All (wo)men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous (wo)men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.-T.E. Lawrence
Scene One-We can play catch up
Off Camera
Tokyo Japan
2 Years Ago
Alicia sat across the table, her hands moving along the table before picking up a sushi roll popping it into her mouth with a sigh, her eyes closing as she seems to enjoy it and savor it. She sits back in the chair with a smile and a small laugh. “No matter how hard they try, they just can’t get it right in America…”
She couldn’t help but laugh as her friend too follows. His long black hair tied back with a few blonde streaks throughout, a small goatee on the bottom of his chin. His eyes are kind and soft, he looked at Alicia with a certain level of affection. He remained silent for a moment as she chuckled again feeling some rice slide down her lip catching it fast. Toyama Itaru was an old friend and training partner. At one time he had designs on being her lover.
He tilted his head to the side moving a piece of sushi through his lips with a sigh, his deep brown eyes studying Alicia up and down before he swallowed and sat forward clicking his tongue. “What’s up blondie, you didn’t just come here for the sushi. And you didn’t just call me for the old time talk.”
His english was broken but still much better than most. Alicia’s facial expression changed as she cleared her throat dabbing her mouth lightly with a napkin crossing her legs over as she was taught when she was a young woman. Her southern etiquette coming out. She took a deep breath and looked away for a moment visibly taken aback by the situation. “Last I heard you were doing quite well back in America. Champion in two companies, getting married to a man just as dominant as you. There was that silly little rumour about you and Kaden Kess-””It wasn’t a rumor…
Alicia blurted out and words as a look of sadness, anger, pain and regret came over her face. She swallowed hard and sighed again as her hand moved across the table and down into her lap as she pulled and tore at a napkin. Toyama seemed speechless as he sat back too. A look of disappointment shooting at her. ”Well, this is awkward…I…..I need to know if I’m still who you remember...if I’m still a good person… He looked across the table and sighed, his eyebrow raised up as he studied her face and eyes.
”Alicia, we didn’t really leave on the best of terms….you left and walked out on me.” ”That’s not exactly what happened. Didn’t you wonder why I never dated anyone when I was here?. Why for five years I was single? I wasn’t ready, but I was a good person.” She looked down taking a deep breath, her body still filled with guilt and hurt. Toyama looked around and slowly slide his hand across the table opening it palm facing up, Alicia took his hand and relaxed feeling his thumb glide over the top of her hand.”Do you regret what you did?”
”I regret it came to that, I regret I couldn’t just tell him my fears and my worries. It had to happen to make us realise it doesn't work but...I regret how it happened…and I regret being with Kessler” Toyama chuckled and shook his head.”And your boyfriend now, the American businessman. Does he make you happy?” Alicia slowly nods and takes a deep breathe. Toyama scoffs with a small smile coming on his face, one similar to the boyish one that Michael would shoot her and make her smile. He pulled his hand back with a small laugh that seemed to grow.”You’re an idiot.”
”Gee thanks Toya.” She rolled her eyes.”You did so much to stop from being happy, all that to try and sabotage it...and it didn’t work cause you found happiness anyway.””Yeah...thanks...heard you the first time…” Alicia sighed and gave a small nod before taking a drink of warm sake. Toyama took his tea sipping it as an awkward silence fell on them. Alicia scowled and looked up as Toyama just smiled and laughed. ”It's alright though, good news is there is always a new day and a new chance. I'm sure he’s worthy of you and someone you won't sabotage or push away...hopefully someone without bad prison tattoos.”
Alicia couldn’t help but laugh with her old friend. The two talking more as Alicia’s smile returned.”Michael doesn’t have any tattoos”
A Year Later.
New York New York
“I know but we talked about this.” Michael stood at the door, his light brown travel bag sitting on the floor next to his feet. His arms crossed over his chest as a look of frustration passed over his eyes. His wavy brown hair moved as he shook his head slowly. Alicia sat on the steps, her arms leaning on her knees as she stared up at him, her bright pink lips pouting with a look of sadness in her bright blue eyes. She moved her hair from her face and cleared her throat not saying anything, her eyes darting away as Michael stepped forward.
He slowly dropped down in front of her, his hands lightly grabbing hers. “It’ll be two days, then I’ll be back.” His thumbs rubbed the back of her hands softly as he tried to calm her down. Alicia sighed and bit her lip as a relaxing feeling shot up her arms to her shoulders. Michael always knew how to calm her, he figured it out months ago as they had their first argument. Alicia looked down at her hands and cocked a small grin. “That’s cheating…” Michael laughed to himself, his boyish good looks and charm melting her. But then it hit again as she looked around behind him noticing the bag again.
“When you get back we’ll have maybe a day together, then I’ll have to go.” The sadness in her voice returned as Michael looked down with a sigh. He understood, he always did, but that didn’t make it any less painful or frustrating as Alicia went back to pouting. She had travelled the world, was self sufficient and had money. She had two young sons and a thriving career. And due to that Michael often forgot, she was still only 27. A young woman with frustrations and a heart that needed him. He looked down again and then turned reaching into the front of his bag.
“I had hoped to have it engraved, but I wanted to give this to you as an early christmas present, for the times we’re apart.” He held a black box in his hands, he smiled and slowly opened it showing a white gold locket, shaped like a book instead of the traditional love heart that Alicia never really liked. She had always said Michael was the happy ending to her story. He took that saying and kept it in mind for this. Her hands trembled as she picked it up studying it. “Michael I…”
“Open it…” She smiled and undid the small clasp, as she did she noticed on the left side there was text, a white background and large black lettering that spelt “Your Happy Ending” and on the other side the first picture they ever had together. In Hawaii. Michaels arm around her, a smile on her face. A real genuine smile. She’d forgotten about the picture, but seeing it now flooded back memories. The low points of her life. The lack of self worth and lack of love for her own life and personality. All the gifts Michael had given back to her.
Michael helped her up to her feet and turned her around putting the necklace around her neck clasping it. She turned back around and smiled placing her hand on it. “Thank you.” His arms wrapped around her pulling Alicia into a hug, his lips found her forehead and he sighed deeply. “We may be apart physically but I’m never away from you. I’m not going anywhere Alicia….I love you.” As he stepped back Alicia leaned up kissing his lips. “I love you to...your uber is here…” He smirked and gave her a small wink, he picked up his bag and backed away smiling one last time.
Scene Two-We keep rolling
On Camera
New York City, New York
Present Day
”A few weeks ago, at London Brawling, I proved a point. See, I told Kate Steele-Warren that to be a champion you needed to put forward real effort. Not halfway effort, not effort for a day or a week. To be a champion in SCW you need to have the commitment to be the best and to have maximum effort. And to Kate’s credit, for about 20 minutes in London Kate actually tried hard. But as the dust settled after our match, and I had my hand raised high and the championship put around my waist, she slowly faded away.”
Alicia pauses for a moment as she pulls the SCW Bombshells world championship up and over her right shoulder having it close to her body as she smiles. A big arrogant smile full of cocky swagger and boundless confidence.
”See, aside from a few little tweets, aside from Kate trying to save face the day after she has now disappeared. She didn’t turn up to the next Climax Control, I did. She hasn’t said a damn thing about her future, I have. She didn’t even want to lay out a plan to try and come back and go after this title. See, effort means giving it your all, looking adversity in the face and saying “you can’t stop me”. I got beaten by Dani Weston, I watched as a woman who never stepped foot in Honor got to take that title, end my reign and my legacy and say that she was the final women to hold that damn title. And instead of putting up a passive aggressive tweet and disappearing…..I came back stronger than ever…”
“I came back, I won the title and then through everything that I have been through I stand here a two time champion and someone who finally defended the championship in the main event of one of the biggest shows in SCW history against the home town hero. But as I told Kate, as I told the London crowd. Fairytale’s don’t come true. Just because you want something doesn’t mean you get it and as soon as London Brawling ended I had not one, not two but three women who had legitamate….ha..legitamate claims to facing me for the championship.”
“And two of those three women are just like Kate Steele.”
“Two of those three women wouldn’;t know what hard work and effort and sacrifice is all about. One of them is a spoiled starlet former actress who whines and bitches till she gets what she wants and the other is her spoiled brat of a daughter. But the third women...the third woman is the antithesis of those two….the third women is my first challenger out of the three...and some would say...she is my biggest challenge and the one who has the most chance of taking the Bombshells title from me…”
She pauses moving back and forth, pacing a little as she takes a long slow deep breath and her cherry red lips curl into another smile.
”See, Seleana Zdunich is someone who I have said over and over again deserves everything she has. In a world like this, like SCW sometimes being respectful and honorable can be a detriment to your career. See nice women usually finish last. I try to be respectful, I try to be nice but at the same time I have done this long enough to know that to be really successful you need to be ruthless. And Seleana I am ruthless. Hell your wife can be ruthless, we saw what she did to you to get a title shot, a shot she not only wasted but used to push you out of the title scene. But now you have a chance to rectify all of this.”
“You have a chance to step away from Crystal and be your own women. See you held this, you held the SCW Bombshells title, the way you won it though, we all know you were angry about that, that you hated what happened. I congratulated you because you had no hand in what Crystal did and I knew I was going to have a shot at the title and you wouldn’t complain about it. And then the night appraoched. You, me, Weston and Crystal got in that ring for the main event of Blaze of Glory and we tore the house down…”
“When it was over, I had the title, Dani Weston was laying on the mat, and you and Crystal were off fighting in the crowd.”
“You were the defending champion Seleana and you weren’t even involved in the decision. The truth is that I knew I had Kate breathing down my neck but I wanted a match with you. See Dani Weston had beatenj me and it ate em up inside and I had to face her and prove I was better. And I have every other time to the point where Dani needs a break, but you?. I never got that chance with you.”
Alicia takes another long, deep breath and shakes her head taking the bombshells title off her shoulder studying the faceplate with a smirk as she reads her name on the bottom.
”The truth is Seleana, you didn’t and shouldn’t have had to jump through hoops like that golden promise match. You culd of come to me and we would have gone to Christian and Mark together to plead your case for a title shot. See I never gave a rats ass about Christians issue with you. I just want to face the best SCW has to offer and prove that I am the top of the damn food chain. You deserved a shot, you deserves a chance and I am glad you won your title shot at London Brawling. Unfortunately you carried your idiot wife to a future shot but still...you earned one and honestly I look at the three of you all lined up waiting to face me and I can see that you...not Crystal…”
“Not Brittany”
“You….are the hardest challenge. You have this heart that you can’t teach. Strength you can train for, you can lift weights and do all sorts of resistance exercises. Technique you can roll on the mat and train hard with people better thaj you to learn, cardio, refleces, speed you can do things to improve those amd build upon them but heart is something you are born with. It’s something that you have in yourself. And you have it, it’s your greatest attribute...but also your greatest curse Seleana.”
Alicia leans forward and smiles slowly.
”That heart means you also feel things deeper than the rest of us. You feel the anger at what Crystal did, you feel the frustration at losing the SCW title and having your title win tainted. And while it gives you that drive to be better and to try and get this back it has to also weigh on you, I know you are a threat but at the same time...just how much of a threat are you?”
“We’ve heard it all from you, about who you’ve been in the ring with and how you’ve been a mianstay in SCW and you’ll never quit and give up and that’s great. It really is. As I said I’ll be the first one to admit that you have had a hard fought career here and it should be celebrated. But I have a laundry list of challengers, I have records to chase and that is the difference between myself and most of the roster here. Most of them like your wife and like you are just happy to have held the title. I want to set and break records. A title defnece means nothing in the grand scheme of things, you need to string them together and when I just stood here and talked about your heart and your determination I neglected to mention that I have just as much heart as you, just as much determination…”
“But….Seleana...I’m also better than you. And as much as you deserve a chance against me and as much as I respect you and what you’ve been through and done the truth is that when push comes to shove I am the champion here, I am the main event, I am part of the most dominating group in SCW and you are just standing in my weay from breaking and setting those records….so at Climax control, in the main event where I belong...Seleana...your title shot ends...and I stand tall…”
