Chapter 2
The Invitation
Letting out a soft sigh, Brad stared at his drink he just got from the girl from the catering.
The show was nearly heading to its end, but for him, everything had come to an end. Tonight was the last time he would appear on live TV; according to the story line he was in, he was fired by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, thus writing him out of the story line. So that meant he was automatically stripped from his title of General Manager.
Letting out a soft groan, Brad touched his painful throat. Oh man, he got fired in possibly the harshest way ever; getting chokeslammed by Kane.
Brad knew this was going to happen, he was told all about it by Vince. And yet he felt like total crap. He knew why. For his entire life, his only dream was to join the WWE and become the next big thing. He wanted to be WWE Champion, Intercontinental Champion, heck, maybe even Tag Team Champion if it had to be like that. Before he was sent to the main roster to become a referee, he had won a couple of titles in the developmental territory. Back then, he felt like he was going to be the next big thing, a Hall of Famer maybe!
But from the moment they turned him into a referee, his dreams were put to the test. And as time went on, he could give up on his dreams of ever becoming a big hit. And now those chances were completely wasted.
Immediately after the firing, Brad went to the backstage cafeteria. He felt like shit, he needed a drink. But unfortunately, WWE didn't allow the catering to give the wrestlers beer during the show. They could only drink alcoholic drinks after the show, at the hotel. Brad decided to only drink beer when he was at the hotel. For now, he would only have a cola. He was all alone in the cafeteria; apparently the other wrestlers had something better to do than drinking their misery away. No, some of them were having great matches, John Cena and Rob van Dam were probably on their way to their future spot in the Hall of Fame, for fuck's sake! Brad envied those men.
Brad took another sip of his cola. So this was it, then. This was his career in the WWE. Becoming a referee, enter a short story line, have shitty matches, become General Manager, enter another story line, than become fired. Here you have it, ladies and gentlemen; the WWE career of Brad Maddox. Now Brad was wondering how long it would last until they would fire him for real. If they had nothing left for him anymore, than he could kiss his career goodbye. Maybe he would have more success in the indies... Brad let out another soft sigh and stared at ceiling, unsure of how his future was going to look like now.
Suddenly, he heard a crowd cheering in the distance. But it wasn't the audience attending the show... Brad groaned in annoyance. 'Are you kidding me...?' Just when things couldn't get any worse.
The cheering got louder and louder and just like Brad was afraid of, Adam Rose's rosebuds walked into the cafeteria, chanting Adam's tune from his theme song. And to make matters only worse, the ringleader himself was there too. He was wearing a dark red top hat and a pair of white goggles with red lenses, resembling Willy Wonka from 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. And of course, he had his trademark lollipop in his mouth. Brad shook his head in disbelief and looked away.
This morning, during breakfast, Brad thought he had finally found the answer to all his questions that had been bothering him. That answer would solve everything. He was straight, for a hundred percent. This was like just the phase in his puberty, it would all go away with time. He had absolutely no crush on Adam Rose, those dreams he had lately meant nothing. It was all just another phase! There was nothing going on, he was straight like a damn stick, case closed.
'Hey, Kathy!' Adam said to the catering girl while taking his goggles off. 'Can you give all of us some soda? They're all thirsty of partying!'
'S-sure...' the catering girl bit her lower lip when she checked out the group. There were fifteen of them... oh boy, she wondered if she had enough soda for everyone. Despite everything, Brad sniggered at the sight. She was slightly panicked, she had a lot to serve. Giving all them a drink would be quite a handful.
When the catering girl was finally done giving all the drinks (luckily she had enough soda), the group of rosebuds settled down at one of the tables in the cafeteria. They talked loudly, even Brad couldn't make up what they were talking about, it was just a whole lot of conversations with a different subject. It looked like they were cracking jokes too, they often burst into laughter. So far they hadn't noticed Brad, he was quite pleased with that. Even if he felt like crap, he had no intention to talk to them. Brad hoped he would remain invisible for them for the rest of the night.
'Hey, isn't that Brad Maddox?' one of the rosebuds suddenly asked.
Brad was taking another sip of his cola when he heard that question. He could feel his blood rushing to his head and nearly choked on his drink. 'Damn... this can't be happening...' he thought, hoping nobody would respond to that question and continue with whatever they were talking about. But no, they didn't ignore that question. Brad could feel their eyes turn to him, he just wanted to disappear in thin air.
'Yup, that's him.'
'Have you seen it tonight? Kane chokeslammed the crap out of him!'
'Yeah, I have seen it. I'd hate to be that guy...'
'I guess that's what you get for being such a lemon.'
'That was a little bit uncalled for, you know...'
'He looks so sad...'
'Let's see if I can cheer him up.' a familiar voice suddenly said. Brad recognized that voice from earlier... that was Adam's voice. He could hear him getting up from his chair and walking towards him; he could feel his heartbeat raising. Damn it, why now? Why, at this moment? Now he started to feel more miserable than he did before. Adam sat down next to him, but Brad forced himself not to look at him. Instead, he focused his sight on his drink. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
'You alright there, Braddy?' the party animal asked.
Braddy. He had also called him like that during that little incident a while back. Ugh, it sounded degrading... Brad didn't like it one bit. He also called him like that during the last dream he had... it send a shiver down his spine.
'Yeah, I'm fine.' he mumbled, moving away from Adam's hand. 'Now please leave.'
Adam chuckled. 'That doesn't really sound like somebody who is alright, you know.' he said. 'Now tell me Braddy, what's really wrong with you?'
'Don't call me 'Braddy!'' Brad suddenly snarled. He was already getting sick of it, he hated to be called like that. Because of this, he broke his focus on his drinks and was now glaring at Adam. The party animal seemed unfazed by the angry outburst. He gave Brad a gentle smile. Brad wondered why he was smiling; was he mocking him?
'A little cranky, aren't we?' Adam asked. 'Come on now, don't be such a lemon...'
'Leave me alone...' Brad groaned, rubbing his temples. He could feel a headache coming up.
'We need to get the lemon out of you, buddy. And I just know how.'
'I don't need your help, alright? I'm fine, I'm completely fine!' Brad just wanted to be alone now, he didn't want Adam to cheer him up. He would sort this out by himself, not some careless idiot who reeked of strawberries and alcohol.
But Adam was completely oblivious by all of this. Instead, he put his hand in the pocket of his vest, as if he was searching for something, which he did. He pulled something out his pocket and laid it down on the table, right in front of Brad. The former General Manager frowned and picked it up. It was a small blue-greenish business card with Adam's logo on it.
'What's this for?' he asked, raising an eyebrow.
'If you ever want to go to a party of epic proportions...' Adam pointed at the business card. 'You know where to find me. 'The Exotic Express' will be on the parking lot of the hotel on... well, every day. Because every day is perfect for a party!' Upon hearing that, the rosebuds burst into a loud cheering fit, raising their drinks in the air.
Adam stood up from his seat. 'You think about it, Braddy. You're always welcome. But remember, don't be a lemon...' 'Be a rosebud!' the rosebuds cheered. Suddenly, Adam patted Brad on the shoulder. For a moment, he opened his mouth to shout at him not to do that, but he quickly shut it. The party animal was still smiling at him, it had something that caught his attention... This smile was sincere, it was... friendly. A little bit too friendly if you asked Brad. But now his eyes were catching his attention as well. They had a lovely shade of green, a warm shade. Brad had never seen such eyes before...
'Gotta go now, Braddy. See you around!' Adam turned around and walked back to his friends. 'Let's go, my lovely rosebuds!' Immediately, the rosebuds cheered once more. Following Adam, they left the cafeteria while chanting the tune of his theme song.
Brad was left all alone, with the business card and a slight red blush on his cheeks.
