TITLE: Alluded Distress

AUTHOR NAME: Marlena R. Snape

EMAIL: Bloodflame013@aol.com

CATEGORY: Drama

SUB CATEGORY: Romance

RATING: PG-13 for language and such.

CAST: Marlena Dubois, Ashleigh Morgan, Chris Sabin, A.J Styles, as well as mentions and appearance of others throughout. ( Tons of cameos! )

SUMMARY: Marlena Dubois finally did it. She finally accomplished her life long dream, to become a part of the word of professional wrestling. Just coming out of training school, Marlena is contacted by the NWA:TNA, out of Nashville Tennessee. Without a seconds notice, she drops her secondary life, her home life, and her 9 to 5 job, just to finally live the moments of her future. But what she gets into, is even over her head. A world of fame, a world of fans, a world...of true love.

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DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything, y'heard? I only own Marlena Dubois, as minus the last name and picture base? She IS me. ^_^ Ashleigh is credited to one of my best friends, Candace. Brooklyn Dubois ( the few parts she's in I should say ) is credited to my friend Angel, while Marlena's parents, and her sister Patricia are my real family. Chris Sabin, A.J Styles, and the rest of the NWA:TNA superstars in this story, are to my best rendition of their real selves, but I don't know them, or own them. ( However a girl CAN wish! ) Chris Irvine ( 'Jericho' in the WWE scene ) is not mine either…oh how I wish. He makes a few appearances as well, as do a few other WWE superstars. I own jack shite, okay? So don't sue me for letting my imagination run wild! :-P Enjoy the story.

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Chapter One: Off To 'Music City U.S.A'

So there it was. The last of her bags were packed. Marlena Dubois, stood in the almost empty 1 bedroom apartment she lived in, in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada, with a heavy sigh. Happiness was all she felt. Well hell, that's how it had been for the past couple of months, while she was training to become a wrestler in Toronto.

"Almost ready?" A quiet voice asked, and Marlena turned around, the figure of her mother and her sister, Patricia, standing in the door way. Her mother had a sad smile on her face, as Patricia was beaming with pride as she looked upon her 'baby sister'.

"Just about, mom." She replied softly, having noticed the sadness. "Are you okay?"

"Of course." she replied, trying to push back the tears that were welling in her eyes. "It's just hard letting go, you know how it goes..."

"I know." Marlena said with a small smile, as she walked up to where her mother stood. Putting her arms tightly around her, she leaned her head on her mother's shoulder. "I'm not leaving forever, mom." She said, as her mother nodded, a few of her tears falling from her glassy eyes.

"I know..."

"Besides..." Marlena said, slowly looking at her mother face to face. Brushing a few of her light tears away, Marlena forced a smile, though her heart was breaking seeing her mother cry. "I'll be in contact, all the time. Permitted that my cell phone doesn't just crap out on me again. So much for 'can you hear me now? good!' eh?" She asked, which actually caused her mother and sister to laugh. Marlena smiled. "Laughing is good for you."

"I'm just worried about your safety." her mother said through a chuckle, brushing away a few of her own tears.

"I know, but look on the bright side, I now know how to kick some serious ass." Marlena said with a smile. "Just have a little faith in me, ma, I'll be fine."

"Of course you will." Her mother said, smiling. "I know you will."

"You ready to head to the airport?" Patricia asked, and Marlena gave a nod, grabbing a couple of the large bags that were packed and ready to go.

"Absolutely, Trish. Let's go." Marlena stated, as Patricia helped her with her bags, and she looked at her mother once more. "I'll see you in a few weeks?"

"That you will." Her mother said, and Marlena smiled.

"Love you mom."

"Love you too, princess."

And that was that. Marlena and Patricia walked down the stairs heading to the ground floor of the apartment building in which Marlena had called home for two years.

"Nervous?" Patricia asked thoughtfully, as they got to the door, heading outside. Marlena shook her head as she adjusted the strap of the bag on her shoulder.

"Of course." Marlena admitted, but smiled. "It's not like...I'm going to die, nervous. It's just, change, nervous. Can you imagine leaving Winnipeg?" She asked, as Patricia actually smirked.

"Yes. Yes I can."

"Can you imagine moving to Nashville?" She asked, as Patricia gave a nod.

"Yes. I can."

Marlena raised an eyebrow. So that wasn't exactly the answer she thought she'd get. Then again, the answer you received from "Trish" Dubois was never what you should expect. Marlena gave a small shrug, as they put her bags in the trunk of Patricia's car. Slowly climbing into the passenger's seat, Marlena fastened the seatbelt, gazing out of the window up at the building. It was weird, leaving all she knew, to go somewhere where she knew nobody. Strange transitions would be just the beginning of her journey into the world of professional wrestling and she knew it. As Patricia got into the car, and started it, she looked at Marlena with a smirk.

"You okay with a little Zombie?" She asked, as Marlena slowly turned toward her.

"What do you mean?"

"Open your ears brat." Patricia said with a smirk as she pressed play on the CD player, and from the speakers, blasted the clearly recognizable sound of Rob Zombie's "Demonoid Phenomenon." Marlena slowly smirked.

"This'll do just fine."

The trip to the airport was a short one, but that was in fact for the better. Marlena's flight to Nashville left in an hour. And with the way security was now days? Jesus, it would take her about that long just to get through customs. As they started toward the airport, Patricia gave a concerned look toward her sister.

"You sure everything is okay?"

Marlena slowly looked back at her, from her gaze on the plane ticket that she held in her hand. Marlena gave a nod. Of course she was alright, wasn't she? Of course she was. There was nothing the matter. Nothing at all…at least nothing she would lead on to.

"Yeah, everything's perfectly fine, just thinking is all." She retorted with an inner nod. That's right, don't make Trish worry, she told herself quietly with a satisfied smile. "I'm just thinking about the first thing I'm going to do when I get to Nashville."

"Any ideas?" Patricia asked as Marlena shrugged her shoulders lightly. If only that was what she was thinking of. She'd then have an answer for this!

"No, not yet. I'll probably just go to my apartment and unpack." Marlena said. Yeah, that's it. Unpack.

Marlena was more worried about what the near future held than her mother and sister were. How was she going to do this without going insane? This was everything to her. Her life, her livelihood, her sanity, she was juggling. As they arrived at the airport, Marlena smiled at Patricia as she shut the car off, looking at her little sister. So she was all grown up…having all she could do not to cry like their mother did, Patricia smiled.

"Good luck, brat. If you need anything…call me."

"I will, Trish. Take it easy." Marlena said as she slowly got out of the car. Patricia opened the trunk, as Marlena began grabbing her bags, slinging two of them over her shoulder. What a hassle. She had her two suitcases as well, as she leaned down to the passenger side window, looking in at Patricia. "I'll call you guys from the plane."

"Alright kiddo." Patricia said with a trembling smile, and Marlena headed into the airport. Patricia watched, as she turned the car on again, heading back to their mother's house, still resisting the urge to cry. It was like watching her little sister head to college, but it was worse, it was for longer.

Marlena walked through the crowd of people which were standing around, just arriving, and getting ready to leave. Putting her things through the baggage claim, she still had her carry on bag. God, she hated people, especially in huge crowds. Maybe that was just when she had someplace to be at a certain time. Laughing quietly to herself as she thought, she headed through the crowds, to get to the gate her flight was leaving from.

About a half hour passed, when Marlena boarded the plane. Finding a seat, she put her carry on bag in the overhead compartment, then sat down near the window. Running her hands through her hair, she let out a deep sigh. So this was really happening. There was no turning back, even if she wanted to. But she didn't. She couldn't. This was her chance, her shot, and she wasn't going to let a little fear come between her and accomplishing her dreams of becoming a wrestler.

"You've worked too hard for this, Lena…" She told herself out loud, as she leaned her head back against the seat. "You can't screw this up now."

"Thank you for flying Air Canada." Came over the loud speakers, a friendly male voice. "This is your Captain speaking. We will be flying non-stop from Winnipeg to Nashville, Tennessee and our expected arrival time is 19 hundred hours. Please fasten your seatbelts, we are ready for take off."

Marlena buckled her seatbelt, and grabbed the headsets that were near her seat. Sliding them onto her head, she leaned back slightly, closing her eyes. So she still wasn't fond of flying, despite always having to fly to New York to visit her father when he was working in the city. ( New York City that is. ) She knew she'd have to call Patricia and her mother from the plane, like promised, but she was going to wait. She wanted to give them a little time to adjust to her not being right there.

An hour and a half had past, and Marlena had fallen asleep listening to random rock songs that played through the headsets. She rubbed her eyes drearily, yawning slightly as she sat up fully. Taking off the headsets, she reached into her purse to look for her cell phone. Finding it, she noticed she had received 5 calls from Winnipeg, her mother's house. Talk about empty nest syndrome hitting hard, she thought with a smirk. There was only a short while until the flight landed…it was already 18.5. 6:30 pm, oh how she needed to get out of military time, and into the eastern standard.

Dialing the number to her mother's home on her cell; Lena put the phone to her ear with a sigh. Allowing it to ring once…twice…three times, she seemed a little confused that nobody was answering. She pulled the phone away from her ear, checking the number to make sure she was right, but how could she be wrong? A voice echoed out over the earpiece, which caused her to put it back to her ear.

"Hello?" The voice asked, and Lena smirked a bit as she leaned back.

"Hey Brooklyn, is mom there?" She asked, expecting to hear 'just a minute'; but she got something different.

"No not right now she's not. Trish and she went out shopping…guess they're both kinda lost up here." Brooklyn said, a clear smirk in her voice as she spoke.

"Funny Brook…" Marlena said, smiling a bit as she sort of sighed. "Do you know when she'll be back around?"

"They should be back within the hour…do you want me to tell her you called?"

"Of course, thanks honey." Marlena said, before saying something she hadn't told her 'baby sister' in more than 5 years. "I love you kid…take care of yourself."

"Love you too…be careful." Brooklyn said, sounding slightly stunned.

As they hung up, Marlena put her phone back in her purse, leaning back fully. There was still about 20 minutes until the plane landed…and the reality of it all was coming to an abrupt stand still. It was here whether she was ready or not…

The flight landed finally, that last 20 minutes seeming to take forever. As the plane began unloading, Marlena grabbed her carry on bag and her purse, getting off the plane. Looking around, she took a deep breath, and released it slowly, heading out of the gate to the baggage claim to get her things so she could go to the apartment. Getting her bags from the baggage claim, she put them on a trolley, wheeling it toward the front entrance where her car was supposed to be waiting for her. She had the key now, all she had to do was find the 2004 electric blue Saturn VUE with her purchase number on it.

Heading outside, she looked around the lot with a grumble, wheeling the trolley with her. As she spotted the car, a sigh of relief came out of her, but the sound of a telephone ringing shook her. It was her phone. Reaching into her purse, she looked at the caller I.D with a smirk. Clicking the neon lit "talk" button, she put the telephone to her ear.

"Hey mom." She said, but was shocked to hear a man's voice on the other line. "Daddy?!"

"Shocked princess?" Her father asked, a small chuckle coming from his end of the phone.

"I thought…wait, you were in New York…and…" She stopped talking a minute, trying to figure out what this was about. She checked the caller I.D again, and sure enough it was her mother's house…not her father's penthouse in New York City.

"Well, I wanted to be here with your mom and sisters to watch your first TNA pay-per-view…is that a bad thing?"

"No…of course it's not." She said "Just sort of surprised. How long are you off for?" She asked, referring to his job in the 'city', where he was the assistant district attorney.

"Well at the moment, it's a month…they're training a new woman to take my place."

"Say what?!" Marlena exclaimed, but as her father began laughing, her shock began to fade. "What's funny?"

"I'm moving back home to Winnipeg…they need somebody new."

"Moving home? Whoa what happened?" She sounded a little panicky - worried that something wrong had happened back home. Great, just what you need starting out…worry wart! She scolded herself, the tone in her father's voice gave nothing away that something was wrong. Why did she feel it though?

"I thought it's really about time I do so, princess. Besides, when we go down to Nashville…I want to be there."

The comment alone nearly made her drop the phone. Coming to Nashville?! They...all of them? She couldn't resist giggling.

"Are you serious? When?" She asked, and her father's tone shot back from serious to a cheerful tone.

"As soon as possible. Whenever you're settled into your apartment…and your mother can get a couple weeks off from work, we'll be there."

"That's such great news…" Marlena said, a small yet happy sigh coming from her. In the background you could hear her sister Brooklyn yelling to their father.

"Daddy! Tell Lena Chris called!"

"I guess I'm to tell you that Christopher called…" Her father said with a half hearted laugh, which caused Marlena to laugh softly.

"Chris, dad…you remember him right?" She asked, and her father gave a grunt of agreement.

"Yes, the older boy who would never take his eyes from your chest for one second."

"Dad…" She tried not to laugh, though it was incredibly hard. "Why do you think I bought that tee-shirt in 11th grade? 'Talk to my face my boobs can't hear you'? Yeah, it was because of Chris."

"Ah, I see. Alright then." Her father said with a chuckle. "Well doll; I'll let you get going. I'm sure you have a lot of work to do. Have you been to your apartment yet?"

"Not yet, daddy." She said quietly, loading her bags into the trunk of the car. "I'm heading over there now, though."

"Well just let me know what you think…I arranged it so everything would be to your liking…"

"You had a hand in it?" Marlena asked, sliding into the driver's seat of the car. She always knew he liked making sure she was 'well off', but that was just crazy.

"Of course. It's the penthouse set up you 'dreamed about' when you were a little girl…" He said with a hearty laugh.

"Daddy…that was my dream when I was 16." She retaliated with a giggle. "But it's still my dream, so that helps. Thank you for everything. It means so much to me."

"Well it's just one way to show we love you." Her father said sincerely, before taking a heavy breath. "We send our love, and if you nee-"

"Need anything give us a call, I know daddy." Marlena said, finishing off his sentence with a smile as she started the car. "I will. Thanks again. I love you guys."

"We love you too…talk to you soon."

Marlena hung up the phone, shaking her head a bit as she sat it down on the passengers seat. She put the car in drive, and started out of the airport parking lot, on her search for 7100 Sonya Drive. She was a little nervous being pampered by her father, it wasn't really like that at home. But then again, she had a stable job and knew what to expect from day to day. Here, she didn't. As she drove, tons of thoughts ran through her head as she turned on the stereo, a local rock station. Judging by the first song she caught, the middle of "Suffocate" by Cold, she decided to leave it.

As she was driving through downtown Nashville, her cell phone rang off again. Picking it up, she plugged it into her hands free, and clicked talk.

"Somebody better be dying…" She said dryly, but there was a laugh coming from the other end.

"God, I love you too, bitch." The voice was a familiar one, Chris Irvine. Marlena rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Hey Chrissy, what's up?"

"Nothing. I'm bored, and there's nothing to do!" He whined, before chuckling. "So I decided to bother you. You at home?"

"What?" She asked, a confused tone coming from her as he snickered.

"We're in Nashville, you twit."

"Dude, don't call me that." Marlena said with a half glare on her face as she drove. "I should be at my apartment in a few…you and Jay both coming over?" She asked, and by the voice in the background with Chris, she could tell. "Don't even answer, I already know. Who else are you dragging to my 'welcome to Nashville' party I didn't know about?" She asked sarcastically.
"Just a few 'peeps', if you don't mind, princess…" Chris said, and despite not seeing it, you could hear the infamous grin on his face.

"Haha, you're funny bitch…who?" Marlena said sternly, but her expression soon faded into a gasp of awe, as she looked upon the apartment building she'd be residing in. "Holy shit…"

"I didn't do it?" She heard Chris say from the phone. "Wait, what's wrong?"

"My dad, dude, he's…wow." She said, pulling the car into the lot to park it.

"What's the address?" Chris asked, and Marlena could hear rustling, and an occasionally slapping sound in the background with Chris.

"Quit beating Jason like that…" Marlena said with a smirk, as she turned the car off. "7100 Sonya Drive, apartment 3C upstairs."

"I just slapped him to get the paper, not MY fault he's a jackass." Chris said in his own defense. "And sweet, that's not far from our hotel, we'll see you in 10?"

"Bring food and booze, and see you in 10."

She hung up the phone, stepping out of the car, she grabbed her purse and cell phone. Putting the keys in the pants pocket of her hunter green carpenter jeans, that seemed to match well with the simple white ladies wifebeater tank top she wore, that showed the straps of her black bra clearly. She went around to the trunk, and took out her bags one by one, shutting the trunk with her foot. Talk about agile. Reaching into her pocket, she hit the alarm button on her car, then began the long haul of taking her bags upstairs.

It took her about 5 minutes to drag them all up to the front of her apartment door. She took out the keys that were in her pocket once more, and unlocked the door, leading into a fully decorated, fully furnished apartment. Her mouth dropped, as she glanced around, she couldn't believe her father would go through all of the work to pay someone to set this up. She walked into the master bedroom, and just shook her head with a smile. She noticed a bouquet of blue roses on the vanity, with a letter on it. The letter read:

"Ma Belle Fille ( my beautiful girl ); I hope everything is to your liking. I had the best designers I could think of go in and make your new place of living, as elegant and comfortable as they could. I know how hard this must be for you, I had to do it when I moved for my job. If you need anything, at all, call the service desk, and just let them know Paul Dubois sent you. You'll be taken well care of, précieux (precious) - and we love you. Signed, daddy."

She smiled softly, placing the letter in the top drawer of the vanity. She began putting her clothes away in the closet, it was huge! Bigger than her entire bedroom at home! But opposed to doing that, she just changed instead. Chris, Jason, and whoever else they could muster up would be there any minute. She changed into a pair of black zip up cargo pants, and her infamous "Talk to my face, my boobs can't hear you" pink tank top. Kicking off her boots, she stuck to wearing her "You suck and that's sad" pink happy bunny socks, as she pulled her long blonde hair back into a messy bun. She shoved her bags into the closet, and walked out of the bedroom to examine the rest of the apartment. Everything was perfect. The stereo in the living room was just the beginning of perfection, the tall speakers, multi-C.D player, everything she could have asked for, and just a little more. The entertainment center and home theater was also great. The sofa was a wrap around, with plenty of seating room, in a deep hunter green velvet finish, which accented the black marble end tables and coffee table. The over head ceiling fan, was black blades with a marble green fixture, everything matched, including the blinds. She walked into the kitchen, which was just like her living room in colour scheme, only the black refrigerator had silver handles opposed to green. She looked in, and laughed a bit, noticing it was all stacked up, and there was plenty for not only her, but the entire province of Manitoba!

As she was looking through everything, the sound of her doorbell ringing was heard. Involuntarily, she groaned, walking up to the door. She looked out the peep hole, and shook her head as there was the grinning face of Chris, and Jay, standing side by side.

"What the hell do you want?" Marlena asked through the door, a smirk on her face. Chris raised a case of Labatts blue ice into the peep hole's view.

"2 words, Canadian Ale, let us in!"

Marlena smiled, opening the door. Chris had his arms outstretched after he handed Jason the beer, and she shook her head a bit. Chris grabbed a hold of Marlena, hugging her tightly, and she returned his hug.

"Been a while huh?" He said, kissing her forehead gently and she nodded.

"It has, and as hard as it is for me to admit it, I've missed you." She said with a smirk, pulling away from him. "So what did ya bring me?" She asked cheerfully, and Jason held up a bag with his opposite hand.

"Take out…you game?" He asked, and Marlena raised an eyebrow.

"When aren't I? Come on…"

She lead them into the apartment, but it wasn't only Chris and Jason. They brought a couple of friends, in the form of Randy Orton, Charlie Haas, Trish Stratus, and John Cena.

"Guys, and lady…" Chris said with a coy grin, "This is Marlena. The 'chick' I'm always talking about from home. Marlena, this is Trish, Randy, Charlie, and John."

"Hey nice to meet you." Trish said with a smile, holding her hand out to Marlena. Marlena shook her hand, returning her smile.

"Nice to meet you Trish." She said graciously, but her attention turned, and she had to look up. Way up, to the 6'4 height ( to her 5'7 ½ ) of Randy Orton. He had an arrogant smirk on his face, as he looked down at her.

"Chris never said his 'friend' was this luscious…"

"Dude, Randy, shut up…" Chris said, shaking his head. "Only I can say that."

"Uh, should I be offended by your interest?" Marlena asked thoughtfully, as Randy seemed a bit off by her comment, which had Charlie and John, as well as Jason laughing a bit. "Because I think I should be."

"She's a pistol, Randy. I HIGHLY doubt you could handle her." Chris said, putting his arm around her shoulder with a smirk as they walked into the living room.

Sitting down on the sofa, Marlena leaned her head against Chris' shoulder with a smile as everyone sat around. Jason handed them each a beer, as he took a seat across from where Marlena and Chris sat, Trish sat next to Jason, John sat on Marlena's opposite side, and Charlie sat next to Trish. Randy stood, leaning against the wall a bit with a beer in hand.

"You know, I haven't known her all THAT long, but I know I couldn't handle her. And I'm a better man than you, Orton." Jason said with a smile, which caused Randy to roll his eyes with a smirk.

"Nice place you got here." John said idly, glancing around a bit. "Hella classy."

"Thanks…I'm still adjusting to it from my shoebox at home…" Marlena said with a half smile, taking a drink from the bottle. She shrugged a bit. "It's pretty nice though…I mean, really nice."

"Looks like good ol' pop really went on the up and up this time eh?" Chris asked as Marlena nodded.

"I'll say."

"You know…" Chris said, stroking his chin a bit as he glanced around. "I've heard of binge decorating, but this is just fucking ridiculous…." Marlena punched his shoulder with a smirk, leaning up from her head being on his shoulder.

"I think it's perfect, so shut the hell up, 'kay?"

The night consisted mostly, of talking about work, enjoying the company of someone new, and drinking. Randy had finally sat down on the armchair off from where Chris was sitting, and it became obvious around 1 am, that something would have to be done about sleeping.

"How long are you guys going to be in town?" Marlena asked, finishing off a bottle of her beer.

"We leave tomorrow night." Chris said, glancing at her from one eye opening. "Why do you ask?"

"After I get done work tomorrow, do you guys want to go out somewhere?"

"Sounds like a plan." Charlie said with a smile, but quickly shied away, "I mean, if they're in…you know…" Marlena smirked a bit glancing over at Charlie.

"How about I just take you out, love?"

"Wait, what about me?" Randy inserted with an arrogant smile, which caused Marlena to turn toward him.

"Wait, you're still here?"

A collective roar of laughter filled the living room, from all except Marlena who's facial expression remained serious, but her eyes flickered with mischief, while Randy did his best to look offended. Actually, he WAS offended, but never would lead on, after all.

"Chris never said you were a comedian." Randy said in a shallow tone, which caused a smirk to tug at Marlena's lips.

"I just prefer the term opinionative. And honey…when it comes to you? I'll make it a point to be very opinionative…"

About a half hour passed, before Marlena started falling asleep in Chris' arms on the sofa. He shook her a bit, and she looked slightly groggy at him.

"Wha?" She asked, and he smiled warmly at her.

"Come on…you're falling asleep…"

"I am not…" Marlena said defensively, yawning lightly. "I'm just, resting…my eyes…"

"Which induces sleep." John said with a sly grin. "C'mon girl, we'll let you get some rest."

John, Charlie, Trish, Randy, Chris, and Jason all filed out of the living room with Marlena, as she lead them out to the front door. She felt a little bad for half falling asleep on them - god, how rude - she thought of herself, but decided she had every right to be tired after her day. As they were getting ready to leave, Chris turned toward her with a smile, and gave her another hug.

"Will you be around later? Or are you going to work all day?"

"I'll be around toward late evening…want to get together?" She asked, hugging him tightly. He nodded a bit.

"Sounds good, I've missed hanging with you. It was like old times tonight…"

"It was." She said, kissing Chris' cheek gently. "I'll give you a call when I get done work."

"Alright…talk to you later then." Chris said, as Marlena smiled, stepping back from the hug.

"It was nice to meet you guys." Marlena said to Charlie, John, Trish and Randy, but smiled at Randy. "And look, no hard feelings okay? I was just picking…"

"I know." Randy said, smiling a small, yet genuine smile. "It was nice to meet ya too."

"So Charlie, we still on for that date?" Marlena asked with a grin, which caused Charlie to blush a little.

"If you really want to…yeah, sure if ya don't mind hangin' with me..." He said softly, and Marlena couldn't contain her giggle.

"Of course I want to…just ask Chris for my number, and we'll hook up sometime, 'kay?"

Charlie looked like a nervous wreck, his face turned a shade of crimson which was clear against his white tee-shirt. Marlena couldn't help but smile from seeing it, as she ushered her guests out. As they were leaving, and Randy, Trish, Charlie and John were heading down the stairs, Chris turned to Marlena and Jason waited.

"You got Haas flustered, first try, good show." Chris said with a smirk as he held out his hand to Jason. "Pay up, assclown."

"What the hell?" Marlena asked, glancing as Jason grumbled, slapping two one hundred dollar bills in Chris' hand. Chris grinned, sliding them into his jeans pocket.

"We had a little, bet. I was sure Charlie would melt with your….we'll call it 'charm', okay? And how right was I? You had the boy blushing like a sailor with a foul mouthed prostitute babe…"

"I can't believe I lost man…" Jason said, shaking his head. "I was so sure Charlie had more will power than that!" He paused, as Marlena raised her eyebrow at him. "Not that I'm saying you're not hella fantastic and uber hot…and wickedly capable of such…because you are!"

"Nice save, Jay." Marlena said with a small smile, glancing toward Chris. "So, where's my cut? I mean, I got you the money…I should get half."

Chris looked thoughtful for a moment. The girl did have a point, but where was the fun in that? She didn't know about the little 'wager', should she still get a share of his winnings?

"You know…" Chris said, before reaching into his pocket with a sly smile. He pulled out one of the hundred dollar bills, and slipped it lightly into her top. Taking her hand into his, he smirked. "You're right. You did a good job, too."

"Dude, I wanted to do that!" Jason exclaimed as he shot a glare at Chris. "So uncool, man. So uncool!"

"Oh thank you baby." Marlena said with a chuckle, taking the money from her shirt with her free hand. Slipping it into her pants pocket, she glanced between the two. "Now you boys go on and catch up…we'll see each other later."

"See ya later Le, take care of yourself huh? Good luck tomorrow." Chris said, slowly letting go of her hand as he began walking downstairs with Jason. "Sweet dreams."

"You too hun." She said, smiling as she waited for them to be out of sight.

Walking back into her apartment, she shut and locked the door, pulling the money from her pocket. Heading into the living room, she stood up on the sofa moving the Rembrandt painting that was on the wall…and there was a safe behind it. Turning the dial to the proper numbers, she opened it. There was money already in there, as well as credit cards, and jewelry, she couldn't believe that her father actually had the safe put in with the numbers she asked for, and he even gave her money. Placing her 'winnings' in the safe, she laughed softly, closing the safe, and positioned the painting back over the safe as it once was.

She switched off the lights in the living room and kitchen, heading down the dimlit hallway to her bedroom. As she walked into her bedroom, she left the door opened, and walked to the window. The lights shining from the city below seemed to bring a smile to her face, as all realization seemed to come to an abrupt stand still. She finally was here. She had dreamed about the moment when she could at first, stand in her room and look out, being able to say she made it. She had, and there was nothing that could stop her. Her mind seemed to set at ease, as she shut her drapes, and began undressing for bed. She walked to the closet, after placing her clothes in a small purple hamper, that matched the heavy purple velvet drapes, the black comforter with purple bed sheets, and deep burgundy carpet below her feet. She changed into a simple pair of blue and green plaid night shorts and a cut off "Fozzy Floozy" tank top that Chris had gave her. Letting her hair loose from the bun she had put it up in, she made her way to her bed. At her bedside, she grabbed a CD that was in a case, titled "sleep mix". She turned it on, and the soft sound of "Say it" by Voices of Theory began to echo through the sweet silence of her bedroom. Sliding under the bed sheets, she shut off the light, basking in the velvet darkness and deafening silence that surrounded her. Not long after she had laid her head upon the soft pillow, her eyes closed, and she drifted into a slumbered sleep.

[[So there's chapter one! I hope it works for everyone, leading into the 'real deal' now! J R&R if you want! ]]