"Dude... I can't believe it.....The man got turned down... DAMN! How often has that happened bro?" Star says to his younger brother James. James just sits, tongue in cheek. "Seriously man, The great madman got denied! Rejected on National TV! You're losin your touch my man..." he said as he took the doobie from my hand.

"Do you ever shut up?" I asked with a cocky grin.

The smartass puffed on the marijuana cigarette between his words, "Lemme think...No."

"I didn't lose my touch...She's just preoccupied. Whatever. It's not like I needed her anyways..." I say with a shrug as I take the joint back and take my own few hits..

"Huh?"

"Danielle came back last week." I say my face cearly defying my attempts to hide emotion, as I passed the joint back to him.

He sat, slack-jawed and bogey-eyed for a moment, as he slowly took the joint.".......You're shitting me." He said after hitting it.

"Nope, just knocked on my damn door when I was trying to be alone, and work on the next installment of The King. Which, by the way, I'm calling it Sheer Madness." I said, speaking of my novel series that had actually grown a decent fanbase

He passed the doobie back to me before questioning me, "Damn man, so what happened there?"

"Well..." I started as my memories faded back to that day. The THC in the joint helping me to recall everything clearly.

[======================================================]

I was stricken by so many emotions, thoughts and feelings it was amazing I could form words, but somehow I did, although they weren't the best choice, they worked for all intensive purposoes. "Danielle... What the hell? I...I...This is just a shock, I mean it's been what? Like eight years or something hasn't it?"

She paused before correcting me as she entered and I shut the door. "Eleven James...Eleven Years since we were together."

The haunting memories slowly crept into my mind."Daaaaammmmmnnnn...that's right...I was with you for the first year I was on the road... I don't remember the date, but I remember the day you left."

A pause and a frown later she answered. "I remember the day we met, and the day I left."

"......so....After all this time...Wha...Why...How....?" I stutter and stammer, still awestruck that the most amazing female in my life had suddenly returned.

She sits down on the couch behind my coffee table and open pizza box, and hangs her head. "After that day... I went on with life. I went on like nothing was wrong, and the world was right. Things were okay for a while, I missed you, I won't lie... but I moved on and found someone else. We were together for a while and it had been a little more than a year since you'd been out of my life...when it happend."

I take a seat next to her, and am unsure if I should do something. I think about putting my hand upon her shoulders and it sits in the space of air just above her shoulders for a while before I pull it back."What happened?" I ask.

"Well Nick and I were laying in bed and I was flipping through the channels while he was asleep and as I was flipping through I seen a man with long black hair standing on a turnbuckle-" she says recalling her own memories, that may or may not be painful.

"...me." I say quietly.

"It was you, and I knew instantly. My mind raced backwards as I just watched. You leapt off the turnbuckle and did this...flip thing that I used to love watching you do. The referee dropped and the bell rang. You won. I was so happy for you. And you had your arm raised, and you were smiling, and he handed you a title. You pointed to someone in the audience, but I couldn't see who it was, the camera didn't show-"

I mouth her name quietly to myself, "Veya."

"-but then a group of people came out from the back and began to beat you down. They beat you so bad James...You were left laying in a pool of blood... I wanted to be there for you, I don't knwo why, or what it was but I felt so bad. Almost like it was my fault." she says looking like she's ready to burst into tears at any given moment.

"It wasn't your fault Dani. It was part of the show."I try to e comforting, but I really don't know how to at this point.

"I know, and I knew that then, but the way my heart raced when I first saw you... I knew I still cared... I continued to watch you every night I could while Nick slept. It felt like I was cheating on him...Shortly thereafter you weren't on that show anymore and I had to find you again... Eventually I did, and over time I found myself keeping up with everything you were doing by the internet. I followed youor entire career..."

"..." I sat speechless, I really didn't know what to say.

Here was this woman I had loved, the first woman I had ever loved, who ended our relationship despite her love for me, because she wasn't sure if she could trust me.

"Eventually Nick found out, it caused a fight, and we separated. I've been single ever since... Just working and following your career." she said, sounding without regret.

"Why didn't you try to come see me earlier?" I asked a mixture of saddness and joy swirling through the chemical structure of my mind.

"With bills and such I never had enough for backstage passes to any of your shows. A couple of times I tried to get your attention in the parking lot, but before I could you were mauled by crowds of people, and I was reduced to a whisper in the wind. I always found myself walking away with my head down." as she haeld her head in what I assume was much the same fashion.

"..." I admit, I had not once even heard or seen her at a show. I never noticed, I never knew, but I couldn't say it...I just sat there silently in amazement. i reached to the end table and grabbed a cigarette. As I opened the pack of Marlboro menthols she reached over and took one. Lighting it and taking a long drag. "Since when do you smoke?" I asked recalling that she was always against my bad habit.

She waitied long enough for me to finish the question and answered almost immediately after, "since Nick..."

"...Fair enough." I say as I light my own. "So how did you end up here?"

"Earlier this year I heard about EWA...Now Anarchy Wrestling... and that they only did shows in Glendale. I started saving for a plane and show ticket. When I finally had enough, I decided to keep saving and get enouogh for a place. I did, and well... I made it to the show. When I got there, I snuck backstage, and was busted by security. I told them I was your girlfriend and I was looking for you...but they wouldn't believe me... they were escorting me out when Danny showed up." she said before I paused her.

"Bane?"I asked, almost as if I was confused, even though I shouldn't have been.

She had yet to really smile, and continued on, "Yea, he said he knew who I was and vouched for me with security... but told me that right now wasn't a good time to see you. When I asked why...he just got quiet, and wouldn't tell me. He gave me an address and said if I really wanted to know the answer... to go there sometime..."

I had forgotten Daniel Bane was AW's lead instructer at the Chaos Complex, and that he would be about the only person other than my brother Star who would remember Danielle. I couldn't figure out why Bane wouldn't have brought Dani to me, but then I remembered. Over the recent months I had regressed to my basic whore instincts, and submitted too all of my sexual urges. I sat in silence as the thoughts bombarded my scalp.

'Here was the first woman I loved who ended our perfect relationship because she didn't trust that I wasn't sleeping with every Janet, June, and Josie on the road. I moved on from there, and married Veya, which ended in divorce because I found her cheating on me, which she claimed happened because she KNEW I was sleeping with Janet, June, and Josie... which truth be told I was sleeping with them. Sleeping is a funny word though as it has two meanings in todays world. The way I used it was exactly how it meant. I was faitful and slept with the women... literally slept, not fuck, but sleep. I was lonely on the road and had trouble sleeping without someone under my arm. Pills didn't work, and neither did a pillow. The lack of sleep was costing me my health and ability to perform at full throttle. After Veya took my son and disappeared from my life with most of my money at the time I had to bust my dick to get back all that I had lost, but my son would never know me as a son should know his father. That part of my life was torn from me, and I suffered through that every day, but that was another story. Right now, the story was a little less depressing.'

"So... what now?" I asked.

"...I don't know..." she said.

[======================================================]

"So what did happen?" my older brother asks as I take my hits of the dooobie and finish telling him the story.

"Well we talked about the future for a little while-"

"And decided to try again... this time without the trust issues as I'll be accompanying him whenever he goes on the road." Danielle said as she entered the living room of the apartment wearing a long t-shirt with my face on it.

"...I'll be a sonofabitch." Star said as he put the roach in the ashtray.

"Don't talk about mom like that." I said jokingly shoving my older brother which started a playful wrestling contest.