Home is where the heart is, or so they say. I've always been a bit of a traveling man, leaving home at a young age, on the continent, finding my way to America. Recently, enough traveling has been done to satisfy this craving in me. South America, Europe, done in the span of weeks, but I've never been so glad to put my feet back in Las Vegas. Home might be where there heart is, and we all know who has my heart. We're home, properly, not some flying visit before going to Brazil or another South American country people dream of going, we're home for the longest we've been in a while... that is before we head to California for Climax Control, we're home. Going to California isn't so bad, fly for a couple of hours, get there, get a late flight home right after the show, and in bed before the early hours and just stay there, rest the body for a day and live a normal life. My heart is home.Las Vegas, Nevada.
Forcing open the front door with my back, I push through, opening the door up wider. Reaching down, I pick up two bags and shuffle them inside the door, before turning to Odette Ryder, her beautiful eyes locked on me as I pick her off her feet, putting her over my shoulder. Odette playfully hits me on my back as I step in the house.
"What are you doing?" She asks, through giggling.
"Getting a great view of your arse." I reply quickly.
Odette hits me again as I put her on the floor, but her interest turns to the patter of feet on floor. Odette drops to her knee as two cats and a tiny dog charges towards her, jumping up on her. I smile down as I see Princeton, Carrot and Alcide move around Odette and quickly pick the bags up and moving them to one side, shutting the door behind me. Alcide runs towards me and I reach down to pick up the toy yorkie. Alcide moves his head in to lick my cheek as I walk towards a door to the side, opening it up and watching the cats charge away from Odette and in to the room. I put Alcide down to follow them, before moving towards Odette, taking her hand in mine as she stands up.
"I'm so glad to be home." Odette tells me.
"Makes two of us." I reply quickly.
I lead Odette in to the living room, where our cats and dog just charged in to and take a seat on the sofa, pull Odette down with me. I sit back and put my head back, and Odette lays her head on my chest.
"No more traveling to South America, no title defense this month for the NWA." I start.
"Just us flying in for shows and back home again and lots of days here." Odette adds.
"Peaceful." I say with a smile.
"Well, for now anyway." Odette says. "Have you forgotten?"
A smile breaks out on my face
"No baby." I reply before leaning down and kissing Odette on the head. "I haven't."
"They'll be here soon and we can get that rule out of the way." Odette informs me "It's gonna be so much fun, BBQ, music."
"And a house full." I quickly add.
"But you don't like too much silence anyway." Odette says "So you found the perfect woman to be with."
You couldn't be more right if you tried. Absolutely perfect for each other."I did, and I'm a lucky man." I reply "I want these rules out of the way, so we can be normal, not be looked at like we did something wrong when we didn't. I want our lives to start properly, where we can just be us."
Odette leans in to kiss me, but Alcide jumps up on the sofa, and across Odette's lap. Odette reaches down to pet the little dog on the head.
"Speaking of these rules baby." I start "Tomorrow, we have to attend that Mr Self Help seminar."
"Where?" Odette asks, he eyes looking in mine.
"Synn's place." I tell her.
Odette buries her head in my chest, and I stroke her hair. Her eyes dart up at mine.
"How do these things work?" She asks.
"Well, Mr Self Help will lecture about something, he'll open things up to the crowd for questions and hope you learn something from it." I reply
"Sounds different." She says.
I kiss Odette on the head.
"Yes." I start "But by the end of the week, we could be clear of this stuff."
Odette runs her hand along my chest, her eyes looking up at mine.
"Then we can get things set up for the other rule." She says, a smile creeping across her kissable lips.
"We can baby." I reply
Odette pulls herself closer to me as the scene fades.
9am - The residence of Synn, Despayre and Theresa.
A red Bugatti Veyron stops outside the home of Synn, Despayre and Theresa. I look across at Odette in the passenger seat of the car.
"Why am I so nervous?" Odette asks me
I put my hand on hers.
"Because you haven't been on the receiving end of one of these things before." I start "But don't worry too much about it. It will be fine, I promise."
I cut the engine of the car and look at Odette once more.
"It really is nothing to worry about." I reassure her
An intentional crooked smile crosses Odette's face as she opens the car door. I mirror her movements by opening the car door on my side and stepping out. Odette and I walk towards the door, Odette wraps her arms around my hanging arm as we get to the door and I hit my knuckles on the door. After a few seconds, Theresa opens the door.
"Are you hear for the Mr Self Help seminar?" she asks me.
I look at Odette curiously and back to Theresa.
"Yes." I say "Has he roped you in on this to get you to act like this is legit?"
"It is legit." Theresa scolds at me. "Young Joshua has spent a lot of time setting up for this very event."
She waves Odette and I in to the house, to where Synn greets us with a smile.
"Good luck." He says with a smirk on his face.
"Right this way." Theresa says, pointing an arm at a door.
Odette and I walk to the door and I put my hand on the handle, walking in to the room. Looking around, two rows of chairs are seen and a projector is seen set up, facing a white sheet hanging from a wall. A stool sits next to a table with two glasses of water upon them. A microphone stand is also set up. Odette peers curiously around the room.
"How many people is he expecting?" Odette asks.
"I have no idea" I reply slowly.
Odette and I take a seat in the first row, and I wrap my arm around her. Reaching in and kissing my beautiful girlfriend in the lips, my hand on her cheek. She pulls away and winks at me.
"Think we have time to, you know..." she says in an almost whisper.
"I don't see why not." I reply with a wink.
I move in closer but music starts to play, turning our attention to the front of the room. A thump is heard.
"Joshua" Synn's voice is heard saying "Take the glasses off before you walk in to the room."
"It wasn't the glasses, it was the door frame came out of nowhere." Despayre's voice is heard saying just above the music.
Odette wraps her fingers around mine as Despayre walks through the door, thick rimmed glasses on his face as he carries Angel in his fingers. Despayre steps towards the stool, placing Angel upon it and picking up a glass of water, taking a sip from it. He places the water down on the table and stands before the microphone as the music fades out.
"Hello and welcome." Despayre starts "It's so good to see so many of your smiling faces."
Odette and I look around the room, seeing just the two rows of chairs, with only us in the room.
"This is Mr Self Help." Despayre says, pointing at Angel "And I'm his assistant, and today, we're here to help you improve the quality of your relationships."
Despayre looks at Angel.
"I know plenty, thank you very much!" Despayre says to the bear "Anyway, thank you all for being here."
I quickly raise my hand.
"Save all questions for the end." Despayre says turning away.
I lower my hand and shrugs.
"Love is a wonderful thing, but could also be one of the hardest things in the entire world, harder than one of those rubix cube things that I still haven't finished. " Despayre says "But just like a rubix cube, when everything falls in to place, it's the best feeling in the world, like ice cream on a hot day."
Despayre looks at Angel.
"How can shots from a woman's belly button also be a great feeling?" Despayre asks Angel.
Despayre waits for Angel to answer, but shrugs.
"Doesn't sound very hygienic but ok." Despayre says innocently.
He turns back to the front of the room and looks towards Odette and I.
"I feel a lot of love in the room today, I do." Despayre says with a serious nod. "But I am going to teach you how to take that power of love and make it feel even better. It's about denial."
I look at Odette with a raised eyebrow.
"Hit the lights." Despayre says.
Despayre waits as the lights stay on.
"Fine, I'll do it myself" Despayre says with a huff.
Despayre walks towards a light switch, switching the lights off and moving back to the projector, clicking the power switch on to picking up a clicker. He presses his thumb down on the clicker, bringing up a picture of a happy couple, sitting in a field, wide smiles on their faces.
"Look at those smiles." Despayre says "Look how happy they are. Look how they're glad to be around each other and not ripping each others heads off. This is a couple who have been apart from each other for a little while and absence has made the heart grow fonder."
I raise my hand, and Despayre looks at me.
"What is your name young man?" Despayre asks.
"It's me Despy." I reply.
"Mr Self Help's assistant." Despayre corrects me.
"It's me, Mr Self Help's assistant." I start "Gabriel"
Despayre lifts the glasses up and stares at me.
"Gabriel!" He starts "Hi! Can't see a thing out of these glasses."
"They have no lenses Despy" I reply.
"I know" He starts "Weird, right?"
"I have a question Mr Self Help." I say.
"Well, I don't usually allow questions till the end, but as it's you." Despayre says.
"What if you're so in love with someone, you just can't be away from them?" I ask
Despayre taps the side of his head, walking away from me slightly.
"That is a very good question." Despayre says "Gabriel, wasn't it?"
I look at Despayre with a scratch of my head
"Yes." I reply.
"Young Gabriel." Despayre starts.
Young Gabriel? I'm older than you!"Tell me about your feelings for this young lady." Despayre says.
"She's everything to me." I start "Love her so damn much, I'm going through all these rules every day of my life just to show the world how special she is to me. Walking across hot coals, broken glass, anything every day of my life to show her I love her."
Odette squeezes my arm.
"So any advice you can give, where I don't have to be away from her, would be very appreciated." I say
Ok, look, I need Despayre to give me the thumbs up to get this rule out of the way, I need him to say well done, you've passed, so I can get to where I'm going and fastDespayre taps his chin walking around the room. A smile crosses his face as he turns to look at me.
"Jewelry" He says. "Lots and lots of jewelry and some mushy stuff. Buy her a lot of chocolates too, chicks dig chocolates!"
"And that will help me be able to spend time with her and not have her bored of me?" I ask.
Despayre leans down in front of me.
"A better aftershave might help too." Despayre says dryly.
Despayre turns around, clicking the clicker on the projector once more. A picture of Romeo and Juliet appears.
"Uh, Mister Self Help?" I start "Those two both died!"
"They did?" Despayre says curiously
Despayre looks at Angel
"See what happens when you do your research on a sugar buzz?" He says to the bear
Despayre clicks the clicker and the next picture... Sam and Dean Winchester, from the hit television show, Supernatural, in one of those cuddle poses the actors do...
"Um, Mr Self Help?" I start, looking at Angel "Those guys aren't a couple."
Despayre scratches his head and turns to Angel, before looking back at me.
"What makes you say that?" Despayre asks.
"Well for a start.." I begin "They're straight."
Despayre looks at the picture, then at me once more. He looks at the picture again and lifts his glasses...
"Hmmmm" Despayre ponders
He lowers his glasses and looks at me.
"You poor delusional soul." He remarks
"And they're brothers." Odette adds
Despayre shuffles through some papers from the table, before throwing them in the air.
"Brothers!?" Despayre exclaims
He looks at the picture again, scratching his head, then glances at Angel
"Is *THAT* what Wincest means!?" Despayre asks.
Odette buries her head in my shoulder, trying not to laugh at Despayre's antic. Despayre lowers his glasses and turns, bumping in to the microphone stand.
"Sorry about that" He says to the microphone stand "Didn't see you there friend."
"That's the mic stand." Odette informs Despayre.
Despayre takes off the glasses again to see it.
"I just thought it was a very tall, skinny person." Despayre says. "Like one of those really thin models with the long necks."
"Or a giraffe." I add.
"Or a giraffe" Despayre agrees. "Which reminds me, I never did find that anteater in South America."
Despayre looks sad, but quickly perks up.
"You're right Angel, not the time, nor place for this." Despayre says. "Ummmm, where was I?"
"You was just about to close." I tell him.
"I was?" Despayre says scratching his head.
"You was." Odette says.
"Oh, in that case, class dismissed!" Despayre says.
I look at Odette, taking her by the hand and looking towards the door. We stand up and quickly move towards the door and through it, to where Synn is waiting.
"That finished soon." Synn comments.
"Maybe he didn't have a lot to say." I remark.
"You tricked him again, huh?" Synn replies.
I try to look innocent.
"I might have hurried things along." I admit.
Synn slowly shakes his head.
"What?" I say innocently "You try sitting through one of them."
"Who do you think he practiced this thing on?" Synn asks.
Odette and I smile at Synn.
"Oh, wait there." Synn tells me.
Synn hurries off and Odette wraps her arms around me.
"Think that's another rule done."She says.
"It is baby." I reply with a smile. "And one more soon...."
If you wanna know what the next rule is and how it get's sorted, I suggest you watch my baby's promo, because another one is getting sorted there I move down to kiss Odette on the lips, her hands moving up and down my back before the sound of a throat being cleared. I pull away from Odette for a second and look to see Synn, holding on to a poster.
"New promo posters for your next show." Synn tells me.
I look at them, looking very impressed.
<Img src=http://i1145.photobucket.com/albums/o504/odetteryder/GabeComingSOON_zps48f5c106.png>
I turn my attention to Odette.
"The person that makes these, is one talented lady." I remark
"How do you know she's a lady?" Odette asks.
"Gut feeling."I reply.
The scene fades out as Odette looks at me curiously.
Moonlight bounces off the swimming pool in the back of my home with Odette Ryder. I walk out of the house and by the pool, looking out on the water as the waves ripple, and the moonlight cuts through the water. I take a seat on a sun lounger and lean forward, my hands together with my fingers locked. A blank look crosses my face as I speak.
"It's good to be back home, back in Vegas, wrestling in California, it's what I love to do, and this match to return to is worthy of a main event anywhere in the world. Former tag champs, and former bombshell champs all in one match."
I lean back in the sun lounger, looking up at the moonlight.
"Three opponents, or in my mind, three victims really, who to start with, who to target first? Let's start with Kevin Carter."
I pause for a second or two.
"You've been a bit of a revelation since you showed your face around here. You've somehow managed to kiss arse all the way to the top of SCW, and walk away with gold. I say walk away, but I think we need to be honest about things here, when you it comes to the heavyweight title. You stole gold, you robbed a man who, as much as I don't like, screwing him over and that fans over excited for a Jordan Williams title run. It goes a little beyond that though Mr Carter, you see, if you look down the history of that belt, you will come across a familiar name on that list, right at number one. The man everyone will remember long after you're gone, for being the first ever SCW heavyweight champion. That man is me Kevin Carter, me. I didn't have to steal the title to feed an ego, I just had to work for it. The second you conned a man out of that gold, was the second you started pissing on the tradition I started. I don't like that Kevin. I gave the title credit, you couldn't even go the right way about it, you took the easy way, the cheap way, you waited for Spike to do the damage and stole it. That's bad Kevin, really bad, but wanna know what's worse?"
I smile down the camera.
"You're not even that good."
A smirk crosses my face.
"Seriously, you're a very average man, who got lucky in a match to end up where you are now. In fact, your partner, Ace Baldwin, is actually five times better than you are. He should be the one with the accolades and you Carter, you should be left with nothing because the truth is, you're not that invincible. You're actually a mid card wrestler riding his luck. I'm sure your ego would disagree considering you are the kind of man in your mind, can do no wrong, but the thing is, it's only ever in your mind Kevin, your talent, the standing you think you should have, it's all in your mind."
I tap the side of my head.
"You offer up nothing at all. Doesn't matter if it's six man tag, a tag match with me and Despayre, a mixed tag with me and Odette or just one on one, every time we meet in the ring, I will show you again and again and again, that your talent is just in your head."
I smile.
"I watch the macho bullshit all over Twitter with you and your woman, and you man, you're fooling no one at all. You two on Twitter, two words come to mind. Those two words? Over compensating."
I hold back a laugh.
"Do you really think people buy the crap you and Amy post on there? Come on, we all know what the problem is and trying to use Twitter to cover up a..."
I hold my little finger up
"Very sad. I guess that little sexual prowess you claim to have on Twitter, also in your head Kevin. I'm sure the sun shine bright in your little fantasy world, but that is exactly what it is, a fantasy, a myth. It means nothing, because there's only you there. I will do you the greatest of favors Kevin, more of a favor then your woman does for you by making you look good on Twitter. I will bring you back to the real world and snap you back to reality, in to a world where human's are, real people and not fantasy. Open your eyes Kevin, look at the real world, it's time you joined us here. You can thank me later."
I lean back completely in the sun lounger, swinging my legs on to the end of it.
"I've already said your partner is better than you Kevin, and I stand by that fact, but Ace, just like you, confuses me slightly. My confusion with you Carter is simple. My confusion with you is how can you be so blind, when everyone sees you as a lucky man, rather than talented, but my confusion with Ace is to do with the obvious Team Erik thing."
I put my hands out flat in front of me.
"Team Erik, Ace, Team Erik. I thought you was better than that, I thought that you deserved more than working for that sniveling, power hungry runt. I thought you wanted more from SCW, but instead, you decide to put a big black mark on your record by signing up with that loser. I know you was a tag champion at the time, but you could have joined the side that has more to offer. It's not too late to come to the winning side. The sad truth is this Ace, Erik Staggs doesn't care about you, he hasn't from the start, all Erik Staggs cares about is his precious little Kevin Carter. You don't lick Staggs' nuts like Carter does, Carter is teachers pet. Staggs doesn't care about anyone on his team other than Carter, who why waste your time with a bunch of losers like that?"
I slowly shake my head.
"This does nothing for your career Ace and the truth be told, you need to be on this side, rather than Team Erik to get the respect you deserve. I will not deny that on your day Ace, you are one of the most talented wrestlers on the roster, but other times, it's like you show up an already defeated man. It's a shame to see you go from one extreme to the next, but on the bright side, you're still better than Kevin Carter."
A smirk crosses my face
"Doesn't mean you're gonna have any more luck then he has against me because well, you won't but at least you can stand there and say you tried harder. Carrying a team must be hard work, I've never been in that situation because Despayre and I are the proverbial well oiled machine but it must be hard carrying the weight of a deluded partner, who doesn't live in the real world. Must be hard to deal with the morons you have to deal with on a daily basis, morons like Di Luca, Hawkes, Misty, Carter, Marshall. I almost feel very sorry for you that you have to come to work and put up with these people. Couldn't pay me enough money to spend time around that lot, but by association to that lot, that puts you in a very awkward position, because the target on your back is clearly gonna grow every day that you stay with them, which means people are gonna come for you Ace, people like me, will be trying to get you."
I shrug
"But as I'm doing Carter a favor by snapping him back in to the real world, I will also do you a favor too. My favor to you is I will not look at you as a member of those rabies ridden pack of dogs, I will look at you as former tag team champion, Amazing Ace Baldwin, a man who has known what it's like to be a champion, a tag champion and no longer have that gold. At least that way, I will hold a little back and not see you as plainly Team Erik, I will just see you as a fellow wrestler and someone I can beat at will. Question is Ace, what Ace are we going to see this week?"
I rub my chin.
"Are we going to see the Ace Baldwin that gives his all, or the Ace Baldwin that turns up half arsed, expecting an easy ride? This ride will be anything but easy. We're not NWA Tag Team Champions for nothing you know. We had to travel, to earn these titles. If you think you're stepping in the ring for an easy one, you are sorely mistaken, bring your A game Ace, because god knows, you're gonna need it."
I take a deep breath.
"Feel for you Ace, teamed with a couple of clowns, cause well Amanda Cortez isn't much better than Kevin Carter."
A smile crosses my face.
"I really should talk about Amanda, huh? Even though Odette is gonna whoop her without a second thought. Amanda, I do have one serious question. Do you really think all those tattoos are gonna look good in say thirty years time when you're old and wrinkly?"
I shudder.
"Seriously, you're gonna need four people to stretch the skin, just so see them, to try to remember what they were all about. I know team Erik has a lot of jokes, but you and your train wreck life, has to be one of the biggest jokes ever. Tickling fetishes? Really? I'm gonna put this the best way I know how."
I rub my chin once more.
"You're not normal, are ya?"
A smile breaks out on my face.
"You're not a sandwich short of a picnic, you're a picnic short of a picnic! You're just not all there and when you face Odette, you need to be all there and then some and you, well, you just don't seem to match up to being all there or even good enough to be in the ring against her. You're out of your depth with this one, way out of your depth."
I stand up.
"At the end of the day, this match is gonna go how I predict. Despayre, Odette and I will be victorious, Team Erik will have another loss on the record and we will be moving on to bigger and better challengers and challenges. You three are just a stepping stone."
I walk away, towards the patio doors to see Odette standing behind, silently watching. I turn back to the camera once more.
"Believe that!"
I wink at the camera as I slide open the door and walk in, as the camera fades out
