Post by Ashleigh Grimes on Jun 23, 2016 23:26:15 GMT -5
** OFF CAMERA **
Ashleigh shoulders her way through the door and into the vacant waiting area of the strip mall lawyer’s office with a backpack slung over her shoulder. Her eyes scan the room with its cheap folding chairs, outdated magazines and stale cigarette smell even though no one’s been allowed to smoke in there for years. Normally there’d be a disinterested receptionist waiting to “greet” her and a host of miscreants who were either guilty or liars, because if you were innocent or honest you didn’t end up here. This was a Sunday however and the office was closed, though it wasn’t just any Sunday, it was Father’s Day.
She pauses outside a worn wooden door and shakes her head while gazing at faded letters that read, “Oswald Finch, Esq.” Every year for the past six years she’d made fun of his less than stately signage and every year he told her it was fine as it was. She turns the knob and enters without knocking, formality was never her strong suit and the worst she’d ever caught him doing was plucking his nose hairs.
Oswald Finch sits in his chair, feet crossed atop his desk, hands clasped behind his head; snoring. His office is adorned with a collection of professional wrestling memorabilia. Anyone who’s followed Ash’s backstory would know that Finch is not only a less than scrupulous lawyer but a failed agent as well. In fact, the sole reason Finch plucked Ashleigh from the judicial system and set her upon a path to become the professional wrestling tour de force she is today, was for revenge against one Eric Telfor, a universally recognized evil genius in the world of wrestling. His revenge realized and his protégé performing better than expected, Finch’s contact with Ashleigh had become fleeting at best.
With a roll of her eyes Ash deposits her backpack atop his desk with a resounding thud, causing Oswald to snort and nearly choke on his snore before bolting upright and staring towards her with a dazed expression.
Oswald: Who? What? Hold up now…
His expression turns to one of relief as he focuses on Ashleigh.
Oswald: Oh, it’s you. I thought maybe they’d found me.
Her brow quirks.
Ashleigh: You thought maybe who’d found you?
He shrugs it off.
Oswald: Not important. Just a little misunderstanding that I’m sure will be cleared up soon enough.
Oswald motions towards her with a smile.
Oswald: Look at you. To what do I owe the honor? Please tell me you’re here to draw up a prenup before you and Prince Charming get hitched.
Her brow furrows.
Ashleigh: No. I don’t need a prenup. Do I?
Oswald shrugs.
Oswald: Not unless you want some measure of security before making the biggest mistake of your young life.
Her jaw drops.
Ashleigh: Biggest mistake? I thought you came around… I thought, you liked Gavin.
Oswald exhales while walking around the desk.
Oswald: It’s not that I don’t like him. He’s done right by you, so far.
His hands rest upon her shoulders as he looks her in the eyes.
Oswald: He’s a hot head and he comes from bad stock. Eventually he’s going to follow that path.
Ashleigh’s eyes narrow as they scan his features.
Ashleigh: No he won’t. He’s better than that… better than them. You’ll see.
She shrugs him off and he immediately raises his hands to show he meant no harm.
Oswald: Okay, okay. I hope you’re right, I do. I hope he’s everything you believe him to be. But where’s the harm in having a safety net just in case? This way if things go south you keep the condo and you keep the lion’s share of your savings considering you make more than he does. Am I wrong? Think about it.
She thinks for a fraction of a second before responding.
Ashleigh: Yeah, you are wrong.
He folds his arms and leans against his desk.
Oswald: C’mon Ashleigh. I’ve seen my share of messy divorces. They all start out lovey dovey, with both parties thinking the other would never hurt them… until they do. You’re young, he’s the first guy you’ve ever loved, I get it. But that’s all the more reason to be safe. Unless you think he wouldn’t sign it.
She fires back immediately.
Ashleigh: He’d sign it. Because he believes in us like I believe in us.
Oswald: Then where’s the harm?
Ashleigh: The harm is in introducing the possibility of failure in the first place. Everything we’ve achieved we’ve achieved together so no prenup and that’s final.
Oswald shrugs.
Oswald: It’s your funeral, or should I say divorce? Do I at least get to give the bride away?
Ash snorts.
Ashleigh: Right, as if you’d want to. Besides it’s not going to be nearly that formal, just Gav and I at some twenty-four hour chapel; a spur of the moment sort of thing.
Her eyes fall on Oswald who looks surprisingly disappointed.
Oswald: Oh…
She blinks, unsure of how to read his reaction.
Ashleigh: Why? Was that important to you? I mean considering my marriage is doomed to end in divorce and all.
He waves her off.
Oswald: Of course not, you know I’m not into that sentimental crap.
They stand there in awkward silence until Oswald finally breaks it.
Oswald: So, what brings you here? If not Gavin troubles then I’m guessing it must be contract related; that Scott character trying to screw you over?
She shakes her head.
Ashleigh: Nah, Devlin’s been great.
Ashleigh unzips her backpack and takes out a bottle of Maker’s Mark Bourbon and two tumbler glasses. Placing the glasses down upon the desk she unscrews the cap and pours; offering him a glass which he accepts with a smile.
Oswald: Muchas gracias. What are we celebrating?
Ash raises her glass and clinks it against his.
Ashleigh: You.
He goes to take a sip but nearly spills his drink in surprise.
Oswald: Me? What’d I do?
She shrugs before hiding her grin behind her glass while taking a sip of bourbon.
Ashleigh: I dunno. Sent me down the right path, I guess.
Oswald continues to study her.
Oswald: So you were feeling nostalgic and thought you’d stop by?
She lowers her glass with a sigh.
Ashleigh: You seriously don’t know what day it is, do you?
Oswald: It’s Sunday.
She rolls her eyes.
Ashleigh: It’s Father’s Day.
Oswald blinks as her intention finally dawns on him and he quickly chugs the entire glass of bourbon, wiping his lips with the back of his hand when he’s done. Ash watches him and chuckles.
Ashleigh: Is my coming to see you on Father’s Day that awkward?
For once the lawyer with the gift of gab is fumbling over his words.
Oswald: No, of course not. It’s just that I… Well, I thought you uh… I didn’t realize…
He chuckles and shakes his head before extending his glass.
Oswald: I think I’m going to need another pour.
She pours him another before setting the bottle down and nervously pushing her hair behind her ears.
Ashleigh: Right, well this got weird. Um… are you going to freak out if I give you a present?
His brow furrows.
Oswald: You mean the bourbon wasn’t a present?
Ashleigh: Another present then.
He shrugs.
Oswald: No promises, I’m already off my game with this whole surrogate father thing.
She leers at him for a moment before reaching into her bag, pulling out the Inferno Championship and holding it towards him. Oswald’s eyes light up as they trace the façade of the belt and a smile tugs at the corners of his mouth as he sees her name on the nameplate. After a moment he pulls his gaze from the belt and looks up at her.
Oswald: What’s this?
She offers it up.
Ashleigh: It’s yours. I figured you could display it in your office. Well, at least until we find out what’s going on with Inferno and if I’ll ever have to defend it.
His eyes widen.
Oswald: You’re giving me the first title you ever won?
She shrugs.
Ashleigh: More like loaning it to you, but I figure you put an awful lot into it too. Without you…
She nods towards the belt.
Ashleigh: …this never would’ve been possible.
He takes the belt in his hands and looks down at it in amazement.
Ashleigh: Besides, I know you’re a dork when it comes to wrestling memorabilia. The Five Lakes stays with me though. I’m pretty sure Devlin would frown upon me pawning it off to my agent, even if he is like a father to me.
Oswald smiles as he looks up from the belt.
Oswald: Thank you.
She returns the smile, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek.
Ashleigh: Happy Father’s Day, you’re the closest thing I’ve got.
He nods but looks at her as if she knows better.
Oswald: You know that’s not true. I have information on your biological parents all you have to do is say the…
She presses her index finger against his lips and shakes her head.
Ashleigh: We’ve been over this; I don’t have parents. I never did.
He nods.
Oswald: But should you ever…
Ashleigh: Don’t ruin this by talking about them.
Oswald: Fine. I’ll respect your wishes.
She kisses him on the cheek once more.
Ashleigh: Good. I’ve gotta run, something about cutting a promo against some fuck-tard who doesn’t know she’s already lost, even though she’s literally already lost to me.
Oswald chuckles.
Oswald: Good luck with that; and be careful should you put her through another table, splinters can be dangerous.
Ashleigh grins as she heads for the door, leaving behind her backpack, the bourbon and the Inferno Championship. Pausing for a moment she turns to face him.
Ashleigh: Just out of curiosity; am I really half-Mexican or is that just a fantasy of Gavin’s?
Oswald smiles.
Oswald: Your biological father is Mexican.
She rolls her eyes.
Ashleigh: A Mexican sperm donor, of course. Gavin is going to love that. I’m not telling him.
Oswald laughs.
Oswald: See? Your marriage is doomed! You’re keeping secrets already!!
Ashleigh flips him the bird over her shoulder as she walks out of his office, through the vacant reception area and out into the parking lot of the strip mall. As the sun shines brightly, she shields her eyes before sliding on a pair of sunglasses.
** ON CAMERA **
Adjusting her sunglasses Ash takes a moment to bathe in the light before addressing the camera.
Ashleigh: Vegas baby, you’ve gotta love it. The City of Sin, which if you were raised here you’d know is a truth that extends beyond the strip and the casinos. Vegas has a seedy underbelly and moral corruption that runs deeper than most any place else in the world. So while others like Ms. Rydell chastise me for my unscrupulous demeanor and backstabbing ways; I embrace the hate and take it as a compliment, because I’m a child of Las Vegas with every fiber of my being.
She removes her sunglasses and raises her hand, palm extended towards the lens. The perspective of the shot changes; swinging around 180 degrees so we’re looking over her shoulder, only she’s no longer in a strip mall parking lot. Her extended hand is pressed against a pane of glass beyond which a dozen newborns cry in a hospital maternity ward.
Ashleigh: This city birthed me. My biological father donated the sperm and my biological mother donated the egg but Las Vegas raised me, instilled its values in me and taught me how to survive. So when you ask me Kenzie, how can I do the things I do? The answer is simple; I’m not bound by your morals, I don’t crumble under the weight of your guilt and I don’t have your overwhelming need to please others.
Her eyes shift so they’re gazing into the camera through the reflection off the window pane.
Ashleigh: Ironic, isn’t it? How all you’ve ever wanted is for them to love you yet they continue to shower you with hate. That’s the thing when you try to be a people pleaser; the smart people see you as an easy mark and walk all over you. They sense your weakness and smell your eagerness and they turn it against you. It’s what made you a perfect target for a group like A.O.D. You were eager and desperate and naïve and more than anything you wanted to be a part of something, you wanted to fit in. I imagine it’s a result of your tragic upbringing, a military brat shuttled from city to city and town to town; desperate to make friends, and just as those relationships begin to bear fruit it’s time to pack up and start all over again. You’ve spent your entire life trying to be what you thought others wanted you to be, hoping you’d be accepted. But you’ve never been anything more than an afterthought; the girl in the background no one notices. That’s why while you rotted away in a hospital bed after your TLC match with Gavin, no one cared.
She smirks, turning to face the camera while leaning against the glass.
Ashleigh: Twenty four hours after Dirk attacked me I was out of the hospital and on the mend. I didn’t look for sympathy or words of encouragement, but you did. I’ll admit, even I was a bit surprised by the callous nature of our peers. I figured at the very least some of the bleeding hearts who are an embarrassment to our sport would’ve reached out to support you, but all you heard were crickets. In fact when Spencer tweeted out that you’d be laid up in the hospital for a few days while the doctors ran some tests; how did our boss Devlin Scott reply? By tweeting out that you’d have to defend your title or forfeit it at the next show.
She grins as the camera pulls in tight on her face.
Ashleigh: Do you want to hear how Devlin reacted to me being in the hospital? It was quite the opposite. He told me to take my time and make sure I was one hundred percent before returning to the ring and he chastised Bentley for being a coward. In fact the entire wrestling community rallied around me as a whole while you were left pushing your little red panic button and couldn’t get so much as an orderly to pay attention to you. Why do you think that is? Why do you think that while you trip over yourself in an effort to make people love you they love me instead, even after I betray their trust and behave like an asshole?
The shot pulls back and Ashleigh’s no longer leaning against the window of the maternity ward but instead against a chain link fence outside a construction site. A large Rottweiler paces on the other side of the fence, barking and snarling as drool hangs from its jowls.
Ashleigh: It’s because people know what I stand for and that I don’t stray from my stance. Unlike you I don’t feel an overwhelming need to be everybody’s friend and therefore alienate the few friends I already have. We don’t live in a world where you can be buddy, buddy with Gavin, JMC and Corey Bull and no one is offended. At some point you need to pick a side and stand by it, only you don’t. You wither and waiver in hopes of appeasing everyone and end up with the respect of no one. I’d rather have one friend who’s fiercely loyal than a hundred like you. You like to spin the narrative of our supposed friendship and say it was me who turned on you but what you fail to realize is that no one betrays people more than you do. They may be minor betrayals but over the course of time they add up, slowly eroding your relationships to the point where no one would ever trust you to have their back. You’re not a friend, you’re an acquaintance and distant one at that; someone people keep at arm’s length because of all the stupid shit you do. It’s why you barely lasted a week in A.O.D. even though you were the perfect patsy for that group. So next time you accuse me of being selfish, take a good, hard look in the mirror, ignore your lack of a chest and realize that there’s no one more selfish than you Kenzie Rydell. You continually put yourself ahead of others but here’s the thing, you’re not even good enough to look out for number one. Which is why it’s hilarious that the woman who was once the, “longest reigning champ in NGW” finds herself on the outside looking in with nothing to keep you relevant, aside from me.
Ashleigh glances up at the fence before scaling it with ease; leaping over the razor wire at the top and landing on her feet directly in front of the snarling Rottweiler. As the dog stalks towards her Ashleigh rolls her eyes.
Ashleigh: Princess, sit!!
The dog immediately sits and begins wagging her tail as Ashleigh crouches down and speaks to her in soft voice.
Ashleigh: Now come here little girl and get your tummy rubbed.
The dog scampers over and rolls onto her back for tummy lovings. While dispensing said lovings, Ashleigh smiles up at the camera.
Ashleigh: Like I said, Vegas is my city and this is just like every other construction site me and my hoodlum friends used to steal copper from. Princess here reminds me of you Kenz, all bark and no bite yet the company continues to employ her because she’s a, “safe choice.” What’s that mean? It means should some little shit like me decide to hop the fence and try their luck with the dog, she’s not going to rip them to shreds and land the company as a defendant in a million dollar civil suit. They decided it was wise to keep this old girl patrolling the perimeter to scare off the casual interlopers but they didn’t want her taking a chunk out of anyone who actually trespassed because in today’s bleeding heart society that person would end up the victim, charges be damned.
Ashleigh stops scratching the dog’s tummy and Princess immediately bathes her in kisses until she resumes the belly rubs.
Ashleigh: That’s the problem when you employ a half measure instead of a full. Half measures are ineffective; much like you were as our Five Lakes Champion. Sure if some subpar competition strolled in and tried to wrest the title from your hands you’d be able to scare them away but the second serious competition steps to the plate you roll over and play dead. All that barking, all those threats, all that talk about how this was going to be the moment you distinguished yourself, yet every big match you’ve ever been a part of you’ve come up short. You lost to me in grand fashion. You fucked things up in that Rags to Riches handicapped match. You came up short against Gavin and you got bested by Shelley who thanks to me now realizes she doesn’t belong in this company. “But Ashleigh, she pinned Gray Malone, not me!!” Boo-fucking-hoo! She laid you out and then chose to pin Gray. You were there. She got the jump on you. You let it happen. So what if Shelley didn’t pin the reigning Champion to win the Five Lakes, because guess what? Neither did you. You didn’t pin Karin, you won a vacant title. That pretty much sums up your career in a nutshell so far as I’m concerned. You’ve lost every big match you’ve ever been involved in save for that one instance where you won a vacant title. Bravo Kenzie Rydell, you sure have come a long way.
She stands, leaving the dog as she walks towards the camera.
Ashleigh: Do you know who’s really come a long way? Me. I started in that hospital as a ward of the state; just another nameless child of the system. I followed a path of delinquency; getting bounced from foster home to foster home while hanging out in places like this, stealing whatever I could and running from the cops. That led to my becoming intimate with the Nevada State Juvenile System and the inner workings of courtrooms and detention centers. But the hand of fate had a different plight in mind, so Finch snatched me up just in time.
She pauses for a moment and smiles.
Ashleigh: You’d be amazed what a course adjustment can do for a directionless girl.
As she starts to walk the construction site fades into the background and we find she’s suddenly walking along the Vegas strip, surrounded by fans and autograph seekers.
Ashleigh: Now I have the world in my hand, and make no mistake Kenz, Vegas is my world. It’s why I shined in Inferno while the likes of you, Bully and Bentley couldn’t hack it and ran off in search of lesser competition. While you hid I dominated, and if I’m being honest there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t get a good chuckle out of what I did to you. I wonder how that felt, being told exactly what I was going to do yet being powerless to stop it. Must be déjà vu all over again, huh?
She pauses to sign a couple of autographs but continues to address the camera while doing so.
Ashleigh: This is where I’m at my best and you know it because you’ve experienced my best firsthand. No hotel, no plane ride, no anxiety; just me rolling out of bed and kicking your ass until I decide you’ve had enough. Then again there a perks to knowing what lies ahead. There’s an advantage behind accepting that you can’t win. It’s allowed you to take a second booking and stand by Avery’s side for the tag titles. Most people look at that and say, “Kenzie’s crazy! She needs to save herself for her match against Ashleigh.” But you and me, we know better. We know that booking yourself in that match was smart. You’ve already chalked up our encounter as a loss so you’re free to focus on becoming a tag champion. Put all your effort into the championship you can attain as opposed to the one you can’t. You win that match at least you’ll walk out of City of Sin batting .500. So kudos to you for accepting the inevitable and forming a contingency plan, especially with someone like Miles who should be good enough to hide your shortcomings. Then again even Gavin couldn’t save you from getting pinned in that handicapped match so maybe Avery made a poor choice after all. Imagine how disparaging it’ll be if the great Kenzie Rydell goes 0 for 2 for on the night.
She signs a few more autographs before continuing down the strip.
Ashleigh: Some people think going through a horrible ordeal a second time will make it easier simply because you’ll know what to expect and be better prepared, those people haven’t been faced with the daunting task of facing me a second time. Preparation doesn’t matter. How does one prepare to get outworked, outclassed and outshined at every turn? You can’t. You just have to strap on your big girls pants, slide in a heavy duty tampon and hope to survive. The last time we faced each other I drove you through a table and then an ambulance drove you to the hospital. Knowing that I’m someone who continually strives to better herself, you should be concerned about how this one will end. The one thing we know for certain is that wherever you wake up, you’ll be doing so alone.
A wicked grin curls to life across her lips.
Ashleigh: So let’s hear it one last time for the City of Sin; I promise you Kenzie Rydell, you’ll never come out the way you went in.
As more fans converge, the scene slowly fades to black.