| What Ever Happened to Claire’ (Note- this chapter may be a little more confusing than the other four. Basically because it’s first person, but told from multiple perspectives. You’ll know for sure the narrator changes when their name is above their paragraph or section.) Chapter 5 AL My name is Al Snow. I’m a professional wrestler for the WWE. Or at least I was. Nowadays, I’m simply part of the WWE reality show slash training camp known as “Tough Enough”. Tough Enough one debuted the career of Maven, and Nidia. Tough Enough 2 featured the short lived career of Linda and Jackie. You pretty much get the idea from there. I had no idea who Claire Jones was until she sent in a tape for Tough Enough 4. I don’t remember how her promo went now, but I do remember it was interesting. CLAIRE I found it ironic really. I didn’t think I’d make it to the top twenty of Tough Enough 4. Next thing I know, I get a letter from Al Snow saying to “Pack your bags, and get ready for the toughest Tough Enough ever.” It was pretty hard to believe. Of course, I look back at it, and remember that stranger things have happened. For one, Kasumi. All that time, I had thought she was straight, and then wammo! I still have no clue if that one night we shared was the moment she came out of the closet, or if she were gay all along and never mentioned it, and it’s been two years at most since we’ve been together! Life is full of surprises I guess. KASUMI I remember when Claire made that tape very clearly. I don’t remember what she said, but I do remember making the tape. It’s pretty easy to remember when you’re the camera girl after all. Claire had told me a while ago, before we were married I believe, that her dream was to be in the WWE. After watching an episode or two of it, I could see why. It looked pretty entertaining, though you couldn’t get me in there if my life depended on it. But Claire had different plans in her life than I did with mine. IVORY My real name has been removed from this document, but everyone in the WWE calls me Ivory. I’m the women’s trainer for Tough Enough, and I’m openly gay. No one’s ever wondered enough to ask, however, so no one really knows about it other than Stacy Keibler. She was my ex-girlfriend. Oh, we had plenty a romantic experience to remember, but the brand extention separated us, and somewhere between then and now, she went straight. Either that, or she swings both ways. Nowadays, it’s hard to tell. Either way, she ended up falling in love with Test, and started that whole testicle promotion. But that’s a different story for a different time. Claire Jones was one of my students. One of the top twenty I do believe. I remember looking at her for the first time, and literally losing touch with reality as I gazed at the attractive red-head. Though she was no Stacy Keibler, she still had some long legs. Of course, that wasn’t what I was interested in. Looking at legs only reminded me of Stacy, and how heartbreaking it was to say goodbye to her. Though Stacy could still remember it and not make a big deal about it, I still wished we were still together. As far as this woman was concerned, I was actually more interested in the upper extremities. She had hair that was fairly short, but not so short it looked like a guy’s hair cut. I may be a lesbian, but the one thing I hate are people that seem to live up to every possible stereotype about their kind. And of course the lesbian with the men’s haircut and lumberjack attire was the one I hated the most. However, Claire’s type of short hair was something I could live with. I knew a few straight women who had the same look, and I remember I liked the way it looked. There were other things about her I liked, but weren’t visual attributes. As we trained, I learned that she was a quick learner. She DID make the same mistakes twice, maybe even three times, but not as often as the others did after I instructed them otherwise. Before we even got into the training, however, I learned of her charming personality. Friendly in every way, and not easily offended like a few of the other students. Plus she was bilingual. She could speak both English and Japanese very fluently. AL It eventually came time to pick the top ten out of the current twenty. I remember very well that Claire’s name was near the top of the list. She must’ve had quite a potential, or Ivory just liked the way she looked. Okay, I’m not exactly sure if she’s into that sort of thing or not. I just have a theory. I noticed how she and Stacy seemed closer than any of the other divas, and I simply said Stacy was the more affectionate type than any of the other divas. Either way, Claire survived the elimination round. But would she survive the series of events that would happen next? ANGELA My name is Angela Stonsuer. And yes, I know Claire Jones. She was one of the ten finalists in Tough Enough, as was I. I remember walking in on her in the middle of one of her phone conversations. She had contact with someone by the name of Kasumi, who was obviously a friend of hers from Japan. “Yeah, I made it to the top ten!” She said excitedly. “Man, I can’t believe it either. I thought I sucked. I just might win this thing. Nah, none of the girls are worth looking at.” I couldn’t help but wonder what she meant by that. I knew nothing of Japanese culture, not even the names, so I figured Kasumi was a guy’s name at first. “Yeah, I imagine it’s pretty lonely in there.” She continued. “Yeah. Man, I wish you were HERE! You got to meet some of these guys. No, not really. Dave’s a real crack up. No, Mike’s more of a crack-HEAD. I better go. Don’t want to raise the phone bill any higher than I already have. Uh-huh. Love you too.” She hung up, turned around as if to exit the room, but froze the instant she saw I was standing there. “You want to use the phone, it’s open.” She said. “Who was that?” I asked. “That was my wife.” I laughed at first, but I stopped once I realized she was being serious. “So you’re gay, AND married?” I asked. She nodded, obviously not seeing the big deal. “Interesting.” “Don’t worry. I love her too much to even consider dating one of you behind her back. Besides, you’re the only one worth looking at, and that’s not saying a lot.” Frankly I didn’t know whether to be offended or relieved. It was one thing when someone told you you weren’t attractive, but coming from a married lesbian, that was probably more of a complement. Plus it showed just how dedicated she was to this Kasumi. Though I don’t often look at women in that light, I imagine she was probably a real hotty through Claire’s eyes. MIKE Did she just call me a crackhead?! CLAIRE I knew right off the bat the people in Japan wouldn’t like the idea of two women in love, let alone the fact they were wedded. But really, I thought Americans would’ve been more open minded about it. Really, homosexuality is only frowned upon by the KKK, and everyone knows their about as dumb as a bag of rocks. Then again, the U.S. is a hell of a lot bigger than Japan. Some areas were probably used to gays, while others probably never heard of such things. Getting back on track, we would later find out what we were enduring so far was child’s play compared to what Al, Ivory, and Bubba Ray were putting us through. BUBBA RAY My name is Bubba Ray Dudley, and I’m one of three half brothers. I had met Claire long before WWE Tough Enough. A long time ago, she and what D-von and I would later find out was her girlfriend got backstage passes, and just as we were getting ready to leave, we both overheard their conversation. Apparently, the two of them broke up right then, right there, not even realizing what people would probably think. Frankly, D-von and I were still getting over the fact the brand extention would separate us, but that was beside the point. I met up with her just before Al was about to give his big lecture. “You look familiar.” I commented. “Really?” She said. “I don’t remember meeting you at any point in time.” “Well, I remember someone that looked kind of like you and another girl with longer darker hair were wandering around backstage once. They ended up breaking up right there next to our locker room I do believe.” I noticed her expression changed, but I couldn’t really identify the emotion being expressed. She sighed, and her expression became easier to identify. “Yeah, that was Ray and I.” She said. “It seemed like pure paradise at first, then it all went to hell in less than a month or two.” I casually put an arm around her; trying not to look like I was coming on to her, but at the same time trying to comfort her. “Life is just like that.” I explained. “We can’t see the future, so we just have to experiment and see where life takes you. Along the way, you may find some people and yourself just aren’t very compadible. Or…” “Our compadibility fades, Yeah, I know.” She said. “I got over the break up years ago, and found someone else.” I removed my arm from around her. “Good.” I said. “Saved me about five paragraphs of lecturing.” CLAIRE I mentioned it a long time ago, but yes, Ray and I did break up next to the Dudleys locker room. I didn’t think they were in there, and if they were, I figured they weren’t listening. I’m glad I had gotten over my loss, otherwise, I have no idea how I would’ve reacted. Back then, I already felt like a knife was in my heart. Mentionning the break up would’ve probably just twisted it, or made it sink in just that much further. But thankfully, Kasumi came along, and removed that perverbial knife, and healed my wounds. Of course, you’ve heard that story already. Al basically gave us a lecture about how the business took dedication, and determination as well as athleticism and strength. I don’t remember the exact words, but that’s basically what it was about. I was probably one of very few people there actually paying attention, seeing as how everyone else was exhausted beyond belief. I’m not saying it was any easier on myself, or anyone else. Frankly I was struggling to stay awake myself, but at the same time, I was determined to get that contract. AL After a while, we began making the cuts. One by one, week by week, the contestants dropped. We either cut them, or they dropped out. More often than not, they dropped. However, Claire was one of the women who made it to the final three. In the women’s department there was Claire, Angela, and Emilly. In the men’s category, there was Mike, Dave, Austin, and Danni. It would eventually come time to choose the winner from the men’s and women’s divisions. Angela I noticed by the time we got to the final three, Claire was getting more and more exhausted. It seemed harder and harder for her to make the rest of us look bad. I swear, I never saw someone more dedicated than her in my life. Dave had the same kind of no-quit attitude, but he was in the men’s division, so it didn’t really count. Though she could still get out of bed, and perform just as well as we could, it seemed like her heart wasn’t really in it anymore. Maybe she was just feeling a little home sick. After all, she had a girlfriend, or wife, or whatever Kasumi was to her. CLAIRE Angela was right in her little statement up there. I was feeling a little homesick. Not for my apartment, or for my country. Hell, give me a mansion in California and I’d leave Japan faster than you could say Rob Van Dam. It was Kasumi I was missing more than anything. The sweet little smile she always gave me, the nightly snuggling that ended up becoming a habbit, and the fact she did better at house keeping than anyone in this house was another factor. Yes, I also missed a few other X-rated things Kasumi and I did, but I’ll leave your imagination to that. Hey, just because I went in detail on our first intimate experience doesn’t mean I’ll tell you about every single one that came after it. Or for that matter, whose turn it was to receive when we did it. But at the same time, I wasn’t about to give up. COACH My name is Jonathan Coachman, but everyone just calls me the coach for short. Lita and I both did the final selection where one woman and one man in the Tough Enough contest would get a contract. To make a long story short, Dave won the men’s contract, and Claire won the women’s contract. Dave didn’t really make much of a speech, nor did Claire. I guess they were both so excited, they couldn’t think of something to say. The winners of Tough Enough 3 could relate. CLAIRE I couldn’t believe it! I had actually won a contract for WWE! And here, I thought I wouldn’t last the first cut. Life’s unpredictability wil never cease to amaze me. I called up Kasumi right afterward, and told her the news. Of course, she already knew, seeing as how she watched it on TV, but she was still excited to hear it. I also got word that I would be on the Raw roster while Dave would be on the Smackdown roster. There were more divas on Raw anyhow, so I’d actually have more competition there than on Smackdown. Really, a swimsuit contest against Torrie Willson was like trying to knock out a brick wall with just punches. Besides, they figured if Dawn Marie tried to get it on with me like she did with Torrie, I’d like it. Apparently, Stephanie McMahon had a hard time understanding that just because I prefer women over men doesn’t mean I’m just going to fall in love with the first woman I set eyes on. Though I’ll admit, the divas ARE pretty hot, I already had a wife. My debut match was a tag team match with Molly Holly as my tag partner. We did battle with Trish Stratis and Stacy Keibler. MOLLY My name is Molly Holly. Claire and I both had an interesting little tag team gimmic going on. Every fan who ever watched Tough Enough was perfectly aware of Claire’s sexuality, as was every diva. Which probably explained why Ivory was the only one who didn’t get nervous around her. I didn’t see the big deal to be honest. So she liked other women. Big deal. I had a cousin who liked other men, and no, it wasn’t Bob or Crash. My gimmic was basically little Ms. Morrality. Ms. Got to purify everything. And Eric Bischoff and I both agreed it would be pretty funny if someone with my characteristics teamed with someone like Claire. Before the match, we filmed a little scene where Claire and I wished each other luck, and did a little comedy for everyone. It went a little something like this. SCRIPT TO MOLLY AND CLAIRE’S SCENE (Molly walks up to Claire, whose apparently reading the latest issue of WWE magazine. Not only did that one bit of the scene move the story along, but it was a promotion for the latest issue of WWE magazine. She gets her attention, and the dialogue begins. Claire- Oh hey. How’s it going? Molly- (stays silent at first then speaks up) Look. You and I have to get along for one night, but just remember, I’m not into… You know. What you’re into. Claire- I know, it takes a while before you get used to it, but pretty soon, you’ll love Mudvayne. Molly- What? Claire- I admit, it sounds horrible the first time you listen to it, but… Molly- No, that’s not what I meant! I meant you’re… Thing. You’re way of life. It may be the right way for you, but it’s not the right way for me. Got it? Claire- Hey, your religion is your own business. You follow god, I follow Shinto… Molly- NO NO AND FURTHER MORE NO! You know what I mean. Look, just get it through your head. We’re tag partners, and if you even think about bringing me into your little world, I will break every bone in your body! Claire- Well, if you’re not interested in Mell Brooks, I won’t drag you along when I get a copy of one of his movies then. I’d love to stay and chat, but we got a match. I’ll see you in the ring. (Claire walks off, leaving Molly confused.) Molly- (With a sigh) Lesbians. They just don’t get it. MOLLY Of course, in reality, I respected Claire. It takes a brave woman to admit to lesbianism without regret, without fear, and without making a big deal about it. Of course, at the same time, I can say lesbianism wasn’t the path for me. In reality and in gimmic alike. CLAIRE Molly Holly was probably the most fun to work with. She had a good sense of humor, which made our skit, and future ones with the same theme work. The other divas were cool too. However, as weeks past, and as match after match came and went, I could feel the home sickness growing stronger. Basically because of the fact rehersals for both interview promos, and matches were absolutely relentless. It was a wonder how I could still remember my phone number; let alone dialing collect first. However, I never got the chance to give Kasumi a call. I’d say about four months had gone by after my debut in WWE. I wasn’t a major character yet, and I think I had lost about as many matches as I won. My home sickness had reached its most intense point, and I was really asking myself if this was what I really wanted. It got harder and harder to tell myself that I did indeed want this, and I was pretty sure one of the arguments with myself ended in a draw. However, one moment would make me decide once and for all. IVORY I admit, when I first met Claire, I figured my interest in her was just physical attraction, and nothing more. Even after I learned she was gay, I told myself the same thing. However, I found it harder and harder to resist as the weeks progressed. I would find myself following her, yet at the same time just make it look like I was heading the same direction she was. I’d follow her to the lobby, then act like I was getting coffee or something to throw her possible suspicions off course. But I couldn’t avoid her forever. We had to make arrangements to see who stayed in what room, and if necessary, who’d stay with them. In my case, I drew the short straw, and got the room Claire was staying in. Worst of all, that was the same night I decided to get piss drunk with a few of my friends. CLAIRE There was something about Ivory that really creeped me out. I got this sneaking suspicion she was following me, but when I looked over my shoulder, she was always just getting coffee, or just hanging out. Still, I couldn’t help but get the feeling she was following me. But one night, I would find out everything. Ivory came into my room: piss drunk, barely able to stand up, and every word she spoke hard to understand. “Are you okay?” I asked after seeing her walk rather awkwardly to where I was sitting. She took a seat next to me, which kind of made me a little more nervous than I usually was around her. “Oh, I fffffine.” She said. “Jus a li-l drunkizzall.” I would’ve warned her about overdoing it on alcahol like I did on my twenty-first birthday, but she was definitely old enough to no better. “Say,” she said, “You like ladies, doenu?” “Uh…” I said. “Depends on what you mean by that.” “Ah, ya know. Ya like duh touch ‘em, ya like duh kiss ‘em…” “Oh. Well, yeah, I do. Why?” “You lllike me?” Before I could reply, she wrapped an arm around me, and placed a long, gentle, wet kiss on my lips! I wasn’t sure whether to resist, deepen it, or just stay the way I was. On one hand, it was the only kiss I had gotten in months, and judging by how she did it, she had plenty of experience. I could taste the tequila on her lips, which told me she was far from sober. This much may have been a little overdoing it, but I then felt her try to run her fingers down my shoulders. She would’ve touched my breasts, but I broke away from her intoxicated kiss, and shoved her away from me. “Ah, c’mon.” she said. “Ya doen like me?” “Just how drunk did you get?!” I shouted. “I may be gay, and I think you’re a wonderful person and all, but this is going a little too far! I already have a girlfriend, and I wouldn’t give up what she and I have for a one night stand with someone who can’t even stand up on their own!” I would’ve continued, but I could see her just staring blankly into space as if trying to remain calm, and losing the battle to do just that. Whether it was the fact she was piss drunk, or something I wasn’t aware of that was starting to surface, either way, I could see a tear starting to form in her eye. Did I hurt her feelings, I thought, or is this just part of her brand of drunk personality? “Come here.” I said with a sigh. I put an arm around her, and sat her back down to talk to her. “Look, I didn’t want to…” Next thing I knew, she wrapped her arms around me tightly, began crying a waterfall on my shirt, and began ranting. “Why?” she said, her crying making her drunken accented voice sound shakier than usual. “Why she havvve duh leave me? WHY?!” “There there, settle down. Who left you?” “Stacy leff me. Why she leave?!” “Stacy? Stacy Keibler?” I would never have guessed old testicle girl would’ve been into other women. That has been her nickname ever sense she and Test started that testicle promotion, but that’s beside the point. Now wasn’t the time to poke fun at testicle girl. I had a miserable drunk holding onto me, and using my favorite green shirt as a cleanex. “Look, I don’t know anything about what you’re talking about. Maybe she…” I stopped there to realize she wasn’t crying anymore. She wasn’t doing anything other than snoring right now. That’s it, I thought. I can’t take anymore of this. STACY My name is Stacy Keibler, and yes, I am bisexual. I used to be in love with Ivory, but the brand extention separated us. I was devastated, but I found someone else. And since then, life has been good. However, that night proved Ivory’s life was different. I remember I was in my room, watching an episode of Whose Line is it Anyway (the American version with Drew Carry). Just then, there was a knock at the door. I got off the bed, and opened the door to find Claire standing there carrying Ivory. “Uh… Can I help you?” I asked, not sure what to make of the situation. “First of all,” Claire said, “Where can I set THIS down.” I pointed to the bed. She set the apparently sleeping Ivory on the bed, and let her sleep. “Okay,” she said, “Here’s the deal. Ivory got drunk, and tried to make love to me for some bizarre reason. Then she starts bursting into tears, and claiming you and her were dating, and broke up.” “Ah, I see.” I interrupted. “She and I used to date. We even made love a couple of times. However, we broke up, and I found someone else.” “So you swing both ways, and Ivory thinks you were just toying with her, or something.” “Er… Well maybe. I could’ve sworn I told her about it, but I guess she drank herself so stupid she forgot.” “Look, I can’t take anymore of this. You can tell Eric Bischoff, or Vince McMahon, or whoever runs this company nowadays that I quit.” Before I could convince her to stay, she walked out of the room, and most likely walked out of the hotel. However, my concerns were more with the sleeping drunk on my bed. IVORY I don’t remember a damn thing about what happened between getting drunk and waking up in Stacy’s room, but apparently, I really must’ve embarrassed myself. “You okay?” Stacy asked. “I got a headache, but I’m fine.” I said. “Good. Because while you were in drunk land, you just caused Claire to quit!” “Whah?” “You heard me. She told me the whole story. You got drunk as fuck and tried to fuck her!” She seemed pissed at first, but then her angry look became more of a look of concern. “What’s wrong?” She asked. “I thought you were over the break up, but I guess I was wrong.” Needless to say she told me everything that happened. I felt like such an idiot afterward, and for a good reason. “I know you loved me, and I loved you,” she said, “But that was in the past. Though I’ll always remember it, I’m with Test now. He cares about me now about as much as you cared about me then. I’m not the only woman out there who likes to date other women. Who knows. Maybe you’ll find one you like more than me. And if not, there’s no shame in being single. Or hey, maybe… Just maybe, you’re true love might not be a woman.” “”I doubt it.” I replied. “Yeah, but still, I hope my words of wisdom help you out.” And yes indeed, they certainly did. Still haven’t found Ms. Perfect yet, but I’m finally over the break up. AL I was shocked to find that one of the most dedicated people in Tough Enough 4 had left. Then again, I could tell towards the end of the program, she wasn’t as dedicated as she was before. Then I found out why she left in the first place. Really, I thought Ivory had more self control than that. Then again, she was drunk. And I’ve seen Stone Cold Steve Austin do stranger things when he was drunk. And though homo-erotics weren’t one of the things he did, he still did some pretty dumb things. Like that time he tried to do karaoke to an instrumental country song. Yeah, that was pretty dumb. Well, losing Claire was a blow to WWE Raw, but hey. WE STILL HAVE DAVE! |