Marie Jones vs. Derek Adonis

[The Matt]

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March 9th, 2024
Worcester, Massachusetts
Off Camera
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Retribution was a roaring success for Marie Jones. The Phoenix managed to defeat The Rebel Princess via submission, which puts Jones right back where she wants to be; in the winner’s circle. Marie has been on a generally upward trajectory since her return to Supreme Championship Wrestling shortly after Body, Heart, & Soul. She has won every match, with the exception of one loss to Deanna Frost, and seeing as Frost is a former Underground, Tag, and United States Champion, there is no shame whatsoever in that defeat. She recognizes that while winning isn’t always the most important thing for this particular redemption journey she is on, it definitely helps to keep the drive and the motivation alive. Winning definitely inspires one to continue fighting onward; because she knows that bigger and better things await if she does keep to her winning ways. And after her victory over Wolfe at Retribution, Marie Jones finally feels a sense of optimism about her wrestling future and now she looks to build even more momentum in her next match against Derek Adonis.

While her in ring future may seem bright and while she may even feel confident going into battle against the KABLAM Master, Jones still has other problems with her redemption journey; namely, the deeply personal one with her family. Wrestling fans are quick to forgive and forget, that’s what makes them so great. But family is different. Family is not so easily ready to forgive and forget, especially when they’ve been betrayed. Marie Annabelle Jones knows all too well how deep seeded her betrayal lies within her family. She lied to them, manipulated them, and left them twice now for a charismatic cult leader and his Inner Peace Enlightenment Retreat. Despite the mental and emotional trauma that may have led to these actions, The Phoenix still burned a lot of bridges and lost the trust of her family. She will have earn that trust back. Yes, she has been making some slow and steady progress. Still, there is a long way to go before they will fully trust her again. Yet even in the darkness there is a shred of light shining through. There are hints that trust is being earned. One such hint lies with the fact that Marie Jones is right here on this day in Worcester, Massachusetts in the home of her lover and fellow former Inner Peace member, Julianne Buchanan.

Julianne is not trusted by Marie’s sister Kimberly Williams or their mother Angelica Jones. After all, it was Julianne who convinced Marie to join this cult on both occasions. While the trust for Julianne is not there, the fact that Marie was finally up front about it and told them about it helped matters. As a sign of their trust for Marie, Angelica and Kim both gave her their blessing to spend the entire weekend with Julianne. This explains Marie’s presence in Julianne’s luxurious home this Saturday morning. Marie Jones walks down the hall carrying a silver tray with breakfast items on it. The Phoenix is wearing an elegant and sensual pastel pink hued one-piece frilly satin lingerie with intricate lace along the neckline and hemline. Tiny bows adorn the straps, adding a hint of flirtatious charm. She steps in through the already open door of her and Julianne’s bedroom. She tiptoes in, trying not to disturb the slumber of Julianne. Marie immediately spots the blonde beauty lying there in the bed with only a matching lace black bra and panty set. Slowly Jones makes her way over and then sets the silver tray of food on the empty nightstand next to the bed. Then Marie climbs over onto the bed, sitting on top of Julianne. This is enough to finally awaken the blonde. Her eyes flutter open and she turns her head to look up at Marie, who smiles down at her.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.”

“Good morning.” Julianne repeats, stifling a yawn. “You definitely seem very chipper today.”

“Chipper? How about this?” Marie leans down and begins to passionately kiss Julianne on her lips. This continues for several heated seconds before eventually breaking the embrace. Marie smiles devilishly. Julianne soaks it up before returning the favor with a passionate kiss of her own. She rolls over on top of Marie. They break the embrace and Julianne smirks knowingly.

“Yeah…that’s a little more than just chipper…” Julianne admits.

“Do you like it?”

“What do you think?”

Marie grabs Julianne’s head and begins to passionately kiss her again. Marie rolls over onto Julianne. Again, after a few seconds, they break up the embrace. The two women share a few moments of laughter. Any and all worry or stress of previous events are no longer there. They only think of one another.

“That’s not all.” Marie reaches over towards the tray of food. She finds a slice of buttered toast and pulls it over. “Breakfast in bed for my sweet?”

“I thought YOU were my breakfast in bed.”

“Shush!” Marie smirks as she offers her the toast again. Julianne opens her mouth, allowing Marie to gently put the toast in her mouth. Julianne bites down and then takes the toast from Marie.

“What do you have to drink?”

“Wine…or orange juice if you’d rather not drink this early in the day.”

“Juice for me.” Julianne says as she takes another bite of the toast. “You are the one who likes to get drunk early.”

“What can I say? I love my wine. Almost as much as I love you.” Marie reaches over and grabs herself a slice of toast and begins to eat. Jones rolls over off of Julianne so that she is lying down next to her on the bed as opposed to right on top of her. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?”

“Well, after breakfast maybe we could take a dip in the pool? Afterwards we can come back to bed for some more…fun…” Julianne winks knowingly “...and then I thought about taking you out to this fancy restaurant. Easily a five star place. You will love it, Annabelle.”

“Isn’t that what we did YESTERDAY?” Marie asks with a chuckle. “Minus the restaurant, that’s new. Yesterday you took me to a McDonald’s.”

“Sorry about that, but I didn’t expect you!” Julianne smirks. “Speaking of which, I’m not complaining, but I am surprised you not only managed to make it up here but make it up here for the entire weekend.”

“Julianne…” Marie begins with a loving gaze “...I haven’t always had my priorities in order, I admit that. You have been very patient with me in these past few weeks and months as I have tried to, well, find myself, for lack of a better term. What happened with Inner Peace it was…”

“Tragic.”

“Yeah, tragic.” Marie nods her head. “It was tragic and I haven’t exactly been myself since then. But I feel that I am finally on the road to recovery. And since you sacrificed so much of your time with me so that I could recover, I wanted to reward you with some time together that we have so desperately missed.”

“That’s so sweet, Annabelle.” Julianne kisses her on the cheek. Then she frowns, looking much more serious now. “But seriously, how did you pull it off? Again, I don’t want to sound like I’m not grateful, I am soooooo damn glad you’re finally here with me for an entire weekend, after so many weekends of ignoring me…”

“I know.” Marie remarks quietly, feeling guilt wash over her. She already knows where Julianne is going to go with this. The blonde sits up in bed and stares at Marie with her piercing blue eyes.

“...and I get it, your mother is a control freak and that sister of yours who claims to be this wild and crazy animal, she is pretty much a control freak too. Yet you’re here, for the entire weekend with me. How did you pull this off?”

“Well it’s simple.” Marie sits up as well. She sighs and shrugs her shoulders. “I told them.”

“What?”

“Look, they were going to find out eventually anyway. So I told them you and I were dating. I also told them that I was going to spend this entire weekend with you.”

“And they were ok with it?”

“They approved, yes.” Marie nods her head.

“I don’t believe you.” Julianne chuckles. “There has got to be a catch of some sort.”

“There is no catch.” Marie insists but she can tell that Julianne is not convinced. The blonde shakes her head as she slowly gets up off of the bed. She grabs a glass of juice from the tray and begins to drink it. Marie sighs as she climbs off of the bed and quickly joins her lover’s side. “I swear, I’m telling the truth.”

“They hate me and they hate our relationship.” Julianne insists. “There must be a catch.”

“You’re wrong about them, babe.” Marie says vehemently. “The only problem they have ever had with our relationship is the fact that I lied to them about it. There was a definite issue of trust when they found out every ‘promotional tour’ or ‘business meeting’ I went to was actually a romantic rendezvous with you. Once I started being up front about…well…about us, I earned their trust and they were ok with all of this.”

“Marie, sweetheart, you are naive.” Julianne turns to face Marie, shaking her head. “People never do things with no strings attached. There’s always a catch. Sure, you can go see your girlfriend, but to prove that you are trustworthy you need to do this…or that…” she tilts her head to one side, staring a hole through Jones “...so what did they want from you?”

“Well…” Marie considers lying to her, perhaps she could get away with it? But lying and manipulation is what got Marie in trouble in the first place. She decides to be honest. “...my mom did ask that I start seeing a psychiatrist.”

“Oh for the love of God!” Julianne explodes in anger. Immediately she sets her glass of juice down and storms out of the bedroom and down the hall.

“Julianne! Wait!” Marie runs off after her. Marie eventually finds her at the end of the hall, still fuming. Julianne turns towards Marie and shakes her head in disgust.

“Don’t you see? They think something is wrong with you just because you are sleeping with me, another woman. They are prejudice against you, against US!”

“That’s not it at all!” Marie snaps back. “They are concerned about PTSD, post traumatic stress! Twice now I turned my back on my family to join a cult, we BOTH did Julianne, remember? And do you recall the incident that lured me to Inner Peace in the first place years ago?”

There is a pause for a moment as Julianne continues to stare daggers at Marie. But then as Julianne starts to remember, her features soften. She sighs and nods her head. “Yeah, I remember.”

“My fiance killed himself.” Tears begin to form in Marie’s eyes. “I blamed myself for that and I never got over it, not really. That’s how I was so easily manipulated into joining the Inner Peace cult. I was desperate for peace in my life and I was willing to try anything to get it.”

“I…know…” Julianne shakes her head “...I’m sorry.”

“There are still issues that I haven’t fully recovered from. There are still traumatic events from my past that I haven’t recovered from. That’s why I need to see a psychiatrist. I have refused to see one for so long because I was afraid; my mother and my sister both spent time in a mental hospital. I didn’t want to admit that maybe I needed help. I wanted to think that I could deal with it myself. So I ignored everything. I bottled up my problems and pretended they didn’t exist. That is why I was so easily manipulated by Raul and Inner Peace. And whether you believe it or not, I do need help.”

“Sorry, Annabelle.” Julianne smiles softly and hugs Marie tightly. “Sorry for not believing you. It’s just that…”

“No, no, say no more.” Marie says after breaking the embrace. “I get it. People can be mean, awful But my mother and my sister are two of the least prejudiced people you will ever find. My mom is bisexual and my sister has had her own fair share of flings as well. They’re not opposed to our relationship.”

“But…” Julianne motions to herself “...they are opposed to me, aren’t they?”

“No.” Marie shakes her head. “They just…they find it hard to trust you.”

“Just like they don’t trust you.” Julianne smirks. “Don’t you find that convenient? They find it difficult trust either one of us?”

“Give them a break. We were both involved in a very shady sex cult, a cult that convinced both of us to turn our backs on our families. I can see why they wouldn’t exactly be thrilled to see the two of us still involved with one another after all of that. But they will learn to trust you, and me, and they will accept us. It will just take time.”

“How much time?” Julianne asks.

“I don’t know.” Marie shrugs her shoulders. Julianne sighs as she wraps an arm around her lover’s shoulders.

“Annabelle, listen to me, your family may care about you, but my God woman, you are grown! You do not need your mother’s permission for anything. You definitely don’t need to ask that psycho sister of yours for permission. How many crimes did she commit for a judge to throw her in a psych ward? Same question for your mother. But you and me? What crimes did we commit as Inner Peace?”

“We betrayed our families and our loved ones.” Marie answers quietly.

“That was a mistake. But it wasn’t criminal. Most importantly, though, did we have fun?”

“I…guess?”

“You guess?” Julianne smirks as she plants another passionate kiss on her lips. “Did we have fun?”

“Y…yes.”

“Sweet Annabelle, why don’t you go on back to bed?”

“What are we going to do?”

“We need to finish that breakfast you slaved over. Then I am going to remind you of just how much ‘fun’ we have had together.”

Some refer to it as that angel on your shoulder, voices in your head, or just simply a guilty conscience. But Marie has a bad feeling about this. She cannot put her finger on it, but for some reason this feels wrong. But in that moment she doesn’t really care about right or wrong. All she cares about is what she wants and she wants Julianne. She wants her right now. Marie turns and starts to walk back down the hall towards the bedroom, just as she was told. Julianne follows closely behind.