7

Six in the morning, and Shay was up, showered, and heading downstairs with her bags. She'd slept a little, although it wasn't nearly enough. She knew today would not be a good day to hang out with anybody. She'd probably rip their heads off. She didn't know if that was because she was sleep deprived, or if the sexual frustration was making her crazy.

At the desk, she turned over her keycard then frowned. "I guess I have to pay for the other card I had. I forgot to look for it."

An older woman had replaced the teenager from the night before as the clerk. She swiped the keycard, and typed a few things into her computer. Shay was pulling her wallet out but the clerk waved her off. "Not necessary. Someone turned it in earlier this morning." She offered Shay a smile. "Nice of them. They just saved you ten dollars."

"Who?" Shay asked, already knowing. How the hell else would Kane have gotten into her room? And when had he had the opportunity to swipe her card?

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea. It says here it was handed in about an hour ago. I've only been on duty for fifteen minutes." She smiled again. Thanking her, Shay turned and headed for the door, and her rental car. She had two options. She could drive the three hours to their next venue and hole up in the hotel for the next twenty-four hours, or she could make a detour and visit with the SmackDown people. They were taping their own show that night and it was on her way.

She sat in her car, tapping her fingers on the wheel. Usually on her day off, she stayed as far away from the arenas as possible. This was her week to work at the house shows so tonight would be her only night off.

Shay pretty much drove on auto-pilot, lost in thought. It would be nice to hang out with the other roster for a change; some of the guys she hadn't seen since the split. Without taking her eyes off the road, she dug into her tote bag and pulled her cell phone free of the clutter.

She actually smiled at the sleepy voice that answered. "Good morning," she said with a grin. There was a groan.

"Shay? What the hell are you doing calling at…" There was a long pause. "What time is it?"

"A little after seven." She said, laughing. She felt better already. Kurt had a way of doing that.

Weird as it was, even though he could be a total jerk when he put his mind to it, Shay and Kurt had always gotten along well. He, at least, could make her laugh when nobody else could.

"Did somebody die or something? They're had better be a good reason for dragging me out of bed this early…"

"No," Shay interrupted him, sighing. "I just wanted to visit before the show tonight."

Kurt hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Shay…are you all right? You sound kinda…off."

As if she were really going to tell him what was going on. "I'm Ok. Just having some…personal problems. I need a break from Raw for a day."

"Can't blame ya there," Kurt said, still sounding concerned. "Look…how soon can you get here?"

"An hour?" She glanced at the speedometer. "Around eight-thirty at the latest."

"Good. I'll tell the front desk." He rattled off his room number. "I have to be at the arena early to sign autographs, but we can hang out all day. I can show you my newest baby pictures."

"More? You and your woman are making the Kodak people rich," Shay said with a laugh.

"Hey, what can I say? We believe in capturing the moment," He quipped. "Drive careful. I'm going to find some coffee to stimulate my brain a little." Shay said goodbye and hung up, still smiling.

A little over an hour later she was collecting yet another keycard. She knocked on Kurt's door before going in. "I hope you're decent." She called before stepping inside.

"Just barely," came his reply. He'd booked a room with a small table and two chairs. The table was covered with breakfast foods. He was in the process of eating himself into oblivion.

"Oh…my…God…" She giggled. "How can you eat all that? I can feel my arteries clogging up in sympathy."

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know." He looked perplexed when Shay laughed. He was such a nerd sometimes. "Pull up a seat and dig in. I can share."

Shay took the seat opposite him and chose a banana-nut muffin. She didn't eat it, just picked at it. Kurt kept looking up at her from his plate, eyes questioning.

"So…how's Karen?" Shay finally asked to break the silence. "And the baby?"

His eyes practically lit up. Between bites of food he caught her up on everything that had been going on since they had last talked. Shay got to 'ooh' and 'aah' over the baby album that Kurt was never without. She had a good laugh over the stuffed lamb that was on the bed. A present for him from Karen and the baby, something to remind him of home when he was on the road. It was actually kind of sweet.

When he finally finished eating, Kurt asked if she wanted to take a walk. They wandered around aimlessly, drawing strange looks from the few people out this early who passed them. Kurt had put on a hat, and a baggy tracksuit, but he was still recognizably Kurt.

They ended up in a nearby park, walking circles around a small duck pond. Kurt set an easy pace, which Shay appreciated. He'd probably be jogging his breakfast off right now if she hadn't shown up.

"So…" Kurt gave her a sideways glance. "You gonna tell me what's bothering you? Don't give me the 'it's nothing' crap. You might as well have 'agitated' stamped on your forehead."

She shook her head, then surprised herself by speaking. She honestly hadn't meant to say anything. "I'm kinda being pursued by one of the guys and he's driving me nuts and I don't know what to do about it." It came out in a rush, on one breath. Kurt gave her a crooked smile.

"That doesn't sound like my Shay. Why don't you just verbally rip him a new asshole and send him screaming like you normally do?"

Shay rolled her eyes. "It's…complicated." She sighed. "I don't know."

"I've never seen you let a mere guy get to you like this," Kurt said. He was looking at her as if he'd never seen her before.

"Me either." Shay stopped walking and looked at the pond, arms crossed. Kurt could tell that she was still holding back, but didn't push her on it. Shay would just clam up if he pried too much.

"Look…how long have we known each other? Five years?" At Shay's nod, he went on. "Since you've been working here, right?"

"Yeah." Shay nodded again.

"Well…if the guy is bothering you that much…" he trailed off, wondering if this was what she wanted to hear. Shay looked at him expectantly. Kurt sighed. "I'm just trying to say…you've made friends here, and we're like a family. If somebody is bothering you, you can always get it taken care of."

"Taken…care…of?" She repeated him slowly. Then shook her head. "Somehow I don't think beating the living hell out of him would make him go away. It might just make him worse."

Kurt shrugged. "Well…the offer's out there anyway. And Shay?"

"Hmm?" She had resumed looking at the pond but cut her eyes back toward him when he spoke her name.

"If that doesn't work, you could always just fuck him out of your system," Kurt grinned, then turned and jogged off.

Shay looked after him, mouth open. She was always shocked when Kurt used what he often referred to as the really, really bad word. Then it actually hit her what he had said.

"You're real funny asshole!" She called after him. Kurt waved over his shoulder, not turning, but she could hear him laughing.

She walked after him, shaking her head. She had hoped for someone to talk some sense into her, and here Kurt was just feeding her more ideas about getting laid. Was that all it was then? If she gave in, did what Kane wanted, if she slept with him, would he finally leave her alone? Just go away, fade into the background, find somebody else to torment?

Ignoring how thatparticular thought made her feel, she changed direction, heading back toward the hotel. She needed to get her stuff and hit the road. She had a lot of thinking to do.