"hey, bayley and i have some errands to do this afternoon…"
"might be a while, plz don't worry if we're late..."
"ps, stay out of my lego den. mean it ;)"
Sami frowned as he re-read the texts. He'd just finished off working on some of the promos for the Middle Eastern fans, and that had cheered him up a bit. It still felt a bit weird to be considered a sort-of ambassador for the WWE over there, but also incredibly humbling and fulfilling. Now that it was done, he was hoping he could grab some lunch with Finn, maybe as a kind of apology for being such a sad-sack…but that idea had well and truly been torpedoed.
Also, come on, he'd placed one Lego brick in the wrong place on Finn's space shuttle. One. Barred for life seemed pretty harsh punishment.
Ah well, no point on dwelling over being abandoned by his best friend…not like he could blame Finn for choosing to hang out with Bayley instead of his mopey ass-butt. He quickly sent back a text to Finn encouraging him to have fun, before wondering what he was going to do for the rest of the day. He wasn't due to report back to the Performance Centre until tomorrow, and without his two favourite work-out partners backing him up Sami felt less inclined to be a good boy and turn up for some extra training.
It hadn't escaped Sami's attention that the bookers seemed to be pairing up Finn and Bayley a lot more on the live shows these days. It made sense, they were the two champions of the brand, and they should be featured the most. Despite Jason's assertions that Sami'd get to work with Finn very soon, he still felt a little…not jealous, nope, not going there…miffed that those two got to goof around together so often…Titanic parodies, Dirty Dancing re-enactments…copying each others' entrances…Sami wearing Bayley's "I'm A Hugger" T-Shirt that one time was as close as he got...and no offense to Bayley, wonderful and amazing person as she was...but that hadn't been with Finn.
It was always Finn and Bayley...
They really seemed to fit together.
A little too well?
No. C'mon, don't be a silly Sami…Bayley's with her long-term boyfriend and Finn would never consider coming between a couple like that. Too noble.
Thankfully, Sami was brought out of his thoughts by his mobile ringing. A quick glance revealed it was the "StnIslndPrincess" herself calling. Huh, not like Carmella to actually call when she usually bombards people with several emojis.
"Heylow Carmella, what can I do for her majesty today?"
"Can you believe those two have ditched us? What is actually up with that? Letting those two run loose without adult supervision is just asking for trouble!"
"Carmella, chill," Sami tried desperately not to laugh at how sincerely exasperated she sounded at the whole situation, "Bayley does not, in fact, need written permission to go out on her own. Finn is 33 years old, and is very good at pretending to be an adult. They will be fine."
"Hah! You're sounding more cheery, at least," Carmella's aggravation began to soften slightly.
"Yeah, well, it was a bit silly of me to get so worked up over a clerical error," Sami hoped he sounded more convincing that he felt, "Need to save all that emotion for when I get my hands on Kevin again."
"Oh, don't try to be all c'est la vie with me, Zayn, you have no emotional safeguards," Carmella clearly was not buying it, but was also clearly happy to drop the subject, "Anyway, since our best friends are hanging out behind our backs, wanna catch lunch with us?"
"Us?"
"D'uh, me, Cass and his manchild," Carmella sighed, "C'mon, please? I need someone kinda normal there to help keep Amore in check."
Suddenly, a perfect distraction to any and all unsettling thoughts has presented itself, "Well…I s'ppose helping to babysit Enzo would help keep my mind off things…"
"Perfect! We'll swing on over and pick you up in ten to twenty."
Sami felt his jaw drop as the group walked into the establishment chosen for their lunch. Foosball tables…air hockey…skee-ball…crane games…oh, and a little area in the corner which may have served food. They were barely through the doors before Enzo stomped off excitedly towards the mini-games.
Sami could only shake his head fondly, before turning to address Carmella and Cass, "Okay, which of you two let Enzo pick where we were eating?"
"Hey, you wanna deal with a bored Enzo?" Cass countered, "Last time he got bored and wandered off, found him ridin' around the place on a toy leopard."
Sami tilted his head quizzically, "The fact I completely believe that without question disturbs me…tell me there is video footage of this?"
"Carm, show 'em your phone," Cass laughed fondly as Carmella had already started swiping to look for said video footage, "I'm gonna go make sure 'Zo doesn't wreck the joint. Gonna save us a booth?"
"Course," Carmella confirmed, somewhat distracted as she handed her phone over to Sami, "Play nice, boys."
The two exchanged a brief kiss before Cass rushed after Enzo. Carmella waited patiently for Sami to finish laughing his hat off before dragging him over towards the food court.
"No, seriously, I don't know what to focus on here…" Sami chuckled, pointing at the phone excitedly, "The doofy leopard! Those shorts! Oh, dear, the look that little girl gave Enzo as he passed! Why is this not all over the internet already?"
"Waiting for just the right time for maximum humiliation," Carmella smirked, taking her phone back from Sami, "So, what d'ya fancy?"
Sami's giggles suddenly made way for a coughing fit, "…uh…'scuse me?"
"What do you want to eat, what didja think I meant?" Carmella replied, full of innocence, "I'm thinkin' grilled chicken salad."
"Oh…right, pass the menu over, wouldja?"
"Somethin' else on your mind there, Samuel?" Carmella asked knowingly, passing over the menu to Sami.
Sami groaned inwardly…this was exactly the kind of thing he'd come along to forget about.
"I dunno…my mind's taking me some strange places lately?" Sami offered, scanning the menu for something relatively healthy. He wasn't expecting much given his surroundings, but it was worth a shot, "Maybe Kevin knocked a few screws loose and I'm only realising it now."
Sami scanned the menu for a few more seconds, before his head shot up suddenly and he glared at Carmella, "'Sami' is not short for 'Samuel.'"
Carmella laughed softly at the pure look of indignation being shot in her direction. Luckily for her, Sami's face crumpled slightly, before he started laughing along with her.
"Okay, I needed that," Sami grinned, "Thanks."
"Hey Zayn, quit goofin' off over there!" Sami and Carmella both turned to see Enzo waving his arms to get their attention, "C'mon, you and I gotta school Cass at foos."
"Looks like we're not eating right away," Sami sighed, placing the menu back down, before moving over to help Carmella out of her chair, "How bad is Enzo at foosball?"
"About as bad as his fashion sense, I'd say."
"Well, damn…uh, how good are you at foosball?"
"Whupped all my brothers regularly," Carmella replied triumphantly.
"...yay."
After Enzo and Sami's inevitable trouncing at foosball by Carmella and Cass, the group moved on to the air hockey table. Sami found himself far more in his element, being the most nimble of the group he found himself jumping around the table to make saves and reflect the puck away from the goal. Enzo merely stepped back and shouted encouragement to Sami as he easily fended off both Carmella and Cass' attempts to score.
"Yeah, bro, told ya we'd school these chumps at the hockey!" Enzo cheered, hi-fiving Sami as he began dancing victoriously around the table.
"You did nothin' of the sort," Carmella rolled her eyes, "Good game, Sami."
"Woo, yeah, shoulda known you couldn't whup a Canuck at any kind of hockey," Cass agreed, fist-bumping the victorious Sami.
"Yeah, the ginger ninja is unstoppable," Enzo also swapped a fist-bump with Cass and Sami, "Forget Neville, Sami Zayn is the realest Red Arrow in the room."
"If we ignore the whole loseball situation from earlier, then I'd say this day has been a total sporting success," Sami grinned, "So, food now..?"
"Yeah, gotta get my strength up and runnin' to retain my status as the skee-ball superstar," Enzo declared proudly, "Let's eat!"
Lunch continued to be a light-hearted affair. Carmella stuck to her guns and went with the grilled chicken salad, but the boys decided to split a pizza. It was easy enough to justify, given that tomorrow was a Performance Centre day…and Cass and Sami had just spent the last hour diving around tables playing games…and ain't nobody tellin' Enzo Amore he can't have some pizza pie.
Carmella grinned as the three boys bickered amongst themselves, taking the opportunity to check her phone. She'd felt it vibrate in her pocket soon after their game of Air Hockey had finished but was too busy admonishing Enzo for being a sore winner to check it. She wasn't surprised to find it was a text from Bayley.
"Okay, so Finn kinda-sorta admitted he wants to be with Sami?"
Kinda? Carmella wrinkled her nose, you either do or you don't. No room for indecision in romance, Bay.
Before she could actually text a reply along those lines, another text from Bayley came in.
"He's actually comparing socks to see which have more white polka dots on them. Send help."
Carmella felt a small nudge from beside her, "Sorry Cass," Carmella smiled as she put her phone away, "Just news from the Bay."
"Those two goobers havin' fun?" Cass asked.
"Finn's found polka dot socks," Carmella laughed as Sami groaned, "How many pairs does one man need, anyway?"
"I'm not sure he owns any other kind anymore," Sami sighed, "Hard to believe Finn was an Armani model once upon a time…they definitely didn't gift him any socks."
"Are we seriously talkin' about socks right now?" Enzo shook his head, tossing a crust back onto the plate, "Anyway, you can't talk anything about fashion, Mr. Crop Top Belly Shirt."
"One time! And only 'cause CJ dared me!" Sami retorted quickly, ignoring the laughter from across the table as much as he could, "I got free sides at the grill house outta that crop top!"
Cass chuckled, "Was it really worth it Zayn? Y'know photographic evidence of this tragedy exists?"
"Look, do you have any idea how hard it is to find loaded potato skins with no ham in them around these parts?" Sami pouted as the laughter finally began to calm down slightly, "Definitely worth exposing my poor tummy to the Floridian sunshine."
Sure enough the second they were finished eating Enzo was stomping off towards the skee-ball games. Cass sighed playfully, getting up to once again keep tabs on his buddy, "You two comin' with?"
"Sure, try not to destroy him too badly though," Carmella grinned at Cass, "We've had a good time today, let's try and avoid an Enzo sulk."
Turns out that skee-ball is a surprisingly good after-lunch activity. Not too demanding on a full stomach, competitive enough to be interesting. Enzo and Cass were furiously trying to outdo each other, leaving Carmella and Sami to play the game at a more leisurely pace.
"So, you feelin' any better?" Carmella asked Sami between rolls, "Head a bit clearer now?"
"Yeah…we all need a good goof-off every now and then…so, yeah, I'm feeling better. Thanks for today, Carm."
"Hey, it was for completely selfish reasons, no need to thank me."
Sami didn't quite believe her, but let it go anyway. The two looked over briefly as Enzo began to sputter indignities, whilst Cass tried his hardest not to completely dunk Enzo at skee-ball. Carmella smiling brightly at Cass whenever they made eye contact, and Sami couldn't help but feel happy for his friends. It must have been nice to finally find that person who always makes you feel that good whenever they're around. He might even have been jealous of them once upon a time, but Sami had someone like that in his life too…
…wait, no, that's a completely different situation.
Sami groaned as his last ball went flying off into the empty space of nul points.
…isn't it?
He looked over at Carmella, who had just thrown her last ball up the ramp. An internal battle waged within Sami's head…it was entirely possible he could go on with his life, attempting blissful ignorance…or he could do as he usually did when in the ring, go for absolute broke, take a chance…
What's the worst that could happen?
"Um…Carmella, d'ya mind if I ask a bit of a personal question?"
"Depends on how personal you're gonna get."
"Nothing gross, I promise," Sami grimaced slightly, wondering if he was going to regret asking, "Just…when did you figure out you had feelings for Cass?"
Carmella looked over at Sami, seeing the conflict written all over his face. Looks like the time for antics was over, "Wasn't really a case of figuring it out, it just happened naturally. Didn't just wake up one day and think 'y'know, we should totally be dating.' I kinda began thinkin' about it when I started feeling a little jealous whenever Cass and Enzo would hang out all the time, felt like the third wheel sometimes."
"Oh. Yeah, I can understand that," Sami sighed. All too well.
"Course, I had nothing to worry about," Carmella smiled fondly at the two best friends in front of her, "Enzo was never competition, he had figured us out long before we had a clue. Gave Cass a nudge in the right direction, and here we are."
Sami thought carefully before asking his next question, "But what if there wasn't someone there to give a nudge like that?"
"Sami, everybody figures this stuff out at their own pace. We'd have gotten there eventually, it might've taken a bit longer sure…but if something's there, then it'll come out sooner or later. You don't have to rush it, just let it flow naturally."
Sami nodded solemnly, looking down at the ground, "It'll happen when it happens, eh?"
"If it's meant to be, yeah."
There was a moment of silence between the two, the only noise being Enzo's exasperated grunts as he found himself on the losing end of this skee-ball round.
"For what it's worth Sami, whoever it is you're thinkin' about?" Sami looked over at Carmella, "They'd be an idiot not to feel the same way about you."
Sami let out a nervous laugh. Carmella had seen right through him this whole time.
"And hey, you ever need someone to give that person a nudge in the right direction? I'm your girl."
"You'd be a much safer option than Enzo, that's for sure," Sami's laugh was a little more genuine this time, "I think I need to think it through a bit more, make sure it's not just my imagination running wild. This is something that I need to be absolutely sure of…I appreciate the offer, though."
"Anytime, Samuel."
"Carmella…"
"Not even sorry, Sami."