Tough Decisions. RP5 for EOD Round 2

[Bobby Barratt]

We open and Bobby is sitting at home in front of his laptop. He's looking conflicted. The shot switches and we see a shot of Bobby's laptop. It's showing his bank account. Namely a list of transactions to a single account. 

Bobby: Fuck. I hate this. I told them they'd never have to worry.

Bobby sits back, sighing. He rubs his eyes and takes a sip of beer. 

Bobby: I told them that I would take care of not just her....but the whole family. I told them that they'd never have to worry about money again. 

We look at the screen and see $20,000 per month going into one account. 

Bobby: They were supposed to be able to take that and live somewhat of a life. After all it was me who dragged her along on this ride, it was my decisions that ultimately lead to her demise. I'll never live it down. I'll never be able to live with myself for that. 

Bobby takes another drink from his bottle, emptying it entirely. 

Bobby: They made me promise not to fall off the wagon again. No more going on three day benders, no more trying to put myself into a grave to be with her... I did that. I made that change. I moved on and I tried to honour her memory in the best way I can. Oh man, what do I do?

---

The scene flashes back to life and we see Bobby loading his gear into the car. He is obviously leaving for the show. Each bag makes a THUNK as it hits the flooring in his car.

Bobby: Well...Icons on tour....Here we go!

Bobby messages the Icon chat he has on his phone, letting the boys know he is on the way to make his flight but he has a few things to take care of first. He takes another look at the house. Still remnants of paint on the frame that he couldn't shift. Still memories of the storm he brought down on his head. The Twitter backlash still hasn't stopped, but he just blocks accounts now. They can't be reasoned with. Bobby hops into the car and fires it up. The engine springs to life, Bobby smiles.

Bobby: You know in this car, there's never a bad day. 

Bobby pulls off the driveway, his stereo is blaring and the windows are down on this unseasonably warm October day. We see a montage of Bobby driving through different stages of the day. The fatigue on his eyes grows as it's clear he has been driving for far longer than he should be. Finally, he arrives at a cliffside. He parks up and gets out of the car, approaching the edge of the cliff. He sits down, hanging his legs off the edge of the cliff and cracking open a beer he brought from the car. 

Bobby: This is one of our favourite places. Somewhere we always visited to drop the weight of the world. As silly as it sounds, we always used to pretend we were holding our worries, fears and anything that made us angry....Then we'd pretend to drop it over the edge. 

Bobby stares at the sunrise over the Ocean. Mentally, he's miles away right now. Slowly, he stands up and pretends to be holding a box. He closes his eyes, still holding the imaginary box, before dropping it off the cliff, sighing and sitting back down and taking another drink of beer. 

Bobby: Jen, I'm sorry. I always pictured being able to take care of you. Even when you decided you'd had enough and walked away, I still wanted to make sure you were OK. I still wanted to be the guy you could depend on....Even when you couldn't. I know you'd tell me it was fine, people would understand and it'll all be OK, but right now it doesn't feel like it. I made a promise I couldn't keep and that's not OK. Icons don't make promises they don't intend to keep. We might not be likeable guys, but we are men of integrity. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. The long and short of this is at my current path, I'll be broke by the end of the month. If I pick up the End of Days win, I'll be able to stay afloat for some time. The additional sales, pay I can demand and the like will keep me in the black financially. Failing that? I don't know. 

Bobby finishes his beer, tossing it over the edge. He watches it as the distance to the ground makes it seem like the bottle is almost floating to the ground. Finally, it shatters into pieces, disappearing from view as it hits a rock. 

Bobby: I know you told me to quit AWF. I know you told me to leave Ohio in the rearview mirror and get out of there. I know that if you're up there...You know I didn't do it. I cleaned up the life, but I went back to doing what I do best. I won. I took the title and went on a reign of terror for the longest time until I got dethroned a few weeks ago. Now it's onto End of Days. The tournament to crown the unofficial King of the XHF. Winning that? It opens all the doors. It allows me to write my own cheques with regards to where I go and what I can demand in order to do so. Owners of companies would fall at my feet to make it happen. I saw it all happen with Steele last year. Now his name is on all the posters for the event as the previous winner. Winning that, I could make all this right. But I have to take off now. I have a match on Sunday against this new kid, Eric Chronister. I haven't said it out loud yet, but you know what? The kid impresses me. He's made mistakes and now he's cleaned up, trying to make something of his life and he's doing a pretty stand up job so far. I know Mav called him a cancer on promotions and a death sentence for anyone foolish enough to run one...But you know what? He's taken to this business pretty naturally.

The wind blows calmly through the area. Bobby's hair moves slightly as he feels it's cool embrace against his skin.

Bobby: It's someone that I may have tried to take under my wing in a different life. Someone that could have been my student. As well as a designated driver huh? 

Bobby laughs to himself.

Bobby: Ok I'm going now. Jen, I'll see you soon, OK? We'll always have this place. 

Bobby stands up, headed back to his car. He gets in, but the minute he hits the seat, his eyes start to close. He tries to fight the urge, before deciding that driving so tired probably wasn't a great idea and decides to grab a few hours. 

---

We come back and Bobby is on his flight. He made it with time to spare and he's now on the way to Salem for End of Days. He's staring at his phone again. He's distracted as a drinks trolley comes past. He takes a Coffee from the hostess before realising when she leaves what it has just cost him. 

Bobby: Fuck. That was a purchase I could have done without....Ah well, too late now. 

Bobby looks back at his phone. 

Bobby: I think it's time. Right now I can't do this. It's physically impossible at this time. I'm sorry. Jen, I'll make this right, I promise. 

Bobby goes to tapping away at his phone, he sighs, looking at the screen of his phone, showing that the payments were going to Jenny's family every month since her death. He ponders it for a few more seconds before hitting the "CANCEL PAYMENT" button. Slumping back into the seat, he takes a sip of his Coffee, knowing that he will be hearing from Jenny's family soon. Just hopefully not before his match this weekend.