For going through what was considered by any rational person a traumatic event. Charlotte thought she was handling it rather well. A tweet of disgust at the douche nozzle that had hacked her, but not a hint of embarrassment or shame shown was the only response she gave and that she needed to give. She was in Europe to work, and this "scandal" would not get in the way of her doing her job and doing it exceedingly well.
For all of her external calm, Becky had been the exact opposite when she'd seen. She'd been infuriated on Charlotte's behalf, and while Charlotte told Becky it was okay and that she should calm down, there was something that felt good about watching her best friend flip a table over in anger for her. It felt nice to be cared about that deeply. However, the external calm was just that, external. On the inside she felt something clawing in her chest, trying to get out. Something that was dark and felt like it was leaving bloody gashes on the inside of her chest.
She felt violated. The invasion of privacy was almost all consuming of her thoughts and it dredged up years of dark thoughts with it. She already had some body image issues from her many years being lambasted on the Internet and during her high school and college years. She recognized that she had these issues with herself and worked to improve her thinking about it. In truth, that was part of the reason that the queen existed. It gave her confidence that she sorely needed at that point in her life, and while now she had Becky and Sami in her life to assure her that she was okay, it didn't go away overnight and it never went away completely, and this was not helping.
She had let Becky go on her rampage, and she'd gone out to wrestle with her in a tag match against Natalya and Tamina. She knew that those two didn't like her, but it threw her off when they'd teased her in the ring while they beat her down about something so personal. She knew the routine, she'd done it to others, but she'd kept personal stuff away the trash talk in the ring. When she was here, it was about being the best. Something like this happening to someone didn't affect them as a wrestler or their talent level, so why would she need to bring it up? She focused her trash talk on their in ring skills or the way they carried themselves in the back because that was all that really mattered around her.
Becky had tweaked something minorly in the match and had gone to get checked out in the trainer's area backstage. Charlotte had to make her leave though, because Becky was a caring friend and would have let her leg fall off if it meant she could stay and make Charlotte feel better. Honestly, Charlotte didn't know if she could feel better anytime soon and while Becky's jokes and optimism had made her feel a little better throughout the day, there was only so much she could take before wanting to be alone with her thoughts and her internal misery. And there weren't going to be any people that she changed that for tonight.
"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes."
Well, maybe one person.
Charlotte sat bolt straight and snapped her head over to the door. Standing there, grinning like the fucking sun was Sami. She stood as quickly as she could and just about tackled him, not caring about how needy that made her seem. He'd been away so much recently, off in the Middle East promoting the company with the higher ups. They'd barely seen each other at Smackdown on Tuesday with her getting beat up before her match and his loss to those stupid Singh brothers.
She felt his arms surround her and squeeze, and just for a moment, she could forget about everything wrong about her life right now. Sami always seemed to have that effect on her and that's one of the many reasons that she loved him. It was that passing thought of love that made her recoil from him, backing up across the room. Sami frowned and took a step closer to her but she shook her head, hoping to keep him away. He stopped and held his hands up. "Charlotte?"
"I know, you're probably mad at me, I'm so sorry Sami, I-"
"Whoa, whoa. Why am I mad?" He tilted his head in a genuinely confused way and allowed her the time and space to get her thoughts together.
"You had to have heard about it by now." She hoped beyond hope that someone had told Sami. She couldn't tell the love of her life about this thing. She didn't know what to say about it.
"About the pictures? Why would I be mad at you about that? It's a horrible thing that happened, and yeah, I'll Helluva Kick the guy that did it if you leave any part of his carcass for me to hit since obviously, you get first dibs, but you didn't do anything wrong."
Charlotte barely registered that he had stepped closer to her, because all of her internal panic and sadness had now been uncorked and she couldn't hold it in the presence of Sami, someone who she could really be herself around. "But I'm your girlfriend and now everyone's seen…"
Sami huffed, "Just because I'm your boyfriend doesn't mean I own exclusive rights to your body, Charlotte. I mean, I quite enjoy it, obviously, don't get me wrong," She felt a pleasant little heart flutter at that, "but it's your body. I'm angry on your behalf, not at you."
He had stepped closer still, only at arms length now. "You really aren't angry?"
"At you? Never. I love you, Charlotte and this changes nothing." He gave her that crooked little smile that she fell in love with and opened his arms for her, not closing that distance and letting her do it. She took the opportunity and launched back into his arms, tears stinging in her eyes. She burrowed her face into his neck and felt the stress leave her shoulders as she got it all out; no more internalizing. She wasn't magically cured from all the sad, angry, and violated feelings, but she definitely felt better.
Thinking about it now, maybe part of her was simply scared this would be the last straw for Sami. She was so tough to put up with, though Sami had never admitted it. Her regal attitude was grating, her focus on her job was absolute, and getting affection out of her was like pulling teeth. He had to put up with so much, and maybe this would have been the thing to finally send him running.
He pressed her closer, kissing the top of her head as she silently cried in his arms and she heard him rumble out softly into her hair. "For what it's worth, you probably looked damn good in those pictures."
Charlotte felt herself let out a wet laugh and pull back from the embrace enough to look up at him. "I love you. We are gonna get through this."
He smiled and leaned down to kiss her lips in a tender way that only he could. "I love you too and I'm here for whatever you need, even if it's to shut up and just be here. You're Charlotte freaking Flair. You are gonna get through this like you do with every other tough thing you've gone through and you've got me no matter what."
He was right. Maybe it was tough right now, but Charlotte had great friends, a great boyfriend who loved her, and a job she lived for. This was nothing a queen couldn't handle, though she was glad she didn't have to do it alone.
