Days Like These
~Sequel to Days Go By~
(Final Part of Days Trilogy)

Chapter 1

Jasina looked up at the ranch and felt completely sick to her stomach, only having a small cup of coffee with no food. She was afraid of throwing up and had half-expected Randy to show up telling her Arielle's graduation was more important than his work in Australia. When he didn't show up and Jasina knew she had to leave or else she'd be late, it just broke her heart further.

Now, she had the unpleasant duty of stepping out of the car and walking into the ranch with a glowing happy Arielle, only to shatter her to pieces with the unfortunate news of Randy's departure. Wearing a strapless turquoise dress that went to her knees with a black sash around her waist, Jasina looked beautiful but didn't feel it. If anything, she felt lower than scum, finally stepping out of the car and heading up to the front door in her two inch black strappy open-toed heels.

Mark opened the door before Jasina could even reach for it, wearing a black suit and in the process of fixing his tie, his hair slicked back and braided. "She's doing her make-up." He said by way of greeting, smiling down at her, the smile slowly fading when he seen how she looked and was tempted to offer her a pick-me-up beer or something. Stepping back, he let Jasina into the house. "You look like someone shot yer puppy, darlin'. Bad news?"

"Dad, where'd you put my eyeliner?"

"Top shelf in the medicine cabinet, why can't you use yer own goddamn bathroom?" He shouted back.

"Because you have to finish remodelin' it, duh!"

"Yer Mom's here!"

"Be right down."

Jasina didn't acknowledge the question and plastered a fake smile on her face. "You clean up nice."

She knew this was a big day for Mark, especially since he'd raised Arielle from infant into a beautiful young woman who was graduating high school. Jasina had made sure she looked her best, getting rid of the puffiness after crying so much, wearing black eyeliner and clear gloss, wanting a natural look. Though, the amount of sadness in her eyes was enough to tell Mark something definitely wasn't right. Jasina nearly felt her heart crush at the sight of Arielle, seeing how happy she was and didn't know if she could do this.

"You look amazing, Arie."

"Damn straight I do." Arielle beamed, completely oblivious to her mother's mood, excited about the day. She twirled in a circle, showing off her dress before gently patting her hair. "What do you think? I made Dad curl the back for me."

"Arielle!" Mark groaned, not believing she had just announced that. "I thought we agreed that'd be between just us, lil darlin'?"

"It's Mom, who's she going to tell?"

Mark slapped his face. "I'm gonna go finish getting around now that yer outta my bathroom." He announced, heading upstairs to give the women some time alone, knowing this was a big day for all of them.

"You actually had him curl your hair?" Jasina couldn't help giggling, wrapping an arm around Arielle's shoulders as they headed down the hallway toward the kitchen. "I didn't even know he could use a curling iron."

They both laughed and it felt good, even through the pain and heartache Jasina currently felt. She didn't want anything ruining her daughter's big day and hated Randy even more for what he was forcing her to do. Why did she always have to clean up after other people's messes?

"You look perfect, Gary isn't going to be able to take his eyes off of you, honey."

"He never can." Arielle smirked, the cocky expression on her face totally like the one her father tended to sport. "But today, he's going to- Mom, your eyes look weird." She broke off in the middle of her sentence, dropping down at the kitchen table only to get back up, not wanting to ruin her dress. "Looks like you've been cryin'. Don't cry, you cried at my birthday party, you're supposed to be done cryin'." She moved to hug her Mom gently. "Happy day, remember?"

She simply hugged Arielle back tightly, not wanting to muse her up in any way shape or form. "I know it is, sweetie, you're right." She pulled back and wiped a few tears away from her face, being careful not to mess up her own makeup, seeing the confusion in those emerald eyes. "Arielle, sit down. There's something I need to tell you." When she merely folded her arms in front of her chest, Jasina suddenly had to sit down and lowered her eyes to the floor, clasping her hands in front of her as more tears stung her eyes. "Sweetheart, Randy isn't coming to your graduation today...or your party."

"What, why?" Arielle's confusion showed all over her face and then her expression turned panicky. The way her Mom was sitting, wringing her hands and obviously fighting back tears had gotten her mind and heart to racing, worry filling her. "Is he alright? Has somethin' happened?" She demanded, unable to sit, feeling tension coiling in her. She knew Randy sometimes worked some rather dangerous assignments and had visions of him being shot, or stabbed, in her head now.

"He went to Australia this morning for work." Jasina bitterly stated, trying not to sound resentful, but it wasn't happening. This was her daughter's graduation day, where she walked the aisle to receive her diploma, a year earlier and as valedictorian. "He surprised me last night with the tickets because he was going to take me with him. He completely forgot about your graduation and it's nobody's fault except his own. I told him countless times and he still went because he couldn't cancel." She stood up from the chair, squaring her shoulders and stared down into Arielle's eyes. "I'm sorry, Arielle."

"HE WHAT?" Arielle screamed, the worry evaporating into anger, hardly believing she had just spent the last few seconds feeling violently ill at the thought of something happening to him, when it turned out he was blowing off her big day for a damn vacation! "He went to Australia? NOW? TODAY? He couldn't get out of it?! What the fuck Mom?!"

Mark was slowly making his way downstairs, wincing when Arielle dropped the F-bomb and wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know what was going on, deciding to just stay in the living room for the moment.

"Believe me, I reacted the same way you are now when he told me. He said he couldn't get out of it because he has 'obligations'." She did the finger quotes motion, snorting the same time her daughter did, both of them clearly livid at Randy Orton for his selfish choices. "I told him if he loved us as much as he said he does, he wouldn't go. He would stay here and simply tell them his family was more important. He said he'd make it up to you and me, but..." Jasina didn't even want to see Randy when he returned from Australia, taking a deep shaky breath because she had to be calm for Arielle's sake. "I don't think...I mean..." She decided not to say anything more, knowing Arielle was angry enough as it was. "Don't let him ruin the biggest day of your life just because he's an asshole, Arie."

"No, Mom, you don't get it. He HAS to be there! He helped me write my speech and I thanked him in it for being one of-" Arielle was so pissed off and hurt that she was struggling to speak without choking up and not cry at the same time."Call him right now and tell him to get back here! He has to be here! He can't be in Australia, not today."

This was almost as bad as when her Dad totally destroying her birthday party! Arielle ran out of the room and upstairs to the bathroom, needing both a minute alone to finish crying, since she had started and to clean her face up, letting out an angry shriek. Randy Orton was a dead man and instead of finding that as amusing, which is what he always figured he'd feel if Mr. Perfect messed up, Mark found himself genuinely hating that the man had just destroyed Arielle's day.

Randy had just hit HIS level.

Jasina simply sank back down on the chair and put her head in her hands, letting a few tears of her own fall. How could Randy devastate them like this, especially Arielle? He meant so much to her and it took a lot for Arielle to let another man into her life that almost matched her feelings for her father. Jasina had no idea Randy had helped Arielle with her valedictorian speech and that just angered her further, suddenly storming out on the patio to get some fresh air.

"Why Randy?" She whispered heartbrokenly, Arielle's shriek still echoing in her mind, not helping matters at all.

Mark was torn between going to his daughter and going to his ex-wife, knowing he needed to make sure Arielle would be alright. He had no place in Jasina's life anymore, except as the father of her child. "Arie…?" He knocked gently on the bathroom door, flinching when he heard her tell him to go away, punctuated by something breaking, really hoping she wasn't 'remodeling' HIS bathroom. Sighing, Mark headed back downstairs and into the kitchen, passing Jasina a bandana. "He's not coming."

"No." Jasina really didn't want to see the gloating look on Mark's face or in his beady green eyes, not taking the bandana and refused looking at him.

She had no idea what she was going to do now, if she could ever trust another man again. Hell, the way Randy left, she didn't think they were over even though it felt that way. As much as Jasina despised him right now, she couldn't help loving the man who had managed to piece her back together after Mark shattered her. Now he had shattered her and Jasina didn't know if she would be able to piece herself back together without help. The worst part was she had to destroy her daughter's big day, which made the hatred bubble inside of her, overshadowing the love.

Mark wasn't gloating and nothing but concern and sympathy showed in his eyes, knowing how hard it must have been to trust another man with her heart. He knew how hard it had been for Arielle to fully trust Randy, expecting him to hurt her and after awhile, even Mark had figured the other man would never hurt either of the women he loved dearest. Crouching down, he gently reached up and moved her hands away from her face, beginning to wipe away the tears and little specks of make-up that had smeared only a bit.

Jasina sniffled a little and didn't pull away from him when he wiped her tears away, his warm hands actually feeling comforting. Teal eyes locked with emerald green, not believing the amount of concern coursing through them. Mark wanted to kill Randy, there was no doubt in Jasina's mind about it, but he wasn't losing his temper because he didn't want to upset Arielle anymore than she already was. They didn't say anything and simply stared into each other's eyes, something they hadn't done since their relationship ended.

"Mark, are you here baby?"

The moment was ruined by that voice and Jasina instantly broke eye contact, turning to stare out into the open land, while Mark went to greet his girlfriend, Shayla. Now that that moment was over, Mark bent down to kiss Shayla's cheek, really wishing she would quit calling him baby. It felt a bit...retarded, being his age, his size and getting called baby, but...he tolerated it.

"We're not leavin' just yet, there was a problem and Arie's gettin' cleaned up." Mark explained, gesturing for her to take a seat.

Today of all days, it was supposed to be a happy day and so far, it was sucking and he could see the puzzled look on her face, pinching the bridge of his nose, not about to explain it all.

Jasina was in hell. Randy wasn't there while Mark had his girlfriend, who actually showed up unlike her boyfriend, and that made Jasina sick to her stomach. When Arielle called for her back inside the house, Jasina took a deep breath and headed into the kitchen, her eyes only on her daughter as she walked past both Mark and Shayla.

"Yes sweetheart?" She asked softly, already feeling drained and the day hadn't even begun, having a full purse of tissues for when they made it to her ceremony. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah."

Arielle nodded stiffly, her face remade and a complete mask of nothingness, refusing to feel anything just yet because she knew it would be anger and more hurt and then the water work process would begin all over again. Arielle nodded at Shayla, who offered her a timid smile in return. How screwed was that? Her Dad's girlfriend was coming but Randy, her almost step-dad, was on his way to freaking Australia?

"I'm going to ride with Mom, okay Dad?"

"Sure darlin', whatever you want."

Jasina glanced back at Mark and nodded at him with a tentative smile before wrapping an arm around Arielle, guiding her out of the house. Gary was meeting them at the ceremony because he had a few last minute things to finish up at the office with Trish, promising he wouldn't miss the graduation. That was the last thing Arielle needed was for her own boyfriend/soon-to-be fiancé to miss the biggest moment of her life. They got in Jasina's car and drove away from the ranch, Arielle having her graduation cap and gown hanging in the back on a hook.

"I love you, Arie, you know that right?" When Arielle just stiffly nodded, Jasina decided not to say anything else, not even fighting the frown that crossed her face.

"Do I even want to know what happened?" Shayla ventured timidly as she and Mark followed in his truck, feeling waves of both concern and anger radiating off of him from where she was sitting, knowing someone had hurt Arielle which was basically the equivalent of signing their death warrant.

"Nothin' for you to be concerned with. Just...focus on Arielle today, this is about her."