It’s been a pretty interesting week for Miss Psyche Devyne. She had been running back and forth for the past two weeks between home and both of her jobs. Eight hour flights to and from England, staying for a weekend to be part of a Convention. Commuting back and forth between New Orleans and Atlantic City. She was spreading herself, but it was good to keep herself busy like that. The busier she was, the better she felt. Any time she wasn’t moving around the country or to other countries was mostly spent with another person. A person who just popped into her life one day like a creepy stalker online. Literally. That person is obviously Bryan Williams. Every moment she spent with him made her feel like she really was in the right spot. Like she was where she was meant to be. And that meant everything to her. To feel like she belonged was everything that she had wanted for coming here.

For her, leaving her home was the best decision she had ever made… but also the hardest. She was leaving her old life behind and starting a new one. And what better way to make her miss home more than to talk to her parents on Skype.

Psyche sat on the couch in her hotel room, a laptop set up in front of her on the coffee table, her legs crossed under her. She had her cell phone on the coffee table as well, which she checked every so often. She would look at it, a look of concern coming across her face, but vanishing quickly. She was now smiling at the computer, an image finally coming up. On her screen was her mother, waving at her.

Psyche: “Mum... You look fantastic!”

She couldn’t get rid of her smile. She was so extremely happy to see her.

Mrs. Devyne: “Oh Psyche! My baby. How are you, sweetheart? How is everything there?”

Psyche: “I’m good. I’m so good. Things have been pretty crazy. I’ve done a lot of running around this past little while. I’m so sorry I couldn’t come and see you guys while I was in England last weekend.”

Mrs. Devyne: “We understand, Psyche. We knew you were busy.”

Psyche: “They always expect so much from you while there. I couldn’t see anyone, really. Just strangers.”

She laughed, making a face over the ‘strangers’ she had met.

Mrs. Devyne: “Ah yes… those boys who never leave their basements unless to see women they’ll never have a chance with in little amounts of clothing.”

Psyche: “Yes, mum. Exactly. More handsy this year too, some of them. They forget about limitations more and more each year. One guy touched my bottom.”

She laughed.

Mrs. Devyne: “Dirty, dirty boys.”

Psyche looked down at her phone once again, checking the screen. She looked back up at her computer, throwing on a smile.

Psyche: “It was still a ton of fun. And then I came home and had my match. Sadly, though, I lost.”

She shrugged at her mother.

Mrs. Devyne: “Your very first match too? Oh no. What happens now?”

Psyche: “Nothing. I have another one coming up soon for the same place. And another this weekend for another company. It’s going to be a busy weekend, that’s for sure.”

Mrs. Devyne: “Just don’t wear yourself out, sweetheart.”

Psyche: “I won’t. This is good for me. It helps me to stay focused on something else and not think about being homesick. I’ve also had… someone… help me with that as well…”

She put on a cute little smile. Her mother gasped excitedly, the same smile upon her lips. Her mother was obviously who she got her looks from. She was slim like her daughter, from what could be seen. Her hair was cut into a short bob, her hair a perfect greyish white colour. The only thing showing she was older was the few wrinkles she had around her mouth and eyes. She had aged extremely well.

Mrs. Devyne: “A someone? Who?”

Psyche: “His name is Bryan. I met him online…”

Her mothers face kind of fell.

Mrs. Devyne: “Online? Psyche! You’re already in a place you don’t know. How could you go and meet people online?”

Psyche: “He messaged me on Twitter. I went to see him. And we started to hang out…”

Mrs. Devyne: “That’s extremely bad judgement, Psyche.”

Psyche: “Don’t worry, mum. I work with him now. I got into this place because of him.”

Mrs. Devyne: “Oh… So he’s a wrestler too?”

Psyche: “Yes mummy. I wouldn’t have met him unless I could do a search online for him. And he’s very much searchable.”

She laughed.

Mrs. Devyne: “Well I feel much better about that, then.”

Psyche: “Good. And where’s dad?”

Mrs. Devyne: “I’m not sure…”

A pause.

Mrs. Devyne: “Oh wait-“

The camera focused on her mother now moved a bit to the right, a man coming into the screen. He had long salt and pepper hair, tied back into a ponytail. Her father. Even though he got this big corporate job, he still kept his long hippy hair. Another huge smile formed on Psyche’s face.

Psyche: “Daddy!”

Mr. Devyne: “Hi princess. How is everything?”

Psyche: “Fantastic. I miss you.”

Mr. Devyne: “As do we, darling. I hear you met someone?”

Psyche laughed.

Psyche: “Yes daddy. His name is Bryan.”

Mr. Devyne: “Is he a good man?”

Psyche: “Yes. I think so. We went on a little date earlier this week. He took me for dinner.”

Mr. Devyne: “Was it a nice place, or did he take you somewhere like Nando’s?”

Psyche: “I don’t think I’d be telling you about a guy if he had taken me to a Nando’s, father. We went for Italian. It was a beautiful place. The food was amazing.”

Mr. Devyne: “That’s very good. He sounds like a good chap.”

Psyche’s mother gets back into view of the camera. It’s now pushed back so they are both in frame.

Mrs. Devyne: “And what did you do after?”

Psyche: “Really… You’re honestly going to ask me what happened after?”

Mr. Devyne: “No.. No I don’t want to hear what happened.”

Mrs. Devyne: “Tell us! I want to know!”

Psyche: “Well we didn’t have sex, if that’s what you’re asking, mother.”

They all laughed. Psyche looked at her phone for the third time. She quickly grabbed at it and sent a text. She put it back down and turned her attention back to her parents.

Psyche: “Sorry about that… We just spent the night together. Talked for hours. It was a nice change, you know?”

Mr. Devyne: “At least we know he’s a gentleman.”

Psyche: “Yes. Very much. He’s a proper gentleman. You’d like him.”

She smiled at her parents.

Mr. Devyne: “So what have you got going this weekend?”

Psyche: “I was telling mum… I have two matches coming up. Really close together. And the drive between the two venues is almost a full day. It’s a good thing I can get cheap flights. Plus I refuse to drive here.”

Mr. Devyne: “Still? You need to learn, darling. It’ll help a lot.”

Psyche: “They drive on the wrong side of the road! I don’t want to learn something wrong!”

Her parents laughed.

Mrs. Devyne: “I don’t blame you, love. I wouldn’t want to either.”

Her father shook his head at them. He had been driving both ways for years. They could surely learn.

Mr. Devyne: “So you said you lost your first match, yeah? How was that?”

Psyche: “I did, yea. It sucked.”

Her parents made faces at her, confused by her word choice.

Mrs. Devyne: “Sucked? What does that mean?”

Psyche: “Oh… Wow. The slang here is already rubbing off on me. Umm. It was unpleasant.”

She smiled, correcting herself.

Psyche: “It bothered me right after. He cheated to win. I got frustrated and kicked his arse after. That made me feel very happy. I really didn’t let it get me down. I knew Bryan had planned on taking me out, so all I could think about was that. Plus… I just simply didn’t mind, you know? It was my first match and I had a proper good time. If I lost, I lost. So be it.”

She smiled genuinely. She felt exactly what she had said. She wasn’t saying it to make herself feel better or make her parents be happy for her. She just really felt that way.

Mrs. Devyne: “Wait… did you just say ‘he’? You had your first match against a man?”

Psyche laughed.

Psyche: “Yes mother. I had my first match against a man. Is that so hard to believe?”

Mrs. Devyne: “You could have been hurt? What were they thinking, putting you against a man?”

Psyche: “Hurt! Mother! Do you not remember me fighting boys in school?”

Mrs. Devyne: “Those were young boys. Not men. And that’s never been proven that you were the one to beat them up.”

Psyche: “Not proven, yes. But we all know they didn’t just trip and fall on their faces and then down several flights of stairs.”

Mrs. Devyne: “We got you out of a lot of trouble in school.”

Psyche: “I got me out of a lot of trouble… I was smart enough to not punch them out around a camera. And smart enough the play the victim before I got out of camera view.”

Psyche laughed again. Ah… the good old days.

Mr. Devyne: “That’s my girl.”

Mrs. Devyne: “Hey! Don’t encourage that behaviour!”

Psyche: “This is my job now, mother. He’d better encourage my behaviour.”

Mr. Devyne: “Alright. So what about the match coming up?”

Another check of the phone.

Psyche: “Umm… Well I’m now up against a girl. Her name is Jennifer Enigma. Like from batman, dad.”

Her father laughed.

Psyche: “She seems like a pretty solid competitor. She hasn’t made any kind of promo or anything. But I’m sure she’ll have something up her sleeve. I’m just hoping that I actually win it, you know? Then again... I don’t hope for it. I know I can do it. I’ve got the skill and all that. I mean… I did beat up Slick after his win. So there’s that. I’ve got this, I think. You know what? I will win. I will beat her. And I will make that name for myself that I wanted to last week. I won’t let myself get distracted or give her any advantages. I’ll do what I know best. And I’ll give her a brawl she won’t even see coming. Those times back in school will come back to me. I’ll use that to get the advantage and use my quick skill to confuse her. That’s just me. I can snake out of anything she tries to do to get me down. But I won’t let her get me down.”

She paused, thinking for a moment. Then her face changed from a concentrated look to a small smile.

Psyche: “Anyways… I don’t want to bore you with that. What are you guys up to?”

Just then, her phone goes off. She looks at it, noticing a text message come up. She raised a brow, picking up her phone. She reads the message, a confused look forming.

Mrs. Devyne: “Everything okay, sweetheart?”

She snapped out of it for a second, looking back at the screen.

Psyche: “Uh… yeah. I’ve been trying to get a hold of Bryan all day. But his phone is off. He kind of went a bit weird on me at the end of our date, but he was fine after. Something about his past that he let get to him, I guess? I got a text from his friend saying he couldn’t find him either.”

Psyche frowned, looking back at her phone.

Psyche: “He’s going to go have a look around for him.”

Mrs. Devyne: “Did you want to go, love?”

Psyche: “No… no. He’ll find him. It’s just a bit worrying.”

Mr. Devyne: “It’ll be okay, sweetheart.”

Psyche nodded, smiling a bit.

Psyche: “Of course it will. You’re right. So tell me how you guys are doing?”

The scene cuts to black, skipping through Psyche’s conversation with her parents.

A Few Hours Later

Psyche is standing in her hotel room, looking down at her phone. She had gotten a text from Skyler, telling her that he found Bryan and that he was on his way up. Psyche had gotten herself properly dressed and was now waiting for him to show up. She had gotten more and more worried as the day went on. She cut off her conversation with her parents when she got the text about him coming up. A knock on the door made her sharply turn her head away from the phone. She walked over to it, opening it. Bryan stood there, looking rather disheveled and not like himself. His suit was no longer crisp, in serious need of ironing or something. She tilted her head to the side, confused by the man in front of her.

Psyche: “You look terrible, love. Is everything okay? Come in…”

Bryan stepped in past her. His shoulders were slightly slouched as if he was exhausted. That or drunk, as Psyche now got a waft of the alcohol practically seeping out of his pores.

Psyche: “Jesus, Bryan. Have you been drinking?”

Bryan: “A little, I guess. I was in the casino playing Blackjack.”

Psyche: “Oh my- wow… You reek, love.”

Bryan kind of frowns at her.

Psyche: “How long were you down there? I’ve been trying to reach you all day.”

Bryan: “Maybe, like, 10 hours?”

Psyche: “10 hours! Playing Blackjack and drinking? Bryan…”

Concern was tied to her words. She knew he was a bit off about thinking of his past, but she didn’t know he was this bad.

Psyche: “I guess I shouldn’t have asked you about your past. If this is what it brings, I don’t want to keep having you talk about it.”

Bryan: “It has just been on my mind lately, is all. I’m okay.”

Psyche: “You’re not, Bryan. Come here… have a seat, love.”

She grabbed his hand, pulling him to the couch. She sat him down and turned away from him, walking to the small fridge in the room. She pulled out a bottle of water, opening it and handing it to him.

Psyche: “Drink this, love. You’ll feel better.”

Bryan took the water and drank about half in a quick motion. He put it down on the coffee table.

Bryan: “I’m not usually like this, you know. I didn’t exactly want you to see me like this.”

Psyche nodded at him.

Psyche: “I know. We all have bad days. But we need to get you out of this sad loop you seem to be in. Did you win any money at least?”

She smiled a bit at him. He smiled back, nodding.

Bryan: “Just a couple hundred more than I started with.”

Psyche: “See there? Silver lining.”

She moved behind him, grabbing at the collar of his suit jacket.

Psyche: “Let’s take this off, hmm? It smells terrible and looks just as awful.”

She laughs as she pulls the jacket off of him. She drapes it over the chair in the corner of the room. Bryan looks over to her, watching everything she does.

Bryan: “I didn’t think you’d care as much. I thought you’d maybe slam the door in my drunken face.”

Psyche smiles at him and shakes her head.

Psyche: “Of course I wouldn’t do that. I’m always here for you Bryan. Don’t worry.”

She bent down to his face and kissed him on the cheek. Her face lingered down there for a bit, ignoring the nauseating smell of alcohol coming from him.

Bryan: “You’re beautiful, you know that?”

Psyche laughed at him. He was staring at her face. His gaze fell down to her lips.

Psyche: “Thanks love. You’re not too bad yourself. Usually.”

She smiled again. Bryan ignored her and quickly went in for a kiss. She was taken by surprised, but let him do it… until his alcoholic breath was too much to handle. She pushed him away and stood straight up.

Psyche: “Wow… You need to brush your teeth, sweetheart. And have a bloody shower.”

She laughed and put her hand over her mouth and nose.

Psyche: “I didn’t exactly expect the ‘first kiss’ thing to be like that…”

Bryan: “I’m sorry... I couldn’t help it.”

Bryan hung his head. Psyche put a hand on his shoulder.

Psyche: “It’s okay. Don’t worry. I’ll tell you what. Lets get you into the shower, brush those teeth of yours, and we’ll go out somewhere, yeah?”

Bryan looked up at her, smiling a bit.

Psyche: “Maybe I’ll buy you an ice cream so we can get your mind off of all this stuff, okay?”

Bryan nodded at her and stood up. He walked over to the bathroom, undressing little by little with each step. Psyche just shook her head at him. And with that, the scene ends once more.