Chapter Four

"All right, so where we gonna move this thing?"

John was sitting with his cousin, the underground rapper known as "Tha Trademarc" and Djs Chaos and Order, trying to discuss where they going to go direction wise with the next album. "You Can't See Me" sold really well, and now it only seemed natural for him to put out a follow-up album.

"I think that we keep the message. Not fall into the majority talking about strippers and money."

"Oh, come on, that's been a staple in rap forever," Trademarc protested. That prompted laughter from the Champion.

"And a minimum on the wrestling references. Last thing we need is to lose any legitimacy on this album after we worked so hard to maintain it on the other album." They all nodded.

"Well, where we gonna spin it with the beats?" Chaos asked.

"Why don't we rock it out?" Cena asked. They stared at him oddly. "Come on, rock and rap is a fusion that's been working forever. Why don't we give it a try. We kind of went there with 'Beantown' and 'Keep Frontin'." They nodded; he had a point. "Anyway, we can pull up some good riffs from rock."

"You look like you've already got an idea forming there, Cena," replied Order. He smirked.

"I might," he replied, his thoughts trailing back to Marianne with her guitar. "I might."

The Fleet Center in Boston was filling up quickly when Torrie and Marianne arrived. Leaving Marianne in the Divas locker room, the other Divas went to go and meet up with one of the producers before the show. She was sure it was Dean Malenko, she thought she had heard Torrie say. She pulled out her electric guitar and small amp and hooked her headphones into the amp so that nobody could hear her playing and she began to work on a new song she had composed a few days before. It was heavy with a lot of power chords and a great deal of solo work. She found herself lost in the music quickly as she just watched her fingers move swiftly over the frets, bending, sliding and moving along the strings.

"How on Earth do you get your fingers to move so damn fast?"

Startled, she looked up into the blue eyes of John Cena, who took a seat across from her. She had to admit; he was cute. She slid her headphones off of her ears so they rested around her neck. "I've been looking for you all night. I wanted to ask about your material. What kind of music do you play?"

"I don't play hip-hop," she replied, keeping her eyes down to the string. She was nervous to make eye contact with him. His eyes were just gorgeous.

"That's terrific," he replied. She looked up at him, surprised. "I was talking to my boys, and we want to go with a new direction for this new album. I would love it if you would come into Basscamp Studios for a few days and lay down a couple backbeats for us. Would you be cool with that?"

She was floored. "I don't know," she replied, "I don't think I'm ready for that..."

"Are you kidding? You are amazing," he replied. "Come on, what would it take for you to put out some hits for us?"

"Mr. Cena..."

"John."

"John." She took a deep breath. "I don't know if I could ever record any of this stuff..."

"Come on," he was almost pleading. "We would welcome the new sound on the album." Then he planted himself firmly on the ground and focused his gaze on her.

"What on Earth are you doing?" she laughed.

"I'm not moving until you say yes."

"You and DX have that match tonight," she replied. "There's no way that you can stay here all night." He knew she was right, and she probably would call his bluff, but he stayed sitting.

"I'm not moving. If I have to talk to Torrie, you have to...Come on..."

She was laughing now. "I'm sorry. I couldn't. I have school at the end of the summer. I can't keep coming out here and going out there..."

"That's why you lay it down now. And then when the album comes out, on days that we can get you away, we can send you on the promotions with us." That thought frightened her. The idea of being known as the one who laid down the tracks for John Cena's newest album. Especially because he had such a following with the fans.

"John..."

"Come on. Say yes."

"If I say yes, would you leave me alone?"

"Well, until recording time, yeah."

"I'll think about it."

"You got till next Monday, okay?"

"Okay, John. Next Monday." He gave her a heart-melting smile and left, leaving her to put her head in her hands and laugh. She couldn't do this. There was no way that she could do this.

Torrie returned with Triple H and Shawn Michaels. "Guys, I don't think you really got off on the right foot with my cousin here last week, so Marianne, this is Hunter and Shawn." They leaned down and shook her hand and she proclaimed herself a D-Generation X fan.

"Can we hear what you're working on?" Shawn inquired. He had a real paternal vibe, Marianne thought. It was no wonder he was one of the more popular guys there.

"Sure," she replied, unplugging her headset from the amplifier. She began to play what she had played two weeks ago, when John Cena had walked in on her the first time. Triple H looked slightly impressed and Shawn shot a look at Torrie.

"How could you keep a gem like this a secret?" Shawn asked. Torrie smiled as she saw Marianne blush slightly.

"She looks a little tomboy-ish, though," Hunter replied, which made her eyes snap up to him, slightly irritated. "We could do something with that, and maybe we could use her for a segment with the McMahons." Marianne shot a look at her cousin. She was only here for a summer, and suddenly they wanted to use her, and Cena wanted her to do music...she couldn't help but feel panicked. She kept her head down and continued to strum and pick at her guitar as Torrie informed them that it could be a possibility. They had to go. Interview, she heard Shawn tell her cousin. They left and Torrie turned to her cousin and crouched down in front of her.

"Little nervous, are we?" Torrie asked. Marianne nodded.

"Cena asked me to do a guest spot on his album," she blurted. Torrie's eyes widened.

"That's awesome, Marianne," Torrie replied. "When do you start?"

"I told him I'd think about it. Torrie, I can't do that!"

"Oh, come on, Marianne, this would be a wonderful opportunity for you. You could get experience in recording and composing, and you get to work with some legitimate musicians. Come on, Marianne, don't tell me you're too shy to pass something so huge up."

She looked at her cousin. As usual, Torrie was right. "I just don't think I can do it, Torrie."

"Well, you just spend the next week thinking about it, and on Monday, just go tell Cena what you plan on doing."