"What are you working on?"
"A storyline."
"Am I involved?"
"God, no." Ariel read over the script. "I want it to be good."
Ariel read over the lines she wrote out for the wrestlers. The dialogue was simple but it didn't mean the most basic wrestler wouldn't mess it up. Wrestlers would complain about their wardrobe and their matches, being very vocal about their concerns. Yet, when it came to saying a simple phrase like, 'Hey, what's wrong?,' the wrestlers were stammering and blubbering their lines left and right. No one ever said wrestlers were great actors, Ariel smirked, Commando Nanny, anyone?
When Ariel was a little girl, she had an epiphany. One day while dressed up in her mother's clothing and high heels, she went to her father's home office. Her father was an account executive for a pharmaceutical company and often had clients over. Ariel climbed onto her father's chair, put her feet on the desk, and pretended to be brokering a major deal. It was when she knew, she wanted to have power.
Ariel joined the WWE back in 1998, fresh out of college. When she first arrived, she was a bubbly brunette with a can-do attitude. Over time, however, the peppiness disappeared as the seasoned veteran made its appearance. There were rumors on exactly how she acquired her position of Executive Vice President of Creative Writing. One rumor was Ariel made her name known through her internship and working her way up the corporate ladder.
The other rumor was Ariel was not chaste and used her sexuality to gain crucial contacts within the entertainment industry, which made her a shining star in Vince McMahon's eyes. While it was never proven, it was highly rumored that Ariel slept with the top movers and shakers—something Ariel did not necessarily deny.
Adjusting her vision, Ariel stretched as she looked over the storyline she was working on. She wanted to move but was wrapped tight in a bear-hug embrace by Dave. Another city. Another long-distance trip. Another day Ariel would wake up and not remember exactly where she is. She was comforted by the fact she was waking up next to one of the sexiest men in the world.
But she wasn't comforted by the strict time schedule. She had to be at the arena at the same time the wrestlers had to, if not earlier. Being part of creative meant she often had to travel with the shows. It wasn't quite what she signed up for. But then again, nothing that has happened with her life was what she signed up for.
Dave got up from bed and joined his girlfriend at the desk. He met Ariel five years ago when he first came to the WWE. At the time, he was married and Ariel was very much involved with Jeff. Yet, Dave and Ariel bonded in a major way. They often hung out after shows and they called each other. It wasn't anything extraordinary for Ariel was friends with several wrestlers. But when Dave's ex-wife filed for divorce, rumors circulated Ariel—along with Melina—was the catalyst. Neither party denied or confirmed the rumor.
"Come to bed, Ari." He whispered. Brushing her brown locks away, Dave rested his chin on her right shoulder.
"I'm almost done, Lover." Ariel held up two pages of script to her view. She made quick glances from side to side, double-checking for accuracy.
Dave picked up the sheets and set them down on the nearby table. "I think you're done now." He got up and grabbed Ariel's hand. He led her to the bed and she reluctantly laid down with him.
"I wasn't done, David." She protested.
"Yeah, you were." He pulled her close to him. He caressed her soft skin and kissed her forehead. The pair had been building their new relationship for several weeks, yet they have yet to consummate the relationship. "Are you able to come with me this weekend?"
"Of course, I will." She softly kissed him. "I love traveling with you." She then hesitated. "Um…what about—"
"Rebecca's cool. She knows about you."
"I wasn't referring to Rebecca, David." She said.
Dave knew who Ariel was referring to. It wasn't his ex-wife but rather, his most recent serious relationship. "She'll be fine, too."
"I'm not too sure about that."
"She won't do anything, Ari." Dave assured. "She'll be fine."
"She hates me, doesn't she?"
"Probably." Dave shrugged. "I think she hates me more."
Ariel wrapped her left leg around Dave's waist. "Is us being together a good idea?"
Dave caressed Ariel's leg, dancing his fingers along her toned leg. "Since when did you care about what other people thought?"
"Since both of our exes work for the company."
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The following Monday, Ariel arrived at Raw. After a meeting with the creative team, she went to look for Jeff. Whenever Ariel traveled with Dave, she always overcompensated her feelings of guilt by spending as much time with Jeff as possible. While Ariel thought she was being smooth about what she was doing, her actions were transparent to Jeff.
"How was your weekend, Ari?" He asked as they walked to a dressing room.
"It was good. I did a lot of script writing for the shows and I think the storylines are going to be great within the next few weeks."
"So you and Dave are getting serious?" Jeff asked.
Of course you would ask about me and Dave. Why would you care about a storyline? "Depends on your definition of serious." Ariel replied.
"Ari, stop it."
"What?"
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"I'll ask you a simple yes or no question and you give me a bullshit response."
"I asked you what your definition of serious was, Jeffrey." Ariel shrugged as she casually walked to her office. "How you interpreted what I said is no doing on my part."
Jeff let out a sharp breath. Ariel was beating around the bush as she always did in the past. If the analogy of being caught with a hand in the cookie jar was applicable to any situation, Ariel not being straight forward with her ex-boyfriend was it. "You're impossible."
"Fine, if you want to know, Dave and I aren't getting married." Ariel said out of frustration. She was irritated she had to explain her private life to someone who had no business knowing what she was doing. "We're not going to live together. There. Is that sufficient?"
"Do you love him?"
"What?"
"You love him, don't you?"
"I like him a lot." Ariel tightly shut her eyes and braced herself for a verbal lashing. "I see a future with us."
Jeff let out a silent breath. "That's all I needed to know."
Jeff sounded defeated and Ariel was feeling guilty, for reasons she couldn't quite comprehend at the moment. "Jeff, don't…"
"Ariel, do you remember what happened at all last month? Do you?"
Ariel closed her eyes as she remembered what happened when she visited her "children"—the eight dogs her and Jeff had together. Upon their split, they both agreed to share custody of the dogs. Since Ariel lived in New York, she agreed to keep the dogs at Jeff's home and flew down once a month to see her children. However, the visits were never platonic. The former couple always spent hours talking and catching up with each other. They went on long walks with their dogs, talking about anything from the moon and the stars to the latest episode of Dr. Phil.
But when it came time to go to bed, there was never a doubt that Ariel ended up in Jeff's bed. Yet, they always ended up in bed in each other. The most recent occurrence was just a few weeks prior—when Ariel was beginning to date Dave.
"Jeff, now is not the time nor the place…"
"Until you'll avoid it as much as possible?" He wondered. Jeff held his head down. He pinched the bridge of his nose. He wished he didn't have any feelings towards her. He wished he could forget what happened and move on. But he couldn't and he wouldn't. Ariel still pulled him in despite they have been broken up for three years. It would be so damn easier if she didn't work for the fuckin' company! He shook his head and gave an uncomfortable grin. "Yeah, we didn't have sex or mess around but you were in my bed that night. Don't you see what you're doing?"
"Jeff, please…"
"No, forget it, Ari. I gotta go." He quickly left.
Ariel stared at her ex-boyfriend. How is this shit my fault now?
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Jeff walked into the sound booth. He grabbed a steel chair and sat across from the graphic designer. Determination and anger were plastered on his face and his arms were folded. "I need your help."
"With?"
"I need to know every little thing about Ariel and Dave."
"And you think I would know this, how?"
"You're Dave's ex-girlfriend, right? You were his best friend for five years. I'm sure you know something."
Rachel Schaffer glanced at the man beside her. When Jeff meant business, he didn't have time for childhood games. "Why do you care?"
Jeff motioned at the screen before Rachel. Glaring back at them was a still frame of Dave walking to the ring. Dave and Rachel dated for a year before they abruptly broke up, due to her affair with her best friend, Randy Orton. There wasn't a question as to whether Rachel was still in love with Dave. "Because you do."
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Author's Note: Oh yeah, just in case you couldn't tell, this story is a continuation of Choices. This takes place during the off-time that Rae and Dave weren't together.
Surprise!
