Back at it again. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I wrote this segment before ever writing anything else, so hopefully with some tweaking, it makes sense with what I've already written. Big stuff coming for this chapter...so, yeah... Here she goes!


November 22, 2011; New Orleans, Louisana

It was hard to pinpoint exactly when AJ gave in to Chara's feminine allure, though she supposed she'd been laying it on thick for long enough that it would be unreasonable if he ignored her anymore. He'd started to respond to her seductive quips, sometimes dishing them right back to her. The sexual tension that was created as a result between the two was irrefutable, their training sessions so charged with carnal need to simply be around each other.

Things had tumultuously changed for her when she'd lied to him about breaking things off with her boyfriend. It wasn't as though she hadn't planned on ending things with the guy; she'd just been avoiding him for so long that she didn't know the status of their connection any more. Although she hadn't done the damage yet, it was something that was going to happen.

The two days following her little white lie with AJ had awakened something between them that was lingering for a long time, but they'd just tip-toed around for months. The worst part was that Chara didn't feel as guilty as she ought have. For the first time in a long time, she was able to fill the void that was left in her after she'd been let go from Ring of Honor, no longer carrying around the shame. Instead of wallowing in her own misery, she became dependent on AJ to lift her spirits. The more time they spent together, the more it became apparent that there was more than just a trainer/trainee relationship between them.

Finally, AJ had allowed himself to give Chara more, under the false pretenses.

Just the day before, he'd asked her to accompany him to the extremely high-profile charity event hosted by WCW and WWE legend, the Immortal Hulk Hogan. Unless personally invited to the event, tickets to get into the door were untouchable for under five hundred dollars. In the past, Chara had heard of Hogan's ego, financial problems, backstage politicking, and humiliating divorce. Yet, despite all of his serious character flaws, Hulkster was such such an enigma that most people were able to look past those. He was also doing some serious public relation overhaul work, trying to clean up his outward image. Whatever he was doing, it was working.

Though she'd never spoken to Hogan in her entire career, knowing that AJ had thought well enough of her to join him for the evening was flattering. There were going to be some of the greatest superstars, public figures, and actors in attendance of the Make-A-Wish Foundation's annual benefit ball, and she absolutely would not miss it. Despite all of Mickie James' warnings and sighs, she'd helped Chara curl her abundant golden hair that afternoon, using an entire can of hairspray to ensure that it would stay put.

"Promise me you won't do anything damaging," Mickie had plead. "That you're only going because it's really a great cause."

"It is a great cause," Chara had replied. "I might never get invited to an event so prestigious ever again."

Mickie didn't argue with her anymore, but was only partially convinced of her friend's intentions. Not that it was her business. Though she begrudgingly did so, Mickie still helped her friend apply just enough shimmery eye makeup, let her borrow a mega-glossy lip color, and helped zipped up the dress Chara had picked up the day prior.

The bright, crimson-colored ballgown was just a teeny bit too snug in the chest, but Chara didn't mind. She was certain that AJ wouldn't mind, either. It was sleek against her hips, the straps crossing in the back with beautiful beadwork and baring her toned, tanned back.

"Girl, you look gorgeous," Mickie breathed when Chara stepped out of the little hotel bathroom, watching her carefully as she began spritzing a bit of lavender-scented perfume behind her ears. "So proud of myself...your makeup is flawless, you're welcome. You look awesome."

Chara bent down from her high heels to give the woman a hug. "I appreciate your help, Mick," she said. "I know you don't approve of me going to this, but I'll be really careful."

"Just keep your hands to yourself," Mickie replied. "Because I know that once Styles sees you, he wont be able to."

But of course, Chara wouldn't listen.


December 2, 2011: Fayetteville, North Carolina

"Mr. Styles, my name is Christine Bennett, and I'm with TMZ Online. I've just got a few questions to ask you regarding your relationship with former TNA Knockout, Chara Wright-"

"There is no relationship," he cut the reporter short, his words sharp. "Chara and I train together a few times a week, and that's all that there is between us."

"But there have been reports that you two have carried on an affair for the past couple weeks, resulting in her losing her job," she pushed her way past a few other reporters, pen poised to the paper, ready to write anything he told her. "In fact, someone from the promotion leaked that information to another TMZ reporter, and I'm just here to follow-up."

"As far as I'm concerned, Chara is a delusional young girl who had feelings for someone who didn't reciprocate them. It was a mistake to ever train with her," he drawled, showing no emotion in his words.

"So are you confirming that the whole report of an affair was falsified?" the annoying mosquito of a reporter squinted her eyes at him, as if trying to mind-control him into telling the truth. But AJ was smarter than she was, and he knew better. Something of this magnitude could be social suicide.

"A complete hoax," he replied, the lie flowing from his lips easily. "And whoever made the initial report was someone who was clearly just interested in moving up in the company, trying to take me down," he turned to face her, his eyes stone and serious. She scribbled down word for word what he'd said.

"Isn't it true that the two of you attended a benefit together just a few weeks ago?" she asked. "There were pictures of the two of you online looking quite cozy."

Christ, the woman didn't quit. But the mention of the benefit ball had put him into a memory overload; his brain flashing back to that night, Chara looking gorgeous as he met her at the first-floor elevator at her hotel. The provoked but unwanted memories kept flowing, making him freeze up. He began thinking of her soft skin as they'd entered the glamorous building with their arms linked. The way she watched him over their dinner and wine, her eyes full of pure lust. Of Chara leaning in for their long-awaited, hormone-ridden first kiss. Of Chara charming Hulk Hogan by her knowledge of German history, even though she had been severely star-struck by him at first. Of Chara begging him as she lay on her back, her mound slick as he carefully entered her...

The memories of the woman that had lied and manipulated her way into his arms were suffocating, but he wouldn't allow himself to feel badly for his misjudgement. He should have known the trouble he was getting into.

"What's wrong, AJ? Cat got your tongue?" another reporter jammed a tape recorder right above Christine's microphone, and AJ batted it away, causing it to clatter on to the sidewalk.

AJ didn't know how to combat the question about the benefit ball because he'd been unprepared for that one. In fact, AJ was unaware that there had been any press in the building that night at all. He hadn't been paying attention, he supposed-all he had been doing was imagining the red dress Chara wore laying in a pool at the foot of his hotel bed.

"There were many of my colleagues there that night," he replied lamely, casting the memories of that blissful evening away. "Now, if you don't mind, I've got to catch a flight."

She began to ask him more questions about why Chara got fired and which Ring of Honor star ended up in a backstage scuffle, but he held up his hands on those. Sure, he knew exactly the reasons. He knew all of the answers. But in order to protect his career, he had to be smart about this. He felt a nibble of guilt in his stomach, pained to know that Chara hadn't gotten off easily. But not only had she missed her big match that she'd worked so hard for, but if her boyfriend pressed charges like Dixie was worried about, it was less worrisome if she wasn't around, too.

Slinging his sack over his shoulder, he ignored the other reporters, pushing his baseball cap over his eyes, and kept he head down as he walked, sometimes dodging flashbulbs from cameras and pushing the microphones and recording devices away from him.


August 23, 2016: Smackdown Live; Uncasville, Connecticut

AJ Styles walked around backstage, wearing Jon Cena's 'Never Give Up' headband on his head and stopping to talk to friends of his here and there. He was surprised how well he fit in here, and even more surprised that the adjustment to WWE in general had been a nice, fluid motion. How often that superstars, no matter how talented, got lost in the bustle of the top show, only to make zero impact on the roster? AJ considered himself lucky, though he figured that some of his success had to be attributed to fans who had followed him through the years.

He gave a small wave as he passed by general manager Daniel Bryan, having a quick talk with Sami Zayn. AJ gave a short nod to the other man, who turned away, facing Bryan as he launched into some lecture about the importance of mat-based wrestling to avoid injury. Zayn had dismissed him discretely, doing a tasteful job of masking his dislike for Styles.

No matter. In just a half hour, he'd be opening the show, calling out John Cena one more to lengthen their feud. Never in a million years did he think he'd go toe-to-toe with Cena, who was easily the most decorated superstar of the modern WWE. It was, without a doubt, that Cena would shatter Ric Flair's title record, no matter who didn't like it. Hell, admittedly, he didn't like it much; but it's not like the guy didn't deserve it.

Distracted by his thoughts, he walked by Eileen, the pretty girl who sometimes traveled with the company to do the women's makeup prior to shows. She was currently rubbing some kind of black brush along Nikki Bella's temples, leaving a light, sheeny trail behind. Man, Nikki was just as pretty in real life as she was on television-and for being Cena's girlfriend, he supposed, he shouldn't expect anything less.

"Hey, AJ!" Nikki smiled as she watched him pass by. "You look like you're on a mission."

He stopped for a minute, looking at her gleaming white smile. "I'm just about to go beat up John Cena," he replied with a smirk.

"Well, don't mess up his face too much. He's way too handsome for that," she mindlessly looked at her red manicured nails, crossing and uncrossing her legs.

"I'll try not to, but I won't make any promises," AJ replied, laughing and rolling his eyes as the brunette stuck out her bottom lip in a pouting manner. He carried on, stopping to say hi to Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt. He hadn't seen Wyatt in awhile, hearing rumblings that he'd been out with a calf injury for a few weeks. He was one character that AJ believed ought to be main eventing, his passion and charisma something that was hard to bring out in a lot of people. Yet somehow, Bray was able to pull off amazing promotions and kick-ass matches every single night, save his Wrestlemania match with Taker.

He was also apparently going to be aligned with and mentoring Chara, who had not been brought to the main roster yet. Now, he expected Hunter to actually let him know when and if that was going to happen, especially after the last encounter the two gentleman had had. AJ had made it quite clear how little he'd appreciated the way WWE had handled Chara Wright's signing. Hopefully, she'd dipped out and decided that it'd be too hard facing everyone. After all, many of her old friends had proven their loyalty to the very same people she'd hurt.

"...I didn't know how to feel about the whole idea at first, but I've got a lot of faith in her. She came back, giving me an entire list of ideas of how to make the character work. I handed the ideas over the creative, so hopefully they'll do something with it."

Dean Ambrose snorted. "You don't think they're actually going to write this properly, do you? They do great jobs at ruining what should be fantastic storylines all the time. I don't think they're going to make much of an exception here."

"Well, she's solid in the ring and has the right look to her. Rough around the edges. Hunter didn't mention much, but she's been through some rough patches that I think will help her grow-"

AJ cleared his throat, both men turning to face him.

"What's up, champ?" Dean Ambrose was chomping on a piece of gum, his steely eyes piercing AJ. He wore a goofy smile, and AJ wasn't sure if he was challenging him or just poking some light fun. It wasn't completely impossible that he knew Styles' history with Chara, given that in some way, all of the indie wrestlers knew each other. But AJ and his promoters had been tight-lipped about the whole scandal, pretty much stifling the rumor. That didn't mean there weren't people who were familiar with the actuality of it.

AJ hadn't completely thought that possibility through, and worry began to run through his mind.

"Just had a tickle, that's all," he lied, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself. Not wanting them to catch on that he was less than happy about Bray's newly acquired Wyatt family member. "Sorry," he breathed, heading towards the whiteboard that was written on, revealing the night's matches in detail to those backstage. He was still near enough to hear Dean and Wyatt carry on their conversation, but not near enough to clearly comprehend what was being said.

"She's the...didn't want...doesn't like...be seen right now..." bits and pieces of the murmurs made their way to him, but it was so broken that it was pretty incomprehensible.

Ruling out that it was nothing to worry about, he whipped around, ready to head towards guerilla position. He had the first scheduled promo of the evening, after all, and the show would air in less than twenty minutes. He could mill around there for awhile.

Except he had run straight into some skinny guy with an all black sweatshirt, the hood pulled over his head so that his eyes weren't visible.

"Shit, sorry," AJ pologized, the hooded figure crumbled across the cool, concrete floor. He wore black cargo pants and wrestling boots. Extending his hand to help the fallen man, the guy just pulled himself up alone, not even acknowledging the offering of help. The guy scrambled away quickly, not even bothering to turn back.

"Fucking weirdo," he muttered, watching as the figure disappeared past the illumination of the vending machines.


November 27, 2011: Nashville, Tennessee; TNA Impact

The entire scene was something that Chara knew she would never forget.

She had been in the middle of the fight between the two men, ignoring the stagehands who had been calling for her to get in position for her match. She'd waved them off; at the time, it seemed to make more sense to make sure the two didn't kill each other. Now, she knew that it would be just minutes before Dixie Carter kicked her out of the building, terminating her contract for good. Making certain that Alyx would never win the TNA Knockouts belt, despite how hard she'd scratched and clawed to be at the top of the division.

She knew she'd hurt her dearest friend and opponent that night, Mickie, but once it was discovered why, it was likely that she'd forgive her for no-showing to their scheduled match.

Her boyfriend-though at this point, it was safe to say ex-boyfriend-sat in a horrid orange plastic chair, with one of the TNA medics knelt beside him checking the hinge of his jaw. He bled from the side of his mouth, and Chara was sure that one of his teeth had been knocked out during the entire backstage scuffle. He'd blindsided AJ...because at the time, Styles' attention had been entirely on her, his head bent back in ecstasy as she left fluttery little kisses right above his trunks. But AJ had managed to turn the tables quickly, once Chara got out of the way. AJ had out-maneuvered him easily, socking him in the face. The medics had already determined that it had caused the jaw to dislocate, but before anything could be done to discipline Styles, he'd already stalked off.

Her eyes caught his amber-colored orbs, still shining wildly with resent for her and adrenaline.

She opened her mouth, closed it, and looked at her feet. She had nothing to say, and nothing she could say would make this any better.

Finally, she looked up, and his eyes still bore into her. It surprised her when he spoke, though at first, she had a hard time understanding what he'd said. He had half a roll of gauze stuck in the side of his mouth, catching the blood that had been pouring out moments ago.

"Why?"

Chara's lips felt dry as she struggled to find the right words. She'd destroyed her career, stomped on someone's heart, and lied to someone who she respected dearly. She'd disappointed her fans and opponent tonight, having been too caught up in the deity that was phenomenal. And all for what? She had nothing to show for it.

"I...I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice catching as she spoke. She was hoarse, and she wanted to cry. Yet, she was still in shock that things had played out this way.

But now, he was barbarous, shaking as he got to his feet. He looked funny with the wet, slobbery gauze hanging from his mouth. In any other instance, she might have laughed at the ridiculousness of the scenario. But this was definitely not the time or place to even so much as break a smile.

"I asked why, Chara!" he yelled, though his voice was muffled and his words were broken up.

"Because I thought...because you were...I'm really sorry," she stammered. Did she actually have a reason? Not really. She just enjoyed being around AJ, and developed a crush on him quickly. She'd told him that she was newly single, even though that wasn't the truth. No, she'd planned on breaking things off...but hadn't gotten around to it. In her perfect world, she'd end up with AJ Styles, taking authority over TNA's roster as a power couple. But that wasn't going to happen, and it was very clear by the way AJ had left her earlier: Still on her knees, looking like the whore that she probably was.

"That's not an answer. I gave everything I had to you!" More mush-mouth.

"I thought we were done, okay? You were busy in Ring of Honor, and you hardly return my calls anymore. I didn't know where I stood with you. I hate being left in the dark, Sami!"

Sami Zayn said nothing, taking her words in carefully.

"I was busy trying to make a living for you! Make a life for us!" Sami argued after a long moment of silence.

"I love you more than I ever thought possible," she continued, wiping a tear that had escaped the corner of her eye while she ignored his last statement. "When I got let go from Ring of Honor, I thought...hoped, actually...that you'd leave with me. I know that's selfish of me, but...I felt like your career meant more to you than I did. I didn't intend for things to go this way."

"Do you love him?" he asked.

Chara didn't reply at first, but knew that he deserved some kind of explanation for her repulsive conduct.

"I might," she said quietly. It was true; after all. She just hadn't explored that possibility quite yet, and it was implausible that she ever would.

Sami looked as though someone had just punted his puppy across the room.

"I'm sorr-"

"Don't," he replied, holding up his hand. "Sick of the bullshit apologies. I'm just glad I found out about this before it was too late to get out."

"What do you mean?" she asked, finally allowing the tears to stream down her face. She looked right at Sami, his own tears streaking down his cheeks. He looked like a little boy, and she wanted nothing more but to wipe the wet trails from his face. But given the circumstances, it was fair to say that he would have broken her fingers off if she tried to touch him.

"It doesn't matter anymore."

That was the last thing she'd ever hear from Sami Zayn. She was captured and restrained by a security officer for the building, her tears hot against her cheekbones. She could taste the lingering salt from each bead, and she knew she looked just as horrible as she felt. Sami wouldn't look at her, falling back into the orange chair and keeping his head down, pretending his sneakers were the most fascinating thing in the world. She had so many things she wanted to say to him. She wanted to apologize until she couldn't breathe anymore. She wanted to tell him that maybe one day, they'd be able to try this again.

But every single text she had sent in the months following their departure went without reply. Every phone call went straight to voicemail. Every one of her friends from Ring of Honor had proven their loyalty to Sami by following his lead, abandoning their own ties with her and leaving her to her own devises. What was worse, since Sami Zayn was considered both lovable and an excellent worker, the phone calls came in quickly once each of the promotions had heard about the love triangle she'd initiated. Appearances that she'd been looking forward to in numerous wrestling companies had been canceled, nobody wanting to take the chance of losing out on Sami or AJ Styles by association. She couldn't get a spot wrestling in a damn high school gymnasium if she wanted to.

When New Japan offered her a six-month contract, she had nothing to lose and nobody to miss. She took the opportunity to disappear off the map for awhile, let the rumors quiet down, and ignore the constant calls from her mom demanding to find out every little detail of her dishonorable, widely public break-up. She'd gotten on that plane with no strings attached, anxious to run away from her problems and leave the turmoil behind.


Until next time, friends...