Chapter 2

Frustrations

Even when he was walking through the hallways, Cesaro didn't feel anything that came close to nervousness. He was confident about himself, there was no way he would chicken out when he would tell his true feelings to Natalya. The hallways were everything but empty; around every corner, there would be a wrestler, Diva or a staff member, chatting or preparing for an upcoming match. Cesaro saw many familiar faces, even a couple of friends, but unfortunately Natalya was nowhere to be seen. Where could she be? The Swiss looked around him, but he didn't see the oh so familiar face he loved so much. Cesaro's match wasn't up yet, so he wasn't in a hurry at all. Then, the Swiss had an idea of where the Hart Family Diva could possibly be; the cafeteria. But would it be the right thing to do to confess his love to her right there? Only if Tyson would be in the cafeteria with her, he had no choice but to halt his confession and tell it to her later, when she was alone. Telling it to her when Tyson was sitting right next to her would be a downright mistake; that bastard would never allow his wife near Cesaro for the rest of his career.

The Swiss headed towards the cafeteria, hoping she would be there. If so, the only possibility left would be that she was already wrestling in the ring. Getting closer to the cafeteria with every step, Cesaro tried to figure out how to tell her this revelation. He would confess it to her in a calm, mannered way; if he would rush it, it would look so rude and it would most likely upset her. How would she react to it? That was the thing Cesaro wondered most about. In the worst case scenario, she would reject his feelings, tell everything to Tyson and all hell would break loose afterwards. But what would've been more worse would be her leaving the WWE because of this. Of course the Swiss knew he shouldn't be only focusing on the worst case scenario; what if her reaction would be completely different? The best thing that could happen would be her telling Cesaro she had been hiding feelings for him as well. The Swiss couldn't help but smile at that thought, it would be just like something straight out of a dream... He and Natalya would continue their lives together, she would leave that piece of crap Tyson and she would move in with him and her three cats. Cesaro could already imagine it all, but he shouldn't celebrate right now.

First he had to make the confession, then he would receive the reaction.

Turning around the corner, the Swiss finally reached the cafeteria. 'Please, please let her be in here...' he softly murmured to himself. Entering the cafeteria, he found out, much to his relief, that it was practically empty. However, there was only one person sitting at a table... and that person made Cesaro's heart swell. It was Natalya, sipping on a bottle of water. She looked up and immediately noticed him, smiling from ear to ear. It was that smile that made Cesaro's world shine.

'Hey, Cesaro! Wanna join?' the Canadian Diva asked.

'Sure thing!' the wrestler answered with a slight German accent in his voice. He had practically perfected his English skills, but his accent would always stay. He walked over to the table and sat down next to Natalya. The Swiss tried not to grin like a complete idiot, sitting next to her made him so happy. And just like always, she was absolutely stunning. The make-up artist had done her best on her, but even if she wouldn't be wearing any make-up, she would still be beautiful. Natalya was already wearing her wrestling attire, which made her body look even more feminine. Cesaro wished he would ever be able to take a hold of her perfectly curved hips, pull her in for a hug and never let her go, but of course he wouldn't be doing that right now.

'How's everything holding up?' Natalya asked before taking another sip of her bottle of water.

'Ah, everything's been fine, nothing special actually.' Cesaro replied. 'I've been working out, training, you know me.'

Natalya chuckled and nodded.

'So, how have your cats been acting lately?'

'Oh, they have been angels!' Natalya said happily, her eyes slightly twinkling when the Swiss brought up her favorite subject. 'When I came downstairs after taking a shower, I spotted Louie sleeping in my designer bowls. It was just so adorable to watch, I have posted a photo of it on Twitter!'

Cesaro smiled and nodded, it was so good to see Natalya being so happy and forgetting about her difficult marriage.

'Do you want to see it?'

'Yeah, sure!'

The Canadian Diva picked up her cell phone from the table, looked for the photo and showed it to the Swiss. There he was, that little ball of fluff, sleeping in the expensive bowl without a single care in the world.

'Isn't it adorable?'

'It's very cute!' Actually, that was a little bit of a lie. Sure, Louie was cute, but Natalya... she was so much cuter.

'I can't wait to introduce my cats to you one of these days, I bet they will love you!' Natalya chuckled again, she could already imagine Cesaro sitting on the couch in her home with the three cats napping on his lap. She hoped he would like them too.

This was it... this was the perfect moment. Cesaro stared at the entrance of the cafeteria for a little while, but luckily nobody else entered. They were all alone, nobody who would disturb them, not even Tyson. Just then, the Swiss could feel the nervousness creep up for a little bit. This was going to be big, but he refused to hold back his feelings for Natalya any longer. He took a deep breath and breathed out.

'Nattie... can I tell you something?'

'Well yeah, of course. What is it?'

Natalya looked at him with that sweet smile on her face, it was impossible to turn back now. He had to tell her... the woman he loved so much.

'As you know, ever since I'm in a tag team with Tyson, we have been hanging around together. And... I really enjoy being around you, I really do. You make me feel happy when you talk about your cats or something else, you make me laugh every time when you make a joke. But lately... I have been developing certain feelings.' Cesaro looked Natalya straight in the eyes, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he was about to let the confession roll over his tongue.

This was the moment.

'I love you, Natalya.'

Silence.

Complete silence.

It looked like Cesaro's words had to sink into the Canadian Diva's mind. As if she had been slapped in the face, Natalya's smile almost immediately disappeared from her face. Her eyes widened with shock and rapidly blinked them; the twinkle she had in them was gone. She opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it, there were no words how to describe her feelings right now. Cesaro could feel his heart sinking to his feet.

'Wha... Cesaro... I... What... I...' She had absolutely no idea what to say. 'I... I have to go.'

Natalya immediately got up and picked up her cell phone, leaving her water bottle behind. Without even looking at the Swiss, she practically ran past him and exited the cafeteria with her face expressing complete confusion.

How long had he been sitting here? Five minutes? Thirty minutes? Cesaro didn't know, it felt like time had stood still when he was left all alone in the cafeteria, frozen in pure shock. Dear God... what was he going to do now? He would never forget the look on Natalya's face, he had never seen her like that before. And that was all because of him... What was she doing now? Was she searching for Tyson to tell him all about it? There was no point in sitting here and wondering what was going to happen next; he had to go find her!

With his heart beating like a jackhammer and a sickening feeling in his gut, Cesaro got up from his seat and left the cafeteria. Damn it, why did it have to be like this? If he would find Natalya, the Swiss would apologize to her for startling her that badly; hopefully she would forgive him for all of this and they could pretend none of this had ever happened, but it certainly would leave an awkward mark on their friendship...

Look around him, Cesaro could feel his heart pounding in his head. The Canadian Diva was nowhere to be seen. Oh God, he hoped from the bottom of his heart she hadn't told Tyson yet. The Swiss had to try his best to not break into a panic frenzy in front of the other wrestlers, it was nearly impossible for him to remain calm. No matter how hard he searched, he didn't catch a glimpse from Natalya. Did she perhaps leave the stadium in her current state?

Cesaro looked up, spotting a big TV attached to a wall, displaying the current match that was airing live right now for everyone to see. His heart cringed from relief when he saw Natalya was currently having a match with Alicia Fox. Thank God, she was still inside the stadium... The Swiss decided he would wait after the match would end; only then he would confront Natalya. What was going on through her head right now? Cesaro saw that despite the shock, she was still able to concentrate. Time seemed to crawl by, but eventually the match came to an end with Natalya as the winner. She smiled and cheered when she had claimed her victory, but without any doubt, the smile was fake; her mind was a complete mess right now. When she exited the ring and headed towards the ramp, Cesaro wasted no time and ran towards the hallway that would lead to the entrance of the ramp. There he waited for her, still trying to remain calm for what was going to happen next. Now the confrontation could go either bad, or there would still be a chance things were going to be alright.

The huge black curtain moved and Natalya appeared; the happy expression she had in the ring earlier was no replaced with an indignant scowl. She immediately spotted Cesaro, before the Swiss could say anything she abruptly interrupted him.

'Come with me. Right now.' she said in a clipped tone.

Cesaro nodded and followed her through the hallway. Thank God he hadn't seen Tyson anywhere, or else things might've became even worse. What was she going to say now? Judging by the tone in her voice and the look on her face, it looked like she wasn't pleased with the confession the Swiss had made at all. Would this night forever ruin their friendship...?

When they were out of sight of the other wrestlers, Natalya turned around and glared right at Cesaro.

'What the hell was that all about?' she asked indignantly. 'Why would you say something like that to me?!'

Cesaro had expected the reaction to be like that, but even then, he tried to remain as calm as possible.

'Nattie... I understand you are startled, and I'm very sorry for that. But you should know that my feelings for you are real.'

'Look Cesaro, your feelings for me might be real and all, but I am married, remember? I... I can't love you.'

'Why?' The Swiss didn't understand. 'You can love a man that treats you like dirt, but you can't love a man who truly cares about you?'

'Hey! Watch it, you!' Natalya replied angrily. 'Don't you dare to talk about Tyson like that!'

'I'm telling the truth, Nattie! When was the last time he ever treated you right? I have been hiding my feelings for you for so long, I have kept my mouth shut for long enough. Watching you being so miserable because of him broke my heart!'

'You don't know anything, alright?!' Natalya's anger only increased more and more. 'What do you know about my marriage? You are not even married, so why would you mind my business?!'

'Because I care about you, damn it!' Now Cesaro had started shouting too. 'Why can't you see that? Tyson is a worthless husband, and you know that! Face it Natalya, your relationship with him is a complete disaster!'

'Are you trying to destroy my marriage?!'

'I am not the one destroying it, Tyson is!'

'You know what, Cesaro? I'm done, I'm so done talking with you. Get out of my sight, I don't want to see you for the rest of the night! Just go away!'

Then Natalya turned around and walked away from the Swiss, seething with anger. But she wasn't the only one who was angered; Cesaro walked away as well and headed towards the locker room. He felt like punching somebody, he was that infuriated. God damn it, how could Natalya be so blind?! And then she had the guts of blaming him of trying to destroy her marriage! It was too much, way too much. He couldn't think straight anymore, he was that angry. Cesaro finally reached the locker room, where he planned to cool off.

He slammed the door behind him so hard that a few tiny cracks emerged from the door post.