It's probably not the best time to start a new story but I enjoyed the thought of this. This will be short and sweet, and a little mature. I felt like venturing into a new world of writing. It should be interesting.
Hope you review, reader!
Disclaimer: I own no name registered under the WWE Company.
The McMahon Summer Barbecue.
Superstars and crew alike gathered at the McMahon estate in Greenwich, Connecticut for an annual summer extravaganza filled with beer, burgers, and bikini-clad bodies. It was these unscripted moments of company bonding that held the WWE Family together all these years. Grills flamed up at three in the afternoon and went on to bonfires and drinking until the wee hours of the morning.
Randy stepped onto the polished lawn and saw Vince manning the twenty-one foot long grill topped with the classic burger patties, hotdogs, and buns. He donned a 'Kiss The Cook' apron and a floppy white toque on his muscular build. Randy smirked and let the smoke enter his nostrils; the smoky aroma of meat telling him that his stomach was rumbling. He grabbed a beer and headed off to a picnic table with his best bud, John Cena.
"Hey, dude." Randy mumbled while sitting down and clinking beers with the man.
"Hey." came Cena's low rumble. "How's the little girl?"
A smile grazed Randy's lips upon the mention of his little princess. No matter where he was or who he was with, he transformed from Apex Predator into fluffy bunny when it came to his daughter. "She's great, man," he chuckled. "She drew this picture of a hippo and told me it was Paul Levesque."
The older man let out a hearty laugh and wiggled his eyebrows, "Am I still her favorite wrestler?"
Randy nodded, "Why can't daddy be the favorite, huh?"
"Can't help it. I'm the man." John responded with a smirk.
As they sipped on their cool beer, a familiar face walked up to them. Her brunette hair was tied up in a fit ponytail and her hazel eyes sparkled in the sunlight. "Hey!" a blossoming Trish Stratus said as she walked up to the two. "Randy, it's been so long! You look great!" A handsome little boy sat on her hip as he sucked his thumb and winced his eyes like he just woke up.
He gave her his award-winning smile and stood up to hug her small frame. "You're looking better than ever, Trisha! And who's this little man right here?" he smiled and crouched down to meet the little guy.
"This is my son, Max," she beamed, "and he's having a wonderful time meeting his uncles and aunts in the wrestling business. Hey, Max, this is Uncle Randy… He'll get you your first car someday."
Randy laughed and gave the little man a light fluff of the hair. "Don't worry, Max, I've got you covered. Let's hope mommy doesn't find out when we go speeding on the freeway in your decked out ride." he smirked, earning a light slap on the arm from the mother.
"And this, baby Max, is your Uncle John." Trish's sweet voice said as she turned towards John. With an innocent smile, she looked John straight in the eyes and bit her bottom lip softly. It had been a while since they saw each other. "Uncle John took care of mommy back when she was still wrestling." she continued.
"Hey, little man, give me five." John said as he raised his palm, which received the most adorable response. The toddler hid in his mommy's shoulder and elicited chuckles from the adults present. John said, "Trish, you look well. I'm really happy for you."
"I'm really happy to see you." she admitted, her smile letting him know that she missed him.
"Why don't I take Max for a bit while you two talk?" asked Randy as he put down his beer.
Trish's grip on her son tightened a bit. She had never let anyone hold her son in the past. Her hands-on mommy nature made her very protective of her little one. "Well, is that really a good idea?" she queried; her eyes gently squinting with apprehension.
Randy's soft smile simply told her that he knew she wanted some time with John. With a small curl of the lips and a sigh, she handed Max over to Randy, who immediately raised the little one into the air and cooed into his tummy. "Come on, Max, let's go meet some babes, eh? I'm sure you'll knock their socks off." he said with a smug grin.
Trish shook her head at Randy's retreating figure. If there were any good life mentors in the business, Randy was definitely not her number one choice. She loved him like a little brother, but everyone knew that the shit he went through wasn't something anyone wanted for their own kid. As she imagined her own little prince growing up to be the player her younger brother was in his good old days, a warm voice cut through her thoughts, "You're imagining him growing up to be another Randal Keith, eh?"
"You can still read me after all these years…" her doe eyes looked down and avoided the gaze she knew would affect her.
"How are things with the mister?" he pushed on and took a sip of his Bud Light.
"No better than they were yesterday, that's for sure."
"Come, sit down, and tell the doctor what's going on." he said and pulled out a chair for the lady. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had made her giggle this much. His charm was uncanny, and after all these years he could still make her feel a little fuzzy inside. "What's been going on with you, Trish? Last I saw you, you were ready to pop a little Stratusfaction out."
She giggled again, losing count of the number of times she already had. "I guess there's no sense in hiding it from you of all people. After Max was born, Ron and I went through some rough patches that would eventually leave permanent welts on our relationship. He wasn't happy, and not interested in sticking around."
"Just yesterday, the divorce became final. It wasn't a mess by any measure, and I do have sole custody of Max…" she paused.
"But?" he pushed on.
"It's not the same." she continued, looking down at her hands which rested atop her bare thighs. Denim shorts seemed like a good idea earlier, but, suddenly, a chill ran through her body which made her regret the decision. "When Max grows up, I'll have to tell him why he doesn't have a dad."
He reached under the table and took her little hand in his; the same way he had done on their first date. He brought it up to the table and cupped it in both hands. A light squeeze was all he needed to do to let her know that she wasn't alone. In a second, her body tensed up, and blood flowed to her limbs as if telling her to run. Run now. "Enough about me," she said with a soft laugh, "I heard about the bloody divorce with Liz. And now you're with Nikki Bella?"
He took his hand and ran it through his short hair. "Was. Nikki and I went our separate ways after she realized that I was nowhere near another walk down the aisle. She wanted to speed things up but I didn't see the same things she did." he admitted.
"I'm so sorry to hear that." she replied, mentally chastising herself for feeling elated that there was no one else in the picture. "What are your plans now?"
"Besides get a Vince McMahon burger?" they both laughed. "I'll wait for the right girl to come around."
"…Or come back?" she blurted. Trish, stop. Trish, get a hold of your mouth.
He looked at her with an unsure smile. Her gaze shifted away from his as she pulled her hand away and back to her lap. "She hasn't come back yet." he said softly. "But maybe grabbing a coffee on a nice afternoon will stir things up?"
She sighed, "Would it be wise to revisit that? Max is here and he's my entire world and I only want what will make him happy and…"
He cupped her tiny chin in his massive hand and looked into her hazel eyes, "You and me, a catch-up coffee, and Randy babysits Max."
All she could do was smile and nod; remembering the moments she and John had quaintly stayed backstage in the arena and enjoyed a warm cup of black coffee together, be it in silence or in laughter. "Can I count on tomorrow morning for that?" she asked, her eyes beaming with some hope.
"Sure thing." he smiled and pushed the loose brunette lock away from her face and behind her ear. "You're even more beautiful that I remember, Trish. Forgive me for staring."
At a loss for words, she let the blood rush up to her cheeks as she looked down and managed a small smile. John always knew how to get that reaction from her. As tough as she was, in front of him, she could swiftly turn into a doe-eyed cheerleader standing in front of the quarterback. He knew he had that effect on her, and with all the women he's been, it was the Trish effect that managed to get his heart to skip a beat. The Trish effect. echoed his thoughts as he smiled.
"Someone's a little sleepy." came a playful voice. The two shifted their eyes and saw a yawning Max resting his head on Uncle Randy's broad shoulders. "I think he wants to go for a nap…"
Trish took her young superstar in her arms and bid goodbye to the two men. After a few moments, they stood up and got some special homemade Vince McMahon burgers. It's not every day that your boss takes the time to grill your food to perfection, but ol' Vinny Mac enjoyed barbecuing more than acting like an egomaniacal tyrant on the show.
"Hey, John, do you know who that girl is?" Randy asked as he bit down on his McMahon Special.
John looked over and saw a girl who looked like she was still a minor. She sat with the technical crew and had a timid smile. "I don't know whose kid she is but I can definitely tell you to not dip your toes in the kiddie pool, dude." he said with a serious tone. He squeezed some mustard on his burger and took a nice big bite out of it.
"Say, Steph…" Randy pushed on and approached the company princess. "Who's kid is that? I've never seen her around before."
Steph excused herself from the ring of superstars she was dining with and looked at whom Randy was referring to. Seeing his target, she let out a soft laugh. "She's no one's kid, Randy. Her name's Claire Smith. She's actually twenty-three, and probably the youngest employee we have to date. She doesn't mingle much. I've spoken to her a few times, but I don't really know that much about her." she replied.
"Is she in creatives? Or make-up?" he asked.
Steph shook her head and chuckled a little more. "Don't let the looks fool you. She's one of our engineers. She's part of the team that manages the company plane and she does work on the Titantron."
"Oh." was all Randy replied. Steph soon excused herself to go see what her little girls were doing with their father; they had been playing in the pool all day long. Randy stood in the same spot and ate his burger as he gave the young woman a one over. Her golden brown hair fell mid-back and was half swept up into a ponytail. Her face was free of make-up and her body was clad in a fit white WWE shirt, denim shorts, and sneakers.
Claire sensed eyes on her, and she looked up from her beer to meet Randy's gaze. She gave him warm pearly-white smile and raised her beer to him before turning back and talking to the mess full of company techs she was conversing with. "That malfunction wasn't my fault! Someone tripped on the wiring and shut the entire left flank of the 'tron down!" one of the guys exclaimed.
"That's right. Someone tripped." another guy said sarcastically, earning the roaring laughter of the entire table.
"Say, Mickey, didn't you say that there was something that had to be tweaked with the jet's flight control system?" Claire asked as she took a quick sip of her cool beer.
"Yeah, the yaw control was off by a couple of percent during the last test. Think you can get on it before the McMahons head to Nevada next weekend?" Mickey, a man with a receding hairline and a couple of pounds too many, asked.
"I got it. It'll be flying smoother than your forehead by then." she quipped with a wicked smirk and sent the table into another fit of roaring laughter. After playfully apologizing to her senior, she stood up and excused herself to go get some food. The party was in full swing with R-Truth manning the DJ booth and the younger superstars pushing each other off the water slide. Former divas and superstars graced the event with their presence and mingled with the new kids on the block.
She walked over to the grill and grabbed herself a hotdog sandwich. "Hey, Mr. McMahon, great party!" she cheered and met the cocky grin of the company president. Deciding that another beer would go well with it, she approached the cooler and bent down to open it up. Grabbing the last beer from the box, she shook the ice off and stood up to full height.
"Let me get that for you." a smooth voice said. She found the bottle cap removed from her beer as she looked up to meet her hero. "The name is Randy Orton."
She shook her head in amusement and smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Orton." came her soft reply.
"I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting such a pretty girl like you." he charmed, his lips curling into an adorable smile which highlighted the deep, attractive laugh lines on his face.
She smiled in return, eliciting a light dimple on her left cheek. "I'm Claire, Mr. Orton. I work with the tech team." The way his body angled towards her spoke volumes of his interest. "I'll see you around? And thanks for getting the bottle cap for me."
She winked playfully and spun around to head back to the table, her body moving in a feminine, flirty gait. It sent the blood rushing through Randy's body as he let out a breath of anticipation. Her hair bounced about her shoulders like they called out to him. The predator knew what he wanted to get tonight. He watched her curvy figure walk devilishly away from his own and licked his lips. Young blood was sizzling tonight.
A quiet first chapter. The next will be more than lovely. See you soon, reader.
- iRocka