Changes

==========

Off Camera

==========

The calm before the storm.

The calm before the storm is a phrase that refers to a period of peace before disturbance or crisis.  You could compare it to that strange, almost eerie stillness that seems to occur right before a major storm is about to strike.

Suzanna Smith, an administrative assistant at Jones Wrestling Incorporated, has worked with Kayla Jones for many years.  Samantha has been with Kayla during the good times and the bad times.  Samantha was one of Kayla’s first hires when the company was just a modeling company. She assisted Kayla in the transition from just a modeling company to being a managerial agency when Jones got the idea that she wanted to manage the careers of wrestlers as well as wrestle for herself.  Samantha watched Kayla during the ups and the downs of her wrestling career and she knows what Kayla, and really all Jones women, to be perfectly frank, are like when they succeed.

Victory and success for the Jones women tends to go to their head.  Success makes them think they are invincible.  Success makes them think that they are unstoppable.  Success makes Jones women think that no force under heaven in the earth itself can stop them.

Unfortunately, failure can also have a very severe affect upon the Jones women.  Whether it’s Angelica, Kayla, or Angelica’s daughters Marie and Corey, it seems that a storm comes whenever they fail.  Failure brings about a storm of angry feelings, negativity, and hatred from the usually happy-go-lucky Jones women.

And that’s putting it mildly.

The SCW pay per view, Violence In Vegas, has come and gone.  Kayla Jones went up against Ravyn Taylor with the United States Championship on the line.  It appeared as if Kayla perhaps had things well in hand going into the match.  Two Breakdown episodes in a row, Kayla left Ravyn lying in the center of the ring after a Kaylan Wind Kick.  Despite Kayla and her sister’s somewhat underhanded tactics, it did indeed seem as if Kayla was destined to become champion.  Even Samantha herself began to believe that Kayla was going to win the SCW United States Championship.

Samantha could only have imagined what things would have been like had Kayla Jones succeeded in upending Ravyn for the championship.  It is doubtful that you could stand to be around her for any period of time.  That’s how much her bragging and gloating would no doubt get on Samantha’s nerves, anyway.  But things did not turn out that way and Samantha does not have to worry about that.  Instead she has to fear about what may be potentially a worse consequence; namely, the rage that will accompany Kayla Jones losing to Ravyn Taylor at Violence In Vegas.

As much as Kayla may want to be champion right now, she has to put that match, that failure, out of her mind and focus on her next match against Jackson Bowker.  Unlike Kayla, Bowker had a successful night at Violence In Vegas, defeating Tommy Griffin.  Now he hopes to keep up the momentum with a win over a member of the famous Jones family.

Yes, that’s the match Kayla should be focus on right now but Samantha knows her well enough to know that she will still be upset and raging over the outcome of her own match at Violence In Vegas.  She is just sitting here at her desk in Kayla’s office doing paperwork, patiently waiting for the calm to pass and for the storm to come.

Just then the door swings wildly and violently open.  Samantha looks up from her paperwork to see Kayla Jones stomping and storming in angrily.  The angry red-head doesn’t even bother to speak to or look at Samantha.  She walks right past her and to her own desk where she sits down in the comfortable leather roller chair.  She props her elbows up on the desk and her head rests in her hands.

The quiet from Kayla is strange; too strange.  Samantha does not like it.  Something is wrong and, while logic tells her to leave it alone, she cannot help but inquire as to her employer’s state of being.  She and Kayla have worked so long together that she views her as a friend more than a boss and thus she cannot help but feel bad for her.  Samantha wants to help.

“Penny for your thoughts, Ms. Jones?”

Kayla looks up from her desk and glares angrily at Samantha.  If looks could kill, Samantha would be dead, and she knows it, especially from the ice cold glare she is receiving from her employer right now.  Samantha is now beginning to question the wisdom in her decision to speak to an obviously upset Kayla Jones.

“I’m not in the mood to talk, Samantha.”

Venom drips from Kayla’s voice, making it abundantly clear that she is not to be trifled with right now.  Samantha nods her head and goes back to her paperwork.

“I apologize, Ms. Jones…”

Kayla Jones stares at her administrative assistant for several seconds, contemplating what she just said.  Feeling guilty, the redhead sighs and nods.

“I’m sorry, Samantha.” Kayla states quietly. “I should not have snapped at you.  You’re only trying to help and what happened at Violence In Vegas was not your fault.”

Samantha looks up from her work and smiles at Kayla. “It’s ok, it’s just one match anyway, Ms. Jones, and that isn’t anything to get too upset over.  Is it?”

Kayla frowns. “Just one match?  Excuse me, Samantha, but you really don’t understand professional wrestling, now do you?  I mean, how could you understand when you yourself are not a professional wrestler?”

Kayla’s face contorts as she grows more and more intense.  The nervousness inside Samantha grows as well as she watches her boss’s ever changing facial features.

“This was a championship match, Samantha.  This was not just a simple one on one may the best competitor win.  This was about championship gold.  Do you know what being United States Champion would have meant for this company, for Jones Wrestling Incorporated?”

“I imagine it would have meant a great deal, Ms. Jones…” Samantha says, her voice trailing off.

“Damn right it would have meant a great deal.” Kayla’s voice rises as she grows more intense. “But I didn’t win the title, now did I?”

Samantha shakes her head. “No, you did not.”

“No, I did not.  But…”

Kayla gets up, standing up from the chair, and she begins to walk away from the chair and desk.  Jones makes her way towards her administrative assistant’s desk where she stops, and sits down on the edge of the desk.  She looks down at Samantha, smirking.

“…I have a plan.”

“A plan?”

“That’s right, I have a plan.” Kayla states confidently. “This is not the end for me.  This is a setback, but setbacks are just setups for a comeback!”

Kayla hops up off of her assistant’s desk and then walks back over to her own desk where she takes her seat again.  Samantha looks curiously at Kayla, frowning.

“Uh, Ms. Jones, may I speak freely?”

“You may.”

Samantha nods her head. “Good, because I consider you a friend and I worry about you.”

After staring at Samantha for a few moments, a smile forms upon her face.  Kayla is genuinely touched by this statement by her administrative assistant.

“Thank you, Samantha.  I had no idea.  I mean, I haven’t exactly been endearing myself to anyone lately.”

“You haven’t endeared yourself to wrestling fans nor have you endeared yourself to your fellow wrestlers but you have always treated me well.  You have treated me with the utmost dignity and respect from the moment you hired me.  I appreciate that.”

Kayla nods her head. “Yeah and I appreciate you too, Samantha.”

“Now look,” Samantha begins, her demeanor changing ever so subtly “I know you have your goals and your agenda, and I know it hurts to lose to Ravyn Taylor when a championship was at stake, but you need to move on.  You have more important things to deal with, to worry about than her.”

Kayla laughs ever so slightly under her breath. “If you’re talking about Jackson Bowker, then you can rest assured that I will kick that loser’s teeth right down his damn throat.”

Samantha shakes her head. “I wasn’t talking about him.”

The administrative assistant opens a drawer to her desk and reaches inside, pulling out a folder, the contents of which remain a mystery as she walks away from the desk, folder in hand, and places the folder upon Kayla’s desk.  Jones looks at the folder and then back up at Samantha.

“Open it.”

Kayla, without speaking, nods her head.  She takes the folder into her hands and opens it up.  Jones gazes at the contents with wide eyed surprise. They are photos of a woman, a redheaded woman whom Jones seems to know quite well.  After looking at the folder and its contents quite thoroughly, Kayla places the folder back down on the desk and looks up at Samantha.

“That’s Anastasia…”

“Not quite.” Samantha remarks. “Actually that’s her mother, her birth mother whom your father adopted her from.”

Kayla narrows her brow as she studies Samantha.  She is shocked that she knew all of this, seeing as she did not tell her any of it.  She has done her best to keep this within the family.

“How did you…”

“How did I know about her?” Samantha asks, Kayla nodding her head in response. “The answer to that is simple.  She came by our office for a visit.”

Kayla’s face goes white as a sheet. “She did?”

“I don’t know why she wants you to have these pictures but she asked me to give them to you and so I have.  She also wants to talk to you.”

“She wants to talk?”

“To you and your sister both.  But Ms. Jones…”

“Yes?”

“Be careful.” Samantha says quietly. “Something doesn’t seem right about this.”

Kayla pauses momentarily as she stares at the photos again.  Finally…

“Yeah…I think you’re right…”

Kayla sighs as she rests her head in her hands. “What have I done?”

Samantha gazes at her friend, her boss, Kayla Jones and she smiles warmly.  She feels bad for her and does her best to offer what little comfort she can, even though she cannot possibly understand the trouble Jones is going through right now.

The assistant gets up from her desk and walks over towards Kayla’s desk.  Samantha pats her employer on the back, gently, comfortingly, and speaks warmly to her, hoping it can comfort her.

“It’s nothing you did, Ms. Jones…”

“Kayla.”

“Huh?”

Kayla smiles. “Call me Kayla.”

“Ok,” Samantha smiles back at her “Kayla, it isn’t your fault.”

“Is it my father’s fault for not telling me and my sister about this?  About her?”

Samantha shakes her head. “No, I don’t think this is his fault, either.  I’m not sure now is the time to be blaming anyone, anyway.  Now is the time for answers.  And you know what you must do?”

Kayla nods her head. “I need to talk to Anastasia…or my father…”

“They are the only ones with any answers, Kayla.”

==========

On Camera

==========

The camera rolls. Kayla Jones immediately is seen entering the scene from stage left.  The beautiful redhead is wearing a figure flattering short lace dress that features a sheer mesh insert that accentuates her trim waistline.  The sheer hemline on the hip skimming pencil skirt adds to the glamour and a delicate sheer lace covers the romantic cutout back.  Her feet are encased in black high heeled sandals and her long red hair hangs unrestrained to shoulder length.  Her nails, both finger and toe, are painted a bright red color.

“Yes, yes, I am facing Jackson Bowker on Breakdown, and yes, I will address that piece of garbage in a moment.  But before I do that, I need to first address one other incident that occurred at Violence In Vegas.”

The redhead makes the title belt motion around her waist. “Notice something that’s missing?  Yeah, I do too.  The SCW United States Championship SHOULD be around my waist right now but, unfortunately, due to clear cheating on behalf of Supreme Championship Wrestling, I did not come out victorious and that washed up no-talent bat Ravyn Taylor is still champion.”

“It shouldn’t come as to any surprise that SCW would screw me over at Violence In Vegas.  The truth is that everyone is jealous of athletes from New England.  Just look at how the NFL tried to railroad the defending and soon to be future Super Bowl 50 champion New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.  Deflategate was just an invention by the NFL to try and ruin a great team’s reputation.  But it didn’t work.  They have made it back to the AFC Championship and soon they’ll be in the Super Bowl.”

“As for me, SCW did not concoct a fake scandal to screw me over.  Instead they used computer technology.  You see, I never tapped out to Ravyn.  It only looked like I tapped out due to camera tricks and CGI.  I never tapped out because, you know, that move of hers doesn’t actually hurt.  She clearly doesn’t know how to apply it properly.  But SCW had its rotten referee call for the bell, end the match, and they even added the fancy camera tricks and CGI to make it look like I tapped out when in reality I did not.”

“I promised to make SCW and America great again by winning that United States Championship but, clearly, SCW wants to remain in a dismal toilet of complete and utter mediocrity and they want to drag this country down with it.  That’s fine, but I will not be a part of it.  So, as of now, until Ravyn Taylor is no longer United States Champion, I am renouncing my United States Citizenship.  I am now a citizen of the great Republic of Nauru.”

A wide ear to ear grin forms across her face as she winks at the camera.

“And I dedicate my next match, my next VICTORY, to the great people of Nauru, my new home!” She smirks.

“Now then Bowker, I’m not sure what part of you disgusts me the most.  There’s your cheesy as hell entrance.  Seriously, Bowker?  Queen?  The 1970s called and they want their song back, you pathetic bastard.  But I’ll tell you one thing for a fact, you will NOT be rocking anyone that night.  But you can expect to have your jaw rocked, rolled, and knocked off when I kick your in the damn mouth.  Or maybe I’ll just kick your stupid ass so hard that you’ll go flying out of the arena and up to the waiting arms of Megatron and  Optimus Prime.  That’s where you supposedly reside.  Cybertron?  Once again, who the fuck but a cheesy loser claims to be from there?  You’re an adult, Bowker.  At least, I thought you were.”

“Now I can give credit where credit is due.  You did succeed at Violence In Vegas whereas I failed, albeit due to a screwjob from SCW management.  Nevertheless, you were successful over that Griffin guy, right?”

Kayla shakes her head. “Beat someone of note and we’ll talk, Bowker.  I am a legend in this business and to me you are nothing but dirt underneath my heel.  It is an insult to me and my greatness that I am even having to face the likes of you.  This match is going to be your shining moment in the spotlight, your chance to share the ring with a superstar, a real live superstar in this business, someone who has done it all from training wrestlers, managing wrestlers, owning a wrestling company, and even wrestling herself.  You should feel honored, Bowker.”

“Well, normally you would feel honored by this, but the truth is that you should feel afraid, oh so very afraid, because the fact is that you drew my number at the worst possible time in your pathetic career.  I am severely pissed off right now and I am going to take all of my frustrations out on you when I kick your teeth down your god damn throat!”

“Now excuse me for being a little cheesy here, but considering how your entire make-up and personality is nothing but cheesy, I think I’m entitled to a little bit of it myself.  I’m going to end you on Breakdown, Jackson.  Why?  Because I can.  Watching you writhe in pain, watching you get carted off on a stretcher will make me feel better.  So yes, I am going to end you on Breakdown and I am going to do it for me, for my sister Angelica, and for the few loyal TRUE friends I have who continue to support me, unlike SCW, who have cast me aside like yesterday’s garbage and the fans, the fans who are so stupidly fickle that they don’t even know who they support from hour to hour on a wrestling show.”

She smirks. “I’m going to so enjoy beating the hell out of you in front of the fans.  I am going to enjoy leaving you a bloody mess in front of the fans.  And most importantly, I will enjoy standing victorious over your beaten and battered body.”