Author's Note: Thank you very much for the lovely feedback, Sakura Waldorf, MySweetSeduction, SticksandStonesx, TrishOrton, and Trishrocks, you guys keep me writing. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this chapter. You be the judge.
No, he couldn't be awake. He just couldn't.
But indeed he was.
Like a predator stalking it's prey, Orton's eyes glaze over to the semi-trembling form beside him, his tightened jaw yet to move, for he knew if he did say another word, he'd go off the deep end, only furthermore agitating his blown shoulder. His loving wife had some kind of nerve coming in here acting as if he didn't inform her hours before that he needed those painkillers, her act of stupidity depriving him of the much needed sleep he sought out to get yet in return he managed to fall asleep not long before she decided to mosey her way on in here. Now she sit a mere distance away from the younger man, speechless to say the least when he was sure just prior to coming here her ass was out lollygagging around Houston, pretending as if she didn't have a half-immobile husband to tend to, all the while thinking since she fell victim to the evening showers outside, that excused her of fulfilling her objective. She could've at least been more considerate by quietly coming in here so he wouldn't have any knowledge of her empty-handedness, but she didn't which only made the young Orton damn near ready to tear his arm off, possibly saying a few harsh words in order to make himself feel better, and of course letting his wife know how miserably she failed at making him happy when in reality the woman obviously went through hell and back on multiple occasions so she could put a smile on his face...except Orton didn't see it that way.
As far as he was concerned, she always had the tendency to do things that suited her when he'd simply made it clear that it was this way or no way at all, but as it seemed, tonight she obviously decided to completely go against the grain, bypassing his one measle wish to just grab the painkillers he so badly needed. By the end of the night she would do more than just lie next to him like some flopping fish out of water, she would give him an explanation as to why she couldn't handle business properly, and she was going to do it now. The older woman's eyes focus solely on her husband's, mouth clearly agape at the abrupt welcome she found herself entangled in the moment she found herself ready to close her eyes, but instead greeted with none other than the frigidness of her husband's deep, rather monotonous voice.
"Randy," the former fitness model breathed, pulling herself up from her reclining position to keep the third generation star's temper from flaring even more than it did the last time she made any communication with him. His piercing blue eyes bore holes through her soul, allowing a tiny whimper to escape her lips. The woman was far from scared of the Saint Louis native, but knew if she didn't say the right word at that very moment, she'd regret saying anything at all clearly due to Orton's ill-mannered mood as of late. She lick her dry lips, pondering the outcome of if whether she did tell such confessions to the brunette man, would he go into a fit of rage, something she happened to be quite used to by now or would he simply not have any strength for the latter by the way of already taking his frustrations out on her earlier in the evening. Definitely not the second option. If anything he would give her one of those icy, cold stares, all the while making it his mission to remind her that she clearly didn't give a damn about him, only kick-starting his usual routine of guilt-tripping her until she "admitted" she was in the wrong.
"Please tell me you have them somewhere in your purse because I cannot wait until the morning," Orton gritted, denial dripping from his every word.
She wished, but of course she didn't. She had half a mind to lie and say she'd forgotten about the pills, another part of her screaming to just admit that she didn't go to the pharmacy like he asked due to her running into car trouble and more. Lying wouldn't solve anything, only furthermore bringing unneeded problems to their side, but explaining that she ran into car trouble when she could've easily called him was also not a good reason. So what was she to do? At the end of the day the brunette woman knew both instances were in fact a lose-lose situation, neither any better than the other.
"I forgot. Sorry." Like hell she did. Now you've done it, Trish. In order to justify or better yet make the situation even worse than it already was, the Diva quickly opened her mouth, hoping the speechless Orton would listen. He seemed to be all ears that very moment, this probably being the only time he'd be willing to allow the older woman to speak without flying off the handle the second things got tough, "I'm sure the hotel has-"
"You mean to tell me you forgot when I begged you over an hour ago to grab them for me? What the hell were you doing, then in order to have forgotten? It's not that hard to go to the store, Patricia. You had the rental, the least you could've done was that. Don't you think I would've done the same had I wanted some pills from down there? Shit, how hard is it to for once do something as I ask? Either you're doing silly, unnecessary shit or you half can't do it right! Thank you. Thank you, wife for once again proving you're just as useless as they come. And you wonder why I don't ask for your help. It's because you make things too difficult. I will be happy as hell knowing that when I wake up, my arm will be too damn stiff to move because my loving wife can't do anything unless it's benefiting her."
"You know that's not true, Randy", she stated. "I'm sorry," she whined, but it was no use - Orton's mind had already been made. To stop the older woman from going on any longer, the former world champion raised his hand, having heard enough before turning to the bathroom.
"Save it," his deep voice echoed throughout the spacious suite. Then he stopped dead in his tracks to look the Canadian in the eye. "I don't wanna hear it."
Did he ever? A faint sigh escaped her lips the moment Orton went through the other door, leaving the trainer to once again revel in the poor set of choices the made today. Either way she knew there would be a few words exchanged but nothing too serious that they'd go to bed not speaking to another, yet tonight said otherwise. In an instance the former Diva could feel fresh tears form in her brown eyes. This wasn't supposed to be the way this night would end.
By now she was used to the incredibly agitated Orton, a mood that she found herself quite accustomed to despite losing her senses in the thought of Orton no longer being the hateful being he grew to be, but unless he for the first time in a long time just allowed her to help him when he clearly was in need, that would never happen. So pulling the covers up to her neck, the brunette woman closed her brown eyes, wishing more than anything that she could erase this night. Maybe, just maybe had she not been to that bar she would have been able to save herself from not only the filthy sleezeball back at the dive's wrath, but her husband's too-well not entirely, but clearly not as bad as what she dealt with now. She would even have the painkillers, although that wouldn't nearly change her husband's foul attitude the past few months. Well, anything was better than him not talking to her at all.
Tomorrow would come, granting Orton time to cool off, but would that also mean the fury of words Orton spat were just pitted out of anger or did he indeed feel this way, only now expressing his irritancy with her when she simply had no intentions of pushing his buttons even further than what it was. Hopefully by the time the autograph signing came around, he would be willing to put his harboring frustrations aside so they could talk. Whether it was about this night or even the color of the sky, she couldn't just sit there, not saying a word to her own husband - it wasn't normal...then again her marriage itself was far from the norm.
The morning sun beamed through the sheer curtain fabric, bringing forth a light yawn to escape between the petite brunette's lips, eyes searching every which way for a certain St. Louis native the second her vision came to terms. After their little spat last night, Trish wasn't sure if he'd left already, quite possibly to get away from her. This wouldn't be the first time he took off without her knowledge and quite frankly, at the result of the lies she told she didn't blame him. Just when her thoughts were settled unto her husband's whereabouts, in came the figure who stood well over six feet tall, a bottle of water at hand and what seemed to be a bottle hanging from his jacket pocket.
"Morning," his deep voice echoed until the single bedroom suite, pulling the brunette woman from her thoughts instantly. Well this was something she least expected. She was sure he wouldn't say a word to her, nevermind them being practically stuck with eachother this morning due to the autograph signing.
"Morning," Trish uttered sheepishly, afraid that if she said the wrong thing Orton would turn the tables on her by copping an attitude as he always did. "How's your arm?"
"I can move it to sign autographs so that's all that matter," he simply stated, making sure not to go into any further details with her. In a few minutes or so he would be out of her hair, turning back through that door in order to have breakfast with a few of the guys and girls before the signing. Shrugging the black jacket from his broad shoulders Orton proceeded to the kitchen to grab himself a bottle of water to wash down the bitter taste of the small, white pain reliever.
So much for trying to make small talk.
Well she would eventually have to regardless, so that didn't matter. Why did he always have to be so short in terms of how he went about things? Maybe if she tried again he would stay in place for one second just long enough to have an actual conversation with her. A civil one, nonetheless. Tucking a few brown hairs behind her ear, Trish cleared her throat noting that she meant to initiate yet another with the younger man.
"I was thinking of calling room service up so we could have breakfast, did you have anything planned with-"
"Nope, can't. John's already invited me to grab breakfast with he and some of the others downstairs. He wanted to invite you too, but it doesn't even seem like you're ready to go. I'll just tell him that you couldn't make it. They're waiting for me as we speak and the signing starts at 11:30. By the time you're dressed it'll be time to head to Best Buy altogether."
"You couldn't have waken me up to tell me that he was inviting the both us? We could've been down already, Randy!"
"I didn't think it was that important to you if you went or not, Patricia. Next time he invites I'll make sure that I notify straight after, seeing as that it's such a big deal when just last night you couldn't even do me a simple favor." A wicked smirk graced Orton's tanned features, "Oh, don't tell me you forgot, sweetie. I mean cause I know I didn't. In fact I find it quite ironic how the tables have turned this morning, don't you?"
"You know I didn't mean for that to happen," she spat back. "You're punishing me for what happened last night, aren't you? I told you I was sorry, there is nothing else I can do besides try again. And even then that still won't solve anything. Randy, we've been arguing everyday now for weeks-hell months, I know you're tired of it just as much as I am."
"And whose fault is that? Look: this clearly isn't going anywhere and I have somewhere to be. I'll see you when it's time to leave for the signing, later."
And just like that, Orton slipped out of the room, allowing the thick heavy door to close with a loud thud, practically making the Diva jump out her skin. This wouldn't be the last time Orton walked out on her when aiming to patch things up, so by now this should've been a wake up call telling her to stop implying and actually sit him down so they could finally see eye to eachother, but that would never happen for the simple fact that at the rate she was going in, Orton didn't have the time to listen to her or her silly pleas. Adjusting the blanket around her body, the Toronto native turned her sights to the hotel's telephone, a part of her needing to hear her mother's voice in order to clarify that she was indeed doing the right thing by wanting to fight for she and Randy's marriage. Alice had an idea of her daughter's hardships within the marriage, but not enough to actually make judgement that she was better off without Randy. As far as she knew, Orton seemed to be treating her daughter as he did the last time they'd visit Toronto; with respect and more. Except there deemed to be a problem - that was over a year ago and since then things changed drastically. And definitely not for the better.
Wiping the few tears that bunch in between her eyes, Trish placed the phone against her ear, "Mom?" she said.
Alice was quick to respond, "Trish? Oh, it's so good to hear from you, sweetie! How are you?"
She couldn't remember the last time she heard such life in her mother's voice. Then again, yes she could because the last time she did, her father was in an more than enough healthy state...or so they thought until the pneumonia crept up on him, preparing them all for the worse. Maybe John found to have been improving, a piece of information her mother hadn't received until now. Who knows? But whatever it was the former Diva knew she couldn't bring her mother's spirits down by dumping all of her problems on the older woman, whether she was her daughter or not. Her mother for once sounded happy, she wasn't going to take that away from Alice, so mustering up the last strength she had, the Diva brought a smile to her face before saying the words, "I'm fine, mom. Just calling cause I've missed you. How's everything back home? You? Melissa and Christie? Dad?"
"Better than you know, sweetie. I've called you so many times last night to give you the news but the phonecall wouldn't go through: your father's making improvement!"
And who would she have been to rain on her mother's parade by sharing that things still weren't looking too bright between she and Randy? "That's-that's great, mom!" She exclaimed, being sure not to fall flat within the tone of her voice. "Tell dad I love him so much, I wish I could come up there and see you two, but-"
"But work has to be done. No worries, sweetheart. Tell you what? Whenever you can come on break for at least a week or two during that busy schedule of yours, come up to see us. Your father's been asking about you like crazy and I know nothing would make him more happy than to see you."
"That can definitely be arranged, Mom," she sniffled, a silent swear spilling from her full lips the second she decided to do such. Her mother couldn't know that she'd been crying, it would only turn her mood sour. "Well, I love you. Tell everyone I love and miss them too, I'll be back in Toronto before anyone knows it."
"Of course, Trish. And I love you too." Alice was about ready to give her oldest daughter her goodbyes until a light bulb in her head clicked on, seemingly reminding the older woman of something she'd miss if she were to hang up that phone right now. "Oh, I wanted to ask how are you and Randy? I know you two were having a few problems as of late and I was just hoping that all has been settled since then."
Just when Trish thought she was off the hook, here was none other than Alice, reminding herself of the issue her daughter informed her about weeks ago. No, nothing had been settled since then. Actually things had only gotten worse, but she couldn't tell her mother that, not as long as she was basically on cloud nine, feeling as happy as she did in years. What was one small lie? Everything, but if it meant risking her happiness for yet another soul, much like Randy, she'd do it, no matter how awful she felt as the end result.
"...We're doing much better, Mom. We just needed to sit down with eachother, that's all." Two lies in one day? Oh, she was on a roll for sure. The longer she stayed on the line, the longer she also knew even more lies would come rushing in with the quickness, so that's when she knew it was her cue to end the conversation before she did furthermore damage.
Her brown eyes mulled over to the clock sitting on the nightstand. 10:38. If she wanted to stay in good graces with the company she'd get off the phone and haul ass so she could get to the signing. "I'm really glad I got to talk to you, I can't wait to see you guys soon," she was starting to free the tears that over time, accumulated in her brown eyes. "I have to get going, but I'll call you back soon, I promise. Bye." The brunette placed the phone back onto its' receiver, a wave of guilt striking at her very being. "Sorry, Mom," she said before wiping yet another tear from her cheek, all the while counting down the minutes til she'd see her bitter husband.
Something was telling the brunette to take the stairs since the elevator seemed to have been avoiding the sixth floor well over five minutes, a part of her in no rush to move either way, for she knew she'd be confined to the space of the limousine out front with no one other than the man she shared vowels with six years ago. She couldn't find it strange enough how awkward it always was sitting in the same room with him, moreso when their group of friends were around, both of them fooling the gang into thinking they were still a strong couple when they were far from it, actually.
The doors of the elevator slid open, the loud bing it always made, alarming the brunette long enough to pull her from her thoughts so she could step on in. Her thoughts staggered her from moving any quicker, allowing the doors to shut almost immediately before a hand snaked through the opening of the tan doors. There she was not paying attention to her surroundings again when she found herself caught up in her thoughts, this time she deem to be lucky without all the crazies lurking through the night to catch her off guard with their cheap pickups.
"Sorry!" she exclaimed stumbling into the lift, her cheeks turning a rosy pink color from her lack of awareness. Judging from the other figure's lack of words they weren't too moved by her apology because they finished off the statement by giving her a knowing look.
"Hey to you too, Trish. Where were you this morning anyway? Nattie and I saved you a seat yet you never came down for breakfast," a skeptical Beth Phoenix added, back perched against the wall with bottle of water and Luis Vuitton purse at hand. They weren't going to be on the ground floor for another thirty seconds so the Buffalo native was all ears.
Trish pushed the button for the ground floor before looking the former Diva's champion in the eye, "I ended up over-sleeping. Sorry."
Beth gave the former Diva a sympathetic look, "It's okay. We can always have lunch after the signing, unless you and Randy are doing something afterwards."
"I doubt it. Why not?" She was startled by the bell of the elevator, indicating that they'd reached their floor. By the time the doors opened the Diva already stepped out of the lift, wanting to avoid furthermore conversation with the blonde. She just didn't want to be reminded again of her husband's blatant immaturity, especially when she'd have to see him in less than five minutes to head to the signing. Today was definitely going to be a long one, indeed, but maybe it wouldn't be so bad since she wasn't going to be the only one in that limo with Randy. Beth, John, and Nattie were to come along too.
By the time eleven o'clock rolled around, fans were looming every which way in front of Best Buy, nothing short of what deemed to be expected. From the guard rails, various fans of different ages lined up behind one another, screams filling the moment their favorite Superstar or Diva came within their direction.
"They're here!" The Texas native himself and one third of Tough Enough's training team exclaimed when he'd gotten up to the tables supplied with each Superstar or Diva's photo to sign as well as bottled water. Giving a few waves to the crowd, Booker took his seat along with his fellow co-workers, each of them garnering chants from their respective fans.
In a few minutes or so they'd get straight to the meet and greet, something the brunette sitting on the far side of the white tables couldn't help but be less ready for. She'd signed hundreds of autographs during her tenure as a Diva, even a fitness model, yet today clearly said otherwise since she wouldn't allow herself even five minutes to think straight. Despite it happening earlier this morning, she still hadn't shaken the feeling of lying to her mother nor couldn't she shake the feeling of knowing her husband damn near hated her. Trish thought it was understandable, though. She always did.
"Hey, you."
A familiar voice rung in her ear, forcing her to take her attention away from the first photo she was supposed to sign to the blue eyes of the Texas Rattlesnake himself. By the way of her restless mind, she'd forgotten all about Steve not leaving the hotel when she and the rest did, a sigh of relief escaping her pink lips the moment she realized the Texas native would be here with her as well. Since last night she wasn't too thrilled about today, but for some reason Steve appeared to have changed all that. The former Diva's eyes followed Austin's every move as he took a seat next to her, he too never taking his eyes off her, for he waited for some kind of response from the brunette.
"Hi, where were you? I didn't see you when we left the hotel this morning."
Austin's lips coiled into a dimpled half-smile before giving the woman an explanation, "I was just taking care of business, that's all...", then he gave her a knowing look.
"Steve," Trish started. "You've-"
Before the former fitness model could finish her brief sentence, in came the first fan covered from head to toe in a much similar attire to Steve's blue jean shorts, combat boots, and black vest he happened to rock back in the day. Austin slapped his large hands down onto the table before standing to his feet to stare the young man down, "Why it's my damn twin!" Steve laughed, making those around him do the same.
Trish couldn't deny how little effort it took for the Texas native to liven up a room, which was why she found herself more than grateful for his presence. Had he not been there, she wasn't sure how she'd manage to carry on with the three hour meet and greet, knowing her mind wasn't particularly set on the whole signing itself. A small smile pressed against her full lips as her eyes rest on the older man himself. There was no denying at all that she admired Steve - from both a business and personal standpoint. Whenever he walked in a room she knew heads would turn, whether that meant for the good or bad, he even had a certain aura about him that others didn't have, making him one of the most larger than life personnel within the company, despite he himself making his status in the business as just any other when he was far from that. 'I'm only Stone Cold Steve Austin,' he would say.