The next morning, Katie opened her eyes slowly, taking in her surroundings. Not remembering where she was, she looked around the room and didn't see AJ. Instead, she saw CM Punk sitting on a chair, talking on his phone, for what sounded like a phone interview. The events from last night quickly came back to her and she remembered Punk helping her in the hallway and wrapping her knee up. She looked under the covers to see the bandage still wrapped tightly – she felt no pain, thankfully. She stayed in bed, listening to the last bits of Punk's phone interview before he hung up and focused all his attention on her.
"Good morning," he said, smiling at her and stuffing his phone into his pocket. "How is your knee?"
"No more pain," she smiled back, sitting up in the bed. "I hope I didn't sleep like a starfish last night."
Punk chuckled to himself as he walked over to her and sat on the side of the bed. "You barely moved," he told her. "You were like a log the entire night."
"Good to know my sleeping habits are still the same after all these years," she commented to herself. She threw the covers off her and stood up and stretched right beside Punk. She grabbed her phone from the side table and noticed she had three text messages from AJ.
Where the hell are you? I woke up and you're not here!
HELLOOOOOOOOOOO?
Nevermind, I figured it out ;) your secret is safe with me, girl!
"I should probably get back to AJ," Katie groaned, mentally slapping herself for not leaving a note or any kind of message to AJ about her whereabouts. "She's been looking for me."
"Alright," Punk said, standing up and leading her to the door. "I'll see you in the lobby at two, right? You're flying with us?"
Katie nodded her head as he opened the door for her and let her out. "Thanks again, Punk," she said as she reached out and squeezed his arm. "I don't know what I would have done."
"It's nothing, Katie. Don't worry about it. Remember, friends help friends when they suddenly become cripples."
She laughed as she walked down the hallway towards her room. She took out her key card from her pajama pants pocket and swiped it, getting into her room. She saw AJ standing over her bed, packing the remainder of her clothes for their flight later today. When AJ saw Katie, her eyes immediately shined, running over to her and closing the door quickly.
"What happened last night?" AJ asked, a smile creeping on her face. "You were in Punk's room, weren't you?"
Katie sighed. "Nothing happened, if that's what you're implying," she said, completely dismissing the notion.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I was having bad knee pain last night, and when I went to get some ice he heard me and helped me. That's it," Katie explained, hiking up her pant leg so AJ could see the bandage wrapped around her knee.
AJ's face turned from one of hope to disappointment. "Oh," she said, a small frown appearing on her face. "But, you know...you guys have been getting close lately."
"Yeah, so?" Katie retorted, grabbing her suitcase from the floor and placing it on her bed she didn't even sleep in. "So have John and I. So have Kofi and I."
"But with Punk it's different," AJ commented, trying to pry an answer out of Katie. "Isn't it?"
A small smile crept on Katie's face as she looked at AJ, who was also smiling. "You cannot tell a soul!" she exclaimed, to which AJ squealed at and hugged her. "I mean it AJ! If you tell anyone they're going to tell Sheamus and then all hell will break loose."
"This is SO EXCITING!" AJ exclaimed, clapping her hands and jumping. "Let me first tell you how awesome it is to have a girl around to talk with about these things, but this...this is going to be awesome!"
Katie shook her head as she concentrated back on grabbing her clothes from her suitcase. "Don't get your hopes up AJ. Yeah, he's handsome, and yeah, he's a great guy, but I'm not willing to sacrifice my job for a fling or relationship."
"It won't get to that point," AJ assured her. "You're both responsible adults and will handle the situation maturely. If you guys get together and then break up, I'm gonna be really sad, but you guys will put on your big boy and big girl pants and handle the situation like adults."
Katie looked over at AJ. "You're right. The next order of business is Sheamus."
"Who cares about him?" AJ exclaimed. "You're a woman! You can make your own decisions! And if Sheamus doesn't like it...well, he has to put on his big boy pants too!" Katie smiled at her before she continued on. "I don't understand why everybody has to make relationships so dramatic these days. If two people like each other, let them like each other! I know your cousin means well, but this is your life Katie. He can't dictate to you your own life."
Katie was so happy she had found a friend like AJ amongst all these superstars. At the end of the day she was just a normal girl, despite the fact she was living out her dream for the company she loved. AJ was right – who was anyone to say anything about her and Punk? If she wanted him, she should go for him, and nobody, not even Sheamus, should stand in her way.
For the remainder of the morning Katie took a shower and finished packing. She and AJ had lunch in the restaurant at the hotel and then ventured off to a department store to pick up some travelling essentials before making it back by 1:30. At 2pm, all the superstars were to meet in the lobby where they would board buses to the airport. By 1:45 they were checking out at the front desk and noticed a sizeable amount of superstars already congregated in the lobby. Katie noticed Punk emerge from the elevator with his headphones on as she and AJ talked with the Miz about Maryse and some of her new modelling ventures. She escaped them quietly once they began to talk about another subject and Katie snapped a picture of the entire group waiting in the lobby. She then decided to sneak up behind Punk, tugging at his hoodie. He spun around and a smile immediately appeared on his face.
"Well hello stranger," he said. "Shamu's a bit late, don't you think? We have to go soon."
"Shamu flew out last night," Katie said in a mischievous tone.
"I thought he drove you to the hotel last night?"
"He did," Katie nodded her head, "and then he drove to the airport."
Punk smiled as he leaned his head back slightly, taking in Katie's suddenly giddy nature. "Why do you keep grinning at me like the Cheshire cat?" he asked.
"No reason," she said mysteriously, looking away for a moment. "You know, my dad always used to call me that too."
"Good to know," he said, looking down at her. "Luckily we don't have a long flight today."
"Let's squeeze in some episodes of Breaking Bad, I have them on my laptop," she suggested.
"Sounds awesome to me," Punk agreed as they walked towards the group.
As they joined in on a conversation Dolph was having with Kofi, Punk parked his suitcase beside him, leaning on the handle as they waited for everybody to come. As he stood, listening to Dolph's story, he noticed Katie standing awfully close to him, almost leaning into his arm discreetly as she listened into the story as well.
Katie looked over at AJ, who had been staring at her for a while. AJ smiled discreetly at Katie, who tried to hide her smile. After Katie began engaging in the conversation, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She saw that it was a text from AJ.
Go get em, tiger!
Xxxxx
This is sort of a filler chapter but I hope you all enjoyed it! Please review
