Post by Seleana Zdunich on Jan 27, 2018 18:45:55 GMT -5
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Los Angeles International Airport
8:00 AM PST
Seleana Zdunich stands in the departure gate area of LAX waiting for her flight to New Orleans. Her ensemble of tight jeans, grey top, dark blue zip up jacket and tennis shoes with her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail in stands in contrast with her girlfriend, Crystal Hilton’s outfit. Crystal wears a white dress along with designer shoes, her pink/purple hair hanging down low over her shoulders. As the two stand there girding their loins for the coming flight, a happy shriek goes off behind them. They turn to find a smiling blonde woman walking towards them wearing black leather pants, a black Ibanez Guitars t-shirt under a black leather jacket and black tennis shoes.
Seleana Zdunich: Kattunge?!!!?
Nodding, the other blonde woman runs up and hugs Seleana as Crystal smiles, almost nodding happily.
Crystal Hilton: Hi, Katra!
The two Zdunich Sisters turn to face Crystal, both smiling ear to ear.
Seleana Zdunich: Did you do this?
Crystal starts to shake her head but then playfully grins and shrugs, her elbows pulling in tight while her hands go wide as she bends herself slightly to the right.
Crystal Hilton: Maybe…
Seleana stares at Crystal for an second in complete confusion before turning to Katra.
Seleana Zdunich: Gjorde hon?
She nods to Crystal as Katra stands there, seemingly dumbstruck by the whole situation.
Katra Zdunich: Är du inte glad att vi ska flyga ihop till Zenna?
Seleana gives her baby sister a look that’s somewhere between exasperated and about to laugh.
Seleana Zdunich: Det är inte meningen, och du vet det, Kattunge. Gjorde hon det här?
Before Katra can answer, Crystal clicks her tongue.
Crystal Hilton: English, Babe!
Seleana starts to shake her head and then chuckles.
Seleana Zdunich: I was just asking her if you did this and she does not wish to give you away.
Crystal smirks as she nods.
Crystal Hilton: Other people can Skype too, you know?
She nods to Katra to let her off the hook. Katra visibly relaxes and Seleana smiles, her eyes moistening.
Crystal Hilton: I saw she was gonna be in town for a birthday party yesterday so I got a hold of her and asked if she’d like to fly with us. We were all going east, matches and all.
Katra almost starts to panic but Seleana raises a hand to calm her.
Seleana Zdunich: Do not worry, Kattunge, she meant us, not you.
Katra nods, again, visibly relieved by this statement.
Katra Zdunich: Tack…
Crystal clicks her tongue again to get Seleana’s attention.
Crystal Hilton: What does it mean?
Seleana and Katra both frown and Crystal nods to them.
Crystal Hilton: What you keep calling her.
Seleana smiles, trying not to laugh at the new way the nickname will not look.
Seleana Zdunich: Kattunge, it means “Kitten.”
Katra nods her agreement and Crystal smirks with amusement.
Crystal Hilton: So, you’re “Cat” and she’s “Kitten?”
Seleana nods and Katra smiles.
Katra Zdunich: I… Nala Kattunge… she… Sarabi Cat.
Crystal’s smile brightens at Katra making the effort to try English with her.
Crystal Hilton: Sarabi?
Seleana nods.
Seleana Zdunich: Lion King, Sarabi is…
Crystal nods, seemingly momentarily annoyed at the need for explanation.
Crystal Hilton: Simba’s mother.
Seleana nods apologetically.
Seleana Zdunich: It is Kattunge’s favorite and, Z and I started calling her “Kattunge” when she was little because she is the baby. They started calling me “Sarabi” because I was the oldest and…
Crystal can’t help but crack a knowing smile.
Crystal Hilton: Acted like their mother whether they wanted you to or not?
Seleana and Katra both nod.
Katra Zdunich: Zenna… Shenzi…
Crystal smirks for a second and then nods.
Crystal Hilton: The laugh…
Seleana and Katra both nod as if this is a great revelation for the ages and all three of them devolve into a fit of laughter.
Seleana Zdunich: She actually asked if that made Li... “Banzai.”
Katra giggles.
Katra Zdunich: Li… laugh…
Seleana nods in agreement.
Seleana Zdunich: That she did, seemed to be happy to be included.
Katra nods her own agreement.
Katra Zdunich: Shenzi… Repo…
Crystal’s eyes blink at this seemingly random pairing of words but Seleana nods, looking resigned to the idea that her sister has just put forth.
Seleana Zdunich: She probably will, yes…
Crystal’s eyes narrow as she waits expectantly for the explanation on this one.
Seleana Zdunich: Zenna’s favorite movie is Repo: The Genetic Opera. Woman loves her Terrance Zdunich writing almost as much as she likes Sherrilyn Kenyon books. She’s gotten Li, Lis and Kels to watch it with her every so often…
Katra nods almost excitedly.
Katra Zdunich: Month…
She pauses, frowning in near fear.
Katra Zdunich: I say right?
Seleana and Crystal both smile sweetly at her.
Seleana Zdunich: Almost, Chickie, monthly…
Katra nods, seemingly taking the mistake in stride. Seleana hugs her sister and then smiles brightly trying to cheer her up.
Seleana Zdunich: Are you coming to Greenville after New Orleans too?
Katra nods, hoping this is the right answer. Seleana smiles and hugs her sister again.
Seleana Zdunich: Tack, Kattunge. Jag älskar dig!
Katra smiles and hugs her sister back.
Katra Zdunich: Jag älskar dig också! Jag skulle inte sakna det här för världen!
Before Crystal can ask, Seleana turns to her, beaming.
Seleana Zdunich: She said she would not miss the match for the world.
Crystal nods, quite pleased with the whole situation.
Crystal Hilton: This was a really good idea then, glad I thought of it.
Seleana nods.
Seleana Zdunich: Me too, I cannot think of a better way to get ready for my first match than being surrounded by family.
Katra leans her head over onto her sister’s shoulder.
Katra Zdunich: Shenzi… come… too?
Seleana and Crystal both look to each other, nod and then look back to Katra.
Seleana Zdunich: If she wants to, of course. It never hurts to have an experienced Zdunich there as well.
As the three stand there, the boarding call goes up.
Crystal Hilton: Here we go, star treatment!
Seleana and Katra both stare at her in confusion but Crystal offers no further explanation as they all head to the gate to board the plan to New Orleans.
_________________________
A few hours later…
The Lacroix House
New Orleans, Louisiana
The camera opens upon Seleana Zdunich staring into the camera sporting an expression of near total disbelief. As the camera pulls back to show Seleana standing in front of a giant Marshall stack amplifier, her still pulled back into a ponytail, now wearing a black sports bra and black bicycle shorts, she sighs heavily, audibly annoyed by what her opponent, Kayla Winters, has said once again.
Seleana Zdunich: Mir was a space station that operated between 1986 and 2001…
Pausing, she rolls her eyes and looks away, nodding as if to acknowledge an unheard point being made out of earshot of the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: Or an MMA fighter who used to be UFC Heavyweight Champion and now fights for another company as an attraction so that other, younger fighters might gain the exposure his name value can bring from being on the same card as he is.
She snaps back to look directly into the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: There is, however, no such thing as a “Mir Machine” in a hospital, be it in New Zealand or anywhere else. Either you were attempting to say “M.R.I” and simply misspoke or you were attempting to spread falsehoods in order to both boost your apparently rather massive ego or to cover up your still rather vile attitude, either way, no, you did not make it possible for the children in New Zealand to buy new “Mir Machines.” Children, or, as you put it, “Children’s,” do not buy C.A.T. Scan or M.R.I. machines, hospitals do that and the ones in New Zealand did not need you for that.
She pauses and then sighs resignedly, her annoyance level almost managing to actually rise in the process.
Seleana Zdunich: Were you inebriated in some fashion when you recorded your little message? Because it sure sounded like you were in a hurry and stumbling over what you wanted to say.
Pausing again, she looks down to the floor.
Seleana Zdunich: Thankfully, you were not slurring, so maybe you were simply in a hurry and did not think me worthy of more of your precious personal time.
She looks back up, her hands rising as if she can’t believe she even has to entertain this concept in the first place.
Seleana Zdunich: I mean, you were sipping a beer and talking as if you were trying to even out a cocaine or crystal meth high…
Her hands drop as she glares into the camera again.
Seleana Zdunich: I hope you do not intend to attempt to wrestle in that state, I do not want you to stumble into my first match and fall on your head because you could not find your way down the aisle or tried to go to fast and fall off the ring steps awkwardly.
Pausing once again, Seleana just shakes her head in disgust.
Seleana Zdunich: It’s sad, I am the one having my first match but you are the one seemingly preoccupied with everything else. In the five seconds you deemed me worthy of, you spouted off about things you did in New Zealand, denigrated my girlfriend, threw shade at a dead man and tried to give your father credit for things that are down to more one person and yet, this is not about any of those things. This match is not about Crystal, or your father, or Steve Jobs or “children’s” in New Zealand or Kenzi Grey or any other champion in L.A.W. previous, present or future. This match is simply about you and I.
Her left hand extends out, palm up, her right hand pointing at it as if it contains a list of points to run down.
Seleana Zdunich: You want to prove I’m nothing, which is a sadly lacking goal and tells the world you really do not believe in yourself much because if you did, you would have loftier goals than proving an already established premise…
She nods to her hand as she moves to the next point on “the list.”
Seleana Zdunich: And I come into this match as nothing. This is my first match and so I have proven nothing yet. I have not even proven I was worth training yet because that is what this match is for me. This is my opportunity to show the world that Crystal was more than just some attention-starved Ladies All-Star Wrestling Champion turned Hollywood starlet looking for one more way to say, “Look at me, I am just that awesome!” This is my opportunity to prove she was right in what she says she saw in me. This is my opportunity to prove I am more than just the elder sister to two women that play guitar in a heavy metal band, more than just the girl that went off to New Zealand for a job and ended up in Los Angeles six years later looking to mend a broken heart because her new American boyfriend had just died in a hurricane!
Her hands drop to her sides again as she looks directly into the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: This match is my opportunity to prove to Crystal, to you, to the world and most importantly, to myself, that I have what it takes to be successful in this endeavour! I did not just say yes to this on a whim or because I just wanted to make Crystal happy that night. I did it because I was looking for a new way to challenge myself and this one presented itself. I will freely admit I had never thought myself capable of it but then I was given the chance to try and found I genuinely enjoy the competition, that I understand why, once upon a time, my cousin couldn’t keep herself out of the ring until she had kids, why my sister and my sister’s fiancée couldn’t wait to get back in the ring now that they had beaten back their demons and achieved sobriety, why my other cousin was so excited to have the announcement of her first match come through in Hybrid Wrestling this week…
She moves in closer, almost grabbing the camera itself.
Seleana Zdunich: This may be a nuisance to you, something to be swatted away until something you consider more worthy of your time comes along, but to me, this is my chance to get out there and be everything you swear you want to be while convincing yourself that you’re not the walking stereotype others have said you were.
She nods forcefully.
Seleana Zdunich: I’m not going away, Kayla, and you can’t make me!
Los Angeles International Airport
8:00 AM PST
Seleana Zdunich stands in the departure gate area of LAX waiting for her flight to New Orleans. Her ensemble of tight jeans, grey top, dark blue zip up jacket and tennis shoes with her blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail in stands in contrast with her girlfriend, Crystal Hilton’s outfit. Crystal wears a white dress along with designer shoes, her pink/purple hair hanging down low over her shoulders. As the two stand there girding their loins for the coming flight, a happy shriek goes off behind them. They turn to find a smiling blonde woman walking towards them wearing black leather pants, a black Ibanez Guitars t-shirt under a black leather jacket and black tennis shoes.
Seleana Zdunich: Kattunge?!!!?
Nodding, the other blonde woman runs up and hugs Seleana as Crystal smiles, almost nodding happily.
Crystal Hilton: Hi, Katra!
The two Zdunich Sisters turn to face Crystal, both smiling ear to ear.
Seleana Zdunich: Did you do this?
Crystal starts to shake her head but then playfully grins and shrugs, her elbows pulling in tight while her hands go wide as she bends herself slightly to the right.
Crystal Hilton: Maybe…
Seleana stares at Crystal for an second in complete confusion before turning to Katra.
Seleana Zdunich: Gjorde hon?
She nods to Crystal as Katra stands there, seemingly dumbstruck by the whole situation.
Katra Zdunich: Är du inte glad att vi ska flyga ihop till Zenna?
Seleana gives her baby sister a look that’s somewhere between exasperated and about to laugh.
Seleana Zdunich: Det är inte meningen, och du vet det, Kattunge. Gjorde hon det här?
Before Katra can answer, Crystal clicks her tongue.
Crystal Hilton: English, Babe!
Seleana starts to shake her head and then chuckles.
Seleana Zdunich: I was just asking her if you did this and she does not wish to give you away.
Crystal smirks as she nods.
Crystal Hilton: Other people can Skype too, you know?
She nods to Katra to let her off the hook. Katra visibly relaxes and Seleana smiles, her eyes moistening.
Crystal Hilton: I saw she was gonna be in town for a birthday party yesterday so I got a hold of her and asked if she’d like to fly with us. We were all going east, matches and all.
Katra almost starts to panic but Seleana raises a hand to calm her.
Seleana Zdunich: Do not worry, Kattunge, she meant us, not you.
Katra nods, again, visibly relieved by this statement.
Katra Zdunich: Tack…
Crystal clicks her tongue again to get Seleana’s attention.
Crystal Hilton: What does it mean?
Seleana and Katra both frown and Crystal nods to them.
Crystal Hilton: What you keep calling her.
Seleana smiles, trying not to laugh at the new way the nickname will not look.
Seleana Zdunich: Kattunge, it means “Kitten.”
Katra nods her agreement and Crystal smirks with amusement.
Crystal Hilton: So, you’re “Cat” and she’s “Kitten?”
Seleana nods and Katra smiles.
Katra Zdunich: I… Nala Kattunge… she… Sarabi Cat.
Crystal’s smile brightens at Katra making the effort to try English with her.
Crystal Hilton: Sarabi?
Seleana nods.
Seleana Zdunich: Lion King, Sarabi is…
Crystal nods, seemingly momentarily annoyed at the need for explanation.
Crystal Hilton: Simba’s mother.
Seleana nods apologetically.
Seleana Zdunich: It is Kattunge’s favorite and, Z and I started calling her “Kattunge” when she was little because she is the baby. They started calling me “Sarabi” because I was the oldest and…
Crystal can’t help but crack a knowing smile.
Crystal Hilton: Acted like their mother whether they wanted you to or not?
Seleana and Katra both nod.
Katra Zdunich: Zenna… Shenzi…
Crystal smirks for a second and then nods.
Crystal Hilton: The laugh…
Seleana and Katra both nod as if this is a great revelation for the ages and all three of them devolve into a fit of laughter.
Seleana Zdunich: She actually asked if that made Li... “Banzai.”
Katra giggles.
Katra Zdunich: Li… laugh…
Seleana nods in agreement.
Seleana Zdunich: That she did, seemed to be happy to be included.
Katra nods her own agreement.
Katra Zdunich: Shenzi… Repo…
Crystal’s eyes blink at this seemingly random pairing of words but Seleana nods, looking resigned to the idea that her sister has just put forth.
Seleana Zdunich: She probably will, yes…
Crystal’s eyes narrow as she waits expectantly for the explanation on this one.
Seleana Zdunich: Zenna’s favorite movie is Repo: The Genetic Opera. Woman loves her Terrance Zdunich writing almost as much as she likes Sherrilyn Kenyon books. She’s gotten Li, Lis and Kels to watch it with her every so often…
Katra nods almost excitedly.
Katra Zdunich: Month…
She pauses, frowning in near fear.
Katra Zdunich: I say right?
Seleana and Crystal both smile sweetly at her.
Seleana Zdunich: Almost, Chickie, monthly…
Katra nods, seemingly taking the mistake in stride. Seleana hugs her sister and then smiles brightly trying to cheer her up.
Seleana Zdunich: Are you coming to Greenville after New Orleans too?
Katra nods, hoping this is the right answer. Seleana smiles and hugs her sister again.
Seleana Zdunich: Tack, Kattunge. Jag älskar dig!
Katra smiles and hugs her sister back.
Katra Zdunich: Jag älskar dig också! Jag skulle inte sakna det här för världen!
Before Crystal can ask, Seleana turns to her, beaming.
Seleana Zdunich: She said she would not miss the match for the world.
Crystal nods, quite pleased with the whole situation.
Crystal Hilton: This was a really good idea then, glad I thought of it.
Seleana nods.
Seleana Zdunich: Me too, I cannot think of a better way to get ready for my first match than being surrounded by family.
Katra leans her head over onto her sister’s shoulder.
Katra Zdunich: Shenzi… come… too?
Seleana and Crystal both look to each other, nod and then look back to Katra.
Seleana Zdunich: If she wants to, of course. It never hurts to have an experienced Zdunich there as well.
As the three stand there, the boarding call goes up.
Crystal Hilton: Here we go, star treatment!
Seleana and Katra both stare at her in confusion but Crystal offers no further explanation as they all head to the gate to board the plan to New Orleans.
_________________________
A few hours later…
The Lacroix House
New Orleans, Louisiana
The camera opens upon Seleana Zdunich staring into the camera sporting an expression of near total disbelief. As the camera pulls back to show Seleana standing in front of a giant Marshall stack amplifier, her still pulled back into a ponytail, now wearing a black sports bra and black bicycle shorts, she sighs heavily, audibly annoyed by what her opponent, Kayla Winters, has said once again.
Seleana Zdunich: Mir was a space station that operated between 1986 and 2001…
Pausing, she rolls her eyes and looks away, nodding as if to acknowledge an unheard point being made out of earshot of the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: Or an MMA fighter who used to be UFC Heavyweight Champion and now fights for another company as an attraction so that other, younger fighters might gain the exposure his name value can bring from being on the same card as he is.
She snaps back to look directly into the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: There is, however, no such thing as a “Mir Machine” in a hospital, be it in New Zealand or anywhere else. Either you were attempting to say “M.R.I” and simply misspoke or you were attempting to spread falsehoods in order to both boost your apparently rather massive ego or to cover up your still rather vile attitude, either way, no, you did not make it possible for the children in New Zealand to buy new “Mir Machines.” Children, or, as you put it, “Children’s,” do not buy C.A.T. Scan or M.R.I. machines, hospitals do that and the ones in New Zealand did not need you for that.
She pauses and then sighs resignedly, her annoyance level almost managing to actually rise in the process.
Seleana Zdunich: Were you inebriated in some fashion when you recorded your little message? Because it sure sounded like you were in a hurry and stumbling over what you wanted to say.
Pausing again, she looks down to the floor.
Seleana Zdunich: Thankfully, you were not slurring, so maybe you were simply in a hurry and did not think me worthy of more of your precious personal time.
She looks back up, her hands rising as if she can’t believe she even has to entertain this concept in the first place.
Seleana Zdunich: I mean, you were sipping a beer and talking as if you were trying to even out a cocaine or crystal meth high…
Her hands drop as she glares into the camera again.
Seleana Zdunich: I hope you do not intend to attempt to wrestle in that state, I do not want you to stumble into my first match and fall on your head because you could not find your way down the aisle or tried to go to fast and fall off the ring steps awkwardly.
Pausing once again, Seleana just shakes her head in disgust.
Seleana Zdunich: It’s sad, I am the one having my first match but you are the one seemingly preoccupied with everything else. In the five seconds you deemed me worthy of, you spouted off about things you did in New Zealand, denigrated my girlfriend, threw shade at a dead man and tried to give your father credit for things that are down to more one person and yet, this is not about any of those things. This match is not about Crystal, or your father, or Steve Jobs or “children’s” in New Zealand or Kenzi Grey or any other champion in L.A.W. previous, present or future. This match is simply about you and I.
Her left hand extends out, palm up, her right hand pointing at it as if it contains a list of points to run down.
Seleana Zdunich: You want to prove I’m nothing, which is a sadly lacking goal and tells the world you really do not believe in yourself much because if you did, you would have loftier goals than proving an already established premise…
She nods to her hand as she moves to the next point on “the list.”
Seleana Zdunich: And I come into this match as nothing. This is my first match and so I have proven nothing yet. I have not even proven I was worth training yet because that is what this match is for me. This is my opportunity to show the world that Crystal was more than just some attention-starved Ladies All-Star Wrestling Champion turned Hollywood starlet looking for one more way to say, “Look at me, I am just that awesome!” This is my opportunity to prove she was right in what she says she saw in me. This is my opportunity to prove I am more than just the elder sister to two women that play guitar in a heavy metal band, more than just the girl that went off to New Zealand for a job and ended up in Los Angeles six years later looking to mend a broken heart because her new American boyfriend had just died in a hurricane!
Her hands drop to her sides again as she looks directly into the camera.
Seleana Zdunich: This match is my opportunity to prove to Crystal, to you, to the world and most importantly, to myself, that I have what it takes to be successful in this endeavour! I did not just say yes to this on a whim or because I just wanted to make Crystal happy that night. I did it because I was looking for a new way to challenge myself and this one presented itself. I will freely admit I had never thought myself capable of it but then I was given the chance to try and found I genuinely enjoy the competition, that I understand why, once upon a time, my cousin couldn’t keep herself out of the ring until she had kids, why my sister and my sister’s fiancée couldn’t wait to get back in the ring now that they had beaten back their demons and achieved sobriety, why my other cousin was so excited to have the announcement of her first match come through in Hybrid Wrestling this week…
She moves in closer, almost grabbing the camera itself.
Seleana Zdunich: This may be a nuisance to you, something to be swatted away until something you consider more worthy of your time comes along, but to me, this is my chance to get out there and be everything you swear you want to be while convincing yourself that you’re not the walking stereotype others have said you were.
She nods forcefully.
Seleana Zdunich: I’m not going away, Kayla, and you can’t make me!