Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: Wow, I didn't expect so much love for this story. Thanks! I'm excited to see I'm not the only one who thinks Jesse is awesome. Now, for this chapter, I'm going off of what he's said and what TNA has said about his training, as well as some things that were said on on Impact last night about Bubba Ray interviewing Jesse or whatever. If anything is wrong, I'm sorry, lol. Enjoy!
Disappointed, we left an hour later. I was unable to find Jesse and Madison told me he probably already headed home for the night. She explained he was one of the people who lived in the area and didn't need the hotel that many of the TNA stars stayed in while they taped Impact every few weeks. While Madison lived in Florida, she hated having to travel and often stayed in the hotel anyway, I knew.
We sat later that night on the hotel bed, Madison painting her toenails while I watched the TV. She had her phone in one hand, texting someone I couldn't see the name of with a smile on her face.
"Are you coming to watch the tapings with me tomorrow?" Madison asked, pushing her blonde hair from her face.
I looked up and nodded. "Yeah. Maybe I can actually enjoy what I'm watching instead of falling on my face and spending my time looking for you."
Madison smiled mischievously and nodded. "I'm sure you will." She looked at her toenails and then got up, grabbing her bag. "I'll see you in a little bit. Angelina wants to show me something in her room."
I nodded and leaned back on my bed, watching the TV. I didn't care if she left me alone for a while. At least if she wasn't there, I could dream about Jesse without having her ask me about him. As soon as she left the room though, I realized what she meant when she said 'I'm sure you will'. In my mind, I watched her on her phone, realizing the smile that usually meant she was up to no good. I sighed, knowing she was probably trying to play matchmaker.
After obsessing at this for a while, I got up and got into my laptop, deciding to look up more about Jesse Neal. Every time I tried to remember what happened on Impact, I didn't have much of a memory. Many fans always posted things online, so I was sure I could find something on him. I looked around for a while, finding several videos to watch. His first match wasn't very good, I noticed. I then clicked on a link that lead me to an article about the navy. That was right; he was a part of the navy at one time.
What I didn't realize though, was what happened when he was in the armed forces. As I read, I felt my eyes fill up with tears and I quickly pushed them away, determined not to cry. I often was known as the "crybaby" from my friends, as any movie or sad song could make me cry easily, more than anyone else. While I was often the joke and laughed at for it, I did happen to believe it made me a better person. The same friends that often laughed at me came for advice because I was sensitive and a good listener.
I continued reading Jesse's story and felt my heart ache for the guy. He was an inspiration to his family and friends and now an inspiration to me. I watched more videos, some of him wrestling in independent wrestling promotions, as well as a few videos he put up himself, laughing while he got a tattoo for the ship he was once on that took the life of his best friend.
I thought about life without Madison. While she loved to torment me at times, she was always there for me when I needed her. We didn't always get to see each other, sometimes for months on end, but she was always a phone call or a text away to listen. I couldn't imagine losing her as my best friend and sighed. I really felt bad for Jesse.
I put my laptop away and took some money from my bag, realizing how dry my throat had become from crying and watching videos. I remembered seeing a vending machine with soda down the hallway and thought it would feel amazing at that moment. After making sure I had my room key, I walked down the hallway, hearing little noise. It was nearly midnight, much to my surprise and many of the TNA stars had went to bed already, knowing there was another exhausting TNA taping the next day. I wondered where Madison was and if I should expect her any time soon. Something told me she went to party, something I wasn't crazy about and she knew.
"Leah, hey."
I jumped as someone put their hand on my shoulder, nearly feeling my heart jump into my dry throat as well. "God," I muttered, closing my eyes. "You scared me."
Jesse laughed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to. I saw you a few minutes ago and thought I'd see how you were feeling."
"Better," I told him. In fact, I forgot I had even hurt my back earlier, despite the fact I was thinking about Jesse constantly. He was looking at me and guiltily I looked away, as if he knew I had been crying. I didn't want him to ask me if I was okay, considering I wasn't the best liar either. "I won't ever be a wrestler obviously, though."
He laughed and gave me his great smile. "Yeah, I wouldn't ever try that."
"Don't plan on it," I told him, taking my soda as we walked away from my room. "What are you doing here?"
"I went driving for a while," he admitted. "I couldn't sleep. There wasn't anything on TV."
"I know," I agreed. "I don't know what I was watching with Madison earlier."
"I usually have movies with me," he explained. "I didn't remember tonight. I don't usually even stay in the hotel, but I don't feel like driving an hour until I'm home. The traffic here can be terrible and I'm just not in the mood."
"I live a few hours away. I thought it was pointless myself."
"Florida native, I see."
I smiled. "Yeah."
"Awesome."
We walked until we were standing in the entrance of the hotel, talking about things that were not very important. Jesse explained how TNA put him and Shannon Moore together. I told him that it was a good tag team, considering the similar images they both had. Jesse shrugged and nodded. "I'm on TV more than I was before and Shannon is a cool guy, so I don't mind."
"How long have you been wrestling for TNA?"
"I think a little over a year now," he said, closing his eyes as if to think back. "It feels as if I just started yesterday. I can still remember walking into Team 3D's wrestling academy and thinking this was going to be the start of my new life. It wasn't easy. I can remember walking in there and thinking, shit, Bubba Ray is going to kill me." I smiled. I knew that Bubba Ray of Team 3D could be a person you don't want to be on the bad side of. "And that was only the interview for the academy." His smile returned and I laughed. "He was really nice to me and told me if I was serious and I worked hard, I could really become something in the wrestling world."
"Wow," I murmured. "That's awesome."
"And today, wrestling for TNA. I love working here." He smiled. "It's hard sometimes, but I really love working here."
I didn't know what to say to him other than to smile. He seemed as if he really wanted to do something with what he learned. I remembered reading that article about his training and debut with the company, thinking about his best friend. While I didn't want to bring that up, I knew he must think about him every time he's in the ring. It didn't seem as if it was easy for him.
"What's your story?"
I looked up. "My story?"
"Yeah. Where did you meet Madison?"
Madison and I had been friends for a long time. We met at a wrestling show when I was barely twenty-one and she was eighteen. She explained that she was training to wrestle and showed me so tapes her training. She was living in Florida at the time even though she's not locally from here. I explained this to Jesse and he nodded. "You've never thought about wrestling before?"
I shrugged. "I like watching wrestling. I don't care to be in the ring though. I've watched it since I was little and I love it, but I just would rather watch."
Jesse nodded. "Where do you work?"
"I work at a gym currently. It makes me surprisingly good money. At least, it makes me enough that I can afford to see any wrestling show I want and let's me pay my rent." I offered him a smile. Even though I had a degree, I wasn't looking for a job that kept me at a desk or having to wear fancy clothing. I enjoyed working for six hours a day and could wear whatever I wanted to work as long as it wasn't distracting to any customers. I often saw wrestlers come into the gym I worked at and some of them even knew who I was.
"I might have to come to that gym sometime." He gave me a teasing smile and that time, I knew he was flirting with me.
I turned away for a second, trying to hide that I was blushing. When I looked at him again, I noticed his hair wasn't in a mohawk like last time. I smiled and motioned to his hair. "Where's the mohawk?"
"It's resting," he teased. "This is it's relaxed pose."
His humor was making me excited and I loved that I was learning more about him. I never expected to ruin into him when I went to get a soda and now didn't want to go back to my hotel room.
"What, you don't sleep with it?" I asked, continuing our little fun.
He laughed. "That would be uncomfortable."
"Probably," I agreed.
Jesse seemed to realize where were happened to be standing and raised his eyebrows. "It's getting pretty late. I should head back to my room. Shannon is probably wondering where the fuck I went. I told him I'd be back in less than an hour and I've probably been gone almost three."
"Yeah, Madison is probably back now. She was with Angelina before. I'll never hear the end of it if tells me I woke her up or something. She's crazy," I told him, rolling my eyes.
We began to walk toward the elevator and we said goodnight as he went onto another floor. As soon as I was alone, I couldn't help but smile and think I couldn't wait to see him tomorrow.
Tomorrow Madison is going to drive Leah to want to kill her, lol. REVIEW.
