Good reaction to the story so far. Keep reading and reviewing! I own Lucy, Leah, their family and friends. Everybody else belongs to themselves. xxx
Randy Orton tapped his fingers on the steering wheel of his truck as he drove the winding road ahead. The traffic had thinned out the further he got from the city, the brick buildings and bright lights giving way to trees and green fields as far as the eye could see. Even after everything he had endured earlier that day, the Missouri native could feel some of his stresses beginning to melt away as he made his escape from his troubles, at least for a few weeks. He could understand why Lucy had chosen to live away from the city. Although the strawberry blonde was friendly and by no means introverted, she was not the social butterfly that Leah was, and enjoyed life away from the hustle and bustle of St. Louis.
Randy had been to Lucy's house on three previous occasions, always with Leah. The house was warm and welcoming. It was neither too big nor too small, and the younger Winters sister had filled it with many handmade furnishings, giving a truly homely feel to the place. Her job and related skills as a seamstress meant that one room of the house had been transformed into her office of sorts, and was full of the tools of her trade, with sewing machines, dressmaker's mannequins, and rolls of fabric, as well as several drawers containing an assortment of pins and spools of thread.
As he pulled into the driveway of the two storey property, the WWE superstar honked the horn to signal his arrival, before turning off the engine and grabbing his suitcase. As he approached the house he was greeted at the porch by Lucy's two dogs, black Labrador Jace, and Dolly, a buff coloured Cocker Spaniel. Both wagged their tails excitedly at the visitor, sniffing both him and his suitcase with curiosity, only ceasing their investigation when called by their owner.
"Jace! Dolly! Leave him alone!"
Randy looked towards the door of the property and found Lucy leaning against the door frame. The woman was barefoot, dressed casually in jeans and a purple sweater, as opposed to the wedding finery she had sported earlier in the day. She was not usually one for dressing up, but her older sister's wedding had called for her to abandon her usual clothing in exchange for a teal coloured gown and strappy silver heels, along with a diamante hairclip. She was, after all, the maid of honour, although she had been unable to fulfil the role thanks to Leah's actions.
"Hey, how are you?" the Missouri native asked his host.
"I'm good. How are you feeling?" Lucy replied.
"Humiliated, confused, frustrated... but I do feel better for getting out of the city." Randy answered honestly.
"There is something calming about being out here." the strawberry blonde agreed.
"I'm glad you suggested it." Randy told her.
"Well, let me show you to your room." Lucy smiled, gesturing for the WWE superstar to enter the house.
Randy followed the strawberry blonde down the hallway and up the stairs, pausing at the first doorway, which Lucy informed him was the main bathroom, before continuing to the last doorway on the left. Opening the door and entering the room, Randy nodded approvingly, placing his suitcase down beside him. The room was average size, with hardwood floors and warm peach coloured walls. The room was well lit with natural light, thanks to the large window that took up most of the far wall. The view from the window was beautiful fields of green stretching out into the distance, while the window itself was framed by drapes, the pattern of which matched the bedding on the comfortable looking king size bed opposite.
"I hope this is ok for you." Lucy spoke from the doorway.
"It's perfect, thank you." Randy nodded, picking up his suitcase and placing it on the bed, ready to unpack.
"I'll leave you to get settled in. Just call me if you need anything." the woman smiled, before exiting the room and heading downstairs.
One he had finished unpacking, Randy took a quick shower, attempting to wash away some of the stresses that had befallen him that day. When he was done he dressed in a pair of navy sweatpants and one of his own t-shirts, an older design but one of his favourites from his Legend Killer days. Hearing his stomach growl, it occurred to the WWE superstar that he had not eaten all day. All he had managed was some French toast that John had assured him would ease his pre wedding nerves.
He found Lucy where he was expecting; hard at work in her sewing room. A pair of glasses perched on her nose as she carefully stitched a piece of red fabric, cursing under her breath when the needle pricked her finger. Placing the fabric down on the table, the strawberry blonde attempted to stem the small bleed with a tissue, before grabbing a Band Aid from one of her many drawers and wrapping it around the wounded digit. She glanced up at the clock on the wall, flinching a little when she realised there was a figure standing in the doorway.
"Randy, you startled me!"
"Sorry, didn't want to intrude. You looked kind of busy." he smiled apologetically.
"Just catching up on a couple of things. They should have been finished by now, only I've been busy with..." she trailed off and chewed nervously on her bottom lip.
"Leah's wedding dress." Randy finished.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned that." Lucy sighed.
"I'm sorry you put all that work in for nothing. I'm sure it looked beautiful." the WWE superstar told her.
He meant it too. The younger Winters sister was a talented seamstress, having studied fashion design and textiles at college, and working as a fashion intern before going freelance and working from home. Randy had mentioned once or twice that she should come and work for WWE. Tearing and damaging their ring attire was a regular occurrence for the wrestlers, given the array of athletic moves they showed off in the ring, meaning that the backstage seamstresses were always working hard. Plus, with her original designs, Lucy could have any number of wrestlers hiring her to create their ring attire.
"You know, if I had any idea where she was or why she left, I'd tell you." the strawberry blonde told him.
Randy raised a brow in surprise. "Really, why?"
"Because you're a good guy, Randy. Whatever reasons she had for doing what she did, you never deserved to be humiliated like that. I saw how hurt you were."
"I appreciate you saying that." the WWE superstar nodded.
"How about I fix us some dinner? I was planning on making lasagne tonight." Lucy stood up, hoping the change of subject would kill any awkwardness.
"Lasagne sounds great. Need any help?" Randy asked her.
"No, you're my guest. Just make yourself at home." the younger Winters sister replied.
Randy nodded and stepped aside to allow his host to leave the room. He exited the house and sat on the back porch, feeling the evening breeze and admiring the sunset on the horizon, before reaching into his right pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Placing a cigarette between his lips and lighting it, the man nicknamed the Viper leaned back and sighed. Reaching into his left pocket and pulling out his cell phone, the Missouri native braced himself for the inevitable missed calls and text messages. There were fourteen missed calls, mostly John and his parents, as well as twenty two text messages, ranging from concerned curiosity to thinly veiled pity. Nothing from Leah though, not one.
He hovered his thumb over the call button as he considered checking in with John, who had last seen him making a hurried exit from the church.
"Randy, where the hell have you been?" John asked his friend upon answering the call.
"I'm staying with a friend for a few weeks, until I can figure everything out." Randy replied.
"A friend? I thought I was a friend. You could have stayed with me." the Massachusetts native told him.
"I know, but I needed to be somewhere that I could avoid everybody asking questions that I can't answer."
"So, who are you staying with?" John asked, his voice brimming with curiosity.
"Lucy." Randy answered, exhaling a cloud of smoke.
"Lucy? As in Lucy Winters, your fiancée's sister?" the Massachusetts native exclaimed.
"Yeah, she lives away from the city, it's perfect." the Viper shrugged.
"Are you high? Don't you think it looks a bit suspicious, being jilted by Leah and then shacking up with her sister right away?"
"We're not shacking up. And nobody knows apart from you." Randy reasoned.
Randy had considered the implications of moving in with Lucy, even for a short time, but had ultimately decided that it was nobody's business. After all, the younger Winters sister had not long been broken up with her boyfriend, and he was in love with her sister, despite being jilted. Neither one of them had ever displayed any interest in the other. If he had felt they shared an ounce of chemistry he would have reconsidered staying there, not willing to cross that line. But truth be told, they were barely friends, let alone anything else.
"I don't know, that sounds like a recipe for disaster if you ask me." John sighed warily.
"Look man, I know you mean well, but I really think this is the best place for me right now."
The line was silent for a moment before the Massachusetts native replied, "Ok, just keep in touch, yeah?"
"Absolutely." replied the Missouri native, putting out his cigarette.
Randy hung up the call and put the phone back in his pocket. He considered calling his parents too, but he wasn't prepared for the conversation that would follow. His parents had not warmed to Leah at first, and even though they had eventually approved of his decision to marry her, he suspected that the words "I told you so" would crop up at least once. Instead he sat and watched the sunset a little longer before heading inside.
Upon entering the house he headed to the kitchen, following the aroma of freshly cooked lasagne, which was bubbling away on the stove as Lucy set two plates down on the marble counter. Randy realised just how hungry he was now that he had a delicious meal in front of him, but waited patiently for his host to serve dinner, not wanting to either offend Lucy or burn his mouth after a stressful enough day. When he finally did take a bite it was like heaven. He'd never eaten anything that Lucy had cooked before, so it was hard to say whether her culinary skills were amazing or if he were just so hungry that anything tasted great.
After dinner they had chatted briefly about trivial things, with no mention at all of Leah. It was still early when Randy bid his host goodnight, but he was physically and mentally exhausted after the drama of the wedding that never was. He closed the door of the guest room behind him, removing his t-shirt before slipping underneath the freshly laundered covers and switching off the bedside lamp. He lay in the dark for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling as his brain continued attempting to process his current situation, but his eyes felt heavy and he soon surrendered to sleep.