Tuesday 27th May
The scene opens to show the living room of Simon Jones' house in Cardiff. Positioned directly opposite to the camera, is a black sofa. To the left of the sofa is a wooden side table, while to the right of the sofa - in the corner of the room - is an open door, through which part of an unlit hallway is visible; adjacent to the door, is a black armchair.
Sat on the sofa, is Simon Jones' wife, Jacqueline, who is wearing a pair of chocolate brown trousers, and a black appliqué lace collar top; in her arms, Jacqueline is cradling their daughter, Matilda, who is wearing a white bodysuit.
Other than some murmurs from Matilda, the room is currently silent. However, the sound of a door opening is soon heard, which prompts Jacqueline to look down at her daughter.
Jacqueline: 'Daddy's home.'
A figure enters the hallway of the house - although due to the darkness, all that can be seen is a partial silhouette. The sound of a door being closed is then heard, and seconds later, the individual steps into the doorway of the living room - being instantly recognisable, as Simon Jones; Simon is wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, and has on a zipped-up black coat.
Simon: 'Alright, love?'
Jacqueline: 'Yeah, I'm alright. How are you feeling, after over twenty-four hours of travelling?'
In his right hand, Simon is holding a black suitcase; he places the case by the living room door, before walking over to the sofa.
Simon: 'I'm cream crackered - although what happened on Sunday night made it worthwhile.'
Simon leans towards Jacqueline, and the couple kiss; Simon then looks down at their baby daughter.
Simon: 'And hello to you, too.'
Jacqueline: 'I held off putting her in her cot, as I thought that you would probably like to see her while she was still awake.'
Simon quickly exchanges a glance with his wife, before looking back at Matilda, and smiling.
Simon: 'You thought correctly.'
Simon turns to walk towards the armchair, unzipping his coat as he does so; he takes off his coat - revealing a plain grey t-shirt - and places it on the chair. Simon then walks back to the sofa, and sits down, next to his wife and daughter.
Jacqueline: 'Oh, I just remembered: while you were in South Africa, a letter came for you.'
Simon: 'Where is it?'
Jacqueline: 'Here, you take Matilda, and I'll go and get it.'
Jacqueline passes Matilda to Simon; Jacqueline then gets up from the sofa, and walks towards the left of the scene, disappearing from view.
Simon: 'I'm glad to be able to put that suitcase down, after carrying it back from the station - I'm sure it's heavier now than it was when I left last week.'
From off camera, Jacqueline responds, in a slightly sarcastic tone.
Jacqueline: 'I wonder why that is.'
Simon smirks. A moment or two later, Jacqueline reappears, holding a piece of paper in her right hand.
Simon: 'You opened the letter, then.'
Jacqueline: 'Just in case it was something important.'
Simon: 'And is it?'
Jacqueline sit backs down on the sofa, and looks at Simon.
Jacqueline: 'As you've got your hands full, I'll read it for you, shall I?'
Simon: 'Okay.'
Jacqueline turns her attention to the letter.
Jacqueline: 'It says, "Dear Simon, thank you for applying for the position of Football Secretary of Newport County AFC, and your interest in our club. Unfortunately on this occasion, your application has been unsuccessful. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you good luck with your future career." And it's signed, Dave Boddy, Chief Executive, Newport County AFC.'
Simon: 'Is there a date on the letter?'
Jacqueline: 'The twentieth of May.'
Simon: 'So, they finally sent me a letter - four weeks after the deadline for applications.'
Jacqueline places the letter on the table, by the side of the sofa; she then turns back to her husband.
Jacqueline: 'Simon, why did you apply for a job with Newport County? You already have a job - one in which you're fairly successful.'
Simon sighs.
Simon: 'Well, I promised Sylvia that I would talk to you about it once I got home - and I suppose there's no time like the present.'
Jacqueline: 'Talk to me about what?'
Simon lets out another sigh.
Simon: 'I've been giving serious thought to leaving SCW, so that we could move back here, permanently.'
Jacqueline: 'What?'
Jacqueline frowns.
Jacqueline: 'Why?'
Simon: 'It's because of how aware I've become - since we've been back at home - of what we've been missing out on, while we've been living on the other side of the Atlantic.'
Simon quickly glances down at Matilda, before looking back at his wife.
Simon: 'I know I've talked to you about that a couple of times in the past few weeks, and I know you told me that, as long as you're with Matty and I, you'll be happy - but I believe that you would be even happier if you were here, near to your friends and family, rather than in Vegas, over two thousand miles away from them.'
Jacqueline: 'And so you're willing to leave SCW to make that happen - even now, when you're the Heavyweight Champion?'
Simon: 'As I tweeted on Friday evening, you and Matty are more important to me than wrestling. So, if I have to leave SCW - which I would have to, if we were going to live here - then yes, I would be willing to do so.'
Simon's gaze turns to Matilda again.
Simon: 'And speaking of Matty, I would like to bring her up here, in the UK, rather than in the States
Simon then looks back to Jacqueline.
Simon: 'The US has given me so much, as far as my wrestling career is concerned, but I want my daughter to grow up feeling British, not American - I certainly don't want her to end up with an American accent.'
Jacqueline replies, sarcastically.
Jacqueline: 'Yeah, because a Brummie accent is so much better.'
Simon: 'Brummie, Cardiff, whatever, I don't mind - I just want Matty to have an accent that makes her sound like our daughter, and not some child that we adopted.'
Jacqueline glances at Matilda, before turning her attention back to her husband.
Jacqueline: 'So, for how long have you been thinking about this, then?'
Simon gives a slight shrug of his shoulders.
Simon: 'For about five weeks, I guess.'
Jacqueline: 'I see.'
Jacqueline turns her head away from Simon, to look towards the other side of the room for a moment. Jacqueline then turns back to face Simon, and as she speaks again, her voice now contains a hint of anger.
Jacqueline: 'This wanting to move back to the UK, it wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the girl from the gym that you've been seeing - would it?'
The expression on Simon's face changes to a look of bewilderment; it takes a few seconds for him to manage a verbal response.
Simon: 'What?'
The tone of Jacqueline's voice rises slightly.
Jacqueline: 'Oh, don't deny it, Simon. Karen told me that she has seen you being overly friendly with some pretty, musclebound girl from the gym - and not only has she seen the two of you together at the gym, Karen said that she has also seen you spending time with this girl, away from the gym.'
Simon: 'This is what I get for using the same gym as several of our friends.'
Simon shakes his head.
Simon: 'You know, I like Karen, but she is such a gossip.'
Jacqueline: 'Hey, don't blame Karen because you got caught.'
Simon: 'Caught? Caught doing what? There's nothing going on between myself and Natalie - nothing of that nature, anyway.'
Jacqueline: 'That's her name, is it - Natalie?'
Simon nods his head once; as the sense of anger in Jacqueline's voice continues to rise, Simon lowers his own voice, to attempt to avoid being drawn into an argument.
Simon: 'Yes. And we're just friends - nothing more.'
Jacqueline's voice grows louder again, her response laced with a mixture of anger and sarcasm.
Jacqueline: '"Just friends," are you? Well, I'm sure that every man that has ever use that defence was telling the truth.'
Having been awoken by her parents' heated conversation, Matilda starts to cry.
Jacqueline: 'Now look what you've done.'
Simon again struggles to respond, being almost at a loss for words.
Simon: 'What I've done?'
Jacqueline gets up from the sofa, and snatches Matilda from Simon's arms; as Jacqueline walks towards the door, to exit the living room, Simon rises from his seat, turning to look at his wife.
Jacqueline: 'Don't follow me.'
Without even so much as a glance in the direction of her husband, Jacqueline walks out of the room, and out of view. Simon puts both of his hands on his head, his mouth agape, as he is left standing alone in the living room, in shock; Simon then moves his hands, placing them on his hips, and can be seen to silently mouth the words, "What just happened?" As Simon tries to digest exactly what has just happened, the scene fades to black.
