New York City Friends
Season 3, Episode 12: Cabs Or Cars?
Starring~ Michelle McCool, Ashley Massaro, Candice Michelle, and Torrie Wilson.
I took a driving class back in the 90s when I was a teenager, but when I moved to New York I never thought I'd be driving again. I was naive to think that even a cab would be there for me forever, waiting.
Jack insisted Michelle started driving, to get around on her own. After passing her driver's written exam, Jack helped Michelle prepare for her behind-the-wheel testing.
Michelle was beginning to get a hang of it, but she was a little rusty in some areas. Reversing and parking were difficult for her.
Before taking out the car onto the streets Jack would take the car out from the driveway, then Michelle would trade in and take the wheel. But this time around, Jack let Michelle take the car out from the driveway.
While backing out Michelle nearly hit the tree in their front yard, she turned the wheel to early and went on to the grassy field instead of on the road. The car was just a few feet away from hitting the tree, she quickly hit the breaks and stopped the car.
And that is why I am glad that New York had no fucking trees near the streets, all of the trees were gathered up in the parks, not on the fucking streets.
Jack yelled, "Michelle, what the hell, you have to be careful!"
Michelle tried fixing her mess by putting the car on 'Drive' and moving it forward, but it was no use. The car was stuck between the tree and the garage, Michelle felt hopeless.
She turned off the car and rested her head on the wheel. "I can't do this, I didn't sign up for this," Michelle cried out.
"What are you talking about," Jack asked her.
She lifted her head up and told him, "This, our marriage has lost the excitement... I had a boyfriend before you and I left him because I thought he was the type who just wanted to rush to the destination and give up the exciting moments that come before on the journey! You were the opposite, but somehow you changed because to me it seems like you just want to lock me in to settle down!"
Jack didn't know she was feeling that way. "And by the way, I'm a New Yorker... don't expect me to be excited about driving," she told him.
Ironically, you don't have control over the wheel of a cab, but for me cabs stand for freedom and they represent the excitement within a journey.
Some women prefer yachts over cabs to really escape from the reality.
Candice spent an entire week trying to come up with a new idea, but she had run out of ideas... until the Hamptons King offered his yacht this time. And that was the breakthrough moment, this next party would be thrown on a yacht instead of a mansion and it would be 'Gatsby themed'.
It was still morning, so the waters were cold and crystal blue. The skies were so perfectly blue too, with a few white clouds here and there. The set of The Great Gatsby party was imitated on the yacht. The Hamptons King kept calling himself 'the 21st Century Gatsby' and Candice would nod along, but she knew very well it was the other way around.
Candice called herself 'the Hamptons Queen' and now she was adding a new title, 'the female version of Gatsby'.
Michelle stayed in the backyard for a while after her heated meltdown, the winds were nice and relaxing. It was a simple backyard, but it was her favorite part of the house because she got some time alone to think.
She finally went back in to find Jack sitting on the couch, waiting for her. "I'm sorry, about earlier," she apologized.
He got up and shrugged, "Let's go, my family is waiting," he replied, ignoring her apology.
Some were throwing parties at the Hamptons on a yacht, while others like me were heading off to a BBQ. However, the older you get, the more you began to not care about the little moments in the journey... even if some of the moments aren't fabulous... as long as you learn.
Michelle went off to put on a different outfit, but Jack stopped her. "You look fine, lets go," he demanded, with a very monotone voice.
She didn't know what to do, but Jack was already in the car by the time she turned around to tell him that dressing up was a part of her. So Michelle went off with a plain old tank top, a simple pair of blue jeans, and some random sandals.
It was a tragedy, no accessories! And most importantly, no freedom to really be myself.
Freedom for a woman is tricky, because when you're head over heels for a guy you don't really notice when he steals your independence.
Torrie was already beginning to write her next book, she had planned it over the course of the past few months and was in the early stages of writing it.
Seth had a baseball in his hand, he was tossing it up and down, all bored. Him and Torrie were beginning to get closer and closer, so he was over at her place often. Seth stepped outside to take a call, he then came back in with a smile.
"Do you wanna be my date to a party, it's an exclusive party for us players," he told Torrie. Torrie wanted to say no, but she could tell that he wanted her to go with him.
She motioned towards her laptop and he got the clue, she was busy with her writing.
"Well, if you come with me as a date it'll make what we have official," he told her. Torrie's head was now beginning to spin, but she went with her gut.
"Sorry, I have a book to start," she let him down gently.
In that moment Seth felt like Torrie hopped on a bus to run him over.
Seth fell to the couch, with his hands over his face. "Why can't you just give me a chance," he cried out, "I really thought we were hitting it off, but I feel like you don't see me as boyfriend material because I'm a Yankee."
Torrie wasn't expecting a Yankee to cry on her couch, it was new for her. Torrie went over to him, "You are boyfriend material and we were hitting it off, I guess it won't hurt to go to a party... after all, it is summer," she comforted him.
For some reason the crying hurt men always come to Torrie, so of course Torrie had to make room for him.
After watching the moon for nights and talking all throughout those nights, Ashley and Enzo were going strong and quite fast too. They weren't officially a couple, but Ashley could feel them getting there soon.
Just yesterday marked one week for them, but Ashley was already introducing him to his mother. Sable was surprised when Ashley called her for brunch, usually Ashley never invited her anywhere and brunches were a sacred event between Ashley and her friends... but she insisted on inviting her mother.
Sable was just happy to be there, and when Ashley came through the doors all dressed up Sable got excited. However, out of everything, Sable was more surprised and excited to see Ashley with a man.
Ashley waved from the door, Sable waved back while getting a good look at Ashley's man-friend.
"Mom, this is Enzo, the guy I've been seeing and Enzo this is my mother," she introduced them to one another. Both Enzo and Sable were not expecting what Ashley had planned, they both thought it would just be any other old brunch.
Brunches are the new dinners, so Ashley was very serious about this Enzo guy. I had just one question- Was she going too fast? Was she trying to rush to the destination like Jack?
"So how are you," Enzo finally broke the silence. And soon Sable and Enzo were beginning to converse, Ashley was surprised that her mother wasn't more happy for her.
Summer wouldn't be the same without Candice's extravagant parties, and the guests were all reminded of that by the giant posters of Candice and the Hamptons King that were set up all over the yacht. The Hamptons Magazine did a feature on Candice and the Hamptons King's parties, the magazine finally came out and Candice was ready to indulge herself in herself.
The magazine did not impress Candice, right away it started on a negative note. She was judged for her lifestyle and her past was revealed (somehow they knew all of the details of her past). They called her 'desperate' and 'superficial', it wasn't what Candice expected. She thought the magazine would rave about her, but they shot her down in two full-length spreads and rarely did they bring up the Hamptons King's past.
Candice wanted to escape, even from that paradise she had invented through her parties. She didn't care if it was a cab or a car, she just wanted to escape.
'How did this 41 year old mother spiral down such a dark hole?' - the headline read. Right below that bold headline, there was a subtitle and it read- 'From happily married mother, to sad and lonely alcoholic.'
Candice read over the article, but her eyes would always go back to those bold titles that made her question her own life. Even the pictures didn't make her happy, they were heavily edited to make her look bad. She looked like a 'plastic-surgery obsessed' woman, and they even made the Hamptons King look about ten years older than his actual age.
She felt sick to her stomach.
I wanted to escape too, but I did care for my ride and I wanted that ride to be a cab.
Jack went out to the backyard with the rest of the men by the grill, Michelle stayed in the kitchen with the women of those men. "Hello Michelle, you always look so stylish.. what happened today," one asked jokingly.
All of the women were either helping with the basics of the cooking or looking after their children- cutting up the vegetables or chasing toddlers to feed them their milk.
Michelle didn't know where she stood in that kitchen. Was she that one wife that everybody knew would never really be a part of the family? You know, that one wife who was just a phase, who would soon disappear until the real right woman came along?
Jack mentioned that he wanted children ever since moving back to Jersey and how he really wanted to settle down. Michelle wasn't ready to give up on her life though.
As I looked around the room I realized that all of these women had a dream at some point. Some of them dreamed of having children and I could tell they were happy, but some had other dreams and I could also tell how miserable and hopeless they were on the inside.
Michelle wanted to be a part of this family, she's never really had a family, so to be invited into a warm family was something she wasn't taking for granted. However, becoming a part of this family meant she would have to give up and settle.
She was at a crossroads. She could either take a car with Jack and accept her destination or take a cab to go wherever she pleased?
Seth stopped crying when Torrie told him she would be his date to that exclusive party. She got all glammed up and he waited for her at the end of her apartment staircase, suddenly he wasn't crying and he was all cheerful.
Torrie wasn't too excited though, she just barely smiled for him. "Come on, I can't wait for the guys to meet my girlfriend," he said as he stuck his hand out for her to grab.
He walked her over to the limousine, but it didn't impress Torrie as much as he thought it would. As they drove off she felt herself give yet another man control over her.
It wasn't a cab or any old car, it was a limo, but Torrie didn't want to move... she wanted to stay in her own place to figure herself out and to work on her own thing. But this man stole her for his own life, just like Brock did twice and just like so many other men before him.
Torrie wanted to reach the destination, but not before she could find herself and truly leave a legacy she could be proud of. Seth didn't understand, as he already found who he was and left a legacy of his own.
Ashley's brunch with her mother and Enzo ended up going onto the afternoon, they had a small dinner at Ashley's place. They were all getting along, Sable was happy for her daughter and she was really impressed with this guy.
However, the second he left to the bathroom she had to finally be honest. "I like him, he fits you great... but you're rushing it, don't go too fast Ashley," Sable warned her daughter, "You'll only end up crashing."
Ashley put her hands on the sides of her head and she groaned. "Oh my god mother, you complain about me not having anybody in life and then when I do you find something to complain about... what is your deal!"
"When I met your father I was deeply in love and I moved way too fast, everything happened in such a flash that I didn't even take the time to see what I wanted out of life and how I wanted to spend that life and how this man could fit in my life," Sable explained, "He seemed perfect, but when I finally really did find myself and when I found that confidence... this man disappeared and he just didn't fit anymore, we ended up crashing hard, and at that point he seemed imaginary."
Ashley was going too fast with this guy, but she didn't care. She chose a cab and she pushed the driver out to speed it up through the streets, soon it was bound to crash.
"Are you seriously comparing him to my father... who by the way was a douche that left us," Ashley asked.
Sable shook her head, "Your father left because he didn't fit into my life Ashley... and this Enzo guy is so great, I just don't wanna see you lose him or feel pressured to lock him down," Sable admitted. "There is no need to rush it in order to lock him down sooner, if it's meant to be he'll stick around and it'll all work out," Sable told her as she headed for the door to leave.
Enzo came out of the bathroom, Ashley turned to him and she hugged him tightly. Never wanting to let him go, despite the fact that he wasn't hers. And maybe they were going too fast?
Candice's Great Gatsby themed party was a hit. The yacht was rocking with all these party people, mingling and sipping their champagne all joyously. Meanwhile, Candice again reserved her own private little corner for her own misery.
She drank alone, from an entire bottle, she didn't care. The lost woman looked out upon the ocean, as if she were trying to find some type of answer to her problems. The depths were hard to search through.
"How did I get to this sad pathetic point in my life, it's been one year... how did I come to rock bottom," she cried out to her sister on the phone. "My son pushed me through that divorce and he really made me strong, but he left and my friends have all drifted away this past summer too... I am alone and an alcoholic according to this magazine," she cried.
Unfortunately, Candice couldn't find herself a ride. In a highway full of moving vehicles, not one single vehicle stopped for her... unfortunately her friends were also in moving vehicles that they couldn't control.
Candice hung up the phone and continued to drink by the water. The more she looked at the magazine, at the party, and at the giant posters of her with the Hamptons King the more she began to wonder. She tried tracing back through the past year of her life, trying to connect the dots, and trying to figure out which turn ended up leading her to rock bottom.
But she was lost. First lonely, now lonely and lost.
From a yacht to a small home in Jersey, Michelle was also feeling lost. However, unlike Candice, Michelle had both a cab and a car to chose between.
All three generations of women got along over in the kitchen- the grandmother, the daughters and sisters-in-law, and the young teenage girls who helped around with a few tasks in the kitchen. Michelle just couldn't find her place.
They say family is the most important thing in life, but I think independence is truly the most important thing in life.
For a second Michelle tried imagining herself having Jack's children within the next few years, settling down and being a part this family's Christmas cards. She tried imagining never going back to the city for her career in fashion and she tried imagining her life without her friends, but she couldn't and she shouldn't.
Michelle ran off to the bathroom to talk to her three girls, she need them most and they did too.
Maybe that's why I've never had a real family- I've just never fitted in with women and people in general who are not independent or at least searching for independence.
She opened up Skype and sent a request to all three girls, luckily for Michelle they all responded and got on too. Family is feeling safe and fitting in perfectly, despite the differences.
I got inside a car, but I'll always know in the back of my mind that I will never take off into a life I don't belong in. I learned something about myself that day- I only want people who ride cabs in my life, because those are the people who create the life they want and who are enjoying the journey to the fullest, and if you are a part of their lives it is because they chose to ride with you down a never-ending journey.
Special Guest Stars~ Jack Swagger, Seth Rollins, Sable, and Enzo Amore.
Published On July 14, 2016.
