My Happy Ending

[Perello]

[ OFF CAMERA ]

“Soooooooooooo, what are you gonna do if you win?”

It was about seven in the evening at the Parker home on a Wednesday night. What were Wednesday nights at the Parker home?

Uno nights!

Cindy sat at the table in the comfort of her kitchen with her son to the left of her, and her cousin to the right of her. They were all dressed in their pajamas and nibbling away on some popcorn while they waited for Cindy to either drop a card or draw a different one to continue the game.

“I’m probably gonna cy. No, I’m definitely gonna cry. I got really emotional when Cordy and I won the PDW Tag Team titles the first time, so this? Pheeeeeeeeeeeeew!”

Cindy let out a small chuckle and stared intently at the three cards she held in her hand before she glanced over at Kim.

“This is gonna be ten times worse because I feel like I’ve waited for this for so long! Win or lose, I think I’m gonna run to the back after the match if I feel like I’m gonna cry. I don’t want people to see me crying! It’s bad enough they’ve seen me get knocked out like a gajillion times now!”

Cindy sighed, still frustrated that she allowed Jimmy Page to knock her upside the head not once, but twice.

“I’m not sure what would be worse. Bawling my eyes out in front of thousands of people, or a you know what slip.”

Cyn looked down at her chest, getting a laugh out of Kim. Though she didn’t understand wrestling or why Cindy made it her career, Kim knew how important this was to her cousin and at least tried to make it seem like she cared. Nolan on the other hand? He just wanted Cindy to continue the game.

“Mooooooooooom! Will you draw a card or put one down already?! You’re sooo slow!”

Cyn shifted her attention over to Nolan and shot him a scowl before she looked down at her cards and slowly pulled one out.

“See, I was saving this for Kimmy, but since you wanna be a brat…”

While staring at Nolan, Cindy slammed the card down onto the kitchen table and yelled out:

“BAM! DRAW FOUR LITTLE DUDE! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU MESS WITH ME! KNOW YOUR PLACE AND PRAISE THE UNO MASTER!”

Stunned, Nolan held onto his final two cards with firm grip, and stared down at the draw four card with nothing but pure rage on his face.

“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! I WAS ABOUT TO WIN!”

At that moment, Nolan threw his cards up in the air, swiped the deck off the table, and ran right toward his room. Kim appeared to be shocked, but Cindy? That was just typical grumpy Nolan to her.

“You need to get that child’s anger checked out, Cyn. He’s worse than your ex when he gets pissed!”

Cyn turned her head over her shoulder and watched Nolan stomp his feet up the steps until he reached his room and slammed his bedroom door shut.

“Ehhhh, I don’t think so. He only gets like that when he doesn’t get what he wants, and that’s normal for every Banks family member.”

Cyn looked back over at Kim, shrugged her shoulders, and threw her three Uno cards onto the table.

“It’s in his genes so I don’t think there’s much I can do! Hopefully when he gets older he’ll start outgrowing the Banks genes and be exactly like me!”

After standing up out of her chair, Cyn clapped her hands and grinned widely at the thought of Nolan being exactly like her.

“Like if he didn’t curse?! That would be fantastic! Oh, and he can never go to jail either! And he can’t party all the time!”

Kim sighed as she stood up from the chair she was sitting on and pushed it into the table.

“Sooo... you want him to be boring basically, right?”

Cyn moved her hands to her hips and squinted her eyes, looking peeved by her cousins words.

“Hey, you take that back! I’m not boring! I’m thirty freaking years old now with a son that’s starting the first grade this year, Kim! I has priorities now!”

Cyn walked around the table, grabbed a bottle of Aquafina that was resting on the counter, and sharply turned her head to look back over at Kim.

“Plus, I’m on television allllllll the time! How can I be boring if I’m on TV?”

Kim rolled her eyes and started walking toward the living room, but not until she said:

“Yeah, on TV wrestling like some redneck hick from Mobile, Alaaabaaaama! Probably the most boring reason to be on television aside from being a contestant on Jeopardy.”

Cyn was shocked by her cousins comments, but didn’t bother saying anything. She knew what kind of life Kim was used to, and the one that Cindy lived was nothing like it.

“Whatever you say.”

Cindy twirled off the cap to her water bottle and watched her cousin walk away. Just as she took a sip from bottle, she heard a car pulling into the driveway on the side of her house. She gulped down the water that was in her mouth, and peeked out the kitchen window to see the front end of a black on black Audi that resembled a Batmobile.

“Brandon?”

He was the only person that Cindy knew who had a car just like that, but she didn’t believe it was him. The divorced former couple still hadn’t spoke face to face since Cindy called Brandon a terrible father, and for Brandon to just show up? Well, that was normal… but not when they were fighting.

“That can’t be him.”

Cyn sat the bottle of Aquafina back down on the counter and rushed past Kim toward the front door.

“Where are you going?!”

Kim yelled out, but Cyn ignored her and continued toward the front of her house. Once she got to the living room, she looked out the front window and saw that it was indeed Brandon, slowly making his way toward Cindy’s door.

“What the heck is he doing here?!”

“Who?!”

Cyn continued to ignore Kim and walked toward the front door, pulling it open before Brandon could either knock or ring the doorbell.

“Goddamn, what the fuck? You got a GPS on me or some shit where you know when I’m close?”

Brandon shook his head and tried to look behind Cyn to check if anyone was inside her house, but Cindy’s baggy sweater and even baggier sweatpants made that impossible.

“Is anyone here? I need to talk to you about some shit that I don’t want Nolan to hear.”

Cyn turned her head over her shoulder and glanced over at Kim.

“I’ll be right back, Kim.”

Kim shot her cousin a thumbs up as Cindy took a step forward and closed the door behind her. It felt like negative three degrees outside, but the cold never seemed to bother Cindy, and Brandon was damn near an Eskimo.

“I need you to bust Zero’s ass, Cyn. And I mean legit hurt this dude. Break his goddamn ankle for all I care!”

Cyn was stunned by Brandon’s words. Although she knew Zero and Brandon were having issues, she didn’t think that the first thing he’d say to her in close to year would be about Zero.

“Are you serious right now, Brandon? You drove all the way to Philadelphia just to tell me that you want me to bust Zero’s a--”

She caught herself just in time.

“--butt?! Seriously?!”

Brandon shrugged his shoulders, stopping his pacing for only a few seconds.

“Well, nah. I ain’t drove all the way to Philly. I been in Philly at the facility all damn day. I figured while I was out here I’d let you know that it’d mean a lot to me if you, you know, hurt the son of a bitch. I’ll even forgive you for that shit you said to me the other day.”

Cyn squinted her eyes, looking at Brandon as if she were ready to attack him.

“The other day?! Brandon, that was almost a year ago! And I’ve already said sorry a billion times and that I didn’t mean it!”

Pausing for a moment, Cyn let out a sigh and began to realize something…

“Jeebus Christmas, why does it seem like everyone wants there to be some personal animosity in this match with me and Zero?! Why is me getting my first one on one match for a World championship ever not good enough?!”

Brandon spit on the ground and looked up at his ex-wife with a smirk.

“It probably is good enough for FGA fans, Cyn. But I’m not an FGA fan. You know me better than anyone, bruh. I’m always lookin’ out for my own personal interests, and you breaking Zero’s kneecap is a personal interest of mine.”

Despite hearing Brandon’s reasoning, Cindy was still livid. Ever since her match with Zero was announced for Canadian Stampede, people kept trying and trying to make it something more than it needed to be. In this day in age, it was rare to see two well respected wrestlers going one on one for the promotions top prize with absolutely no heat between the individuals. That was what Cindy and Zero wanted to do with their match, but sadly, it didn’t seem good enough for anyone else.

“You know, I’m really sick of this crap, Brandon. It’s like nothing that I do is good enough for anyone. I make Nolan bacon and eggs in the morning - he yells at me because he wants french toast sticks. I get Kim a giftcard from Kohl's - that's not good enough because she can’t buy anything she likes with a hundred dollars! I get my first one on one World title match - it’s NOT GOOD ENOUGH BECAUSE ME AND ZERO AREN’T TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER!”

Losing her cool a bit, Cyn moved her right hand to her forehead and tried to calm herself down while Brandon stared at her wide-eyed.

“Goddamn, Cyn. You yellin’ at me right now, or are you yellin’ at everyone else through me? Cause damn near all that shit got nothin’ to do with me.”

Cyn pulled her hand away from her forehead and let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry. I’m just… so freaking stressed out all of a sudden. Like I seriously wasn’t nervous or anything all week, and now… three days away… I’m starting to panic!”

Cyn plopped down on her porch steps, slid her fingers through her hair, and looked up at Brandon with an insincere smile.

“I just imagined this all so much differently, you know? I’ve been wrestling for like… ever now, and I still get nervous as heck before big matches! How the heck am I supposed to become a World champion if I’m as nervous as… as…. “

Cyn pondered for a moment, but nothing was coming to her.

“...something that gets really nervous all the time!”

Brandon couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Cindy throw her hands over her face. He flipped his sweatshirt hood over his head, reached his hand forward, and pat Cindy on the shoulder.

“It’s good that you get nervous still, Cyn. Part of the reason I semi-retired was because I started not feeling shit anymore. It was go to event, have match, win or lose said match, then go home. I just didn’t care anymore. That nervousness you feel right now? That just shows how much you do care, and to be a success in this business? You gotta care, Cyn.”

Cyn pulled her hands away from her face and glared up at Brandon.

“I do care. Heck, people tell me that I care too much! You tell me that I care too much!”

Brandon nodded.

“Because you freaking do, bruh… and that’s why you climbed up as much as you have, Cyn. I mean, shit, not long ago you were just a rookie that only looked good in tag matches. Now look at you. You’re main eventing a pay per view for the FGA World championship. This the moment you been waiting on, Cyn. Who the hell knows when it’ll come again, bruh. You gotta bank on this shit.”

Cindy bit down on her lip, knowing that there was nothing but truth in Brandon’s words. It took two years for her to get the opportunity that she was just now getting … how long would it be before she got another one?

“And you know what would really help you? Breaking Zero’s ankles in your match!”

Cindy rolled her eyes, pushed herself up to her feet, and spun toward her door. She took a step forward and looked ready to go inside, but just as she opened her door…

“Ayo, Cyn…”

She turned herself around enough to look at Brandon.

“It’s time.”

With that, Brandon turned around and walked in the direction of his car, leaving Cindy on her porch with a smile on her face.

“It’s time…”

Cyn spun back around, pushed the front door all the way open, and walked into her house feeling a bit more confident and less nervous after the talk with her ex.

[ ON CAMERA ]

The visual opened up at a place where Cindy always liked to shoot her videos for FGA; the patio in her backyard. She was wearing an FGA brand sweatshirt, along with a pair baggy black sweatpants and monster feet slippers, staring out at the Philadelphia night sky. 

“It’s finally here…” 

She turned her head to look back at the camera. 

“It may or may not be the moment that everyone else has been waiting on, but it sure as heck is the one that I’ve been waiting on. I don’t believe I have to repeat how long I’ve been waiting for this since everyone heard about that more than enough times, but I don’t think people understand that this…?” 

She cracked a half smirk. 

“It goes even beyond FGA for me. I remember back in the PDW days the go to insult against Sex Sells was oh, Cindy’s dragging Cordy down! And Cordy could be doing all this other stuff, but she’s wasting her time with Cindy Parker instead.” 

She shook her head, showing that those comments still ate away at her. 

“It got to a point where I believed it. I believed that Cordy was better off without me no matter how many times she tried to convince me otherwise. She was up here…” 

She moved her right arm above her head. 

“... and I was down here.” 

She lowered her left arm down toward her waist. 

“Whether it was true or not didn’t really matter to me. What bothered me was the fact that people were already saying all these horrible things about me and I was just starting to get my feet wet as a wrestler!” 

She let out a sigh and took a step toward the camera. 

“But I knew I had to get better. I knew I had to do something else to standout and make people see that I had all the tools to make it in this business. I had to make people believe that I was just as good on my own as I was with Cordy, so I signed with FGA.” 

She flailed her arms out her side, a small smirk appearing on her features. 

“And now here I am… one three count or a tap out away from becoming FGA World champion. Silencing all my doubters once and for all by becoming the top wrestler in the top company of the world!” 

She couldn’t help but smile, knowing full well that this was unimaginable a couple of years ago. 

“But to do that, I have to beat someone that I consider a good friend. Someone that I have a heck load of history with. Someone who I brought Thanksgiving dinner to when I found out he didn’t have any!”  

She took another step forward, but immediately stopped right after it. 

“Zero McHannon. You know, I don’t think anyone has ever gotten to the top of FGA as fast as you have, Zero. Heck, I know for a fact that no one has since I’ve been here! You debuted by setting the Gold Rush rumble elimination record, and a few months later, you became the FGA World champion. A title that only a few names have ever held before you.” 

She gave Zero a golf clap. 

“And I think a lot of the resentment that people hold towards you is nothing more than jealousy, Zero. It’s really easy to get mad or upset when you see someone stroll into a place you called home for what seems like ever and watch them find instant success. Heck, I cringe a little bit whenever I hear people say six months and two years!” 

She cringed, showing that her words were fact. 

“But I’m definitely not jealous of you, Zero. I’m happy that you managed to climb the mountain here in FGA. I’m happy that after your little vacation, you came back and realized that you still got it! But…”  

She smirked slyly. 

“... you better believe that I’ll be ten times more happier when I’m the one who takes the FGA World championship away from you. To be honest with you, Zero… I question just how much you even care about the FGA World championship. I mean, sure, you caaaaaaare about it. But does it really mean that much to you?” 

She shrugged. 

“I’m asking this mainly because ever since you won that title, you’ve been talking about Chandler Scott way more than you do the title itself. It’s like you’re obsessed with beating Chandler, and that? That was your prize. The FGA World championship? Just a complimentary award.” 

She shook her head from side to side as she exhaled the cold Philadelphia air. 

“Even during our interview and our contract signing, all I kept hearing coming out of your mouth was Chandler Scott this and Chandler Scott that. Heck, I know that I’m not the only one who noticed it because Chandler even commented on it on the Twitter machine! And if I’m being honest, Zero?” 

A slight scowl began to form on her face. 

“That kinda ticks me off. It ticks me off because, to me, it seems like you’re sole focus is on the former FGA World champion, and I’m just an obstacle in your way. You’re waiting on the imminent return of Chandler Scott so that you could defend the very title you took from him against him in some kind of monumental FGA pay per view match!” 

She shook her head no, the scowl now out in full force. 

“No, Zero. That is not how this is going to work! This is MY TIME! I’ve beaten former FGA champions time and time again, and for years… years I never got my payoff. I never had my happy ending! It was just good matches, head injuries, and broken wrists for Cyncity and I can’t take it anymore!” 

She tried to calm herself down, but it was of no use. She was fired up and she was going to say what was on her mind. 

“That’s really all I want, Zero. I just want my happy ending. I want something to know that all the years I’ve put into this business were all well worth it. I want to forever be remembered, Zero. Not as one of the bests to lace up a pair of boots, but as someone who left their mark in the Arts of Frontier Grappling. And what better way is there than to become the first woman to hold the FGA World championship?” 

She smiled. 

“There isn’t any. This moment? This opportunity? It may very well be my last one for a long, looooooooong time, and there’s no chance in h - e double toothpicks that I’m gonna blow it like I did against Riley Owens! As fun as your little miracle run has been, Zero?” 

She shrugged. 

“Come Canadian Stampede? It’s OVER! It’s time for the unicorn and sparkly rainbow takeover of FGA! It’s time for a new breed of champion to run this yard! A champion that not only will fight the good fight against the baddies of FGA, but one that the fans could actually look up to! One that won’t get arrested during a show!” 

She paused, wondering if that may have been too much. 

“I deserve my happy ending, Zero. I’ve earned my freaking happy ending. And at Canadian Stampede? I’m going to get it.” 

She took a step forward, reached her hand behind the camera, and took it off the stand. 

“Byeeeeeeeeeeee!” 

And with that, the picture turned to static...  

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