Unfinished Business Part II: Away We Go

The taxi pulled up to the taxi rank of Terminal E of the George Bush Intercontinental Airport at 10am, right on time. The door of the car opened and Ruben Ricardo León stepped out on to the sidewalk, pulling a large suitcase out with him. He took some money out of a wallet and paid the driver before hading inside.

Ruben had arrived at the airport two hours ahead of his flight, as was customary, and that meant a two hour wait in the airport terminal. He was itching to get back to Mexico, especially in lieu of the events of the previous night, and the two hours would feel like two days.

He checked in as quickly as possible and headed for the departure lounge. He had elected to travel the relatively short distance in style and had forked out the extra money for a first class plane ticket and as a result had access to the United Airlines Executive Lounge.

He walked in to the lounge and placed his shoulder bag down, before sitting down on the empty seat next to it. He looked around for a few seconds before his attention finally fell on a TV bracketed on the wall. It was tuned to ESPNews, which was currently running a news item about his stunt on Battle Grounds the previous evening.

He smirked a little and watched the story, which had just showed a clip of him doing his show and tell in the ring. The video cut back to Robert Flores at the desk in the studio.

Robert Flores:Footage, there, of the shock revelation made by Ruben Ricardo León live on the Insurgency Wrestling Federation's Battle Fields broadcast on MEN TV last night. Everyone knew Ruben was leaving IWF but the official line we had been given was that he was retiring from active competition in order to take a position training new talent in his native Mexico. But it seems now that was all a cover, intended to hide his new contract from the fans.

He has not been available to comment since, but it seems that if such a big rift has occurred between him and Chuck Matthews, this may well be the last we ever see of Ruben Ricardo León here on the United States wrestling scene. More on this story when we have it.

Ruben turned his attention away from the television as Robert Flores moved on to another story about the NFL, in which Ruben had no interest. He pulled his iPod out of his shoulderbag and got ready to put the headphones in when the man in the seat next to him tapped him on the shoulder. He placed the iPod on his lap and turned to the man.

Ruben Ricardo León: Yeah?

Man:Was that you they were talking about on the TV just now?

Ruben Ricardo León: Uh, yeah.

Man:Wow. So you're a professional wrestler huh?

Ruben looked at the man incredulously, but the look was somewhat lost underneath his mask. Surely the man didn't think he wore his intricately woven and heavily designed mask for his health. It was becoming increasingly common knowledge in the United States, thanks in no small part to Ruben's efforts over the last few months, and it was staggering to Ruben that someone could be so dumb. Of course, in reality, the man was merely trying to further the conversation in the form of a semi-rhetorical question, but in his sleep-deprived and still angry state, Ruben took it simply to be a stupid question; an insult to his honour. His reply was suitably toned.

Ruben Ricardo León: No, I'm a fucking bank robber.

Man:Jesus, there's no need to be an asshole about it. I was just going to ask you for an autograph for my son. He loves Insurgency Wrestling, but if you're going to be like that then he wouldn't want your autograph.

Ruben shook the cobwebs of exhaustion from his mind, and began to see the situation more clearly. Of course the man wasn't being stupid, he realised. It was him that was being stupid. He turned to the man.

Ruben Ricardo León: Look, man, I'm sorry. It's been a long night and I didn't get much sleep.

Ruben noticed that the man had a digital camera hanging on a string around his neck. He gestured at it.

Ruben Ricardo León: Listen, why don't we take a picture, so you can show your son you met me, and then I'll sign something for him?

The man didn't look entirely convinced, and stared at Ruben for a few seconds as if he was giving the proposition some thought. Eventually the look in his eyes changed from one of annoyance to a more receptive one.

Man:OK, sure.

Ruben looked around and noticed that a waitress was milling around collecting used glasses from some of the tables. He caught her eye and waved for her to come over to where he and the other man were sat.

Waitress: Can I get you gentlemen anything?

Ruben Ricardo León: No, thank you. Can you possibly take a picture of us?

Ruben indicated the man's camera. The waitress followed Ruben's hand and smiled when she saw the camera.

Waitress: Why, sure!

The man unhooked the camera from round his neck and handed it to the waitress.

Man:This guy's a professional wrestler, you know?

Waitress: Well, ain't that somethin'? Well, I'm ready when you guys are!

The waitress fiddled with the camera controls as the guy turned to Ruben.

Man:So, you ready?

Ruben Ricardo León: Wait a second. Why don't you get me in a headlock. That'll look great for your kid.

The man beamed at him.

Man:Really? Sure thing, thanks!

They got in to position so it looked as though Ruben was struggling to get out of a headlock that the man had placed on him. After a couple of seconds the waitress took the shot and passed the camera back to the man before resuming her duties. Ruben scrambled around for something to sign for a moment, before remembering that he had taken some IWF promo photos of him to frame in the new house. He pulled one out of his bag and signed it for the guy.

Not long afterwards, the guy's flight was called and he shook Ruben's hand and went off to catch it, leaving Ruben alone with his thoughts again.


Maria stared at the plane ticket she held in her hands as the cab sped along to the airport. Her mother had tried, unsuccessfully to stop her, but she knew she had to go to the airport and confront Ruben about the argument they had the previous night. She felt terrible about it. Even though she knew she wasn't to blame for the whole thing, she had her part in it all just like Ruben had.

Taxi Driver: Which terminal, kid?

Maria looked at her ticket.

Maria: Oh, um, Terminal E, thanks.

The taxi driver hit the indicator and pulled off at the junction for Terminal E. A few seconds later and he was pulling up to the taxi rank, the same rank that Ruben had arrived at not half an hour earlier. She paid the driver and headed in to the terminal. Unlike Ruben she hadn't brought luggage, as she had no intention to fly.

The only reason she had even brought her ticket was because she knew that Ruben would go straight to the departure lounge, and she would need to check in too if she wanted to talk to him. She told herself that there was absolutely no way that she was going to get on that plane. Definitely not going to happen. Definitely...

She looked around the departures hall of Terminal E for the correct desk. Quickly her eyes fell upon the United Airlines check-in desk. She walked swiftly over to it, and the woman behind the desk gave her a broad smile.

Woman: Well hi there and welcome to the George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Maria: Thankyou.

Maria wondered how she could find out if Ruben had already checked in. She could hardly call him, as she didn't want him to know she was coming in advance, in case he left. She needed to find a way to check it out. She was snapped back to reality as the woman carried on talking.

Woman: Which flight are you checking in for today?

Maria: The 12.00pm to Mexico City.

She couldn't think of a way to be subtle about it as she handed over her passport and her ticket. She rued the fact that she had spent the entire taxi ride worrying rather than actually thinking of a way to find all this out. There was nothing for it. If subtlety wasn't going to work she would just have to be blunt about it.

Maria: Um, I'm supposed to be travelling with my boyfriend, but we had to get here separately and I haven't been able to reach him for a while. Can you tell me if he has checked in already?

Despite the fact that she was, in fact, merely telling the truth, Maria found herself beginning to sweat as if she was telling a lie, or committing some form of crime. Her eyes darted furtively back and forwards, as if she expected some security guards to leap out from behind the check-in desk and tackle her to the ground for daring to inquire about another passenger.

However, the woman behind the desk was still wearing the same broad smile as when Maria had walked up to the desk a few moments earlier. It certainly wasn't the look of someone who was about to hit the panic button and call in the SWAT teams.

Woman: Certainly. What's his name?

Maria was shocked how easy it had been. After she had been so nervous too. She felt more than a little bit stupid.

Maria: Oh, um, Ruben Ricardo León. He'll be flying on a Mexican passport.

Woman: OK. Let me just check.

The woman tapped some things in to her computer and after a few seconds silence looked back up at Maria.

Woman: Oh, the guy in the mask?

Maria: Yeah, that's him.

Woman: I remember him. It's difficult to forget a man wearing a mask like that! Yeah he checked in about half an hour ago.

Maria: Thanks.

Woman: Do you have any baggage?

Maria nearly had a heart attack when she heard the question. What did she mean by that?!

Maria: Excuse me?!

The woman looked slightly confused at Maria's reaction to her question.

Woman: Do you, uh, have any bags to check in?

Realising that she had got completely the wrong end of the stick, Maria stood with her mouth wide open for a moment, before recovering her senses.

Maria: N...no. Ruben brought the bags with him...

Woman: OK, well in that case you're all checked in. Enjoy your flight.

The woman, who still had a look of confusion on her face handed back Maria's passport and her boarding card. Maria forced a weak smile and walked off as quickly as she could, feeling like even more of an idiot than she had when she walked up to the desk. This was not going well so far. She only hoped it would go better when she found Ruben. She spotted the United Airlines Executive Lounge and, assuming that was where Ruben would be, made her way towards it.


Ruben couldn't help but still feel bad for how he had treated that guy. The rough night was no excuse really, and he had never been much of a one for taking his bad moods out on other people. Unless, of course, they deserved it. And, if nothing else, he hadn't thought about He checked his watch. Boarding was still a long ways away, and he was starting to get hungry, so he rose form his seat, intending to browse the different food options available to him in the executive lounge.

As he turned around, he was stopped in his tracks as he saw Maria looking nervously around the Executive Lounge. He paused momentarily, unsure what to do. She hadn't spotted him yet and he was torn between running and hiding or approaching her. Eventually he realised that the right thing to do was to go and talk to his girlfriend, so he walked up to where she was standing.

Ruben Ricardo León: Maria, what are you doing here?

Maria: Ruben...I came to apologise. I was wrong to say all those things last night.

Instantly, all of the anger and resentment that Ruben had felt towards Maria ebbed away, and he felt a fool for ever feeling like that about her. He loved her more than anything.

Ruben Ricardo León: I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have tried to force you to come to Mexico with me. I just wanted you to be with me down there so much. I wanted you to see what I am really capable of.

Maria: Oh, Ruben. You don't have to prove anything to me. But if you have to go to Mexico then I'm not going to stand in your way.

Ruben Ricardo León: But I don't want to lose you...

Maria: You won't. It's not like Mexico is very far away or anything. We can visit each other.

Ruben Ricardo León: Look. Why don't you come with me? Give it a try. If you like it you can stay, if you don't you can come back to Houston and we can do the visiting thing. I really want to share this with you.

Maria: Ruben, I can't...

Maria looked in to Ruben's eyes, and saw that he was pleading with her to go with him. How bad could it be down there? Sure, it would be scary at first, but Ruben would be right there with her. She had a lot to leave back at home in Houston but she knew that if she didn't at least take the chance, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

Maria: Fuck it. I'll come with you.

The look of relief on Ruben's face was palpable. They both laughed, and although neither would have admitted it to the other, they were both fighting back tears. They embraced and gave each other a long kiss.