Chapter 4 - Cena's Shining Moment
"Wow this is sufficiently awkward," Lillian exhaled as she gripped the broken shower curtain in her hands as it lay across her lap.
Lillian looked around the room slowly. There was Maria sitting next to her on the couch in the diva's locker room fiddling a broken shower curtain ring in her hands. Then there was Lita sitting on the couch on the opposite side of the room. Randy Orton was standing behind the couch next to John Cena who was draped over the couch practically ontop of Lita's head. Then there was Miss Heidi Maree Orton who was sitting on the couch next to Lita, her hair wet and dripping from her recent shower.
"You know this isn't that big a deal guys," Heidi suddenly spoke, using a spare hairband around her wrist to throw her wet locks into a messy bun at the back of her head.
"We are so sorry!" Maria suddenly blurted out, causing Heidi to suddenly laugh "I told Lil not to!"
"Sure thing Rose, let me drown here while your big fat ass if safe on the floating door!" Lillian exclaimed as she turned to face her best friend.
"My ass isn't big!" Maria exclaimed in her defence as she tried to turn around check out the size of her ass with a pout on her face.
"Want me to help you check it out Ri?" Cena offered with a smug smile on his face as he went to move.
Cena didn't get very far as Lita, without even looking in Cena's direction, grabbed a hold of Cena's ear and kept him where he was.
"Ow!" Cena pouted at Lita.
"If you want to check out big fat asses just turn around and look at yours Cena," Heidi scoffed, causing Lillian and Maria to start chuckle at the remark.
"So can I just ask exactly what happened here?" Randy interrupted, trying to draw the conversation back to reality "All I heard was a lot of screaming and then me and Li walked in to find you two pretty much dying of embarrassment."
With that Randy pointed across the room to Lillian and Maria.
"You too were like a bunch of beetroots," Cena commented.
"Cena why are you even here?" Heidi suddenly asked, turning to face the Champ.
"Heard girls screaming and I couldn't resist coming to the rescue," Cena replied with a smile on his face as he turned to face Heidi.
"Any excuse to get into the divas locker room right?" Heidi suggested as the real reason.
"Absolutely babe," Cena replied, the smile still etched across his face.
"Cena don't make me hurt you," Randy replied as he raised an eyebrow at his friend "So is anyone going to explain exactly what happened?"
"Well you see we came into the locker room and we heard someone," Lillian started to explain as she pointed to Heidi "Which turned out to be Heids, singing in the shower room."
"Not so unusual to hear someone singing cause all the divas seem to sing in the shower," Maria continued "Even though some of them shouldn't."
"Like Jillian?" Heidi suggested.
"She's actually not the worst of them," Lillian commented "But they're pretty much all as bad as eachother when they start on that freaking' Titanic song."
"Moving along?" Randy suddenly interrupted, still wanting to get the full story and explanation as to why he was standing in the middle of the divas locker room.
"Moving along," Maria continued "Well we decided to investigate because we wanted to know exactly who it was."
"We were further intrigued because me and Ria had just been talking about me retiring and finding a replacement ring announcer so I could get out of my contract before Mania," Lillian further explained.
"You're retiring?!" Lita, Cena, Randy and Heidi exclaimed, all completely caught off guard by this massive bit of news.
Lillian completey forgot that her retirement was on the download because she wanted to check with Vince as to whether it was a plausible option before she made the announcement to friends, bar Maria who already knew. Maria had accidentally overheard Lillian on the phone with Batista about talking to Vince about her retirement a couple of weeks ago and subsequently ended up being the only other person within the WWE who had known up until this point.
"Lil hadn't told anyone guys," Maria stated, trying to get an explanation out quickly.
"You knew?" Lita asked, turning to Maria with a confused look on her face.
"She overheard a conversation I was having with Dave about it a couple of weeks," Lillian simply explained, trying to tone down the situation and not make a big deal out of it.
"So you're really retiring Lil?" Heidi asked, trying to draw the conversation back to the real root of it.
"Well yeah," Lillian said smiling as she turned to face Heidi "It's definitely time now for me to retire."
Lillian then turned to each of her friends in the room, from Randy to Cena and then to Lita.
"I've been here for over a decade now and I love it as so much more than a job and you all know that," Lillian continued to explain "But it's just time for me to move on and get to do things in my life that I've always wanted to do and if I don't start on them now I don't think I'll ever get that chance. I'd hate to look back on it and regret my time with the WWE because it then became too late for me to do these other things."
"Like start a family?" Lita suggested, smiling in the direction of the ring announcer.
"You know that that's number one on my list Li," Lillian said with a half laugh as she turned to face the red head "Me and Dave want nothing more than to start a family and it's getting to crunch time for lack of a better phrase. It's definitely getting to crunch time on my biological clock."
"You should definitely get that big headed husband of yours to get that tricep of his into surgery then Lil," Randy said with a smile.
"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black Mr Shoulder Injury," Cena scoffed.
"Cena I still have no idea why you're actually here," Heidi said rolling her eyes at the Dr of Thungonomics.
Cena opened his mouth to retort but was interrupted by Heidi's father.
"If the next phrase out of your mouth Cena includes the word 'babe' I am actually going to throw you out of here," Randy warned his friend with a raised eyebrow, causing Cena to quickly shut his mouth.
Heidi couldn't help but let a small laugh escape her lips which resulted in Cena turning around to glare at her.
"So wait up," Lita suddenly spoke "I'm still confused how does Heidi singing in the shower tie in with Lil's retirement."
"Well just as we entered the locker room and heard Heidi singing in the shower and just before we totally barged in on Heidi naked in the shower resulting in us being now still totally embarrassed by the whole situation," Lillian started "We are super super sorry by the way Heids."
"On the upside though," Maria commented "You have a slamming body Heids!"
"And a rack we're definitely jealous of!" Lillian added.
"Speak for yourself!" Maria exclaimed, grabbing her boobs with her own hands and looking down at them "The tigers are boobiful!"
Randy choked on the water he had just started to drink and Lita had to smack Cena upside his head so he'd stop staring at Maria's display.
"Can we stop talking making comments about my daughter that make her sound like she's just posed nude for Playboy people?" Randy suggested.
"Actually I'm kinda liking where this conversation is going old man," Cena replied with a smirk as he turned to face Randy.
"I'm started to think it's been more than a decade now Cena," Heidi replied.
"Since what?" Maria inquired, excited at the prospect that she could be getting golden gossip from the youngest Orton.
"Nothing!" Randy and Lita both exclaimed in unison.
"Can we please stop getting side tracked here?" Lita suggested "Lil?"
"Right," Lillian replied, continuing on with her story "So just as we entered the locker room we were talking about how I was possibly going to find a replacement for my ring announcer gig before Mania."
"How come you need to get out of your contract before Mania?" Randy questioned.
"Well I mean I could always wait until after Mania and then just not renew my contract but I'd like to terminate my contract before then," Lillian tried to explain "I guess if I can't find a replacement before then I will have to wait until after Mania though. It's just Mania's always the biggest night of the year and I always get ditched for some famous person and it sucks year after year to see who they replace me with."
"Especially cause they usually suck balls in comparison to you," Cena commented.
"Exactly," Lillian replied "Well I would have chosen a different set of words but that's pretty much it Cena."
"So anyway we were talking about possibly holding like open or closed auditions for Lil's job," Maria continued to explain "I mean it would be huge. So many girls would absolutely kill for a job with the WWE."
"Oh my god yeah," Lita agreed as she nodded her head "It would be bigger than the diva search."
"But the only problem is whether Vince would go for something like that," Lillian stated.
"I mean I don't see why not," Heidi suddenly chimed in "I mean it would solve your problem about trying to find a replacement before Mania and it would be massive publicity for the WWE at the same time. Win win."
"But hold up," Cena suddenly interrupted "Is that really what you want to do Lil?"
"What do you mean is that really what she wants to do?" Heidi asked Cena, a look of utter confusion spread across her face "Didn't we just establish it would be a win-win situation for everyone?"
"Well it wouldn't be for Lil if that's not what she wants to do," Cena stated.
"Why wouldn't she go for such an idea?" Lita asked Cena, suddenly intrigued by what Cena was onto.
"Well think about it, it's pretty much just like the diva search," Cena started before he turned to face Maria "And no offence to you Ria because what I'm about to say kinda involves a little diva search bashing."
"None taken," Maria said with a smile before she scrunched up her nose at Cena "At least not yet."
"So continue your explanation then Cena," Heidi said.
"Right," Cena started "Well think about the Diva Search and how it seemed like such a brilliant idea to start with. Massive publicity for the WWE. Beautiful girls left right and centre. The ideal of making one lucky girls dream come true. Prize money and the opportunity to work with the WWE. The girl gets to be on national television, get a big ass cheque and gets a once in a life time job with the WWE. The WWE gets loads and loads of publicity all over the country and an effortless opportunity to find a beautiful girl to put on TV. Seems like a win-win situation right Miss Heidi?"
"Well yeah," Heidi replied "What's your point?"
"Think about the past diva search winners and even finalists, bar Ria because she's present," Cena stated, turning to wink at Maria and sending her into a flurry of blushing and smiles.
"What about them?" Heidi asked, drawing Cena's attention back to the story at hand.
"For the most of them, bar Ria and probably Michelle McCool and Eve Torres, they've been absolute disasters," Cena stated "They've either been completely air heads, completely uninterested in doing anything other than a bikini contest and a lingerie pillow fight here and there, or just completely uninterested in this business, just wanted to be on TV and they run their contracts for probably a max of a couple of months."
"True," Heidi replied with a nod.
"How many of the Divas that work their butts of year after year just to get an opportunity to actually wrestle in that ring actually would raise their hand in favour of the WWE Diva Search?" Cena continued as he raised the question "How many of the hard working women backstage actually think any of the diva search winners or finalists deserve to be here? Li?"
"Apart from Ria who actually has an interest in wrestling and this business, I have to agree with Cena," Lita replied "I think the diva search completely degrades what it is that us real WWE Divas actually do. Makes the public think we're just air heads in bikinis or just bimbos in lingerie that are only capable of going out there and swinging a pillow at eachother or shaking our ass in something short and tight."
"My point exactly," Cena stated as he turned back to face Heidi.
"So what does the Diva Search have to do with Lil's retirement Cena?" Heidi inquired, still not completely keeping up with the conversation.
"Well it doesn't," Cena replied frankly "But the principal does. The Diva Search degrades the actual working occupation of being a WWE Diva and usually the title ends up with someone who just wants the publicity and to be on TV, rather than someone who actually loves this business and has ambition to be a working part of this business. Lil has pretty much left the biggest shoes in the world to fill in terms of ring announcing and has left a legacy with the WWE. I don't think she wants to risk her legacy and her job that she loves so much with some airhead or bimbo with a decent voice who wins merely because she's easy on the eyes and is willing to get in the ring and wear short, tight things."
The room suddenly went silent as Cena finished up his point and everyone sat and took in what Cena had just said.
"I can't believe that Cena actually made a valid point just then," Randy suddenly spoke.
"Yeah me neither," Lita and Maria stated in unison.
"Shocking," Heidi commented.
"You're completely right though Cena," Lillian said as she turned to face the Doctor Of Thugonomics "I mean it was something that was running through my mind in bits and pieces but you pretty much just put it all together. I'd hate to see my job, that I've always seen as such a blessing and an incredibly opportunity, go to someone that didn't love this business or who wasn't passionate about what I do for a living. I'd hate for my job to lose it's legacy and it's prestige. I'd hate for it to be seen as a skanky fashion parade full of air heads like the diva search has become."
"Kudos to Cena then," Maria said with a smile as she turned to face Cena.
"Thank you," Cena replied with a smile at Maria before he turned to smirk at Heidi "Thank you."
Heidi rolled her eyes and bottled the urge to smack Cena upside the head, across her mother.
"But we still then have the issue of how Lil is going to get out of her contract before Mania if that's what she really wants to do," Randy chimed in.
"True," Lillian spoke as she sighed.
"No probs Lil," Cena spoke again "I have the answer to that one too."
"You do?" Lillian asked intrigued by Cena's statement.
"You do?" Heidi, Lita and Randy asked, almost expecting a stupid response out of the doctor.
"Give the job to girly over there," Cena suggested, pointing in the direction of Miss Heidi Maree Orton.
"Me?" Heidi asked, completely shocked at what Cena was suggesting.
"Yeah," Cena nodded as he turned to face Lillian and Maria "You two walked in on her singing in the shower and if she's as amazing as you say she is, why not give her the job or at least give her a go."
"Whoah whoah there Cena!" Heidi said throwing her hands up "There is no way that I could fill Lil's shoes when it comes to singing and especially not ring announcing!"
"Cena that's actually not a bad idea," Lillian said, turning to face Heidi as she though the suggestion over in her mind.
"It's an awesome idea!" Maria almost squealed in excitement "From what we heard in the shower room your voice is amazing Heids! Lil even said so herself!"
"I only ever sing in the shower though!" Heidi exclaimed in her own defence "I can't sing in the middle of a ring in the middle of an arena surrounding by tens of thousands of people!"
"You think she can sing Lil?" Lita asked as she turned to her friend.
"You've heard her at home Li," Randy said turning to face his wife "You know Heids can sing."
"Well yeah of course I know she can sing, but I was just curious as to whether Lil really thought her voice was that good," Lita explained to Randy before she turned back to the blonde ring announcer "Is her voice that good Lil?"
"Yeah!" Maria exclaimed before Lillian could reply to Lita's question "While we were trying to listen to Heids Lil was saying she was getting jealous just listening to her voice."
"Really?" Heidi asked, turning to face Lil.
"Really," Lillian replied as she smiled at the 17 year old "You have an amazing voice Heids. You have a rich tone that I am seriously jealous of."
"But your voice is amazing Lil!" Heidi exclaimed "There's no possible way you could be jealous of mine."
"So once again John Cena proves himself amazing and the solver of all problems big and small!" Cena exclaimed as a massive smile spread across his face as he nodded his head "Thank you. Thank you. I'm here all week."
Heidi couldn't help but roll her eyes at Cena but before she could retaliate with a comeback, she was cut short.
"Is it something you think you might want to do Heids?" Lillian asked the young Orton, drawing Heidi's eyes to her.
"Working for the WWE would be an amazing opportunity Lil," Heidi replied honestly "It's something I would love to do but I can't fill your shoes Lil. I've never sang in public before. Like I said before I only ever sing in the shower."
"I mean in the end it's down to the board of directors and Vince has the final say but if it's something you would love to do then I can work with you and get you ready, at least for an audition with Vince," Lillian explained.
"It would be perfect especially with the way you were talking about wanting to travel with us on the road after graduation," Lita commented, drawing Heidi's attention "I know you love to sing Heids. Why not give it a go, especially if you have Lil's blessing, her support and her guidance."
"You guys really think I'm good enough to even attempt something like this?" Heidi asked, her head darting around the room for anyone to answer her.
"Trust me sweetheart," Lillian immediately replied as she smiled at the 17 year old "From what I heard today, you have an incredible voice. You have a raw talent for singing and now it just needs to be trained and perfected to be the perfect voice for the job description."
Heidi resisted the urge to blush furiously as instead reached up to her neck and started fiddling with her crucifix necklace as she let everything sink in.
"It really means a lot to me to hear you say that Lil," Heidi started "I would love to work for the WWE. I really would. It would be such a dream come true, it's just....I just….."
Heidi took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment before she turned around and looked her father in the eyes.
"Daddy," Heidi started "What do you think I should do?"
Randy looked down at his daughter and saw a look of utter confusion etched across her face. Her bright blue eyes stared up at him asking for answers. Asking for the solution to the dilemma she'd suddenly found herself in.
"Guys can we give Randy and Heidi a little privacy?" Lita suddenly spoke, noticing the look in her daughter's eyes and realising her daughter's need to have a little alone time with her father.
"Yeah sure," Lillian immediately replied for everyone as she stood up and Maria and Cena followed suite.
The two divas and Cena immediately left the room. Heidi turned to her mother as Lita stood up and kissed her daughter on the forehead before heading towards the door. Lita couldn't help but smile as she turned back to see Randy come around the couch to sit next to Heidi. It was such a beautiful moment every time she saw Heidi and Randy together. She and Heidi were very close and they talked about everything, but something she knew that Heidi wanted her father's advice because she valued it so much. Heidi admired her father and it was such a beautiful thing to see. Lita quietly stepped out the door to the divas locker room and disappeared in the corridor after Lillian, Maria and Cena.
"What do you think I should do Dad?" Heidi asked again as soon as she heard the door close shut behind her mother.
"What is it that you want to do Heidi?" Randy retaliated.
"I would love nothing more than to have Lil's job and work with the WWE," Heidi replied, her head dropping as her eyes fixated on her fiddling hands in her lap "You know how much I love this place Daddy."
"I know girly," Randy nodded with a smile "How could you expect anything else when your mother and I both feel the same way about this business?"
"I know," Heidi replied.
"And I know how much you love to sing," Randy added.
"Really?" Heidi asked, her head shooting up to lock eyes with her father.
"You're in the choir at school aren't you?" Randy asked "And I hear you singing around the house when I'm at home all the time."
"Well yeah," Heidi nodded.
"Is it something you like to do?" Randy asked.
"Yeah Dad I do love it," Heidi replied honestly "I love music, I love singing. It's just…."
"What sweetheart?" Randy pressed, not missing a beat and allowing Heidi to think up a good answer and subconsciously altering it from the truth as she had a tendency of doing.
"I can't fill Lil's shoes as a ring announcer," Heidi blurted out "I can't do it. I'm not good enough. I just sing for fun. I love it but I'm not good enough to sing for anything more than fun."
"How do you know that Heids?" Randy asked, reaching out for his daughter's hand to try and calm her down as he could tell she was starting to get herself worked up.
"I just do Dad," Heidi replied immediately, subconsciously accepting her father's hand in hers "I know I'm not as good as Lil and I don't want to let her and everyone else down."
"Heids listen," Randy said calmly as he squeezed Heidi's hand "No one is asking you to be as good as Lil. Lil is amazing and we can all see that and part of her being as amazing at her job as she is, is because she's been doing this job for over a decade now."
"I know," Heidi replied.
"It's a hard job and Lil will tell you that but you're already part of the way there if you love this business and you love to sing," Randy explained.
Heidi simply looked at her father and nodded as she listened to his rationality and his words.
"But if you already love this business and love to sing, you and I and Lil all know that you would be willing to work hard at this because your love and your heart is already there," Randy continued "And I know you girly and I know that you work hard in everything you do."
"But what if I can't do it Dad?" Heidi asked, the confusion still present in her bright blue eyes "What if I can't do it and I let everyone down?"
"You won't," Randy replied immediately without a shadow of doubt in his voice "I know you won't let anyone down because I know you can do this. Lil knows you can do this. Your mother definitely knows. Maria knows you can and Cena obviously because he suggested you in the first place."
"But I don't want to let everyone down," Heidi explained.
"Darling if you try and work hard at it like I know you will, especially when you have the added bonus of having Lil's guidance, then there's no way you can fail," Randy replied "You just have to believe in yourself Heidi like we all already believe in you. Like I have always believed in you."
"I guess," Heidi replied with a sigh as she looked down in her lap again.
Randy smiled at his daughter and brought her hand up to his lips and placed a small kiss there.
"You can do whatever you want to do Heidi," Randy said "No one is forcing you to do anything you don't want to do, but if this is something you want and something you would love to do I would hate to see you miss this opportunity just because you were scared of letting everyone down and failing. Believe in yourself sweetheart. Believe that you have the talent and the ability to do this. I love you and I know you'll make the right choice. Give yourself some time and think it over."
Before Heidi could utter another word Randy had already stood up and headed over to the door. As soon as she raised her eyes from her lap, the door was closed again and Heidi found herself alone in the room. A sigh escaped the young girls lips as she thought the situation over.
She wanted nothing more than to jump at this opportunity because it was such an amazing one. A job with the WWE was the most amazing opportunity she could have possibly thought of. She loved it here in the WWE so much. She loved all the people here and she loved the idea of working here with all of them. Then what was she scared of? She was scared of letting everyone down. They all believed she could do this and even Lillian said she had an amazing voice, but what if she failed and let everyone down? She didn't want to be one of those girls that degraded the profession or was viewed by the whole world as just a pretty face or a bimbo. She wanted to make Lillian and her family proud of her. She wanted Lillian to know that she made the right decision by offering the job, well at least the opportunity, to her.
Suddenly Heidi was shaken out of her thoughts as the door to the divas locker room swung open and speak of the devil, Lillian popped her blonde head into view.
"Oh sorry honey I thought you left with your father," Lillian apologised "I saw him walking around backstage and thought you'd headed back to your locker room. My mistake."
Lillian then proceeded to close the door and leave Heidi alone in the empty locker room again.
"Lil hang on," Heidi called out after the blonde, causing Lillian to pop her head back into the room.
"Yeah?" Lillian asked, her smiling face looking directly at the young 17 year old.
Heidi took a deep breath and looked down at her lap before locking eyes with the ring announcer once more.
"Are you sure that you think I can do this?" Heidi honestly asked.
"Heids of course I'm sure," Lillian replied straight away "If I hadn't been 100% sure or if I'd had just the slightest doubt then I wouldn't have agreed with Cena's suggestion, and the only reason that Cena suggested it before me was because I didn't have the chance to even think about it because I was still incredibly embarrassed about barging in on you in the shower."
Heidi couldn't help but laugh a little at Lillian's last remark.
"But you know it's entirely up to you whether or not you do this Heidi," Lillian added "It's just the offer I'm putting out there. The decision is entirely yours."
"I would absolutely love to," Heidi immediately replied, letting her heart answer rather than the butterflies in her stomach that were currently holding her back "It would be such an honour to work with you to prepare myself for all this and it would be an even greater honour to try and follow in your footsteps."
"Really?!" Lillian asked, getting a little bit excited about what she'd just heard.
"Really really," Heidi replied "It would be a dream come true."
"OH MY GOD!" Lillian squealed in a very Maria Kanellis style before she completely bursted through the rest of the open door to the Divas Locker Room.
Heidi couldn't contain her laughter as the blonde ring announcer tried her best to run towards her, as she now stood up, in her very high heeled boots and envelope the young Orton in a hug. Heidi immediately hugged Lillian back just as tightly.
"Thanks Lil," Heidi spoke before Lillian could get another word in.
Lillian broke away from Heidi slightly so she could look her in the eyes.
"No, thank you Heidi," Lillian replied, seriously and sincerely "I know you can do this, now we just have to make you and Vince McMahon see it."
A.N: Hello readers! Hope you liked the chapter. Trying my hardest to keep the regular updates going because I really love updating new chapters and I love writing them and getting all lost in them and the whole One Secret/My Daughter universe - it's an awesome feeling! Hope you liked the chapter and if you guys have any ideas for the story and upcoming chapters please post them on the review board - READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! Good reviews and constructive criticism are welcome :) I know exactly where I want the story to go - as in I have some really great scandals and major turns, but at the moment I'm having trouble visualising how I'm going to get there in terms of the lead up so any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Look out for the next chapter - will try and have that done as soon as possible for all of you! Thanks for reading, god bless, Mrs Bridget Orton xoxo