AWAKENING
A/N:- Okay, I haven't posted anything for absolutely ages! But I've been working on lots of stuff by myself and with Kliqgirl. This is a Glen story for now, and not a sequel to anything else...just a bit of fun really. It started as a suggestion made by someone a long time ago. Anyway, hope anyone who reads this enjoys it...although I have no idea when I'll get to update...or where the story should go from here. As you can see, I was SO not prepared to post anything yet!
CHAPTER ONE
Glen Jacobs walked through the curtain and finally relaxed the deep scowl on his face. It was good to be out of the damn mask, but it was a real pain having to growl and snarl all the time, even if the fans did eat it up. He still wasn't 100 sure how they were taking his new look, but it was past time that it changed. The mask hadn't been the most comfortable thing to wear, especially when he got sweaty, he thought, remembering how badly it had itched.
He sighed deeply. Well, that was another show over, another pay check earned, and another evening of drinking and hanging with the guys to 'look forward to'. Just how many times had he sat there silently and watched the others hold court over a roomful of women? He had lost count now. It was a running joke amongst his fellow wrestlers that he wasn't interested in women, but it wasn't true. He was as interested in the opposite sex as they were...only not the kind of women they seemed to associate with. He didn't want someone that anyone could have - and God knew some of the guys had shared. He shuddered at that thought. No, he wanted to meet someone who had a little self respect, a little intelligence...and maybe someone who wouldn't make fun of how shy he was.
A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his morose reverie, and he turned to find no-one there...until he looked down, and then his heart stopped and started again, beating twice as fast. Geez, of all people to come up to him right now, did it have to be her? He felt himself heat under her blue-eyed gaze and he swallowed nervously, itching to get into his room and relative safety where he couldn't make a complete idiot of himself.
Nina Grey stared up at him and smiled, watching his cheeks go slightly pink. It was amazing to her that such an enormous man could get so easily embarrassed - and she hadn't even spoken yet. "Good match," she murmured, her smile widening to show her white, even teeth.
Glen found himself staring at that smile, his mouth dropping open slightly. She had such a pretty mouth, he thought, then shook his head to regain his senses a little. How did she manage to do this to him every time he saw her? "Er...thanks," he said gruffly, shifting from foot to foot.
"Here, I brought this for you. You remember we spoke about it earlier?" she asked, handing him a bottle of something. He took it from her and instantly tensed when her fingers brushed his, a tingle spreading over his skin. Forcing himself to look at the bottle he frowned, seeing it was some sort of moisturizer.
"It's for your skin? After you get rid of the make-up?" she reminded him, having only told him about it two hours ago when he had been sitting in the make-up chair and she had been applying dark smudges under his eyes. "Glen? You do remember, right?"
He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I do. Thanks."
"No problem," she said, shrugging and cocking her head to one side, her dark hair flowing over her shoulders with the movement and catching his eye. "Um...are you going out with the guys tonight?"
He hadn't expected her to ask that, and he automatically told the truth. "Yeah."
She smiled sweetly at him and almost bounced on the spot, a movement that made her breasts jiggle invitingly under her top. "Oh good! I was hoping you would be, because I've got some free time tonight and I said I'd come along too."
Glen managed to drag his eyes away from her chest and then her words penetrated his mind, and he couldn't keep the slightly horrified look from washing over him.
Nina's face fell and she bit her lip. "That is okay isn't it?"
He realized belatedly that he was actually being rude, and he was usually always polite if nothing else. "Of course it's okay," he said, wishing he was a smooth talker like some of the guys. He liked Nina, he liked pretty much everything about her, but he would never be able to voice that opinion, not without going bright red. He knew his face was glowing right now, but there was nothing he could do about it. He only hoped she didn't touch him again, because sure as hell his body was going to embarrass him and he didn't want her to laugh at him. "I'd better go get changed," he muttered, trying for a smile and failing.
She smiled again, relieved that the horrible look had left his face. "Okay. I'll see you later then?"
He nodded and walked quickly away, closing his eyes and letting his shoulders droop as he turned the corner to where his room was. He thought that maybe Nina liked him, but how did you know something like that for sure? There must be signs you could pick up, but he was damned if he knew what they were. Maybe if he wasn't so stupid when it came to females he'd be able to tell, maybe if he had ever actually slept with one. He walked into his locker room and slammed the door behind him. At least there was one thing in his favor; none of the guys knew he was a virgin, save for Mark Callaway and he was a clam. If the others ever found out...God it didn't bear thinking about, he thought with a shudder. He'd be the laughing stock of the WWE, that was for certain. And then there was Nina, the only girl he had truly fancied since he had been here, simply because she was normal and funny and nice. But what would she be like if she ever found out his little secret? Would she laugh and go and tell everyone? That was a risk he just couldn't take, not unless he was drunk or drugged up to the eyeballs, and he didn't do stuff like that. He gave another heartfelt sigh and walked into the showers, stripping off his costume as he went and looking wryly down at the stark evidence that he had been staring at Nina's very nice breasts. Maybe he would make the water cold...apparently that could help.
A few minutes later he wrapped a towel around his waist and stomped back into the dressing room. Cold showers were crap. Okay, it had helped some, but it didn't wipe her image out of his head or all the randy thoughts running around unchecked. He glanced up as the door flew open and Chris Irvine walked in, trying to straighten out his messy hair with his fingers.
"Goddamn it!" the other man grumbled, pulling the band from his hair and opening his locker to grab a hairbrush. "Why the hell is it that just because I have long hair, all the guys think they have to pull it when we're wrestling?"
"Because it's there," Glen said, amused despite himself. He remembered having his hair pulled a time or two...when he had hair.
"Yeah, well it fuckin' hurts!"
"So shave it off," Glen said, lounging in the chair and staring at him.
"And look like you? No fuckin' way. Besides, the ladies like my beautiful blond mane," he said, grinning and swinging his now tidy hair over his shoulder. "Talking of which, I found a nice little hotty out there holding up a sign with my name on it. I asked her to come out for a drink, she might prove quite diverting."
Glen shook his head and looked away. And here it all goes again, he thought. He'd sit nursing a beer and watching them all giving girls their best lines, leaving with various different women and him leaving alone. Again. But he supposed that going out with them was better than sitting in his hotel room all alone, at least they were company for a few hours.
He went about getting dressed and then looked at himself in the mirror, staring at the place where his eyebrows had once lived. Maybe women found him ugly now, he thought, frowning. Maybe he should grow his hair back damn quick. Then again, women hadn't been particularly interested when he had hair...except for some women, and he hadn't been interested in them. That made him think of Nina again and a small smile touched his lips. She didn't normally come out with them, but tonight she was, so perhaps it wouldn't be a total loss after all.
Chris saw the smile and walked up behind him, his reflection joining Glen's in the mirror. "Hey, what's that sneaky smile all about? You got someone coming with you tonight?"
Glen quickly shook his head. "No."
The other man nodded, as if he wasn't surprised and it wound Glen's temper up, making his eyes darken. But he didn't say anything, merely lowered his gaze and then grabbed his bag, moving towards the door.
"I'll see you there, man," Chris shouted as he sauntered into the shower, and Glen just grunted in return, slamming the door on his way out.
He hated the fact that everyone knew he never brought a date anywhere, or that he never had dates at all. He wished there was something he could do about it, but he couldn't think of a single thing that would...his thoughts were interrupted when someone ran around the corner and crashed into his chest, rebounding and falling over.
"Ow!" Nina said, landing hard on her backside and wincing.
"Are you okay?" Glen asked, dropping his bag and crouching down to help her up. He reached out a big hand and took her small fingers in his, pulling her into a sitting position and staring at her with concern.
Nina stared at him and felt her mouth go dry. Good grief he was gorgeous, she thought, liking the look in his eyes. He was worried he had hurt her, and because of that his guard was down and that weird shuttered look was gone, leaving only a lovely warmth in those hazel eyes. "I'm fine. I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," she said, smiling at him and then frowning as her eyes grew round. "I didn't hurt you did I?"
Glen stared at her in amazement. She was worried about him? "No, you...I...er...well I don't think you could hurt me if you tried," he finally got out, a small smile curling his lips as he looked at the size difference between them. The smile disappeared the instant she laid her hand on his arm, her fingers softly stroking, and his eyes dropped to where a good amount of thigh was visible where her skirt had flown upwards.
"Are you sure, I really banged you hard," she said, needing to be sure.
Her choice of words and her touch were enough to make him picture all sorts of things, plus the sight of her legs, and he felt his cheeks go red again, cursing his own bashfulness. "I'm fine," he said gruffly, pulling her quickly up and then letting go of her hand as if she were diseased.
Nina chose not to be insulted by his sudden withdrawal and smiled up at him again, smoothing her skirt down. "Good. I guess I should watch where I'm going?" she said, unwilling to end the conversation, such as it was.
"I guess," Glen said, shrugging. His eyes darted over her head to where escape lay and then he chewed his lip.
She watched him for a second and her smile grew more mischievous. "Since you seem to be ready, and I've finished my work now, maybe you could escort me to the hotel?"
Glen swallowed and looked into those clear blue eyes again, seeing no mockery there at all. He frowned slightly and tried to think of some sort of excuse, worrying when he found his brain appeared to have shut down. "I...er..."
"Oh good, I knew you wouldn't mind!" she said with that cheerful enthusiasm that seemed to be so much a part of her. She put her arm through his and turned towards the exit, waiting for him to stop doing his impersonation of a statue.
Realizing he was essentially trapped now, Glen could only start moving slowly forwards, his eyes flitting nervously to the small female who had appropriated his arm and didn't look like she was giving it up anytime soon. They passed several of the staff as they made their way along the corridor and then something he had hoped not to happen, happened.
"Glen? Hey man, who's the lady?"
Glen turned his head and saw Batista grinning at him, the other man's eyes running up and down Nina's figure as if he would like to eat her. "Dave...er, this is Nina, she works in make-up."
"I am very pleased to meet you," he said, grabbing her hand and lifting it to his lips, his every move designed to attract women. But not this woman, Nina thought, barely able to suppress a shudder at the sliminess of his gesture.
"Thanks," she said, taking back her hand and starting to move again. She looked back over her shoulder and gave him a small smile. "Oh, you too," she said as an afterthought, and then turned away from his amazed expression. She guessed his chat up technique rarely failed, and later that evening he would probably be calling her a lesbian or frigid or some such insult. She didn't care.
She looked up when she heard Glen chuckle and grinned when she saw his face relaxed with amusement for the first time. Oh yeah, he was gorgeous all right. "What's funny?"
"I don't think Dave's ever had a girl not fall all over herself to be with him. He's probably in shock right now," Glen said, still smiling.
"He's really not my type," Nina said, grinning up at him.
Glen badly wanted to ask what her type was, but he found the words sticking in his throat. What if she thought he was coming on to her with such a question? Even if he would love to make a move on her, he was sure that he would just come across as a complete retard.
Nina looked at him as the smile left his mouth and she could almost see the question he wanted to ask her. She wasn't normally so forward, but Glen was so nice that she couldn't help herself. "Wouldn't you like to know what my type is?" she asked softly, clinging to his arm a little closer.
Glen swallowed nervously and looked down at her. "If...if you want to tell me," he murmured.
"I haven't really dated all that much, but I tend to like the quiet ones. Men who are gentle and don't think of that as being a wimp," she said, her eyes scanning his face as they slowly walked along. "I guess I like the strong silent types."
"Oh," Glen managed to mutter, wondering if that meant him.
"Like you," she clarified, blushing slightly at the look of shock he sent her way. "If that's okay. I mean, I don't expect you to like me or anything, and I know I must be coming across as some complete...well, just forget I said anything. In fact, I'll just get a cab to the hotel, you don't have to take any trouble," she rambled, feeling embarrassed as the stare just went on and on. But when she went to release his arm and move away, he stopped her.
"I do. Like you, I mean," he said, his words hesitant at first. "I think you're really lovely."
Nina froze and felt a pleased smile curve her lips. "You do?"
"Yeah," he murmured, his eyes dropping to her lips and wondering if he had the guts to kiss her.
And that's it for now! I hope to update soon!
