A Simple Question

by **krzy** Wed Apr 13, 2022 6:12 pm

BOB LUGER
The moment I step out on that stage, the EXACT moment, the entire landscape changes. People look up from their phones, they rush back from the popcorn stand, and they watch. It’s all a trance when I'm the view. Because, I BUILT a legacy that nobody will ever forget. I’m the name that everybody wants to hear about. You got your Blake’s and your Jason’s but you only got ONE Bob Luger. Nobody would dare to walk the path I’ve walked. Do the things I’ve done and achieve the greatness I’ve achieved TIME AND TIME AGAIN! It’s because nobody can match my passion. You can mince that however you want. Call me a villain. A cheater. But, the things I do is because I LOVE this business and have the WILL to GO THERE in order to be the best. You won’t find that will in anybody else. It’s just me. It’s who I am. It’s why the name Bob Luger didn’t have to make your list. I’m an obvious choice. That is if I'd gain anything from attacking you. What would I gain from that? Hmm? Tell me.

On the other side of the dinner table in the crowded riverside restaurant is none other than Tailcoat Val. Obviously pleased with Luger who, the moment he sees a camera on him, cuts a promo boasting about himself.

TAILCOAT VAL
What a funny way to express your love.

Val takes her eyes off of Luger and examines the table between them--oddly intimate with the candle lighting, this is the last place you’d expect these two overbearing personalities to meet. And that’s after you get over the fact that they’re meeting at all. She picks up a fork and begins poking curiously at the plate of pasta in front of her.

TAILCOAT VAL
Everything you do is fueled by a desperate craving for respect. The desire to be admired is your catalyst. You want to be seen as the best, and when your actions fall short and alter how you’re perceived for the worst…that’s when you’re forced to fall back on merely telling everyone how bright your star shines.

She takes a bite of the tortellini and nods, impressed. She washes it down with a gulp of white wine so expensive the language on the bottle has yet to be deciphered.

TAILCOAT VAL
Anyone who doesn’t respect you is an enemy. Even those indifferent pose a threat. That’s what you would have gained from attacking me: one less person around with the ability to crack your facade. But, of course, you would have announced it to the world had it been you, correct?

Luger smiles at the woman across the table from him. Who knows the origin of that smile. Is it that he’s impressed? Is he masking anger because she’s right?

BOB LUGER
Val, the clever gal. You try too hard. Sitting here trying to piece life together as if it’s just some big puzzle. “Everything can be solved” is the motto you probably live by. Yet, here you are. So damn desperate that you’d waste both of our time coming to me. But, let me make one thing clear.

He cuts a piece of his massive tomahawk steak before taking a bite, so juicy that it seeps out of his mouth onto his chin. However, he doesn’t care.

BOB LUGER
You aren’t important. Not in my eyes. You couldn’t cut it as a wrestler so you go on and try to be this “menacing” figure eating from the plates of people more successful than you. It’s pathetic. So why the hell would I attack you and go on to brag about it? That would be like me killing a roach then cutting a promo about how killing that roach means I’m better than everyone. Obviously anybody can kill the roach that is Tailcoat Val. Look how far you’ve fallen. From a single attack. You aren’t on my radar. You say I want to be respected, you want to feel important. You come back to CMV and I have to hear every week about you crying and moaning about who attacked you. Nobody cares. This isn’t going to make your name Val. It just isn’t. Get that through your skull now and maybe you can start to focus on places you do belong like a kitchen for some unfortunate scumbag.

He takes another bite, laughing about his sexist comment.

TAILCOAT VAL
Oh? I’m a bit hurt…

She helps herself to another glass of wine, filling her glass with a deliberately-slow pour.

TAILCOAT VAL
…that you would consider this a waste of time. After all, the food is exquisite. And the venue? One of the world’s finest.

The camera pans around to show the gorgeous sunset reflected off the water’s surface.

TAILCOAT VAL
And the funny thing about roaches…

The cut back over to Val is fittingly abrupt to match what could barely be defined as a segue.

TAILCOAT VAL
… is that they’ll likely outlive us all. There’s something to be learned about how they operate, how they exist, but many people are either too scared to approach or too self-absorbed to consider there’s knowledge worth exploring outside of their bubble. In that sense, perhaps your metaphor isn’t too far off. It was a single attack, sure, in an unending stream of them. And yet, here I am.

The bottle of wine was still in her hand, and when she realizes that a little is left, she pours the remainder into Luger’s glass. It’s barely enough to fill a teaspoon.

TAILCOAT VAL
I suppose if I wanted to impress you, I would have attacked anyone I suspected--even if it meant the innocent would be harmed. Then when there’s no one left in my path, I can stand alone on a mountain of corpses and profess that I’m finally greater than them all. Yes, that’s the Bob Luger way--justified because it’s done for the love of a business. My fall may be ugly, but I won’t rise again with the wings of hypocrisy.

He finishes his steak. Not even while she was talking, but he waited to take a bite until she was done and forced her to watch him devour the meat like an animal. Then, while wiping his face with the napkin her fork was on, he then looks as if he’s about to speak. However, they are then interrupted by a short, chubby gentleman in a nice suit walking up to Luger with papers of some sort.

BOB LUGER
You looked them all over? Am I good?

He assures Luger that whatever the papers are, he is safe to sign in which he does. As the man walks away, Luger finally looks back at Val, then to his glass. Just a drop resides in it. What a shame. So he gets up, walks over to another table where a couple sits and takes their bottle before walking back to his. They fuss, but nothing is done about it. He proceeds to drink straight from the bottle before finally talking to her once more.

BOB LUGER
I just bought the place.

He takes another drink.

BOB LUGER
Thinking about renaming it to something cool like “Luger’s Restaurant”. You know, simple. Something you lack. Simplicity. All your problems would be solved if you didn’t feel the need to look in between each thread on literally everything. That’s a woman thing. It’s gotta be. Men are simple. Like you said, I would have beat everyone’s ass then sit back down on my loveseat, knowing that whoever wronged me is in the hospital. Doesn’t matter who. And those who were innocent, I’m sure I could do the Val way-justified and just read into their lives and find something they’re guilty for. You….should just stop giving a fuck. Maybe you could buy restaurants and main event shows like I do. Yet no, you get whisked away with every bit of mystery this life offers.. You waste your life. That’s who you are. An overcomplicated time waster. And that’s why ten years from now, “Tailcoat Val” will be a name only brought up when somebody sees a clip on the suggested side of youtube while watching another one of my World Title wins.

He pours some of his new wine into her glass, carelessly mixing it with the previous.

BOB LUGER
Regardless though, you are here. Despite knowing I would have no motive to attack you, you’re here. Across the table from me. What is it? What is it really that you want with me Val?

TAILCOAT VAL
Certainly not life advice.

It’s all she could do to keep from bursting out laughing, but a few chuckles manage to escape her lips. She’s still smiling when she takes her tainted drink, and pours it into the empty wine bottle she helped herself to earlier. With a few taps on that bottle using a fork, she summons over a waitress.

TAILCOAT VAL
There appears to be an issue with this; however, this establishment’s new owner has assured me that the *simple* solution to this matter would be to compensate me with a brand new bottle…on the house. Unopened this time, if you don’t mind.

The waitress looks nervously at Luger for confirmation, and Val startles her by smacking the table with both hands.

TAILCOAT VAL
Now! Do you know what he does to people who second guess him? Who doubt him? He *breaks* them!

The waitress scurries off. Satisfied, Val turns back to Luger.

TAILCOAT VAL
You break them.

Luger, who was still looking a bit amused by what just happened, looks her in the eye as if that were answer enough to her unasked question.

TAILCOAT VAL
Ironically, you remind me of a woman I know…knew.

She chose her words carefully, and by the growing annoyance on Luger’s face, it appears she hit her mark.

TAILCOAT VAL
You break them because you love the business. But breaking them won’t make them stronger, which will ultimately hurt the business. An irony your lust for simplicity has blinded you to…but I digress. Bob, I’m here because I have a question that only you can answer.

Bob leans back in his chair with his arms crossed. Curious almost but before the curiosity settles on his face he begins to laugh.

BOB LUGER
You….are such a character. So dramatic. Only to ask me a question. Ok. Ask. But unless something is in it for me, something WORTHY of the legend that sits before you, then you won’t get an answer.

A gesture as mundane as retrieving a manilla envelope she’d been keeping in her lap, seems ominous and vaguely threatening when Val does it. She drags her fingertips along the length of the parchment, almost caressing it, before finding the clasp and lifting the flap. Her eyes only leave Luger’s long enough for her to glance at the photo she pulls from the envelope.

TAILCOAT VAL
At what point do you justify the innocent being expendable?

Luger looks down at the photo and immediately bursts into laughter. The camera follows his line of sight and reveals that it’s a picture of Jared Leon, metal bat in hand, standing over Bloody Justice’s broken body on that fateful night that saw brother put against brother for promises that died the moment they were uttered. While Bram looms in the background, Slate proudly pats Leon on the shoulder while wearing a cheshire-cat smile on his lips.

BOB LUGER
Hmm…..

Luger sits there, as if he’s honestly searching his vast mind for the answer to Val’s possible rhetorical question. However, he couldn’t keep up the charade. He then shrugs with a carefree smile on his face before answering.

BOB LUGER
Are you an idiot? You come here, crashing my evening for what? To ask me a dumb question and flash a picture of people who don’t matter to me?. But, this question, if it’s truly something only I can answer, then I will. As soon as you tell me……..what the hell is in it for me? You want something from me, but I give nothing for free. I’m a businessman. Life is about gaining. It’s about seeking value. And you? I have no value speaking to you here.

He glances down at one of the four rolex watches wrapped around his wrist.

BOB LUGER
I’ve got somewhere to be soon so wrap it up. Show me the value of answering your question or stop feeding off of my relevancy you fucking leech.

His words hang in the air for a long time, tension and silence coalescing into a toxic aura. Despite masterful attempts at keeping their cards close to their chests, they’re at their breaking points--Val with Luger’s attitude and Luger with Val’s nonchalance about his attitude. It’s like the air is filled with gas, and even a wrong utterance of a syllable can ignite the clash and set things off. Neither person fears getting their hands dirty, and it’s unlikely either cares about the venue that plays hosts to their violence. Right here in this restaurant Val can break that empty wine bottle her fingers are brushing against over Luger’s head, or Luger can beat her to the punch by jamming the fork he’s been combing his mustache with into Val’s good eye, blinding her for good. They both lean forward into the tension, expressions unreadable, each waiting for the other to flinch, to show weakness, cowardice, a vulnerability the other can exploit in devastating fashion, ensuring that the Wright-era of CMV begins with a huge piece of the puzzle missing and--

WAITRESS
Here’s the bottle of wine you asked for ma’am. I trust the date is going well?

Tension snapped.

Val flashes a smile as she’s handed the bottle. Meanwhile, Luger looks a bit confused.

BOB LUGER
Wait, I don’t have somewhere to be…this *is* where I supposed to be. What did you do to my date?

Still smiling, Val gets up and starts walking away.

TAILCOAT VAL
Is that a question only I can answer?

She only takes two more steps before Luger grabs her wrist.

BOB LUGER
Don’t you walk away from me when I’m fucking talking to you BITCH.

Val lowers herself so that she’s eye to eye with a still-seated Luger.

TAILCOAT VAL
For now, you’re innocent--but you share a bed with a man who I will come for one day, and, on that day, you will have to make a choice. That decision will answer my question, and it will determine what I do with you. You think you’re brave. You stake your reputation on being untouchable. When you stand before me, you will kneel…or you will break.

Luger starts to respond, but Val leans in closer.

TAILCOAT VAL
I know.

They’re nose to nose now, her voice is low and cold.

TAILCOAT VAL
That’s impossible. You would never. So too thought the rest of them. And where are they now, Bob? Whispers in the wind. Echoes of a fragment of a memory of a life lived perfectly until they made one wrong move. One. That’s all it takes. And you’re on the precipice of losing it all.

Again Luger tries to retort until he feels Val drag a finger over his throat with her free hand-- a reference that isn’t lost on him.

TAILCOAT VAL
We weren’t even enemies then.

She jerks her arm free and walks off ignoring the restaurant full of people who couldn’t help but watch that all unfold.