"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is flight 90434 to Tampa, Florida. We hope you enjoyed your time with American Airways, and we thank you for your time. We hope to see you flying again with us soon!", the voice of the flight attendant filled the entire plane, and small cheers and claps could be heard throughout. I turned to my right to see my cousin Ted smiling whilst he slipped into his brown leather jacket.
"Ready to be blown away?", Ted questioned as I picked up my hand luggage.
"Is this your way of saying I should be prepared for the people I'm about to meet?", I raised an eyebrow, realising he was smiling, gleefully.
"Hey, they're not that bad. You have to remember I've grown up with these people, and worked with them for at least 10 years.. if you insult them.. you insult me", Ted returned the raised eyebrow gesture. I grinned and shrugged, realising he was still watching me.
"Well, I'll give you two weeks. If they don't try to sweet talk you, they will charm you. And they'll make this the most memorable summer of your life", Ted informed me, suggesting that I keep an open mind. In all honesty, I was actually super excited about the forthcoming summer. Spending 8 weeks travelling the world with my cousin Ted, and his work colleagues may sound like a bit of an idiotic decision considering the majority of them were guys. He worked for the WWE, and was on the road 80% of the time. Last summer, he'd spent a few weeks recovering from a torn ligament, so we visited the family down in Tampa for a few days, during which time Ted and I had a discussion about his work. He'd told me all these great things about what they do for the world aswell as what it's like kicking butt in the ring. Somehow, we'd got onto the topic of what I was doing after college, and Ted, on impulse, invited me to spend a few weeks touring the US with the company. How did he swing that? right? Well, believe it or not, Vince McMahon was a very good family friend, and once Ted suggested the idea that I tour with the guys as part of the therapy team, Vince couldn't say no. I'd already studied Beauty Therapy in college for 2 years, so going on tour as part of a therapy team would look great on my CV, and was hopefully going to be a memorable experience.
The plane landed on the runway 30 minutes later, and we were soon waiting to get off the plane. I stood, Ted followed suit, his 6ft 3in frame over towering mine by almost a foot. I saw Ted's arm reach behind him, and I put my arm out for his to grab. Checking behind me to make sure I hadn't left anything before Ted pulled me out into the gangway and on our way off the plane. Ted seemed eager to get out of the terminal too, as he slalomed between every person all the way upto the gate. I held my little shoulder bag of hand luggage as tight as possible, knowing if I lost it, I would be without money or a cell for the next 8 weeks.
After being dragged to the luggage carousel, Ted let go of my arm, knowing I was now safe by his side. We waited for my luggage to come around, whilst Ted flicked through his address book on his blackberry.
"You looking for someone in particular?", I asked, a little concerned. He shook his head.
"No.. just going to remind Cody that he agreed to collect us..", Ted smiled before putting the black handset to his ear. As I moved my eyes down to the carousel, I saw my huge red suitcase moving towards me. Bracing myself, I reached my hand out ready to move the weight of the suitcase onto the floor with, hopefully, one sweeping movement.
"Hey man.. oh you're here.. 20 minutes? Well sorry dude.. but I couldn't exactly ask the pilot to speed things up could I?.. Yeah, just collecting Jen's things.. sure, sure.. bye", Ted hung up the phone and slid it into his jean pocket. Without a thought or word, he lifted my suitcase up with one easy sweeping movement off the floor. The same suitcase which I struggled to pick off the carousel temporarily.
"Ready to go?", Ted looked down at me with a raised eyebrow. I nodded, and followed him as he walked casually through the airport with my suitcase in hand. Seriously, I may take a page out of Ted's book and work out more.
We approached the wall of sliding doors, and I left it to Ted to pick the right set in which our ride would be waiting. As we approached the doors, I noticed a familiar face leaning against a black mini-van. I'd never met him before, but I noticed his face from photos and videos of Ted's. He was tall, around 6ft, with dark spikey hair and a domenearing smile. Ted reached his free arm out to him, and he did the same bringing them into a manly embrace.
"Thanks Cody.. I owe you", Ted promised as he retreated to the back of the mini-van with Cody following. I waited patiently, and awkwardly, as the two caught up on missed things whilst putting my luggage in the back. They both then walked back to where they were originally stood, and Ted nodded to me in reassurance.
"Cody.. this is Jenna. Jen, this is Cody..", Ted introduced us. I pushed the floating parts of my light blonde hair out of my face as I looked up to take in all of Cody's features. He was genuinely quite cute, and he had the most beautiful eyes. They were a deep but light blue, definitely his most prominent feature.
Cody reached his huge arm out to me, and I hesitated before placing my hand in his. His whole palm covered my tiny hand, and I hid my smile away as he spoke.
"Nice to finally meet you Jenna. Ted told us all about you before he left last week, and don't worry.. we'll look after you", Cody grinned as he firmly shook my hand.
"That's nice of him.. thankyou", I nodded as I pulled my hand away from his and hid it away in my jacket pocket.
"Ready to hit the road?", Ted asked, pulling open the sliding van door with such ease. I was relieved Cody had said they'd look after me as I felt so inferior. I clambered into the back seat and Ted shut the door behind me, before retreating to the passenger seat and climbing in.
Ted fastened his seatbelt, Cody doing the same whilst starting the engine.
"Why are you driving?", Ted frowned, staring at Cody.
"Uhm hello, this is my car. You can always walk if you don't like my driving Ted..", Cody spoke in a pissed tone.
"Well why don't we make sure we all get back to mine in one piece and let me drive?", Ted spoke up, only to start the bicker fest. I sat back and let them have it out, but there's only so much a person can take before they snap.
"Would you both like to shut the hell up? I'm sat back here wondering why I got into this car with you two.. does it matter who drives? Yeesh, you're like a married couple!", I groaned. As soon as they heard my voice over the two of theirs, the bickering stopped and they both sat back in their seats.
"Damn DiBiase.. she's a bit fiesty..", Cody pointed out as he kept his eyes on the road. Ted arm suddenly flew up in the air, and his fist smacked Cody directly in the arm. Cody whinced as he removed one hand from the steering wheel to soothe his beaten arm.
"Dude.. don't talk about my cousin like that... not cool!", Ted warned as he turned his head to the windscreen.
After the little dibacle, we reached Ted's house without a single glitch, much to Ted's dimise. Cody was the perfect driver.
"Now you can say sorry for doubting my driving skills DiBiase..", Cody fished, as he pulled the suitcase from the back of the van, with not so much ease as Ted had earlier on the luggage carousel.
"The day I say sorry to you, is the day i lose my dignity..", Ted spoke sternly. I took the opportunity to take in my accomodation for the next two days. I'd been here a million times before, but I was so grateful to get off the plane and out of that damned car with the two of them bickering, the place looked like a palace. Ted's house had a huge arched doorway, with typical florida palm trees scattered across lot. A two car garage had two cars parked outside, and the outside walls of the house were coloured a peculiar blue-grey colour. I looked up at the windows to see Ted's wife Kristen waving. I let out a little giggle before waving back profusely.
I noticed my opportunity to get away as Ted and Cody continued bickering. I pulled up the handle on my suitcase and wheeled it behind me as fast as I could up the garden path. I looked behind me before pressing the doorbell. Ted and Cody were stood arguing where I left them.
Distracting me from watching the two, Kristen opened the door. I turned to smile at her, and she put out her arm to wrap around me.
"Jen, it is so good to see you! How was your flight?", Kristen spoke as she kissed my cheek, and held me in a tight embrace.
"Hey Kristen, it's good to see you too. The flight was ok, just hassle like always", I smiled, and Kristen stared at me, interested in what I had to say. Kristen was.. beautiful. To look at, and to know. She had this gorgeous, flowing, brown shiny hair that I envied to the heavens. She was always so welcoming, and so friendly and fantastic with me everytime we spent time together. Even though she wasn't a blood relative, I still classed her as a very big part of my family.
"Are they they always like this?", I questioned, pointing to Cody and Ted still arguing at the bottom of the garden.
"Always. It's all in good nature though. I just think they like making each other mad. A serious bromance! Sometimes I question my role in marrying Ted. I think it should have been Cody marrying him..", Kristen joked as she took hold of the handle on my suitcase and wheeled it into the hall. I followed her in and smiled as Kristen took me into another embrace.
"It really is good to see you, Jen. It's so hard being around guys all the time, with Ted having some of the superstars over for beers and whatnot. It's nice to finally have a lady in the house who I know I can talk to.. A once a year visit just isn't enough", Kristen implied. I agreed with her 100%. Ted and Kristen were my favourite members of the family, and I saw them the least out of the whole lot.
"Well, let's hope we get in some girl time whilst I'm here. And I agree with the once a year visit thing.. we should see each other more often", I nodded in agreement.
