Author's Notes: This is a sequel to Time For Me To Fly. That story, (TFMTF) took place in the Broken Arrow world, created by ZVArmy. I consider Time for me to Fly as having taken place in his world, but that was the pivotal point. From that point on, this story has spun off into it's own universe.
The Shortest Distance
"Do they really expect us to eat this?" Alicia asked, as she looked over the chaffing dishes set up in catering, a look of absolute loathing on her face.
Standing next to her, May Devany laughed. "I think so," she said, the laughter stopping, and tinge of sadness coming to her voice instead.
"When are we going to go to New York next?" Alicia grabbed one of the serving spoons and started aimlessly stirring at one of the dishes, trying to identify the ingredients used to make it. "I'd 'bout kill for your mom's roast chicken. Please tell me I'm invited to dinner when we're there."
"Of course you are," May said, as she scooped some of the dish closest to her on to her plate. It contained pasta and some type of white meat. May wished it was pork, but it was most likely chicken. Catering food was a gamble in this business. Sometimes the catering companies contracted for the talent went out of their way to impress the wrestlers with their culinary skills, other times they just seemed to be going through the motions. If vision was any indication, this particular company would have to pull out the stops just to qualify for going through the motions. Half the dishes on the table looked like someone had thrown a bunch of canned vegetables, pasta and meat into a chaffing dish, then tossed canned soup on top of it, cream of mushroom, the soup of choice. "Although, Mom is talking about making lasagna this time."
"Oh god, do not mention your Mom's lasagna when I am standing next to this!" Paige moaned. She was standing on the other side of May, putting a tiny scoop of some pasta dish on her plate, Rotini from the looks of it, with stewed tomatoes for a sauce.
Again, May laughed. "Yes, Paige, you're invited too," she said, which made the pale woman smile.
"I'm glad you got the hint," the pale woman said, grinning down at May. "Because according to the itinerary passed out this morning, we'll be in your stomping grounds in a couple months."
"Ooh, that's great!" May exclaimed, moving down to the next dish, which was giving off an odor she couldn't recognize. She wisely decided to skip over it. "I'll check that and let Mom know." It was tradition in the WWE, when they were in New York, May's mother allowed May to invite anyone from the company over for dinner and Michelle Devany-Parker went all out to make sure anyone who came over was well fed for their troubles.
Squeals of delight came from both Paige and Alicia and a few others in the line, as they all marched forward, taking tiny bits of the food offerings, but none of it very enthusiastically.
There was a scuffling sound, punctuated by the occasional "Excuse me" coming from the back of the three girls, which they barely heard. Wrestlers cutting the lines was nothing new, sometimes time before the shows could be limited and full of other obligations, like greeting VIP guests or doing pre-show interviews. It was accepted by most that if someone was cutting the line, they had a valid reason for doing so, and while there were a few superstars, known to take advantage of this, most of the time, the system worked.
"Excuse me," a tanned man cut in front of Paige, so he was standing next to May. "Hey, short-stuff!"
May rolled her eyes, but laughed. "Hey, Dolph," she said, cheerfully, noting that Paige had not even offered a token protest, but had moved back to allow him in. "I see you're still amazed by my height."
"Or, lack thereof," Dolph remarked. "Hey, I checked out the end of the line and there are sandwiches."
"Hah ha, very funny," May remarked, but there was no sting in her tone. She was short, at barely five feet tall. Considering most divas and superstars were above the average height, her smaller stature was even more noticeable and she took the ribbing about it, with good humor. "If there are sandwiches further down, then why are you here?" May asked, now understanding why the line was moving so slow. When catering was horrible, sandwiches were the life blood. As long as they were made up just before serving, and hadn't sat around for hours, it was hard to ruin tuna salad, chicken salad, or any of the other salads that were good for sliding in-between bread.
"I wanted to warn you," Dolph said easily, "So you didn't fill your plate with this crap."
At that remark, Alicia and Paige snorted, loudly and obviously. "What's so funny?" May asked.
Alicia gave a long look from both Dolph, to May, then to Dolph again. "Oh," she said, her voice so deliberately casual it could only be taken as obvious, "Nothing, nothing at all! Don't mind us!" She reached behind both Dolph and May, and grabbed onto the sleeve of Paige's shirt, pulling her over towards her. May and Dolph stepped to allow Paige to cut in front of them. "We've got a match for the pre-show," Alicia said, again, her voice so casual that you just knew something was up, "Maybe we need to sit together and discuss it."
"Why?" Paige said, looking puzzled. "We talked about-" She stopped abruptly, noting the look in Alicia's eyes as she kept looking at Dolph and May, then at Paige. Just to drive the point home, she gave a sigh. Paige hesitated, then realized what was going on and nodded. "Oh, right! We should work on that ending a bit, shouldn't we?" She turned to May and Dolph. "Don't mind us, we're just going to try to hurry through so we can, uhm, work out our match. You two have fun." Before May could even say good bye, the two girls started moving through the line, hurrying it along, leaving Dolph and May together.
"Now, what do you suppose that was about?" May asked, frowning.
"Who knows?" Dolph said, but his voice implied that he did know. "And what does it matter."
"Hmm." May looked at the dishes in front of her and then to Dolph. "Again, so if there are sandwiches ahead, why are you next to me? If you've got a meet and greet, you need to hurry."
"I don't have a meet and greet," Dolph said, shrugging.
"So, I'm supposed to believe you checked out the line, then cut the line just to be next to me?" May tipped her head to one side, looking at him. "Should I be flattered?"
"Yes, you should," Dolph said firmly. "Absolutely."
"Are the two of you just going to stand there?" A woman's voice said, sounding about as warm as a blizzard.
May visibly stiffened. "Sorry, Ronda," she said. For a moment her shoulder's slouched, then as if remembering something, she straightened herself out and looked away from Dolph, away from the group, the three men and two women who had joined the line and obviously gotten ahead of everyone. She hurried up the line, skipping past the dishes, she wasn't really interested in them anyway, especially if there might be something better ahead.
"Relax, Rousey," Dolph said, moving to catch up with May. "None of this food is worth it." He motioned to the dishes, which seemed even more limp and lifeless with every passing second. "You've got the time."
"Speak for yourself, Ziggler," Ronda said, her tone both dismissive and breezy, as if she did have all the time in the world, but none to spend on Dolph Ziggler. "We've got a meet and greet in an hour, and we're starved!" She motioned to the little group, Seth, Dean, Roman and herself. Renee was standing at the end, and wasn't included in Ronda's gesture, something that wasn't lost on Dolph or May, who waved to the blonde woman.
"Then why don't you cut in front of us?" May said, and while her voice was pleasant, you could see the tension in her face. She moved closer to the table, pulling Dolph with her. "There's nothing you want from this end and there are sandwiches up at the end."
"Sandwiches!" Dean said, looking up from the dish he'd been poking at with the spoon, and grinning. "C'mon!"
Renee laughed as the four of them walked around Dolph and May. "Sorry, Dean's a little cranky when he's hungry," she said to them, smiling softly at May.
"Dean is fine," May said, smiling to the woman. "And so are you," she added, least the meaning of her words become lost. "I'll catch up with you later."
"If you're not too tired in the morning, maybe we can grab coffee?" Renee suggested.
May looked at Renee, Dean, then back to Renee. "I don't think I'm the one that has to worry about being tired." She grinned.
Renee suppressed a giggle, then looked at both Dolph and May. "I wouldn't be so hasty, girlfriend." Then she turned and followed the group she was with.
When the group was out of earshot, Dolph smiled at May. "That wasn't awkward."
"Heck no," May said with a snort, looking more and more relaxed the further away Ronda and her group went. "And what did Renee mean by that last remark?"
"Who knows," Dolph said, his voice breezy and punctuating it with a dismissive wave of his hand, as if he was a little too eager to drop that line of conversation. Then, proving himself, he abruptly changed the subject. "Do you want to stand in this line?" he asked her.
"Not really," May admitted.
"Well then, allow me." He skillfully wove his way up the line, reaching the sandwiches, where Roman, Dean, Seth, and Ronda were gathered, inspecting and taking from the huge pile. "Don't mind me," he said, clearly not caring if they did mind, and started helping himself to several of the tiny sandwiches made in tiny two-bite rolls of bread.
"Hey, Ziggler, watch it!" Ronda complained. "What's your hurry."
"Sorry!" Dolph said cheerfully, as he continued to load his plate with sandwiches and then grabbed a couple bags of chips that were stacked next to the sandwiches. He finished up by taking two bottles of water and tucking them under the arm he held the plate with. "I just remembered, I do have something very important I have to do."
"Which is?" Ronda asked, her expression showing she didn't believe for a moment that Dolph Ziggler had anything that would be as important as she had.
"Take a beautiful woman to lunch," Dolph said. Still grinning, he walked back down the line to where May was standing and balancing the plate of sandwiches and the bags of chips in one hand, he casually draped his arm around her and steered her out of the line, "C'mon, Tiny Wrestler," he said, making reference to a joke that was between the two of them.
A few months earlier, when May had still been dating Seth Rollins, the three of them had ended up sharing a rental car to get to the next house show, for reasons no one could remember, but it had made perfect sense then. As they were traveling through the back roads, the only station they could get for awhile was a light rock station that seemed to think no one had produced any music since the late '80s. May had been secretly delighted, this was the type of music her mothers and aunts listened to, so it made her think of home. Seth had been disgusted, Dolph had been cutting up, making fun of most of the songs, but May could tell that for all his contempt, Dolph was a little too familiar with the music. While she doubted Dolph listened to lite rock for fun, he clearly had known people who did, possibly his parents.
The song "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John had come on and Dolph had started singing along, slightly off key. At first, May had just giggled at the bad singing, but she soon realized he was changing the words:
Biz Cas baby, New York Lady, always been my biggest fan
Big brown eyes, private smile, you'll marry a wrestling man
Tiny Diva, oh, you must have seen her, wrestling on command
Now she's with me, always with me, tiny wrestler in my hand
Seth had interrupted to ask something, May forgot what it was, and she thought after that, Dolph was finished, but then it came to the chorus and he was singing his own words again:
Hold me closer, tiny wrestler
Read the billboards on the highway
Wanna play in sheets of cotton
We'll be wrestling today
She had stared at him, part of her shocked that he would sing a song about her, wanting to say something, but a little afraid that if she brought it up, Seth might get upset, Seth who so far, hadn't seemed to notice Dolph was making the words up to fit her. Why should Dolph be making up songs about her? Or, rewriting the words to songs to fit her. But, it was late and they were all a little punch drunk, so she dismissed it as something he'd done just for fun.
But the nickname had stuck. And sometimes when he saw her he would sing it too. "Hold me closer, tiny wrestler." Seth had thought it was about the stupidest thing he'd ever heard, but secretly? She liked it. Secretly? She'd wished Seth has thought of it instead. But she knew that wouldn't happen. If Seth wrote songs about anyone, it would be Ronda Rousey.
As if unable to resist, she looked back at the catering line, where Ronda and Seth were finishing loading their plates with sandwiches and moving away.
"Hey, why do you want to look over there? The view is much better this way," Dolph said, steering her to an empty table, where they both sat. "Handsome guy, right here."
May laughed as she took a seat across from him. "Don't think too much of yourself, do you?" she asked.
"Hey, I'm my own best advertising," Dolph remarked, putting the plate of sandwiches in the middle of the table. Easily, he picked up the plate May had started filling, the one she had still been clutching, and threw it in a trash can located behind them.
"How do you know I didn't want some of that?" May asked, still smiling.
"Because it sucks," Dolph said. "And we have sandwiches." He motioned to the plate in the middle of the table.
"Hm..." May took one of the small sandwiches and looked at it, noting it appeared to be chicken salad. "I hope they make better sandwiches then other dishes."
"You should love these," Dolph said firmly.
"Why?"
"They're small," Dolph said, shrugging. "Tiny sandwiches, the food of your people." He grinned at her.
If it had been anyone else saying this, May might have been offended, but there was something about Dolph that told her all his short jokes were never serious, that he teased her about her height not to insult her, but because it was a way of showing he cared about her. She always had the feeling that if someone had started riding her about her height to be mean to her, Dolph would have been the first person to come to her defense. But, she couldn't just let him get away with it. "Really? Does everything have to be about the height jokes with you?" she asked him.
"Hey, now, don't short change me," Dolph said, popping one of the sandwiches into his mouth and chewing.
May had been about ready to take another bite of her sandwich, but she stopped instead and stared at him. "Really? Seriously?"
He grinned as he swallowed the last of the sandwich and grabbed another one. "You don't like my jokes? Feeling a little short tempered today?"
May shook her head, not knowing if she should laugh or smack him. "Great, so that's what this whole lunch is about? Short jokes?"
"No." He shook his head. "Actually, I wanted to ask you a question, too." His grin became almost impish. "Don't worry, it's a short question."
"You're reaching on that one," she remarked, helping herself to one of the small bags of chips and opening it. "But please, go ahead and ask." She took a chip from the bag and bit into it.
"There's an all night IHOP nearby," Dolph said, and paused.
"That's not a question, that's a statement," May said, helping herself to another chip.
"Fine!" Dolph shook his head. "I'll get right to the point then, do you want to go with me tonight, after the show?"
"Sure," May agreed, wondering why he'd made a big deal out of that. "That sounds good, who else is going?" It was common for groups of wrestlers to go out after the show was over and with the catering being so bad here, it wasn't surprising that Dolph was already anticipating a group heading out for breakfast when the show was over for the night.
"You," Dolph said, no longer smiling, but looking at her. "And me."
May's brow furrowed for a moment, wondering why he would only want to ask her to go, when chances were most of the talent would be wanting to check the place out. She opened her mouth to say something to that affect, then stopped as she realized there was more on the table than just some sandwiches. "Are-" she began, hesitated, took a breath and blurted it out. "Are you asking me out? Like on a date?"
"Well, it's not a fancy little bistro, but this is kinda short notice." Dolph said, grinning, but there was a nervousness to his grin, as if he was worried May would shoot him down.
"Uh," May stammered, putting down the bag of chips, and trying to buy herself some time. "I like IHOP," she finally said. Great May, she thought, Say something else stupid, why don't you?
"I thought you did," Dolph said, "You can get a short stack."
May groaned. "More short jokes? Really?"
"If you say yes, I'll stop," Dolph said.
May looked around the room, reluctant to look at Dolph. Unfortunately, her gaze fell to the table where Ronda, Seth, Roman, Dean and Renee were sitting. Ronda had her head on Seth's shoulder and he was whispering something to her, the two of them looking like they were the happiest couple on earth. And Roman was smiling at the both of them like he couldn't be happier for both of them. Two years, she thought, looking at the table and feeling slightly disgusted. I dated Seth for two years, but all he wanted to do in that time was be with her again. I was never good enough for him.
"Hey, the guy waiting for the answer is right over here," Dolph joked, waving his hand.
She shook her head as if to chase out her thoughts and looked at him. "I-I'm sorry."
"Does that mean no?" Dolph asked, looking crestfallen.
"No, I mean yes, I mean," May closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get a grip on her thoughts. "Why?"
Dolph looked taken aback. "Why?" he repeated.
"Yeah," May looked down at the table, unwilling to look at him. "Why do you want to go out with me?"
"Wow," Dolph shook his head. "I'm not sure if you're insecure or fishing for compliments."
"Probably the first," May admitted, her voice soft. She traced the fake wood pattern of the table they were sitting at. "I mean, I'm just coming off a relationship that didn't really end well for me."
"So?" Dolph shrugged, wishing she'd look at him. "You were dating a shit heel."
"I dunno, Seth made a pretty good heel," May muttered.
Dolph laughed. "I think you just gave part of the reason why I want to go out with you, there."
May looked up at him, head tipped slightly to one side. "You want to go out with me because Seth made a good heel?"
"No," Dolph said, laughing. "Because you were able to shoot that line right back to me. I said Seth was a shit heel and you shot back with a line about Seth being a good heel. I like that, May. You're quick with the lines."
"So, you want to go out with me because I'm a wise ass?"
"No, because you have a fine ass," Dolph disagreed. "Although, that's not the only reason. You're sharp. You can hold your own in a battle of wits. You're fun to be around, when you're not trying to hold a dying relationship together."
"Was it that obvious?" May asked. Unable to stop herself, her gaze went over to Seth and Ronda for a moment, then back to him.
"Yeah," Dolph said. "Especially when the rumors started flying that she was coming back." He didn't have to say Ronda's name, they both knew exactly who he meant.
May bit her lip. "Is everyone laughing at me?" she asked. Her eyes were wide and round and she knew they were shinier than they usually were. "Shaking their heads behind my back and going,'Poor May, she thought they had something, but really, she was just a place for Seth to rest his dick'?"
For a moment, Dolph's jaw tightened, then he reached out and took her hand. The gesture was comforting and his hand was warm and dry. "No, May," he said, his voice uncharacteristically solemn. "Nobody thought that at all. Or, if they did, it wasn't meant to be vicious or pitying. You tried with Seth, you really did. A lot harder than he did."
"But I didn't try so hard, " May admitted, remembering the times she had gotten out of going places with him in favor of doing PR work, in particular fulfilling wishes. And while a lot of these obligations were mandatory, she also knew that at least towards the end, she wasn't even able to fake disappointment in plans that had fallen through. She had just gotten to the point where she didn't want to try.
"Bullshit," Dolph was still holding her hand, "You tried harder than anyone expected you would. The way Roman was acting, I didn't think you'd make it a year, never mind two."
"Roman," May said, then stopped, realizing that she had nothing good to say about Roman, nor even the energy to go off about him.
"Yeah, Roman," Dolph said, his voice sour. "C'mon, May, you and Seth were dating, but if you two were ever at catering eating, Roman made this big point of not sitting with the both of you. But if Seth was alone, he'd join him. I mean, the only thing Roman could have done that was worse, was put a big old tat on his forehead that said, 'May Devany will never be Ronda and therefore, she sucks.'"
"He has a point," May said. "I never will be Ronda. I'll never be as popular with the fans as she is."
"Pfft," Dolph's snort was so dismissive that May couldn't help but giggle. "You do just fine with the fans. The kids love you."
"Great, so I can be the female John Cena." May rolled her eyes, but she didn't look as if that idea made her completely unhappy.
"Nah, you're saved from that fate," Dolph said, giving her an impish grin. "The kids might love you, and their Mom's might approve of you, but Daddy still wants to tap dat ass."
At this, May burst out laughing, unable to stop herself. "Yeah, right!" she said, when her laughter had died out.
"Well," Dolph said, tipping his head to one side, as if contemplating this. "I'm not a Daddy, at least not that I know of, but I sure wouldn't mind tappin' dat ass."
At that, May found her laughter again, and this time it was louder. Not so loud that she called attention to herself, but loud enough that anyone looking in their direction would have thought Dolph had said something much funnier than he had. "Nothing like making your intentions obvious!"
Dolph spread out his hands in a clear, "What can I say?" gesture, grinning that smile that made people gravitate towards him. A smile that could look warm or snarky, depending on how he wanted you to think. "I might as well be up front, right?"
"You get points for honesty," May shot back, then frowned.
"I don't like that frown," Dolph said. "It makes me wonder if you're seriously thinking of not going out with me tonight."
"I-I," May stammered, then paused, drew in a deep breath, and collected her thoughts. "Seth was the first, uhm, serious relationship I ever had," she admitted.
"Yeah, I hear he was your first for a lot of things," Dolph countered, his voice a little too casual.
May looked surprised for a moment, then sighed. "Alicia has a big mouth," she muttered. She took the sandwich she had been eating and popped the rest of it in her mouth, buying herself more time to think, with chewing and swallowing, then took a sip of her water. "Look, I know I'm an adult, but I lead a pretty sheltered life," she admitted. "Until I was fifteen it was gymnastics and martial arts. Then, it was Empire State Wrestling and martial arts. Then, it was NXT. I didn't have that normal teenage girlhood where I dated different guys, did some fooling around, then went to college where I did more fooling around. Even in the summers, it was gymnastics camp, then it was working full time at ESW."
"And this has, what to do with our going out tonight?" Dolph asked, not unkindly.
"I-I don't know if I'm ready for another relationship," May admitted. "I mean, I'm barely off of this one."
"Doesn't look like he's wasting any time," Dolph pointed out, motioning his head in the direction of Seth and Ronda, while not looking at them. "May, I'm not asking you to marry me, I'm asking you out to IHOP. I'll have an omelet, you can order something off the kid's menu," he broke into a grin at her mock glare at him. "We can have some burnt coffee, a few laughs, and I'll bring you back to your hotel room."
"And then what?" May asked, deciding to ignore the kid's menu remark.
"And then, if I've been a very good boy and you approve, I might try to get a kiss good night," Dolph said. "May, we're adults, and I'm not an animal. I'm not going to push you further than you're willing to go. I might be the Show Off in the ring, but I know that when something is meant to be, time is irrelevant."
"You'll be the rebound guy," May murmured, looking partially lost in thought, her brow furrowing.
"Yeah?" Dolph shrugged. "What does that mean?"
"Everyone says the rebound guy is never the guy you end up with," May said. "Whenever you come down off a relationship, the next guy you date is the rebound guy, and it never works out."
"That's short-sighted of you," Dolph remarked, only the faintest trace of a grin.
"You!" May pointed his finger at him, shaking it in mock-disapproval. "I thought you said you were going to stop with the short jokes!"
"Only if you agreed to have dinner with me," Dolph reminded her. "And as of yet, you haven't agreed. So, what do you say? C'mon, May, it's not like I'm asking to marry you, although I like your family enough that I almost would propose to you, just to be part of it."
"You do?" May looked surprised and pleased. "They liked you too. My brothers and sisters still ask me about you."
"They have taste." Dolph selected another sandwich from the plate and chewed it down in one bite, for a moment his cheeks bulging like a chipmunk. "And see?" he said, when he had swallowed. "Your family approves of me already. Look, I'm not going to beg, Tiny Wrestler. I don't care who you dated before, I don't care what baggage you bring to the table from that relationship, we'll deal with that as needed. I just want to go to IHOP with you, have dinner and see what happens. I don't care that I'm the rebound man."
"My Dad was my mom's rebound man," May murmured softly. "She got pregnant with my older brother when she ran away from home. She came home and met my dad. He dated her while she was pregnant and they fell in love. And they're still together."
"So? Obviously, in your family, the rebound man isn't a rebound man, he's the man," Dolph said. "That bodes well for us. So, how about it, May? You only live once, you need to take some risks."
May's gaze wandered over to Seth and Ronda again for a moment, but only for a moment, then she looked back at Dolph. "Can I order the T-bone steak?" she asked, grinning broadly enough that the dimple on her left cheek showed. "Because I'm a girl with expensive tastes."
Dolph pretended to think about this for a moment, then shrugged. "Normally, I'd say all you can do is order the ham steak, but seeing that it's you? The sky is the limit, baby."
May smiled. "Then, yes, I'll go out with you tonight, after the show."
They finished the plate of sandwiches, and their chips, and never once for the rest of the lunch, did May look in the direction of Seth and Ronda. Not deliberately avoiding them, just for that time, forgetting either of them were even in catering.
End of Part One