Joe's Mechanical Shop. Los Angeles, California.

"Uncle Colby!!"

Jojo comes bouncing out of her father's shop in a short yellow dress, wasting no time to throw her arms around his waist after he got off his bike. Colby laughs as he takes off his helmet, setting it on top of his bike and throwing his arms around the little girl. He lifts her up in the air, twirling her around for a good minute before setting her on his shoulder. "How is my beautiful niece doing and why didn't she go to school today?" He asks, giving her a stern look as she begins untying the band in his man–bun.

She pouts and ignores him, pulling the band free all the same. She runs her petite hand through his long curls of hair giddily, playing with it like she'd play with the hair of a doll. "I have anemia so Daddy told me to stay at home."

Colby looks up at her closely, "You don't look like you have anaemia."

Jojo doesn't look too happy with that, "But I have anaemia," she repeats, pulling on his hair in retaliation. "If you don't believe me, ask Daddy. Daddy says when you can't eat, it means you have anaemia."

Colby shakes his head with a laugh "What did your principal say? She mustn't be happy about you skipping school for the fifth time in a month."

"The principal had nothing to say."

Colby makes a face, "Why is that? Shouldn't she be making sure you come to school everyday?"

Jojo bobbles her head up and down cutely, "Yes, but she likes Daddy so she just smiled and said it was alright. She even asked Daddy out to lunch. But Daddy always says it's the man that propose, not the woman."

"She didn't propose. She just asked your father out to lunch," Colby laughs as he enters the shop, finding it devoid of workers. It's still quite early in the morning, the sun barely peeking out through the thick, white clouds floating across the sky. He hadn't called Joe before coming to the shop as he was certain his friend will already be there. Joe has always been an early worker although his employees usually report late to work. As the master of the shop, Joe often preach about how he should be the first person to arrive as a way of ensuring there aren't any mistakes with his clients cars. As expected, Colby finds his friend under a car, already in his work clothes. Joe smirks when he sees him, making a gesture of two fingers as a single for him to wait for two minutes.

Colby nods and sets a reluctant Jojo down, finding a clean chair to sit on in the rather messy and dusty shop. By afternoon, the entire shop will be filled with clients and workers, creating a chaotic and disorganized atmosphere. Colby can't wrap his head around how his friend has managed to keep track of everything in the shop for almost seven years with all the different clients that comes to the shop with very different kinds of problems each day.  "Can I have chocolates," Jojo asks, gaining his attention.

Colby frowns and taps her on the nose. Jojo giggles at the traditional gesture she has grown used to receiving from him. "You're sick. Eating chocolates when one is sick isn't healthy Jojo. You should eat vegetables and fruits, not chocolates."

"Tell her," Joe chirps in as he slides out from under the car to stand tall and muscular. "She's been requesting chocolates since yesterday but I always tell her a sick person should never eat chocolates but she never listens to me."

"A sick person should eat chocolates," Jojo says defensively, "Especially the mint ones. They're delicious. My teacher says chocolates are a cure, second only to good coffee."

While Colby looks away in disgust at the mint chocolates which he has never understood the hype around, and amusement at how Jojo animatedly gestures around, Joe sets his tools on a table before fixing his six year old daughter with a reprimanding scowl that does little to make Jojo squirm. Colby can now see why Jojo never fears her father. Joe doesn't look near as threatening and strict as he should be right now. "Jojo, your teacher is wrong."

"No, my teacher is never wrong."

"Well, she's wrong this time. No one is eating chocolates here. You're sick. Go to the room and lie down. Tomorrow, I'll take you to see the doctor. You haven't been eating well these days and you need to return to school as soon as possible."

Jojo stretches out her hand, "Give me chocolates first."

Joe glances at Colby for help but all the latter does is raise his hands up in the air, begging to stay out of the father and daughter scuffle. Joe sighs in defeat before his eyes suddenly brightens up, "Let's do this. We'll play football game tonight. If you lose, we're going to the hospital tomorrow to see your doctor and you aren't getting chocolates."

Colby rolls his eyes. He can't recall a single football game which Joe won. Jojo always ends up winning somehow with her charisma and tricks. "And if I win," Jojo retorts with an already smug look. 'She knows she's going to win,' Colby smiles to himself.

"You can have all the chocolates you want," Joe declares.

"All the chocolates in the shop down the street?"

Joe grins softly at his daughter, "All the chocolates in the shop down the street. Promise. Now go to the room and take some rest."

"No. I'm going to play outside." With that, she pecks Colby on the cheek and skids out of the shop. She doesn't look back even as Joe shouts for her not to wander down the streets, her curly hair pulled up into a neat ponytail bouncing on her back as she runs. Joe just sighs and shakes his head, brushing dust away from his clothes.

"She isn't sick, is she?" When his friend doesn't answer, Colby takes his silence and the little smirk playing on his lips as confirmation. "And yet you allowed her stay at home while her classmates are preparing for their exams? I wonder what Galina will say when she finds out about this."

"She's off to Philadelphia visiting family for the fourth time in a month," Joe says, pulling up a chair that was either knocked to the ground the previous night or simply leaned against the headlights of a car to sit on. "You know, something tells me she has a boyfriend there. She's never the type to leave her work for even a week. She told me last week she's even considering moving there permanently."

"And that bothers you?"

Joe laughs and waves it off, "No way. She can do whatever she want. It's her life. That's why I divorced her so she can be free to live her life as she wishes. No more controlling me. No more me controlling her. Things are cool dude. What I am worried about is Jojo. I don't want her to bounce from one place to the other. Her school is here, her friends are here, everything she loves is here. Moving to Philadelphia will be quite a change for her."

Colby nods in understanding, "The effects of broken homes. Just pray she doesn't end up liking her mother's new boyfriend more than you. Philadelphia is a lovely place."

"So is Los Angeles. I'm not worried she'll end up liking her mother's boyfriend. It will be great if she does for then she won't continuously bug me to reconcile with her mother. We all need to move on and I'm glad Galina has found someone who truly loves her. I just hope this boyfriend won't treat my daughter in any wrong way otherwise whoever that man is, he'll get it from me."

It feels strange for Colby to hear his friend talk about his ex-wife like this sometimes. He remembers the day Joe rushed into his room to inform him he was getting married; how excited he'd been and the little happy dance he did in his room. The wedding was beautiful with only friends and family in attendance, the pure joy and happiness of the moment as his friend and his ex-wife exchanged their vows before the priest made him desire to get married himself. But after giving birth to Jojo, things changed in ways no one was expecting it to. The birth of the child which was supposed to fill the home with abundance of happiness and elation only brought quarrels and in the end, after two years of them drifting further and further apart from each other, Joe filed for divorce.

But the divorce also came with its consequences and unfortunately, a three year old Jojo was caught in the middle. From then on, whenever he'll talk about marriage with Mercedes, she always made a point to bring up Joe's failed marriage to dissuade him from the idea. Seeing how badly his friend's marriage had turned out, Colby has been skeptical about the topic of marriage ever since but he hasn't lost his faith in love like Joe has.

"Why are you here early this morning and where are you going," Joe inquires, pausing briefly to return a greeting from one of his workers who has just arrived.

"I came here to personally thank you for all that you did for me during father's funeral and pass by here to ask how my niece is doing. I'm going to the Sports Club where Mercedes works. She told me last night there's a vacancy there at their new wrestling department so I'm going there to try my luck. If it doesn't work out, I might just have to join you in your shop and fix cars."

"No way!! I don't want to have an accident on my poor conscience," Joe teases, making Colby laugh. He has always loved to burn off energy. Staying in one place and fixing cars isn't his thing. If it were, he would've joined his friend in the mechanic business when he first started seven years ago. "Seriously man, you'll get it. Stop thinking about what you'll do next if you don't get the job at the Sports Club. If it comes to that, we'll see what we'll do. But for now, stop thinking. You've been worrying too much lately. Has Jon contacted you?"

He'd been waiting for his brother's call for the past three days but he'd gotten nothing more than a text from Jon asking him how he's doing. He misses hearing his brother's voice but he smiled at the text all the same, relieved to know his brother is okay. "He sent me a message two days ago asking me how I was. I replied I was okay and that was it. He said nothing more nor did he call. But I am glad he's fine. That's all I needed to know to feel better. But I don't know where he is and what he's doing. I just hope he doesn't get himself into trouble like he did the last time."

"You know your brother. Getting into trouble is in his blood. They are mostly petty ones, nothing you should worry about. It was good of you not to ask why he didn't attend your father's funeral. We don't need you both fighting at this time. I'm certain he was as depressed as you were about his death. Perhaps he was out of town."

"Do you really believe father committed suicide," Colby asks after a while of them just sitting there in silence, watching Jojo play with her dolls outside. "I still can't get why father would do that. It doesn't make sense."

"Could be because of the hardships he was going through combined with the heart attacks in recent months," Joe suggests, scratching his stubble. "Perhaps it got too much. There are ton of reasons why people commit or attempt suicide. Life sometimes gets too much for them and considering how proud your father was, he perhaps didn't want to face embarrassment in the neighbourhood and thought the only solution was suicide. Whatever it is, we'll never know. I know it hurts but your father is gone Colby. Right now the most important person is your mother. You need to take care of her. What's done is done. We can't change anything."

Colby nods and sighs, running a hand down his face. "You're right man. But I still worry about Jon. He has changed so much. Sometimes I feel he doesn't care about this family."

Joe gives him a disapproving look, "Don't say such things. He was here when you went missing. I wish you were there. He was fretting so much about you. He even wanted to inform the police but your father, well you know him. He told us not to inform anyone. Maybe he had an inkling you were safe or. . . ."

"He just didn't care about what had happened to me," Colby finishes for his friend, slumping back into his chair. "I can't believe after everything I accomplished in Ring Of Honor, father still couldn't see my potential and passion to be a wrestler. I wasn't doing it just for Jon. I was doing it for myself. Because I wanted to wrestle. I wanted to have an audience cheering for me like everyone else. To have someone appreciate me for once in my life. To make father proud of me. But it didn't matter what I did. Father thought I was useless up till the day he died. At times, I feel Mercedes has a point. I wasted my time and efforts for him. He just didn't care. He never did."

"You don't need to prove anything to anyone," is what his friend always says whenever he lament about his father's attitude towards him. It used to assure him but now that his father is dead and knowing the last time they'd seen each other, they'd argued about his decision to try his luck at WWE after he got a call from Hunter offering him a surprising contract, it sadly doesn't comfort him anymore. It saddens him that while his father was alive, he could never hear him say he was proud of him. He has often thought making Jon proud is more than enough to have him feel good about himself. But no. It hurts. He tried so hard but all of it proved futile. Like always.

"Your father was a complicated man Colby," Joe continues. "He was hard to please and at times people are like that. They never appreciate anything others do for them."

Colby steels himself not to roll his eyes. "Yeah right. He loved everything Jon did. I recall once Jon mistakenly sold some of the spare parts at the shop to some unknown people who didn't return to pay the money. Father smiled at him as if he hadn't caused him anything at all. If I were in Jon's shoes, father would've cut off my head. Let's not ignore the truth. Father never liked me and I'm yet to figure out why that was so."

"There's nothing at all you can do about it. You tried to please him but it didn't work. Forget it and move on. Let it go and as for Mercedes. . . . I thought she'd stopped complaining ages ago. When did she say that to you?"

"The day I was fired from WWE. She called to inquire if I'd gotten the contract and when I said no, she got angry. Now that I think about it, she'd every reason to be. I screwed up my chances with WWE. I thought too much about things which distracted me from what I really needed to do. It was all my fault."

"Colby, it wasn't your fault."

"Of course it was. If I was working at WWE now, I wouldn't need to look for a job to take care of my mother. I would've been able to keep this family afloat and maybe father wouldn't have committed suicide."

"No, no. Don't you dare start blaming yourself for your father's suicide," Joe warns, scurrying his chair forward. "Richard took the decision to end his life. Nobody forced him to. And why should you always be the one to shoulder responsibilities? Jon is there. He's a man too, isn't he? Couldn't he have helped? He could've but he didn't. You gave your best efforts and if things have ended like this, none of it is your fault. Get that out of your head before I'm forced to put a little bit of sense into it in my own way. John Cena's incident wasn't your fault either. Accidents happen all the time in wrestling. It's inevitable and Mercedes. . . . don't tell me she broke up with you again over that?"

"Yes she did. But we're back together so. . . ."

Joe cuts him off, "Hold up, let me get this straight. She broke up with you because Vince was stupid enough to let you go and you got back together with her again? Just like that? What kind of love do you have for her?"

Colby stumbles for words hearing the word love. It feels so weirdly foreign to have his friend associate Mercedes with love in his life now. So much has changed in his life in just a week. So many changes he's confused about. So many changes he has no idea how to handle or cope with. Everything looks so simple but yet so very complex. "What can I do? I can't stay angry at her forever. She's been trying to gain my forgiveness and I feel she deserves it. I still care about her and she loves me so I think our relationship has a chance to be what it was." 

"You still care about her? Why don't I hear the word love instead of care?"

Colby frowns at his friend, "What do you mean by that? Isn't care supposed to mean love? I mean, if you care for a person, it means you love him or her, right?"

Joe peers at him, "Are you asking me or yourself? I mean to say something is off with you man," Joe adds when Colby makes a face. "You don't sound as happy as you should be. The Colby I know will be grinning like a fool right now talking about Mercedes, much more about making up with her again but I don't see that joy on your face anymore. You've changed somehow ever since you arrived from Orlando."

"I'm happy," Colby insists, "I mean. . . . it's nothing new for me to make up with Mercedes. . . ."

"It's nothing new anymore so you've lost interest in it? Isn't that the same as you losing interest in Mercedes?"

Again, Colby stammers for words. "That's not true. It's just. . . . with everything that has happened lately, I just don't find joy in anything like I previously used to."

"What happened Colby," Joe questions, unconvinced. "I know you and this isn't how you are. Something occurred in Orlando, didn't it?" Joe checks sideways as if making sure there isn't another pair of ears around listening to their conversation. "Is this about the woman who picked up the phone when Jon called the other day? Is this about her?" When Colby acts hesitant, Joe further encourages, "Come on, man. Tell me about it. We're friends. I'm not Pamela. I'm not going to rat you out to Mercedes and I swear I won't judge."

Colby wonders if his friend can read through his emotions so easily, then what does Mercedes, a person that know him so well, perhaps even much more than Joe does, think about him now? Does she sense too he doesn't look happy with her? It didn't seem like it last night and he guessed it must be because she'd been so grateful he'd finally agreed to give their relationship a second chance. It must be the joy of the moment which clouded her mind and made her ignorant to his sense of discomfort. He can't explain it himself. He has decided to start things over with Mercedes and forget whatever happened with Rebecca but it doesn't seem right. He doesn't feel right at all. "Yes. To cut the long story short, something happened between the both of us and ever since then I haven't been able to get her out of my head." Colby has a feeling his friend already has an idea of what he's talking about but he adds anyway, "We had sex."

Joe's high-pitched laugh makes him cringe inwardly. He shouldn't feel guilty about whatever he did with Rebecca but ever since last night, ever since he got back together with Mercedes, he can't help but feel he cheated on her somehow. He can't be sure if it's the night he spent with Rebecca or his heart. "Colby Daniel Lopez, what have you done? Rather than sitting here and thinking about it, you should be clapping for yourself. For the first time in like forever, we're talking about another woman who isn't named Mercedes. Seriously, it deserves an award for 'the best change of topic of the century.' Your little niece will be more than glad to host it."

"I can't believe you're joking right now, Joe."

Joe holds his hands up in surrender, "Okay. Let's be serious now. So you slept with a woman in Orlando. I won't ask if you feel bad about it because it's clear you don't and you shouldn't be. After all, you and Mercedes weren't together at that time so what exactly is the problem here?" Joe peers even harder at him causing Colby shrink in what, he doesn't know. This is one of those times he just wish he can bolt out of the shop to avoid Joe's questioning. "Do you miss her?"

The answer comes without hesitation, "Yes. I miss her but I shouldn't."

"Why not?"

Colby spreads his hands, "I won't fit in her world. I just won't."

Joe leans back, "You're talking like the people of the 80s. Those people used to hold social class and status in high esteem but dude, we're in the 21st century. Those kind of things are a thing of the past. Nowadays when two people love each other, they can even elope and get married. 'Money is only counted in numbers,' as they say, 'while love is infinite and immeasurable.'"

Colby sighs under his breath. His friend doesn't seem to get what he's talking about. It's not so simple as eloping or love? Is that even what he feels for Rebecca? It can't be. People don't fall in love in days. Joe did and look at how it all turned out. "You're the one who reads news and entertainment gossips just to laugh at them, aren't you? Does the name 'Rebecca Quinn' ring a bell?"

Joe bites his nails in thought, "Rebecca Quinn, Rebecca. . . .," then Joe's eyes widen in recollection, a sly smile forming on his lips. "You mean Rebecca Quinn? As in billionaire Quinn family?"

Colby nods, "Yep. The same one. I met her in Orlando in a rather. . . . unfortunate circumstances. The person I was bickering with on the phone? That was her. She was in a very bad mental state and I just couldn't leave her. Everything happened so quick and before I knew it, I kissed her and the rest is history."

"Holy shit!! Now I get where you're coming from about the whole 'not fitting in.' That family is filthy rich. But wait—–have you seen the video that went and is still going viral?"

"What video?"

"There's a video of Rebecca going to the wedding of Jeff, the man that left her. She caused such a ruckus by begging Jeff to come back to her. People have been talking about it for days. The rumours were true. He left her for another woman. Do you want to see it?"

"No," Colby replies quickly. He can't believe all this have been happening. He wonders what Rebecca must be going through now, how she's doing, if she's slipping into depression again. His hand twitches in his lap. Even reminiscing about how much she cried that day makes him shiver. "What about that Jeff," he swiftly changes the topic. "Do you know him?"

"Yep. Jeff Dye." Joe retrieves his phone from his pocket, typing something on it before he shows Colby the phone screen with Jeff Dye's picture on it. Tall, handsome, well trimmed, elegant in a suit and an aura of a person who belongs in the society he was born in. The perfect son in-law, Colby thinks but his blood boils now seeing the man who brutally left Rebecca in despair and the reason for which she tried to kill herself. He doesn't even look that handsome, he rectifies himself, hands curling into fists. Joe eyes his fists as he continues, "This is him. Jeff Dye, an actor but famously known for his stand-up comedic acts. He rose to fame about five years ago. The people loved him for his natural charisma. He was all over the news and websites, doing a bunch of interviews everyday, attending conventions and award shows and he always came with Rebecca Quinn."

Joe shows him a bunch of photos next with Rebecca standing beside Jeff at red carpets in each of them, gorgeous as always with the smile he had come to love so much beaming on her face. She looked so in love. So happy. And even if these are old photos and knowing everything that has happened, he still feels a twinge of jealousy seeing her with another man. "At first, they kept their relationship a secret. Often told the media they were no more than just childhood friends that grew up together but you know how the media is. They didn't believe a thing. But they still survived the pressure and kept their relationship a secret. Two years later, they came out and told the world they're dating. Fast forward a year of them dating, being everywhere on the gossip sites and people complimenting them on the amazing chemistry they both have, Jeff proposed to Rebecca on live television at an Oscar event. The world of painting and Hollywood went mad with jubilation."

Joe shows him the video next. Rebecca looked beautiful in a sleeveless, sparkly green dress with a deep neckline that accentuated every curve he remembers touching five nights ago. Her hair, longer than it is now, cascades flawlessly on her back when she turned to scream as Jeff, dressed in a fine tux got down on a knee with a ring. He can't make out much of what Jeff is saying due to the loud screams of the guests in attendance but as Rebecca jumps up and down in elation, tears visibly running down her face, ruining her makeup—–he realizes she's more beautiful without it—–and the yes she chants over and over, he can't help but smile at how happy and contented she looks as Jeff slips the ring around her finger. Jeff looks equally and sincerely happy as he kisses her, shouting to the world; 'she said yes!! I'm the luckiest man alive.' He even twirled her around while Rebecca laughed uncontrollably. The crowd's cheers were deafening. They both looked gloriously happy and so in love. So what happened?

"Rebecca was already popular having released her paintings five months prior to this. She dedicated the entire gallery event to her father who had passed away. I wish you can see them. They were magnificent. Galina isn't a fan of paintings but even she loved them. Each painting was filled with so much emotion but after the wedding scandal, she deleted all of them from her website and sold off the gallery to someone else."

Colby releases a breath he didn't realize he was holding in. "Understandable. She had the man she loved leave her for another woman. It's weird he did that to her. Both of them looked so in love or were all that for the cameras?"

Joe tucks the phone back into his pocket. "It's a mystery up till this day. When they postponed the wedding. . . ."

"They postponed it?"

"Yeah, once. Jeff came out and said they had a problem they needed to solve but they weren't actually breaking up. After a year, they announced the date for the wedding again. Rebecca released new paintings which blew up the place for the second time, Jeff was involved in this blockbuster movie and everything seemed to be going well. They even have some pictures of themselves at beaches, concerts, sports events and parks and soon people called them 'the It Couple,' for people believed they were able to solve whatever issues they had and rekindle their love once more so as you can expect, people were really anticipating the wedding. And then the day arrived and Jeff left his career and his wedding for another woman. It was all so unexpected and sudden." Joe gazes at his friend for a while. "If you feel Rebecca likes you and you like her, I don't think you should concern yourself with their money. I mean you two had something so. . . ."

"Listen man, it's not that simple. When we slept together, there were no strings or feelings attached. She expected more from me and I was ready to give it but now I can't. No one in the family may come up to me and say, 'you're not fit for our daughter because you don't belong to a rich family,' but I'll have to fit in somehow, adopt their lifestyle, face the media's scrutiny and always have the family breathing down my neck to be perfect. I can't manage that. I hate someone dictating my life. It just won't work."

"But you just told me you can't get her out of her head," Joe reminds him, "You've just gotten back together with Mercedes but you're here thinking of another woman. Your feelings have changed Colby and it doesn't seem fair to either you or Mercedes or to Rebecca to some extent. It feels you're deceiving Mercedes."

Colby shakes his head with an anxious laugh, wiping the sweat slicking down his neck to his back. He doesn't even want to think anymore. It isn't helping things. He's more confused than ever. "What Rebecca and I had was beautiful while it lasted but I have to forget her. If I know she's alright now, I won't be thinking about her anymore. I'm just fretting about her, that's all. I have my life planned out with Mercedes. I don't need my life to be more complicated than it is. Besides, I may never even see her again."

"And if you do?"