Feeding Frenzy

[Luke Jackson]

[OFF CAMERA] 

Dr. William Rices’ waiting room was pretty much empty except for one person. Luke Jackson sighed as he waited he had told his wife Jules that he could do this on his own this time. She had insisted that she would go but Luke didn’t think that she needed to come. He needed to do this himself this was another step in the right direction. As he sat there waiting he looked at the walls. At points the walls seemed like they were closing in on him. What did that mean for him? He wasn’t sure but he just needed to get his thoughts out. He closed his eyes trying to get a moments rest when the receptionist came in and called his name. He slowly got up and followed her, the little talk between the two happened, nothing very amazing as per usual. He walked into the office and sat down at the chair that he did before. Dr. Rice smiled as he walked in he put his hand out and Luke took it with a firm handshake.  

Dr. Rice: How has everything been since the last time I have seen you Luke? 

Luke Jackson: Good, I lost my last match didn’t take the pin. My partner did.  

Dr. Rice: How’d that make you feel? 

Luke smiled a little bit and put his hands on the desk and shook his head. 

Luke Jackson: Wasn’t a big deal. Ricky, and I have gotten past everything that has happened. We have become pretty good friends but still there is always that moment of us wanting to take they head off one another but that happens, when you are traveling the road all of the time with someone. 

Dr. Rice: Does Ricky know about your mother? Seeing as you guys travel all of the time I would think that it would come up. Maybe even in passing. 

Luke Jackson: No. 

Dr. Rice shakes his head but smiles a little bit.  

Dr. Rice: Why not? 

Luke Jackson: It has never came up. He knows who she is because he met her. He saw my face when she arrived and I think that it was a sign for him not to ask about it.  

Dr. Rice: Alright. 

Luke sometimes you have to initiate the conversation. I don’t mean with Jules either because she is your wife and she seemingly has the same attitude about your mother that you do. Your sister is the same way you need to find someone out of the box to talk to her about it. Ricky, seems to be the key here because as you have said have had a history. He might give you a different perspective on this. 

Luke smiles and shakes his head. 

Luke Jackson: Yeah, I just don’t know how to bring it up. The last time he got involved with my family it became the talk of the locker room. I don’t need or want that again. That’s why I am gun shy with my feelings, you never know what someone else is thinking. If they will turn on you and make it a weak point for you. 

Dr. Rice: You are opening up to me. 

Luke Jackson: Yeah, but this is different Doc. It’s just you and I here. Plus, I kind of figured that you won’t say anything seeing as I’m your patient.  

Dr. Rice laughs a little bit and nods his head.  

Dr. Rice: Well, this is true. But you don’t shouldn’t worry about what other people think or say Luke. People are always trying to find a weakness in someone so they can get the upper hand. Yes, it sounds childish but it is true, you just need to rise above that. Plus, there are a lot of people in this world that are in the same position as you. They are either mad at their mom, or their dad, or their wife, or their kids. We all have hate towards someone we all have been let down by someone. You just need to let that out, you need to find a sounding board other than me. Luke, it took a big man to come back here and talk to me. I’ve seen a lot of people come and go from my care and a lot of them don’t come back. The ones that do come back become a stronger person. It might be hard but you can do this. You just need to get it out. 

Luke Jackson: Thanks Doc. What about like a blog or something would that help? 

Dr. Rice leans back in his chair and shakes his head a little bit. 

Dr. Rice: Yes and no. Yes it gets your feelings out there, it gives people an outlook on your life. On the other hand though you are still hiding because people aren’t catching the true emotion of you speaking. I just feel you’d be better off with talking it out. 

He looks at his watch and nods his head, he stands up and shakes Luke’s hand one more time. 

Dr. Rice: That is all for today. I’d like to see you again. 

Luke Jackson: You probably will. Thanks Doc. 

Luke walks out of the room. He smiles, and nods his head. He felt good this time he needed this, but talking to Ricky? That probably wasn’t going to happen. The truth of the matter was that Luke wasn’t sure what Ricky was becoming. He has been quiet for the past few weeks it just seemed like they were moving on from each other. Maybe it was a good thing, maybe focusing on a singles career would be better for him. Although it hadn’t been going well before he and Ricky teamed up. But still maybe that was the way he needed to go. In other words he had a lot of thinking to do. 

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[ON CAMERA] 

Luke Jackson: Two time World Champion Chandler Scott. 

Luke shook his head as he started to walk outside of his place in Indy. Luke and Jules had decided to move there for the summer and get a place with Jules’ best friend Cecily Bell. Cecily like Luke was a wrestler and she had been pretty damn successful. Jules thought that it might be a good idea for them to hang with her, and well the extra benefits were pretty good for Luke and Jules. That wasn’t the only reason they had moved but oh well it was one of those things. Luke kept up a pretty good pace on his walk. The feeling of wanting to run, was there but he just felt that a walk would clear his head before the big match that he had. 

Luke Jackson: The past month it has been pretty much a downward spiral in my career. As much as I have tried to fix it, it hasn’t worked. Maybe, it is the people I am facing or maybe it is the attitude that I have had. I’ve walked down to that ring with the thought in my head that I’m already going to lose this match. I need to change that attitude I need to live life to its fullest and walk into that ring with confidence and the thought of it could happen tonight, my name could be something huge in due time. If I do that I believe that I can stop being that laughing stock I can stop being the guy that is fed to people so that they can get a victory. I hate that feeling but it was there and people fed off that, they looked at me as someone that wasn’t going to do much, of course maybe put out some flashy moves and make the people stand up and get behind me. Don’t get me wrong I love that rush, I like when people cheer for me but I want to give them more. I want to win a match for them and have people stop putting the label of potential on me, I want the label of star on me. To do that though, I need to win, I need to get my hand raised.  

Going against a star like Chandler isn’t going to be easy and I know that. 

He nods his head as he continues on his walk. The sun had started to get lower so he put his sunglasses over his eyes as he was walking into it seemingly.  

Luke Jackson: He has an amazing history here in the FGA. Being a two time World Champion is nothing to laugh at. It shows that he has climbed the mountain twice, that shows that he is a start that shows that he can beat anyone on any given day. So going into that match I need to have that on the top of my head. I have to see that Chandler is going to see this as a match that he can walk through and make an example of me. I get the fact that I am not on top of the card and he can see this match as a warm-up for something greater down the road, and I can’t fight that with fact upon fact of how I can beat him. You know that he will rip me down and say that I’m the weaker link of the Next Level. He’ll say that I have no right to be in the same ring with him and I understand that but if he does that he is going to be like every single other person that I have been in the ring with.  

Everyone, picks the same thing on me. That I am just some young guy trying to break into the business. That I’m the weak link, that when it comes to women I wear my emotions on my sleeve. That when I lose a match I wonder if this is the right path for me. The funny part is that don’t we all think like that one time or another? When things go bad you wonder why you are doing what you are doing. Don’t you think that Chandler thought that when he lost the World Title the first time? Don’t you think when he got it back he was happy but then when he lost it again don’t you think that he had doubt in his head? Also, don’t you think that when he was fighting Jimmy Page and Page got the upper hand other than wanting payback don’t you think that he started to doubt himself? Wonder if the fighting was worth it when he was hurt? See he could have closed up shop but he never did even if he had doubt in his head. Of course I have doubt and wonder if this is going to be the right thing for me but I have never closed up shop I have kept going. I will always keep going because I cannot let the haters win.  

As for me being the weak link all you need to do is look two matches that Ricky and I have had as a team. 

He nodded his head as he turned around and started to walk back towards his place. 

Luke Jackson: When we faced Dexter Jacobs who got the pinfall? 

Me. 

A couple weeks ago in our tag match who got pinned? 

Him. 

See I feel good about myself in that because I WAS the one that Tag Titles. Not Ricky. People tend to brush that under the rug though don’t they? See maybe that is the contention I have with Ricky. Everyone loves him, everyone wants to see him as the successful cog in this team but he isn’t. I’m just as good as he is and I want to prove that, and beating Chandler is a step in the right direction. 

As for Chandler, he calls himself The Best in the World and like I have said the history of what he has done pretty much speaks for itself. He can hold that moniker high in the air because he has backed it up and not a lot of people can back that claim up like he can. It also shows his ego, and well we all have egos in this business some more than others. Egos are tough for a lot of people because they feel that they are invincible, that no one can touch them that no matter what they do they will always be the best. That is what Chandler is so if I beat him in that ring 1…2…3…all he will say is that he has been a former World Champion and that the punk kid got lucky. See no matter what happens he will think that he won this match because well he will say that I put my best effort out and I got lucky, he will never say that he overlooked me or anything, or at least I hope he doesn’t. I hope he doesn’t overlook me because then it won’t be luck when I beat him. It will be a lack of drive that he has if he overlooks me and I beat him.  

Now, he also has anger because of past things that have happened to him. He can’t hold on to that anger so when something pushes his buttons he comes out and losses his thought process. Anger is something that I have always had but I have been very good at holding it in because I know that anger will destroy you in this business. I should have blown up time and time again with the history that I have but I never have. Chandler doesn’t hold it in like I do and that can be his downfall. He can hit me with a chair and get DQed or he can beat me to a bloddy pulp but what does that do for him? Does that give him a feather in his cap to beat up someone like me? I will never let anger get a hold on to me because I am stronger than that. I thought that Chandler would be but I guess it doesn’t. 

He smiles as he gets to his place and starts to walk up the steps. 

Luke Jackson: I’m ready to shine. I just need to have that moment. Maybe against the World Champion it won’t happen. Or maybe it will. All I need to do is have a different thought process, I need to go into that match thinking maybe this will be the night that I stop what has been going on with me, if I do that I can be a star, and that is what I want to be. A star. I just need to put my mind to it. 

He smiles as he opens the door and walks off as the scene fades to black.