A wrestlers life is never dull. Everything has the potential to be a new adventure, even when it comes to stepping out of the front door, you never know who you might meet, but wrestlers are a strange breed too. Some more committed to what they do than others. SCW has a good size roster, but you'd never see every one of the roster at the same show, if they're not booked, they rarely show up. Ben Jordan tried not to be like that, he tried to be on every show, even if it was thirty seconds of airtime, flying in front around three thousand miles away just to stand on camera for less than a minute with his friend Sam Marlowe. He knew it wasn't possible for every wrestler to do so and was lucky SCW didn't demand everyone to show up. It was a good feeling having bosses that laid back, working with people who wanted to be there, who wanted to be on television and made it work, they were also surprised that given all the things Ben was going through, that he was one that did make it to the shows as much as he did. They wouldn't have minded if he didn't, his health was their concern and the shock on their faces every time Ben walked in the arena often made them wonder why he'd do so. Ben could have told them he couldn't lay down and do nothing at times, he needed a normal life to forget the health problems, to show things would not beat him, no matter how much his body would be trying to drag him down. But with that level of commitment, walking in the door at 5.30am on a Monday morning wasn't uncommon for him. People told him to stay overnight where the show was, but Ben wouldn't listen. He bought a few people a drink or two after the show but home was where he wanted to be, the solitude of his home a distance from a lot of people. That's where he could kickstart his weekly routine.
It had become more than routine lately. A man who used to be so spontantious was reduced to coming home, sleeping for a few hours and heading to a local medical center to have drugs pushed through his system for hours a day, four times a week, with two days recovery before work called again. That was what his life had become, still for some reason he didn't complain. No matter how beat up his body was from work, he would be home in the early hours of Monday morning to get ready to go again, back to the place his wife would be waiting for him.
5.20am Monday Morning.
Once again, Ben had surprised the bosses by showing up for a show at the other end of the country without needing to, but home was where his heart was, where his wife was, where his life was. Evie couldn't make the trip to Fresno with Ben, dealing with a few issues closer to home while Ben skipped down the country but like every time Ben left Evie, she'd make an effort to wait up for him, spending a few hours with him before he went off to fight for his health. Ben would often sleep on the plane, but Evie wouldn't sleep until her husband was through the door, then out of the door again. At first, she would sit by Ben's side while drugs were rushed through his body, but Ben had put a stop to that for the most part. He didn't want Evie to be sitting there bored, or let her watch the effects it had on him. But the show was behind us and the king had returned to the castle.
Ben stands outside the house on the lake, the morning light just slowly appearing in the distance, making the whole area look and feel like a magical place. Over his shoulder, Ben just had a sports bag. He knew he wasn't wrestling the night before, or staying in Fresno, he only needed a few things, so a sports bag was good enough. He places his hand in his pocket, reaching out for his keys as he turns to look at the lake, a look of satisfaction on his face. He knew this place wasn't born out of hard work, mostly luck with how his money was made, but he appreciated it anyway. Ben turns back to the door, finding the right key and pushes it in to the lock, twisting it and walking in to the house. Ben stops, raising his eyebrow at the fact his usual greeting never happened, usually his trusted dog Bear greeting him at the door.
"Bet he's gone out on the pull" Ben mutters to himself.
Ben softly closes the door behind him, shaking his bag from his shouders and letting it drop softly to the floor. Ben looks through the open plan, one level house, unusually not a light on through the entire place. Ben steps forward, his eyebrows lowered to create a curious look on his face as he moves through the house, in to the living room area. He reaches for a light switch, turning it on to illuminate the room to see no one around. He scratches the side of his head as he looks around the room, still seeing no one around. Ben walks through the house, past the kitchen and towards a door. He puts his ear to the door to hear the inaudible sound of a television behind the door and walks in. The room is in darkness, only lit up by the television being on, a viking battle happening on the screen. Ben looks across at the bed to see his wife Evie laying on it, her eyes closed as she aquaints herself with dreamland. Ben looks to the side to see Bear also laying on the bed, his head across Evie's legs. Ben slowly shakes his head, not a fan of animals on his bed, but his disappointment fades as he looks towards Evie, her eyes closed and resting peacefully. Ben moves round the side of Evie and kisses her on the forehead, causing a smile to form on her lips, but not waking up. He didn't blame her, she saw him off early on Sunday morning to head to to Fresno, and hadn't slept since. Ben reaches for a remote control nearby and switches off the television and places the remote control back down. He turns around and leaves the room, and moves back through the house to the kitchen, walking towards the fridge and opens the door. He pulls out a beer before shaking his head.
"Nah." He says to himself. "You've stayed off the booze for over a month, not worth it until you beat this shit and have a reason to celebrate."
Ben puts the beer back in the fridge and pulls out a bottle of water instead and makes his way to the living room. Ben looks towards the sofa and sits down at one end, putting his feet up on the other end and let's out a yawn, the sleep on the plane evidently not enough for him. Ben leans back in the chair and it isn't long before he too finds himself in dreamland...
"What time did you get in?" Evie's thick Australian accent can be heard saying.
It was Ben's turn to get caught sleeping as Evie's voice echoed through the living room. Ben slowly opens his eyes to see Bear almost nose to nose with him.
"Bloody hell." Ben says, his eyes adjusting to the light. "Either you need a bit of a shave or Bear's impression of you is getting much better."
Evie's hand reaches down to Ben's shoulder, and he put his head up, looking towards Evie.
"Thank Christ for that." He says, before pointing to Bear. "Don't scare me like that."
Ben shuffles around on the chair and looks up towards Evie, giving her a smile.
"I got in about the usual time." He tells her. "Had a wander through the house, didn't see you two, then I crept in to the bedroom and saw you asleep with this furry thing on the bed."
Ben gives Bear a stern look as he strokes him on the head.
"Why ya gotta do that man?" Ben asks the dog. "You got your own bedroom."
Evie moves around the sofa, sitting down next to Ben and putting her head on his shoulder. Ben instantly and instictively puts his arm around her shoulder.
"We tried to wait up for you." Evie tells him. "But yeah, we didn't."
Ben smiles at Evie's dry wit and shakes his head.
"What time is it anyway?" He asks.
"About eight." Evie tells him. "So what's all this holiday thing you was going on about? One too many beers last night?"
Ben shakes his head as he looks at her.
"Didn't drink at all." Ben says with a smug smile. "Bought a few, smiled a lot, had random selfies, but I did get an interesting call from the doctor."
A slight look of concern passes over Evie's face as she looks towards Ben.
"What about?" She asks.
"Latest scans." Ben tells her. "They're looking good but my body is a bit worn out, so he suggested a week off from the treatment and a relaxing time, so I thought why not get away for a bit? I gotta work next Sunday, match with Caleb Storms like I asked for, but if we go tomorrow, there till the weekend, fly directly in to Long Beach for the show, I beat Storms, this pretty face gets on camera."
Ben says squeezing Evie's cheeks.
"And then it's a case of a couple of weeks off before the Supercard." Ben says with a smile.
Evie puts her hand on Ben's cheek, knowing full well that this might be the first time Ben has broken out of his routine since the ship docked after Summer XXXTreme and he was taken to the treatment center to begin the hardest fight of his life.
"Just pack up and go away for a few days?" Evie questions. "Just like that?"
Ben nods his head.
"Just like that." He tells her. "I don't have to have myself pulled and prodded this week, no need to spend our time sitting around here scratching me arse to be fair. Might as well go get out there and see some of the world again."
"So Tuscany?" Evie says with a smile.
"Tuscany." Ben replies
The hills of Tuscany can be seen in a long distance shot in the camera, old style houses and villas can be seen across the landscape as the sound of a roaring engine can be heard in the distance. The camera moves in to see a shiny red Ferrari shooting around the corner of a tight turn, the sound of the engine echoing through the old style historic building as it moves along the road. The camera moves in closer, following the car up another tight turn and it veers to the right, hugging the corner and swinging another turn to the left and on to straight. The car whizzes past villas and takes another sharp right at high speeds, the engine growing louder and louder as it accelerates down another straight. The Ferrari spins off the road, kicking loose gravel in to the air as it cuts towards a cliff, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea on the west coast of Tuscany. The car screeches to a halt and the door opens. A very green around the gills looking Ben Jordan crawls out of the passenger seat, on his hands and knees as he crawls away from the car. Evie Baang opens the door at the drivers side and steps out calm and casual, unfazed by the high speeds she was driving at. She shuts the door and walks around the car, shutting the passenger side door and leaning against it, looking at Ben crawling away.
"What's wrong with you?" She asks, trying to hide a smile.
Ben was never the thrill seeking kinda guy, never one for amusement parks or rollercoasters, never one for bungee jumping or anything that brought the heart rate up to a high level. Never one for fast cars, which is probably a good thing if you listen to Jamie Dean who claims Ben is a terrible driver, regardless of the fact he hasn't killed himself yet. Ben was a regular guy without the need to get his own heart racing by doing dangerous things.
"You're a lunatic." Ben mutters as he turns to a seated position, looking at Evie. "An absolute loon. Do speed limits mean nothing to you?"
Evie once again tries to hide a smile as she looks down at him Ben looking up at him.
"What speed limits?" She asks him.
"The one's you were going too fast to see." Ben tells her as he tries to get to his feet. "Those things with numbers, on a sign that say how fast you can go? Those things."
"Dunno what you mean." Evie says innocently. "I didn't kill ya so stop moaning."
Ben stands up, the beauty of his surrounding not registering in his mind just yet as he looks directly at Evie.
"Could have." Ben says wiping his forehead. "I mean speed you was going out, so many innocent bugs are not going home tonight. Ya know when I said to you rent a car, help us get around a bit, why a freaking Ferrari?"
"You can't come to Italy and not drive a Ferrari, Ben." Evie tells him. "It's against the law or something."
Ben breathes deeply as he looks across at his wife.
"Pretty sure it's not." Ben says with a raised eyebrow. "Pretty sure not every car is a super car here. Coulda got something safer, less fast."
"Wuss." Evie says as she smile at him.
"This wuss likes to be alive sometimes." Ben tells her. "This wuss loves getting to places in one piece and not splattered over the side of the road. I'm driving back."
"You're not." Evie tells him. "I would like to get back sometime tonight and you couldn't handle this car. It's not used to going twenty miles an hour."
Although their relationship over the years was far from perfect, far from fairytale like you see with most couples who pass through SCW, Ben and Evie always had a joking style with each other that through the bad times, showed there was good there. Being lighthearted kept them together for the most part, not taking things too seriously is what gave them a strong bond in the first place. Their relationship was very much a personal thing till lately, but their time together on camera, the jokes, the jibes, the lighthearted way they spoke to each other, was very much a reflection of what was hidden underneath the surface, away from prying eyes.
"I'd go more than twenty." Ben says with an eye roll. "Maybe thirty if you're lucky. Thirty five if I feel adventurous."
His tone was light and sarcastic in a way as his heart rate had finally regained a normal steady rhythm, his breathing speed already returning to a normal level. Finally, the beauty of all that surrounded him had started to sink in. The clear blue sea sat nicely below the cliff that the married couple stood on, the sun almost making it look transparent as it fell upon the waters. Ben walks to the front of the car, facing the water and looks around, breathing deeply, letting the sea air fill his lungs. Evie joins him at the front of the car, looking around at the same scene Ben is viewing.
The past few months had made Ben feel grateful to even be able to be in this position, to be able to look at beautiful sights like these. It's hard to explain to the feelings, the rush of emotions that run through your body when you hear life changing news, but the thoughts of never seeing or doing certain things again can drag you down, the thought of not living can make you lose the will to even try. This alone was blessing, this week was a blessing to Ben, a week off treatment that has put his body through a living hell, a few days away from America to see one more place he's never seen before. In the grand scale of things to him, it doesn't matter what you've done or seen when you're dead, we all end up the same, our memories die with us, but while you're alive, you need to sample everything life has to offer, regardless of the end game. His time might be shorter than most, but his wife's was not.
Evie wraps her arm around Ben's as she silently looks around the area, looking at the clear blue water and looking at Ben, his eyes not leaving the sea scenery.
"What's on your mind?" Evie asks him as he continues to look.
The fact is, there was nothing on Ben's mind, his eyes were just locked on the scenery, not a thing in his mind at all. It was peaceful, not even hearing the sound of his wife's voice. He was in a world of his own.
"Ben?" Evie says softly, tugging at his arm.
Ben turns his head to look towards Evie, a smile on his face as he looks at her.
"Sorry, was in a world of me own." Ben tells her.
"What's on your mind?" She asks him again.
"Nothing at all." He tells her. "I was just caught up in the scenery and stuff. It's pretty here."
"It is." Evie tells him. "It's nice to get away."
"Certainly a place you can come to, sit for hours without a care in the world and think." Ben says with a nod.
"Think about what?" Evie asks.
"The future." Ben responds.
"What about it?" Evie asks him.
"Well I gotta admit, I'm a little torn at this point." Ben does admit. "Personal life, this whole illness hasn't got me doing what a lot do and go out there and live for the moment, do everything I possibly can. I ain't gonna go skydiving or any bollocks like that. Facing my own mortality has had their weird effect on me. I feel like life is a little bit on hold until I can get going again if I beat this bloody thing."
Evie runs her hand down his arm and grips his hand.
"There is no if about this." She tells him. "You are beating this thing and you will beat this thing completely soon, so your life doesn't have to stay on hold."
"Yeah, but what to do after that?" Ben says to her. "It's not like my career is on fire. I work my bollocks off coming up with new stuff to have uncreative arseholes try to rip it off, and end up getting constantly called out by people below the standard I wanna face. I don't give a monkeys if I win or lose, but I wanna be facing the best in SCW, not Caleb Storms."
"You challenged him." Evie reminds Ben
"To get him off my case." Ben replies. "He's a champion now, fair play but needed to get him off my case. Look how this month has gone so far. I call out Crimson to get a bit of a challenge, and he accepts, there could have been magic there, and then Crimson disappears for whatever reason, and I end up getting constantly called out by this mug, over and over. I had to respond to get rid of him. Shit, he probably didn't even see the stuff I said about him on the past shows, probably only rewatches his stuff over and over again."
"I wouldn't be surprised." Evie comments. "But I'm sure he'll be distracted now with the Mixed Tag Title."
"Till he loses it." Ben fires back. "And then his gold hungry arse will be back on my case. He's up against London Underground at the supercard, if they wanna really put the effort in, they'll take him apart, and he'll be back moaning at me."
"Once you beat him on Sunday, he won't be considered to go for you." Evie tells Ben.
"Won't stop him trying." Ben says softly. "Geezer thinks gold will make him better and he'll always hound for it."
"So beat him, beat him well." Evie suggests. "Once you do that, eyes will be opened and they'll have no choice but to drop him back to the bottom, or keep him teaming with Sam to keep him on TV. Once you beat him, he's not gonna be a problem. At least you got people wanting your title. Joshua Acquin had to sit on Christian's lap so his friend could get a shot at my title."
"Oh you've got nothing to worry about there." Ben tells Evie, squeezing her hand. "Amy isn't the person she used to be, we both know that. She'll still compete but it wasn't like she earned the shot, she was given it because her friend asked."
"True..." Evie muses.
"Mind you, people say the same about me." Ben says. "That I'm past it a little bit and this is my last run."
"Is it?" Evie asks.
This wasn't a question Ben really had an answer for. Sure, he thought about make making this one his last run before focusing his time and efforts elsewhere. He knew he had the financial security to never have to work again, he knew that he could move on to another part of his life and not worry. Hell, he could spend his days on a beach playing Football Manager, and never have to spend a day worrying about money but there was something missing from his life as a professional wrestler. Part of him wanted to follow in the footsteps of many grandslam champions. Be a legit grandslam champion. A lot of grandslam champions didn't deserve their success at all. Ben was the man in ACW, he held every championship, two at once being the only ever Tag Team champions there with Mickey Carroll, not bad for over a year of his life, but it never clicked for him in SCW, part of him wanted to make that right and go with no regrets.
"I don't know." Ben admits honestly. "I mean this health scare is enough to make anyone take the easier life, but I don't know if I want the easier life or if I wanna go get those Mixed Tag Titles at some point, or even go on and try for the World Title at some point. Right now, I'm just taking this one day at a time and see where it gets me. Until then, we might as well enjoy what we have in front of us."
"There's worse places we could be." Evie says with a smile as she looks towards Ben.
"Oh a lot worse..." Ben agrees.
The day had passed by fast, the sights of Tuscany seen, and Ben surviving Evie's driving on the way back to the villa where they were staying, after she refused to give over the keys to the rented Ferrari. The moon was now in the sky and the married couple laid outside on a balcony overlooking the town below. Ben laid back on a long sun lounger. Evie had positioned a second sun lounger right next to Ben's, allowing her to lean over and place her head on his chest. Ben looks up at the camera in front of him.
"A beautiful day that must sadly be ended with me talking about work." Ben starts. "Talking about work with a match I had asked for just to get that monkey off my back and to leave me alone and move on, a match that had to be done because enough is enough and believe me when I say, I'd had it up to my eyeballs listening to unjustified dig after dig from Salco in a wig."
Ben smiles as he shakes his head.
"I'm not even trying to be poetic at this time, because the truth is, this whole thing ain't really that funny anymore, it's actually pretty annoying." Ben says. "It's frustrating to get your name dragged through the mud because you did something different, because you showed a little initiative. It's frustrating that not waiting for a chance to come and showing your worth by getting people interested in you and what you do, getting the fans on your side, constitutes you as a moaner, as someone that cried to get what he wanted. Yet someone can rip you off completely and expect to be praised. Someone took what I did and thought they could do it better and they couldn't. Someone sat there and tried to define irony in one go, you Caleb. You defined irony."
Ben takes a deep breath.
"Your picture is now in the dictionary." Ben says sarcastically. "Because you sat there and claimed I moaned to get a title shot, I complained to get what I wanted, which in truth is utter bollocks, but lets look through your eyes here. In your eyes, I moaned and complained to get what I wanted so what did you do? The same damn thing! You claimed I complained and got a title shot out of those complaints yet you sat there, just sat there and complained that I complained, not once but pretty much every single week. You sat there and did what you accused me of. Don't you see where you're going wrong here? It's cool, I'll wait for you to think about that one."
Ben waits for a few seconds before continuing.
"You complained about me complaining." Ben repeats. "You complain about the staff overlooking you, regardless of just at the last supercard, you was put in a match where you could have the chance to be World champion, you complain about title shots not going your way, yet you have a title around your waist right now, because you was given a title shot.... Please tell me where you're getting overlooked? Again, I'll wait."
Ben pauses again as if to wait for him.
"If you were overlooked, you'd have not been in that match at the last supercard." Ben tells him. "If you was overlooked, you would have been replaced with someone else last week. If you were overlooked, you wouldn't have had more title shots in your time here than I've had here with a lot more years on the clock, so if you're gonna moan and bitch about thing, at least be somewhat accurate when you do, you just make yourself look silly at that point. This is where you're doing yourself no favours at all mate, because you do get given more than most and yet you demand more. You're simply greedy."
A serious look crosses Ben's face.
"Seriously greedy." Ben tells him. "You get given the world and you want the stars as well, you're never satisfied with what you have, you'll always want more, yet you get the chances and you seem to screw them up more than most. You get the chances from the people you complain about the most yet still want more. I could have just waved you off and ignored you, but I gave you this match to prove that you couldn't beat me even if you was given the shot at my title, so I'm saving you from another shot and loss."
Ben takes a deep breath.
"I know though after I beat you, they'll be an excuse." Ben says resigned to the fact that it will happen. "You blow your first title defence at the supercard, and you'll be back chasing me because for some sick reason, you think that you need gold to be noticed. Not the case but it takes a very small mind to sit there and think that the gold will make you in to something special. It's leather and gold mate, it doesn't perform miracles, it doesn't give you talent, it's an object that does not give you any extra abilities. I dunno why you chase gold so much, it adds nothing to you if you already believe you have the talent. You clearly have no faith in yourself Caleb, none at all if you think you need a belt to be taken seriously. I agreed to this match just to prove a point to one Caleb, one simple point and that is that chasing and asking for shots will not always pay off."
Ben pauses for a second.
"This is one shot that won't pay off for you Caleb." Ben tells him firmly. "This match is basically me showing you what would have happened if the title was on the line. Simply doesn't matter which way you paint it, title on the line or not, results would still be the same. This result is still gonna be the same and it will show you that all your bark lately has been for naught. It's what you have been Caleb, bark, bark, bark, I want, I want, I want, it's the same old stuff with you but when it comes down to it, it's gonna be for nothing anyway cause on Sunday, I get to show you that you need to choose your words a little more wisely, that ya need to shut ya yap and let ya actions speak for ya, cause we're all a little bit Tom and Dick listening to you talk about things you never get done."
Ben stops, wondering if people will understand his slang.
"It's just annoying Caleb and I've listened and listened and listened to you talk and now's the time to make you go a little more quiet." Ben says putting his finger on his lip. "People don't wanna see ya talk anymore and not back it up and you can take my word for this Caleb, you will not be backing up any words you say about me, you will not be backing up a single thing, nor will you be proving you deserve to even be a champion. You're a champion right now because of Sam Marlowe, nothing else. You couldn't capture singles gold, you could have been a man, walked up to me and asked and got a shot that way, but you made snide little cracks and made yaself look like a plum. You needed someone to help you get that title and ya lucky to have a good partner there because if it wasn't for her, you wouldn't be holding anything but ya own junk."
Ben points downwards.
"So before you get any ideas about proving me as a fraud champion, before you get any hopes of beating me." Ben says while holding up a finger. "Have a little think about all the shots you've had solo and think about how many you've actually walked away with. My title isn't on the line here Caleb but it doesn't matter, because you're not gonna win anyway. I'll be going in to Violent Conduct V with my head held high and confidence flowing, there's not a whole lot you can do about that to be honest."
Ben stops for a second.
"Right, had enough rabbitting about you Caleb." Ben starts. "So I want to thank everyone for watching and I'll see ya on Sunday."
Ben winks.
"Laters people." He says with a smile.
The camera fades to black.
