jediPREZ
Shadowboss
(cueup: 'Rain Song' - Led Zeppelin)
I've felt the coldness of my winter
I never thought it would ever go.
I cursed the gloom that set upon us...
But I know that I love you so.
(FADEIN: Somewhere in California, your typical Southern California Internet/Coffee/Juice Bar café. Sipping on a mug of coffee, Ivy McGinnis stared at her laptop computer screen. The fWo and CSWA luckily had similar road schedules the past couple of weeks, so Ivy was able to stay in a place longer than three days. With the recent backstage decision at NFW, she wasn’t going to have to fly back east this week – even giving her time to relax, be by herself and have time to think. Between Eli now PERSONALLY devoted to winning two of the most sought after titles in wrestling, along with the sudden and heart wrenching breakup from one of the few men she ever loved and COMPLETELY trusted – the Ivy McGinnis sitting in the Internet Café, surely did not resemble the Poison Ivy the world saw on television. In the past two weeks she’d been delivered two of the most crushing blows in her life. With a concussion and a broken heart, Ivy McGinnis’ head hurt and her heart hurt – right now, what she needed was a distraction...)
V/O: “These are the seasons of emotion and like the winds they rise and fall.”
(Ivy broke out of her lost gaze at her laptop and looked to her left at what she thought she heard was some guy singing a song to himself. What she saw was a man looking out the window – his two white Huskies laying down at the table, panting. Ivy smirked – only California. The man was wearing black and crimson running pants, white t-shirt and running shoes. He had a stack of papers and glass of orange juice in front of him. Ivy thought she recognized him, but the back of his head and sunglasses – didn’t help. Ivy returned her gaze to her desktop.)
V/O: “This is the wonder of devotion - I see the torch we all must hold. This is the mystery of the quotient - Upon us all a little rain must fall.”
(Ivy looked up again, smirking)
IVY: “Good song, I got a friend that digs them.”
(The man turns around and lo and behold, ‘The Wolf’ Mike Randalls ‘oddly’ enough was sitting there...)
RANDALLS: “You think I know him?”
(Ivy shakes her head with a smirk)
IVY: “How the hell did I not see you come in?”
RANDALLS: “Maybe you were lost in some thoughts?”
IVY: (reclining back into her seat) “Yeah, well getting dropped on your head doesn’t help.”
RANDALLS: “Neither does a broken heart.”
IVY: (while rolling her eyes) “I see you still don’t realize how blunt you are sometimes…”
(IVY laughs, probably ‘cause she forgot herself – it is their first conversation in over a year…RANDALLS smirks and leans back against the window – one his dogs rolls onto his side.)
IVY: “…anyway, I don’t need to talk about THAT, right now.”
RANDALLS: (nods) “I understand.”
IVY: (kicking her feet up onto a nearby chair) “So why does the GREAT Mike Randalls need to find little ‘ol me in the middle of nowhere? After all, he didn’t seem to find the time to let me, or frankly ANYONE know where he went or why. That’s not exactly how friends treat each other Mike.”
RANDALLS: (while sitting up, but his head bows in a little bit of shame) “I deserved that, Ivy. I’m sorry for the person I was. I didn’t want friends, then. (Randalls looks up and leans forward) Those days have died in me. I can promise you that I am not the man that left San Diego.”
IVY: “Yeah, Mike…I think EVERYONE got that already. You made a lot of things clear that night, that still doesn—”
RANDALLS: “…doesn’t explain why I’m here. I know. (RANDALLS rests his clasped hands onto the table in front of him, his head facing them) For the years you’ve known me, I’ve led a selfish life. Any relationships I’ve had in this business, I’ve manipulated them all into following my vision. (RANDALLS looks up to IVY) Only Ivy, my vision was blind. There was only one time where I was compelled not to act on my own behalf, but for someone else’s. SUSAN brought that out of me and it triggered my eyes to see something, I had chosen long ago to deny. (IVY readjusts in her seat, but remains silent) An answer I was afraid to question was triggered that night, Ivy.”
IVY: “What was that, Mike? And thank you so much for bringing her up."
RANDALLS: “What happened to her?”
IVY: “They found her real grandmother.”
RANDALLS: “Oh, I’m sorry. (RANDALLS leans back, stroking his beard) Listen, this isn’t going as well as I hoped. (RANDALLS turns and faces IVY, still holding her coffee) Just hear me out – The night I saved Susan, I knew I could never lose your trust nor your friendship. Where I went without telling, I wish no man goes Ivy. I did not come to this view on life easily. I am lucky to even be alive. (IVY’s eyes look down towards RANDALLS’ inner arm) Your eyes never deceive me, Ivy. Nor does anyone ever deceive you. (IVY looks back up at RANDALLS) That is why I didn’t tell you, but this is also why I wanted you there. It wasn’t meant as a deception, Ivy – it was a test for my own self. You will see that I’m much more humble than I once was.”
IVY: “Well, thanks…I think…”
RANDALLS: “I needed advice, Ivy. That’s all I’m here for.”
IVY: (with a raised eyebrow) “Advice? You?”
(RANDALLS smiles, turns and picks up his stack of papers. He shuffles them into place before handing them to IVY who curiously starts looking through them…)
IVY: (as she thumbs through the papers) “Jesus, Mike.”
RANDALLS: (grinning) “What?”
IVY: (still looking through the papers) “You have withdrawal or something?”
RANDALLS: “Look in the back.”
(IVY skips to the back and laughs, she then immediately skips through a few before stopping on one paper and smiling.)
IVY: “Wow, there he is.”
RANDALLS: “Yup.”
IVY: (looking at pages individually now) “Everyone?”
RANDALLS: “Everyone.”
IVY: (while reading one) “I’d pay for this one.”
(IVY hands the paper to RANDALLS)
RANDALLS (while reading it): “Does Eli wish I stay away?”
IVY: “Eli?(smiles) He told me to give him some time. He needs to get some things straight on his own first."
RANDALLS: (hands back the paper) “I understand, I will not oppose that.”
IVY: “So what do you need from me?”
RANDALLS: “Well, I’m taking all of these to Chad.”
IVY: “Aha.” (looks back down at the paper)
RANDALLS: “If they look good enough for you, they’ll look good enough for me. He trusts you more than anyone and will probably ask you some questions.”
IVY: “You have a lot of blanks, here. I see where you’re going with this, but d—“
RANDALLS: “Do I realize the risk? Yes. I’m not afraid.”
IVY: “Oooooook. You’re gonna need to make copies at Kinko’s.”
RANDALLS: “What the (BLEEP!) is a Kinko’s?”
IVY: (looking up at RANDALLS weirdly) “You’ve never heard of a Kinko’s?”
RANDALLS: “Nope.”
IVY: “How did you handle this stuff before, Mike?”
RANDALLS: (grinning) “In blood or in words, I learned this week that doesn’t work anymore.”
IVY: (smiling) “Well, some things don’t change. I can see that right now. I’ll introduce you to the wonderful world of Kinko’s, Mike. (IVY puts her coffee down and gets out of her chair, beginning to pack up her laptop. The dogs, previously resting startle up and start to stretch.)
RANDALLS: “Now?”
IVY: “Ummm, yeah. I’m a busy girl these days, Mike. Eli has a World Title shot this week, y’know.”
RANDALLS: “So I’ve seen.”
(RANDALLS stands up, his dogs wagging their tails beneath him)
IVY: (while finishing up packing her bag) “When did you get dogs?”
RANDALLS: “Well, one…he ain’t mine and that’s a long story.”
(cueup: 'Friends' - Led Zeppelin)
IVY: (turns around, slinging her bag over her shoulder) “Well, you’re just full of those. Maybe one day you’ll actually let someone in on ‘em.”
RANDALLS: (laughs) “When you start doing sit-down interviews, we’ll talk.”
IVY: “Fair enough, (points) after you.”
(RANDALLS walks out ahead of IVY, who picks up her coffee and finishes it. She reaches into her bag, pulling out a bagel and starts walking. CUTTO: RANDALLS walking out the door of the café, IVY behind him with the dogs wagging their tails, panting and watching her eat the bagel. As they walk up the block, IVY stops and picks off a piece of her bagel as the dogs lick their chops. She raises her arm to drop it…)
RANDALLS: “Ivy, don’t feed the dogs.”
(IVY looks up a little surprised as RANDALLS walks up the block, then she smiles and drops the bagel which one of the dog catches. FTB)