[Gabriel]

 So the next two weeks are gonna be a little mad to say the least. Bouncing around like a jumping bean. Vegas, San Juan, but this little trip, I've earned. Synn promised us to take us where ever we wanted as a reward for winning the NWA Tag Team Championships, ANYWHERE. Despayre's choice was camping. This one is mine.

I opened a can of worms in SCW a little bit this past week, explaining what a wrestlers life is like on the road. I would repeat it all but there is a website about to be shown on the bottom of your screen, feel free to go there.

http://www.scwrestling.net/boards/index.ph...412&#entry15412

There it is. My views on wrestlers being attention whores to try and get ahead was greeted with anger from some and the whole "about time someone said it" thing. Anyway, getting off track here, but still, I cut that promo over looking Lake Tahoe and there was a lot more that never got said. I sat there hours after the cameras stopped rolling and I thought about what should be important to me. Dawned on me that I haven't been home in nearly a year. I haven't seen the people who won't abandon me when something better comes along. Ok, that's bullshit, we've all been abandoned by people when they get in a relationship and forget the millions of times you've been there for them, but most people stick around.

Home is, even when things look bad there, where we want to be, where our souls want to rest. A huge part of my soul was being laid to rest in London this week. Ever remember the first time you walked in to a bar? The looks you got while you sweat profusely and wonder what to do? Well the first time I walked in to The Pier Tavern in east London, I felt that. Years on, like most public houses in London, the old girl is being laid to rest. Even though I'd spent most of my time over the years traveling around the world, this place was the first place I'd come back to whenever I could. When SCW toured here a year ago, the very last time I was home, I spent a lot of my time here, watching football, downing shots with the people still around, playing stuff on the jukebox, just being one of the boys and being normal. They didn't see me as that guy that's famous for magic and/or wrestling, they saw me as that little skinny kid, with the, in their words, girly hair and supported a shit football team. That's all it was, I was normal and I missed it.

My wish from Synn was to go back home and say goodbye to a very old friend and just for one day, forget the hassle of my life and just be normal.



Sitting at the airport, waiting to board the plane to fly me home to London, I quickly tap away at an Ipad, my hands moving over the SCW site. I quickly see a new Thatcher Rex promo airing.

This should be interesting, I bet I get mentioned here.

I tap the play button and watch closely.

You can too if you go to http://www.scwrestling.net/boards/index.php?showtopic=4782 It's ok Thatcher, no need to pay me royalties for making you now NWA famous

I look down at the screen, listening to the words that Thatcher has to say about me. A smile breaks across my face as I stop listening to the Tyrant King.

I'm not sure if I should respect the guy for coming clean, or kick his arse for trying to tell me how to be in a relationship. Starting to think he needs a reality check after the mocking about not following on Twitter.

Does he even know who I am? Check out the bio, see if you can pick up on what I do. Delve in to my past and see what I do. I thought this guy was smarter than this. He can sit and mock me cause he don't follow me on Twitter, but if he looked closely at who I am and read between the lines, I thought he might have been able to see what others are missing. If Thatcher only saw what others do not, he may indeed keep his trap shut about giving me relationship advice and he may end up with a very powerful friend on his side. Clearly picking sides in something that doesn't have a lot to do with him is gonna make him look stupid. Did it occur to him that I am not the one messing around here? Painted as the bad guy cause she has a pair of tits, is that it?

My methods for being noticed may have been off the beaten path but to be fair, finding Thatcher Rex to tell him to get his nose out of things, was low on my list of things to do, not because compared to me, I'm on a whole new level, but because I have had NWA things, tournament things, all sorts of things to deal with before having to sit face to face with someone scrambling over the kiddie title. That's a shot at the champ, not Thatcher. If Thatcher could hear this now, I'll urge you to read between the lines and not put yourself in a position where you're caught in the crossfire. Seriously, read between the lines.

As for the war comment, gone to war with many more for much less, but in this army, I am a solider lead by Synn, surround by Rage, Despayre, Shane and Fantasia. I think taking a war to the door step of a man making no friends, is a little unbalanced. My message to Mr Rex is to look past Odette's arse, look at what's really going on, learn who I am, learn who she is and show a touch of intelligence. Would have been a lot easier if he'd actually see what going on, rather than just guessing. I'll meet you for a beer Thatcher, right after I get done with all I have to, just read closer before picking sides... Oh, and watch out for Misty, trust me on that one.

Synn taps me on the shoulder, pointing to the now boarding plane.



"What's that?" Despayre says excitedly as he points out the window of a moving car.

Sitting in a taxi along with Synn and Despayre, I stare out on the snowy streets of London.

"That's Rage, Shane and Fantasia sitting in the cab behind." I tell Despayre

Despayre waves wildly at Rage, lifting Angel up too, frantically lifting his little paw up and down to wave at Rage. Rage fire a thumbs up from the passenger seat to Despayre.

"Not the finger Rage would have usually used." I jokingly say to Synn.

"No." Synn replies with a chuckle in his tone "But with that expensive looking ring he bought, he may not be able to lift the desired finger."

Despayre spins around in his seat, looking out of the window.

"What's that?" Despayre asks again.

"That's a train station." I inform Despayre "And the behind it is a farm."

"A farm!!!!" Despayre yells out almost startling the taxi driver.

Synn fires me a stern look.

"Yeah." I reply quickly, sensing Synn mentally urging me to shut up. "It's got horses, and chickens, pigs, cows and goats. Maybe daddy here can take you, or Uncle Rage."

Despayre balls a fist in elation and looks at Angel.

"Do you hear that Angel?" He says with a beaming smile "We're going to a farm!"

I smile and nod, confident that my work is now done. Synn looks across at me with a wicked smile on his face. He runs his finger across his chin.

I hate that look on his face, it's gonna bite me on the arse.

"Joshua." Synn starts  "How about we let Gabriel tell Uncle Rage the fantastic news?"

Despayre nods wildly

"That's a great idea!" Despayre says "Uncle Rage is gonna be so happy!"

Well played Synn, well played.

"Are we nearly there?" Despayre asks

I point at a building in the distance.

"Almost." I reply "You've been here before bud."

"Yes." Despayre says "But I had to be sure."

"Why?" I ask

"Because Angel said this place has changed and I had to be sure." Despayre says seriously.

Despayre wasn't wrong as we pull up to the pub, the first I walked in when I hit legal drinking age. It's in the same location, but the color!

"Angel says it's Battleship Gray." Despayre says as we open the door. "Also said the big gold letters are missing."

I step out of the car, looking up at where the gold sign used to be. I hear the sound of the second car pulling up behind our own cab. Despayre stands next to me, looking up. Synn pays the cab drivers and Despayre looks downwards, towards me.

"What was it like when you first came here?" Despayre asks.

"The same as this, different color though." I reply "Hasn't changed at all, other than getting less scary to walk in."

***FLASHBACK***

An eighteen year old me stands outside the pub where I stand now. Instead of the battleship Gray color, a bright, yet deep blue color covers the wall and a new looking gold sign above the door saying "The Pier Tavern. I look to my left, Billy White stands nervously looking at the door, and to my right, Tony Bond, clearly psyching himself up.

"We shouldn't go in here." Billy says nervously.

"Yeah." Tony agrees "We know it's reputation."

"We're eighteen." I add to the conversation "They can't throw us out of anything, we're old enough be here."

"They can kick our bloody heads in though." Tony says.

"Yeah!" Billy adds "I heard there was a big fight in here last week, blood everywhere!"

"Well I'm going in." I reply "Doesn't matter if they don't like me much, it's not like I'll be staying around this shit hole."

Billy rolls his eyes.

"Talking about Paris again?" Billy says "Just face it mate, we're just another bunch of cockneys that are gonna end up working in some supermarket, until we're old enough to be one of those greeter blokes."

I shake my head.

"I want more than that." I tell my friends. "Now are you coming in or not?"

Billy and Tony look at each other.

"Nah, you're alright mate, we'll go down the Nelson." Tony says

"Suit yourself." I reply, taking a deep breath.

I push the wooden door, stepping in to the pub, looking around and breathing in the thick smoke.

Different time, well before the no smoking in pubs crap kicked in.

A football game plays on the television above the door as  I quickly shuffle, my head down, just peering up to make sure I didn't bump in to anyway. I look for a gap in the bar and quickly move in to it. A short man moves behind the bar and looks at me as I try and confidently make eye contact.

"What do you want?" He asks me gruffly.

"Um.... uhhhh." I stumble out.

"What's wrong with ya?" He asks firmly.

"Nothing." I reply "Just want a bottle of bud."

The man turns away, reaching for the fridge, popping the cap off the bottle and putting it in front of me. I had the man money without even waiting for the price. The man turns to the till, hitting some buttons and placing my note in there and pulling out some change, placing it on the bar in front of me. He looks at me sternly.

"So you're not from around here." He tells me.

"I am." I protest

"Not with that haircut." he replies with a laugh.

I self consciously touch my hair.

"What's your name kid?" He says.

"Gabriel." I reply with a shaky voice.

"I'm Terry, this is my pub." He tells me. "You better be a football fan or you won't last long in here."

"I am." I reply "I'm a Millwall fan."

Terry looks at me firmly

"You won't last in here son, West Ham pub." He tells me.

Ah, Millwall's hated rivals

"But we need to have one of your lot here to abuse." He says with a smile.

As I watch him walk away, couldn't work out if he was serious or not. I nervously look around the pub, looking at the rough looking clientele.

"Yep." I say to myself picking up the bottle "I'm not gonna last a day in here."

***END FLASHBACK***

"So how long did you last in here?" Despayre asks innocently

"About three hours before I was drunk, telling people I loved them." I reply with a shrug "But I went back the next day and did it all over again."

Synn elbows Shane in the ribs.

"Shame I didn't know him then, he sounded fun." Synn says with a smile.

"I heard that!" I fire back at Synn.

A man walks out of the door, placing a cigarette between his lips.

Stupid law change.

His eyes widen as he sees me standing there.

"Gabey?" He says.

Rage looks at Shane.

"Gabey?" He whispers.

Fantasia elbows the two in the side.

"Hello Terry" I say with a smile.

Yes, the same one. I wouldn't come all the way back here if it was a random guy selling the pub for it to be closed down.

He walks over to me, shaking my hand.

"So glad you made it." Terry says "I put the word about to try and let you know, wasn't sure if you was gonna be here."

"Good timing I guess." I replied "Sorry to see this place go."

"Getting on a bit now." Terry tells me. "Best time to let it go with the country going to hell."

I nod in agreement. Terry turns to the rest of The Sins.

"I see you brought the rest of that group of yours from that wrestling stuff you do." Terry says loudly "Did Gabey ever tell you about the time he got drunk in here, danced on the bar and fell off?"

"He failed to mention that one." Synn says.

"Why do you call him Gabey?" Rage asks.

"Funny story behind that one." Terry starts.

"Time to get a beer!" I say putting my hands on Terry's shoulders.

"I thought it might be" Terry replies with a smile "Every time I want my bar sales to go up, I just have to tell an embarrassing story about you."

I tap Terry on the back, and walk in the pub.

"Don't know about you lot." Shane says "But I wanna hear these stories."

"They might come in handy someday." Rage says with a smile.

"Purely for curiosity sake." Synn adds.

"Angel already knows his stories." Despayre adds. "I'm going to find Gabriel"

As Despayre flies off in search of Gabriel, Fantasia rolls her eyes at the other men in the group.

"Men!" She huffs.

"A few of them contain nudity" Terry says.

"I'm listening" she says with a smile.

The scene fades as Terry starts to tell stories.

What? You REALLY think I was gonna let you lot know my embarrassing stories? HA!



The party's in full swing as we say goodbye to a place close to me. I sit at the bar, looking around every few seconds, hoping my eyes would fall upon her, sadly, it wasn't happening. A beer appears in front of me.

"That big scary looking smiling guy sent it over." The young lady behind the bar tells me.

I look down the bar in the direction she's pointing to see Rage raise a bottle of his own at me. Rage smiles as I lift the bottle just sent over, the universal sign of thank you across a crowded place. Synn moves in next to me.

"I can see why you liked this place." He tells me. "The accents are something else."

I smile weakly at my mentor.

"I know you're disappointed Gabriel." Synn tells me "But it was a tall ask to drop everything and run to an unknown place."

I nod sadly in agreement.

He's probably right. I couldn't really ask her to just drop everything and run here. Putting me before everything else hasn't happened a lot lately. It adds to the situation I find myself in right now.

"Besides..." Synn starts as he rests his hand on my shoulder "You said on Monday you wanted a sign of commitment in a week, you have days left."

"Days she'll be working and spending with other people, instead of me. That Valentine's day thing is a real kicker." I reply to Synn. "First one together, and I lose out to an unfunny comedian. Hurts a lot."

Synn turns around and looks through the crowd before turning to Gabriel.

"Now you're doing it." I say to Synn

"Doing what?" Synn asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Looking to see if she's there." I reply "It's wishful thinking. She's already tweeted she's going to Cabo. Once again, a choice I lost out on."

Shane appears at the bar next to Gabriel on his other side, calling to the barmaid.

"Alright love." he calls out "Bottle of Bud here and throw one to this miserable fucker, would ya?"

Shane taps me on the shoulder.

"Cheer up mate." Shane says, his joyful tone brought on by a mix of nostalgia and alcohol. "At least we get to say goodbye to this place."

There's not a man from this general area that doesn't know this pub. All the places I've gone, I've found east end wrestlers that know the Pier Tavern.

"Get out there and start enjoying it." Shane says. "It's early yet."

Synn taps Shane on the shoulder, nodding his head in a direction away from me. Shane's eyes scan the busy bar.

"Oh bloody hell." Shane says to no one in particular.  "Cheer up, I'm off to party."

Shane moves behind me, pointing at Synn to move, but Synn shakes his head. Shane fires a stern look to Synn. Synn rolls his eyes and moves in to the crowd.

Feel like I've said goodbye to a lot lately. Feel like I've got so much more to say goodbye to coming up. This is probably the sign of doom. I mean swinging by the house, seeing that room, thinking constantly about that, stacked up against turning me down to go to Cabo with God knows who, feels like I'm in a losing battle. Someone up there is trying to mentally break me. I think it's finally working. My guess is she had that room going long before the shit hit the fan.

I pick up the beer, looking in to the bottle, lifting it to my lips and letting the alcohol slowly drip in to my mouth. Two arms wrap around me from behind. I look down at the neatly painted finger nails and let out a soft sigh.

Just because my love life problems are well documented, doesn't mean I wanna do something stupid and end all hope.

"'Ow about buying this Cockney girl a drink?" An odd Cockney accent says from behind me.

Jesus Christ, that's a rough accent.

"Sorry lady, I don't buy strangers drinks." I reply without looking around.

"Stranger? Who you calling a stranger you galah." A thick Australian accent replies

Ummmmmm

A body pressing tightly in to my back forces me to stand up straight. I move the hands off my body, a slightly blank look on my face and turn around, not really sure what to expect.

Oh my....

I stare down at the shorter Odette Ryder, dressed in what looks to be layers of clothes, covered with a thick Eskimo type jacket, with fur around the hood. Under the hood, a thick hat is seen.

"Odette." I say slowly "Is that you under all that stuff?"

Odette looks up at me, pulling me closer to hear above the loud music.

"It's cold here and snowing." Odette tells me.

"I can't believe your wearing all that." I say with a smile.

"I could start undressing if you would like?" Odette replies with a wink

I roll my eyes at her.

"You'll get sick" I say, resting my hands on her shoulders.

"Play your cards right and you might just be worth getting the flu over..." Odette says running her hands down me.

I stare blankly, surprise and shock still running through my body.

"So, Cabo..." I say slowly

Odette points to her ear as if to indicate she can't hear anything. I nod and point to another area of the pub. I take Odette by the hand and lead her through the crowd. I walk past Synn and Shane.

"Distract Joshua for a while." Synn says to Shane, who nods at him.

I lead Odette around a twisted corridor and outside, through a door. The snow falls down on the beer garden of the Pier Tavern. Odette looks up at me.

"You brought me out in the snow?" Odette says, slightly unimpressed.

"It's quiet." I reply.

"It's cold." Odette replies.

Odette walks towards a wooden table and sits on it. I wrap my arms around her.

"Not sure how you can be cold wearing all this." I say with a smile.

Odette squeezes me tightly, pressing herself against me.

"So Cabo...?" I start slowly "This is a million miles away from Cabo, so what made you come here?"

"The plane must have hit a bird or something." Odette says with a smile

hmmm... I know she's joking here

Odette puts her hand on my shoulder and looks at me.

"I'm joking!" She says with a shake of her head. "I knew the plane was coming here. Think I would have took this jacket to Cabo?"

Odette flashes her beautiful smile at me.

"Look into my eyes Gabriel... the answer you want is there." Odette says seriously.

I look deep in her emerald eyes, seeing my own reflection in her eyes.

I was partly dreading the look in the eyes bit, because I knew my heart would skip a beat and the cracks would get papered over. I don't want things papered over, I want things to be right. I guess I was bang on right, my heart did skip that beat.

"You cried out for commitment." Odette says, her hand creeping up to rest behind my head. "This is commitment for you. I can only be here for a few hours and then I gotta get back to America. Scott covered me."

Still not liking Scott.

I look at Odette, slightly troubled.

"You're here for a few hours?" I ask.

"Yes." Odette replies "I have to get back to work. I came here to show you how I really feel. Not many others would fly ten hours just to spend a few hours and fly ten back."

She's right. I don't know anyone who would do that.

"You can't stay longer?" I ask, already knowing the answer about to come back at me.

Odette shakes her head.

"Isn't it enough that I'm here?" Odette asks.

I nod at her.

"It is." I start "I just wanted to fix things."

Odette bites her lower lip

"So let's cut the crap." Odette says firmly "We've said a lot of stuff about each other lately. So how about some honesty face to face?"

I take a deep breath as the snow starts to fall.

"Ok, the truth" I start "Lately, things need to change. Things have been a shit storm. We need to be closer, we do need to fix things, but it doesn't change the way I feel and have felt all along."

"Which is?" Odette asks, unsure if she really wants to know.

"I love you." I start "It's that simple. I have from the moment I first met you. The first time I saw you, I knew that there was no one else I wanted to be with. The whole world faded away and there was only you. You know every time I get a tweet, text or message from you when we're not together, I smile. My heart jumps and I smile. When I'm with you, I feel like I can be myself, or could until lately."

I take Odette's hands in mine, stepping back slightly.

"I've been head over heels for you for a long time, even when you didn't and don't see it." I say before biting my lip "Recently, without being around you, I'm forever checking my phone for messages I've missed from you. When I see none, I wonder if I'm even on your mind. When I see one, my whole day gets better. I wanna make you feel like this, but these days, I never know if you do feel it."

Odette opens her mouth to speak to me, but I put my thumb on her lips, my fingers brushing her cheek.

"I had this weird feeling the first time you said hi to me, like you are the woman big things will happen with." I reply, my voice getting slightly creaky "I still believe that. I'm not willing to give up on us because I've never felt this way about anyone before. It's not just a line, I mean it. There will never be anyone else for me, cause no one can compare. You are my one and only shot of a happy ever after. You mean the absolute world to me"

I lean in to kiss Odette on the forehead. I lean down and look in her eyes.

"I want this to work bad. I want to be with you more than I've ever wanted anything in my life." I say quietly "But I need the same in return."

Odette looks at me.

"Do you really mean that?" Odette asks, her eyes poking from below the fur lining of her hood.

"I do." I reply "There's no length I wouldn't go to, to get you smiling. There's no distance I wouldn't go to see those pretty eyes. The truth of it all is I know no one is ever gonna come close, to how much you mean to me. If I could be holding your hand every minute of every day, I would be. I don't ever want a day to go by without hearing from you, seeing you, telling you how I feel. I just want to be put ahead of things like promotional stuff for a hotel. We don't need the money, or the fame, we have that. What I want is more time with you, because you're the thing that means more to me than anything else in the world."

I did mean that. I know lately, I've grown sick of the single ways she's acted, I've grown tired of her grinding up and down celebs for publicity pictures. It damn near broke my heart to have her with someone else on Valentine's day, just for the sake of getting a couple more people through the doors. With all that said, and I know there's a lot of people around the world right now that can relate to this. Sometimes, you just can't help who you want. God knows we all could have chosen an easier life, the person next door for convenience but it's not me. I want her, I have done since day one. Nothing will change that. If someone breaks me, it will be her and I wouldn't have it any other way. She's the one, she's the dream woman.

Tears fill Odette's eyes as she pulls my head closer to hers, kissing me firmly on the lips, her hands running down my body. She pulls her body against mine and I lift her off the table, spinning her around. Odette puts her hands on the side of my face. She looks in my eyes.

"Can we get out of here?" Odette asks with a smile.

I nod at her.

"Sure babe" I reply with a smile.

A serious look crosses Odette's face.

"I love you Gabriel... I have since the day i saw a video of you on you tube... I've always wanted you, needed you..." Odette says with tears in her eyes. "Please forgive me Gabriel..."

"You did what I needed." I reply "You put me first and I love you for it."

"Marry me" Odette says out of nowhere.

Holy fuck! Did she just say that?

I place Odette down on her feet.

"Did you just say what I think you did?" I say with a tilted head.

A wide smile crosses Odette's face.

"I did." Odette says taking my hand.

"No sweetheart." I reply

Odette's looks disappointed

"Hear me out." I say with my finger up. "Is this really how you want it done? In the middle of a beer garden in a pub that's probably not gonna be here in a few months?"

Odette doesn't say a word, she just steps towards me and places her hands on my rear, squeezing firmly.

Missed that

"I want it to be perfect." I reply "In a place that reflects your beauty, not a crummy old pub beer garden. I want it to perfect. Someday sweetheart, I'll ask you, and it will be in the most perfect moment we can find, but not here, not in a beer garden in East London."

Odette kisses me softly on the lips, her eyes full of life and excitement.

"Ok, baby." She replies with a smile.

She takes me by the hand and leads me back to the door.

"I'm gonna go to the ladies and we'll get out of here?" She asks.

I kiss her on the forehead and nod.

"I'll just go in there and tell Synn" I say quickly.

Odette nods and we go our separate ways. I stand just outside the bar room, reaching in to my pocket and pulling out a blue velvet box and smiles.

"Never do know when that perfect moment will hit." I say to myself

And all is right with the world

I walk through the bar to where Synn and Shane stand.

"You will not believe what just happened." I say above the music.

"I'll wager a guess" Synn replies, his fingers gripped around a glass of bourbon.

Before either can speak next, a young blonde woman pushes me against a wall.

"You're that wrestler guy." She drunkenly says.

"Uh uh." I reply, looking towards Synn with pleading eyes.

"You're much hotter in person." She says with a slur "Maybe me and you should...."

The woman moves in to my ear and starts whispering, regardless of me not having an interest, even listening to this woman. Shane fires me a thumbs up, causing me to smile at him. Synn closes his eyes as if to see something uncomfortable. I look at Synn, and he tilts his head in a direction. I turn around and see an less than impressed looking Odette standing next to the woman.

"Baby..." I say "This isn't what it..."

"Shut up Gabriel!" Odette snaps at me "I can't believe you! I ask you that question when I said I never would, and now you're picking up someone else for when I'm gone?!?!"

"No!" I reply, pushing the woman off me "It's not like that!"

"Actions speak louder than words!" Odette says has she turns around towards Synn.

Odette reaches out and takes Synn's bourbon from his hand, quickly knocking it back and slamming the glass down on the bar and storming out the door. I step forward but Shane puts his hand on my chest.

"I got this." Shane replies as he quickly moves towards the door.

"That's impressive." Synn states, lifting his empty glass and ordering another drink. "Not many women can do that with bourbon."

I stare at Synn, but Rage steps over.

"Was that who I think it was running out the door?" He asks.

"Who?" Despayre says appearing out of nowhere holding Angel, with Fantasia in tail.

"Shane." I reply quickly, trying to keep Despayre from the truth.

Go check out Climax Control from last week if you wanna know why. Go on, do some leg work.

"Despy!" Rage says with a smile "Where have you been?"

"I found a new machine!" Despayre says proudly "I kept putting money in and a prize kept coming out."

Rage and Synn look at each other.

"What prize?" Fantasia asks.

"Balloons!" Despayre says with a smile. "Flavored balloons the machine says!"

Synn smiles as another drink is placed in front of him. Shane walks back in the door and I quickly move towards him.

[Gabriel]

 
"Sorry mate." Shane replies "She's gone. I tried following what looked like fresh boot marks in the snow, but sorry."

I walk to the window, looking at the snow falling. I walk back towards the group, taking the drink from Synn's hand and knocking back the strong sharp bourbon and slamming the glass on the bar. Synn looks at me.

"No danger of getting drunk in here I see." Synn comments.

"I gotta go." I say quickly.

Before anyone can stop me, I make a move towards the door and exit as the scene fades.



Such a mixed bag being here. She asked that question, that question that not many ask. I never thought it would ever pass her lips. Went from nostalgia, to extreme happiness, to the lowest low I've ever felt. Talk about a square kick in the nuts.

I stand in the snow, looking over that the O2 dome from a small beach. Snow mixes with the sand and stones. I reach down, picking up a stone, tossing it in to the river Themes. The camera moves up to my left hand side, showing the NWA Tag Team championship around my waist, as I speak.

"Welcome to London NWA. Looks like a million miles away from where I'm going to be in a short while. I get to head back to Carson City for SCW Climax Control, and then move to Wrestleclassic 2013 in San Juan. Bit of a globe trotting few weeks, eh?"

I tilt my head towards the camera.

"Oh the nerves and excitement of defending these belts."

I reach down and pull the title above my shoulder and rest it upon it.

"Sinful Obsession's first big NWA show and we're defending these things. It's a rush, a huge rush, something that puts most things to shame, so thank you to the NWA for the spot on the show."

The camera moves around me, getting closer to my face.

"I'm sure you've wondered why I've brought you all to London to show you some things. To me, it's all about familiarity and that's why I'm here, to feel something familiar. Familiar is a bit of a theme this week. On Sunday, I have to face my own partner, see, familiar. In San Juan, I have to face the Canadian Connection, the very same team Despayre and I took these titles from in the first place. See? Familiar."

A smile crosses my face.

"Now I'm sure you boys have had a little look and seen there's a lot on my mind. You've seen I'm not completely having the best year of my life, but these titles sort of make up for a lot. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking being so distracted is going to actually help you take control of this one and get something back that is familiar to you, this little tag title. Sadly no, you see since I've been going through these issues, watching the shit pile up and up and up, I've become a slightly newer man. A little birdie whispered in my ear, he told me to use this aggression to my advantage. That little birdie was right. That little birdie said I should be very aggressive, and oh dear Canadian Connection, as I can't be so over the top against Despayre, it means I can against you."

My eyes dart towards the camera and back to the rivers.

"This might not have been my best couple of months, but I am gonna switch this around and make it one hell of a great year, and that year revolves around the NWA and these titles. It's nice to have some confidence and feel that dripping from Rey Rosario. He is leaving a pool of confidence all over the place, but lightning can indeed strike twice. Would you like proof? All you have to do is show up at Wrestleclassic 2013. I love the terms thrown around, like a heavyweight against a cruiserweight was my favorite. Have you not heard the stories of the smaller beating the larger? In fact it would make a pretty short battle if the larger constantly squashed the smaller. It would make an awful story."

I shrugs my shoulders and reach down and pick up another stone, tossing it towards the waves.

"I'm a happy man that you two gentlemen are excited about a rematch with us. We look at this match a little differently. We don't mean to take anything away from you two, we know that you're a top team and former champions... Yes, I'm being a smarty pants there, we made you former champions, but we came to the NWA expecting more. The draw of the NWA is to get a new challenge every month, and you guys are not a new challenge, you were a challenge passed that we no longer need to really go back to, but congratulations, you got the shot somehow. Let's not get in to how you got this shot, but sadly someone has put you in a position where you must suffer defeat once more."

I look in my hand, a blue ball forming.

"I commend your focus Mr Rosario. You seemed one of the most determined individuals I've seen lately, indeed possibly one of the most focused I have face lately. It's a shame that focus wasn't there in round one, in our first encounter. If it was, do you think things could have been different? Do you feel you might have done much better than you did? Here's the problem with focus being hell bent on us right and not the first time around. Since Despayre and I won these titles, we've been in your head. We've been sitting there in the back of your mind, messing with your senses. That focus you feel you have, that focus you think is gonna pull you through is not focus after all, it's me pulling your strings Rey, it's me making you dance, it's me bringing you in to this false sense of security, it's me making you think you stand a chance when really, you stand zero chance of completing your goal. As per your demand Rey, we're ready. More than you know actually."

I watch the blue ball grow brighter and brighter.

"It was not long ago we suffered the loss you're feeling, Canadian Connection. We lost the SCW tag team titles. I say lost but it was triple threat and we never got pinned, but the sense of loss was there, the sense of not having what we once held dear, was there. This is why we take these titles in high regard, because we won't be feeling that loss again."

I turn my head away from the bright light and towards the camera.

"I haven't forgot about you Crippler. Tell me, how did you get said name? I did a little research on you my friend. I watched a few of your ACW matches. I wish I could call them impressive, I wish I could say I have things to fear. I sadly have nothing to really fear. A little bit of fear keeps us on our toes, a little fear keeps us aware, but I watched and laughed. Your record is pretty poor when it comes to huge matches. Very, very poor. Let's look at these huge matches. You lost against us for these titles, not really as unexpected as most would like to think. A top title match in ACW and again, you choked. You choked so man hard, the breath from your body upped and left. A match for the second biggest title in ACW and again, you failed in your attempt to take the gold."

I smile and shake my head

"Oh Crippler, I recommend you avoid ACW's tag title match I suggest you turn away from this match and simply disappear, just not come back because you will not buck the trend. If you have to ask the question The Clash made famous, should I stay or should I go? I would recommend going before you make more of a joke of that career of yours than it already is."

I move the bright blue ball in front of me, watching the light pulsate.

"It's simple to you both, this is a match that you can not win, this is a match that is way beyond your grasp. You could have as much focus, drive and confidence as you want, but we too have that, we're in your head and have been since this match was announced, we're there driving you insane from the inside to the outside. The confidence means nothing to us on any level. This will turn out to be one of the most once sided matches you two gentlemen have ever been involved in and the title belts will be staying with us."

The camera moves around to my front.

"You're a half arsed team. You know nothing of us, you sit there putting us in the same box as every other team you've ever met. This is not what you should be doing, we are head and shoulders above anyone you've ever met and if you think the first time was rough for you, you wait till this one. The man you met before is not the man you're meeting now. I'm a straight shooter this day, so I'm going to make this as clear as possible so that you both can understand. These titles will be staying with us, you're here to make up the numbers. In this match for these belts, you're like the drunk uncle at a wedding that everyone was hoping wouldn't turn up. So be better than that drunk uncle, don't show up, don't put your face anywhere near this one or we will make this Sinful Obsession two, Canadian Connection zero."

I lift my head, looking deep in to the camera and smiles.

"Believe that!"

I drop the blue ball, causing it to explode and sending a blinding white light across the London skyline. When the light returns to a bearable vision, I'm no longer standing on the beach. The scene fades out