The Hart of Everything

[Kurt]

The Hart of Everything

“So, this is it.

“This is the moment, where, after 7 months of torment, I step into the ring against the man I considered to be my best friend.

“This is where I face all the mistakes I’ve made throughout my time in APW.

“This is where I face you, Chris.

“I know what you expect from me here Chris; I know what APW expects from me. You expect a lengthy, philosophical response about everything I’ve gone through. You expect me to say that I’ve been through Hell and back, and finally come to grips with my mistakes.

“You’re getting none of that.

“Instead, let me show you.”

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Part: I Lied

March 23rd, 2013
8:53 PM

“You’re fired.”

Silence. It’s the only appropriate word to describe the scene. Both Kylie Demens and Kurt Noble remain frozen in time, with only two words handing in the air. Kylie’s feigned smile remains.

“Excuse me?” she asks in the quietest of tones.

“You’re fired, Kylie,” Noble repeats, refusing to break eye contact, or so much as twiddle his fingers. Suddenly, Kylie sits up…and begins to chuckle.

“You’re kidding, right? I mean, this is some sort of sick joke…right” she asks, her tone moving from whispers to hysteric. “You’re firing ME? ME, the person who’s stood by longer than ANYONE else? ME, the ONLY person looking out for you since she LEFT you? YOU are firing ME?”

“Yes.”

Kylie’s teeth clamp down on her bottom lip as Noble continues to meet her fiery gaze. She then smirks.

“I refuse,” she says.

“You don’t have a choice,” Noble counters. “As we speak, President Jeff is releasing you from your contract, as per my request. Took almost all the remaining cash I had to buy it out…but I did. As of midnight tonight, you will no longer be my manager, and will be barred from official APW functions…including Rasslemania. It’s over, Kylie. We’re over.”

Noble takes his cane, and pushes himself up as Kylie’s eyes widen. Her smirk, however, turns to a snarl like that of a pit-bull ready to fight.

“What’s her name?” Kylie snaps, stopping Noble in his tracks. “Who’s the slut that’s put her whore fingers around your throat?”

“There’s no-“

“TELL ME!”

Kylie’s shriek freezes Noble. He reaches into his suit pocket, and drops a smartphone on the table.

“His name…is Alex Monkwood,” Noble says as he slides it towards her. Kylie snatches the phone, and holds it up, fixating on the e-mail displayed…

“Hello Kurtis. It’s Alex. I don’t know if you’ll take the time to read beyond this sentence, but perhaps you will.

“I have a lot of regrets from being your manager. I regret that Medea and I never made a connection with you when we needed to. I regret that we didn’t respect you as Undisputed Champion. I think, most of all, I regret that we thought of ourselves as failures…and brought in my daughter, Kylie Demens.

“Kylie has lied to you.

“Kylie was the one that tempted Terry Marvin into targeting Amy last year.

“Kylie was the one that drove the wedge between you and Chris Hart.

“Kylie was the one that turned you against Amy; she even sent the divorce papers.

“My daughter has lied to, manipulated, betrayed, and endangered you far more than Terry Marvin, Johnny Rebel, or Chris Hart ever did. Do I know why my daughter did these things?

“I do not.

“But I knew about them; we all did. We tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen. Kiddos are stubborn like that, I guess. But, I’m telling you now. I don’t have the proof to back any of this up, but maybe, just maybe, you’ll believe me kiddo.

“Take care Champ.

“Sincerely,
Alexander Monkwood”

“Bullshit!” Kylie roars as she slides the phone back across the table. "It’s all bullshit! They’re trying to turn you against me, and it-

“It’s over, Kylie.”

Kylie stops, facing the harsh, cold eyes of her now former client. Her angers swells, her cheeks redden, and within one moment…she breaks down. The tears flow as she slams her hands on the table.

“I’m SORRY!” she bellows. “They were going to RUIN everything we’d worked for! I…I…I just loved you so much. More than THEM! More than HER! They took everything away from you, and I…I did what I had to. W-we can still w-work this out after you beat Chris-

“No.”

Noble steps towards the door, leaning against his cane heavily.

“After I beat Chris, there’ll be no us left,” Noble retorts. “There’ll just be me…and after everything that’s happened since I’ve been in APW…

“I’m okay with that.

“Goodbye Kylie.”

Noble places his hand on the doorknob to her apartment, but not without pausing to hear Kylie’s comment blast through the room.

“YOU TOLD ME WE’D BEAT HIM TOGETHER!” Kylie yells at the top of her lungs. Noble holds his hand against the door, before swinging it wide open.

“I lied.”

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“I know, Chris.

“Hell, maybe I knew all along that I was being manipulated against you. Maybe I knew I was hurting Amy. Maybe I knew that I was pushing you out of the way to get the Undisputed Championship back.

“Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.

“I face you tomorrow afternoon; there’s less than 24 hours left. There’s no time left for maybes. There’s time left for apologies. I I could sit here and read an apology to everyone I’ve wrong over the last seven years, I’d die with my face in a book. There’s so many people who deserve the truth. So, let me sum it up for you…

“Let me show you what I know.”

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Part II: I Was Wrong

2 Hours Later

“Kylie and I are over.”

Noble places his glass down, and peers upwards from his seat…towards none other than Medea. Her crossed arms and pursed lips spell her mood quite clearly.

“If you’ve dragged me here in the middle of the night to ask me to be your manager again…then you are a fool of epic proportions,” she snaps at him. However, Noble responds with a small chuckle.

“I know I burned that bridge, Medea. I haven’t come to ask you back, or even to ask for your forgiveness; I haven’t earned that. I just need one thing from you:

“To know that I was wrong.”

Medea’s eyes lighten as Noble sits back in his chair.

“When I first met you, you told me that the best wrestlers in the world were the ones who saw every angle of every situation. I thought that was me; I thought when you brought in Kylie, when she started gripping her claws around me, that I’d use her to get to the top. I thought I knew the angle she was playing.

“I was wrong.

“It wasn’t your mistake. It wasn’t Monkwood. It wasn’t Amy’s. It wasn’t Chris’s. It was mine.

“I was wrong.

“And I can’t undo that damage. I hurt the people that I cared the most for because I thought I’d be able to stop any time I wanted.

“I was wrong.

“And now, I have to face the consequences. I thought about giving up. I thought about running away. I thought about just letting Chris destroy me; God knows he can. There’s just one thing I have to know before that happens…

“How’s she been?”

Noble’s eyes soften as he looks at Medea, whose nostrils flare. She glances over at a picture of Amy.

“You really want to know?” Medea asks as she reaches into her purse, pulls out a piece of paper, and begins to scribble something down. She tosses it towards Noble.

“Ask her yourself.”

Medea begins to storm towards the door, but stops…before turning back to Noble.

“You have done terrible things, Kurt. You hurt people. You betrayed them. You blamed them. You nearly killed one of them. You have been selfish, abusive, and don’t deserve what you’ve gotten out of life. You are a King of the fools.

“But…deep, deep down in that heart of yours is compassion. Empathy. Understanding. Perhaps that why she hasn’t given up on you, even when the rest of us did. Maybe that’s why she still cares that you are going to have your career ended tomorrow. But, I don’t speak for her, or to her.”

“So maybe you should.”

Silence hangs in the air as Medea lets out a sigh. Noble smiles a tiny smile as he looks at the paper.

“Goodbye Medea,” he says.

“Goodbye, Idiot,” she snaps, before turning. Noble chuckles as she walks out, looking at the paper…

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“The truth is hard, Chris.

“I’m the man that spent the first three years of my career being an absolute asshole. I made no friends, no allies, and jumped from company to company after being fired time and time again. I severely injured my leg, and almost ended my career.

“No one cared.

“I turned my life around. I tried to be a good man. I tried to be a hero. I won 30 matches in a row, thinking it would make them love me…they didn’t. That’s not what they cared about. They cared about the fact that I never, ever gave up. That’s what she cared about, and I chased her away by being an addict. But, through it all, she still cared.

“And so did you.

“You have always been the closest friend I’ve ever had; you’re what got me through rehab. You’re what pushed me to be a better wrestler. You’re what pushed me to come to Action Packed Wrestling, and in turn, be a better person. You have been the best partner I could ever hope for.

“And that’s why I’m glad that if it ends tomorrow…you’ll be right there.

“If what are the summation of every mistake I’ve ever made…

“I’m ready.

“Why’s that?

“Keep listening:”

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Part III: I Believe

“Hi Amy. It’s me.

“I don’t know whether you’re home or not, but I’m outside your apartment. I’m not here to talk about the divorce. I know our attorneys told us to avoid one another…but I just had to see you.

“I don’t expect you to come to the door, so I’ll say what I have to say over Voicemail.

“I could stand out here, and beg you to take me back. I could apologize. I could say I’m sorry over, and over, and over. I could say any number of things in the hope that you’ll forgive me…but if there’s anything I’ve done over my career…it’s talk too much. So, I just have one thing to say:

“I don’t want to lose tomorrow.

“I thought I did; I thought that would end this war between Chris and I. I thought it meant that I’d be able to come home to you…but I burned that house to the ground a long time ago. Talking to Kylie, Medea, and now you…makes me realize that mistakes are permanent. You never forget them, and you never will. If I lose, it just means I wasn’t strong enough.

“So, I want to win.

“But not for me.

“I want to win for Chris.

“He’s become the mirror image of what I once was, and quite frankly…it’s terrifying. I’m not afraid of what Chris will do to anyone else…I’m afraid of what he’ll do to himself. So, I have to beat him.

“I have to send Chris home…so that way I know, if I have to break every bone in my body to stop Chris…

“That I did something right in my career.

“I don’t want you to watch it.

“I don’t want you to hear about it.

“I don’t want you near it.

“I just want you to know that in the very end, I’m just a man with an idea.

“I believe that people are capable of great things, through sick, through health, through life, and through death.

“I believe that people are good inside; you just have to dig until you find it.

“I believe that the answer isn’t justice; it’s peace.

“I’m just a common guy with a silly idea.

“But I will never, ever stop believing.

“And why’s that?

“Because I know you won’t either.

“Goodbye Amy.

“I love you.

“Viva la Vida.

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“So, this is it.

“Despite all the terrible things I’ve done Chris, and the misguided intentions I’ve had…the people I love will always be closest to me. They truly are what keep me going…just like they will tomorrow.

“Robert Banks.

“Angela Medea.

“Alexander Monkwood.

“Ruford.

“Amy.

“You.

“You are the heart of everything I’ve ever fought for.

“And as long as you all exist.

“I will never.

“Ever.

“Ever.

“Stop believing in Kurt Noble.”

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Epilogue

Noble puts down his cell-phone, staring at Amy’s closed hotel room. He places his hand against it, his cheeks puffing, and his eyes reddening. He steps back, lightly clenches his fists, and turns to walk away…

“Hey.”

He stops, and turns back to the open door...and to Amy Noble. They stand together, facing one another, as time passes by. One word ends the scene.

“Hi.”