New York City Friends

Season 1, Episode 7: Give 'Em A Chance

Starring~ Michelle McCool, Ashley Massaro, Candice Michelle-Barrett, and Torrie Wilson.


After days of contemplating, I finally decided to give this 'rebound guy' a chance. Although I still had Mark on my mind and although I was planning to use this rebound guy as a bridge to meet the next one, I thought maybe I could extend this bridge and continue to try it out for a while. But I still wasn't really feeling him, so for our first 'date' I decided on us going out for some famous New York Style Cheesecake at 1:00 P.M.

Michelle takes a bite of her Cheesecake, wishing she could somehow find something great about this guy, "So, how old are you," Michelle says, trying to get to know him better.

"I'm actually 37, what about you," Sheamus asks, also wanting to know more about Michelle.

Wow, apparently the man I thought was in his late 20's is actually in his late 30's, I guess I don't feel so old now.

Michelle puts her fork down and laughs, "No way, you are not 37, I swear I thought you would be like 28 or something," Michelle says and goes on, "Oh and by the way, I'm 35," Michelle says.

Sheamus shrugs, "What can I say, I guess I don't age," Sheamus says as he takes a bite of his creamy cheesecake.

Michelle continues to laugh, "So, what about me, how old did you think I was," Michelle asks, wondering what this hip-guy from the club might say.

Sheamus looks up and thinks for a minute, "Honestly, about 36 or so," Sheamus says, scared that he might offened Michelle.

Michelle smiles, "Well, you were close," Michelle says, relieved that he didn't give her a bigger number.

Michelle then points to Sheamus with her fork, "So, tell me more about you," Michelle says to Sheamus.

Sheamus again thinks, "I don't know, I'm Irish and Jewish and I'm from Queens," Sheamus says, hoping Michelle finds at least one of those things attractive.

And in that moment, my Jewish little heart sank.

Michelle almost completely jumps out of her chair, "No way, I'm also Jewish," Michelle exclaims, beginning to like this Sheamus guy a little more. The two smile and continue to talk through their cheesecake date.

So me and a fellow Jew shared a few extra minutes together, minutes that I wouldn't otherwise give to some rebound guy I met at a club.


Giving people chances is important, but it can be hard when you're angry with them and it can be even harder to get the apologies to come out. Which is exactly how Torrie was feeling, she hadn't been seeing Brock for the past few days.

Torrie opens the door, when suddenly, "Hey Torrie," Brock says, walking inside Torrie's apartment.

Torrie freezes by the door, she then turns around, "Hi, what are you doing here," Torrie says as she watches Brock walk in.

"I came to invite you to this small dinner I am planning on having tonight," Brock says, hoping he can make it up to Torrie.

Torrie stays by the door, with her arms fully crossed, "I don't think I can," Torrie says, puzzled by the fact that Brock is acting like nothing ever happened between them.

Brock reaches for Torrie's hand, "My daughter is coming too, it'll only be us three," Brock says, hoping Torrie can let go of all of this.

Torrie shakes her head, "Brock, I'm still upset, so don't hold your breath," Torrie says.

Brock takes her hand and kisses it, "Look, I want you to go tonight," Brock says walking away.

But before walking out, he turns around, "I hope to see you there tonight," Brock says again, finally walking out of her apartment.

Torrie stands at the doorway, watching as Brock walks away.

Torrie wasn't sure anymore.


Torrie was simply trying to get a clear image of what her and Brock were doing, while Ashley on the other hand, was painting an image of what she wanted to be doing with Dolph. Ashley and Dolph met up for a painting session, which adds to the list of many things they've done together so far... except a little move of affection wasn't being made yet by Mr. Ziggler.

"Ooh, that's sick," Dolph says, staring at Ashley's painting, "You are a genius, you seriously make me look bad," Dolph exclaims, comparing her painting to his painting.

Ashley blushes as she laughs, "Aww, thank you Dolph," Ashley says, casually rubbing up against his arm.

Dolph could see great art from a mile away, he could also see great shoes from a mile away, but one thing the man couldn't do... was sense a little flirtatious movement from another human being.

Dolph continues to observe Ashley's painting, "The strokes are intense," Dolph says and then pauses, "You can really see the emotions in the lovers eyes," Dolph says to Ashley with his hand on his chin, referring to the couple's eyes meeting in Ashley's painting.

Ashley was dying to hold his hand, she wanted him to make a move or for herself to even make that first move for them. But half of the time Dolph seemed clueless and the other half, well he was too busy paying attention to Ashley's forms of expression.

Ashley stares at him, "The emotions in this painting are all raw, which is what really makes this painting beautiful," Ashley says, staring into her own reflection of blind hopefulness.


On the other side of Manhattan, Sheamus and I were heading home, and every step I got closer to my apartment, the more nervous I got.

Michelle and Sheamus stand across each other, "So, this was great," Michelle says, petrified that he again might want to come inside her apartment.

Sheamus smiles as he looks over Michelle's shoulder, "I had a great time too," Sheamus says, waiting for Michelle to maybe invite him in.

Michelle notices Sheamus constantly looking back at her apartment building, "Hey, see you next time," Michelle says as she goes to hug him.

"What if we continued this day together," Sheamus suggests, wondering why she's so uptight about bringing him up into her apartment.

I couldn't do that, I wasn't ready for Mark to know about my love life. If you consider this a 'Love Life', because I'm not even sure I actually have feelings for this Sheamus guy.

Michelle shakes her head, "No, I'm sorry, I have somewhere to be after this," Michelle says, lying to cover her truth.

Sheamus hugs her again and then walks off, "Okay, well bye," Sheamus says, knowing Michelle and him have nothing else.

I felt terrible, maybe I was feeling too emotional, but I felt like he felt that I was giving him a big plate of rejection, with a little side of fake hope. Is it pathetic to blame Mark for all of this, should I just admit that I'm still not over him.


After hours of thinking it through, Torrie finally decided to show up to Brock's planned out dinner. Her curiosity begged her to go, mostly so that she could finally meet the daughter and in fear that if she didn't go, Brock and her would possibly be on the road to breaking up.

"I'm glad you could make it," Brock says as he hugs Torrie.

Torrie smiles and gives him a kiss, "I'm a little nervous, but I'm here," Torrie whispers into his ear.

"You'll be fine," Brock says to Torrie, he then holds her hand and takes her to the kitchen.

Torrie follows, when suddenly she catches a glimpse of Brock's daughter, "Emma, this is Torrie," Brock says, as he waits for her to respond.

Emma stares at her and then waves, "Nice to meet you," Emma says turning back around, slightly un-interested with Torrie's presence.

The second Emma smelled drugs, she became addicted, but it didn't work that way with Torrie. Apparently Torrie's Macy's perfume wasn't doing the trick for this 20 year old preppy girl who happened to be in love with crystal-meth.

Torrie and Brock look at each other, "Okay," Torrie whispers to Brock, she then heads over to join Emma.

Torrie stands by the dinner-table, "Hey, is it fine if I join you," Torrie asks Emma, trying a bit too hard so that Emma can give her a chance.

Emma looks up and pauses, "Sure," Emma says, again almost completely dismissing Torrie's significance.

So for the next few minutes, Torrie awkwardly sat across Emma, without much talking. But Torrie's mind was sure talking, it was telling her to impress the daughter of the boyfriend.


Having dinner with strangers can be uncomfortable sometimes, but having dinner with family is a whole separate story. The story is also known as serenity and joy, which is what Candice was feeling that afternoon.

Candice picks up her peas with her fork, but she misses them because she's too busy watching her son and husband, "So, is it good," Candice asks the two.

Brooklyn smiles and gives her a thumbs up, "I love it so far," Brooklyn says, taking a bite from his steak.

Candice smiles brightly, "Thank you honey," Candice exclaims, she then turns to Wade, who apparently has nothing to say.
Candice turns back to Brooklyn and the two continue to talk on about Brooklyn making it into his School's soccer team.

So the happy wife ignored and continued to appreciate the fact that her family was finally spending a dinner together... even though Wade was practically daydreaming on another planet.


As they spent their hour dinning in, I spent mine showering and doing 'other things' in.

After showering, Michelle opens the bathroom door and steps outside, when suddenly she hears a woman's laugh coming from her living room.

Michelle walks to the living room, when she is suddenly surprised with seeing Mark and some woman sitting on the couch drinking red-wine as they laugh and get touchy with each other.

Mark turns around and sees Michelle, "Hey Michelle, this is Victoria," Mark says, taking a pause, "She's my friend," Mark finishes off.

Michelle smiles and goes over to shake her hand, "Okay, well I'll leave you two alone," Michelle says, walking off.

How did I suddenly somehow get so lost in my tiny New York-sized bathroom? Before I stepped into the shower, Mark had nobody in his life that I knew of, but when I stepped out of the shower I learned that I was wrong about that assumption.

Mark feels somewhat guilty, so he try's to stop Michelle, "Michelle, stay, I swear you won't be a third wheel," Mark says to Michelle, as he and Victoria continue to drink their glasses of wine on the couch.

"Yeah, you can totally join us, we're just having some good old laughs," Victoria says, raising her glass of wine in the air as she laughs.

Michelle puts her hand on her head and shakes it, "No, I wish I could, but I have other plans," Michelle lies, "You guys go on with your little date, or whatever," Michelle says as she walks to her bedroom.

I guess I just lied to keep my feelings from hurting, because seeing Mark with someone else still made me weak. And sh*t, now I have to go out, I guess I'll have to figure out where I'll be going out for tonight.


While I scrambled to make last-minute plans, Ashley scrambled to take her thing with Dolph to the next level. And after nearly spending 3 hours of painting with Dolph, the two finally got to talking about their deeper sides of emotions, which brought them closer.

After a moment of silence, Dolph turns to Ashley, "Do you ever feel unloved or like you're just too lonely in this world," Dolph asks Ashley, wondering if Ashley could ever understand his emotions.

Ashley puts her paintbrush and turns to him, "Yes, actually, I feel that too often," Ashley replies, followed by a pause, "It hurts, especially when you stop and think about it," Ashley says, stopping to think about her emptiness.

They became best friends in that moment, it was a bonding moment.

Dolph continues, "Do you ever feel like you have to hide your true feelings and keep everything inside," Dolph asks again.

"All the time, it's scary and depressing," Ashley answers, feeling the frustration and the irony within that question.

Dolph nods and Ashley gives him a smile, the two then begin cleaning up the studio space, while they continue their emotional conversation.


On the upper-side of New York City, Candice spent her next few seconds counting down the relieving feeling that her and Wade didn't have any fits or fights in their time together for dinner. Because along with Serenity and Joy, Drama is also a key part in the story of a family having dinner together... which was coming right up for Candice...

Candice takes a sip from her glass of water, when suddenly she notices's Wade moving un-easily in his chair while his phone rings.

Candice notices the nervousness in Wade's face, "What are you doing," Candice says, watching him get up from the dinning-table.

Wade ignores her and quickly exits out of their home, "Wade, what the hell," Candice yells, finding the call and his actions very suspicious.

Candice opens the door and follows him out, "Who are you on the phone with," Brooklyn over-hears his mother saying as she closes the door.

Brooklyn is left alone, so he simply get's up and instead goes to his room, "Great, something bad is about to go down," Brooklyn says to himself, as he hears his parents loudly arguing out in the hall.

So the boy got out his iPod and he put his headphones on, trying to distract himself from the ugly roller-coaster he's been riding for the past dozen of years.


For that night Brooklyn had one thing in common with Ashley, which was that they were both emotionally tired. And the irony is that Ashley happens to be from Brooklyn. But Brooklyn was feeling really pretty that night, the borough of course- The lights were out, The chilly air was fresh, and Ashley's heart was especially feeling pretty. But Dolph again seemed to not really notice all of this.

Dolph puts on his coat as they step outside of Ashley's studio, "I definitely feel like I'm a better artist now," Dolph says, "Watching you do your thing was pretty spectacular," Dolph continues.

Ashley smiles as she too throws on her navy-blue coat on, "Well thank you," Ashley says, as she locks up the art studio.

Ashley and Dolph walk down the street, "So, where are you headed," Dolph asks, trying to see if they are both taking the same path in this big city.

Was this the magical moment where Dolph and Ashley finally spend the night together?

Ashley slightly moves in closer to Dolph, "I actually am meeting my friend over at the bridge," Ashley says and continues, "She's in Queens, but we live in Mahattan, so we'd figure we would both share a cab together," Ashley says to Dolph, who seems to ignore her constant casual body-closeness to his.

Dolph looks at Ashley surprised, "How do you do it," Dolph asks Ashley, "Manhattan is quite a while away from Brooklyn, can you afford that many cab fare's," Dolph asks, truly surprised with Ashley's hectic lifestyle.

Ashley laughs and puts her hand on his arm, "Of course not, I usually take the subway here, but since it's late, you know," Ashley responds, wondering where this is all could be going.

Ashley was desperately wanting this to happen; her and Dolph spending the magical night in togetherness. Was he going to ask her to stay at his place or does he want to go over to her place, it was all exciting for Ashley.

Dolph grabs her arm and hugs her, "Well, if it works for you," Dolph says, he then turns around, "I actually have to go this way, but it was nice spending more time with you, stay safe," Dolph says, as he waves goodbye to Ashley and walks the opposite way.

...But none of it was magical, it was a total let-down for Ashley.

Ashley watches as he walks away, "Okay, bye," Ashley says to Dolph, as the two walk further away from each other in opposite directions.

So lonely Ashley walked quickly to the Brooklyn Bridge, and all along the walk she wondered why Dolph wasn't making a move. They spent a whole day together, yet Dolph still seemed uninterested, like he wouldn't give her a chance.


It seemed like everybody wanted to be given a chance, including Torrie. But after trying to be extra-nice to Emma and after trying to make a good first impression, Torrie eventually gave up.

Emma squints her eyes and stares at Torrie's Louis Vuitton purse, "Wow, nice bag you've got there," Emma says, cheering Torrie up a little, until... "Did my father buy that for you," Emma says, as she gives Torrie a mockery smile.

Torrie gives her a smile and simply brushes the sting off, "No, actually, I purchased it with my own money," Torrie says back to Emma.

"Money that my father gave you," Emma says, questioning Torrie's character, "I didn't know he payed women to service him," Emma says and continues, "What'd you have to do," Emma finally finishes off.

But Torrie knew that this Emma girl would never come to like her, so she instead dealt with it by trying to keep her grace and elegance.

Torrie laughs and turns to Brock, "I'm gonna go," Torrie says, excusing herself out, "It was a nice dinner," Torrie says, giving Brock a final kiss on the cheek.

She then waves to Emma and walks out, keeping her classy attitude and avoiding any further rude comments from Emma. But while she walked out, she expected Brock to come and stop her, but to her surprise, he stayed behind and she left the Lesnar's residence.

So Torrie came to terms that she and Emma will never be friends, she also came to terms that Brock is still playing with fire on thin ice.


And I myself was playing on thin ice too, because I decided to give the 'rebound guy' a call.

Michelle waits to hear his voice, when finally he picks up, "Hey, thanks for picking up," Michelle says through the phone, "Is their any chance I can come over to your place," Michelle says, waiting for Sheamus to respond.

His voice finally comes through, "No, I'm sorry," Sheamus tells her, "I have somewhere to be tomorrow morning," Sheamus says.

And just like I did to him earlier, he also rejected me. I should've seen that coming.

Michelle shakes her head and regrets calling him, "Okay, It's fine, I guess it's my fault for calling this late," Michelle says to him through the phone.

She pauses for a second, "Well, I better get going," Michelle says, but Sheamus hung up before she could even finish that sentence.

Michelle stares at her phone and then continues to walk down the cold night, when she suddenly turns around and sticks her foot out onto the curb.

Just when I was about to take my lonely ass back home, where I would have to watch Mark having a blast with his new possible girlfriend... I remembered that I had earlier told Ashley that I would meet her at the Brooklyn Bridge, because I was so sure that I would be invited to Sheamus's place in Queens, so off I went.

Michelle swings her arm in the air, "TAXI," Michelle yells to the incoming Taxi-Cab.

Michelle waits and finally watches as it stops for her, "Brooklyn Bridge, Hurry," She yells to the Cab-Driver, as she throws herself in the cab.


In just 12 fast minutes, I made it from Manhattan Avenue to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Michelle looks through the window, "Ashley, get in," Michelle yells, to lonely Ashley, who just looks around.

Ashley runs to the cab, "I thought you would be on the bridge," Michelle says to Ashley, as she makes room for her.

Ashley closes the door and turns to her, "Some creepy homeless guy wouldn't stop making eye-contact with me, so I came over here," Ashley says.

"Typical Brooklyn, why do you think I rushed over here," Michelle says, as she checks the Cab meter.

Ashley shakes her head, "Well I thought Dolph would maybe cross over to Manhattan with me," Ashley says, putting on her seat-belt.

"I pretty much went through the same thing tonight with Sheamus, but I did it first to Sheamus, so it's my fault," Michelle says to Ashley.

Ashley turns to her, "Rebound guy," Ashley asks, "Are you serious," Ashley says, stunned with Michelle's choice.

Michelle turns away and looks out at the window, "Mark brought a girl over, so I thought I might as well give Sheamus a shot, which is why I told you I would be over at Queens," Michelle says, with a lower tone of voice.

Ashley stays quite for a moment, "They say give 'em a chance, but then they screw you over," Ashley says, still wondering why Dolph seems so clueless half of the time.

Ashley goes on with her rambling, "But they never screw you literally," Ashley says, "I mean, I wouldn't mind having Dolph screw me tonight, he's hot, I'm sorry," Ashley says, as she begins to laugh a little.

Michelle turns to her and laughs too, soon enough the Cab-Driver also joined their laughing festival.

Although Dolph didn't seem to be giving Ashley a chance and although Sheamus also didn't give me a chance, Brooklyn sure did give us a chance that night. I also learned that the people who know you well, are the ones that are most likely to give you chances. Maybe it's easier to give people chances when it has to do with friendship... but when it comes to love, giving people chances is too risky because love is scary.


Special Guest Stars~ Sheamus, Brock Lesnar, Dolph Ziggler, Emma 'Lesnar', Brooklyn Barrett, Wade Barrett, Mark 'Undertaker' Calaway, and Lisa 'Victoria' Varon.

Written & Created By~ Jonathan N.

Published On April 3, 2015.