John's POV
"So Mr. Cena, what ultimately propelled you into film? It does seem that the natural path of Top WWE superstars is to venture out into doing movies of course. I mean just look at Steve Austin, Triple H, The Roc—"
"Well first off I can tell you I'm miles better than The Rock when it comes to anything."
*Audience chuckles*
But to get back to your earlier inquiry, the opportunity just kinda landed in my lap. And you're right, a lot of WWE superstars do end up acting outside of wrestling but the one thing you have to remember is that we are actors in addition to being athletes. That's our secondary function in the WWE. Our physical skillset of course Is going to be our top priority as it should be, however its important to know that this isn't new for me. Acting is one of the many things that makes a WWE superstar who he or she is. I was offered the lead role in The Helix Protocol and I decided to take a chance with it and accept the role. And I'm glad I did. Of course it isn't my first movie and it won't be my last."
"Thank you sir."
These questions at the film press conference for my new movie The Helix Protocol, a jam-packed action movie with all the bells and whistles that would put James Bond to shame were a bit soft. Nothing too hard or complex to answer. To be honest I really did not want to be here at all. So many things are happening all at once and I'm losing my grip. To the world I'm John mother-fucking Cena, a badass, strong, resilient, and most importantly handsome as fuck. But if they only knew what torments me on a daily basis…
"Anymore questions for John? We are about to wrap things up for the day." Bill Herbert, the conference Moderator and VP of Media Relations at WWE asked the dozens upon dozens of press members in attendance. All I really could see was just a sea of lights, both stationary and flashing in front of me. The conference was being held at he Marriot downtown in one of the conference halls that seated hundreds. I stopped trying to visually see who I was addressing at this point. Things were beginning to wrap up here and again, I'd rather be somewhere else than here. I did catch a glimpse of a petite red-haired woman with a navy blue power suit standing up and motioning for the mic. I cleared my throat and prepared to answer her question without sounding annoyed by the fact that we were already 20 minutes past our targeted end time. WWE was really standing behind this movie as they hope to launch it as an entertainment franchise that could be used as a vehicle for several other WWE superstars and divas to get into film. R-Truth, Darren Young, and Cesaro are my co-stars in the film along with some of Hollywood's most elite.
"Hello. Pepper Smithe, MSNBC News. Mr Cena, what are your thoughts on your former colleague David Bautista's recent sentence to St. Anne's mental hospital after being declared incompetent to stand trial regarding his charge of attempted murder against Randy Orton?"
Wow… I'm almost shocked that It took someone this long to really address the elephant in the room. I know that the press was instructed earlier that I would not be answering any questions regarding Dave or anything that didn't relate to the movie, however the press rarely listens to explicit instructions if it prevents them from getting what they want. After the first few questions that actually pertained to the film itself I started to get a bit comfortable with the idea that I wouldn't be asked anything about Dave, but of course reality struck.
I cleared my throat again and sat up straight, fingers interlaced and forearms firmly planted on the long table lined with a cotton white cloth. Stephanie and the other head wigs at WWE corporate did warn me, well all of us on the roster about being asked about Dave's situation and gave us some long ass "Media Awareness" training on how to respond. I paused before answering, looking around for anything to distract my nerves. I caught a brief glance at Stephanie McMahon to my far right. I couldn't read her face but I knew what she would say to me. She's all about putting on a brave face to the public and side-stepping any hard questions that would "be bad for business."
'Fuck it.' I thought to myself. I may be a company man willing to play by the rules, but not today.
"Well Ms. Smithe, the truth of the matter is I don't give two fucks about Dave or his situation."
A large collective gasp was heard from the audience. I continued.
"At the end of the day, Dave was, is and always will be a prick who no one liked and now I see why. I hate that he hurt my friends and respected colleagues the way that he did. My gut was— "
"Alright there John I think that's quite enough." Bill jumped in like the corporate ass clown he was and covered my mic with his hand tightly before leaning down at me.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" He whispered through gritted teeth.
"I'm tired of giving politically correct answers on the Dave situation just so you guys can please your shareholders. People need to know what a fucking jerk he is."
"John…"
I ignored Bill, stood up and walked over to the main podium where another microphone was setup.
"Dave is faking his mental illness just to get away with his crime and its working. Oh I do believe he does have an illness but he is fully competent and understands what he did was wrong. I can't believe the judge—" My mic was cut off and I saw Stephanie approaching the stage with her own microphone in hand.
"Ladies and gentlemen I'm sure we can all understand the nature and seriousness of what Mr. Bautista has done however I believe it best that we all hold ourselves until the courts can judge Dave how they see fit and decide his fate. For now I would like to wrap things up here and thank everyone for coming out to the press conference for the new, soon-to-be hit movie The Helix Protocol. Your press kits will be provided towards the exits near the back and if you have any additional inquiries relating to the movie or World Wrestling Entertainment in general, please visit our website or call our Media Relations telephone number."
Like a boss, Stephanie effectively shut down any further statements I had on Dave and handed her mic off to Bill as the audience began to dissipate towards the exits. I sighed and contemplated what I had just done.
"See me in the back, now…" Stephanie whispered in my ear. She walked off the stage. I gathered my now scattered thoughts and followed suit.
'Great, way to go Cena.' I thought to myself. I kept my head down low, barely seeing where I was going as I walked past various people on my way to find Stephanie. I increasingly became more and more aware of the brewing ramifications of what I had done and pondered what the public consequences would be. If it wasn't for the Do Not Disturb mode on my phone being enabled right now it would be vibrating like crazy.
I reached a secluded area of the hotel where the press conference was being held when I saw Stephanie on her Blackberry talking in a low tone. I assumed she was talking to someone at corporate to give them a heads up on what had just occurred but as I got closer the conversation became more apparent.
"Look Hunter I honestly don't care what you do at this point. If you want to go on vacation yet again then fine. I'm not in the mood right now to argue with you. I have to go OK? Bye." She promptly hung up her phone without giving it a second thought and put it in her jacket pocket before acknowledging my presence.
"John, John, John… What are we going to do about this infraction of yours?" She asked in a detached manner. It honestly didn't seem like she was at all upset about what happened at the conference. She seemed more… defeated.
"I um…" I began. I honestly didn't even know how to approach the situation. I didn't have an excuse for my unexpected outburst, nor did I feel like I needed one, but I was more concerned with Steph and Hunter's situation. I heard rumors for some time now that they have been more or less separate from one another. Everyday it became more apparent that something was off with their marriage but I didn't pay it much attention. How can I be involved in someone else's relationship issues when my own are less than stellar… I figure I should try to kill two birds with one 5 knuckle shuffle and just ask what's wrong.
"Well Steph we could waste 5 minutes talking about my rant on Dave or we could discuss you and Hunter." I shut my eyes and scrunched my face in anticipation for a verbal lashing but after seconds had passed I heard a soft sigh. I opened my eyes and saw Stephanie sit down on a foldable metal chair and covered her eyes with her hand. I walked over and grabbed a chair from the wall and sat next to her. "Steph what's wrong?"
"I can't do it anymore. I just can't do it." She replied. She began sniffling. I grabbed a black handkerchief from my blazer and handed it to her. "Thanks John. Ugh. Why am I crying?"
"Because you are hurting right now." I answered.
"Maybe. You know what they say huh John? "Til death do us part?" So why do I feel like we are parting before death?" I didn't know how to respond to her so I kept silent as she continued. "John, a word of advice. When you decide to marry someone, do it for love and nothing else."
"What?" I asked.
"I've never told a living soul this other than my therapist of course but I just need to vent right now. Close the door. And what is said here stays between us."
I nodded and hurried to shut the door to the small room we were in and sat right back down. Steph cleared her throat and tucked her hair behind her ears and proceeded.
"You're right. Hunter and I have issues. I doubt you're the only one who knows at this point. He can't hide his disinterest in me and I can't fake my loathe for him. Not anymore."
"What did you mean by 'only marry for love'?" I questioned. I wanted to get to the meat and potatoes of the situation and not be side-tracked by useless information. I always was a nosy bastard.
"This may come as a shock to you but Hunter and I didn't marry for love. We married for business."
My jaw dropped as I heard this bombshell come from the horse's mouth. I can't say that I'm too surprised at this revelation as I always assumed Hunter and Shawn were lovers for life but when he began dating Steph I thought that was over and done. Not until now had I actually considered that they married for anything other than love. I mean who would do something like that? Huh. Me I guess…
"My parents saw something in Hunter, especially my dad. So it wasn't hard for Hunter to woo his way into my father's good graces to get to the top of the roster. Hunter was always looking for a come up any where he could get it. It didn't take him too long to figure out that my father would have loved to see he and I together so he started making desperate passes at me. Of course I knew he and Shawn were involved. Everyone knew except my Dad. I swear his gaydar is non-existent which is good because he is a class A homophobe. Anyways after it became apparent, or so I though, Hunter and Shawn were no longer an item, I decided to give him a chance. At the time I really didn't care too much about him. I wasn't at all in love with him. I was in love with power. I wanted WWE for myself. Fuck Shane, Fuck my father and anyone who stood in my way." Stephanie stood up and proceed to pace in the small space. She threw her hands on her hips and stated to become irate. "I used Hunter and he used me. I should have know he and his sweet Shawn were still fucking behind my back! I should have known that once I actually started to have feelings for him he would never return them. God he was so convincing. I believed that eventually he would realize that he and I could actually be in love and happy together. I bore his children for God's sake!" Stephanie was heaving at this point with bulged eyes, scanning the room until her eyes landed on a half empty vodka bottle. Why a vodka bottle was in the room I do not know but she went over and grabbed it. She took a long swig of the strong alcohol and threw it at the wall. Glass shards and streams of Vodka flew in all directions. Stephanie stood still letting her clothes get lined with bits of glass and alcohol while I covered my face and head. I was worried someone might have heard the commotion and would come bursting in at any moment. "Damn him! He isn't even tying to hide it anymore. He's constantly away from home and he thinks I don't know but I do. Hell, maybe he does know that I know and just doesn't care. I don't deserve this. I given him nearly 10 years of my heart and he….he….Oh God!" She finally broke.
Stephanie collapsed on the ground and began bawling her eyes out. I went over to her and gentle wrapped my arms around her. As she told her story about her sham marriage with Hunter, I began thinking about my own relationship with Cheryl. I mean I did love Cheryl but… I also loved—
"John?" I didn't even realized Steph stopped crying as her tear-stained eyes looked up at me.
"Yeah?"
"Do you love Cheryl?" I froze. For the very first time I couldn't figure out if the answer was yes…or no.
"I uh.. I—"
"Tell her, or… whomever you really love. Don't end up like Hunter and I. Be honest." She got up and walked over towards the door. She dried her face as best she could and opened the door, turning her head back towards me. "Oh and John, you're suspended for 2 weeks." She gave me an odd wink and closed the door gently.
'Shit.' I muttered under my breath. It hit me at that moment that maybe a 2-week suspension wasn't so bad. I did need the extra time off and if I know Stephanie as well as I hope I do, the suspension wasn't just for the outburst at the press conference. It was some much needed time in order to gather my thoughts and really figure out where Cheryl and I are headed to and what my 'relationship' with Justin is really going to end up. Justin or Cheryl? Cheryl or Justin?
I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. 100's of notifications, missed calls and voicemails. Great. I opened the Phone app and proceeded to dial the number of the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. I needed to get my shit sorted out once and for all.