Shannon: So, you're gonna be a king, huh?

The scene opens in Mandy & Joe's Delicatessen in Brighton, Massachusetts. A little diner on Washington Street, it stood a bit down the street from its only real competitor: Jim's Deli, another famous breakfast spot in Brighton. With wooden plank-like walls and a light beige-colored tile floor, this was an establishment whose last interior update took place in the 1970s, and they were damn well happy to keep it as-is. Or maybe it was the fact that they were a small diner serving delicious, but incredibly cheap breakfast food, all while turning away anyone without cash.

Yeah, it was probably the latter.

Tony Santos and his girlfriend, Shannon, sit across from one another at a small, aluminum table, Tony playing with his eggs and corned beef hash, while Shannon sits with her coffee cup cupped in her two hands, sipping it slowly, savoring the taste as if she'd never had a generic cup of Folgers coffee in her life. Shannon, never a big eater, ordered some french toast, which she hadn't yet touched. Breakfast food wasn't really her thing, but she knew how much Tony loved his morning ritual of five eggs over easy, home fries, and corned beef hash, so she obliged.

They'd been sitting across from one another for a good half hour, Tony having received his food, which was getting progressively cooler, 15 minutes ago, and yet he'd only sat there, playing around with it like a kid struggling to eat his mother's plate of green beans and broccoli. Having not noticed any sort of reaction to her initial question, Shannon repeated herself.

Shannon: So, you're gonna be a king, huh?

Tony drops his fork, the handle sinking into the yolk, which had covered his home fries like a fresh coating of lava. He looks up at Shannon, then manages to half-halfheartedly whisk some of his long, untamed hair behind is head.

Santos: We'll see.

Shannon: What do you mean, we'll see? Tone, you were given the opportunity of a lifetime a few days ago, and since you've come home, you've managed to talk about it a grand total of zero times. Tone, you should be thrilled by this opportunity. Elated even. John Madison wouldn't even touch you when you were in the middle of that ring with Griffin McAlister. He had a damn tire iron, and he chose to leave you untouched. Why do you think that is, Tony? Why? Because he sees you as a legitimate threat, that's why. The king was hesitant to provoke you. Tony, you've etched yourself in his psyche, and, honestly, you've got a damn good chance of succeeding. A damn good chance!

Tony lifts his hand up to Shannon's face.

Santos: Just, stop. Honestly, when the hell did you start caring about my wrestling career? Actually, when the hell did you start caring about what I do for work, in general?

Shannon mumbles...

Shannon: Well, you never really had much in the way of a "job" before...

Tony tilts his head slightly toward Shannon, squinting and straining to hear.

Santos: Excuse me, what was that?

Shannon: You heard me, you've never really had much of anything in the way of work, Tone. You know it, and I know it. Do we really want to go down this road again? You know how the conversation goes: Tony's a big, dumb failure who's pissed away his opportunities at every turn. Dropped out of college, abandoned his family, yadda yadda.

Tone, when was the last time you've seen Troy?

Shannon was talking about Tony's two-year old son, who really hadn't been much a part of Tony's life after Tony planted his seed in the lovely Laura, and Troy and Tony had barely come in contact with one another since Tony's foray into the world of the XWF.

So it goes as a terrible parent of a child you never wanted to have.

Tony looked back down at his plate and smiled. He really didn't care much for the lecturing, and for Shannon, it was uncharacteristic for her to do so anyway. That was Laura's territory... which is why Tony had avoided that woman like the plague. Tony figured that looking away and ignoring her would make it stop.

Shannon: Tony, let me come with you. You have a match on Monday, and honestly, I think that you could use me to focus. I'll help keep you in check, especially now that Jeremy's leaving you in a few days. What do you say?

Santos: Don't you have to work? Don't you have to, you know, make money?

Shannon: Well, about that. I quit both of my jobs.

Tony looks back up from his plate, eyes widening.

Santos: WHAT?! Why the hell would you do something so stupid??

Shannon, taken aback by that reaction, figuring Tony would be thrilled that she would want to come along, frowns.

Shannon: Well, Tone, they're holding me back. Dunkin' Donuts is a shithole where I have the pleasure of serving stale donuts and staler coffee to a bunch of angry pricks who use their pre-caffeine daze as an excuse to crap on some minimum wage workers who are just trying to pay for their crappy studio apartment in Malden and not put a bullet through their respective temples.

The tattoo parlor is full of either your typical, weekly client assholes who always want fucking masterpieces to cover their arms, backs, whatever, and are pissed when they find out that a damn smoking skull covered in barbed wire, floating in a see of blood with dragon spewing fire in the sky may sound cool to them in theory, but looks like absolute shit in practice.

I'm tired of it all, Tone. And plus, you're doing pretty well for yourself right now, so what's the point of a second paycheck?

Tony grits his teeth and stares at Shannon, his eyes piercing her pupils.

Santos: Don't you dare start insinuating that you're doing this for my money. Seriously, don't even CONSIDER going that route.

Shannon: Whoa, whoa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. Tone, it's just that, I...

Shannon reaches out with her right hand and gently places it on Tony's left hand.

Shannon: I love you.

She smiles, her blue eyes glistening...

Well, they would be glistening if they were underneath the pale, fluorescent lighting of Mandy & Joe's...

But she smiles at Tony, he luscious lips and incredibly perfect teeth making an appearance, a combination that always, without fail, paralyzed Tony when unleashed.

Shannon: I love you, and I want to see you succeed. Let me come with you and make that happen. Please?

Her puppy dog eyes flutter as she pleads for Tony to let her come along. Tony sighs, then proceeds to take his right hand and place it above hers, then, after hesitating, raises it in the air.

Santos: Check please.

The waitress, in her late 50s, waddles over and places the check on the table. Tony digs in to his wallet and pulls out a twenty dollar bill. Slapping it on the table, he picks up a Keno pencil from the table next to theirs and scrawls something on to the check, then slides it over to Shannon.

Pack your shit up, we're going to Kansas City.

Shannon smiles wide and lets out an excited yelp, which gets the attention of the other patrons. Hey, with romantic charm and a mastery of words like Tony Santos...

Who could resist?

The scene fades to black.

September 2013 and May 2019 Star of the Month
1x Hart Champion
1x Television Champion
1x Xtreme Champion