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Dottie O'Connor wanted to cry. She was rushing around trying to pick up the things that had been left out in the costume department. Mr. Abernathy had somehow managed to forget to tell the haulers to come pick up the things that were supposed to go to the next location, like some backup costumes for some of the superstars. She had just packed up her sewing machine after Monday Night Raw, which resulted in Braun Strowman getting hurt, her boyfriend of less than a few months Finn Balor was getting his neck looked at by some of the trainers…
As these worries accumulated through her head, with Thanksgiving plans still up in the air, and her chest feeling like it was going to cave in at any moment, hot tears started to fall down her face as she got the last of the things put away.
"Need help?" She turned around and looked at the woman at the doorway.
Renee Young, as she was known in the WWE, stood wearing a black leather jacket that her husband of just over a year Dean Ambrose had recently gotten her.
"I just finished." She wiped at her eyes and looked around. "Mr. Abernathy was supposed to get the haulers but he has not been back for," she pulled her phone out. "An hour. I am supposed to go straight to the hotel with Fergal so we can get ready to leave for Colby's home…"
"Dottie, Dottie," Renee grasped her arms. "Take a deep breath. Slow your breathing. You are going to have a heart attack."
"That's highly unlikely. There is not plaque in my arteries, I eat well. I even started joining Fergal on his morning jogs. I don't drink, I don't smoke." She said in a ramble.
"You're panicking, Dottie. You need to stop and take deep breaths." Renee ran her hands up and down Dottie's arms. "Come on. What does Drew's wife tell you when you're like this?"
"Count to four. One on breath in, two on breath out. Square breathing helps." She closed her eyes and counted One breath in, Two on breath out, Three on breath in and Four on breath out.
She repeated this sequence twice. So it took twelve breaths to calm her down, though her hand still shook.
"I'll go and get the Production Manager and see about getting the Costume Department stuff going." Renee said.
"Okay, that would be great. Thank you." Dottie nodded then she took another deep breath. "I'm also worrying about Braun, and Fergal of course. Drew said that accidents happen, Colby told me about when he hurt Fergal by accident at Summer Slam one time for the Universal Championship. I feel sorry for Braun."
"Braun might not be seriously hurt. He may be back in time for Raw next Monday. Right now, you need to assess what needs to be done. First, the Costume Department, which I already said I would handle for you." Renee smiled. "So let me go look for the Production Manager and we'll see about getting this place emptied out for you. Are you taking your sewing machine?"
"No, Colby said that they have one at his place. You know, just for me."
"That's nice of them to think about you like that." The blond Canadian said, which was soon followed by a smile.
Renee left to find the Production Manager. This left Dottie alone in the costume department. She triple checked to see if there were anything that still needed to go. She had folded the table, she had put all the extra costumes in the crates that they sometimes used. She had made sure to mark the crate the housed her sewing machine so that no one would accidentally forget it.
As she was looking through all of this stuff, fretting about how they looked unsecured, someone cleared their throat.
"Renee said you were worried about me, Little Dot." The man known as Braun Strowman said.
He looked different in street clothes, he didn't wear the funny pants he usually did during the show. This time, he had an ice pack on his elbow since his arm was in a sling.
"I have to go to the hospital to get my elbow checked out. I wanted to drop by and tell you myself that I'm okay." He smiled at her. "Well, for the most part."
The big bearded man may have loomed over everyone, even Fergal, but he wasn't the gravelly voiced man that was the Monster Among Men that the fans knew about. Plus he called her Little Dot, which was something she enjoyed.
"You promise to get better?" She asked, biting at her lower lip.
"Of course. It just means I'm getting those three back for what they did."
Her mouth opened, because one of the three men that hurt him was Drew McIntyre. He was her best friend.
"No, Little Dot, I mean in the show. Not in real life, Little Dot. We all know the risks of the business." Braun said.
"Oh, oh yeah. I forgot." She shoved her ponytail over her shoulder.
"Sometimes the fan forget that we're also humans." The Monster Among Men said. "I'll let you get back to it, then. Your boyfriend better be treating you right for Thanksgiving, or I'll have something to say about it." He smiled at her.
She laughed. Braun was funny. He really did well with kids. He had a Superman logo tattooed on his arm, and he was a strong man, who could lift heavy objects.
"Keep me in the loop with how you are doing." Dottie said.
"Will do, Little Dot. Well, I'm off. Wish me luck."
She learned not to doubt luck, she was lucky that she had a job at all after everything that she had been through with her mom, and with her relationship with Fergal the way it was.
As the times changed, as her sister was getting her life together in Iowa, her Dad going off to help Orangutans in Borneo, and her having a job, it was all changes that she could not control. Facts she could control because they were pre-existing. But personal changes in life were different.
"Lovely," Fergal said as he walked into the room. "Are you ready?"
"No, I'm not. Mr. Abernathy left an hour ago, I have no idea where he's at and I had to pack everything up." She turned to look at him.
Fergal Devitt was an extraordinary man. He had a grace about him that she knew she did not possess. She had no sense of space around her but he easily leaned his rolling suitcase next to the wall and put his backpack down. He was dressed in his usual black graphic tee shirt, some nice form fitting jeans and his trademark black and white sneakers. His hair was still wet from the shower he obviously took, she could smell his familiar body wash from where she was standing.
"Renee said she would find the Production Manager and see about getting some of the haulers in here to take the stuff away." Dottie said in a calmer voice as her boyfriend stood less than a foot in front of her. "Why do we have to fly to Iowa?"
"Because we'll get to Chicago and your sister will be picking us up with Mrs. Lopez."
"At least we three have a row to ourselves on the flight." Colby said as he stood at the doorway. "Of course I'll have the bigger issue than you two short sticks."
"The more people fly, the smaller the sitting spaces get." Dottie commented as she turned away and looked at the things around her. "I don't want to think about the noises. And there is that storm that is cancelling all sorts of flights."
"At least we're not going to New York." Colby said. "It's going to be the cold and windy, they may have to cancel the balloons in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this year. You don't want to have Snoopy getting impaled on the Empire State Building and scar the minds of all those little kids, do you?"
"Yeah, then you have the Chrysler Building that is just as pointy. And what if they get out of Manhattan?"
"Well there is The Statue of Liberty." Colby added.
Images of big balloons flying off, Snoopy impaled on the Empire State Building. One image was of Lady Liberty and instead of holding the torch, she was holding a Turkey balloon. Dottie covered her mouth as she giggled from the thoughts her boyfriend and friend had put in her mind.
"I'm off. Hugs, Dot." Drew McIntyre said from the doorway.
She started for him but stopped. "Why should I? You hurt Braun." She crossed her arms and pouted at him.
"Dottie, I apologized to him…"
Then she smiled. "I know, I was joking. He already stopped by to tell me that he had to go to the hospital." She finished walking up to the tall Scotsman. "Give Ms. Kaitlin a hug for me. And tell her thank you for helping Cait out with her things."
Drew chuckled. Instead of the one arm hug that she was used to giving to people, well people who understood her, she changed her tactics with those around her. Drew was officially a member of her two armed hugs. She rather enjoyed how small she was compared to his huge height of six foot five inches.
"Have a happy Thanksgiving, Dottie." Drew pulled back.
"You, too." She smiled at him.
Soon he left. But he was replaced soon by the Production Manager, Mr. Sylvan. He did not really interact with the costume department, at least not with Dottie. She fixed things for the superstars, he mainly dealt with the heads of each department. He was old, kind of Mr. H, or Triple H, old but not elderly. He had some gray in his hair.
"Oh, Ms. O'Connor. Thank you for packing up. It seemed like there was an issue with Abernathy's health so suddenly, though I highly doubt that. But thank you for stepping up to the plate and packing up. I'll make sure the haulers take care of everything."
"So I can go now?" She glanced back at Fergal, who seemed to be in deep conversation with Colby.
"Yep, you're all set to go. Have a happy Thanksgiving."
"Fergal, Colby, we can go now." Dottie said.
"Great, let's get out of here." Colby said as he picked up Dottie's nearby jacket. "Don't want you to forget this, it's going to be cold out there."
She grabbed it and picked up Fergal's backpack before he had a chance and danced out of his reach with it.
"I don't want you to carry this heavy thing around. You could hurt your neck worse." She kept backing up until she bumped into someone.
She dropped the backpack as long and big arms wrapped themselves around her upper body. The coarse beard of Dean Ambrose brushed up against the side of her face. "Going somewhere, Darlin' Dot? You're not going to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving before you go?"
"I…" she squeaked as her feet left the ground as she was lifted up in a bizarre bear hug where her upper back popped. "Jon Good, put me down."
"Not until you say it, Dot." He said.
He wasn't holding her tight at all. It just felt strange to have tall people able to pick her up without a problem. But Jon wasn't a normal man and he had to remind her of it.
"Have a Happy Thanksgiving, asshole."
And he was a vulgar man that had been encouraging her to call him asshole.
"See, was that so hard to do?" He put her down and she turned to look at him. "Have fun with big nose."
"Hey!" Colby yelled, but the smile on his face told Dottie he wasn't insulted, or not mad at least.
Dottie picked up Fergal's backpack and her jacket. "I'll see you Monday, Jon. Bye, Renee." She waved at the woman who was standing by.
Colby, Fergal and Dottie left for the hotel. She knew she had to get a good night's sleep because Tuesday meant that they were flying out to Iowa to be with Colby's family, and Cait. They would have to be there early in the morning, and get on the gosh awful plane in an equally gosh awful and crowded airport.
At least she would have Colby and Fergal with her.
This is a Part of the Dottie Saga but I felt it needed it's own place. I hope you liked it.