2011
Dawn groaned out loud as she heard a knock at the door. She rolled over and buried her face into one of the many pillows that adorned the king sized bed. Before she even glanced at the bedside clock, she already knew it was early. Her suspicion was confirmed when she peeked and saw that it was only 14 minutes after 7 in the a.m. Her schedule was actually cleared off for the day, which was rare. The plan had been to sleep in until around ten or so, shower, hit the gym, have a late lunch and catch up with Adam to head over to arena around two. Unfortunately, the person on the other side of that door had other plans. Whimpering as she dragged herself out of the comfortable confines of the plush bed, she dragged her small, bare feet over the carpet as she answered the door, fully prepared to give Adam a piece of her mind for ruining her good sleep.
"Oh Copeland, you better be dying or on fire or something really, really good," she began as she opened the door.
It wasn't Adam. Dressed in a dark shirt, jeans, boots and a simple black jacket was Randy Orton.
"Well good morning to you, too."
Dawn frowned.
"Randy…hey."
"You awake?"
He knew fully well that she probably wasn't. She liked to sleep in whenever possible. As much as she loved the travel with the WWE, early mornings were her least favorite thing. Randy liked the fact that he knew that about her.
"I am now," she crossed her arms with a pout. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
"It's early as fuck, trust me, I'm not too happy about it either. I got media this morning and I couldn't sleep last night. May I?" he explained, then hinted at coming in.
She nodded and moved out of the way, letting the door close behind him. She wore an oversized sleep shirt that made it well past her thighs but nevertheless, as soon as he entered the room, she slipped on a pair of fitted cotton workout pants. Pretending not to notice, Randy watched her out of the corner of his eye. He bit his lip as the shirt hiked a little bit and he saw the familiar smoothness of her thigh. He remembered what it had been like to kiss the inside of those thighs, rub them, have her legs wrapped around him…
"What do you have going on?" Dawn asked, interrupting his naughty thoughts as she walked over to the coffee maker and turned it on, grabbing two cups.
"Nothing too big. Just one radio interview."
"That's not too bad."
There were days when media assignments were so crazy that it was not uncommon to do three or four back to back television or radio interviews and a few appearances all before wrestling a full show in the evening time.
"Could be worse, I can't complain, I guess."
Dawn finished making the coffee and poured him one. She put in three sugars and skipped the cream before handing it right to him. He smirked. After all those years, she still remembered the little things. She knew exactly how he liked his coffee.
"So you're an insomniac all of a sudden and I am having some of the best sleep of my life, and you have to work this morning and I was off. You came to my room to bug me for the next few hours or what?" she asked, taking a seat on the bed and tucking her long legs underneath her.
"I'm not bugging you, I'm keeping you company, thank you very much and I was hoping you'd return the favor."
"What do you mean?"
Randy glanced over at the clock.
"The car should be here in an hour. That gives you more than enough time to shower and put your face on."
"Ran…"
"Come with me."
"I don't want to."
"Sure you do. It'll be fun."
Dawn shot him a knowing look.
"For who?"
He shrugged it off.
"Who am I kidding? It's early as hell and this is the last thing I feel like doing. Work sucks sometimes but misery loves company. What do you say?"
"I, I don't know…"
He looked right at her.
"So it's not my favorite thing and it still makes me uncomfortable, even after ten years. Maybe it sounds stupid or whatever, but I feel better when you're there with me."
The tone of his voice was low and quiet and she could tell he was being serious. It was something about the way he could give her one look and she'd basically give in to anything he wanted. He'd had that hold, that effect on her for many years. Even in friendship nothing had changed. When he needed her, she was there for him…plain and simple. Both doubted that would ever stop.
"Fine," she conceded with a sigh. "Watch TV or something. I'm gonna hop in the shower."
He looked down so she couldn't see the satisfied grin on his face. He casually sipped his coffee as she opened up a bag and fished for something to wear. She ended up with boots, fitted black slacks, and a white hoodie. Without another word, she disappeared into the bathroom. Seconds later the shower turned on and through the closed door Randy could hear her singing. She didn't have the greatest singing voice, in fact, Randy's father, Bob had often joked that Dawn couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. But she loved to sing at the top of her lungs, especially in the shower. He'd always thought that was cute.
Leaning back in the comfortable recliner, he reached for the remote and turned to a random channel on television. In less than ten minutes, the water turned off and he could hear her moving about in the bathroom. Five minutes later the door opened and she was fully dressed. She walked over to the mirror and quickly blow dried her hair. Afterwards, she pulled it up into a neat bun atop of her head. Using a pencil, she lined her brows, upper and lower eye lids. She applied one coat of gloss to her lips and she was ready to go just like that. Even in simple clothes and minimal makeup, Dawn was absolutely stunning. She had a natural beauty that simply could not be suppressed. And she never needed hours to get ready like all those other girls. It was the little things Randy remembered and appreciated, the little things he missed.
"Ready to go?" he stood and asked.
"Yeah. I'm gonna grab a bagel on the way out. The car should be here soon."
The two headed out wordlessly to the elevator that took them down to the lobby. With it being so early, the usually busy hotel was like a ghost town, much to their delight. They had love and respect for the fans but there were some days when you just didn't feel like being bothered. After a few minutes, a shiny, black Lincoln Navigator pulled up. Randy and Dawn climbed in the back where they were whisked away to their location. They rode in comfortable silence.
"This reminds me of the old days," Randy reminisced.
Dawn just smiled, still looking out the window.
"Yeah. We used to jump at the chance to do media, or at least I did. I thought it was so exciting."
"It definitely has changed, the amount of media I'm asked to do now. When we first started, it was few and far between."
"Yeah? Well, that was before you became the biggest Superstar on the planet," her eyes danced as they met his.
A few minutes later, the SUV had reached its destination. It pulled into the back of the parking lot of the radio station and a smiling female producer was there to greet them. Randy climbed out the back before gingerly helping Dawn out. They walked into the back and Dawn kept a low profile as various introductions were made and Randy was briefed on the itinerary. Most of the staff, the on air hosts included, were big wrestling fans so Dawn was noticed immediately. But everyone was polite and after she signed a few autographs, for the most part they let her be.
She quietly sat and watched. Randy was a natural in the ring but the interviews were still slightly outside his comfort zone. Randy took a seat and put on his earphones and glanced back at Dawn who gave him a reassuring smile. The interview began and the deejay was a nice guy who had a way of putting people at ease. He told Randy on the air that he had an 18 year old daughter who was a huge fan. Knowing the drill, Randy gave the young lady a shout out. Dawn smiled. He had plenty of female fans and had brought smiles to some of their faces with just the simplest of gestures. The interview went on and Randy talked about everything from the hectic life lived on the road to that evening's RAW to his feud with CM Punk. Every now and then, the line of questioning would turn to something in his personal life, which it often did. Depending on the questioning and his mood, sometimes Randy let people in. Other times he was safe and guarded.
"So," the interviewer teased with a laugh. "My daughter is in love with you and wants to get married to you and I am actually okay with that."
Randy blushed and looked away.
"Gotta have that parental blessing."
"All jokes aside man, for all the ladies out there that want to know, and believe me, a lot of them do. On the record…is the Viper single?"
Randy took a deep breath as he turned around and looked at Dawn. She was looking right at him, eyebrows raised with curiosity. When they were a couple, they had gone everywhere together, done everything together. He had been young and selfish and cavalier and by his own admission, downright stupid. He'd had a good woman, one of the best and he had treated her badly, taken her for granted. But her love and devotion had seemed frantically unwavering at the time and he had trusted in the fact that she would always be there. And one day she wasn't. She had just left and even Randy had to admit that was the smartest thing she had ever done. Now everything was different. They were friends, just friends. She even had a new boyfriend and it sounded pretty serious. His loss had been another's gain.
"It's uh…it's complicated but for the most part, yeah," Randy answered the million dollar question.
20 minutes later, it was over and after another ten minutes, they were ushered outside. A small legion of fans had gathered and Randy and Dawn had made the decision to go sign autographs and take pictures for a few minutes.
"Well, that was a coy answer you gave back there," she teased.
"What?"
"What's so complicated about your love life?"
"Why are you so concerned?"
"I'm not," she brushed it off.
He smiled.
"It is what it is. What can I say?"
"I guess," she sighed.
"What about you and what's his face?"
Dawn rolled her eyes.
"He has a name and you know it's Austin and he is great by the way. We're great."
"Good for you. So…not complicated."
She wasn't in the mood for his teasing. Giving him a wink, she opened the door and walked outside where a small portion of the WWE Universe awaited. With a bright smile and flawless manners, she mingled about the crowd as her ex-boyfriend followed suit. It took about an hour, which was 30 minutes more than they had. For Dawn that had always been one of the most important elements of the job. She had always gone out of her way to make time for the fans because she owed them that much. She knew Randy had respect and appreciation for them too but over the years his attitude and impatience had earned him a reputation for being unapproachable. But time and maturity had changed that and a lot of other things about him. When the last picture was signed, they climbed back inside the car.
"That was a nice little turnout," Dawn smiled, rubbing her wrist. "Times like that it would be nice to have a rubber stamp."
"Tell me about it. Let's just get out of here."
Randy went to close the door but an older gentleman walked right up to the SUV.
"Randy, Randy, can I get an autograph real quick?" he asked, excited and out of breath.
Dawn cringed. There was a time when the old Randy would have blatantly told the man to get lost but instead, he opened the door and got back out.
"Yeah, man."
The fan was ecstatic.
"Thank you. I have been waiting out here since 6:30 for you."
Randy scribbled his signature, then headed back into the Lincoln next to Dawn who just looked at him and grinned.
"What's your problem?"
"I don't have a problem, I'm just proud of you."
"Why?"
"Because you've changed a lot for the better and it's nice. Not just with me but with work and the fans…everything. It's pretty cool."
Randy looked away. He knew he had made positive changes in his life but being reminded of it just proved how much of an asshole he used to be.
"So how did I do?" he changed the subject.
"You were great."
"I still get more nervous for the shit we did this morning than, you know, wrestling for 30 minutes in front of 80,000 fans. It's always been like that. No matter how much practice I get, it just uh…it's weird. I prefer to do my talking in the ring."
Dawn shrugged.
"It's different now. Everything is different but uh, it's okay. You have come so far. It's so wonderful seeing the man you've become, the man I always knew you could be. It just takes time. Everybody grows up…even the Viper," she grinned.
Randy nodded and relaxed. Dawn always knew just what to do, just what to say. That's why he had wanted her there that morning. It was just an interview but it times of uncertainty or when he was nervous or just needed that calming influence, she had always been there. The woman was a huge part of his life and always would be. Her goodness was almost as immeasurable as their sacred bond. Though time and circumstance had changed a lot, it would never change the way he felt about her. He had messed up big time but a piece of him would always love, always be in love with Dawn Pulliam.
