayni come into the room to see what the commotion is about. Upon seeing the situation and bethany nodding to the phone, both of them nod and go back to what they were doing so as not to let on to Seleana that she might have just disturbed them and further upset her.
Bethany KenyonDet är okej, Sarabi. Du är starkare än du vet. Detta kommer inte att avsluta dig.
Seleana sits up and Bethany looks into the Swedish woman’s eyes.
Bethany KenyonDu förstår det här, ja?
Seleana stares at Bethany and starts to nod before bursting into tears all over again.
Seleana Zdunich: Varför? Varför gjorde hon det här?
Trying to pull herself together, Seleana only manages one more word before losing herself in sobs again.
Seleana Zdunich: Varför?
Bethany takes Seleana into her arms again and holds her tightly.
Bethany KenyonI don’t know, Sweetie…
Seleana continues to cry and Bethany just holds her, hoping above hope, the events of the next few days will cheer her friend up.
Bethany KenyonIt’s gonna be alright...
Off-Camera
Monday February 4, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Zdunich Zoological Gardens
8:25 AM PST
Another tough Monday morning was dawning and Seleana was already two hours into her morning’s paperwork here at the zoo that had become her temporary home this week. She’d spent the last week at her youngest sister’s place in New York and now was looking down the barrel of living here at the zoo complex after having made a surprise appearance at SCW’s Climax Control the previous evening to show the world and her own wife how she was going to take Crysta and Christian’s “Plan C.” As she shovels over one invoice and starts to pick up another, her phone chimes at her. She sighs, waiting for it to be her wife trying to make contact again. This had happened six or seven times the previous week and had all gone unanswered until Sunday night. Every time previous to that when she had tried to answer, she had found herself unable to respond with anything other than tears, the shock and hurt still too much for her to comprehend.
She pushes the paper aside and looks at her phone and sees a name she did not expect to see, “Halo,” staring back at her.
Halo was Haylie Jo Annis, the girlfriend of her stepdaughter, Brittany “B-Brat” Williams. Halo was not one to reach out and did not do well with change so the stark reality of what was occurring in their home was obviously setting in if she was reaching out to Seleana like this. Seleana nods and presses the proper button to answer the call.
Seleana Zdunich: Ja?
Halo’s Tennessee accent greets Seleana’s ears quite shrilly.
Haylie Jo "Halo" AnniSeleana Zdunich: Mama Seleana?
Seleana pauses, stopping dead in her tracks as it were at the usage of that name. Both Halo and B-Brat used it at times and it had always warmed Seleana’s heart to hear it.
Seleana Zdunich: Ja, HayJo?
Caught by surprise that she’s actually gotten an answer, Halo pauses before swallowing hard. When she finally speaks, she sounds far smaller and far younger than her nineteen years.
Haylie Jo "Halo" AnniSeleana Zdunich: Are y’all comin’ home, Mama Seleana?
Seleana’s eyes snap shut. The worry and sadness in the young woman’s voice was hitting her in ways she didn’t know she could be hit.
Seleana Zdunich: It is probably not a good idea this week, HayJo. Shenzi and I have tag match on the Galactic show you defend your championship against Maja and Nari Chang with two of Christina’s friends and she will be rigside for it on Thursday and then I have to fight her in tag match on Sunday for Sin City. I do not think it would be good idea to have us under same roof with those fights hanging over head like giant sword waiting to fall and kill us all.
Halo goes dead silent. This was obviously not the answer the young lady had been hoping to hear in response to her question. Seleana opens her eyes and stares at the phone while Halo remains silent on the other end. Finally, after what seems like years, Halo’s voice crawls back in sounding somehow even smaller and younger than before.
Haylie Jo "Halo" AnniSeleana Zdunich: You… you are coming home… though… right?
Seleana’s eyes close again, the pain in Halo’s voice cutting her as deeply as anything had before knowing full well that B-Brat was likely sitting right next to Halo and listening in to every word. Neither of the young women had ever really had stability and now it was happening to them all over again.
Seleana Zdunich: Ja… eventually…
Silence falls again and Seleana silently starts praying that she won’t hear either of the two young woman on the other end start to cry, knowing full well either is likely to and that Halo probably already has more than once given that her last two homes were also torn apart by stuff like this. Again, after what seems like years, Halo’s small voice comes back over the speaker.
Haylie Jo "Halo" AnniSeleana Zdunich: Do you still love us, Mama?
Unable to stop herself, tears start to well up in Seleana’s eyes. What could she say to these poor children? While it was true that one was seventeen and the other was nineteen, they were still both teenagers and she was still a mother figure to both of them. She swallows hard and then nods to the phone.
Seleana Zdunich: Of course I love you, Chickie! I will never stop loving you. I will never stop loving B-Brat. You are my girls, now and always.
Biting down, Seleana tries to keep her voice from wavering.
Seleana Zdunich: Jag älskar dig älskling.
Her voice breaking, Seleana forces out one more word.
Seleana Zdunich: Alltid.
Halo’s voice comes back shaking as well, the Tennessee accent hitting even harder than before.
Haylie Jo "Halo" AnniSeleana Zdunich: Please… please come home, Mama.
Seleana nods slowly, trying to keep a grip on herself and knowing it’s a futile endeavor.
Seleana Zdunich: I will, Chickie…
Halo’s answer comes back, quick, sad and childlike.
Haylie Jo "Halo" AnniSeleana Zdunich: You promise?
Seleana nods as the first sob escaped her lips.
Seleana Zdunich: Ja… I… promise…
Silence takes over again as Seleana struggles to keep herself from falling apart completely. A minute later, Halo’s voice comes back.
Haylie Jo "Halo" AnniSeleana Zdunich: We love you, Mama Seleana!
Seleana bites her lip. God, this was killing!
Seleana Zdunich: I love you… t-too…
The call ends and Seleana loses it right there over her desk. She staggers up, runs over and closes the door to her office and slumps into the seated position as she starts sobbing uncontrollably. What was she gonna do about all of this? She was going to be forced to come face to face with her wife twice this week, once where she was likely to have to watch her wife try to screw over her team with her sister and once where they were likely to have to throw down on each other again with Jessie Salco and Kate Steele along for the ride with their own drama as an extra added bonus. Christian Underwood was likely loving this even as Cat Riley seemed to be befriending Seleana. She spends the next hour losing her mind in the quiet solitude of her office before finally pulling herself together and getting back to work. The zoo wasn’t going to run itself and as she’d said herself to Halo, she had two matches to prepare for and they were both guaranteed to present extra challenges to her. This was not going to be a fun week at all.
On-Camera
Friday February 8, 2019
Los Angeles, California
Zdunich Zoological Gardens
8:01 PM PST
The camera opens upon Seleana Zdunich standing
Seleana Zdunich: Two weeks ago, I thought i had it all no matter how many times I had someone tell me, “I told you so!” when it came to things. I heard it about Christian Underwood, I heard it about my wife, I heard it about my stepdaughter and I heard it about my own career.
She looks down, her gaze looks down her black AML t-shirt and black leather pants to her Nikes and then back up to the camera as she sighs exasperatedly.
Seleana Zdunich: I have heard that phrase so many times, sometimes I wonder if person in front of me is simply a robot with pre-programmed responses.
Her left hand extends, her right hand counting off an invisible list.
Seleana Zdunich: “I told you so, you cannot wrestle!”
A second count.
Seleana Zdunich: “I told you so, you do not deserve to be here!”
A third count.
Seleana Zdunich: “I told you so, your wife is an evil bitch who does not deserve to be happy and will sabotage you every time!”
Her hands drop, her left one waving the thought away angrily, dismissively.
Seleana Zdunich: I have heard all of these for a year solid and all I have to say is I have spent that year paying dues to deserve to be ehre same as everyone else that fight. I take lumps, I take what coem and I come back for more because that what you do! You do not simply give up because one match go bad! You do not simply give up because one month goes bad! I heard it from all of you and I am still here whether you like it or not and there are now many who can attest that yes, I CAN wrestle! I CAN fight and Christian Underwood himself learned the hard way what I will do about such things!
She nods firmly glaring into the camera
Seleana Zdunich: As for my wife, that is just it, she is MY wife! None of you need to tell me how to deal with my wife. I am the one who married her and I am the one who has not left! If it ends it will be because we decided it is over, not all of you and especially not Alicia Lukas…
She turns and faces the camera, glaring hotly.
Seleana Zdunich: God bless you, Champ, you are exceptional wrestler. You are incredible talent and you outwork almost all others but you, of all people, do not get to tell me how to be married! When you have both Travis Blake and Chris Cane as pitt you jump on, you do not get to tell me how to go to the bathroom, much less how to conduct a relationship and marriage! I will deal with the problems in my marriage! ME!!! You worry about your championship and leave my marriage to me!
She points to herself and nods again.
Seleana Zdunich: And thus we come to Sunday…
She raises her hands for air quotes.
Seleana Zdunich: And “Plan C.”
Her hands drop back to her sides.
Seleana Zdunich: Enjoy your moment, Christian, because you still have not broken me!
Her glare intensifies.
Seleana Zdunich: Did this hurt?
She nods pointedly.
Seleana Zdunich: Ja! Did this hit harder than anything you could have done?
She nods again in kind.
Seleana Zdunich: Ja! Did…
She points to her chest.
Seleana Zdunich: You got everyone to tell me, “I told you so!” all over again because Crystal Hilton showed up and attack me and I got to sit down and think for a week about why she would do this before she started spewing whatever drivel she could think to justify it and now she spew more drivel to lead up to match with Jessie Salco against me and Kate Steele…
She looks away for a moment in disgust before turning back to the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: I will freely admit, Jessie salco has never thought much of me and neither has Kate Steele and..
She shrugs.
Seleana Zdunich: Right now, I do not care. They have their own issue where Jessie Salco is trying desperately to find loophole despite her failure against me. She will inevitably weasel her way into match with Kate and have a chance to take briefcase for real and whatever…
Seleana waves her hand dismissively of the whole situation.
Seleana Zdunich: Fight each other all you want, I do not care about the case and you two should enjoy beating each other senseless. You were friends, now you are not and…
She waves dismissively again.
Seleana Zdunich: As for the scared little girl I am married to, let us just admit what that last promo of yours really said. You took a shot at Stacy, you called me weak and then you told the world you were completely full av skit and as I have heard, this is what you do when you feel threatened. You put on a persona and if it go bad, you discard it and take up another clamking you were just acting in the process because you are terrified that in the end everyone will see the truth. That Christina Rose Zdunich does not know who she really is and is also terrified that she will end up with no one around her that actually cares. You are terrified that you will end belonging nowhere, alone and begging for people to care. And since that is greatest fear, you fear anyone close to you will hurt you so to make sure you stay safe, you do things to push them so you can say they did it, not you…
Seleana points to the floor in front of her.
Seleana Zdunich: I stand here to tell you, Christina, you already have that, you just cannot see it yourself! You have a place to belong, a family, everything you want, you just will not allow yourself to feel it because you are afraid that the second you allow it, you will wake up and…
She waves her hand.
Seleana Zdunich: Poof, it gone!
Seleana shakes her head.
Seleana Zdunich: I am going to show you. I am going to show you that you should not lash out anymore and I am going to show you that neither you nor Christian can break me so easily! I am not going anywhere and when I smash Crystal Hilton into a million pieces, I am going to pick all of them up and shove them into a mirror to show you and the rest of the world that what I know to be true is real! Christina is and always was good enough, she just needs to stop pretending to be somebody else! I love you, Christina…
The camera zooms in on her angry face.
Seleana Zdunich: Crystal… I am going to break into so many pieces all the Queen’s men will not be able to put her back together again and it will be me looking at you and saying, “I told you so!”
