The Omen

[A white limo slows to a stop as it circles around the driveway in front of Taylor Thompson's mansion. Once at a stop, the limo driver gets out, heads to the rear door and opens it. In the background, we see the large door of the mansion opened and two men near the seven-foot mark walk out, followed closely by Taylor and Trey Vincent. Out of the limo steps a man who appears to be Italian. He is wearing a black suit, sunglasses, and a red, white and blue tie. He surveys the area and then looks over at the door. He confidently walks over toward the two men.]

Damian Graziano: Taylor. Why the hell did you drag me all the way up here?

[Taylor steps through her men, Trey follows, but gets caught between the large men's arms. They look down at him and smile sadistically. Trey kicks both in the back of the legs and that gives him enough of a break to get through. Taylor looks back at him.]

Taylor: Hey you two, don't torment Trey.

[The tall guys mumble something and head back inside.]

Damian: This place is fantastic. Your driveway is longer than some towns. That amazes me.

[Trey is nudging Taylor in the ribs with his elbow. Taylor smacks his arm and looks sharply at him.]

Damian: (He walks up to Taylor, takes her hands and kisses her on both cheeks.) You look fantastic as always.

Taylor: Not looking too bad yourself. (She looks at Trey.) Trey, I'd like you to meet Damian Graziano.

Trey: (He extends his hand.) Trey Vincent. Sports entertainment superstar.

Damian: Damian Graziano. HBO. (They shake hands.) What company you work for?

Trey: EWS.

Damian: Right. They do that "Bedlam" show, right?

Trey: You've seen it?

Damian: Since Taylor called, I decided to check out who you are.

Taylor: Shall we go inside?

Damian: Actually, I'm rather hungry. Could we have some burgers on the grill?

Taylor: Sure. Let's head out back.

[The scene cuts to poolside. Some time has passed. Feel free to guess how much. Trey and Damian sit at the round glass table, Damian staring at the water, as if deep in thought. Taylor is nearby, grilling up burgers for the men.]

Damian: The one thing I most enjoy about Taylor is how good she cooks. (He turns to Trey.) But we ain't here to talk about food are we? I want you to tell me the concept of your show. Don't tell me plotlines, don't tell me jack besides what the concept is.

Trey: A real-life private eye reality series. Imagine "Cops" without cops. I even have a name for it. T.V.P.I. You see, TV stands for television, but it also stands for Trey Vincent. And P.I. stands for private investigator.

Damian: You don't say (he says slapping his own knee). I never would have guessed that.

Trey: It's true.

Damian: (He rolls his eyes.) Anyways, do you think that this series would be a hit?

Trey: With me starring, obviously. I am a proven winner. Just look at my time in EWS. In less than a month, I captured the European Championship. And I've held that title for so long I've lost track.

Damian: A week?

Trey: Yeah, but, it seems like forever.

Damian: Don't feed me your crap. You ain't wrestling me.

Trey: Sports entertaining, but go ahead.

Damian: (He scratches his head.) You do know why I'm here, don't you?

Trey: Yes.

Damian: It's funny. It seems to me like you have no business sense at all. It seems to me that you are a complete moron who has nothing but a loud mouth.

Taylor: (She walks over and takes a seat.) It's confidence. Trey gets whatever he wants. (She looks at Damian and smiles.) He'll grow on you in time. He has a pilot he shot.

Damian: You shot a pilot?

Trey: Sure. Gotta prove what you can do, you know?

Damian: What's it consist of.

Trey: Well, it's from last month. Basically, I used it for two reasons. First, I used it to get a job with the EWS. Then I used it with hopes that FOX would pick it up, but they weren't interested. The first episode, I'll admit, is rather dull. It was basically just me following around a chick who was cheating on her husband. I got pictures.

Damian: Did you?

Trey: Yeah.

Damian: Video or camera?

Trey: Camera.

Damian: Hmm. How's this for a concept. T.V.P.I. You go around getting video of cheating couples. We show the footage on the show. Then we satisfy two markets, reality TV and our late night adult audience.

Trey: So it would only be about sex?

Damian: Yeah. (He pauses.) But what am I saying? That would be too hardcore for HBO. I do like the idea however. Trey, tell me, how would you like to do a fictitious television show, where you could play a private investigator, and every week you get cheating couples and spy on them with cameras, do your routine based on what you'd do in real life. But we do it softcore, HBO-style.

Trey: And I'd get paid for this?

Damian: Of course. We could do a pilot. Taylor. Do you have any interest in moving into television.

Taylor: I'm really not interested in softcore porn, thanks.

Damian: If we had her, and you, Trey, I'm telling you, definite winner.

[Trey looks at Taylor.]

Taylor: Don't look at me like that.

Trey: No. Look, Damian, I think my idea could work if given time. Especially if I get exposure.

Damian: Well, after we eat, I'll look at your pilot and see.

[Taylor gets up and tends to the burgers again.]

Damian: (He leans forward.) Trey. (His cell phone rings. He puts up his index finger, reaches into an inside pocket and pulls out his cell phone.) Hello....Yes.......I see. Well that's great......Why? Because for the last three months I've had another, better paying offer on the table. And you can kiss my ass.....Thanks. Goodbye.

Taylor: What was that?

Damian: HBO finally fired me. It's about damn time.

Trey: My promos just get more and more meaningless.

Damian: What? Trey, buddy, this is a good thing for you. You see, with HBO, all they wanted were shows about sex. Now, I've got a great job all lined up. You know where I'm going?

Trey: Where? USA?

Damian: No. TLC.

Trey: That's a channel?

Damian: The Learning Channel.

Trey: The, what? Never heard of it.

Damian: I'm not surprised. Do you want your T.V.P.I. show?

Trey: Hell yeah.

Damian: (Extends a hand.) As new assistant head of programming at TLC, I say you have got the show.

Trey: Is this a basic channel?

Damian: I think so.

Trey: Well....(he shakes Damian's hand). I guess we've got a deal.

Damian: Excellent.

Trey: How long until the food's done?

Taylor: About five minutes.

Trey: Excuse me, I'll be right back.

[The camera follows Trey back inside the mansion. He walks in the open back door and hangs a right. He then pokes his head out the door and looks back at Taylor and Damian. In Trey's absence for a whopping 10 to 15 seconds, Damian has already joined Taylor by the barbecue and is standing rather closely right behind her. He makes her laugh with some sort of joke. Trey looks at the camera.]

Trey: Well, once again, Trey Vincent has gotten exactly what he wants. I finally will have a chance to show the world what a great private investigator I am. And hopefully with that television gig, I'll finally be able to make enough money so I can drop this ridiculous EWS gig and upgrade to something better.

[Trey once again pokes his head outside to see what's going on with Damian and Taylor. He discovers that now Taylor has turned around and Damian has somehow managed to get even closer to her. She then moves away from him and heads back to the glass table and takes a seat.]

Trey: Now, this Sunday, yet again, the Franchise Player will be defending his European Title. This time, against Ricky Daniels. I've only got five minutes to talk some trash about this little nobody who walks into the fed and gets a shot at my belt. But to be honest, Ricky ain't even on my mind right now because I think that TV exec out there has some feelings for my girl.

[Trey again looks outside to find that Damian has rejoined Taylor. He has a hand on one of hers.]

Trey: In the greater scheme of things, this little scrub does nothing for me. The only thing I do know is that this little nobody has some really big feet. Because nobody in their right mind would dare trip Trey Vincent intentionally. So, based on those two facts alone, the Franchise Player knows that Ricky Jackson is really stupid and Jackie Richman needs to get a foot transplant. Trey Vincent knows Richard Jackaninni DID trip the Franchise Player intentionally. So this Sunday, Dr. Vincent is going to perform a little medical procedure which will consist of me taking your left foot, taking your right foot and sticking both so far up your ass, that you'll be crapping wrestling boots for the next month.

[Trey looks outside. Taylor has taken her hand away from Damian. Both are talking. Nothing suspicious now.]

Trey: I saw your debut. Let me summarize for all the Trey Vincent fans. This Dan Richardson guy says he is not here to entertain the fans. His goal is go get to the top. He doesn't care how he does it. He says he will lie, cheat or steal to get what he wants. He also then refers to the Franchise Player as both garbage and trash.

Trey: First things first. He has come here to be yet another boring bush-league hardcore wrestler. His only goal is to get to the top. He says he will lie, cheat or steal to get what he wants. But tell me something Dickerson. How in the hell are you going to lie, cheat or steal in a match where there are RULES? You see, I don't like the anarchy that exists in this federation. So I hired my own referee to make sure laws are obeyed. And that the truly elite sports entertainers will remain the elite sports entertainers and hold back every young talent, no matter how little or much talent they have.

Trey: Now, looking at you, I have no clue how much talent you have. But know this. Trey Vincent has more talent in one drop of his urine that you have in your entire body. In theory, if my urine could sports entertain with you, my urine would win. So Danny Richman, you need to recognize one thing. I am the European Champion. In my world, in sports entertainment, you've got to play by the rules. You need talent. You need charisma. It doesn't matter how good you swing a chair or break a table. You need to cut a great promo, go out to the ring and sports entertain at the highest level humanly possible.

Trey: As long as I've got a referee in my pocket, errrr, I mean, as long as the game is played on a level-playing field, right will always overcome wrong, good will vanquish evil, and sports entertainers will beat hardcore "wrestlers." You sure as hell pose no threat to me. I'm keeping my European Title this Sunday, and the Sunday after that, and the Sunday after that. I am the greatest champion this Scene has ever seen. So welcome to the federation. You got your foot in the door by tripping me with it, but this Sunday, you're going to have to chew off that foot you've stuck in your mouth if you plan on breathing normally ever again. It happens to everyone who faces me.

Taylor: Trey! Food's ready!

Trey: (He pokes his head out.) Be right there! (Back to the camera.) As far as being trash? Every man is welcome to his opinion. But you know what? Trash and your momma have a lot in common. Because when your momma was born, they had to take her out of the trash can cause the doctor said "Throw this sh*t away!" Don't be too upset when this trash leaves you lying in a broken heap on the sidewalk. Prepare for the sports entertainment lesson of a lifetime.

NEXT CHAPTER: Extreme wrestling must die >>

©2001 John Leary