Thanks to everyone who viewed and reviewed the first couple of chapters. Got a bit stuck with how to move things forward but I think I've got it sussed now. Hope you enjoy!
"Hey, JoJo! How was your day off?" Charlotte cooed with a vindictive sneer.
WWE's youngest diva shivered at the sound, her insides burning with fear and self-loathing. Just two days ago things had been going so well; she'd just picked up her first singles victory at a house show in Pensacola and was heading out of the venue on cloud nine when she was approached by one Sasha Banks.
When JoJo first reported to Florida a year prior, Sasha had been one of the first girls with whom she'd been able to break the ice, and she'd had high hopes that it was the start of a beautiful friendship. However, since Summer swooped in, Sasha had slowly transformed into the kind of person JoJo felt herself best served staying well away from.
Yet here Sasha was, offering an olive branch in the shape of an invite to a secret party in a warehouse on the edge of town. Summer and Charlotte had bailed on her, she said. She wasn't sure whether they liked her all that much. Why on Earth had she believed her? She supposed she hoped that beneath the layers of make-up and the sassy new wardrobe, some remnants of the sweet, down-to-Earth girl she'd met all those months ago remained. What happened next killed those hopes stone dead.
There was no warehouse party. Of course there wasn't. Instead, JoJo found herself stranded on an industrial estate in the middle of nowhere, with no chance of escape as the BFFs tabled the vile, spiteful scheme they wanted her help in executing. If she refused, aside from the immediate threat of a 3-on-1 assault, Summer had assured JoJo she would do everything in her power to make sure she never darkened WWE's doors again, and that all of her remaining days would be a living hell.
She'd watched enough of Summer and friends' relentless hate campaigns towards various other girls, some of which had disappeared one day never to return again, to be sufficiently terrified into agreeing. They had her exactly where they wanted her; either give in to their advances or watch her dream go up in smoke. She'd come too far for that to happen. That didn't stop her hating herself for the part she was about to play in another innocent woman's heartbreak.
"How was my... I've barely slept, or ate, or stopped crying," JoJo lamented despairingly, hoping for a glimmer of remorse to appear on one of the three smirking faces that surrounded her in the arena lobby; instead they seemed to revel in this news.
"See, normally you can tell when someone's had a rough night from the bags under their eyes and the messy hair. But you've got that going on 24/7, so..." Sasha crowed, eliciting forced, mocking laughter from her companions. JoJo couldn't even find the energy to be offended.
"Please. Let's just get this over with," JoJo implored meekly.
"Ooh, eager, are we? I like that!" Summer cut in with enthusiasm.
"I'm anything but eager. How could you do this to me? And to poor Renee. I don't..." from out of nowhere, JoJo's conscience and pride made their brave last stand, but soon were overcome by a fresh wave of tears.
"Perfect!" Charlotte exclaimed suddenly.
"...Get her to catering while she's still crying. See how pathetic she looks? There's no way Sami will be able to resist playing the white knight now."
"You're right. Five minutes to curtain, JoJo," Summer breathed with an acidic snarl in JoJo's ear as Sasha and Charlotte frog-marched her along the corridor.
"Two-hour drive to Gainesville just to find out I'm not booked. They're fucking with me on purpose so I get bored and leave, aren't they? This is just what they did with Ohno. Well, he had to be dragged out of here kicking and screaming and so will I!" Sami ranted. He heard Renee's weary sigh through the phone, no doubt expressing frustration at both the latest bad hand he'd been dealt and the state he'd worked himself up into.
"It's just the way it works. Back when I first went on the road, sometimes I'd fly to Oregon or somewhere only to find I've nothing but a ninety-second interview scheduled. Maybe they do do it just to test us, but we're far from alone. It happens to everyone. You already know you're on the card for the TV tapings next week, and that's what counts, right?" in an instant, Renee's rationalising of the situation, and the calming, comforting tone in her sweet voice that told him how deeply invested she was, had Sami mellowing and remembering everything he had to be thankful for.
"You're right..." he sighed.
"...Damn, I wish you were here. There's a bar up the road with live music, looks just like our kind of place. Not getting to wrestle really wouldn't matter then. As long as I had my girl and my punk rock, I could still count today as a win."
"Beer and bands would be just awesome right now. Instead, I've got to lurk around the parking lot harassing anyone who happens to wander by for this fucking pre-show. Feels like I'm never out of impractical dresses and HD make-up at the moment. I warn you now, I'm going to celebrate being home by wearing only the baggiest T-shirts I own," Renee replied. Sami chuckled to himself.
"Fine by me. So long as the jeans are tight," he teased flirtatiously.
"Well, I get to see you in spandex on a weekly basis so I guess that's only fair..." Renee giggled in response.
"...Anyway, got to go. Love you."
"Love you too, my dear. Adios," Sami chirped, his good mood well-and-truly restored, until a few seconds later when it well-and-truly sunk in that he was faced with an evening alone in a strange town. Compared to sharing it with Renee, the appeal of doing just about any activity alone was now non-existent to him. He shook his head in disbelief. She'd got him good.
He wandered out of the catering area, away from the burble of excited chatter and into the relative silence of the hallway, contemplating an evening drinking alone, when suddenly he became aware of what sounded like soft laughter coming from an alcove just a few yards away. As he drew closer, he realised the noise was in fact quite the opposite. Someone was crying.
He craned his head gingerly around the corner, expecting to happen upon a stranger who would rather be left alone. What he saw instead made his heart sink. He'd had very little interaction with JoJo, but he knew she posed no ill will to anyone. Renee had become very fond of the diminutive young Californian during her time covering Total Divas, and he'd been impressed by the progress she had made in the ring during her short time in the business.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked tentatively. She looked up at him, make-up smeared, and appearing as if a good night's rest had eluded her for a fair while.
"Oh, it's nothing, I'm fine," she sniffed dismissively. Why did girls always say that when it evidently was not the case? He wasn't about to take it as a final answer, anyway.
"Come on, something's clearly upset you big-time, and I don't see anyone else doing anything to help," he said gently, kneeling down in front of where she was slumped against the wall.
"Summer..." JoJo began. Sami hissed through gritted teeth. JoJo said the name in the exact same tone Renee once had. That woman was pure poison.
"...I found out I wasn't booked tonight, and her and the other two... they just kept laughing, they said if I'd been here a year and I still wasn't doing back-to-back shows, then I probably wouldn't be kept around much longer. I told them to shut up and tried to ignore them, but they just wouldn't stop. They made fun of my clothes, my hair, my butt, my entrance, my wrestling... and no one stopped them. No one stands up to them in there anymore. Paige isn't here, Nattie's not either, they're just running riot. I guess I should just accept that I'm not cut out for this business, move aside and let someone less fucking sensitive have a spot."
"No..." Sami interjected sharply.
"...Then they've won. That's what they want; everyone to get out of their spotlight. They're attention junkies, and they don't want anyone around who threatens to steal their thunder. I'd consider it an honour that they're picking on you."
"What do you mean?" JoJo asked, wrinkling her nose cutely in bemusement.
"They see you as a threat. They know the truth," Sami answered.
"Which is?"
"That you're about the hottest prospect here. How old are you, 7? 8?"
"I'm 20!" JoJo giggled giving him a playful shove.
"Right, and you've been doing this, what, a year? Less? There's no way Summer or Sasha or Charlotte were doing the stuff I saw you doing last night a year into their training. You could be better than all of them in time and they know it. They want to frighten you away before you realise it for yourself," Sami stated. He wasn't just being kind. JoJo's display at the previous night's event had genuinely wowed him.
"You really mean that?" JoJo questioned hopefully, warming Sami's heart in the process.
"Absolutely. And don't let a stick-insect with an Oompa Loompa tan and the dress sense of a middle-of-the-market hooker tell you that you don't look good," Sami added with a grin. JoJo burst into a fit of infectious giggles.
"You can't say that!" she exclaimed.
"I just did. And I'd say it to her face if she was right here. In fact, maybe she is here and she's just facing sideways," he went on. More giggles.
"Renee said you were funny. She wasn't kidding," JoJo smiled admiringly
Then a thought crossed Sami's mind. She wasn't booked, neither was he. She needed some company, so did he. She laughed at his jokes. Not enough people did that.
"Say, I've got the night off too, I was thinking of hitting that bar up the road. Fancy joining?" he enquired.
"That punky place? Not really my thing," JoJo murmured bashfully, curling a strand of hair around her finger and staring at her feet.
"You never know until you've tried," Sami fired back.
"...Besides, provincial punk scenes are either surprisingly good or accidentally hilarious. At worst, you'll have a good chuckle."
"Sure, why not?" JoJo smiled finally, offering her hand so Sami could pull her to her feet.
"Awesome. You understand I can't in all good conscience buy you any drinks though. I'm letting you stay up past your bedtime, though, so that's enough of a treat," more giggles. She really liked to giggle.
"Damn, she's good," Sasha breathed as the BFFs looked on from the shadows at Sami and JoJo heading out into the night.
"Really, really good," Charlotte affirmed.
"Told you..." Summer said flatly.
"...Think about it, any time she spends with him, she's away from us. She can't help but be relieved. Plus she's grateful for the attention. For being treated like a grown-up for a change. But in reality, she's a stupid, scared, clingy little brat and so she'll never risk blowing her cover for fear of losing him and Renee as friends. It's perfect."
"You're a genius, Summer," Sasha enthused.
"Oh, Renee. Pale, dumpy, dumb, deluded Renee..." Summer mused to no one in particular.
"...You think you've got it all sewn up, don't you? You think you've finally found someone willing to settle for you. Imagine your surprise when he ups and leaves you for a fucking child! You think I made you feel worthless before, you just wait. You're gonna wish you never set foot in WWE."