Taker and Mel arrived at the arena and made their way inside. Despite the events of the morning, they arrived on schedule.

"I'll meet you and Jackie in the ring, in an hour." Mark said, as he walked off towards his locker room.

Mel was thrilled to be booked in a match tonight. Even if it was against Miss Jackie. The poor girl couldn't sell a match to save her life. So Mel knew the weight of this match would fall solely on her shoulders. She walked into the Women's locker room and stepped inside, breathing a sigh of relief that she hadn't run into any nosy co-workers.

"Hey girl!" Torrie ran over and gave her a squeeze.

"Hey! I'm happy to see you too Torrie, but geez you could let me get in the door." They both laughed.

"I'm sorry. But why haven't you called me? I've been worried."

"I haven't had time Torrie. After I left the arena that night. I kind of drank myself into oblivion." Mel said, as she sat her bag down.

"Oh, well you should have called. What happened to your hand?"

"Well, that's a long story. Sit down and I'll fill you in."

"At least Bubba's out of your life now. Things should finally start to look up for you now." Torrie smiled and patted Mel on the leg.

"Have you heard anything about Kurt?" Mel asked nonchalantly, as she looked for a hair brush in her bag.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean... When does he return?"

"Oh, I think I heard someone say he's coming back sometime this month. Why?" Torrie asked, knowing there was more to this story. She went about the task of curling her hair, as she waited for Mel to give her a clue as to why she was inquiring about Kurt Angle.

"Really? Do you know anything else? Like how he's doing?" Mel was putting on her workout gear, when Torrie put the curling iron down and walked over to her.

"What's going on? Why the sudden interest in Kurt?"

Melony knew she had to tell Torrie about Kurt. She was dying to get it off her chest anyway. She had kept her feelings a secret for too long, she only hoped it wasn't too late to make things right. As she told Torrie about the night Kurt kissed her and how she turned him down, she could almost feel his lips on hers.

"Call him Mel. You have to talk to him." She handed her cell phone to Mel.

"I can't. What would I say?" She stared blankly at the phone in her hands, thinking of all the things she would like to say but couldn't. What if he didn't feel the same way about her now?

"Girl, the man has feelings for you. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you. You know he's a real sweetheart Mel. Call him."

"It's not that simple. I just broke up with Bubba. I think it's a little soon to jump into another relationship. It's just not right."

Torrie sighed and snatched the phone out of Melony's hands. "I'll tell you what's not right. Having feeling for someone and not telling them. I can see it in your eyes, you care for him. Your face lights up like a Christmas tree at the mere mention of his name. It's never to soon to get involved in a relationship, as long as it's a healthy relationship. Now call him...or I will."

"Fine, you win! I'll call him." Mel snatched the phone back, and forced a smile. "Uh, do you know his number?"

Torrie laughed. "Of course. I have everyone's number programmed in my phone. Now, I'll be on my way."

"If you see Jackie, tell her Mark wants us in the ring in about forty-five minutes."

"Sure thing." Torrie said, as she exited the room.

Melony sat in silence, once again staring at the phone. She had no idea what to say to Kurt. Her mind raced, as she nervously searched through the numbers in Torrie's phone. Once the number was located, she hit the send button and counted the rings. After the fourth, she was about to hang up when he answered.

"Hello."

Her heart beat rapidly. "Hi Kurt, it's Mel."

Kurt chuckled. "I'd recognize your voice anywhere sweetheart. How are you?"

She blushed, had he really called her sweetheart? "I'm doing ok. How are you?"

"I'm doing good. I just got in from my physical therapy session. I should be back in a week or two."

"That's great Kurt. I'm glad you made a full recovery." Sadness filled her voice as she approached the words that she never got a chance to say before. "Kurt, I never got a chance to apologize for...well... for Bubba's actions. It was all my fault. I'm really sorry Kurt. If it wasn't for me, you would be here, in the ring."

There was a pause, as she could here Kurt inhale deeply and exhale, before he spoke.

"Mel, listen to me carefully. It's not your fault. I don't blame you at all. I'm actually glad everything happened the way it did. I got some much needed time off. I got a chance to spend time with you and tell you how I feel. What's done is done. You don't owe me an apology."

"I still feel awful. I'm haunted every night by that night. I wish there was something I could do. No matter what you say, I will always feel responsible."

"Bubba is to blame, not you. I don't have any regrets. I did nothing wrong, neither did you. It's the past Mel. I'll take out my anger, frustrations and revenge on the man that did this to me. Now can we drop it and get to the reason why you called after all this time."

She wasn't sure what to make of that comment. Had she made a mistake by calling?

"Did I call at a bad time?"

"No you didn't. But you haven't called until now. Where's Bubba?" Kurt asked, knowing full well, that he was suspended. A cocky grin spread across his face, satisfied to know Bubba was suffering as well.

"I haven't called because...well...I really don't have an excuse. I just didn't know what to say. How do you apologize to someone for almost ending their career? I wanted to see how you were doing and let you know that I finally ended things with him. I should have walked away a long time ago. Better late than never, I suppose."

"Well, now that you are a free woman, do you suppose we can have dinner sometime?"

Mel smiled and her heart did a flip. Even though she had loved Bubba, he never made her feel like Kurt did. Kurt was so sweet and caring. His sense of humor was priceless. She hoped it wasn't too late to let him into her life.

"Sure Kurt. That would be great. Just let me know when you get back. Actually, another reason I called is to tell you that I've given a lot of thought to the things you said outside Tucson. Kurt, I really hope we...."

Mel looked at the phone, the battery was dead. "Damn it! What next?" She practically yelled in frustration. The locker room door flew open. "Mel, Taker and Jackie are waiting on you in the ring." Torrie said, as she grabbed her bottle of water.

"Shit! Thanks. By the way your battery is dead. It cut out before I could tell Kurt why I really called. Now I don't have time to call him back. This day sucks!" She walked out before Torrie could respond.