Anise Reso is all grown up now, but will her mom and dad accept the path she chose to walk down? This is a secondary story to my first wrestling story, Caught In Between.
A/N: This is not based on any time line, or even age line if you will. Since Anise was a baby in the first story, and now she's grown, I thought it'd be kind of weird for me to date things. Their ages as well are not as advanced as they would be from the first story, example, Randy would be 50 something if I followed the time line, but in this, he's only some years older than his actual age.
Second A/N and Disclaimer:I'm not basing any matches or events off of any actual WWE/TNA storyline. I haven't really kept up with what's currently going on, and I've barely watched any of it in about a year or two. Also there will be some characters that are no longer with WWE/TNA. I do not own any WWE superstar and/or storyline events, nor do I claim to. Vince McMahon owns all copyrights. I do not own any TNA wrestler and/or storyline, nor do I claim to. Whoever the owner of TNA is owns all copyrights.
She stood in her room, looking out of her bedroom window that faced the driveway. Her father was leaving out early before she and her mother, and she watched him pull out of the driveway and disappear down the street.
"Anise!" her mother called for her. "You have your bags packed?"
"Yeah, mom," she called down. Her mother then appeared in her doorway.
"Good, because we're going to be late to meet with your Aunt Stephie if we wait any longer."
Anise smiled, all too giddy to see her aunt and her cousins. It just wouldn't be summer time if she couldn't spend her time with them. Quickly, she grabbed her bags and made her way down the staircase, where her mother had already put her own bags near the front door. "I'll put your bags in the car, mom!"
"Okay, honey," her mom called out. "I'll be right out."
She was just finished placing the luggage in the trunk space when she saw her mom emerge from the house, quickly making sure the locks were secure before making her way to the car. Anise followed suit with her mom, getting inside of the vehicle.
"Got everything?" her asked, looking at her.
"Does it matter?" she retorted with a grin.
The older woman looked in her blind spots before backing up the car. Pressing her lips together, she answered her daughter. "Nope."
"""""
Anise sat on the tour bus that they always traveled in. With her mother out with her aunt and uncle, she decided to throw on some jean shorts and a tank top on and visit her father. He was currently in the venue, training the young superstars that would try their best to make a name for themselves. She tied back her long, honey hair into a tight pony tail, and made her way off the bus.
On the short walk, she saw many faces she grew up knowing. But she didn't catch the one look that that followed her moving body all the way through into the venue.
"Hey, sweetie," her father said. "What are you doing here?"
"Dad, sitting on that bus all day would have drove me crazy." She took a seat on a folding chair that lined the ring. Looking around at the crew members, she saw that they were setting up for the night's show.
"You don't have to get up," her dad said to her, noticing that she was looking around her. "You're not in the way."
She relaxed, slouching into the metal chair. Her dad continued teaching the young men to take bumps, Anise found herself staring at a particular man. But this man was not a rookie. A pale man of tall stature, he stood with arms crossed in the opposite corner of her dad.
"Jay," came the man's Irish accent. "You think that's enough for today, yeah?"
"Sure," her dad said, clearing his throat. "All right, that was good guys." He briefly clapped his hands, then waited for the young guys to exit the ring. "Nise, where's your mom?"
"With Aunt Stephie."
"Your mom," came Stephanie McMahon-Levesque's voice, "is in catering." Her long legs that ended in black heels clicked with every step as they made their way down the ramp to where her niece sat. She looked up at Jay, raising her eyebrows. "She's finishing up for the show."
Jay took his exit from the ring after the tall pale man that Anise couldn't help but stare at flipped out of the ring. Crew members swiftly came in, making quick work of tuning up the ropes and turnbuckles. Anise's concentration was barely broken by her dad speaking to her.
"Anise?" she heard his voice say to her again.
Stephanie snapping her fingers in front of her niece's face seemed to do the trick. "Nise, he's too old for you. Now come on, we're all having lunch together."
"""""
"So," Vivian began, making a point to look at her nearly-legal daughter as she took a forkful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. "I heard from a little birdie that you, young lady, kept yourself mighty busy taking a long gander of Sheamus."
"Dad!" Anise exclaimed, beyond flustered and a bit embarrassed.
"Hey, it wasn't me," Jay defended, putting his hand up in the air as he ate.
"It was me, missy," her aunt said. "Next time, I catch you doing that, I'll lock you up on that bus myself."
Anise heard the sigh of her cousin, Stephanie and Paul's third child, Evelyn. "It was just harmless looking, mom."
"Hey," Paul cut in. "These are grown men that you two are 'harmlessly' looking at. It's not to be taken lightly."
"Relax, dad," Evelyn said as she leaned her elbows on the table. "I'm grown now myself."
Anise always loved how free Evelyn seemed to be. Like nothing could stop her from doing what she wanted. Of course, her aunt and uncle had a little more to say about it than that. Evelyn was nothing short of a wild child, having grown up so fast being so incorporated into this industry. Anise tried to hide the laugh that threatened to break through.
"Don't laugh at that," Vivian said.
Of course, she caught it, Anise thought. "Mom, I didn't do anything wrong."
"And you better not," Stephanie tied in. "You two don't realize that it's a privilege for you to travel with us."
"Oh, yes," Evelyn started, squinting her eyes together. "The oh-so-awesome days when we're stuffed up in some hotel, or on the tour bus, or oh! Better yet, stuck flying around to God-knows-where in that miserable jet that papap is so dead set on never letting go."
"Evelyn, that's enough," Paul said.
"You're right, dad. It is enough." She pushed the foam plate away from her and stood. "Nise, come walk with me."
Anise only nodded her head as she stood as well to follow her older cousin away from the table they all sat at and out of the catering room.
Paul sighed, nearly in-sync with a sigh Vivian let out. "What are we going to do with them?" he asked to no one in particular.
Jay stabbed at a piece of meat. "Pray to everything above us that they don't marry wrestlers."
"""""
"Can you believe that?" Evelyn said as they walked down the corridors. "I mean, I know how worried they are, but they don't need to treat us like we're dumb."
"But you can't tell them that," Anise pointed out as they reached their destination. She followed behind Evelyn as she pushed the door open and they slid into the room, the door snapping shut behind them. "They can't honestly tell us that we've done anything wrong. We know all the in's and out's of everything that happens."
"Yeah," Evelyn agreed as she flopped down on the large leather couch. "And honestly, they can't say that we'd ever let any of those greasy men touch us. It's like they think we'll marry into it." She twisted the ends of her hair as she scoffed. "Believe me, I want to do everything possible to separate myself from this life."
She could tell by the way Evelyn's voice became low that she was telling the truth. A few moments after she had sat down at the large oak desk that her mother and aunt used, her phone had vibrated, indicating that she received a text message.
"Oh," she said, still scrolling through the phone. "Shawn's going to be in the same town we're going to next week."
"We going to visit him?" Evelyn asked as she tossed about on the couch.
Anise shrugged. "I don't see the harm."
"The harm?" Evelyn questioned with a grin. "No harm if you don't consider that daddy and papap seem intent on fighting with that company. Honestly, can't they see that TNA is just a disaster that's waiting to happen." She sighed, then pulled out her own phone.
"I know," Anise said quietly as she finished sending a text message back to her half-brother. "But, if they want to fight, let them. All I care about is seeing my brother."
The office door opened, her mother and aunt walking in.
"I know, you'd think they learn it by now," Stephanie's voice said.
"Yeah, but they're young. They'll get it eventually." Vivian let the door shut softly behind the pair.
Stephanie sighed loudly. "I guess. Hi girls," she said, dropping a large binder that was full of papers on the corner of the desk.
"Mom," Anise began as she stood from the chair so her aunt could occupy it to complete the paper work. "Shawn's going to be in the same town next week. Can we go?"
Vivian looked at Stephanie, who just shrugged as she placed her glasses on her face. "If it's okay with your dad." She sat down in a plush chair that was in front of the desk, facing Stephanie. "This one here," she said, pointing something out to Stephanie.
"Where is dad?" she asked, looking back towards the door.
"He went to run something over to your papap with your Uncle Paul," Stephanie answered, not even looking up from the paper she glanced at over the top rim of her glasses. "Yeah, those are just fine, Vivy. And these." She handed Vivian another piece of paper.
"Mom, don't you think that Rorie can pick out the details of her own wedding?"
"She can," Stephanie replied. "And she did. These are catering items we're picking. Believe me, she had everything all done by the time I even got excited."
"Gonna go ask dad," Anise said, not even waiting for an approval from any of them before slipping out the door. She wondered down the corridors, trying to remember where Vince's office was. Searching every named door, she finally saw one with his name on it. Before she could go to it and knock, someone saying her name made her turn around.