9/9/15, Providence, Rhode Island…
"I'm sick of it, I'm sick of him burying us young talent trying to make a name for ourselves!"
It wasn't the first time 25 year old Amanda Cena had heard those words about her brother… there tended to be a lot of tension whenever there were storyline feuds involving John and anyone on the roster.
But as many times as she tried, she could never figure out why Kevin Owens was so bitter… it just drove her crazy trying to, Kevin had already had an accomplished career even before signing with WWE. Hell, she had no idea why Kevin was here tonight, he was already on the main roster.
"No one person is bigger than the company, than the industry… it's just gonna keep going and going and other stars are gonna carve their own paths to the top." Hunter said, trying to calm the former NXT Champion.
"I've worked my ass off for 15 years to get to the top, Hunter! Why are part timers like Cena still here, hell, why is his sister getting more opportunities and more attention than I am when she's burying the talent here too?!" Kevin shouts.
Before Hunter could respond, a small right hand with mossy green nail polish on its nails tapped Kevin's shoulder and Kevin turned and saw Amanda after she pulled the hood of her Balor Club hoodie down.
"I scratched, clawed and took every opportunity by its throat in the near decade I've been in this business and before you start about how the only way I did that was on my back, you don't know truth from garbage being spewed out of your mouth! And one more thing-" Amanda said in a low angry tone before her right foot connected once between Kevin's legs and her knee slammed into his ribcage before he was no longer standing at his full height. "You should listen to Hunter… no one is bigger than the business and no one is entitled to ANYTHING when they walk through that door! If you're really that bitter… you can just walk right out that door and not come back." She said, briefly shouting halfway through as Kevin sat down on a crate to catch his breath from how hard Amanda had hit him.
Hunter looked from Amanda to Kevin and then back to Amanda, cautiously resting his hands on the petite woman's shoulders.
"It's over now, Mandy… go calm down, okay?" Hunter said quietly, Amanda leaving.
She really hated when people dragged John's reputation down and treated her with disdain and animosity because of how they perceived him…
Present time…
Tequila shots weren't something she drank all that often but Amanda was in a rough mindset after earlier… and Finn and Bayley noticed that when they walked into the hotel bar.
And judging from how she was now, the two friends knew that she had been there for a while.
"Damn, she's gonna have a hellish hangover tomorrow." Bayley said quietly.
"I've got this, go catch up on some sleep." Finn responded.
"Are you sure? You've never dealt with a drunk Mandy before." Bayley answered.
"I've dealt with worse, go on." Finn said as they hugged for a few seconds, Bayley leaving before Finn walked over… one hand rested on the hand Amanda's glass was in, the other lightly running through her hair and she looked at him.
"I only wanted to stay for one… but everything just kept running through my mind." Amanda whispered in a raspy tone.
"We all get that sometimes… but calm yourself, okay? No more drinks tonight." Finn said, lightly pushing her hand down to place the glass back on the table.
"I let him get to me… I let him piss me off but Kevin had no right dragging my brother into this. Everyone's opportunities in this business, they reach us in our own time… I never got bitter about wasted time, neither did John. How did Sami stay friends with Kevin for so long?" Amanda says as tears trailed down her face, Finn sitting next to her. "Maybe things were just different when they were kids…" She said as the hand that was resting on her left one now rested on the side of her face.
Across the bar, a curious set of eyes were watching… the woman wasn't much younger than Amanda but neither seemed to notice her.
"I don't know, maybe there's just something about me that pisses people off…" Amanda whispered.
"Everyone else thinks that same thing, and to no one is it true. It's nothing about any of us that makes the others crazy, especially you if it's true about anyone." Finn said.
"Yeah… you're right." Amanda answered, trying to stand up but tripped, Finn catching her. "Damn tequila… I'm lucky my clothes are still on and… damn, I just said that out loud. Don't laugh, I might not remember any of this tomorrow." She said as she heard a slight chuckle from Finn when he started guiding her to the elevator.
"Were you crashing with anyone tonight?" Finn asked.
"With Sasha but she had plans to catch up with her fiance… I didn't want to be the third wheel tonight." Amanda answered as they were in the elevator and she held onto the railing and her phone rang, her grabbing it but Finn stopping her from answering the call and answering it himself.
"Now's not a good time." Finn said.
"Oh damn, is she drunk? What happened?" Dean asked.
"Owens shot his mouth off-" Finn said, stopping Amanda from hitting the buttons and Dean hearing her laugh drunkenly.
"Make them all light up like a Tardis! Let's go travelling through all of space and time." Amanda slurred as Finn held her close to him, his right arm secured around her back.
"Yeah, she's had one too many. You have plenty of Gatorade and Aspirin with you, right?" Dean questioned.
"Somewhere in my room, can't exactly remember where." Finn answered as he carefully dragged Amanda off of the elevator and into the fifth floor hallway. Him and Dean hung up and then he reached the room… when it opened, Samoa Joe was on the other side of the door.
"Damn… one of the kinds of liquor Mandy hasn't drank for a long time is tequila." Joe said as Finn helped Amanda onto the bed he was using and carefully took the room key from her hoodie pocket.
"I don't have the tolerance that I used to…" Amanda said quietly once she was on her left side and Joe took the key and left to get her things for her, Amanda haphazardly removing the hoodie she had on as Finn disappeared into the restroom and returned with a cold washcloth and the mini trash can… it wasn't long after that when Amanda threw up all the alcohol into it as Finn held her hair back, taking several deep breaths afterwards. She heard the sound of water running and saw Finn return, setting the rinsed out trash can nearby before the washcloth was back on her head.
In the hallway, Liviana had gotten off the elevator herself and disappeared into her own room for the night.
She had a feeling she would see those two tomorrow.