Chapter Two
'I hate long flights' Mark thought to himself as he shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. Even first class seating had a habit of being scratchy and unbearable. He adjusted the seat back and pressed play on his MP3 player, he looked at the little music player. Rose had got him it as a christmas present, she told him how he thought he would like it as it gave him something to listen to while he was traveling. He continued reading his book, the picture of rose peaked out from beneath his book. He couldn't stop himself from looking at it and eventually he gave up on reading and picked it up. He remembered the party and how much fun it had been. He still felt a nagging sense of guilt about leaving but he knew she would enjoy watching him on tv. He took comfort in it, smiling and realised that he was entranced as the hostess tried to get his attention.
A few short hours later, he was reunited with his other family, his fellow superstars. He knew he had friendship, respect and memories with the people he worked with. As he sat with them in a bar, he felt confused, almost like he was coming home, but he still thought about his friends back in Houston.
After a few hours at the bar, he found out the show was due to air at 7PM. That meant that, if he wanted to get there with enough time to workout as well as his other pre-match rituals, he would have to arrive at 5PM.
He rode back to the hotel he was staying at, getting used to the fact that he was back and feeling his nervousness slip away as though the wind carried it from him while he rode along the highway. At last, he made it back to the hotel, his mind as clear as the starry night. He was admittedly still tired from the flight and made his way to his suite.
He went to the bedroom. Once he was inside, he closed the door and unceremoniously dropped his baggage, brought up by porter, near the door. Increasingly tired, Mark crawled onto the bed and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. He lay there on the bed, still feeling guilty about leaving Rose. He decided to call her and see how she was, in an effort to clear his conscience.
"Hello?" Ross answered. Mark shifted in the bed to get more comfortable.
"Hey, Ross, is Rose there?" Mark asked. Suddenly Ross seemed to gain a personality.
"Oh, hey, Mark, yeah she is. Hang on, I'll get her"
After a few minutes of boring waiting, Mark heard the phone rustle and listened to hear Rose.
"Rose Lewis speaking," she said in an almost business-like accent that made Mark chuckle.
"Hey, squirt," he said. Instantly he heard a gasp. "Recognise who this is"
"Mark"
"The one and only," Mark said, suddenly feeling much happier.
"What are you doing calling me? The show starts in like...four hours!"
"Just wanted to know how you're doing"
"I'm doing good," Rose said. "I miss you, though," she added. Mark sighed.
"I miss you too, squirt," he replied. He heard Rose scoff.
"Bigfoot," she retorted. Mark laughed. "So, what are you doing then, if you're not already at the Arena"
"Just chilling out in my hotel room," Mark said conversationally. He secretly wondered if Rose was thinking he would be doing something far less innocent. "You"
"Watching Erin Brockovich." Now it was Mark's turn to scoff.
"Ah, chick flick. The actress in that film is very nice"
"Hey, bigfoot, drool over Julia Roberts some other time," Rose giggled. Mark raised an eyebrow.
"Yes mother," he replied.
"Smartass," Rose responded. Mark knew she would be looking flustered at the other end of the line.
"Yeah, well you love me for it," he said, reaching over to the sideboard and grabbing one of the complementary mints.
"You're lucky I do," she replied, as Mark savaged the mint wrapper, downed the mint, and threw the wrapper away. He looked at the picture already on the sideboard. The one she had given him.
"Thanks for the picture, sis," he added, still looking at it.
"No problem, bro," she replied with a crude Brooklyn accent. "What are you doing tomorrow"
"Whatever the hell they need of me," Mark laughed. "I record the show tonight, then I find out where to go next"
"Well, when will you be back home?" Rose asked. Mark heard the imploring in her voice.
"I don't know, honey," he replied softly.
"Ok," Rose said in a small voice. "Hey, I think I should go now, you'll need your beauty sleep." Mark almost brought the mint back up.
"HEY! I'm always good lookin', don't you think?" He asked, faking innocence.
"I can't answer that," Rose answered exasperatedly.
"Why not?" Mark asked, chewing on another mint.
"You're my big brother," she answered. "It would be so gross"
"This is coming from the gil who thought that Sleepy Hollow was sexy," Mark replied. Rose gave a laugh.
"Hey, I never said that! I said it was SCARY," she replied. "They keep getting their heads chopped off"
"I've seen worse," said Mark blandly.
"That's because you're old," Rose joked.
"Oh, thanks," Mark said in mock indignation.
"Sorry, it was meant to be a joke," Rose replied, thinking she really had offended him.
"I know," Mark replied sympathetically. "I was just messing with you"
"MARK!" Rose replied, clicking on.
"Couldn't resist," Mark laughed. "You're too gullible"
"Actually..." Rose petered out, looking for a retort and finding none, "...that's true"
Mark laughed. "Well, I'd better let you go for the night"
"Ok then," Rose said, struggling to stop laughing. "I Miss you"
"I miss you too, sis. Sweet dreams," Mark said.
"Bye," Rose said. Then she hung up.
Mark twisted back onto his back and started to kick off his clothes. So this was it, back on the road. He took a look at the time. it was 4:20PM. It took him 40 minutes to get to the arena.
With an ungodly shock, Mark realised he needed to be there by 5PM.
"OH, SHIT!" Mark cursed, leaping out of bed.
