[Scene opens to a spotlight pointed on a very excited announcer in front of a huge red curtain]
[Announcer] “Now coming to the stage our little Baby doll Adams!”
[The announcer runs to one end of the stage, with the spotlight still trailing along]
[Announcer] “cut the light, Jack!”
[Spotlight turns off abruptly, when the red curtain opens; the stage lights turn on, lighting the stage with hues of cool blues and soft pinks, center stage is decorated with a tall gold framed oval mirror, a small side table with a rhinestone encrusted rotary phone and a gorgeous small cushioned love seat with Victorian detailing finished up the whole set.]
[The spotlight dims and the curtains close as Alice finished up her act. She then walks offstage saying thanks to all of her well wishers, stopping to take photos with audience members and having small conversations with as many people as she could possibly handle, once down the hallway, she hurriedly walks towards her dressing room, the once lively corridor with laughter and music, now quiet and solemn, her little piece of heaven as she calls it inching ever closer. She opens the door to her dressing room.]
[Alice] “oh shit I hope I didn’t miss it!”
[Alice drops down on her little couch and turns on the tv]
[Alice] “Awe man, I missed the beginning segment and half of the first match!”
[Alice is stuck watching the ending of a match between two new comers, one a tall cocky arrogant looking man with a big mouth, “every time he gets a hit in, he arrogantly talks shit and struts around the ring like he owns the place” Alice thinks to herself, “typical, show a narcissist a sign of weakness and they think they rule the world.” The other newcomer was a woman, young, pretty, strong, calculative and very determined looking, but yet, she didn’t seem real, as if she was hiding behind a mask as well. “Those women are the most dangerous kind. Always hiding, but ever vigilant, cold and calculating, I would know because I am the same way, it’s smarter to just show face, to never give away to much of yourself; she’s good and really strong, she could honestly be a threat if I where to ever honestly entertain the idea of sending an application in.”]
[Alice] “wait a minute, why do I feel like I have seen this arrogant ass before…?”
[Once the match ended she stopped paying attention to the television, and started to think back to the hundreds of people who came to the show tonight, specifically all the guys who were really tooting their own horn hard tonight. “I seem to recall, one particular guy…” Alice thought to herself…” He was with this woman who looked completely mortified after every word he said.”]
{Earlier That Night After the Show}
[Alice stands in front of the stage putting on her best smile she tries to not sound to awkward, as she talks to people who stuck around after the nights show]
[Alice] “Thank you, thank you very much, I hope you enjoyed the show…”
[Alice went through her usual after show routine, shook hands, kissed cheeks and took photos, everyone left, well almost everyone, Alice irritated and a little flustered with what came out of that person’s mouth, started walking towards the table the voice was coming from, the only reason she even noticed them, was because of how loud and obnoxious the guy was.]
[Unknown female] “Honestly can you just shut your mouth already![nervously looks around] you are seriously making me regret bringing you here! How many times do I have to tell you, they are burlesque dancers, NOT STRIPPERS!”
[Unknown male] “ and I’m telling you it doesn’t matter what you call them, if your gonna drop your top then show them nips off. I, personally, am offended, I feel like I have been played! How you gonna drop your top but not go through with showing it all, those pasties are a crime!” [he dramatically shakes his fist in front of the woman’s face]
[Female] “I swear to god, I am never trying to cheer you up again, if you get us banned from here Keith so help me…”
[Keith] [interrupts mid sentence] “Kass please, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, my bad, I didn’t mean to get you all butt hurt.[Laughs loudly] now let’s get back to what’s really important here, ME, and the mind boggling question of WHY ARE THERE TITS BUT NO NIPS!?”
[Keith laughed out loud, took a big swig of his beer all the while the timid girl he called Kass shook her head and put her face in her hands]
[Kass] “ God your such an idiot, I think you’ve had enough to drink already”, [looks up and grabs the half empty beer bottle out of his hand] “Burlesque and Stripping are not the same [she stands up, and grabs Keith by the arm] now let’s go, you’ve had way to much to drink.”
[Alice stops mid stride when she notices the woman getting up, grab the man by the arm and pull him up and out towards the door.]
[Alice] “Good riddance, I feel sorry for that poor woman, she looked as if someone from the club was gonna come and ban her for life, shit what time is it? [Looks at her phone] I’m gonna miss the beginning of the show if I don’t go back now.”
[Alice turns around and starts down the main floor to the backstage door, as soon as she the door closes behind, she slips her heels off and begins to jog towards her dressing room]
{End Of Flashback}
[Alice laughs out loud, thinking about that poor woman’s face, she looked as if she had made the biggest mistake in her life]
[Alice] “Time to stop thinking about such nonsense, honestly, even if it is a lovely distraction. But now it’s the moment of truth, it’s time for me to send in my application.
[Alice goes and grabs her laptop off of her dressing table, she opens up her email and begins to fill out her application]
[Alice] “I can’t believe I’m really doing this… it’ll be a miracle if they accept me.”
[Once finished with her application she sends it in and turns off her computer, after setting it back where it was originally, she gets up, changes from her show clothes to sweats and a black shirt, ties her hair up in a ponytail and makes sure everything is locked, turned off and put away before she leaves.]
{1 week later}
[Alice grabs clothes from her dressers and closet; stuffs them all into a big overnight bag. After, she then starts to grab heels and shoes and stuffs them into a different easily as if not bigger bag than before]
[Alice] “A girl can never have to many shoes, plus I have no idea what I am going to wear out there! I still can’t believe I got in! That call last night threw me through a loop.”
[Alice stops to think about the night before, she had just finished putting her son Morrison and daughter Marie to sleep, and as if someone was looking out for her, her phone did not ring until the kids room doors where closed. Once she answered she heard a man congratulating her and welcoming her into the WZCW, her hearted raced then fell when she heard her debuting match was in Minneapolis, but none the less her voice never wavered, she thanked him again and told him she would see them there.]
[Alice] “I’m so glad I was able to get my grandmother to watch the kids for this, there is no way they would have been able to handle all this traveling.” [she sits down on the bed and puts her sneakers on.]
[Alice] “alright, I have everything packed and good to go, when I’m on the plane I’ll read up on my opponent.”
[Inside a busy airport, Alice walks out of the arrival tunnel a little dazed from sleeping the whole flight.]
[Alice] “oh god [groggily] I would be lazy enough to sleep through that whole flight. I didn’t even get to read up on my opponent. [Giggles to herself] god that sounds so ridiculous, well I have some time to kill, before tonight I can read up about them at the hotel.
[Alice grabs her things, walks out of the airport and hails a taxi]
[Taxi Driver] “where to miss?”
[Alice] “To the AC hotel please.”
[Alice sits back and pulls up her acceptance email, now, she thinks to herself, where was the link to show who I was up against tonight… oh! Here it is. She clicks the link and begins to study for the whole car ride]
[Alice] “thanks again for the ride Mr. [Slowly smiles and hands the driver her fare] I do hope I get to run into you again handsome." [Alice winks, grabs her bags, turns and walks away from a very flushed taxi driver]
[Alice checks into the hotel and goes straight to her room. Once settled, she showers and starts to get ready for tonight. She digs threw one of her bags and pulls out a red velvet box with a black satin bow on top, a light blue card is stuck neatly between the ribbon.]
[Alice] “now who in the world sent me this…[she picks the card from between the ribbon and opens it] it can’t be… [eyes widen] how did she..?!”
My dear doll face, I know you are angry with me, but I am so glad you gave this a shot! I know you can do great things not just for you, but for your little ones as well. Anyways, knowing you, you probably packed the wrong thing to wear. No offense honey, but rhinestones and corsets make for a very stiff and uncomfortable match, so I made this for you. Kisses sweetheart ~S
[Alice] “Even when I pushed her away… she still found me, [teary eyed, Alice pulls off the ribbon and opens the box; inside was a beautiful leotard with lace all around] damn, this Bitch still got it, this is seriously some craftsmanship [pulls outfit out of the box] I wonder if it fits…”
[Alice slips into the outfit]
[Alice] “damn this fits like a glove, this is seriously way better than what I was going to go with, haha even when she’s god knows where she still finds a way to criticize and make me cry.”[she bends down to lace her boots up] ”whelp let’s see how this all looks [looks in the mirror, a small excited smile formed across her lips] perfect.”
[Alice grabs her phone off if the nightstand and sits on the bed, she opens the email containing the link to her Opponent, the name ANNIE HOLLOWAY was at the top of the page, next to it, a picture of a pretty young woman, with a cold hard look in her eyes.]
[Alice] “Well screw me sideways, I wasn’t dreaming, I can’t believe I got her… of all people! [Alice stops talking out loud, thinks for a moment and then takes a deep breath. After exhaling a sly smile formed on her face.] Wait a minute, I saw her first match, I am not going in totally blind, I know she’s calm and calculative, but her eyes give her away. [Alice sneers and looks at the photo of Holloway] Oh Annie darling, you may be able to hide your expressions and motives from others, but not from me. Your mask is slipping my dear, now, stand back and let a real woman show you how it’s done.”
[Alice stands up, grabs her things she would need to enter the Center for her debut, once everything is in hand, she walks out of the hotel and into a taxi]
[Alice] “To the Target center please.”
[after shutting the door she gets a good look at the driver, surprisingly, it was the man from before.]
[Taxi driver] “what’s a dainty little woman like you [moves his review mirror down to get a good look at Alice] doing going to a big bad wrestling thing like that? What are you, the ring girl?” [He laughs and snorts at his own joke]
[Alice] “Actually Mr., This frail dainty little thing is going to wrestle, see its been a long time since I’ve been out…[Alice stops, as if chocked up, frowns a bit, Making sure to stick out her bottom lip and looks down innocently]
[Driver] [looks at Alice confused] “Been out of where honey? [Sits up taller] if you need a bodyguard I can be your guy… for a small fee of course.” [smirks]
[Alice] “Oh, [looks up into the review mirror at the driver] prison actually, I was let go on account of they couldn’t prove I killed my lying cheating asshole ex, [smiles sweetly at the now shocked and horrified driver.] but I didn’t do it of course.”
[The driver shuts right up and stops staring at Alice, who was now trying hard not to burst out in laughter. But as soon as Alice was about to lose her composure, she could see the light from the target center come up, once in front of the center, he hurriedly parked.]
[Driver] “well we are here ma’am, [hurriedly he got out of the car and opened the door for Alice] I hope you have a good night.”
[Alice] “Awe, your so sweet [she reaches to touch the drivers check, he flinches at her touch] don’t worry darling. Smile and have a wonderful night [she pays the driver and walks away, when finally out of earshot from him she finally loses a bit of control and begins to laugh.] Well, at least he helped me calm down, now, time to focus, I’m here and I’m not going down without a fight.”