Chapter 3
"So what's been up with you?" John Cena asked, walking down the hallway of the Allstate Arena, eating a bowl of ice cream with Ryan. "I know you've been busy with Calaway and shit."
"Well yeah I am his PA." Ryan reminded him, causing John to wave her off dismissively.
"Of course I know that, Ry. Granted, I tried getting you away from him, but instead Vince gave me Valerie." He snorted, rolling his eyes, and chuckled when Ryan elbowed him. "A woman with absolutely NO personality."
"Hey, any woman who has to put up with your hyper ass has to have the patience of a saint." Ryan retorted and John laughed, throwing his arm around her shoulders in a pure friendly way. "Val can't be that bad."
John snorted, rolling his eyes, and took a bite out of his ice cream. "She doesn't joke, she doesn't laugh, and she doesn't talk unless it's asking me a question. The woman has no sense of humor or personality like I said."
"Hey, I'm the same way with Calaway." She couldn't call him by his first name, sighing at the thought of Mark.
For the past several weeks, they'd been doing nothing but arguing, the sex having dwindled between the two. It was almost as if every little thing that used to not bother Mark did and Ryan didn't understand where the anger came from. She was getting frustrated and had to end up getting a separate hotel room from him because of how bad the arguments had gotten. He called her every name in the book and blew little things out of proportion, making it sound like she'd committed murder whenever he had two signings in one day.
"Oh come on, I don't believe that. You have more personality in your pinky than Valerie has in her entire body." John argued, refusing to compare Ryan to Valerie because they were total opposites. "So how is it personal assisting the Deadman?"
Ryan shrugged, taking a bite out of her strawberry ice cream, buying time to think up something to say. "He's fine, not as bad as everyone thinks. He's easy to get along with as long as he doesn't have too much to do in one day."
Ryan was lying through her teeth, but what she supposed to say to John? Mark was a big bear and treated her like absolute garbage when they weren't having sex? That wouldn't go over well and Ryan wasn't in the mood to talk about it, especially since nobody knew about her and Mark's secret sexual encounters. This was getting harder to hide, but Ryan knew she had no other choice, refusing to destroy Mark's reputation as well as her own.
"Well he's lucky to have an assistant like you." John stopped suddenly and turned to face Ryan, seeing something in those sky blue eyes of hers, reading the trouble beneath. "Ryan, you know if there's something going on, you can tell me about it right?"
"Yeah I know that."
Ryan nodded with a soft smile, reaching up to swipe ice cream from John's lip, remembering how attractive she'd been toward him when she first came to the WWE. How fast time flew by and changed because now they were best friends, though Ryan had a pretty good idea how John really felt about her. Soon after she was hired to become Mark's personal assistant, John fought tooth and nail with Vince to swap her and Valerie, but Vince wouldn't budge.
"So what's going on, baby girl?" John asked in a lower voice, both of them throwing their ice cream cups in the trash, heading outside for some air.
Ryan was in a pinstriped black and white skirt suit that went two inches above the knee, legs tanned enough so she didn't need nylons, with black matching two inch pumps. Her long chestnut hair was pulled back in a bun with black chopsticks holding it in place, a white silk dress shirt beneath the cardigan. Her natural beauty always stunned John and anyone in the company, some actual thought she should become a Diva, but Ryan didn't think so.
"I don't know, Calaway and I have been fighting a lot more lately than usual and I don't know what's going on. I mean, we have arguments because he has a temper, but nothing like recently…" Ryan stopped as she took the chopsticks out of her hair, running a hand through her somewhat damp curly hair. "I'm just so frustrated with him."
"Well who pissed in his cheerios?" John demanded, sounding a little irritated, wondering what Mark's problem was, especially since he had a gorgeous personal assistant.
Ryan couldn't help laughing, shaking her head, and nudged John gently. "That is not funny." She giggled when John wiggled his eyebrows, hugging him around the neck tightly. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better."
"No problem, baby girl." John rubbed her back up and down, enjoying the feeling of her in his arms. "I'm always here for you."
Neither of them saw the acid green eyes watching their every move, disappearing around the corner.
John and Ryan parted ways, promising to hang out more often, even though they were on separate brands. Tonight was a pay-per-view event, which brought all three brands together, so Ryan was taking advantage of trying to see all of her friends from Raw. Though she tried in vain to avoid her ex-boyfriend from the Raw roster, not wanting to run into him. That was until he grabbed her and pulled her into the nearest locker room, swallowing hard, staring up into his blue eyes.
"What do you want Ted?" She demanded, folding her arms in front of her chest, eyes narrowed slightly.
"I just wanted to talk to you, baby." Ted DiBiase stated, his eyes slowly devouring his ex-girlfriend's body, remembering how good it was when he first came into the WWE.
Ryan tried having a relationship with him during the year her and Mark didn't have sex, when she didn't know Mark desired her as much as he did. Then after their first encounter, Ryan instantly broke things off with Ted, knowing it could never work between them. He was on the Raw roster, she worked on Smackdown! with Mark Calaway. There was no way it could ever work, even though she still found Ted extremely gorgeous.
He wasn't Mark though.
"You know I hate being called that." Ryan muttered, lowering her eyes from his, feeling his finger run down her cheek as she pressed back more against the door. "Ted, stop…" She brushed his hand away, finally locking eyes with him again.
"Why?" He demanded in a soft voice, having never been one to manhandle or hurt her, his thumb running across her cheek before pressing his arm just above her head. "You miss me and I miss you, why can't we work?"
"You ask me this every time we see each other and every time it's the same answer. Do I really need to say it?" Ryan sighed when sorrow entered his blue eyes, knowing she hurt him badly those two years ago when she called things off between them. "We can't work because we're on different brands."
"So come to the Raw roster and leave Calaway. I'm sure you can convince Vince you want to work for me more than him." Ted stated, causing Ryan to chew her bottom lip, slowly shaking her head in response. "What's really going on between you two, Ryan?"
"Nothing, there's nothing going on between me and Calaway." Ryan stated a little too quickly, feeling as though her heart might burst out of her chest, and knew she had to get out of there. "I have to go."
"No." Ted stopped her by fanning his fingers on her other side in the crease of the door. "You're lying to me and I want to know why."
"I'm not lying to you about anything." She hissed, becoming increasingly upset, turning around only for Ted to wrap an arm around her waist, pressing her back against his chest. "What do you want from me, Ted?"
"The truth." He murmured huskily, his mouth right by her ear, and buried his face in her neck to inhale her intoxicating scent. "I miss you so much, Ryan."
Ryan could feel the tears burning her eyes as she pressed her forehead to the door, feeling him slowly turn her around until their eyes met. "I'm sorry Ted, I don't miss you. I have to go." She gasped when he yanked her into his strong arms, gripping them for leverage, and his lips instantly descended on hers.
Ted wasn't letting her go that easily, not with at least getting a kiss and pressed her back against the door as his tongue searched hers, tasting her, loving the sounds of her moans. He couldn't help it, there was something about Ryan that totally turned him on to the point where he could barely function. He knew she was in the same building as him and, try as he may, Ted ended up tracking her down and waited until she was alone before yanking her in here.
Ryan slowly broke the kiss, needing air to breathe, and ran the pad of her thumb across his soft red lips. "I have to go." She whispered, feeling him release her, and walked out of the room on shaky legs. Even though Ted didn't make her feel the same way Mark did, he was still a damn good kisser and she couldn't deny that.
After stopping at the restroom to freshen up, Ryan headed down to Mark's dressing room, her hair up in the chopsticks. He always loved taking them out right before stealing a kiss from her before his big match. This was the pay-per-view right before professional wrestling's super bowl, WrestleMania, which Ryan was excited about because of all the mayhem they encountered.
Because of how loud it was, Ryan couldn't hear anything besides the pounding in her ears. She sighed, trying not to bump into anyone, and finally arrived at his dressing room as she pushed it open. What she saw made her physically sick to her stomach, all the color draining out of her face, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Oh yeah…oh ya like that darlin'?"
"Yes, oh yes Mark! Fuck me harder!"
Mark had Michelle McCool bent over a bench, her hands splayed against the lockers with him driving himself in and out of her at a hard, fast pace. He buried his hand in her bleach blonde hair, yanking it up as his thrusts grew harder, the sounds of flesh smacking flesh echoing off of the walls of the dressing room. His back was turned to the door along with Michelle's, so neither saw the sickened look on Ryan's face or her running down the hallway out of the arena.
Ryan blinked as huge tears slid down her face, having taken the waiting limo, deciding Mark could find his own way to the hotel. She buried her face in her hands, knowing she would never get that image of Mark buried deep within Michelle McCool out of her head. No matter how hard she tried, Ryan couldn't stop crying throughout the entire ride to the hotel, deciding to get her own room under a false identity for the night.
Not like Mark would hunt her down because he was too busy with the bleach blonde bimbo.
After getting her new room and going upstairs to grab her luggage from the connecting hotel suite, Ryan ordered a bottle of wine from room service. She didn't drink often, but tonight called for it, especially since she was alone and vulnerable. She had a hot soothing bubble bath, but it didn't do anything for her broken heart, knowing she had nobody to blame except herself.
Ryan was in love with an unavailable man.
Halfway through her bottle of White Zinfandel, Ryan decided she needed some company and whipped her cell phone open. She chewed her bottom lip, taking a very long swig before pressing the send button, closing her eyes as the deep voice answered. Ryan honestly didn't care about the consequences at that moment, taking a deep breath, feeling as though her heart might fly out of her chest.
"It's me, I need you." Ryan murmured softly, blinking as a few more tears slid down her cheeks. "Please."
"I'll be right over, don't move Ryan." He ordered, hanging up moments later after receiving her room number, hoping she was alright.
Ryan pressed the end button and tossed her cell phone in her purse, after putting it on silent, running a hand through her dry chestnut locks. She finished her fourth glass of wine and poured a fifth when a knock sounded at the door, head snapping up. Sliding from the bed, Ryan padded to the door and opened it, wearing a simple pale blue nightgown that brought out her eyes, along with a black silk robe, staring into the deep blue orbs of Ted.
"Ted." She whispered, grabbing the front of his shirt as she yanked him inside, hearing him kick the door closed behind him as their lips instantly met.
"Wait…" Ted pulled back, Ryan having already removed her robe, stopping her from going further as he took her hands in his. "Ryan wait, what's wrong?"
Ryan stopped, tears shining in her eyes and tried pulling away from him, but Ted wasn't letting her go that easily. "Are you here to question me or to fuck me?" She demanded hoarsely, not wanting to talk about what happened because honestly it was nobody's business.
"What?" Ted blinked when she pulled his lips down to hers again, wrapping his arms around her body, and could taste the wine on her tongue. He immediately pulled back again, shaking his head. "No, you're drunk."
"What the fuck is your point?" Ryan snapped, angry tears sliding down her cheeks, and growled in frustration when he pulled away from her. "Fine, leave. I didn't want you here anyway." She took her glass of wine and downed half of it, just wanting to forget the pain.
Ted wasn't leaving and walked over, taking the glass away from her, and wrapped his arms around her from behind as he buried his face in her neck. "Ryan, please don't do this. You called me here for a reason, what's wrong?" He felt her body tremble against him, slowly turning her around until their eyes met again, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "What happened?"
"I didn't call you to talk about it, Ted." She whispered, burying her face in his chest, more tears falling as she looked back up into his eyes. "I just want you to make me feel wanted and like a real woman. If you can't do that, then…"
Ted cut her off as he captured her lips with his, pulling back enough to remove his shirt, muscles rippling beneath her touch as he guided her down on the bed. Ryan kissed him hungrily, moaning in his mouth as his hands slid up her legs to her thighs, caressing them. She reached between them to unsnap his jeans, shoving them down his muscular legs with her feet, along with his boxers, their lips never leaving one another. Ryan felt Ted pull her up as he removed her nightgown and bra, instantly attacking her breasts with his mouth and tongue, wanting to completely consume her, to bury himself into her.
When it was over, Ryan proceeded to cry herself to sleep in Ted's arms, hoping he didn't hate her for using him like Mark had used her.