A/N: Hello Readers! Enjoy the second Ch. of Unexpected. As you know, I only own the OC's....PLEASE NOTE: This chapter contains some strong language, and I apologize if it offends...I assume that we can all deal with that, and I honestly think it was necessary to accentuate the gravity of the situation. Please don't kill me, and as always, reviews=LOVE
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At this, Isabelle choked on the liquid in her mouth, which had gone from light and fizzy to an out of control wildfire in her mouth, burning her throat as she forced it down to avoid spitting it out. "You want me to…?" It took her a moment to register what had been said, and as soon as she did, she shook her head. But before she could protest, Vickie held up her hand.

"Just…before you say anything, would you just hear me out?" Isabelle pressed a napkin to her lips and nodded. "Now, I am slated to move to Raw soon…I made that decision weeks ago when Stephanie first took time off. Because of that, Teddy Long is going to be taking my place and he's going to leave his assistant to be the interim General Manager of ECW. As such, that leaves Teddy without an assistant. For me, that's not really that big a deal," Vickie said with a glance in her direction, reminding her of two months ago. "But Teddy's different. He definitely needs a right hand man or woman. And he remembers you, and how good you were. So rather than go through all the bullshit of trying to hire someone and try to get them as up to par as you are, Teddy, after running it past Vince, begged me to come down here and try and get you back."

Isabelle was shocked; she knew that most on the WWE knew her as Vickie's super girl assistant, but she had no idea that other managers wanted her. And she couldn't believe the request. More importantly, she couldn't believe how much she'd hurt Vickie. That glance had said it all. I wish I'd told her...maybe then, things wouldn't be so awkward now. She sneakily put her hands under the table to stop her leg from bouncing up and down (as they always did when she was nervous) and sucked in a breath.

"Vickie…you know I love you. And you know that I would do damn near anything for you. But…I can't go back there. I've left WWE behind me…and I need to find something else for myself."

Rather than respond, Vickie looked through the menu, deciding that she'd better think fully about what she was going to say, otherwise it could go horribly wrong. After she'd settled on a quesadilla, she closed her menu, focusing on its leather binding. Several minutes later, she looked up from the binding, smirking inside. I got it! Vickie fixed Isabelle (who was still looking at the menu) with a laser like, yet approving stare. After a few minutes, Isabelle looked up. "What?" she asked, with her eyebrow arched.

"Oh, it's nothing," said Vickie. Almost…

"Bull, Vick. What's on your mind?" Just where I wanted her, thought Vickie.

"You really want to know?" Belle nodded, but before Vickie could answer, they were interrupted by the waiter. He quickly took their orders and retired their menus with a bright smile, promising to refill their half empty glasses on his return. As soon as he left, Vickie continued. "You know what I always loved about you? You're the real deal…not one thing about you is fake. You've got…passion. And that's what always made you the best at what you did, Belle." She sighed. "That's what I miss the most. Nowadays…all you get are either these smartasses who are just in it for the money and couldn't give a damn about me or the superstars, or these new rookies who are just barely hanging on to what they learned in college and don't last but a month."

Isabelle snorted. "That's because they're star-struck and can't wait to do the shrieking or fainting when they get home," she said, looking into Vickie's eyes. Isabelle knew that she was thinking of the one time when professionalism had failed her at the very start of her career with the WWE. "Not a word!" she said to her best friend, cocking her eyebrow, daring her to say anything about the incident. Vickie just smiled. "Seriously, though. I always loved doing it. The energy, the excitement, even the people." The tiniest flicker of a memory of the nightmare from earlier in the week flashed through her head. "For the most part," she added, darkly.

Vickie glanced in her direction. "There's always going to be a dark side, honey. But anyway, how's life here? Are you enjoying it?" Take it slow. You don't want to push her into closing down.

At that moment, the food arrived. As they ate, they discussed every aspect of Isabelle's new life: her new home, the tedious process of getting her stuff to the house, the shopping, and even the embarrassing things that had happened on her first few nights there.

"You've got to be kidding me, Isabelle!" Vickie said, with a laugh. "The neighbor had to come and check on you?"

Isabelle laughed, and raised her hands in mock self defense. "Hey, what can I say? It was a freakin' huge bug, Vick!"

"And where are you working now? I'm sure you're blowing them away with your amazing abilities," Vickie said, timidly. I hope God that the question doesn't close her down. Please, God, don't let her close down on me! I need her.

Isabelle took a long, uncomfortable look at Vickie, squirming in her seat. Should I just keep her in the dark? No! Isabelle, carajo, man up. You're already a liar as it is; don't make it worse. She squirmed again and put a strand of her long, auburn hair behind her ear. "Actually, Vick…I'm not working. I mean, the job market sucks everywhere. But here? It's like trying to find a needle in not one haystack but ten."

Vickie looked at her, with a mixture of shock and concern. "How the hell do you get by?"

Isabelle shifted again. "Savings, babysitting on weekends for my neighbor. Whatever I can." This last part she added at a whisper. At that very moment, sadness and guilt had taken over her. If she had just done like every other normal person in the world and moved past it and stayed, she wouldn't be scrambling to maintain her credit as good as it was. How she'd managed it was a miracle. "Not the most ideal situation," she continued. "But I have faith. I think I'll make it." I have to.

Vickie sighed and reached for Isabelle's hand. "Belle…look, I know that if anyone can make it, you certainly can, for the reasons I gave you before. But you need to be realistic, sweetheart. How long do you think the savings can last?" At that, Isabelle tensed. "You should come back, Belle. It's stable…it's what you love. And you'd have a very good salary. The salary you had when you left."

Vickie's right. I'm already starting to feel the drowning. And Lord knows I can't afford to sink. Maybe I should…I mean, it's really tempt…NO! I can't…I can't go back…I can't face him!

"Vickie, I…have my reasons. I just can't go back there…" she said, looking down at her now empty plate. Vickie let go of her hand and asked quietly, "This wouldn't have anything to do with your split with Adam, would it?"

Isabelle's head snapped up. What the fuck? How in the hell did she know about…? The only ones who knew were Jeff, who would never say anything and… "Chavo, damnit!" she swore. Her face contorted into a frown; she had sworn him and Jeff to secrecy. And as much as she loved Chavo, she knew he cracked under pressure and he was worse than her chatty hair stylist when it came to rumors. Vickie saw her face, and quickly grabbed her hand.

"Before you jump to anything, you need to know, Chavo didn't tell me anything at all. I found out by accident." When Isabelle's brow furrowed, she elaborated. "I was going to the male locker room, and I heard shouting. When I got closer to the door, which was slightly open, I heard Adam and Chavo."

FLASHBACK

Vickie sighed as she headed down to the locker room. It was just like Adam to blow off going over a promo, especially for this storyline. She didn't like it either, but it was the storyline or her job, and seeing as how she liked the latter, she went along with it. If she didn't find him in the locker room, she didn't know where else she'd look; everyone was either in catering, the ring, or backstage. He HAD to be here.

As she got closer to the door, which was a bit ajar, she heard Adam shouting at…Chavo? Usually those two never fought; He and Eddie had a close friendship with Adam that she never understood. Curious, she stepped to the door.

"Why the hell won't you just TELL me where she is?" Adam shouted. "She's my girlfriend, and I fucking deserve to know!"

"What you deserve is a good beating that leaves you within an inch of your life! And I think she made it pretty clear that she would rather go through a surgery without anesthesia than to call herself your girlfriend after that stunt you pulled!" Chavo countered.

Adam let out a very loud groan of frustration. "Damnit, Chavo! That…that was a mistake…If she would just talk to me, we could work this out!"

"A mistake? You call a six week affair a mistake? Please…wearing mismatching socks is a mistake. Grabbing the wrong cup of coffee at Starbucks is a mistake. Being a girl's first and then cheating on her? Not a mistake."

Adam sucked in a breath. "Look, Chavo…this is between me and Isabelle..."

Vickie sucked in a breath as she heard that. So that was why her star assistant had left, without so much as a word. She remembered how Vince had come to her and said only that Isabelle had been released from her contract and was eligible for re-hire when and if she decided to come back, leaving her a brief note from Isabelle. How Chavo had suddenly become solemn and quiet, especially around Adam. And that note. The note that was full of some bull about her needing to go handle some family issues, and that she was sorry for walking out on her true family at such short notice. She was brought out of her ever racing thoughts by the sound of someone slamming into the lockers.

"You son of BITCH! This became more than you and Isabelle's business when I found her in her room having a nervous BREAKDOWN! You knew her values; you knew she thought you were worth compromising them because she thought you were a long term thing. And instead you betray her with some bleach blonde SLUT who visibly taunted her. She went to bat for you, risked her own fucking safety defending you, and you walked away in the most unmanly way ever known!"

As Vickie heard another slam, she decided to stop the fight before those two killed each other and banged on the door.

FLASHBACK ENDS

Isabelle's eyes were misting over as Vickie finished. "I know you told Vince that you had a family emergency…my only question is, why not tell me?" she said softly. "I mean, I knew you were with someone…I just didn't know who. Hell, for a second, I thought you might be with Jeff."

Isabelle shifted her gaze downward. "I don't know, Vickie. I wanted to tell you; you don't know how many times I wanted to call you after a date, or just talk relationships but…I guess I just didn't want your disapproval. I mean, let's face it. You weren't exactly pissing rainbows when he flirted with me. And…well…"

"Hey." Isabelle looked up as Vickie grabbed her hand. "Would I have been happy about it? Probably not. But you're my best friend, Belle." Isabelle chuckled softly. Who knew that a 23 year old and 41 year old woman could be that close unless they were mother and daughter? "And if he made you happy, I'd have been happy for you. Now, I just might have to kill him," Vickie continued.

"Don't, Vick. He's not worth it."

"If he's what's stopping you from coming back, then it's worth it." Belle was surprised at the dark look that had overtaken her features. "Belle, it's just not right! You love what you do, and because of his actions, you run? You can't let him have that dominion over you. Especially now. Please, Belle…come home."

Isabelle looked straight into Vickie's eyes. She's right. WWE is my home. And hell, I can't let him block me from doing what I have to do. Girl's gotta survive somehow, right? But…what if…OH! Man up, Belle! "Okay, Vickie, you have yourself a deal."

"Do you mean that?!" Vickie asked excitedly.

"Yes, I mean it! Two things though: One, let's try and keep it under wraps for as long as possible." Vickie looked at her, with a skeptical glance. "I know that people will find out soon, even Adam. But I want to surprise them. I haven't spoken to Jeff or Chavito since I went away." Vickie laughed, and nodded her head in agreement.

"Okay," she said. "What's the other thing?"

Isabelle squirmed, something she was getting used to doing a lot. "Well, Vickie…"