Post by Kathleen Conway on Jul 12, 2013 2:00:32 GMT
A couple of months had passed, but it still brought a smile to her face as she looked down at the pile of holiday snaps from their fifth anniversary Hawaiian Cruise. Kathy flipped through them, carefully placing one behind the other as she looked at them and relived an entire memory through each snapshot as she cast her eyes down upon them.
Kathy lay on the bed, on her stomach, facing the opposite way, her husband was next to her, sat on the bed with his back against the headboard, still rereading his Bicentenary Special Edition hardcover copy of From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming, the time off from competing in the ring had allowed him more time to indulge the simpler pleasures in life, and one of them was revisiting his collection of James Bond novels and having the freedom to enjoy each in no particular order given that he had at one point in his life read each at least once and in succession.
Kathy came across her absolute favourite photograph of her trip and paused to reflect on the sweetness of the memory for longer than she had any of the others...
And just like that, I was there again. I was aboard the luxury cruise liner, looking out at the beautiful ocean, in my elegant flowing white dress. Jake was there too, in a simple white shirt and black pants combination, his shirt half-unbuttoned like some devilishly handsome English rogue.
Jake: Give me your hand.
I did then just as I had five years ago. He took me by the hand. We locked eyes and I felt my heart quiver as it always did when I looked into his big beautiful brown eyes, and I felt the spark under his touch.
Jake: Now close your eyes.
I kept his gaze for a moment longer, amazed that even five years on my feelings were just as strong if not stronger.
Jake: Go on.
I closed them.
Jake: Step up.
Under his guidance, I did as he asked, on the threshold of experiencing a moment I had dreamed about since I was twenty sitting in a small Kansas theatre, dreaming of one day meeting my own Leonardo Dicaprio recreating my favourite scene from what would become my favourite movie in spite of my experiences the first time I ever saw it in 1997. In my naivety, I had thought that maybe my Leonardo Dicaprio would be James Swanson, I mean it was our third date and so far he had done everything right by taking me to see this movie that would turn out to be everything our relationship never was - a blockbuster, a classic, a timeless romance...
Sixteen years later and I'd finally found my Dicaprio, he was even blonde! Jake Conway had gone out of his way to make the fantasy as real as he could. People ask me all the time how could I love such a ruthless bastard, I ask you how could I not after that?
Jake: Hold on to the railing. Keep your eyes closed. Don't peek.
I suppressed a giggle as best I could.
Kathy: I'm not.
And I wasn't. Nothing was going to spoil this moment.
Jake: Step up onto the rail.
A giggle escaped me this time as I did.
Jake: Hold on. Hold on. Keep your eyes closed. Do you trust me?
He didn't need to ask but I felt I needed to answer.
Kathy: I trust you.
Completely. Absolutely. Without a doubt.
He took my arms in his hands and spread them out either side of me as the ocean breeze swept through my hair. It was even more breathtaking than I had always imagined, the wind picked up around me and I was carried away by the sheer indulgent romance of the moment as our fingers found each other and entwined. His arms then withdrew to around my waist and he whispered in my ear.
Jake: Open your eyes.
I did and was left breathless in the timelessness of the moment.
Kathy: It really does feel like we're flying Jake...
I laughed.
In some periphery beyond my senses, I heard one of the crewmen declare that they'd got it. Captured the moment. Preserved it digitally, to always inspire the recollection and magic of the moment. If only James could see me now, I wondered if he would still dismiss it as some childish Hollywood idea of romance, he probably would if he was still half as stubborn now as I remembered him to be back then. Stubbornness was always a curious quirk I found quite attractive in men, often though those men were the wrong men, and I'm just glad I found the right stubborn man. I'm just glad I found Jake Conway. Again.
Jake: Happy Anniversary Sweetie...
Our hands found each other again, and he guided them inward as I turned to face him. Our lips met and as we kissed the wind whipped around us, picking up and taking me away in the moment, inevitably, the ocean within me poured forth then just as it did now. I shed tears as I relived every sweet moment of it...
Now it would be all too easy to make more of this match then we really need to wouldn't it Ayla? I could blame Lockheart for having some personal vendetta against me because I just so happened to be married to a man she was once in a relationship with and in response you could hold the same grudge against me that you came into this company, making all your assumptions about how I would crow about having fired you in NCW before I even had a match in this company. Believe whatever you want to about me on a personal level Ayla, and I will continue to the same about you. Now, that sounds fair doesn't it?
We've had our personal issues Ayla, and I don't expect them to disappear overnight, I suspect we'll never be friends, but you know what? I'm okay with that, you have your friends and I have mine, and the simple fact is that I don't need to be your friend to respect you on a purely professional level. The simple fact of the matter is, whether I like it or not, you are one of the best female wrestlers in the business today. I can question so many things about you Ayla, I can question your choice in friends, I can question your choice in lovers and I can even question your motivations and ultimate goals, and simply for the sake of a verbal game of ping-pong that these promos often degenerate into you can do the same to me and then we can both call it a day and go home until Sacrifice rolls around and make love to men the other wouldn't touch to scratch.
I can question so many things about you Ayla but I cannot question your ability to get it done in that ring, certainly not after the performance you put on last week, it brought a smile to my face to see you take it to Izzy to be honest especially after some of the things she's said about me recently, but I know you didn't do it for me. You did it for yourself. You did it because you are one of the better female wrestlers on the roster, that's why you were hired here in a heartbeat, that's why Lockheart took the time and trouble to clear the air with you, she wants you to be happy. You extended an olive branch, she accepted and honestly I'm not surprised because she is just another bitch with a bad attitude around here, like you, unlike you however she just hides it better.
That's okay though Ayla, it really is because for a while now I've been thinking about just how to make my stand around here, to prove I am worthy of my coronation as the undisputed Queen of Diamonds, and now I figure what better way to prove myself and my worth to this company as something more than just the wife of a wrestling legend and as someone more than just some delusional bitch who once thought she was a cat and really who better than Ayla St James, the woman so fond of burning me with my past to give me back the flame of my ambition? I need to relaunch my career and redefine my reputation in this business, I need to be taken seriously around here and for me there is no better way to lay the foundation for all of that than to neutralise one of the biggest threats I will ever face in an IWF ring. I need to beat you Ayla, and I need to do so definitively. I need to pin your shoulders to the mat or make you submit - in short I need my place in the final four of this tournament.
I'm glad Katherine made this match, whether she did it to make a statement to me or not really doesn't matter anymore. She's testing me and my resolve, and you know what Ayla? I've run from my professional boogeywomen for long enough now, its about time I confronted some of my harshest critics and clawed their damn eyes out of their pretty little heads. Congratulations Ayla, you have the distinct honour of being first in that particular line. I realise now that for me there is no better way for me to stick it to Katherine than to defy her expectations of me. She doesn't expect me to get the job done, very few in the back do, and it is that sense of disbelief that will make my victory even greater. It may not be inevitable, but it will be sweet...to take a page from my competition, and from one Kat to another...
Kisses.
Kathy blows a kiss to the camera as a direct statement to Katherine Lockheart.
Kathy quivered and silently wept with the photograph in her hand. Jake felt her quiver next to him and he closed the book, and swung himself around to face her, lying on his stomach also and he put a hand reassuringly on her back as he whispered.
Jake: Hey, hey. Honey, are you crying? What's wrong?
Kathy turned to face him, her eyes glistening with tears, she tries to wipe them away with the back of her thumb.
Kathy: I'm sorry. I guess I'm just being silly.It's just....seeing that photo of you and Katherine together, got me thinking of some of our memories together. I know its stupid to be threatened by a photograph. It's just...why does she have to keep your picture? And how many more does she have? What does she want from me?
Jake: I don't know babe, but whatever it is, she's not going to get it, I promise you that...
Kathy: I believe you, its just you know what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words and I guess I just didn't like what I was reading.
Jake looks down at the photograph of their Titanic scene recreation aboard the luxury cruise ship during their fifth anniversary.
Jake: Would you rather read a thousand meaningless words from her photograph or five meaniingful words from this one? Do you know what those five words are that I'm reading now right now from this photograph?
Kathy: My Heart Will Go On?
Kathy smiles. Jake shakes his head.
Jake: I Love You. Forever. Always.
Kathy looks down at the photograph, studying it for a moment.
Kathy: Oh yes, I see it now.
Kathy smiles.
Kathy: I still can't believe you got the Captain's permission to pull this off.
Jake: I told you when I married you that I'd do anything I could to make all your dreams come true. You always talk about that scene whenever we watch it together so it seemed only fitting to give you a little piece of that unrealised dream to hold on to, and now I want you to realise another, go out there and show the world who you really are, and once you do, Katherine will have no choice but to respect you...
Kathy: Do you really think I can beat Ayla?
Jake: You can do anything.
Kathy: As long as you're there for me.
Jake: I will be. Forever and always.
Kathy leans across and their lips meet for a long passionate kiss.
My heart set sail once again on the ocean of our love. If Ayla was the iceberg in that ocean that wanted to watch me sink, whether for her own purposes or for some grand scheme of Katherine's, it didn't matter. I had learned to fly on the wings of my love before and I would do so again, and my heart will go on...
Loving a man she will never take from me.
Their lips part briefly.
Kathy: You know we really should get around to putting these in an album.
With that, Jake hops off the bed and smiles as he stands.
Jake: You're right. We should.
Jake goes across the room to a set of shelves and picks out a partially full photo album. He then brings it over to the bed, as Kathy sits up grinning, she crosses her legs as the album is handed to her and the couple set to work organising the delicate patchwork of their fondest memories. Together.
Kathy lay on the bed, on her stomach, facing the opposite way, her husband was next to her, sat on the bed with his back against the headboard, still rereading his Bicentenary Special Edition hardcover copy of From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming, the time off from competing in the ring had allowed him more time to indulge the simpler pleasures in life, and one of them was revisiting his collection of James Bond novels and having the freedom to enjoy each in no particular order given that he had at one point in his life read each at least once and in succession.
Kathy came across her absolute favourite photograph of her trip and paused to reflect on the sweetness of the memory for longer than she had any of the others...
And just like that, I was there again. I was aboard the luxury cruise liner, looking out at the beautiful ocean, in my elegant flowing white dress. Jake was there too, in a simple white shirt and black pants combination, his shirt half-unbuttoned like some devilishly handsome English rogue.
Jake: Give me your hand.
I did then just as I had five years ago. He took me by the hand. We locked eyes and I felt my heart quiver as it always did when I looked into his big beautiful brown eyes, and I felt the spark under his touch.
Jake: Now close your eyes.
I kept his gaze for a moment longer, amazed that even five years on my feelings were just as strong if not stronger.
Jake: Go on.
I closed them.
Jake: Step up.
Under his guidance, I did as he asked, on the threshold of experiencing a moment I had dreamed about since I was twenty sitting in a small Kansas theatre, dreaming of one day meeting my own Leonardo Dicaprio recreating my favourite scene from what would become my favourite movie in spite of my experiences the first time I ever saw it in 1997. In my naivety, I had thought that maybe my Leonardo Dicaprio would be James Swanson, I mean it was our third date and so far he had done everything right by taking me to see this movie that would turn out to be everything our relationship never was - a blockbuster, a classic, a timeless romance...
Sixteen years later and I'd finally found my Dicaprio, he was even blonde! Jake Conway had gone out of his way to make the fantasy as real as he could. People ask me all the time how could I love such a ruthless bastard, I ask you how could I not after that?
Jake: Hold on to the railing. Keep your eyes closed. Don't peek.
I suppressed a giggle as best I could.
Kathy: I'm not.
And I wasn't. Nothing was going to spoil this moment.
Jake: Step up onto the rail.
A giggle escaped me this time as I did.
Jake: Hold on. Hold on. Keep your eyes closed. Do you trust me?
He didn't need to ask but I felt I needed to answer.
Kathy: I trust you.
Completely. Absolutely. Without a doubt.
He took my arms in his hands and spread them out either side of me as the ocean breeze swept through my hair. It was even more breathtaking than I had always imagined, the wind picked up around me and I was carried away by the sheer indulgent romance of the moment as our fingers found each other and entwined. His arms then withdrew to around my waist and he whispered in my ear.
Jake: Open your eyes.
I did and was left breathless in the timelessness of the moment.
Kathy: It really does feel like we're flying Jake...
I laughed.
In some periphery beyond my senses, I heard one of the crewmen declare that they'd got it. Captured the moment. Preserved it digitally, to always inspire the recollection and magic of the moment. If only James could see me now, I wondered if he would still dismiss it as some childish Hollywood idea of romance, he probably would if he was still half as stubborn now as I remembered him to be back then. Stubbornness was always a curious quirk I found quite attractive in men, often though those men were the wrong men, and I'm just glad I found the right stubborn man. I'm just glad I found Jake Conway. Again.
Jake: Happy Anniversary Sweetie...
Our hands found each other again, and he guided them inward as I turned to face him. Our lips met and as we kissed the wind whipped around us, picking up and taking me away in the moment, inevitably, the ocean within me poured forth then just as it did now. I shed tears as I relived every sweet moment of it...
Now it would be all too easy to make more of this match then we really need to wouldn't it Ayla? I could blame Lockheart for having some personal vendetta against me because I just so happened to be married to a man she was once in a relationship with and in response you could hold the same grudge against me that you came into this company, making all your assumptions about how I would crow about having fired you in NCW before I even had a match in this company. Believe whatever you want to about me on a personal level Ayla, and I will continue to the same about you. Now, that sounds fair doesn't it?
We've had our personal issues Ayla, and I don't expect them to disappear overnight, I suspect we'll never be friends, but you know what? I'm okay with that, you have your friends and I have mine, and the simple fact is that I don't need to be your friend to respect you on a purely professional level. The simple fact of the matter is, whether I like it or not, you are one of the best female wrestlers in the business today. I can question so many things about you Ayla, I can question your choice in friends, I can question your choice in lovers and I can even question your motivations and ultimate goals, and simply for the sake of a verbal game of ping-pong that these promos often degenerate into you can do the same to me and then we can both call it a day and go home until Sacrifice rolls around and make love to men the other wouldn't touch to scratch.
I can question so many things about you Ayla but I cannot question your ability to get it done in that ring, certainly not after the performance you put on last week, it brought a smile to my face to see you take it to Izzy to be honest especially after some of the things she's said about me recently, but I know you didn't do it for me. You did it for yourself. You did it because you are one of the better female wrestlers on the roster, that's why you were hired here in a heartbeat, that's why Lockheart took the time and trouble to clear the air with you, she wants you to be happy. You extended an olive branch, she accepted and honestly I'm not surprised because she is just another bitch with a bad attitude around here, like you, unlike you however she just hides it better.
That's okay though Ayla, it really is because for a while now I've been thinking about just how to make my stand around here, to prove I am worthy of my coronation as the undisputed Queen of Diamonds, and now I figure what better way to prove myself and my worth to this company as something more than just the wife of a wrestling legend and as someone more than just some delusional bitch who once thought she was a cat and really who better than Ayla St James, the woman so fond of burning me with my past to give me back the flame of my ambition? I need to relaunch my career and redefine my reputation in this business, I need to be taken seriously around here and for me there is no better way to lay the foundation for all of that than to neutralise one of the biggest threats I will ever face in an IWF ring. I need to beat you Ayla, and I need to do so definitively. I need to pin your shoulders to the mat or make you submit - in short I need my place in the final four of this tournament.
I'm glad Katherine made this match, whether she did it to make a statement to me or not really doesn't matter anymore. She's testing me and my resolve, and you know what Ayla? I've run from my professional boogeywomen for long enough now, its about time I confronted some of my harshest critics and clawed their damn eyes out of their pretty little heads. Congratulations Ayla, you have the distinct honour of being first in that particular line. I realise now that for me there is no better way for me to stick it to Katherine than to defy her expectations of me. She doesn't expect me to get the job done, very few in the back do, and it is that sense of disbelief that will make my victory even greater. It may not be inevitable, but it will be sweet...to take a page from my competition, and from one Kat to another...
Kisses.
Kathy blows a kiss to the camera as a direct statement to Katherine Lockheart.
Kathy quivered and silently wept with the photograph in her hand. Jake felt her quiver next to him and he closed the book, and swung himself around to face her, lying on his stomach also and he put a hand reassuringly on her back as he whispered.
Jake: Hey, hey. Honey, are you crying? What's wrong?
Kathy turned to face him, her eyes glistening with tears, she tries to wipe them away with the back of her thumb.
Kathy: I'm sorry. I guess I'm just being silly.It's just....seeing that photo of you and Katherine together, got me thinking of some of our memories together. I know its stupid to be threatened by a photograph. It's just...why does she have to keep your picture? And how many more does she have? What does she want from me?
Jake: I don't know babe, but whatever it is, she's not going to get it, I promise you that...
Kathy: I believe you, its just you know what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words and I guess I just didn't like what I was reading.
Jake looks down at the photograph of their Titanic scene recreation aboard the luxury cruise ship during their fifth anniversary.
Jake: Would you rather read a thousand meaningless words from her photograph or five meaniingful words from this one? Do you know what those five words are that I'm reading now right now from this photograph?
Kathy: My Heart Will Go On?
Kathy smiles. Jake shakes his head.
Jake: I Love You. Forever. Always.
Kathy looks down at the photograph, studying it for a moment.
Kathy: Oh yes, I see it now.
Kathy smiles.
Kathy: I still can't believe you got the Captain's permission to pull this off.
Jake: I told you when I married you that I'd do anything I could to make all your dreams come true. You always talk about that scene whenever we watch it together so it seemed only fitting to give you a little piece of that unrealised dream to hold on to, and now I want you to realise another, go out there and show the world who you really are, and once you do, Katherine will have no choice but to respect you...
Kathy: Do you really think I can beat Ayla?
Jake: You can do anything.
Kathy: As long as you're there for me.
Jake: I will be. Forever and always.
Kathy leans across and their lips meet for a long passionate kiss.
My heart set sail once again on the ocean of our love. If Ayla was the iceberg in that ocean that wanted to watch me sink, whether for her own purposes or for some grand scheme of Katherine's, it didn't matter. I had learned to fly on the wings of my love before and I would do so again, and my heart will go on...
Loving a man she will never take from me.
Their lips part briefly.
Kathy: You know we really should get around to putting these in an album.
With that, Jake hops off the bed and smiles as he stands.
Jake: You're right. We should.
Jake goes across the room to a set of shelves and picks out a partially full photo album. He then brings it over to the bed, as Kathy sits up grinning, she crosses her legs as the album is handed to her and the couple set to work organising the delicate patchwork of their fondest memories. Together.
Well howdy there pardner.