Chapter 2: I'm Not Going To Stalk Him Honestly
Molly and I were sitting at my house doing the usual thing, watching and talking about wrestling and in particular our favourite boys. Molly, if you didn't know, loved John and I, well I loved Nick and Stu aka Dolph and Wade; We were both close followers of WWE
"I really really wish Stu would come back soon" I sighed "It's just not the same"
"Yeah I know" Molly said "it seems like forever since he got that injury"
"I fucking hate Big Show" I grumbled "I'm sure Stu would've had a decent Mania match if he hadn't got injured"
"But he will when he gets back, I'm sure he will get a push" Molly tried to cheer me up as usual.
"Hmmmm I don't know. I look at his twitter and he seems really down" I said worriedly "I know he's been ranting on about football, but you know me I can see behind all that and he just seems so angry and fed up"
"Yeah, maybe you are really good at sensing these things"
"I wish I wasn't sometimes" I replied with a thin smile "Makes me worry more"
"You can't help caring" she told me with a shrug
"I know" and looked back at my phone where his twitter page was open and what I saw made my heart jump a little "Molly!"
"What" Molly looked at me hearing the tone in my voice.
"Stu is coming home to England for a time" I said sadly "That's bad news; it means he's going to be out for longer"
"It's good he will be spending time with his family though" she once again tried to cheer me up "Perhaps you can go and stalk him" she laughed
"Don't give me ideas" I laughed too "You know me, I will do it"
"I am sure he will do some promo work over here, so maybe we could go and see him then?" she offered.
"Yeah we can" I smiled happily "be good to see how he is – in person"
I must admit the thought of actually meeting Stu outside of a WWE setting was quite exciting to me. Seeing them during tours was a little restrictive and was usually entailed just getting a hi and bye from them. I decided then that I would go to any promotional events that he did, just so I could pass on my support for him, and to chat with him about some of his football rants. I smiled to myself at the last thought
The days dragged on however, and no promotional stuff with him or for him came up, in fact I became more and more worried about Stu's state of mind. His tweets became more random and seemed drunk at times. My worry was compounded by newspaper reports showing him shouting at fans, and falling over drunk. I believed if I could get to him I could help, I know that sounded mad but I seemed to know what he was thinking, how his mind was working and that I could help him through whatever was going through his mind right now; The problem was I hadn't a clue how to find him
"Molly" I said to my friend on the phone that night a few days after our original conversation "Would you think I was crazy if I just got on a train to Manchester tomorrow?"
"Oh no" Molly laughed "I would do the same for John. We are talking about Stu right?"
"Yeah. And I know you would" I sighed "thing is I know that he's tweeted about a rehab session in Manchester and that he may do some shopping, therefore the Arndale Centre may be my best bet? It's a real long shot but I feel like I have to try?"
"Just go Lisa" Molly reassured me "I think for your own peace of mind you have to give it a go"
"Thanks Molly. I will call you tomorrow"
"You better do that" she laughed
I felt a little stupid getting on the train the following day, doubting myself. I hadn't a clue what I was going to do, or where I was going to go but it was a road trip and I needed to try; Like Molly said it was for my own peace of mind.
The train journey went quickly, and I arrived in Manchester around midday, I knew Stu had tweeted about leaving for his rehab session so I knew if he went shopping I wouldn't have missed him; I wandered round the shops for a while picking up a few bits so I didn't seem like some sad loner just wandering round for the sake of it, until I became a bit fed up and despondent about it all. I was waiting for him to come to me and I was making no progress. Deciding to go for a coffee, I found a Costa round the corner
"Can I have a tea" I asked the woman at Costa and looked round to see if there were any seats available, I spied one out the corner of my eye. Paying quickly, I headed towards it.
"fucking hell" I said under my breath as a mum and child sat down at it; I looked round and there were no seats anywhere "story of my life" I mumbled and was almost about to sit down on the floor like a hobo until I saw a man sitting on his own at a 6 person table. There was no indication that he waiting for anyone else to arrive. It was a waste of space and one of my pet hates.
"Ignorant bastard" I mumbled to myself and decided to go over and plonk myself down on his table; whether he liked it or not I needed somewhere to sit too. I walked over….. And then hesitated. Then looked at the man again
"No fucking way" I said a little too loudly and a couple of people looked at me almost instantly, shooting me an odd look. I looked again and I saw a familiar face, one id been looking for all bloody day!
Shit I thought to myself what do I do now. I decided that it was now or never, and walked over to the man sitting at the table.
"Excuse me. Look I'm really sorry to bother you but there are no seats at all and I'm going to look a real idiot sitting on the floor drinking my tea, would you mind if I just sat down, I wouldn't bother you at all"
The man looked up at me as though I was the village idiot. It made me blush "yeah sure. I will be leaving soon" he replied to me although his eyes showed that he would rather do anything else but speak to me.
I sighed to myself and replied with a forced smile on my face "Thanks so much, I'm so clumsy if I had stood there any longer I would have been wearing that tea" my attempt at a joke sounded really pathetic even to my own ears and I almost silently groaned.
"No worries" he smiled at me. It is a bit more genuine this time I thought, at least I hoped it was. "My name is.."
"Stu" I replied all too quickly "I know who you are, that's why I was a bit reluctant to ask, actually" oh shit I thought to myself that was the worst thing to say. I added "I thought you may want this space to yourself"
His face became more suspicious still and I heard the word fan mentioned; I cursed myself "Don't worry" I said quickly "I'm not after a photo, autograph or any of that crap; I really did just need to sit down, I will move if you want?" I was making a total prick of myself now and regretting tracking him down. I saw now that all he wanted was a bit of peace.
"No no it's ok, im not much company at the moment that's all. I apologise for my rudeness" he replied, and I could have cried for the sudden sadness that I saw in his eyes. Sometimes I wished I wasn't such an empathetic person.
"My names Lisa" I said softly "I'm really pleased to meet you"
I couldn't believe my luck, here was my fave WWE wrestler talking to me, over a cup of tea. I almost beamed outwardly and then checked myself
After a minute I said "You seem lost in your own world" and he looked up at me, surprised.
"You could say that" he replied "My last few months, as you may know, haven't been the best of my life"
"Yeah I know about the injury" I said but didn't ask how it was progressing; I guessed that he would be fed up with that question "You got a timeframe for being back in the ring?"
"Well I would know if I could motivate myself to go to physio" he admitted
"You haven't been going?" I asked even though I knew the answer, both from his admission and from his tweets.
"No. I don't know, I just feel like shit and can't motivate myself" he suddenly looked up at me "Christ, I'm sorry. I don't even know why I'm telling you this shit."
"Hey don't worry" I said quickly "I tend to find that people gravitate towards me with their worries. I guess having a Psychology background helps with that"
"You're a Psychologist?" he asked "God do I need one of those"
"Well my background is in Psychology yes." I looked up at him, wanting to reach out to him so much. It was instinct now, almost second nature. "Look" I started "I know this may seem ridiculous but I feel what you are going through. You don't know me from Adam, but I am a really good listener, I would love to help. Not as a fan but as someone who knows what it's like to not have anyone to talk to who understands, and also someone who knows what it's like to feel a bit alone"
Stu looked at me "Thanks Lisa" He replied "You do seem to get how I'm feeling that's for sure, and I could do with a kick up the ass at times" He laughed "But it does feel a bit weird that you are a fan, and that I don't know you if you know what I mean?"
I felt a little disappointed but I was determined not to part our chance meeting without something.
"I understand" I smiled trying to put over some optimism "But I do know that you shouldn't be sitting here right now and instead be at a physio session to get yourself back in that ring as soon as possible; You need to be there Stu" At this he looked up at me and smiled too "and you know what? As a fan I need you to be there as well. I miss your presence in that ring a lot and most of all I don't like seeing your tweets that to me make it obvious that you are unhappy."
"Do they really?" Stu looked surprised again. I wondered how many of them he actually read after writing.
"Maybe not to everyone" I admitted. "But I can see through a lot of them. Whether you are ranting about football, or having stupid lawyers on your Twitter, or just talking about life. To me it's obvious you are struggling and sometimes you don't have to"
Stu just looked at me emotion showing on his face "You're right of course. I have struggled so much it's unreal, and I guess that was my outlet at times. I didn't realise that I was so transparent, at least not to you"
"I see more than most" I admitted "Look" I said while I scribbled my number on a bit of napkin "Here is my number. I'm not giving it to you because I want anything from you, any favours. I just want to help you get back in that ring. You can even pay me for the privilege" I laughed, and he smiled at this seemingly amused. "If you don't call then that's fine, but just remember you have one fan out there that knows how you're feeling. I will be around in November when you tour over here, rooting for you, and I will be in New York in April expecting you to be in the main event"
"You're going to Mania?" he asked. I wondered what else I could surprise him with.
"I am indeed" I grinned "And I also expect you to get up and get to that physiotherapy session and I expect a tweet from you telling me that you have gone"
"It's a deal" he returned my grin as he took the napkin which had on my phone number and my twitter name. "I won't promise anything Lisa. But I will promise right now that I will go to that physiotherapy session, and I will tell you on Twitter just so I don't have you moaning at me on there" He winked.
"Cheeky sod" I laughed "I don't moan, I just give sound advice! And that's fine, you know where I am if you need me. And well if you don't need me then that's fine as well"
Stu got up off the table, and I stood as well. To my surprise he came over and gave me a quick hug "Thanks. Lisa."
"For what?"
"For believing that I can do this. You have given me more motivation than anyone has over the last two months and that's a miracle already. I may be in touch soon"
"Don't make any promises" I told him "Just know that I'm here if you need to talk"
Stu said his goodbyes and walked away, I sighed and sat down again wondering if that was the last that I would hear of him until November. I got out my phone to check twitter. To my surprise I had got a mention.
It read.
CometoLife you are a hard taskmaster but a good one. Thank you for giving me that kick up the ass xxx
I looked up to where I had seen Stu go. He was still there and I saw him looking at me, smiling. I shyly smiled back and glanced down at my phone, writing out a quick tweet
wadebarrett lots more where that came from. Now go and get yourself back in that ring
CometoLife Bossy cow! Btw if you direct message me too much I will unfollow you ;) (Btw what's the story behind your Twitter Name?)
wadebarrett of all the cheek! I could do the same to you! (It's the title of my favourite song)
CometoLife haha! Speak soon Lisa. And thanks
I looked up again, and he waved at me walking off. He may not phone me, or even meet me again but even if it was only today then I'd made a bit of a difference and I was happy. This morning, I fancied that man with a passion, but now all I wanted to do was help him, to be there for him as a friend, and that was good enough for me. It was all that he needed right now.