Chapter Three-Sins of the past
Off Camera
Los Angeles California
6 and a half years ago.
Alex stood in his hotel room on the 14th floor. His eyes staring out of the huge glass windows down onto the streets of LA. The night glow of the streetlights and cars passing by making for interesting entertainment. His phone beeps, his eyes dart down as he eyes the text message on the screen.
His heart sinks. He stares at it for a longer time as his fingers dance and unlock the phone. His eyes dart as he reads the rest, his hand grips the phone hard as he sits down on the edge of the bed, his mind burning with pain and frustration. Alex breathes deep and looks up at the ceiling as if asking a divine power for some kind of direction.
He looks down reading the last few lines of the message, his heart goes from sinking to almost breaking as he reads the words out loud. “I miss you Alex..mi amore...I love you….”
He bites his bottom lip hard as he resists the urge to hurl the phone across the room. His hand drifts up as he slides it through it long hair. His frustration and anger reaching a boiling point. It wasn’t meant to be like this. It wasn’t meant to hurt. Even at the start it didn’t but this was different. The pain was real.
Alex typed furiously on his phone, the words pouring out and as he finished his finger hovered above the send button. He knew what it would mean. He knew what it would stop. Everything they had wanted to work for, the idea they had come up with. The reason they never got together despite the love they felt for one another….he was going to undo it all...with the push of a button….
His eyes read the bottom of his own message. “Please come home.” Alex closed his eyes and pushed the button, he just wanted her back with him. His heart was heavy, his body sore. After a few moments his phone buzzed again, this time it was a call. His heart raced as he picked it up. “Hey….Ana?”
Her voice was sweet and smooth as silk but low. She had to be quiet or HE would hear. She reassured him, told him it was all going to be ok. And for a moment, he almost believed it. “I don’t care about the plans Ana, I lost you once, I don’t want to wait to start our lives together…”
She paused and there was a long silence followed by a sigh. Her voice sounded as if it was breaking, almost as if she was crying. She told him that she loved him, she missed him. But he had to remember. They weren’t together. To do this she had to disconnect, she had to leave him behind. They weren’t a couple. For her to do this that is how it had to be….
Her voice replayed in his head. The one simple truth. “If we’re together...I can’t do this and forgive myself for what I’ve done...tell me we’re not together Alex.” The same phrase, the same voice, over and over. Alex snapped out of it, his heart ached but at that moment he realized there was no turning back. And for her sake, he needed to take away her pain, her guilt….all of it. “You’re right…”
His voice was low, emotionless and deep. [color]red]“We aren’t together, not until it’s done. Finish the job Ana….”[/color] The line cut out, Alex sighed deeply staring at his phone. A picture of them together. Much younger. A smile crossed his lips as he set it down. Alex got to his feet and walked across the room to the bathroom, his eyes trailing up to the mirror….
Before he knew it his hand slammed up, his fist breaking the glass causing it to fracture. The blood from the cuts on his hands trickling down through some of the fractures at the bottom like the ones in the top split across Alex’s face in the reflection. And it all became clear….
“The disconnect….”
Alex and Ana’s Vegas home-4 Years Later
“I don’t care that you’re here I really fucking don’t…”
Her voice was high and shrill with a bite and edge to it. Ana’s arms folded over her chest, her long blonde hair tied back in a perfect bun. She was still dressed in the same clothes from before, a smart looking white dress, a low cut which was loose over her slightly growing belly. Her jaw clenched as she seemed to be biting back words.
Alex just stood silent, his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he sized up the situation. The back he packed hours before sitting next to the couch as he stared at his wife, the anger in her eyes full and forceful. Alex shook his head and stepped forward, he stayed calm, cool and collected with a deep sigh.
“If you can’t just admit when you’re wrong, I don’t get what we’re supposed to do.” His voice was low and almost monotone. Ana kept her arms folded and raised her eyebrows. “Yes because I’m such a terrible person...Alex the door is there….” He swallowed hard and stepped closer to Ana, her expression didn’t change as he reached her.
He looked down at her, her eyes fluttering a little as he got close. He smiled and looked down and away before staying calm and staring at her. “I’m done being your bitch...I’m done being a joke…” He scoffed and gave a small shrug as Ana seemed to soften a little, she seemed to be uncomfortable as it hit her but she stayed strong. Almost reinventing the anger and turning it inward.
“Prove it.” Her voice is still strong, but much softer. Ana stares up at Alex and tilts her head daring him. “Walk out Alex, or show me why I shouldn’t let you...you say I want to control..well why don’t you take it?” He shakes his head and slowly grins wrapping his arm around Ana’s back pulling her into a kiss, she seems to soften even more and push against him only slightly before stopping that too.
They back up against the wall near the stairs case, their lips meeting over and over again as Ana fumbles at Alex’s leather jacket and pull at his shirt as they move up the staircase towards their room, in between kisses she sounds almost breathless. “I….I’m sorry…”
He laughs and kisses Ana again, much harder as he helps her up the stairs before pulling away with a grin. “I don’t care about that anymore…” He grabs Ana as they reach the top of the stairs picking her up as she lets out a surprised girly squeak. “I fucking love you Ana….”
The Plan
On Camera
New York, New York
Present Day
”Things didn’t come together as much as we’d hoped at Climax Control. That night Wolflair was in a position where we could have ended the night holding the two top titles in the company. Alicia Lukas did her part, Alicia Lukas is the SCW women’s world champion. Alicia Lukas is so dangerous she was able to overcome the odds stacked up by SCW…”
Alex clasps his hands together and steps back leaning against the wall, his long hair tied back away from his face.
”But unfortunately, Austin couldn’t get the job done. He came close, I watched him and Fenris beat the hell out of each other and it was impressive. Fenris fought with a lot of heart, as did Austin. And in the end, it was Fenris who held the title high. Austin gave him respect and it was respect that was earned. But, it’s not over. See I look at the landscape of SCW and Fenris now stands alone on top of the mountain on the men's side. See on the women's side Alicia has Dani Weston, Jesse Salco, Kate Steel and Crystal Zdunich circling that title. But on the men's side, it’s who?. Austin has stepped back wanting to work his way up again, Senor Vinnie has had shots already and failed. There’s a whole line of pretenders and untalented wannabe’s who don’t even have the balls to step up to Fenris because of how “scary” he is…”
“And then there’s Jake Raab…”
“The guy who was able to give Fenris the second biggest beating of his life only to fail anyway. But you know who isn’t scared of Fenris?. Do you know who isn’t intimidated? You know who is dying to get his hands on him and a shot at that title?...”
“Me..”
“But, I already said I wanted to earn my way to that title and I’m going to do it through the Blast from the past tournament. I don't care who SCW puts me with, I will carry whoever it is to victory. And we will get the title shots on offer. But first, I get to have my second match in this company. And my first one on one opportunity to remind you all of just who the hell I am. And I get to face, Travis Levitt….”
Alex laughs to himself and shakes his head.
”Titles titles everywhere eh Travis?. Hell, you even have a title from WWH, a place where I was THE world champion back when that place actually mattered. But hey, we’d all take the easy route once in a while to pad the old title record eh buddy?. But in SCW you have struggled to live up to the hype. When you signed people were excited. It was the beginning of December and you put pen to paper and the whole of SCW started to talk, the buzz was real Trav.”
“Until….later that month…”
“When Alex Jones signed with SCW. I put pen to paper, I came into this company and the real fans and the real competitors they knew who was coming. They knew who was walking into their midst. And I’m hoping you’re not as ignorant as people like Ty West and Fenris. These two “champions” for SCW who are nowhere near the same level as me, two guys who barely anyone knows. Fenris actually asked who I was. Me. A nine-time world champion, the first ever Honor Champion. I won that title by walking through a field of trained goddamn killers. Finn Whelan, Equinox, Kaden Kessler, Keegan Ryan, Jett Wilder. They all made their mark on the wrestling wo0rld and they were all in Honor.”
“I won that tournament and then I came back to reclaim the title I never lost...a title that Fenris technically holds yet he had the balls to disrespect me and act like he had no idea who I was….”
Alex grits his teeth and paces back and forth.
”That is like having someone spit in my face. So now, now this isn't just about the title, it does not just about reclaiming my place at the top of the wrestling world. This is about respect and honor. And you Travis are the first name on the list. See the t6ag match at Inception, my in-ring debut for this company isn’t all I can do. That was a taster, that was a preview. That wasn’t even me trying. I am a champion, I have always been a champion and Mickey Caroll proved to the world that he should never have beaten me back in Honor. See a champion needs to be able to hold the world on his shoulders. And I did that Travis…”
“You are facing a man who held the entire company up, a man who carried it around and made damn sure it stayed at the forefront of professional wrestling. And the pressure did get to me, the pressure made it hard to focus and in a moment of weakness and distraction, Mickey Carroll was able to beat me. But then, well the second the world got put on Mickey’s shoulders, he crumbled and Honor was absorbed by SCW. The company I was the face of, that I kept afloat was absorbed into SCW where they promptly spat on EVERYTHING I helped create.”
“And to right that wrong, to take back my lineage and my history I have to beat everyone that SCW puts in front of me and this week Levitt, that is you….”
“This Sunday at the Cox Pavillion you and I step in the ring together for the first time. And I’m not going to lie,l you are a talented guy. I can see it, hell I’ll tell you straight up that I have a real eye for talent so I’m not going to be dumb enough to look past you or underestimate you. Those two idiots in Gamers INC weren’t wrestlers, they were part-time gamers who stumbled into the wrestling business and Austin and I embarrassed them. But you….you are a wrestler...you are one of us..”
“Hell, I could even see you being a part of Wolfslair…”
“Before that can happen though, you and I will have our match. You are a six foot five, two hundred and fifty pound wrecking all who is deceptively quick and amazingly talented in a technical way. And me, the nine-time world champion, over 30 titles in the last 16 years. 34 years old and in my prime. This should be a great match that will steal the show, back and forth, but…..when the dust settles...Alex Jones will stand tall…”
