Chapter 2

"I can't stay long…" Scott said, slightly bewildered by the woman's apparent recognition of him.

"Oh…what a shame…" Michelle said sarcastically under her breath as she closed the door. She'd thought she'd said it quiet enough until she turned around and saw the man's slight scowl and Colleen's flabbergasted expression. Michelle forced a semi-polite smile as she walked over to where they stood.

"Please, have a seat…have a slice of cake!" Colleen said, ushering him into their kitchen, almost knocking him into the chair. When Colleen was excited she sometimes came off a little overbearing. Michelle rolled her eyes, trying not to giggle at her friends antics. She didn't understand her infatuation with wrestling. In Michelle's opinion, it was just an excuse for straight men to act gay and rub up against each other. As she walked into the kitchen behind them, she saw this Scott Hall glace at her. She purposefully avoided eye contact, sitting in the farthest chair away from him.

Colleen set down plates of her most scrumptious, decadent caramel striped fudge cake in front of everyone.

"Don't be shy…it's really good." Colleen said, taking a bite of her own slice.

"It really is," Michelle said in support, but all she could see on her plate in front of her was 3000 calories. She took sparingly little bites to appease Colleen. Scott smiled slightly and took a large bite.

"Mmm, that is good…been a long time since I had a good piece of cake." He said, looking directly at Michelle. She looked back at him, not amused. Who did this jerk think he was? Maybe in wrestleland, women fell for his blunt corny lines, but it was not going to work here. She glanced and Colleen, a warning look in her eyes.

"Mr. Hall…" Colleen began.

"Scott's fine…" He said taking another large bite.

Okay then…Scott…" Colleen said, slightly giddy, "You said you were Cody's dad. I just want to let you know how much of a help he was today…" She said smiling dreamily at him. He smirked as he looked down at his cake, cutting another piece. Michelle rolled her eyes, now taking large bites of her own, her annoyance taking over her resolve to not consume the entire confection.

"I'm protective over my kids…I don't want them ending up like some of these other guys in the biz, I keep close tabs on him and what he does. I know you all just moved here, so I don't know anything about you. I just wanna make sure Cody's not gonna get screwed over by some shady business dealers." Scott said, taking a last bite of his cake.

Colleen looked worriedly at Michelle who was staring daggers at Scott, who was oblivious. She knew she'd better intervene, or Scott was going to have a very angry Michelle attack him from across the table.

"I promise, Scott, we are on the up and up, we've got all necessary licenses and permits, we've even already set up our tax forms in case we did hire somebody, paying under the table doesn't usually work well for us. Michelle was just working on setting up his pay scale and taxation earlier this evening." Colleen said, looking at Michelle hopefully.

"Yeah, we aren't in the business of screwing people over…we leave that for other professions." Michelle said, going back to eating her cake, purposefully ignoring Scott's glare. Colleen was beginning to panic. This was not going well, Michelle had better cool it or they were going to lose a good worker. She had to admit, Michelle had a great mind for business, but she could also be a hot head with did not work as an advantage for her.

"That's good to know." Scott said, ignoring his own anger beginning to bubble, he looked back at Colleen, "I don't want you ladies to feel like you can't come to me about any of his problems either. If he starts slacking or doing a shitty job, don be afraid to let me know."

"Oh I doubt, that'll be a problem, he seems like such a good kid, he was really respectful towards us. I'm sure we won't have any problems." Colleen said reassuring them.

"Well, it's getting late, I'll let you two ladies get some sleep. Cody was telling me you'd be getting started early in the morning. I also promised my friend Mark I'd meet him at the airport early in the morning, pick him up. He lives just down the street from you…I'm sure you'll meet him." Scott said standing. Colleen stood also. Michelle rose after the other two left the room. She followed reluctantly, her arms crossed.

"Well, it's nice to see someone who's so concerned about their kids, I promise there is really nothing to worry about." Colleen said smiling at the big man. He nodded at her and looked over at Michelle. His eyes started at her tapping foot and traveled up her long legs, over her curves to her semi-scowling face. He smirking nodding at her also.

"Good night ladies." He said walking out the door.

"Good night, nice to meet you again!" Colleen called out the door. She closed the door and looked back. Michelle had gone back to the kitchen. She walked in to find her starting on another piece of cake.

"What the fuck?" Colleen said, her arms up in the air.

"What?" Michelle said, her mouth full of chocolate.

"It's not a real good idea to insult the father of your new best worker, remember, we were trying to get his approval?" Colleen said, sitting down again, next to Michelle.

"Well I don't know about you, but I don't need some dumbass, steroid pushing muscle man's approval." Michelle said, stuffing another bite in her mouth.

"Okay, listen I know your position on wrestling…but that's no reason to attack someone!" Colleen said, leaning her elbows on the table.

"Okay, okay, you're right…I know, I let my hot head get in the way sometimes…if he comes back I promise to be more cordial…which means I'll probably have to stay in my room." Michelle said, smirking at her friend. Colleen smiled back. Michelle's humor could always make her smile. It was then she noticed how unaware Michelle was at how much she'd just eaten.

"He got to you didn't he?" She said with a knowing smile.

"Got to me?" Michelle said, incredulously, "What would make you say that?"

"Well it could be the fact that you got so upset or the fact that you have just eaten half of my belt-line busting dessert." Colleen said pointing at Michelle's once again empty plate. Michelle looked down, looking more shocked than Colleen. She didn't know what made her madder, the fact that maybe indeed a man did get to her, or the fact that she just consumed 10000 calories.

"That reminds me," Michelle said, taking her plate to the dishwasher, "We need to find a gym."

Colleen just rolled her eyes, laughing.

The next morning, Colleen's alarm went off at exactly 5:30 AM. She angrily hit the snooze button rolling over. It was too damn early to get up. She lay their contemplating the pros and cons of sleeping in, eventually rising when the snooze alarm began blaring again. She had to admit, working this early before the sun came up in full force was much more comfortable than working in the heat of the day which in Florida was like being baked in an over. Baked. Cinnamon rolls sounded good.

She hopped in the shower, quickly washing and plodded to the kitchen in her robe. She quickly whipped together her ingredients, placing them in the over. She dressed, her mouth already drooling at the savory smells wafting through the house. She slipped on flip flops, heading out the sliding door. She looked in Michelle's seeing no lights on.

"Lazy bones…" She muttered smiling. Michelle, no matter what it was for was a terrible riser. She would hang on to sleep for dear life until the last possible second. She knocked on the door, but after a few moments, retreated back to her side, grabbing her keys. If Michelle wanted to be stubborn, she was going to have to deal with Colleen being relentless.

She let herself in Michelle's door, calling out for her.

"Michelle, you up yet?" She yelled in the dormant house. Nothing.

She walked down the hallway to her bedroom. She peeked in. Michelle was splayed across the bed, obviously deaf to the alarm buzzing on her bedside table. She smiled as she took a slight running start and jumped on the free spot on the bed, jarring Michelle awake.

"What the f-" Michelle started, her sleepy eyes recognizing Colleen. She rubbed her eyes, lying back down, "I was getting up…" She said yawning.

"Yeah, right…now get your lazy ass up…I got cinnamon rolls baking then we need to get to work…it's already 80 out….better get a move on." Colleen said, shaking Michelle so she couldn't go back to sleep.

"Fine, fine, I'm up!" She said finally rising, dragging her feet to her bathroom. The light burned her corneas, but she persisted, letting the water from the shower wake her. She dressed in a black tank top and cut off jean shorts. She tied he low rise nikes and went out her sliding door. Colleen was already sitting, picking pieces of a cinnamon roll, devouring them. Michelle was glad to see a steaming pot of coffee on their patio table. She poured herself a huge cup and sat down, sipping the hot liquid.

"What, not going to gorge on sweets this morning?" Colleen teased her, waving a gooey cinnamon roll under her nose.

"I ate enough to last me a month last night." Michelle said, trying to ignore the tempting aroma, "Oh well, what the hell, I'll eat one." She said taking the roll, Colleen was holding out to her. She took dainty bites, hoping it would be enough to hold her over.

"Hey…I've been thinking…Scott said he had a friend Mark, didn't he?" Colleen said, looking at Michelle.

"I don't know, I didn't really listen too much to what he said…" Michelle said, unaware of the huge bite she just took. Colleen smiled…one meeting and she was already this affected…this ought to be interesting, "but ya know…I think he did…said something about a neighbor?" Michelle said, thinking back.

"You don't think…" Colleen said smiling, raising her eyebrows. Michelle didn't know much about wrestling, but what little she did know was about The Undertaker a.k.a. Mark Callaway. What irony that would be…he was Colleen's absolute dream…wouldn't it be something if they really were neighbors?

"I don't know…maybe we should stake out in his bushes and wait for him to come home." Michelle said.

"Okay, no need to be a smartass…" Colleen said, throwing a waded napkin at her, "But not an entirely bad idea…"

"What time is it?" Michelle asked changing the subject, after looking at her bare wrist…she needed a new watch.

"It's seven, what time does that place open?" Colleen said, referring to the high-end home improvement store they were going to.

"Eight, but I'm sure it's rush hour out there. We leave now, probably take us an hour to get there, at least, it's almost all the way across town." Michelle grumbled. She did not like the prospect of ending up in morning gridlock. But they told Cody not to show up till ten so they could pick out flooring, cabinets etc. It was tedious, but better to get done early.

"Who's driving?" Colleen asked, clearing the table, taking the dished back to her kitchen.

"I guess I will," Michelle said, disappearing into her house to grab her keys. The two met back out on the deck and headed down to their truck. They were usually conservative with their money, but they splurged when they had to get another truck for work. It was a Black Dodge Ram 3500. It could pull or haul anything they needed, not to mention they felt pretty invincible in it. In traffic, they had less problems in it. Most cars seemed to steer clear of the monster.

Most of the morning at the Expo center, a high end subsidiary of Home Depot, was spent arguing, but by the time they left they'd agreed on cherry wood cabinets and crown molding and slate tile for the kitchen and Maple for the wood flooring throughout. The appliances were easy, all stainless steel, and efficient…something they always agreed on. Michelle took Colleens wrist, checking her watch.

"Do you want to stop somewhere and pick up a watch?" Colleen teased, taking her arm back.

"Naw, not now, it's almost 9:30…we better step on it if we want to be at the house on time." Michelle said, insinuating her lead foot.

"Well, is that with a cop stop figured in, because this truck is going to be like a radar magnet…?" Colleen warned, making sure she strapped herself in securely.

"Yeah…but they gotta catch me first…" Michelle sang, peeling out of the parking lot.

"Oh hell, god help us…" Colleen said, hanging on the over head handle.

The arrived at the construction site 25 minutes later, happy to see the roofing crew was hard at work. They were still a little bit early, but hoped they hadn't missed Cody. They went inside to see if a drywall crew had started yet. It seemed they had starting the wall prep, but were long gone, leaving a large pile of wall guts in the middle of the kitchen.

"Of course it had to be the kitchen…they're coming by to measure for cabinets today…" Michelle said, rolling her eyes. She went to the front to grab a wheel barrow navigating it inside. The two women grab shovels and began transferring the mess to the wheel barrow. Colleen saw a car pull up outside.

"Well, someone's here." She said, laying her shovel against the wall. Michelle looked, but since the window was covered in plastic it was impossible to tell who it was. She sat her shovel down also, following Colleen out of the kitchen into the foyer. Colleen opened the door as two figures approached.

"Well hello again! Nice to see you both!" Colleen said, stepping aside from the doorway. Michelle frowned. Both? She'd expected Cody…but who was with him.

"Good to see you too, hope you don't mind, but Dad said he wanted to tag along today." She heard Cody say.

'No…' she thought, 'please say it isn't true…' But next after Cody, was Scott Hall, smirking at her as he nonchalantly checked her out.