Enjoy


The two men sat across from one another. Despite being in the center of a upstate restaurant,both men acted as though they were in a world all there own. However, their distance still remained as though the same rules that existed here, existed in their bubble.

The first thing they talked about was their initial reactions to one another. One declared his utter shock to seeing Shawn walking around with a mullet, gear one size too small, earrings and navel rings, as well as a cocky demeanor swimming about. The other then described their initial reaction as being struck into a state of shock due to the slightly bland attitude that encompassed the kid then known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

They laughed at the bad impressions that they both decided to put on display in a ruckus game of public charades. Despite the looks given to them by a few members of the crowd, both men continued talking and laughing housed in the safety of their own world. Yet, still, they maintained the distance applied to the pre-positioned chairs. Neither man made any movement that lessened and/or extended that distance. Rather, they ignored it, and continued on with their conversing.

Soon the topic switched over to career decisions. Why did you stand by me all the time? Why did you step down to make me look good? Both answers coursed through the same vein.

"Because you're my best friend."

The men talked about title reigns. Title losses. The elation of the first win. The sting of the first loss. They took a moment of silence as they both reminisced through those times when they sat on top of the mountain only to be knocked off in the blink of an eye. They solemnly recalled the feeling, and barely mumbled it across to each other. However, the more they talked about the feelings that enveloped them during those heart-wrenching times, the quicker they came to both realizing that had it not been for the other... the black hole of yesteryear would have swallowed them whole back then. The realization brought back small smiles to their faces.

Long gone were the heavy laughters as they discussed the regrets of their career-lives. Shawn regretted Bret. Hunter regretted Chyna. Both circumstances - although slightly different for the situations they were known for - had burned a deep hole into the each man's hearts and had them both looking at each other yet past each other, while silently passing on apologizes to the people they hurt the most.

Soon Shawn diverted the topics. He started with life. Finding God again and getting married. Hunter joined in. He spoke about the excitement of fatherhood, to which Shawn related, and then went on to further the discussion by talking about his personal fears. There was a link there as well. Both men shared strange childhoods that had them looking for a way out at the age when most kids would be staring college in the face. Shawn thought a lot about his traits and knew that changes aside, somewhere in his DNA lay dormant the Shawn Micheals who could do no wrong, but did it just because he could. He expressed his fear of passing that on to his children.

Hunter discussed his fear of missing out on fatherhood due to his own lack of a father that saw him being unable to think of anybody else except himself. He spoke about knowing that his selfishness is ever present and feared that his inability to recognize that others need love and attention too would soon be the demon that came back to haunt him.

After Hunter spoke, both men sat at their designated distances in their small bubble and stared at one another before smiles cracked their faces. They moved on to talk about the positives in their lives. One spoke rapidly about his overall enjoyment of owning the very company he grew up as a fan of, while the other went through his own speech about life after wrestling, as well as his joy over his new TV show. Hunting inevitably became the new topic as Shawn expressed his feelings towards it, and Hunter tried in earnest to keep track of the "hunter's slang".

They laughed some more, as they both drank more of the wine that sat on the table in separate glasses. Work schedules came up, as Shawn showed genuine interest in how Hunter was going to balance it all, and soon the topic ran back to families where Hunter went on to invite the man ahead to a Christmas party. Shawn gave a small smile, and promised to be there.

Seemingly, the conversation ended on that note, however soon the topic of a more personal nature came about. Both men discussed their wives - from the why they love them to the why they hate them. Stephanie had her colder days, and Rebecca was a bit of a neat freak. One thing that both men agreed on when it came to their wives was that women were always right and that was that. To the sentiment both men burst out into a fit of laughter that had most of the restaurant laying their eyes upon them. However, both men continued to ignore the presence of others simply because they had now gone full circle and reentered that little world of theirs. The one that was only occupied by the two men.

Realizing that, Hunter leaned forward to lessen the preordained distance between them, and in a low tone - smile vanished into a look of dishearten - asked "Why didn't we happen?"

Shawn stared at the man and gave a sad smile. Even with this bubble around them and the distance vanquished...there was no answer.

Both men knew that, and soon - as Hunter slipped back into his former position - their bubble finally burst.