Post by Damon Graves on Nov 26, 2017 16:00:15 GMT -5
Terrace Bistro Restaurant
The Ellis Hotel
Atlanta, Georgia
Scene opens with a shot of Damon Graves sitting out at the patio with a plate of parmesan fries and a beer sitting in front of him. As he pops a couple of fries in his mouth, NGW interviewer Hannah Lacey walks up to him.
Hannah: Sorry I'm late….
Damon: Got hungry waiting. Hope you don't mind.
Hannah: Not at all….
Hannah pulls a recorder out of her purse and switches it on.
Hannah: Damon, thank you for talking with me today.
Damon: No problem.
Hannah: With Resurgence coming up this Sunday, what are your thoughts about your opponent?
Damon stops eating, letting his fork clatter against the plate as he rolls his eyes.
Damon: (grumbling) Martin Karloff…. Martin Fucking Karloff….
Hannah: I take it that you're not exactly enthusiastic about facing him?
Damon: Brilliant deduction, Nancy Drew.
Hannah: But he's a former Five Lakes Champion!
Damon: And I'm a former Tag Team Champion. What does that have to do with anything?
Hannah: Down the road…
Damon: Down The road, what, Hannah? What on earth do I get out of this match?
Hannah: Perhaps you'll move up in the rankings…
Damon: And perhaps not. Since branching out as a solo competitor, all I've been doing is spinning my wheels. Sure, Devlin Scott throws me a bone once in awhile, but for the most part, my matches have done absolutely jack shit for my career.
Damon takes a swig of his beer.
Hannah: Be that as it may, Martin Karloff has had a bit of a renaissance lately.
He turns to Hannah, giving her a look as if to say “like I give a damn.”
Damon: Oh, really? And here I thought he had decided to become another shitty televangelist.
Hannah: I have to say that your attitude has worsened lately. Has your wife said anything about this change in character?
Damon: When you look a little more closely, you'll see that my “attitude” really hasn't changed as much as you think. And as for Aurora, she hasn't said anything to me about it.
Hannah: Perhaps it might be due to your recent string of losses.
Damon glares at the interviewer a moment before sighing.
Damon: You’re making an awful lot of assumptions, Hannah. If you had ever stepped inside the ring as a wrestler, Hannah, then you'd understand what's going on. Look back on my career, and one could say that I've enjoyed a certain level of success, wouldn't you agree?
Hannah: Four tag team championships within the span of a year is certainly nothing to look down upon.
Damon: And having reached that level of success, I've grown accustomed to a certain standard as far as progressing my career. Can you see where I'm going with this, Hannah?
Hannah: I can only assume that you've been frustrated….
The corner of Damon's mouth curls up as he cracks the merest hint of a smile.
Damon: Hannah, you don’t know the half of it! If it were just me, I'd probably let these losses roll off my back. But that isn't the case.
Hannah: Aurora wouldn't….
Damon cuts her off, his eyes focusing on the blonde interviewer like a pair of green lasers.
Damon: Aurora wouldn't what, Hannah?
Hannah: She wouldn't think any less of you…
Damon: There you go again with your assumptions. The truth of the matter is that you don’t know a damn thing about how my wife thinks or feels, so I’ll thank you to knock that shit off! I have a family to think about, so it’s not just about me anymore. I can’t be satisfied with merely “existing” in this business. As much as I loved teaming with my wife, we BOTH need to break out of the mold of being merely “tag team wrestlers,” and in case you haven’t noticed, my wife has admittedly had a better run of it than I have.
Hannah: To be fair, Aurora hasn’t exactly been on a roll, lately, either.
Damon: Again, that’s beside the point. She’s always been more the type to shake it off and not let her frustration show. She’ll tell you herself that I’ve never been one to hide my feelings.
Hannah: I don’t think I need her to tell me that.
Damon: Of course not.
He takes another sip of his beer.
Damon: Still, they’ve got me going up against Martin Karloff, or whatever the fuck name he’s going by; I don’t really care. He didn't scare me with his whole “Demon” shtick, and all this “Sinister Minister” bullshit is even LESS intimidating. It’s nothing new; I’ve seen it done a million times.
Hannah: Are you concerned at all with his multitude of followers?
Damon: Nope. Dress them in black, hide them behind masks… hell, paint them yellow and stick them in denim overalls for all I care. If he needs them to help win his battles, then maybe he should just shrink back into the darkness where he belongs, because he clearly can’t get the job done by himself.
Hannah: On a stage like Resurgence, Martin Karloff has quite the platform to spread his message.
Damon scoffs, rolling his eyes in disgust.
Damon: Spare me, Hannah. If he wants to spread a message, then here's one HE can sit through. At Resurgence, this second-rate Jim Jones wannabe wants to step up to me? I'll make that warped motherfucker drown in his own Kool-Aid…
Hannah: Bold words, Mr. Graves….
He growls, his lip curling into a sneer.
Damon: If you say so. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve said everything I need to say, and I’d like to finish my food in peace. And I fucking HATE cold fries!
Hannah clears her throat as she slowly takes a couple of steps away.
Hannah: Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it, then. Good luck to you at Resurgence!
Damon: Hmph…
Hannah leaves the scene, as Damon goes back to eating his fries. A few seconds after she leaves, Damon’s wife Aurora arrives, taking the seat opposite him.
Aurora: Looks like I missed all the fun….
Damon: Trust me, Harley… you didn’t miss a damn thing.
A genuine smile forms on his face as he watches Aurora snag a fry from his plate.
Damon: You hungry?
Aurora: It’d be rude for you to eat in front of me, you know….
Damon chuckles, flagging down a waiter as the scene fades to black.
