Chapter 4
"Kid, you definitely got skills in that ring. With a little tune-up, you could be the next big star we're looking for." Hunter praised, shaking Sami's hand and nodded toward Fandango, turning his eyes back on the smaller man. "You didn't disappoint…and neither did your friend here."
"Thank you, sir." Sami didn't know how to feel about the comment regarding Keyla, letting it slide for the time being until they were alone. Then he would question what happened between Keyla and Triple H. "Yeah she's a good gal, talented with a camera too."
"Sami…" Keyla could feel her cheeks turning rosy at the compliment and lowered her eyes to the ground. "I'm not THAT good…"
Raising a brow, he wondered if Keyla was serious and draped an arm around her shoulders, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm not blowing smoke up his ass. You are great at what you do and every company you've worked for would back up my words. It may have started out as helping out someone, but you made it your own and now companies like CZW and Dragon Gate are begging you to come work for them permanently." He'd spoken personally with both owners of the organizations and they had nothing except great things to say about Keyla's camera ability.
"Alright, that's enough about me…" Keyla tried deterring Sami from talking about her, but the man had other plans on mind.
"Did you ever watch some of Jon Moxley's promos on YouTube? She was behind the camera for a lot of them starting in mid-2010 and up until he came here to work for you guys." Sami pointed out, not realizing Triple H and Keyla already had this conversation before his dark match transpired.
"Yes, we discussed that briefly."
The gears in Hunter's head were already turning, but he had to talk to both his wife, Stephanie, and Vince before making either of these people a job offer. If Hunter had his way, NXT would have a new Superstar in Sami and a brilliant camera woman in Keyla within the next month or so. Who knew what the future held? There were so many possibilities and maybe Hunter could convince Keyla to step in the ring to see if she truly belonged there instead of behind a camera.
"Anyway kid, I gotta get backstage and get ready for Raw, but we'll call to let you know if we're interested signing you or not." Hunter informed him, not bothering to mention Keyla and shook hands with Sami before walking past them.
Sami didn't mind being called kid by the Cerebral Assassin, a dream come true of his to meet such a legend and game changer in the world of professional wrestling. He hoped he made a good first impression in the match and WWE called him with an opportunity to work for them. If they didn't, Sami was thinking about hanging up his wrestling boots and pursuing something else since a wrestler couldn't get higher than the WWE. Being rejected by them would simply tell Sami whether he belonged in the squared circle or not.
"What the hell was that about?" Keyla demanded once they were alone and Triple H was out of earshot, smacking Sami none too gently on the arm.
"What do you mean?" Sami retorted, genuinely confused and groaned when she smacked him again. "What did I do?!"
"You know damn well what you just did, you sly son of a bitch! You talked me up to Triple H of all people and tried getting me a job here! I know you, Samuel and I can tell when that head of yours is cooking up an idea. You're an idiot. Tonight was supposed to be all about you and, instead, you added me to the mix. I oughta kick your ass from here all the way back to Philly." Keyla fumed, planting her hands on her hips and saw the way Sami's lips curved up in a smirk, shaking her head. "You are unbelievable. I can't believe you did that. You should've talked yourself up to him instead of mentioning me."
"And sound like a pompous asshole by bragging about all of my achievements in the Indies? No thanks, I'll pass. I saw you two sitting together and figured you had a talk with him already. Didn't think you'd get this upset about it. All I did was tell the truth, Kay." Sami rubbed his arm, not believing it still stung from her blows and pulled her close to kiss the top of her head. "Besides, wouldn't it be badass if we both ended up working for this company?"
That was the dumbest thing Sami could've said at the moment considering who they both knew worked for the WWE. "No – no it wouldn't. You must have temporary amnesia, or did you choose to forget a crucial problem with your master plan to try getting me employed here?"
"Kayleigh…"
"I have to pee. I'll be back. Go change so we can get to the airport and wait for Lennox's flight to land."
Keyla walked away from him, needing a few minutes to herself and made her way backstage with a pass dangling around her neck. Sami didn't need one since he was well-known in the Indies for his work. It took a few minutes, but she finally found the bathroom and slipped inside to empty her overfilled bladder. She didn't see the pair of eyes watching her walk into the bathroom or the fact they caught a glimpse of her long dark blue hair.
"Dean?" No answer. "Dean?" Silence. "AMBROSE!"
Jon couldn't take his eyes off the women's bathroom door, stopping outside of it for a minute or two. Seth and Roman were with him, all 3 dressed in their Shield swat gear and ready to kick the crap out of someone that night. They had walked by the restrooms on their way back to their locker room when Jon abruptly stopped. Dark blue hair…Jon didn't recall any of the WWE Divas or women in the WWE having that shade. Just as the Shield members rounded the corner, that's when Jon had caught a glimpse of the hair before the woman attached to it disappeared into the women's bathroom. He was curious to see what she looked like or if he was completely losing his mind since running into Sami earlier that day made Keyla Jensen sear to the forefront of his mind.
"Yeah – yeah what?"
"You straight? What're you staring at the bathrooms for?" Seth demanded, pulling his black gloves on and folded his arms in front of his chest, looking at Roman like the man had lost his mind.
Maybe Dean had. "Dean, you look like you just saw a ghost, man…" Roman pointed out, worry in his grey eyes. "You alright?"
"Y-Yeah…" Jon shook himself mentally, slowly stepping away from the restrooms and heaved a sigh, looking down at his wrapped taped hands. "Sorry boys, didn't mean to space out like that. Thought I saw something."
"What was it?" Roman asked out of pure curiosity, whipping his black hair forward to drench it with a bottle of water he took from catering.
They would all think he was insane, so Jon decided to chalk up the glimpse of dark blue hair to temporary insanity and waved Roman off. "Don't worry about it, big man. I'm good. Let's go kick some teeth in and then celebrate with a beer. Hopefully Sami joins us too."
"Bout time…" Seth muttered under his breath, glancing over his shoulder and raised a brow when he spotted a woman walk out of the women's bathroom to head through the curtain toward the ring.
~!~
Sami stood outside of the arena leaning against the wall with a cigarette dangling from his lips, letting Gina rip him a new backside for the way he'd treated her earlier. "I'm sorry baby and I'll make it up to you as soon as I get home…"
"Oh you damn well better! It's bad enough Lennox is going on a vacation with Keyla because of her bullshit with Danny and now my fiancé is being all sketchy with me. Just what the hell happened earlier that made you think it was a smart idea to abruptly hang up with me like that?" Gina ranted, pouring a refill on her whiskey and downed it, enjoying the burning sensation sliding down her esophagus.
There was no point hiding the truth from her now that he was in hot water with Gina and Keyla was aware of his run-in with his old tag team partner. "Jon walked into the hotel gym I stopped by for a quick tune-up before my dark. That's why I hung up with you because I was in shock to see him. I thought I wouldn't see him until I made it to the main roster if WWE hires me on." He admitted, sounding a little sheepish and tore a hand through his wild black hair. "I'm sorry…"
Taking a deep breath, Gina shut her eyes and let the anger drain out of her body, her heavy breathing being the only sound Sami heard on the other line for a few minutes. "How did Keyla react when you told her? Or did you keep it to yourself?" She knew all about what Jon Moxley did and how Keyla hid her true feelings from him in order to let him make the decision that best suited his career.
"I thought she was gonna freak the fuck out and hop on the first plane out of here, but she sucked it up and came with me to the tryout. Shocked the hell out of me. You know me, I don't shock easily and it happened twice in the span of a few hours." Sami took another drag from his cigarette, glancing at the door opening and saw Keyla step out, waving her over where he stood.
"Really?" Gina was proud of Keyla for not bailing on her man and smiled, feeling marginally better. "I really wish I could've been there with you tonight, sweetheart. And I forgive you for hanging up on me. Don't let it happen again."
Sami chuckled, knowing Gina was giving him a hard time on purpose and handed Keyla a cigarette along with his lighter. "You have my word." He held up his finger in a one second gesture and stepped away to finish his conversation with the love of his life.
Smiling at how much love shined in Sami's eyes every time he talked to Gina, Keyla felt truly happy for both of them. Gina was a hell of a woman and kept Sami on his toes, surprising him at every turn. She was into tattoos, obviously, produced amazing designs and loved Sami with everything inside of her. Keyla couldn't wait to watch them walk down the aisle and say their vows, hoping one day she could move on from Jon Moxley in order to be that happy. It was a long shot, but coming here tonight to support Sami made Keyla realize she couldn't hide from Jon anymore. If they ran into each other, so be it. So far, it hadn't happened and they were on the verge of leaving the arena, so maybe fate was meant to keep them apart for good. Then again, she also couldn't get her conversation with Triple H out of her mind either.
"We can stop and get something to eat before heading to the airport, if you want." Keyla offered once Sami ended the call with Gina, flicking ash off the tip of her cigarette.
Sami opened his mouth to respond and instead his stomach did the talking for him, both of them laughing at the sound. "I didn't really eat that much today and my body is demanding sustenance now."
"Has…he tried contacting you about meeting up again?" Keyla asked once they were in the vehicle rental on their way to the first restaurant they came across.
Sami nodded, stopping a red light and glanced over at Keyla, wondering what made her go from having a near panic attack on the side of the road earlier that day to calm and mellow now. "I told him I couldn't because I'm heading home to see my woman. He called me right before Gina did and I had to end the call with him. Didn't give him a chance to convince me or anything."
"Right…"
Keyla looked away from him to stare out the window, leaning her head against it and shut her eyes, recalling what happened while she was in the bathroom at the arena. She heard his voice – the low gritty voice that had conquered her dreams for the past year and a half – just outside the bathroom door. Apparently something made him stop outside the door and Keyla overheard the conversation from two other men he was with. How she longed to open the bathroom door and see him again, but fear stopped her cold. So all she did was hide out behind the bathroom door like a coward until she could no longer hear Jon's voice and slipped out before he decided to make another appearance. Sami didn't need to know about it; it was a moment Keyla would take with her to the grave.
After a nice steak dinner at a local restaurant, Keyla ended up falling asleep on the ride to the airport. She would be up until all hours of the night with Lennox talking about what happened with Danny, so a catnap was definitely in order. Arriving at the airport, Sami put the vehicle in park and nudged Keyla, waking her up, both walking in the building together side-by-side. The moment Lennox's plane landed at a quarter to 11 PM and she stepped through the terminal, Keyla had to stop herself from slapping a hand over her mouth in shock. The whole right side of Lennox's face was nothing more than a gigantic bruise with a few lacerations cut into the skin. Her right eye looked to be nearly swollen shut and she had a baseball cap on to try hiding the damage Danny inflicted on her. Keyla ran to her side, leaving Sami standing several feet behind and Lennox couldn't hold back the tears anymore, breaking down in her best friend's arms.
"It's alright now, sissy. You're safe and he can't hurt you anymore." Keyla whispered in Lennox's ear, not remembering ever seeing her friend in this much agony and heartache.
Every speck of Sami's blood boiled inside his body, not believing the absolute destruction Danny was capable of. With his own hands, he had hurt the woman he loved and wanted to marry one day, to have children with. Danny always wanted to be a father and husband, vowing to never be like his alcoholic abusive old man. Because he had delved back into drugs, this was the results of the oxycodone abuse. Sami didn't know what to do for his longtime friend because he knew Danny was sick, but beating the hell out of Lennox like this was uncalled for. Something had to be done before she ended up dead at the hands of Danny Havoc.