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Justin Sane · **12-07-2014, 06:27 AM**

:: Less than 48 hours until Madness. No doubt that punk, Lane, has had plenty more to say about me. It matters little, it all becomes irrelevant when our paths cross in Little Rock on Monday night. I just hope he understands what he is in for. I want the best Lane has to offer, I don't want any excuses. My head pierces the surface of the water as I thrust myself upward out of the pool. I feel the drops from resulting splash crash over me, hundreds of them, and roll down my back and shoulders. I exhale, spraying the water that is trickling down my face into a fine mist in front of me. It's then that I can hear the dull throbbing of a bass line coming from in inside the house. I swim over to the edge of the pool and place my palms onto the rough brickwork that makes up it's edging, pulling myself up and turning to sit on the edge of the pool, my legs still in the water. Not again, I think to myself as a thousand goosebumps form all over my bare torso and arms. It's late, about 9:30pm on a Saturday night.. and it's cold.. really cold. I reach for the fluffy white towel to my right and wipe the excess water from my face, before drying my hair off and throwing the towel around the back of my neck and over my shoulders. I lift my legs out of the pool and climb to my feet, feeling nice and refreshed. I finish drying up a bit and throw the towel over my shoulder. 'Let me tell you all a story, 'bout a mouse name Dilory.. yeah Dilory was a mouse, in a big brown house.' - I'd told Michelle a hundred times today to stop playing that damn song. It was seriously starting to do my head in. I started walking to the door, see Michelle dancing around in her underwear.[i] 'She call herself a hoe, with the money blow blow'. I open the door and cross the threshold as I'm greeted by the lyrics..

BUT FUCK THAT LITTLE MOUSE, 'CUZ I'M AN ALBATRAOZ

..the beat drops as I walk over to the stereo, Michelle not even realising I exist, lost in her own little world. I pick up her phone which is attached to the sound system and hit pause. ::

“HEY!”

“How many times have I asked you not to play that ridiculous song?”

“I like it!”

“It's awful, it doesn't even make any god damn sense!”

“Nooooo, but it makes me wanna' dance!”

:: Michelle starts dancing over towards me, humming that song. ::

“Ohhhh, no. Nope. Nada. Don't even try it, it's not happening.”

“Justin! Come on, have some fun!”

:: She hits play on her phone and starts dancing again. I put a stop to that, quick smart. I look at her properly for the first time since walking inside. She is clearly tipsy. I'd only been in the pool for about an hour though, I swear. I look over at the counter and notice that I third of a bottle of Tequila has been consumed. ::

“Oh, you are such a party pooper! HEY! I got something for you earlier... wanna see?”

:: She bites her lip, I raise my eyebrows. It's kind of a stock standard reaction I have for that move, because it just does something for me, you know? I fail in protest, as she responds before I could even process a proper answer. ::

“GREAT! Wait right here. Actually, go sit down, I might be a few minutes. Oh, by the way, you got an e-mail while you were in the pool.. totally wasn't checking your phone, I swear!”

:: And just like that, Michelle disappeared from the room. I walk over to the sofa with a grin on my face and lay my towel down on the seat, so as to not dampen the leather with my shorts. Sitting down on the sofa, I reach for my phone on the glass coffee table in front of me and swipe to unlock it. I access my e-mails from the hot bar and notice a new e-mail from the XWF. It's just the standard update e-mail, nothing exciting, just letting me know what the stories of the day are. I don't click on it at first. I go to set my phone back down, then read the sub text of “More Lane on Sane!”. Naturally, this sparks my interest. I click on the e-mail and follow a link, which takes me to Loverboys latest promo. I sit there, watching.. listening. I try and figure out how much of this is Lane's mind games bullshit and how much is actually him trying to take back his choice words from earlier in the week. His ego is so big, it's almost impossible to tell if he is being genuine or not, and I'm not all that sure I really care. I re-watch it. And again. I take a moment to try and process what was just said, but my train of thought is broken as Michelle's voice carries into the room. ::

“Baby, are you ready for your surprise?”

:: I turn around to look over the back of the sofa to the doorway I know she will soon be appearing from. ::

“Ohhhh yeah.”

“Okay, close your eyes.”

“Really?”

“Yes! Close your eyes.”

:: I humour her and close my eyes. ::

“Okay, they're closed...”

:: There's a slight pause. I can hear her move slowly into the room, brushing the door frame as she enters. ::

“Now. Open.”

:: It takes me a couple of moments to realise that I am staring, mouth wide open, like a teenager seeing his first pair of tits. I quickly catch myself, closing my mouth and swallowing hard. ::

“Sooooo... what do you think?”

“I... wow.”

:: She was standing there in a skin tight leather Catwoman outfit. She looked incredible. Curves in all the right places.. like, damn man, you have no idea. It was all I could do to force the next words out of my mouth. ::

“You look incredible.”

“Why, thank you! I got you one too!”

:: My mind went blank, but for one thought. ::

“A Catwoman outfit?”

:: I laughed, as did Michelle. ::

“No, silly! You and I are going out tonight! My friend Anna told me about this costume party, so I..”

“You didn't? You know I didn't want to do anything tonight..”

“Come on, pleeeeaaaase? I promised we would go, and they're all dying to meet you! I want to show you off. Besides.. costumes are fun.. I'll make it worth your while when we get home.”

:: Michelle offers up a small wink, and I can feel myself caving to the idea instantly. I guess it wouldn't hurt to go out and socialise, if only for a short while. ::

“So who am I going as? Batman?”

“Haha. Don't be ridiculous, I would never make you wear anything that embarrassing.”

“Okay, so what is it?”

:: Michelle presses her finger to her lips. She turns around and leaves the room, returning with a large black bag. She walks over, excitedly, and hands it to me. I take the bag from her and grin. A mixture of apprehension and curiosity washes over me as her expectant gaze urges me to reveal the contents of the bag. I open it – my expression drops. Standing up from the sofa, I tip the contents of the bag onto the black leather lounge suite. Pink and black zigzag spandex, a leather jacket with tassels, an 80s rock star wig and a pink headband. I turn my attention back to Michelle, who looks like she expects me to have an orgasm purely from excitement, which is what I think she is close to doing. ::

“Michelle, what the fuck?”

:: Her expression drops, she looks disappointed and taken aback. ::

“Y..you don't like it?”

“Don't like it? Why on earth would I want to dress up like Vinnie Lane, huh? You want me to look like him, is that it?!”

“It's.. I didn't..”

“Didn't what?”

“I didn't even make the comparison when I got it, I just thought you would make a sexy rock star..”

“There is nothing 'sexy'..”

:: I pick up the pink and black spandex. ::

“..about this. I can't wear this. That prima donna already thinks I'm fixated with him. If he caught wind of this, I'd never hear the end of it.”

“Why are you always so difficult about everything?! This has nothing to do with Vinnie Lane!”

“I'm difficult?! We had this conversation the other day! This is important to me. This is my life, it's what I do. I'm not giving Lane any extra leverage heading into our match this Monday night. This has everything to do with him.”

“God! Is that ALL you ever think about? Like, I get it, okay? That's your life.. but, it's not everything.”

:: I can see the annoyance on her face. To a degree, I understand. Part of me can see it from her point of view, but that part of me hasn't had a say in things for a long time. I stare into her eyes, but her steely blue gaze has no affect on me this time. ::

“It is to me.”

:: Her mouth opens. Whether she is shocked or hurt, I don't know. I find myself caring very little at this point. She closes her eyes and swallows, looking far more sober all of a sudden. ::

“So you can't let it go, huh? Not even for one night?”

“No.”

:: My response was instant and firm. She looks dejected as she takes a few steps away from me, towards the door. ::

“Okay.”

:: Michelle turns and walks out of the room. She begins down the corridor towards the front door. I wrestle with my emotions for a moment. Do I just let her go? Do I apologise? I take off after her, catching up with her just before the front door. I grab her left arm to stop her, which she throws off angrily as she turns to face me. ::

“Where are you going?”

“To the party! The one I promised we would go to.”

“Michelle, don't. I.. I'm...”

:: I can't bring myself to say it. Sometimes your ego can be your own worst enemy. Michelle speaks to me with a trembling voice through gritted teeth as she takes a step backwards towards the front door. ::

“You are so.. selfish, that you can't even say you're sorry.”

“Michelle, wait..”

:: She grabs the handle of the front door and wrenches it open. I look on helplessly as she makes her way down the garden path. ::

“Michelle, you can't go!”

:: Michelle doesn't turn around, but I hear her scream at me over her shoulder. ::

“I've been fucking you for two weeks, Justin! You don't own me!”

:: Her last comment infuriated me. I'd like to say that it pissed me off so much that I didn't even care she was leaving, but that would be a blatant lie. I never said I owned her. Fucking women. Incensed, I slam the front door so that I don't have to look at her any more. I storm through the house, back into the living room and throw myself back into the sofa. I sit there for a few moments, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. The heels of my feet are bouncing up and down on the plush, white carpet at breakneck speed. I draw in a few deep breaths in an attempt to compose myself, but it doesn't work. I grab my cell off the table and unlock it, trying desperately to distract myself. The first thing I see is that smug face of Vinnie Lane, still present from when I watched his promo earlier. Rage consumes me as I launch my cell. SMASH! Straight into the TV screen, shattering it instantly and busting my cellphone apart. I then realise I am sitting on those stupid fucking clothes and toss them around the room too. Bouncing to my feet, I stride over to the kitchen counter and pour myself a shot of tequila.. and another.. and another. I slam the shot glass down on the counter and place my palms upon it's smooth surface. My breathing becomes steadier, and I can feel my heart rate dropping slowly. Inhaling deeply, I close my eyes and try to regain my composure. It doesn't matter, I plead with myself, she's just a girl. I hear the front door open and close. It's her, I reassure myself. Relief falls over me as I hang my head, eyes still closed. I feel an enormous sense of guilt for the way I acted as I hear her footsteps coming up the hallway and into the room, coming to rest behind me. I feel a soft hand on my shoulder. I reach out to grab it, but find only my own skin. I open my eyes and spin around at the same time.. she's not there.. nobody is.. but the room is suddenly very dimly lit. The fluorescent tube above my head flickers as I slowly turn in a 360 degree motion. ::

“Michelle?”

:: It was with an empty, hollow tone, that I uttered her name. I knew it wasn't her. I hear a soft, haunting chuckle echo around the room. ::

“Ohhhh, Justin.”

“What do you want?”

“My dear boy, what makes you think I want anything? The question, more to the point, is what do you want?”

:: I pause for a moment, mulling the question over in my head. My mind is all over the place, I don't even have a grip on what is happening, whether or not this is even real. ::

“I don't understand..”

“What happened to you, Justin? So full of promise, so.. eager to succeed. You seem to have lost your way since Evertrust has left you. Admissions must be made, of course, as you took care of Scully and Hysteria, as promised. I wonder though, how the new Justin Sane will fare against much tougher competition, the likes of which you find yourself against on Monday night.”

:: A sneer creeps across my face, to say I am insulted would be an understatement. ::

“The 'new' Justin Sane? There is no 'new' Justin Sane! Inside that ring, I'm the same insane, twisted individual I was when you hand-picked me, when Evertrust.. hand-picked me! I don't know where the fuck he is now and frankly, it doesn't matter. This is my time! You know for a fact, that I am a cut above the rest!”

:: Another soft chuckle emanates from the voice, almost mockingly. ::

“Bravo! It's nice to see that you haven't lost your confidence. You are almost entirely correct, however, I must correct you. I knew for a fact, that you were a cut above the rest. Now, I'm not so sure. You show weakness, Justin. Vulnerability. It is a trait most unbecoming to those who seek glory.”

“Bullshit. I'm not vulnerable.”

“No? Tell me then, Justin. How is it that a woman you have been seeing for no more than two weeks, has reduced you to such a state? You don't call that being vulnerable? Hysteria and Scully may not have sensed it, but I fear those with a bit more.. expertise.. in the art of exploitation, may take advantage of such a weakness.”

:: I clench my teeth as his words grind through my skull. His words strike a chord, but I'm not in the mood, nor do I give a fuck what he thinks right now. I utter my disdain in an undertone, barely audible as it's more just myself thinking out loud. ::

“Fuck off.”

:: It was audible enough. The voice speaks to me next with a sharp, aggressive tone. ::

“How dare you! Don't forget your place! You would be nothing without me, without Evertrust!”

:: I shake my head in protest as I reach for the bottle of tequila, grabbing it around the neck and taking a swig. ::

“We took you from nothing and put you on a path to success the likes of which you could never have dreamed of! You were a broken, worthless mess before we came along! Your self-loathing was well deserved, even your own m...”

:: My hand had been shaking as the anger grew inside of me with every vile word he spat at me. It was in this moment, I reached my breaking point. ::

“I said, FUCK OFF!”

:: I closed my eyes and smashed the bottle of tequila down on the bench, shattered glass flying in all directions. I felt a sharp pain as a chunk of glass dissected the palm of my right hand, but I didn't care. I took in another deep breath and opened my eyes. The lighting had returned to normal, and Michelle was standing in the door way, looking utterly terrified. All my senses seemed to desert me as I stared blankly at her. ::

“J.. Justin.”

:: I had no response, nor did she have anything else to say. She tentatively made her way over to the counter where I was standing and put her arm around me, resting her head on my shoulder. ::

|| fade to black ||

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