NEW FIC ALERT :)
I got the idea for this from an episode of Gossip Girl, but I decided to expand it and make it a Ted/Maryse fic, because... well... why not? :P
(Also, I started a poll a few months back about which couples I should use, and this was the most popular!)
Hope you enjoy it, and please leave a review! It'll help me decide whether to carry on!

GOING NOWHERE

Ted DiBiase was bored.

Things were going from dull to duller in the person finance department of Layman and Sons bank, as Ted found himself stuck in endless piles of marketing figures that had to be put into the system. Being the youngest Corporate Finance advisor came with both its privileges and its weighty workload.

Feeling downtrodden, Ted pulled a Snickers bar out of his desk drawer and began chomping. He didn't even like chocolate that much.

"You're not going to keep that fine physique if you're eating candy." Ted's personal assistant Eve Torres came and perched on the edge of his desk. Eve was the only thing that Ted enjoyed about his job; she was just so good to look at – especially when she wore that tight black skirt...

"Have you seen this pile of paper work? Chocolate is just a small salvation." Ted grinned.

"Well, you'll be happy to see this, then." Eve dug into her trouser pocket and pulled out a Kit Kat. Ted happily opened it. "You can thank me later." Eve rolled her eyes.

"Thank you." Ted said, gratefully. God, he wished he could ask Eve out. There was just the small problem of Eve's weightlifter boyfriend, and Ted's girlfriend – who, thank god, was not a weight lifter.

"Need some help?" Eve picked up half of the stack, and flicked through them to see what she was dealing with. She may have only been a personal assistant, but she could be damn clever when she wanted to be.

"You're a lifesaver." He groaned, and leaned back in his chair.

"You look exhausted." Eve commented.

"I am exhausted. I was here until one am last night, filling out forms and processing data."

Ted hadn't ever wanted to work in finance. In his youth, he was a rising football talent, with the ability to go all the way to the Superbowl. He was quick and strong, but a torn Achilles tendon put a stop to his career before it even began. He did, however, still have a gift for numbers, instantly leading him into a career in finance. It wasn't his passion, but it paid the necessary bills.

"You ever want to get out of this town?" Ted asked Eve, thoughtfully, as the brunette thumbed through a pile of paper work.

"With you?" She smirked. "No; you drive like a maniac and I get the vibe you're one of those guys that snores."

"I don't snore," Ted said defensively. "But that's not the point. I mean...do you ever wish you could leave Clinton? Just...get on a train and go to the first place that pops into your head?"

Eve paused, pursing her lips in thought, before breaking into a smile. "I always wanted to be a dancer." She nodded decisively. "I wanted to go to New York and become a dancer on Broadway. "I guess besides making coffee and faxing marketing figures, dancing is the only thing I've ever been good at. It's the only thing I've ever been passionate about."

"You learn something new every day." Ted commented.

"What about you?" Eve asked. "What's your passion? What motivates you?"

Ted didn't have to think very hard. "Football." He answered. "I never wanted to do anything else. I got it for a little while, but an injury stopped me."

"So you got into banking instead." Eve confirmed. "Lucky you."

"At this company, none of us are lucky." Ted shrugged. "We make money and wonder what could've been instead."

Ted went to Dougray's pretty much every night; it was his home away from home, and his hide-out. It was a cross between a bar and a pub, but all titles aside, it served cheap beer and they people were reasonably friendly. There were three of them that went; Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes and Natalya Neidhart.

Cody was – as Ted drunkenly called him - 'his heterosexual life-partner'. They had been best friends since elementary school, and in some ways, they were still like kids. They did everything together; watching sport, drinking beer, working out, you name it, they did it together. Ted thought they were like brothers, but Natalya just teased that they were closet gays. Natalya, or Nattie as they called her, was like their sister. She was funny, and smart, but she fitted in with the guys with ease. She loved sports and beer, and not doing a whole lot else, but she could be sexy as hell. Out of the three of them, Natalya was the only single one, and she got a lot of action.

"God, who died in here?" Natalya carried three beers back to their table, and placed one in front of each person, before examining each grim face. "You look like you're about to go to a funeral."

"Kelly's being a..." Cody's voice faded away. He wanted to say bitch, but that was a little harsh. "I'm twenty-four, and she's like 'Codes, how do you feel about kids?' or 'Codes, my ring finger's looking empty'. She's got it all planned out." He took a long, reassuring slug of beer. "You know what? I bet you she's poking little tiny holes in my condoms."

Ted grinned; he could sympathize. "I feel your pain." He responded. "Mickie's totally broody, and it doesn't help that she's surrounded by kids all day." He said, referring to his kindergarten teacher-girlfriend.

"Yeah, but Mickie's like, thirty." Cody pointed out. "Kelly's barely out of college."

"And plus, Cody and Kelly have only been together for like, nine months, whereas you and Mickie have been together for like, nine years." Natalya nudged Ted.

"It's only been three years." Ted muttered in correction.

"Same thing. She clearly wants more from you, Ted. You'd better put a ring on it." She grinned, quoting the infamous Beyonce song.

Ted was glad he had a girl like Natalya around to help with his Mickie related problems. "What if I'm not there yet?"

"If you're not there after three years, are you ever gonna be there?"

Oddly enough, it was Cody that came up with this wise response. And that response stuck with Ted as he made his way home from Dougray's and got back to see Mickie sat on the couch, watching TV.

Ted had met Mickie four years prior through Natalya. Natalya had been dating a guy called Taylor who was friends with Mickie. At Taylor's birthday party, the pair was introduced. Unfortunately, Mickie already had a boyfriend, but the pair swapped emails as friends. A year later, however, Mickie and her boyfriend had broken up, and she started dating Ted. Mickie was a beautiful girl; she was petite, yet curvaceous, with caramel brown hair, and chocolaty eyes. She was also funny, and caring, and Ted liked her straight away. After eighteen months of their relationship, however, the magic was beginning to wear off. The chemistry they once had was no longer there, but neither one wanted to admit it. So Ted moved in with Mickie.

Big mistake.

The pair became, in Ted's eyes, boring. They were like those married couples on TV shows, that never communicated, and that didn't care. They were together for the sake of being together.

"Hey Ted," Mickie looked up at her boyfriend. She never seemed to feel the same as he did; at least, she didn't show it. "I made mac and cheese earlier, so I left you some in the fridge."

"Thanks." He responded dryly, sitting down next to her. The bare skin on their arms brushed, and what used to give Ted tingles now left him emotionless.

"Well, I'd better go to bed." She got to her feet and left the room. "See you soon," She called from halfway up the stairs, leaving Ted with nothing but Grey's Anatomy for company.

And so he went about the rest of his evening in peace. He ate mac and cheese, watched ESPN and even got halfway through Remember The Titans before deciding he was tired and turning off everything downstairs. He brushed his teeth, went to the toilet and got dressed, before climbing into bed next to Mickie. He used to watch her sleep all the time; watch the rise and fall of her chest, and listen to her light breathing. Now, he didn't see the point. He just lay back in the bed, and closed his eyes.

Was this all there was to life? A series of activities that made up each day? A boring, repetitive cycle that seemed impossible to escape? A loveless relationship where no-one wins and no-one lose? Everyone stays in static?

Ted debated this for a little while until he finally fell asleep.

Soooo... what did you think? Leave a review :)
(I know there wasn't any Maryse, but that'll come in the next chapter!)