The insistent knock on the door woke up Joe Anoa'i. He threw a pillow at Jon to force him to get up. Jon instead covered his head with the pillow to muffle out the sound. In the end, it was Colby who was forced to get the door.
He was greeted by a bright smile.
"Good morning!" Ali chirped.
"Ali?" Colby scratched his head groggily.
"Good morning, Colbs." She leaned up to kiss his cheek, and wrinkled her nose when his beard scratched her face.
He followed as she entered the room, still dazed.
"Soy latte for you. Freshly squeezed orange juice for Joe. Brewed coffee, one cream, one brown sugar for Jon." she announced, setting down the beverages.
Joe yawned and slowly got up into a sitting position.
"Also, croissants and egg tarts from Lillian's Bakery. Ham, bacon, hash and eggs. Poached for Joe. Fat free yogurt for Colbs. And waffles for Jon. With syrup. Lots of extra maple syrup."
They were all a little bit confused. Jon threw the pillow covering his face back at Joe.
"What's all this, Princess?"
"I'd like to apologize and at the same time show my appreciation for yesterday."
"Eh? You didn't have to do all of this."
"I wanted to. I'm going to suck it up, be professional and write a god damn good story."
She looked at Colby. "I'd still be moping if it weren't for you." she said softly. She transferred the same thankful smile to Joe, and then to Jon.
"So!" She clapped her hands twice. "Who's driving today?"
She settled herself on the bleachers at the arena, looking around at the empty stadium. The boys had to meet the Wyatts to talk their match through, and she needed a quiet area to work. She tried to concentrate on her task at hand. Needing some loosening up, she undid her ponytail and shook her head, feeling her hair fall in waves around her.
What were the chances of Punk coming back? She had not heard from him for over four weeks. None of their colleagues had heard from him either. Any talk of Punk got Stephanie in a bad mood fast, and Vince was tight lipped about the subject.
She bit her lip. Punk had always crossed the lines of kayfabe and reality. This shouldn't be any exception.
Her fingers flew over the keyboard as a stream of ideas began to flow.
Jon watched Ali while she worked.
It was fun to watch her- she was extremely expressive, and had the most amusing facial expressions. She would tilt her head and tap her fingers on her laptop when she was deep in thought. Bite her lip while she was typing. She would wrinkle her nose and press the delete button with unnecessary force. Her duck face was the funniest, he wondered what she was writing to produce those. But his favorite would be the tip of her tongue poking out the corner of her lip smile when she would lean back and review her work. The girl was oh so oblivious to the world.
"Hey man," Colby approached Jon.
Jon gave a nod to acknowledge Colby's presence, not taking his eyes off the writer.
Colby looked at where Jon was staring at and grinned. He exchanged a knowing look with Joe who was a few steps behind him, inclining his head towards the bleachers. The taller man smiled too.
"Bray's waiting for us at the cafeteria," Colby called out.
Jon gave Ali one last lingering look before following his team mates to backstage.
"I like it," Stephanie McMahon commented as she perused the draft of "Punk's Return" that Ali had handed her. "We'll discuss this at Creative tomorrow."
She handed Allison a script in exchange.
"That's the draft for Monday's RAW. See if you can add anything to it. You'll be producing the Shield pre-tape segment. We'll finalize everything tomorrow. Get the advertisers listings from Pat on your way out. There are a couple of new ad spots, and I want to make sure the new times synchronize with the rest of the schedule." With that, she was dismissed from the room that Stephanie was using as her office.
Walking down the hall, Ali grimaced when she spotted the Shield page. After weeks of teasing the WWE Universe with a Shield split, they were really pushing through with the disbanding of the team.
RAW would have Seth Rollins walk out during a match.
She looked up at the heavens, exhaling and wondered where all this was going to lead her.
...
"Colt is having a Thanksgiving dinner thing."
"That's nice," Ali replied, curling her legs comfortably under her. They were in Punk's bus on the way to Boston for Survivor Series. "I can't wait for for three whole days off" she said smiling at Punk. RAW would be live the Monday after, and they would tape Smackdown on Tuesday. Vince had given them three days off for Thanksgiving.
"Come with me."
"Huh? Where?"
"To Colt's party."
"In Chicago?"
"Yes."
"Are you insane?"
Punk laughed at the incredulous expression on Ali's face. "C'mon, it'll be fun."
"No."
"Why not?"
"I'm not good with new people, Punk. You know that."
"It's just Colt," Punk argued.
"No."
Punk sidled up to her, wrapping his arm around her midsection. "C'mon."
She tried to push him away, but he held on to her tighter.
"No! I'm going home for Thanksgiving."
"Come home with me."
"Did you hit your head really hard tonight?" she asked.
"It's just a couple of hours at Colt's. The rest of the time it'll be just you and me." He dropped his voice to a low baritone and talked near her ear.
"Please?" he whispered.
He nuzzled her neck, peppering it with slow licks and kisses.
She could feel her resistance slowly slipping. "You're not playing fair," she said.
He smirked. "I never said I played fair."
...
After the evening's taping, the Shield and Ali grabbed their things and started the drive to the next city. They stopped at a small diner after a little over an hour on the road to indulge in some midnight munchies. Hesitantly, Ali broached the subject of the impending split.
Jon was unfazed, munching on fries as Colby and Ali talked about the script. Joe was neutral, merely nodding before wolfing down his burger.
Colby on the other hand was a little nervous with the direction of their story. It was something that they all knew was coming, and had long ago accepted. Their Shield run had been amazing. They were young guys who had debuted and gone straight up to WWE main event status in a snap, and had stayed there at the top spot for over a year. They had faith in their abilities. They were good, really good. But with the amount of solo superstars, they could easily get lost in the shuffle.
"Um, I'm going to ask a stupid question," Ali said, after they had settled the bill, twin pink spot appearing in her cheeks.
"Shoot," replied Colby.
"Are you guys still traveling together after you split up?" she asked, suddenly finding the salt shaker the most interesting thing in the diner.
"Oh, Princess, that's what has you worried?" Colby asked with a lopsided smile. He took the salt shaker from her and set it aside. "No matter what happens with the Shield, we will be here for you," he promised, taking her hands into his.
Ali looked embarrassed. "Erm..." she stammered.
"Of course, we'll continue traveling together." Joe's deep voice answered. He ruffled her hair affectionately.
She made a face and excused herself to go to the ladies room. When she had finished, the guys were already standing by the door waiting for her.
Colby and Joe had run ahead, arguing about who was driving. She laughed as she followed them, but stopped when she noticed Jon trailing behind her.
When he reached her, Jon held out his hand, pleasantly surprised when she accepted it with a smile. Smiling back, he pulled her into a quick hug. "You won't get rid of us that easily," he murmured.
Not knowing what to say, she did what felt natural. She hugged him back.
It wasn't until they reached the car that she realized that Jon still hadn't let her hand go.