Friday, November 13th 2020
11:52PM
Hospital for Special Surgery
New York City, New York

● Recording

The camera comes on to see Lucy Wylde seated in a chair, her legs crossed as she stares absent-mindedly at the camera in what’s obviously a waiting room.  The dim light highlights the features of her face, most noticeably the deep shadows under her eyes.  Finally, she lets out a soft sigh and leans forward in the chair. 

“You know, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. Especially now, sitting here in the hospital, the night before Joe goes under the knife. Shit like this kinda puts things into perspective.”

Lucy looks down, shaking her head as she wrings out her hands in her lap.

“It’s hard being the person that’s strong for everyone else. Granted, I’m not very good at it – But I try. And yeah, I’m scared right now. I’m worried that tomorrow is going to bring me.. And us even more bad news. To say that my mind isn’t on Monday would be an understatement.”

She shrugs her shoulders and finally sits back in the chair, her blue eyes flickering up into the camera showing the exhaustion that she’s tried to hide for a while now.

“Let’s add to that the fact that the single best thing I’ve done this year since coming back to UGWC has been winning the Wrestlestock Cup. And we all know how that turned out. Yeah, yeah, I know that’s the way it goes sometimes. It’s just… It’s hard, you know? Going from the highest of highs to whatever this is.”

Lucy sighs, running her hands through her hair. As much as she tries to hide it, her hands are shaking a bit as she puts them back down into her lap.

“Like, how many times can I look into this camera and keep telling people that I’m Lucy Wylde and I’m always a threat when I haven’t been? Not lately at least. I guess I’m just being down on myself, because I know deep down in the back of my mind that anyone who beats me has to earn it. And a lot of people have been earning that lately. But hey, congratulations to them.”

She forces a smile on her lips.

“Guess I’d better talk about this week, huh? It’s just, I don’t really know what to say that I haven’t already said. At least this week I’ve got a good partner on my side in Angie. That girls damn good, as if you all didn’t already know that. I’m grateful to be able to look at my corner and see someone that I know I can trust, even if we don’t run in the same circles and maybe we don’t agree on everything..”

She pauses for a moment, a thoughtful look coming over her face.

“..But there’s an unspoken respect between the two of us and in this business? That means everything. And UGWC gets a much anticipated #TeamJellyBeanToes reunion, right?”

Lucy chuckles softly, smoothing her hands over her thighs.

“But Ange, you know regardless of what’s going on right now, that I’ll show up on Monday and I’ll do my best. I just hope it’s enough for us to walk out with our heads held high. If not? It is what it is, I suppose but just know, you’ll be one of the few people around here that’ll always have my respect. You’re just so shamelessly you, regardless of what anyone says. I can’t say the same, even though I used to. I used to be able to say that.”

A flash of sadness crosses her face.

“Let’s be completely honest. What Joe and I did, fooling just about everyone into thinking that he’d turned against me just to get into Tempest’s head? That’s not me. But if you all know anything about me, it’s that I’m very driven by my emotions and words don’t truly express how angry I’ve been as of late. You know that, don’t you Tempest? I mean if you’re anything, you’re just the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

“That’s just who you are. I think over these last few months I’ve at least figured that much out about you. You’re just a creature who does things.. You try to get into peoples heads, you try to push them off their game… And you really got your money’s worth with me, huh? I mean, come on. I walked into Battleground thinking that I had you right where I wanted you and you pushed me to a place that I don’t usually go. You pushed me to a level of brutality that my sister would be proud of.”

Pulling in a deep breath, Lucy closes her eyes for a few moments.

“But I’m not. After everything that’s gone down… After everything I did, after what I put myself through for the sake of doing the same thing to you that you do to everyone else… I walked out of Battleground without my comeuppance. I walked out of Battleground without the euphoria of having proven to you once and for all that I’m not to be fucked with. Hell, I probably made things worse. And here we are again.”

She shakes her head again.

“What more can you say to me though, Tempest? You won. You got into my head. You knocked me off my game and now? What more do you have to prove?”

She stops as soon as she asks that question, her eyebrows raising as if a light bulb just went off inside her head.

“That’s it… Isn’t it? You wanna prove you can break me. You wanna show everyone that you can knock down The Lucy Wylde… From what I’ve seen and done? You very well could, Tempest. But I can’t let you. I can’t let you swoop in and take anymore from me than I’ve already taken from myself. I’m not promising to win against you and your partner. No, I’m not that cocky anymore. But I am promising to show you that no matter what you do, no matter how much you beat me down.. You’ll never break me. You’ll never hurt me anymore than I’ve hurt myself.”

“The truth is, I’m lost. I’m lost and I can’t let you pull me in the wrong direction, no matter how tempting that is. I’ve already done things… Things that I know I shouldn’t have in order to play your game, Tempest. In the months since my return, I forgot who I am. I forgot what I stood for.. Or rather what I’m supposed to stand for.”

A bit of pink rises to her cheeks.

“But who better to remind me of that than my partner, you know? For all my weaknesses, one of my strengths used to be standing up in the face of things that weren’t right. No matter who I was standing up against. Isn’t that right Edie? You always used to tell me I was frustratingly noble… or some rude shit like that. But it’s the truth.”

She nods her head and looks down into her lap.

“It’s the truth.”

After a small pause, she glances back up.

“Or at least it was.”

“Can I get back to that? I don’t know. Not right now, at least. Or maybe.. Just maybe I’m sitting here frustrated about something that was always going to happen. It’s like my ex-husband used to say, Changes Come, and maybe this change was something that was always going to happen. Maybe Lucy was going to fall off her high horse no matter what happened. There’s no way of knowing. I guess the real question is, do I fight against it? Or do I ride the waves?”

Again, she shrugs her shoulders.

“To be determined, I guess. But I guess all of this brings me to you, Hide. I’m not gonna bother with your idiotic manager because honestly? The more I watch him, the more I see him do whatever it is that he does week in and week out – I realize that that’s exactly what he’s trying to do. He’s trying to get all eyes on him, and on you in retrospect.”

She sighs and lifts her eyes up to the ceiling.

“Which is great? I guess? I don’t really know how you see it, but I suppose you don’t mind it since you’re still under his management. It’s just, I think for everything you’ve accomplished, Hide? You don’t deserve to be overshadowed by someone who’s far too obsessed with yelling, screaming and calling all the wrong attention in your direction. You’re the fucking world champ. You just beat Joe at Battleground. Congratulations, by the way. He’s not an easy victory, even in his current condition.”

“But that’s your accomplishment, Hide. Not his. You’re the reason he even has a job, and you’re the reason he gets all the attention he so craves. But what about you? Let me repeat myself… What. About. You? What do you get out of the deal? You do some great things, Hide. I’ve seen em. So has everyone else, yet all anyone ever has to talk about is Johnny’s mouth.”

Lucy shakes her head.

“You deserve better than that. At least in my opinion. You’re not a bad guy, I don’t think. But maybe we can learn something from each other, you know? You’re okay with things the way they are, to the naked eye, at least. You’ve been fine with being perceived as just as big an asshole as Johnny, and I’ve been okay with being brought down to Tempest’s level, so to speak. Shouldn’t we both wanna be more?”

“I know, I know… What more is there than being the UGWC World Champion? There’s a lot more. You just have to be willing to do some difficult things in order to see them. I accept that I did a shitty thing. I lied to just about everyone to get to one man. I helped make my fiance look like a terrible person just to hurt someone else for their slights against us. Is that who I wanna be? I know I said no a little while ago, but now? I don’t really know. I wanna say no. I wanna double down on wanting to be the Lucy these people know and respect…”

She clenches her fists.

“But what about you? Do you wanna be seen as more than Johnny’s client? Do you wanna be seen as more than Johnny’s puppet? Because that’s how I see you. No disrespect intended, but rarely have I seen you stand on your own two feet without him flailing around behind or in front of you, calling all the attention away from everything that you might be underneath all of that. But maybe we’re more alike than I originally realized. Maybe you’re okay with that. Maybe you’re okay with being overlooked because when you ultimately come out on top, no one expected it. Even though by now they should. I know I do.”

Lucy takes another pause, looking around the waiting room she’s seated in by herself, her focus stopping at something off camera, the window across the room as she looks out into the night.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m being a hypocrite by telling you to do something that I’m not even sure I can do at this point. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m sitting here, trying my damndest to think about this match while Joe is laying in a room down the hall, anxiously awaiting a surgery that’s going to decide the rest of his career, and his life. Having been in that position, well, a similar position.. I get it. Forgive me. But I’ve got some things to do before Monday, and I gotta get back to him…”

She finally looks back at the camera, the anxiety and worry over what’s happening right now finally showing on her tired face.

“I gotta focus on this before I can even entertain what’s about to happen on Monday… Or rather, what’s about to happen after Monday. Wish us luck, guys…”

With another half-hearted smile, she nods at the camera and gets up from the chair, grabbing her bag. She heads towards the camera and suddenly it moves and cuts to black.