Author's notes: We'd like to thank Jewelgirl04,Takersgurl35,ImissPadfootandAnimal-Luvr-89 for your reviews. We're glad you're all enjoying the story so far and we really appreciate the support.


Chapter Seven: Are You Flirting With Me?

The redhead jerked awake and suddenly sat up in bed, staring in the general direction of the loud popping noise that had brought her so rudely from her slumber. Kate, standing by the small dinette table in the hotel room, sheepishly shrugged at Marissa.

"Sorry," she whispered, settling back in the chair by the window. "I dropped my PDA on the table. I didn't think it'd wake you up."

The video tech blinked at her. Why was Kate up before her? The brunette hadn't even come in by the time she had gone on to bed and she had managed to sleep later. "Did my alarm go off? You're up early."

"You didn't set one. I was gonna give you about twenty more minutes before I woke you up. We've got to get out of here soon."

Marissa nodded and glanced at the clock. She would usually have been up a couple of hours ago simply because her body had adjusted to an early time clock since Maddie's birth. She slowly rose from the bed and then flopped back down with a groan.

"You okay?" inquired the sound engineer.

"No, I think I've come down with something," Marissa moaned and pulled her pillow over her head. That would explain how shaky she had been feeling, the headache yesterday morning, sleeping in a little later.

"How bad is it?" Kate asked, coming to sit on the bed beside her.

"My head is pounding and my throat's a little sore," the other woman answered through the pillow.

Kate patted the redhead on the leg, rose from the bed, and then began to pilfer through Marissa's suitcase. "Here, take these," she instructed.

The mother was a walking medicine chest and thankfully so. She didn't take chances and carried the usual remedies for common ills. The brunette had loved to make fun of her for it until she got struck down with the stomach flu about six months ago and Marissa came to her rescue to help her through RAW. Kate handed her the pills and then poured her a glass of water. Once the redhead had swallowed the medicine, the other woman turned a hot shower on for her. As she set a towel and her robe out for her, Marissa stumbled into the bathroom and Kate shut the door behind her.

Just when the sound engineer was beginning to worry, Marissa reappeared, found her standard travel clothes, and dragged back into the bathroom only to come back a few moments later.

"Tell me what happened last night," she softly asked, sitting down on the bed and combing through her wet hair.

"It was nothing," Kate replied, stuffing her clothes from last night into her luggage.

"Nothing? I was asleep before you got in."

The brunette shrugged her shoulders and replied, "We had a couple drinks a piece, talked some, and then decided since our flight was early, we'd turn in for the night."

"Was there a goodnight kiss?"

"A lady does not kiss and tell," Kate replied, rising from where she sat on her suitcase to make it close so she could zip it.

"When did you become a lady?"

"If you weren't feeling bad, I'd throw something at you." No, there wasn't a goodnight kiss but Kate briefly thought there might have been.

The brunette wasn't exactly sure why she decided to go on to the hotel bar with Dave Batista…and stay there. She knew that John probably wouldn't even get past a hug after walking Marissa to her door. So, all she needed was to waste a little bit of time, find another fake excuse, and then get out of there. Yet, two drinks later, she and Dave were still talking.

The couple had discussed Marissa and John, hoping that the two of them had hit it off tonight. Given what they had seen on the rink, things looked good. Kate also thought things looked good between she and Dave but, given their circumstances, it wasn't going to work. They might have gotten along well for one night but they were still on opposite ends of the spectrum. If anything, she and Dave could be good friends like she and Marissa were and, if anybody could be the opposite of each other, the pair of them were.

Kate was already thinking about whether or not she would agree to go out with Dave again if he asked her by the time she finished her first drink. It was obvious that she could definitely get along with him and it wouldn't be as difficult as she had thought before this date. Yes, if Dave asked her out again, she'd agree -- for Marissa's sake. Just one date between the redhead and Cena didn't mean that their relationship was a solid 'go.' Dave wanted to see them together as well, so she'd use the opportunity to get her best friend together with John. If she had to break it off with Dave, well, it wouldn't be the first time she let a man down, but she would probably be the first woman to break up with him. It'd be good for his ego.

"What are we gonna do about the two of them now?" Kate asked, sipping the last of her margarita since they had decided to call it an early night.

"Well, John did offer to take her out for a real dinner. Should we do anything?" he replied around the toothpick that had earlier pierced the olive in his martini.

"Maybe not. Perhaps we should just wait and see what happens after they go out again," the brunette answered, twirling her straw and glancing up at Dave, who was watching her intently as she spoke. It was unnerving and she glanced away. He had done that all night, like he actually really wanted to hear what she had to say. To get Austin to look at her for any extended length of time when she was talking to him was an act of God. It felt good to be able to say that about him because she would have adamantly denied that statement until about a year after they had broken up.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," he replied with a nod. "I'll talk to John, see what he's thinking."

"And I'll talk to Marissa but I can tell you already what she's thinking," Kate responded with a laugh.

"Then…do you want to maybe grab a bite to eat next weekend?" Dave asked. He meant to add something about sharing what they had found out from John and Marissa but the thought drifted away when she smiled at him. He had to admit, she had a beautiful smile. She nodded in reply and he stated, "Well, then, I'll walk you up."

"That's alright," she replied and started to slide off the barstool.

Dave stopped her, turning his body towards her to block her in the space. "I would be a terrible date if I didn't walk you to the door."

She was leaning up against his thighs, trying to verbally respond. However, her mind was quickly returning to last night when they had danced too provocatively for two people who didn't know or like each other well enough to be doing so. "It's…quite alright," she whispered.

"Excuse me?" he asked, plucking the toothpick from his mouth and leaning in towards her. Kate lost her breath as they were all too close together. For a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her and the woman lost all thought. "You were saying?"

The brunette pulled back and replied, "I'm a big girl. I can get back myself."

"That is if I let you out," he responded, rubbing his thigh slightly against hers.

"Are you flirting with me?" Kate asked, squinting her eyes at him.

"You've caught me. What can I say?" Dave replied with a chuckle and slid off his stool in the opposite direction of the woman. "I still have to go the same way you are."

"Fine, you can walk me to the elevator." Kate couldn't help but smile at him. At least he could take a joke. When they both stepped inside, Dave pushed the button for the fifth floor and she stated, "I'm on four."

When the elevator stopped on the woman's floor, Batista put a hand on the doors to hold them open. "I'll call you and we can figure out what time to hook up?"

"That'd be great. Have a goodnight, Dave."

"You, too, Kate," he replied as she stepped out into the hall.


The sound girl had wanted to ask her friend how things had gone when Cena walked her to her room, but Marissa had hardly said a word about anything. She was looking a little pale by the time they had arrived at the arena and departed without a word.

Kate was now settled on her padded stool before the soundboards that had yet to be hooked up. She was making notes on the schedule that had been given to her, when the WWE Champion appeared.

"Hey," she muttered, reading over a memo she hadn't noticed in the stack of papers. "Wha'cha need?"

"I ran into Stephen and he was about to come drop off the sample CD of music for the next couple of pay-per-views. I offered to bring it to you," he explained, waving the disc sleeve in her face.

"Let me guess. You want a copy?" she asked, reaching for it but he jerked it out of her grasp.

Her boss actually valued her knowledge of music and input. She was more up on the current groups, while he was more interested in up and coming bands. Between the two, they offered management a variety of choices for theme songs for pay-per-views and wrestlers several times a year.

This CD was a preview copy of what they had narrowed down for their picks for the next few months. Kate preferred to have it in advance simply because she liked being in the know and so she could get her hands on any of the albums in advance if they were ever used. The copyright office was responsible for obtaining permission to use the songs but she had to find the song in whatever format she deemed best for the show.

"Please," John begged, batting his eyelashes at her.

"That may work with Marissa but it doesn't work on me," she chided, slipping the CD out of the paper sleeve and popping it into the laptop.

"How's she doing? She didn't look like she was feeling well last night," he stated, leaning up against a bin of unloaded equipment.

"She's feeling like crap, some head cold or something. I don't think it's the flu or anything that bad," Kate explained with her back to John while she located a blank CD to finish burning the sample.

"Has she taken anything for it?" he questioned.

"Yeah, some sinus pills but that's all," she answered, switching out the discs. "You should go by and see her. She might be in the staff lounge. You want me to write down the songs?"

"Nah, if I'm interested enough, I'll find out," he replied, pulling equipment out of the crate.

"Careful," she warned, grabbing at the wireless mike receiver.

"I know," he replied, setting the receiver atop one of the sound boards. "When are they going to get you just one board?"

"When the shows aren't televised," she replied, handing him the copied CD.

"Thanks," he responded, trading the box of mikes he was holding for the disc. "So, are you and Dave going out again?"

"Um, yeah, we are," she replied, opening the case and carefully removing each of the microphones.

"That's good," he stated and then followed Kate's lead in checking the batteries in each of the mikes. "When?"

"Next weekend sometime. You and Marissa?"

"I don't know now that she's not feeling well. What do you think about Dave?"

Kate laughed and asked, "Are we in high school again?"

John stopped for a moment, wondering if Dave had said something to her since he had asked him the same question. "I just worry about my man."

"Honestly?" John nodded and she continued. "It wasn't love at first sight, sorry. But he's nice and we got along well. Who knows?" She was intentionally vague and left the idea open that she was slightly interested. She still needed Batista to get John and Marissa together. The woman wanted to ask Cena what he thought of her friend but was afraid she'd hear something she didn't want to. Plus, Dave was supposed to be finding that out. John might tell her what she wanted to hear because she was best friends with the redhead.

"Well, I'll be going now. I'll check in on Marissa," he added, popping fresh batteries into the last microphone.

"See ya," Kate called over her shoulder and then dropped the sample CD into her bag.


Everything hurt, her head, her throat, her nose. Somehow she had managed to get all the monitors set up but that was about it. The footage to be edited for the vignettes would be coming in any second and she prayed to God that she would manage that.

"Marissa? Are you okay?"

The redhead shot straight up from where she was lying on the couch but then slid back down with a moan. "I'll live," she mumbled to John Cena. The Champion grabbed a folding chair and brought it close to the sofa. "Not too close, you'll catch it."

"What can I do for you?" he inquired.

"If you happen to find any throat lozenges, that would be great," she croaked.

Cena looked around to find her some cold water but there was only hot coffee. "I'll be back," he said, patting her on the leg.

Marissa weakly waved at him and closed her eyes. She wished she didn't look like death warmed over and she also wished she cared. The video tech hadn't even told Kate about what could be called a kiss between the two of them last night. The brunette would flip when she heard and Marissa wasn't sure she could handle her reaction feeling this bad.

Some time later, Marissa' boss, Phillip, shook her awake and handed her a cup of iced water. "Are you okay?"

"Is the footage ready? I'm coming," she breathed and slowly sat up, quickly putting a hand to her forehead.

"I'll handle it," he stated and pushed her back down.

"No, you've already got enough to do," she whispered, taking a sip of the cool liquid.

"I'm gonna have someone take you back to the hotel. Stay put and I'll see what I can do."

"Phillip," she weakly protested. He pointed a warning finger at her and was out the door before she could say another word. The woman limply fell back onto the couch.

Time had lost all concept of meaning and Marissa had no idea if it was a few minutes or a few hours when she opened her eyes to John Cena squatting down beside her. "Here," he whispered and held out a bottle of cold water. She gulped it down and, when she handed it back, he ordered, "Open up." He spritzed throat spray into her mouth and she swallowed hard. "It'll feel better in a few moments. Sorry it's not lozenges. Now, we've got to get you out of here." She furrowed her brow at him and he stated, "I've got someone covering for me while I get you back to the hotel."

"But Phillip is--"

"I didn't like the look of the guy he was gonna send," John explained, putting an arm underneath Marissa's and then around her back before lifting her up from the couch.

"You don't have to do this," she said, her throat now numb.

"I know," he replied, grabbing her purse and jacket with his other hand.

Marissa slipped back into a light sleep throughout the drive and was grateful when they arrived at the hotel. John put a stabilizing arm around her back and they rode the elevator to her floor, neither speaking. Once in the room, she tried to send Cena away but he refused.

"Change into your pajamas and get in bed," he ordered, filling a glass of water and popping pills out of their blister packs.

The redhead would rather not allow him to see her in bedclothes and there was just something wrong about changing with him in her room, even if she was on the other side of the bathroom door. However, he was stronger than she and appeared to be more stubborn at this moment. She acquiesced and then immediately crawled into bed before he could scrutinize the matching blue shorts and tank top. "You need to get back," she said, pulling the covers high.

He ignored her comment and stated, "That's better. Kate told me you can have more medicine."

"Good ol' Kate," she replied and took the glass of water and the pills.

"Sleep so you can get better and so you can spend time with Maddie." John tucked the blanket up under her chin and let himself out. Instead of trying to figure out what had just happened, Marissa chalked it up to the cold and sinus medication. She'd sort through it all when she could actually thinkagain.


"Did you get her tucked in, loverboy?" Kate asked above the crowd noise.

"Yes, I did," John replied with a smile, standing over the brunette and pushing a button on the soundboard.

"Stop it," she warned and smacked his hand. "Get down there," she ordered and pointed to the lower platform.

"Take care of her, okay?"

"When would I not?"

Cena shrugged his shoulders and then nodded his head at Batista, who then appeared in the gorilla position. The two wrestlers were tag-teaming against Carlito and Randy Orton, both being set up as wanting to challenge Cena for the belt as well.

The four men made their entrance and, half way through the match, Maryse, newly brought up from OVW, popped up on the platform. "Hi," she said with a wave. Kate acknowledged her with a nod of her head and pretended to be busy. She was already aware that the woman would be making her RAW debut as a diva rather than as a diva contestant. "Did you get my new music?" Maryse asked, raising up on her tiptoes and peering over the boards.

"Yes," the brunette replied, trying to hide the irritation in her voice.

"You know when to cue me?"

"I start your music and it's up to you to know when to make the entrance. Can't help you otherwise."

"Well," Maryse replied in an annoyed tone and muttered something in French.

Kate knew she shouldn't have been so ugly towards the former diva contestant but the girl was treating the sound engineer as if she didn't have a clue how to do her own job. Who did she think she was? The Queen of England? The brunette barely resisted asking why Maryse was already at the entrance when she was on after the commercial break, which was after John and Dave's match. Ignoring the blonde, she returned to watching the tag-team match until the two men made their exit back up the ramp.

"Hey, guys," the former diva contestant announced, jumping in their way. "I'm Maryse." She stuck her hand out to Dave and he shook it, glancing at Kate, who had her headphones on and was clicking away on her laptop. Batista was about to reply back with his name but the blonde descended upon John. He excused himself with a wave at the sound engineer, whom he had noticed was now watching Cena and Maryse. He could see the look in the woman's eyes and it was not good. If she got this upset about every woman who came onto the Champion, she was going to have an aneurysm. Dave dismissed the blonde and continued on.

Kate tried to ignore the way Maryse was fawning over John. She knew him to date a lot and, of course, women fell all over him and rightly so.

The soundwoman changed her tune when she saw the blonde with her arm propped up on the back of John's chair at his table at the nightclub they were at that night, the two of them chatting away. Kate had gone on to the club with Brad and Josh because she didn't want to disturb Marissa until she was sleepy enough to go to bed.

John took Maryse out for a spin on the dance floor and Kate was disgusted at how her breasts seemed to be everywhere. If they were real, then she was indeed the Queen of England. That dance seemed to be it though and she didn't see the diva and wrestler together again. Of course, it didn't help that she was a little preoccupied herself now that she had found dance partners in Carlito and Jeff Hardy. Still, the new diva would need to be watched if she thought she was going to hook her claws into John while she and Dave were trying to set him up with Marissa. If the wrestler didn't want Marissa, then that was another story and they'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

Right now, there was something else bothering her. There were a couple of things that John and Marissa had said that made her wonder about Batista's intentions of going out with her last night. The thought that Dave didn't really want to date her was niggling in the back of her mind. He was out of her league and she had no doubt that he thought that now. Really, she should be flattered that he was interested in her but she didn't believe that. John made it sound like Dave intentionally wanted to ask Kate out but Marissa had skirted her questions about Dave mentioning her when they met for coffee. He didn't offer to take her to dinner like John had done for Marissa. Even when they agreed to meet up, it was because they were going to discuss the issue of getting John and the redhead together.

Yet, there was something within her that made her hope that Batista was interested in her. Maybe she was just wary of him given her past experience. The first rule of thumb in foster homes was to trust no one. She had had foster parents who wanted her only for the check that came with her. That was not to mention that she was barely in one place long enough to truly begin to trust her temporary family. Marissa, Austin, and the Mannings, a foster family, were the only people that she had trusted whole-heartedly and two of them let her down.

Kate had spent her last years in the foster system with the Mannings, from the time she was fifteen until three months before she was to turn eighteen. They were the perfect family and she knew they were going to adopt her, even at her age. She had never given up hope. When Carla Manning found out she was pregnant, her only daughter Erin, who was fourteen, turned into another girl. Suddenly, she was selfish and wanted all the attention on her. Kate and Erin had always gotten along but Kate was almost four years older and had different interests. With the baby on the way, Erin began to taunt Kate, telling her that she would no longer be wanted and they'd ship her back. The brunette withdrew into herself and, when Carla finally pulled the problem out of her and confronted Erin, who lied about Kate's explanation, the Mannings sent her back, accusing her of lying and causing trouble.

She returned to a foster facility until she started college five months later. They had graciously allowed her to stay past her eighteenth birthday.

One year later, Kate had attached herself to Austin Mitchell. The two of them ended up dating for seven years before it was broken off. They had met at a nightclub into which she had illegally gained entry where Austin and his alternative rock band, Chrome Bumper, were playing. It had been love at first sight, or at least for her, and they became inseparable. When their soundman had to quit to get a real job to support his pregnant girlfriend, Kate filled in. She knew how to work a soundboard from theatre in high school and her first classes for her degree in Professional Broadcasting and Broadcasting Electronics. It didn't take much to know what to do from there for his band. After seven years of touring with them while finishing her degree and working at the Verizon Center, her ear was in fine tune with Austin's band.

At the same time, she knew that he was going to pop the big question at any moment. They had been together longer than many married couples. She had finally found stability in her life and she wanted to cement that relationship with a marriage license. Austin called her one morning at the arena, declaring he had good news. He wanted her to dress up because he was taking her out for a very nice dinner. Kate left work early and bought a dress that she thought would make Austin fall all over her. They met at a restaurant that they couldn't afford and the brunette knew that he was going to propose. This was finally the night. She promised to call Marissa the second she could get away to do so.

Kate waited nervously throughout the meal and, when dessert came, she knew this was the moment. God, he had never looked sexier. His brown hair that sported blonde highlights was intentionally mussed, as if she had run her fingers through it over and over, which she had done many times before. He had on a white dress shirt and navy blue sports coat, which complemented his tanned complexion. He had dressed up for the occasion and she couldn't wait to hear it.

When Austin reached inside his coat pocket, her stomach dropped and her legs began to lose feeling. She grinned widely at him as he pulled out a set of folded papers. Even though she was thoroughly perplexed at the papers, she kept the smile plastered on as he unfolded them and pushed them across the table at her. For a moment, Kate forgot about the expected proposal as she read the beginning of a contract for a record deal. "This--this is what I think it is?" she stuttered.

"Uh-huh," he replied with a smile that split his face.

"Oh, baby, you got signed!" she shouted and shot out of her chair to hug him. The entire restaurant was staring at them and Austin eased her back into her seat.

"We finally did it," he said with a satisfied sigh. "After eight years, Chrome Bumper finally inked a record deal."

"When we do we start touring? I can't wait to get my hands on those soundboards. Have you seen what those bands use? They are a dream," the brunette gushed.

"Well, there's a slight problem." Kate suddenly stopped and held her breath, afraid of what he was about to tell her. "The record label is providing the soundman."

"What?" she asked, looking as if she had been slapped in the face.

"The record label is hiring a professional sound engineer because this will be a corporate sponsored tour."

"I'm not a professional? After seven years with Chrome Bumper, a degree in Broadcasting Electronics, and four years at the Verizon Center, I'm not a professional?" She couldn't care less that the pitch of her voice was rising and the family at the table beside them was staring.

"Kate, calm down," Austin softly said. "They said you could be in our first video and they'd get you backstage passes for all the events."

"A video and backstage passes? That's all our relationship and all my hard work with the band means to you?" Her boyfriend looked away, his face red with embarrassment, and slightly shrugged his shoulders. "That's it. We're through. I don't want to ever see you again," she shouted, rising from the table. "I can't believe I even considered marrying you."

"Marrying me?" he angrily asked, rising as well. "Why buy the cow when I can have the milk for free?"

The couple on the other side of their table gasped and other surprised and embarrassed eyes turned away from them. The manager was already making his way out of the back to ask them to leave. "You bastard!"

"Get out of my apartment. You have until this time tomorrow to get the hell out of my life," he ordered.

"Not a problem," Kate bit back and stormed out of the restaurant. She was so angry that she couldn't cry and hailed a cab back to their apartment. Once inside, she began to break down, calling Marissa and explaining what had happened through the sobs.

Within the hour, the redhead had managed to find four other friends and they began the task of packing up her belongings. So much could have been divided down the middle but Kate took whatever she wanted. Their CD collection, mostly bought with her money, was enormous and she felt she earned every one of them. However, the brunette left the sound equipment. She didn't want any of it as a reminder and it would serve her no purpose anyhow.

Once everything was in a box and carted over to the Carlsons' for the time being, Kate stood in the apartment that she had called home for six years. It seemed so empty, even with Austin's belongings still in it. Xerxes crawled out from under the couch where he had been hiding through most of the packing and pushed his nose into the brunette's hand. "Oh, baby," she sighed and dropped down to the floor to hug the dog around the neck. "I'm going to miss you the most."

They had adopted Xerxes two years ago when they had patronized the local pet food store to pick up some treats for Austin's iguana. The dog had gotten loose from the organization that was there trying to adopt cats and dogs out and the canine plowed right into the couple. Kate wasn't an animal lover, having none growing up, not even a goldfish. Austin took the dog right away and filled out the paperwork, handing over the cash before his girlfriend could protest. They spent weeks trying to name the dog and it was Austin who decided that the ancient Persian ruler, whom his little sister had just learned about in high school, could use a namesake. The animal was christened Xerxes and began to worm his way into the brunette's heart.

While Kate was hugging the dog right before leaving her apartment for the last time, the epiphany struck so fast it almost bowled her over.

"Marissa," she stated, looking up at the redhead, "I'm stealing Xerxes. That bastard doesn't deserve this dog and Xerxes doesn't deserve someone who's going to be touring and leaving him alone. Put his leash on him while I get his records." Kate had the papers and most of his belongings in a box before the redhead managed to hold the dog still long enough to get the leash on. Somehow, Xerxes knew he was about to go to a new home and be highly pampered and he was so excited to leave he couldn't be still.

Maybe she should have amended her list to include her dog as one of the few she had wholeheartedly trusted and who had never let her down. Kate found it sad one of her most trusted friends was a canine.

That was a sign the sound engineer's relationships were too shallow. Still, she wasn't ready to trust someone she had only dated once that she had suspicions about. Trust was too complicated at this stage in any relationship despite anyone's past experience. If there was anything more between her and Dave later on, she'd revisit the whole trust issue at that point. For now, the brunette would remain guarded, treat Batista as if she trusted him, and do her damnedest to get Marissa and John together.